"The discussion of the human race's strongest contenders was originally of no concern to us. But the Sky Wasteland is not solely for the human race to take possession. How could the human race monopolize it all?" said the Lion Emperor in a cold voice.
How could they not know about this plot by the human race and let the human race take all the benefits alone?
The relationship between the human race and the Demon Race is complex, but fundamentally, they exist in a state of balance with neither able to exterminate the other. However, if the human race monopolizes the benefits of this fusion of the two worlds, the power of the human race will inevitably surpass that of the Demon Race. This is a situation that the Demon Race absolutely does not want to see.
Indeed, this is what the human race's strongest contenders thought in their hearts.
These old demons chose precisely this time to appear. They probably guessed the intentions of these old demons.
"We agreed in the Sky Wasteland that day that each will employ their own methods and in the end, the merit speaks for itself," said the Master of Xuantian Sect, frowning.
Regarding this issue, it was decided during the meeting organized by the Sky Mechanism Pavilion in the Sky Wasteland that the human race and the Demon Race will not interfere with each other. In the end, whoever contributes more to Heaven and Earth will reap more benefits.
Now, these old demons appear here, implying that they want to break the pact. At this thought, the Master of Xuantian Sect felt a surge of anger.
"You humans devised quite the plan. You have guides in the Ancestral Land, but what about our Demon Race?" King Niu rebuked angrily.
These humans are crafty. The initial negotiation was well-intended, but it was only after the Fox King reviewed the event that they found out they had fallen for the human race's trap despite their caution.
To integrate the essence of the Sky Wasteland into the Ancestral Land, it is not merely about manipulating the Sky Wasteland but also about guiding it in the Ancestral Land.
There are many strong individuals in the Demon Race, and it's easy for them to accomplish these tasks in the Sky Wasteland, but in the Ancestral Land, they have no way of doing so.
Although the Heaven and Earth of the Ancestral Land have fully recovered and local demonic beasts have begun to grow, there are no strong contenders like Pei Xuanjing of the Great Ming, who can win the favor of Heaven and Earth's will and possess the capability to carry the task.
Even if they want to wait for the Demon Race's strongest contenders to develop, it would take a considerable amount of time despite having many strong contenders of the Demon Race providing training and resources.
This is the biggest flaw in this plan for the many powerful members of the Demon Race.
Sometimes, it's not about moving too slow, but the opponent moving too fast.
If the human race and the Demon Race start from the same line, the Demon Race will nurture their strongest contenders while the human race nurtures the strong contenders in the Ancestral Land. In the end, it comes down to who uses their methods the fastest, and there won't be much difference between the two races.
However, the situation is such that the human race already has their strong contenders rising and is ready to guide the process. The Demon Race, on the other hand, is still primitive and unprepared.
This is not a matter of who is slower or faster. It's a matter of whether you have it or not.
Knowing the human race, if given such a chance, they will seize all efforts to keep the Demon Race from catching up.
If they stick to the initial pact and each race makes their own arrangements, they may fall into the human race's trap and lose all benefits.
"That's your problem, how could you blame us?" said the Master of Xuantian Sect disdainfully.
Indeed, when they devised this plan, they had intended to take advantage of the Demon Race, using Pei Xuanjing's move to buy some time. They hoped to seize a large portion of the Demon Race's share, even if they couldn't monopolize all the benefits. Even when their plan was revealed, they wouldn't admit it.
"I don't care. The previous conditions were unfair, and I, the Lion Emperor, as well as the Demon Race, will not accept this," said the Lion Emperor in a deep voice.
No matter what ploys the human race comes up with, as long as the Demon Race is at a disadvantage, they cannot possibly agree to it.
"Lion Emperor, are you intending to reignite a war between the human and demon races?" the Jiuren Sword Saint said coldly.
"What is there to fear, we may as well fight to the death," said the Tiger King in a deep voice, unfazed by the threat.
"Right, if you humans want to reap the benefits, don't even think about it," King Niu said angrily.
Although the other powerful demons did not speak, they shared the same sentiment.
"Are you suggesting that the human race is scared of you?" said the Blood Fiend Ancestor with a cold smile. His eyes swept over the old demons, "My Red Blood Knife hasn't drawn the blood of a powerful being for many years."
For the strongest individuals of the human race, those of the Righteous Path and the Demonic Way often conflict, but their priorities are clear when it involves the survival of their race.
When the righteous path flourishes, demonic way descends, and when the demonic way rises, the righteous path shrinks. This cycle is acceptable to both righteous and demonic powerhouses, even if they are at a disadvantage, they wouldn't face extinction.
