The First Demon of the Chan Sect-Chapter 278 - 224 The Beginning of the Human Clan’s Tribulation

Chapter 278: Chapter 224 The Beginning of the Human Clan’s Tribulation

With a wry smile, he rubbed his arm that was sore from An Qi’s grip and said, "Brother An Qi, can you ease up a little? Isn’t it supposed to be Hou Yi’s turn to patrol today? Why are you the one on duty?"

"Damn it, don’t even mention it!" An Qi cursed resentfully, "That kid Hou Yi must have some kind of damn good luck. Despite overusing his heart power and essence blood, he actually survived against the odds. After waking up, not only has his heart power greatly increased, but he has also shown signs of a breakthrough recently! All the Ancestor Witches are ecstatic, giving that guy Hou Yi enough freedom, wanting him to break through to the Great Witch realm in a short time! And here I am, pulled in to fill in the ranks!"

Qing Tuo was shaken all over and said ecstatically, "Brother Hou Yi is about to make a breakthrough?"

An Qi’s eyes flashed with a hint of envy and fervent admiration, "Yes! With that, our Witch Tribe will have thirteen Ancestor Witches. Let’s see how the Demon Race can still compete with us!"

Qing Tuo nodded and said, "Quickly, go inform Ancestor Witch Gonggong that I have made an important discovery to report!"

An Qi gave Qing Tuo a curious look, didn’t ask further, and immediately entered the hall to report.

After about the time it takes to drink a cup of tea, An Qi came striding out and said, "Brother Qing Tuo, the Ancestor Witches have summoned you! Come with me!"

In the middle of the Ancestral Witch Hall, there was a huge square table about several zhang in length, around which the Twelve Ancestor Witches sat in order, watching with interest as Qing Tuo entered the hall.

With green hair and blue face, and between the breaths, two serpent-like streams of water appeared in and out of his nose and mouth. The Water Ancestor Witch Gonggong asked, "Qing Tuo, what trick are you up to this time?"

Qing Tuo revealed a bitter smile and said, "Qing Tuo greets all Ancestor Witches. This time, during my travels, I have discovered a great secret. This matter concerns the grand strategy for the future of our Witch Tribe, so Qing Tuo did not dare to neglect it and hurried back to the Witch Tribe’s territory to seek an audience with all the Ancestor Witches!"

The Ancestor Witches glanced at each other, and Zhu Jiuyin, with a puzzled look, said, "What major event is it? Speak in detail."

Qing Tuo swallowed and said, "On my return from my travels, I came across a wondrous sight! The Human Clan, created by Nuwa Saint and allies of our Witch Tribe, is indeed quite interesting. Many of them have been slaughtered by the Demon Race, and after death, their resentful spirits linger, transformed into fierce ghosts and souls, often ferocious beyond measure. When they swarm together and devour the enemy’s Primordial Spirits, absorbing essence energy, I observed that although individually they are weak, if thousands, millions come together, they can shake Heaven and Earth and annihilate gods and demons effortlessly. And the Demon Race mostly cultivates Primordial Spirits, which struggle to resist such sinister beings, their natural bane."

Upon hearing this, the twelve Ancestor Witches were greatly startled and asked, "Is what you’ve seen and heard truly so?"

Qing Tuo gravely nodded and said, "What Qing Tuo has said, every word is true, not a single falsehood."

Heaven and Earth Taoist stood up from a corner, speaking eerily, "According to you, what should be done?"

Qing Tuo bowed to the Heaven and Earth Taoist and said, "Our Witch Tribe has a formidable fleshly body, naturally proficient in the powers of various Laws. But we do not possess a Primordial Spirit and cannot use Spiritual Treasures. If we use Witch Clan secret techniques to create a Soul-gathering Banner, and use the Banner as a lure to gather thousands of fierce ghosts and souls! Although this method is time-consuming and labor-intensive, at least it does not rely on the power of the Primordial Spirit to operate. When battling the Demon Race, our Witch Tribe can use the Twelve Dutian Godly Evil Formation to counter the Demon Race’s Celestial Stars Formation. Then releasing the Soul-gathering Banner in the sky can instantly cause fatalities across a thousand miles. These fierce ghosts are invisible and intangible, not something ordinary spells can exterminate, and under their mass, how could the Demon Race even have the strength to fight back! Thus, victory would be within our grasp!"

