Chapter 311 Demon Emperor

Deep in the border of the northern state of the continent, there is a mysterious and terrifying land hidden. This land is shrouded in dark demonic energy all year round, and even the sunlight cannot penetrate it, as if it is isolated from the outside world. Dark clouds roll, thunder roars, and the air is filled with a strong bloody and cold breath. The ground is covered with crimson cracks, and you can faintly see the hot magma churning underground, releasing a breath of heat and decay. This is the domain of the demons - the Dark Abyss.

In the abyss, demonic energy surged like a tide, corroding all life around it. There were towering obsidian peaks scattered around, and these peaks were in strange cone shapes, as if countless demon claws were piercing the sky. Between the peaks, there were wide gullies connecting them, emitting red and black dim light, and from time to time, you could hear shrill roars, as if countless dead souls were struggling in hell.

The castle of the demon clan is located in the center of the abyss, like a demon's lair. The castle is built of dark bone stone and blood crystal, with strange runes engraved on the surface, emitting a cold red light. Two skeletons of demon clans are hung on the huge gate, with scarlet will-o'-the-wisp burning in their eye sockets. The entire castle is like a sleeping giant beast, emitting a terrifying pressure.

Inside the castle, the dim corridors twisted and turned, and the walls were inlaid with dark red magic crystal lamps, the weak light flickered in the darkness. The air was filled with a pungent smell of blood, as if every inch of land was soaked in blood. In the hall stood a huge obsidian altar, engraved with ancient demon runes, and in the center was a blood pool, with thick blood surging in the pool, emitting a disgusting stench.

In the core hall of the castle, a secret meeting was going on. Dozens of high-ranking demons gathered together. They had different appearances, but all of them exuded a powerful aura. Some were shrouded in black mist, with only a pair of scarlet eyes visible; some were covered in black scales, with huge bat wings on their backs; and some had double horns on their heads, covered with sharp bone spurs, like demons from hell.

At the head of the crowd, a demon in a black robe stood. His face was as pale as paper, his eyes were cold, he had six wings on his back, and a dark demonic aura surrounded him. He was the current leader of the demon clan, Venerable Mingye.

The voice of the Venerable Mingye was deep and majestic, echoing in the hall: "Everyone, the thousand years of waiting are about to end. The resurrection of the Demon Emperor is the opportunity for our demon race to return to the top. As long as we sacrifice enough blood and essence of the monks, we can awaken the soul of the Demon Emperor and let him come back to the world. By then, there will be no power on this continent that can compete with us!"

A demon general stood up, his face ferocious, his tone fanatic: "Your Excellency, we have advanced our plan to a critical stage. The spiritual mine on the border of the Northern State is just a cover, in fact, it is to attract more monks to come. The magic spirit gathering array we set up can lead the essence and blood of all monks into the blood pool to speed up the operation of the altar."

Another demon sneered and said, "Those righteous monks think they are smart and believe that the spiritual mine is the key to the competition for resources. Little do they know that they are just prey that walks into their own trap."

Venerable Mingye nodded in satisfaction, but soon his expression darkened and he said in a cold voice: "However, we still need to be cautious. Although the strength of the human cultivators in recent years is far less than a thousand years ago, it should not be underestimated. Especially those sects and masters who have been secluded from the world, once they realize our plan, they will definitely do their best to stop it."

A thin demon wizard spoke in a sharp voice: "Don't worry, Your Excellency. I have set up a seven-layer demon seal barrier around the altar. Even if a cultivator breaks in, he will be killed by the demonic energy."

Venerable Mingye snorted coldly: "These measures are not enough. The resurrection of the Demon Emperor must not make any mistakes! We must speed up and ensure a sufficient supply of blood and essence."

As they were talking, heavy footsteps were heard from deep inside the castle. A group of demon soldiers were escorting dozens of monks slowly towards them. These monks were entangled in chains, covered in blood, and had expressions of fear and despair on their faces. They were forcibly taken to the altar, and then a demon priest held a black dagger and chanted an obscure spell.

"The sacrifice begins!" The priest's voice was sharp and piercing. The dagger slashed across the monk's throat, and blood gushed out like a spring, flowing along the lines of the altar into the blood pool in the center. The blood in the blood pool began to surge violently, creating circles of red and black ripples, faintly emitting a frightening power.

"More!" A crazy light flashed in the eyes of Lord Mingye. He stared at the blood pool and seemed to see the signs that the soul of the Demon Emperor sleeping in it was gradually awakening.

A dark shadow vaguely appeared above the blood pool. It was a blurry face, emitting endless pressure. All the high-ranking demons knelt on the ground, with fanatical expressions on their faces: "Your Majesty, the day of your return is just around the corner!"

Venerable Mingye stood up and glanced at everyone coldly: "More blood and essence are still needed for sacrifice. Pass my order to expand the plan to other areas. If the monks in the Northern Province are not enough, go and plunder the human race in the Central Province and the Southern Province. Make sure that the power of the altar reaches its peak."