However, conflicts between the human and demon races are racial battles and there's no tolerance in it. Despite their current peaceful coexistence, if there's a chance to wipe each other out, they wouldn't show any mercy.
Unless some lunatics lost their sanity due to cultivation, forgetting even their racial identity. But other than those, there would be no issues when dealing with a matter of this magnitude.
"Am I scared of you?" The Tiger King's eyes flashed with cold light, showing no signs of backing down.
The human and demon races have been in conflict for countless years, neither is afraid of the other. It's not about intimidation, there have been life-and-death battles between strong contenders.
"Lion Emperor, what do you want in the end?" the Master of Xuantian Sect stepped forward, looking directly at him with a cold gaze.
The Lion Emperor was originally a regular lion. After a fateful opportunity, he embarked on the cultivation path and turned into a legendary golden lion, becoming one of the strongest beings in the Demon Race after reaching the Strongest Realm.
Now, the Lion Emperor suppresses powerful beings of the Demon Race with his formidable power, unifying the Demon Race by name, becoming the lone ruler.
Because of this, the fragments of the Demon Race joined forces to form a strength to oppose the human race.
"How I'll act depends on how you humans plan to," the Lion Emperor calmly looked at the Master of Xuantian Sect and the human race's strongest contenders, saying, "But the previous plan, our Demon Race definitely won't accept."
The previous plan is detrimental to the Demon Race; they were clearly at a disadvantage, they can't accept it.
"It seems a battle is inevitable," said the Master of the Xuantian Sect.
He originally hoped for a resolution, but the Lion Emperor tearing up the pact was beyond his tolerance.
When the other side goes against the pact, it means that they want to redistribute shares, which would greatly conflict with their anticipated shares of benefits.
"Am I supposed to be afraid of you?" the Lion Emperor responded defiantly.
Above the vastness of the heavens, the many supreme beings of the human race and the Demon Race stood face to face. Although they hadn't made a move yet, the aura each released caused the sea of clouds to churn.
Pei Xuanjing, standing to one side, quickly grasped the situation from their brief exchanges.
In essence, after the supreme human beings had agreed to incorporate the Sky Wasteland into the Daming World, the Demon Race, unwilling to be outdone, wanted a slice of the pie. Both reached an agreement where whoever possessed the most land owned it.
Unexpectedly, the Demon Race was tricked. The integration of the Sky Wasteland into the Daming World required not only the supreme beings to push in the Sky Wasteland but also a powerful being to connect with the Daming World as a fixed point.
This was why these supreme beings were willing to give Pei Xuanjing a part of the benefit, just begging for his cooperation.
Although both parties reached an agreement, the Demon Race couldn't compete with the human race. Although their power in the Sky Wasteland was not inferior, their ancestral strength in the Daming World was incomparable with the human race.
Especially with the appearance of Pei Xuanjing, an external supreme being, who disrupted the balance. As per the agreement, by the time the Demon Race was ready, the humans would have already swallowed all the benefits, leaving them with the leftovers.
Therefore, after the Demon Race realized they'd been tricked, they reacted immediately, joining forces to tear up the agreement and make it less convenient for the human race.
Pei Xuanjing, facing this situation, remained silent and didn't take a stand or felt the need to take one.
After all, the current conflict was not within the human race, but between the human race and the Demon Race. Regardless of the benefits he accrued, Pei Xuanjing had no reason to side with the Demon Race.
"If we fight today, none of your incarnations will survive. You will suffer considerable damage losing them." A human supreme being said coldly.
The reason they were confident was that they appeared in their incarnations at Shenxiao Mountain, as did the Demon supremes.
However, Pei Xuanjing was not the same, his true body was amidst the Forbidden Place of Shenxiao Mountain. If his real body took a stand, the incarnations of these old demons would have zero chance of surviving.
The moment these words were spoken, the faces of the Demon Race supremes darkened, evidently they were aware of this, too.
Yet, these Demon supremes weren't ignorant of Pei Xuanjing's presence. Even when they knew about him, they still chose to visit here, they clearly had their cards ready.
The Lion Emperor disregarded the threat, saying, "Great Ming State Master, top of the ancestral land, the emperor has admired you for a long time. Suppressing the Taixu Venerable proves your power. But the emperor would like to tell you, there is an enormous gap between supreme beings."
The Taixu Venerable had cultivated for many years, but compared to the Lion Emperor, he was an absolute junior. His power was insignificant in the Lion Emperor's eyes.