As soon as Qing Tuo’s words ended, he noticed the twelve Ancestor Witches looking at him with an extremely strange gaze. Among these looks were disappointment, anger, and sorrow!

"Qing Tuo, do you realize your fault?" Heaven and Earth Taoist looked at Qing Tuo expressionlessly, with murderous intent surging all around, and an overwhelming aura!

Qing Tuo, greatly surprised, looked at all the Ancestor Witches and the Heaven and Earth Taoist, wondering, "Having thought of this method to relieve the tribulation of our tribes, where have I sinned?"

Thinking this, Qing Tuo bowed deeply and said, "Honored deity, what crime has Qing Tuo committed?"

"Hmph!" The Heaven and Earth Taoist snorted coldly and said, "Although the Human Clan was created by Nuwa, they ultimately honor Ancestor Witch Hou Tu as the Holy Mother. If we resort to slaughter to defeat the Demon Race, that would be inhumane. The Human Clan has coexisted with our Witch Tribe for hundreds of millions of years, they build homes for us, make clothes, and craft pottery for our use, we two are as brethren in life and death. If we cause wanton slaughter for the power of souls, that would be unjust! You want us, descendants of Pangu, to become heartless and unjust?"

Upon hearing this, Qing Tuo burst into laughter and said, "All the Ancestor Witches and honored deity have misunderstood Qing Tuo’s intention! Our Witch Tribe and the Human Clan are brothers through generations, how could I ever lead our Witch Tribe into the realm of injustice?"

Hou Tu, naturally compassionate, was taken aback and said, "Then what do you mean?"

Qing Tuo ceased his laughter and said, "The human clan has frail bodies and short lifespans. Although there are many who practice cultivation and body refinement, the human population numbers in the billions. Over these hundreds of millions of years, countless members of our tribe have perished. After these human brothers die, their souls drift away, eventually reaching the Netherworld Blood Sea. Under the influence of the Blood Sea’s environment, they eternally howl and consume each other, losing all spiritual intelligence. If we were to gather these souls into the Soul-gathering Banner, not only would our human brothers suffer no harm, but it would also fulfill our duty of loyalty and righteousness!"

Upon hearing these words, the Ancestral Witch Hall fell into silence for a moment. Although Qing Tuo’s suggestion still seemingly inflicted harm on the human clan, ultimately it did not directly involve them. It seemed to be a feasible solution.

"But those souls ultimately belong to the human clan!" Houtu, after a long silence, spoke softly with a whimper.

The Heaven and Earth Taoist said, "At this time, Heaven and Earth are not yet perfect. The fierce souls and evil spirits of the human clan, aside from possession, can only follow their instincts to consume each other. They lack consciousness and are mechanically inflicting harm upon each other, increasing the amount of killing in the Primordial Heaven and Earth. In my view, until ’that place’ has been established, the Soul-gathering Banner might just be the best resting place for these human souls!"

Houtu suddenly looked up, her gaze burning as she stared at the Heaven and Earth Taoist, and asked, "What does Brother Qingming mean by ’that place’?"

The pupils of the Heaven and Earth Taoist suddenly constricted, and he said, "It’s nothing, Sister Houtu is overthinking!"

Houtu gave the Heaven and Earth Taoist a deep, meaningful glance but said nothing further.

"Good, then let’s proceed with Qing Tuo’s suggestion and craft the Soul-gathering Banner! However, no one may harm any member of the human clan in the interest of expediency. Those who violate this decree shall be executed without mercy!" Di Jiang gently slapped the table, his voice resolute.

In the following hundred years or so, the atmosphere throughout the Primordial Heaven and Earth once again became enigmatic.

First, the Demon Race began gathering in small numbers, sending out a large number of Demon Secret Agents who mysteriously roamed through the Primordial Heaven and Earth and within the regions of the Primordial Continent; none of the many powers knew what the Demon Race intended to do.