"Yes!" All the high-ranking demons responded in unison, and then turned into black shadows and disappeared in the hall.

Over the abyss, the dark clouds grew thicker and thicker, as if even the heaven and earth were suppressing some terrible power. The conspiracy of the demons was pushing the entire continent into the abyss step by step. If the resurrection of the Demon Emperor was successful, I am afraid that the entire world would become a hunting ground for the demons. At this time, the righteous monks still did not realize the true scale of this crisis...

The border of the Northern Province has always been the main area of ​​demon activity. Over the years, the conflict between the demons and human monks has never stopped. The destruction of the border town, the disappearance of monks, the rampage of demons, all these signs have kept this place in the shadow of war. However, in recent months, this situation has suddenly changed.

At first, the monks in the Northern Province did not notice anything unusual, but they noticed that the activities of the demons seemed to have decreased a lot. The small-scale harassment that used to occur frequently almost disappeared, and the attacks by demons that gave the monks a headache also gradually stopped. Even the most active demon patrols in the past were almost nowhere to be seen, as if the entire demon race had retreated from the battlefield on the border.

This abnormality did not arouse people's vigilance, but instead made some monks feel relieved. Especially those monks stationed at the border of the Northern State, they regarded this as a rare period of peace. Some people even began to speculate whether the demons had to temporarily stop attacking humans because of internal divisions or exhaustion of resources.

"Perhaps the demons have finally realized how powerful we human cultivators are, and have retreated in the face of difficulty." A casual cultivator sitting in the tavern said loudly, causing a burst of laughter.

However, some people are deeply disturbed by this. Senior monks at the border of the Northern State know better that the demons are not a race that will easily compromise. They are cruel by nature, uphold the law of the jungle, and have an endless desire for resources. Such a race cannot stop its activities for no reason. There must be another hidden reason behind it.

This abnormal change quickly spread to the ears of major sects and forces. The leaders of several major sects such as Lingtian Sect and Jinyang Sect quickly gathered and began to discuss the matter. Zhong Ming, the elder of Lingtian Sect, frowned and whispered: "The sudden disappearance of the demons is not a good thing. Since they did not continue to attack, it means that they must be planning a bigger conspiracy."

"Elder Zhong, you are worrying too much." Another elder sneered, "Perhaps there is a split within the demon clan. This kind of thing is not without precedent."

Zhong Ming shook his head and said firmly: "Impossible. Although the social structure of the demons is cruel, it is also extremely efficient. Under the rule of blood supremacy, the probability of their internal division is extremely low. Instead of deceiving ourselves, we should investigate seriously."

Jin Wuji, the leader of the Jinyang Sect, nodded in agreement: "Elder Zhong is right. The more strange the demons' calmness is, the more we should be vigilant. In my opinion, we should send spies deep into the border of Beizhou to find out the movements of the demons."

The representative of the Beast Taming Sect said coldly: "The situation in the Northern Province is complicated and changeable now. It is difficult to obtain accurate intelligence by relying on the investigation of a few people alone. It is better to unite the forces of all parties and organize a large-scale border exploration operation to see what the demons are doing."

After some debate, the meeting finally decided to send elite monks from all parties to form a team to investigate the key areas of the North State border. Although the various forces were wary of each other, facing the possible threats, no one wanted to fall behind at this time.

At the same time, some monks near the border of Beizhou began to notice more abnormal phenomena. Several spiritual mines and places with rich demonic energy that were once active areas of the demons have now become dead silent. The demon patrols that once appeared here seem to have completely evacuated, leaving only some broken camps and abandoned buildings.

"Strange, how could the demons give up these places so easily?" A spy stood at the entrance of an abandoned mine, his face full of confusion.

Another person frowned and said, "It's not just the mine. Recently, the spiritual energy fluctuations of the entire border have become abnormally chaotic, as if they were forcibly attracted to a certain place by some force."

What is even more puzzling is that while the demons gave up these resource points, they did not engage in any confrontation with the monks. The conflict that was once on the verge of breaking out has now turned into a unilateral exploration by the monks. This behavior of almost retreating is completely inconsistent with the demons' usual style.

Soon, more clues surfaced. Some monks found large-scale bloodstains and debris in certain areas of the border, as if countless lives had been slaughtered here. These bloodstains exuded a strong demonic aura, which was obviously the work of the demons, but what was puzzling was that these traces had nothing to do with the battle, but instead looked like the remains of some large-scale sacrifice.

"Is the demon clan performing some kind of ritual?" a monk asked in a low voice.

"It's very likely." His companion's face was gloomy. "If it's true, this is definitely not an ordinary sacrifice. The rituals of the demons are always accompanied by blood and destruction. The larger the scale, the more terrifying the disaster."

At this time, the monks in charge of the investigation began to realize that the retreat of the demons was not cowardice, but some deeper layout. They seemed to be accumulating strength and preparing for an unprecedented action.