As the Lion Emperor said, even among the supreme beings, there were strengths and weaknesses. A supreme being like the Taixu Venerable, even with the Taixu Mirror, wouldn't stand a chance against the Lion Emperor.
Therefore, even if Pei Xuanjing suppressed the Taixu Venerable, the Lion Emperor wouldn't consider him a threat.
"Lion Emperor, do not be overly confident." Master of Mystiq Sky sneered.
The Lion Emperor was indeed powerful, but having witnessed Pei Xuanjing suppressing the Taixu Venerable and the power he displayed, Master of Mystiq Sky would never consider him weak.
If the real body of the Lion Emperor appeared today, he might still think the result of the fight is uncertain, but with just an incarnation, it seemed a bit overconfident.
"Really?" the Lion Emperor, with an arrogant look, shifted his gaze onto Pei Xuanjing.
Faced with such a challenge and knowing it was orchestrated, Pei Xuanjing could no longer remain silent.
Pei Xuanjing took a step forward, looking at the Lion Emperor, "Why don't we give it a try?"
In the face of doubt, he stood unwavering, choosing to meet force with force.
Where supreme beings of the human race were concerned, he might be somewhat humble, but facing the Demon Race, both in principle and reason, Pei Xuanjing would never back down.
Moreover, at this stage, although Pei Xuanjing had not truly entered the Strongest Realm of the Nine Realms of Spirit, he was absolutely confident in his power, favored by the will of Heaven and Earth, and blessed with Divine Position power, he was confident to fight any supreme being.
Even if the Lion Emperor was known as the number one demon being, Pei Xuanjing held no fear.
Let alone its incarnation's appearance now, even if its true body was present, Pei Xuanjing wouldn't back down in the least.
"Hahaha, the name of the Great Ming State Master is indeed not in vain. Not to mention his power, this courage alone is to be admired. In all these years, it seems no one has dared to speak to me like that." The Lion Emperor laughed heartily, his voice resounding, but his gaze held a shred of anger.
As expected, he had dominated the Demon Race for thousands of years, and since he suppressed the Demon supremes and ascended to the throne, he had been the supreme ruler, his power sweeping across all.
Even Master of Mystiq Sky, who ruled the Righteous Path of the human race, wouldn't dare to treat him like this.
How could being disrespected by a junior, like now, not anger the Lion Emperor?
"There's always a first time for everything, and you'll get used to it over time." Pei Xuanjing retorted.
"Lion Emperor, if you think that I am not capable, why not measure my power for yourself?"
"Just you, wants to challenge majesty? Leave it to me to test your skill." On one side, King Niu hummed.
The Lion Emperor was the supreme ruler of the Demon Race, the number one demon, and Pei Xuanjing was only a junior of the human race. His power was only at Spirit Realm Eightfold. Without certain means, how could he be an equal?
To King Niu's word, Pei Xuanjing just glanced at him, then said coldly, "I have heard that the Lion Emperor is the supreme ruler of the Demon Race. Now it seems, his reputation is not justified!" On his face, a touch of mockery, then said, "I have been speaking with the Lion Emperor, and this Demon King wants to make decisions for the Lion Emperor?"
"You young human, all you know is how to stir up trouble. Take this punch from me!" King Niu was greatly enraged and attacked abruptly.
This demon king was naturally hot-tempered. Hearing Pei Xuanjing's mocking words, he naturally would retaliate.
King Niu, naturally endowed with divine strength, even in this physical incarnation, possessed astonishing power. The punch he slammed down trembled the void, as if even the space itself was about to shatter.
The terrifying power charged directly at Pei Xuanjing. The faces of many other powerful beings also changed slightly, surprised by this bull's abrupt attack with zero warning.
Even though both sides had just presented tough postures earlier, in reality, everyone was aware it was merely posturing to test each other's limits.
After all, destruction was easier than construction. While the Demon Race couldn't establish a foothold in the Ancestral Land like the human race, if they were hell-bent on causing disturbance and delaying the human's progress, they could certainly achieve it.
This fact had rendered the humans' current plan null and void. Now that the Demon Race had discovered their intentions, the only option left was to renegotiate an agreement, failing to pull the wool over their eyes.
But the assault from this bull catch everyone by surprise, including the other powerful beings from the Demon Race who hadn't expected this bull to be so easily provoked, and to act out so recklessly regardless of the situation.
"But it's good this bull made a move, as it allows us to test the limits of the human race."
"This bull, among us demon kings, is quite strong. Let him confront Pei Xuanjing and assess his abilities, to see if he is truly as powerful as the rumors suggest."