In fact, when Di Jun previously rushed to Nuwa Palace and received no clear response from Nuwa, he knew that Nuwa was also hesitant. Hence, he steeled himself—rather than hesitating, he might as well take small scale action against the human clan first and see how the Saints would react. Di Jun then sent many Demon Secret Agents to discreetly investigate the distribution of the human clan’s powers across the Primordial Land while secretly slaughtering members of the human clan.

Tens of millions of humans perished, yet considering the human clan’s development over hundreds of millions of years, their population had long surpassed the trillions; the loss of merely tens of millions of people was barely noticeable. Although the Saints and Witch Tribe were aware, they did not take it to heart, with the Witch Tribe even rejoicing over the sudden increase in fierce human spirits. Little did they know that a deeper crisis was rapidly approaching the human clan.

While the Demon Race was acting, Li Qingming, far away on Penglai Island, had already sensed it. However, this was the Great Dao’s first test for the human clan to see if they could become the main protagonists of Heaven and Earth, and if he were to rashly interfere, it would certainly destroy the human clan’s potential to be the leading force of Heaven and Earth.

Li Qingming stood alone by the Lotus Pond, staring off to the edge of the East Sea, and sighed, "No destruction, no establishment! I hope the Demon Race doesn’t go too far; otherwise, they cannot blame me for not reminiscing about past sentiment!"

Feeling restless in his heart, Li Qingming gazed absently for a long while before returning to the back mountains. He then sealed the cave entrance and went into closed-door cultivation!

...

When Di Jun first started slaughtering humans, he was very cautious, fearing that he might anger the Witch Tribe and the Saints. But seeing that nobody came to stop him, the Demon Race became increasingly bold, with the scale of the slaughter expanding constantly from millions to tens of millions and even hundreds of millions at a time.

Soon, the Witch Tribe located in the distant Netherworld Sea sensed that something was amiss. Originally, only a few hundred to a thousand human souls joined the Netherworld Sea each day, but lately, the number had been increasing by millions or even tens of millions. Xiang Liu, the Great Witch who was responsible for collecting human souls in the Netherworld Sea, urgently relayed the news back to the Ancestral Witch Hall.

Hearing this, the Twelve Ancestor Witches were startled and promptly dispatched their people to thoroughly investigate. Within half an hour, the clansmen reported:

The Demon Race, under Di Jun’s commands, were continually assembling, initiating with small-scale massacres of the human clan to harvest their essence blood. Later, they began large-scale slaughters. The Demon Race, when They slaying humans, not only took their essence blood and bodies, but they also used extremely brutal methods, resulting in intense anger within the dying humans, transforming into vindictive energy and becoming fierce ghosts.

Although the Demon Race did not care for these ghosts, they did not take it seriously since the Heavenly God Slaughter Array sent by the Heavenly Court were all at Golden Immortal Level. They killed so swiftly that the souls did not turn into fierce ghosts before the area was evacuated, leaving no one to deal with these fierce ghosts.

Even though these fierce ghosts mostly drifted toward the Netherworld Blood Sea, some with deep resentment lingered for a long time in the places of their death. This led to countless fierce ghosts haunting casual human settlements across the Primordial Land. One could see numerous wisps of black smoke even during the daytime, and at night, the incessant howling made for an incredibly eerie scene, chilling to the core.

On hearing this, the Twelve Ancestor Witches were furious. The human clan and Witch Tribe were akin to life-and-death siblings, mutually dependent for protection. Now that the Demon Race was wantonly slaughtering humans, it was like a heavy slap to the Witch Tribe’s face – how could they not be enraged?

Thus, the Twelve Ancestor Witches ordered their subordinates, barring those guarding the tribe, to scatter across the Primordial Heaven and Earth to rescue and gather the human clan. They were given orders to kill any encountered Demon Race member without hesitation, leaving none alive! (To be continued. If you like this work, welcome to Qidian (qidian.com) to vote for recommendation tickets and monthly tickets. Your support is my greatest motivation. Mobile users, please visit m.qidian.com to continue reading.)