âWork faster! His Excellency Black Dragon spared your lives out of the goodness of his heart. Now, though, youâve fallen into my hands and Iâm not quite so kind-hearted. If you want to live, obey me and work! If anyone dares slack off, youâll see: Iâll whip them to death!â
A demon stood on a humanâs back, brandishing a whip and waving it repeatedly.
He faced a group clad in tattered clothes. Most of them were people of the Immortal Region whoâd failed to retreat fast enough and were ultimately captured by demons.
After demon experts sealed the prisonersâ strength, they offered them to their subordinates as slaves.
Whump.
Suddenly, one of the slaves collapsed. These were no ordinary people, but even so, it had already been half a month since theyâd last closed their eyes. No one could sustain such a high-intensity of work for that long.
The onlookers went to support him, only to be greeted by a whip and a surge of piercing pain.
Crack!
As the blow cut deep into the wannabe do-goodersâ flesh, they stepped aside.
The demon overseer walked over, then kicked the fallen slave.
âQuit playing dead. Stand up and get back to work.â
Unfortunately, the manâs consciousness was fuzzy. He didnât want to be whipped and struggled to his feet but lacked the strength to stand.
âHah? Still playing dead? Fine. Iâll let you die for real, then.â
Crack!
The overseer swung his whip without hesitation. It landed on the manâs face, then on his bodyâŠ..
In little more than an instant, the overseer whipped him into a mass of bloody meat.
The others watched in terrifying silence. After whipping the unfortunate fallen slave to death, the oversee turned and glowered at them coldly.
âWhat are you looking at? Get to work!â
The slaves turned, backs bent, and returned to work. Suddenly, a man tossed the thousand-pound wooden plank he was carrying to the ground.
âI refuse to do this anymore.â
âHmph, Iâve yet to break you even after all this time? If my friends find out about this, wonât they make fun of me?
With that, he swung his whip. The rebellious slaveâs eyes reddened as he shouted, âIâll take you on!â
âHmph.â
The demon overseer simply laughed cooly. He no longer used his whip. Instead, he simply reached out, grabbed the man by the head, and tore it right off.
Once the head was separated from its body, the demon overseer casually tossed it into the crowd of slaves.
âDoes anyone else refuse to work? Feel free to speak up.â
No one dared respond. The instant he hefted the rebelâs head, the overseer extinguished the last flickering embers of rebellion from their hearts.
âTch tch tch, isnât this a little too bloody?â
Gu Li stood on the sky, watching. As he saw the overseer dispose of the rebel, he was astonished despite himself. Black Dragon stood to his side watching this play out, his gaze cold.
âTo what do I owe this pleasure?â
âBlack Dragon, Your Excellency, it seems what they say is true: important people have short memories.â Gu Li looked away, then laughed. âHow could you forget that we agreed to work together to defeat the people of the Three Realms?â
âYouâre in such a hurry?â asked Black Dragon in surprise.
âA hurry? Black Dragon, itâs already been more than half a month. Could it be that you think this little patch of land is enough? Youâre not content with just this, are you?â asked Gu Li in surprised curiosity. âWere just a few cities and a handful of slaves really enough to satisfy your grand ambitions?â
âHmph. I donât need you to lecture me,â snorted Black Dragon coldly. âThe Beast Region wonât be as easy to invade as the outer Immortal Region was. Theyâve spent the past tens of thousands of years tightly securing their borders. Furthermore, they already know weâre planning to attack. Do you really think theyâll just let us in?â
âOf course not.â
âThen tell me: will your people pave our way in, or should mine?â asked Black Dragon coolly.
This matter affected both partiesâ benefits. The Beast Region was heavily fortified. Whoever sent in troops first would suffer the heaviest losses.
They were in an alliance, but they were still enemies. Neither wanted to weaken their sideâs armies.
âIt seems you truly werenât just lost in the glory of our recent minor victory. Youâve thought this through!â Gu Li laughed, seemingly unconcerned by this particular problem.
âItâs true: the first side to test the waters will suffer the heaviest losses, but Iâve long-since planned for this. We donât need to send anyone in. Let the people of the Beast Region act on our behalf instead. Isnât that better?â
âCan you do that?â snorted Black Dragon.
âCanât I? Tell me, what do you think Iâve been up to this time? Why havenât I come to see you earlier? I know that an esteemed figure like yourself is above such petty schemes so I took the matter into my own hands. I am, after all, a naturally petty person.â
âYouâre actually quite capable. You even extended your reach into the Beast Region? I imagine youâve got quite a few spies mixed into my armies, too,â said Black Dragon. As he spoke, his expression darkened. He fixed his sharp gaze on Gu Li as if trying to stare directly into his soul.
Gu Liâs face froze briefly. Then he smiled and said, âmy dear Black Dragon, you truly love to tell jokes. Youâve controlled the demons for tens of thousands of years. Even if I wanted to infiltrate their ranks, Iâd need an opportunity to do so first, right? The twelve Demon Sovereigns are all your trusted subordinates. As for ordinary demons, it wouldn't accomplish much even if I did turn them to my side, would it?â
âHmph.â Black Dragon snorted noncommittally, then said, âso you admit that youâve got people in the Beast Region. Iâll leave everything up to you, then. Our elite troops will stay here and accumulate strength. Weâll attack in full force as soon as youâve paved our way in.â
âAlrightâŠ.. Itâs settled, then.â
âMm.â
âŠ...
âSenior Dragon God, these are clansmen weâve chosen.â
Lei Hu, Tu Biyu, and Zhuge Hong entered the main hall of the Dragon Race, each leading a group of six people.
Some of the six were elderly, others in their prime. There were even a few youths.
They seemed completely unperturbed by their impending deaths. Clearly, the clan heads had put a lot of work into preparing them for this.
âSenior Dragon God, your clansmenâŠâŠâ
âCome in.â
With that, another six people entered the man hall. To the clan headsâ astonishment, their ranks included Xia Yingqiu and Xia Yingda and even Xia Keke.
âSenior Dragon God!â Lei Hu was flabbergasted. Sacrificing these six wasnât simply âa devastating loss.â
This would completely destroy the Dragon Clan!
âWhat is it? Do you have a problem?â The Dragon God frowned. He didnât want to use these people either, but the Dragon Race was truly on the decline.
In their entire clan, only these six possessed a pure golden dragon bloodline!
âNoâŠ..â As if sensing the Dragon Godâs deep bitterness, Lei Hu swallowed his words.
Suddenly, the former clan head, Xia Hua, rushed into the hall.
âSenior Dragon God,â he said frantically, âour spiritual formation was wrecked from the inside!â
âWhat!â The clan eldersâ expressions darkened.
Lei Hu roared, âWho? Who did it?â
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