"…"
Faced with King Niu's attack, the other demon kings did not stop him. Those who had enough strength to intervene did not, instead, they let him act as they wished to test the waters.
Even the Lion Emperor held a similar attitude at this moment. All eyes were on Pei Xuanjing, curious about his response.
"Heh, just that."
Faced with this sudden punch from King Niu, Pei Xuanjing was taken aback, but remained calm and collected.
In an instant, he stood in the void, not moving an inch, his momentum surging. His inner alchemy circulated within him, releasing and amplifying his Qi, followed by the circulation of his Shenxiao Origin Qi. A torrent of formidable aura surged to the sky, causing the horizon to change dramatically in reaction.
Boom!
Pei Xuanjing stepped forward, his movements stirring countless currents of Qi. He let out a punch, where the violent force resembled the outpour of water from a broken Heavenly River, raging and immense.
This punch, compared to the one King Niu had just unleashed, lacked nothing in strength.
When this punch was thrown, it was not a surprise for the strong humans who had witnessed Pei Xuanjing's abilities not long ago.
However, the strong demons were greatly shocked. After all, the Demon Race was known for their strength, and especially King Niu who had a divine strength. Yet Pei Xuanjing, a mere human, showed equal vigour.
They had been prepared for when King Niu attacked and were aware that his opponent would be able to handle it. After all, anyone with a reputation had shown their worth. However, they had thought that Pei Xuanjing would deal with it through divine powers, not by countering it with pure physical strength.
Boom!
The two terrifying forces collided, shaking the air and shattering space. Despite the confrontation being a mere collision of raw physical power, the resulting shockwaves were still terrifying. The impact between the two created wave-like ripples radiating outwards in all directions.
Were it not for the fact that the spectators were the incarnations of the strongest beings, the mere aftermath of this confrontation alone would have been unbearable.
"You're actually on par with my power. What kind of monster are you!" King Niu's face was in shock, voicing his disbelief.
It was this divine strength that gave him the confidence to roam Heaven and Earth. Even among the Demon Race, not even the Lion Emperor, a royal, could outmatch him in terms of strength alone.
Yet now, in front of a human, he found himself matched in pure physical strength. This was simply unimaginable.
He didn't believe it, he assumed the human must have relied on some other method. He wanted to test it again.
"Ten Thousand Spirit Body Forging Skill, I never thought anyone could successfully cultivate this skill." The Lion Emperor stopped King Niu who wanted to attack again, then coldly addressed Pei Xuanjing.
Ten Thousand Spirit Body Forging Skill!
Upon hearing the name, many strong beings immediately recalled the origin of this cultivation technique.
In particular, many strong individuals of the demonic way. The Blood Fiend Ancestor murmured to himself: "I knew the Body Refining technique that he showed when we last fought seemed familiar, so he had cultivated the Ten Thousand Spirit Body Forging Skill."
The Ten Thousand Spirit Body Forging Skill was common in the Sky Wasteland. It was created by a powerful cultivator at the Nine Realms of Spirit level of the demonic way. He had created this technique after countless battles with demonic beasts and combining with the Dao of Body Refining.
They were naturally aware of this technique crafted by a powerful individual, but they never imagined that the human, Pei Xuanjing, would cultivate it.
"Indeed, good eye, Lion Emperor," Pei Xuanjing didn't attempt to hide it.
"As far as I know, no one has ever successfully cultivated this skill. The national master is truly extraordinary," the Blood Fiend Ancestor communicated through a voice transmission to a powerful demon standing next to him after hearing Pei Xuanjing's acknowledgment.
After this technique was created, even its creator, that powerful cultivator of the demonic way, never practiced it, only passing it on to his disciples for cultivation.
However, those who tried to cultivate this skill all met with death in the end, none survived.
This wasn't a simple demonic cultivation technique. Unlike the slow cultivation process of the regular Body Refining technique, it allowed the cultivator to use the blood essence of demonic beasts to speed up the cultivation process, advancing at a pace that would not lose to the speed of the Dao of Qi Refining.
However, where there was a benefit, there was a drawback. The rapid improvement acquired from the demonic beast essence would cause the cultivator to be bound by it, leading to turmoil in the Qi within their body and inevitable death from their body exploding.
"Perhaps it's because this National Master is extraordinary?" the powerful demon replied privately.
Over the thousands of years, countless people had been confident that they were the exceptional ones who could solve the problem, but all ended in failure.
To this day, even the disciples of the demonic way would rarely choose to cultivate this technique out of desire for rapid progress in cultivation.
Now that Pei Xuanjing had successfully cultivated it, did it mean that he had resolved this issue?