……
After the Ancient Divine Dragon and the Demon King perished together, the gods of this world truly fell.
The place where the two gods fought became the Land of Fallen Gods, a place that devoured all life and vitality. According to legend, not even light could survive within the Land of Fallen Gods.
The Land of Fallen Gods stretched for tens of thousands of miles in length and thousands of miles in width, completely separating the northern and southern wilderness.
For countless years, the northern and southern wilderness looked down on each other.
The northern wilderness despised the southern wilderness for being backward and uncivilised. Even the chief of a tribe with a hundred thousand people did not own a single silk garment.
The southern wilderness, on the other hand, despised the northern wilderness as mongrels. They believed those living in humanity’s former homeland had become too much like humans. Otherwise, how could there be so many Near Human clans in the northern wilderness?
Now, the northern wilderness was on the verge of being completely united under the Motuo Empire.
Meanwhile, the southern wilderness remained a loose collection of scattered tribes. They rejected almost everything from the north, including every refugee who fled from there.
The Motuo Empire swept across the entire northern wilderness, destroying countless barbarian tribes.
Countless barbarians travelled around the Land of Fallen Gods, crossing the sea and traversing glaciers, hoping to find refuge in the southern wilderness.
Instead, they were met with complete rejection and slaughter.
Even so, over the past few decades, at least tens of millions of barbarians had fled from the northern wilderness. Although only one in ten managed to enter the southern wilderness, that still amounted to several million people.
……
For countless years, the southern wilderness had clung to its primitive and backward traditions. The Eight Barbarian Kings each guarded their own territory without interfering with one another.
In ancient times, the thirteen Demon Kings who served beneath the Demon God Monarch all ruled territories within the southern wilderness. Their border with the human kingdoms was the area now known as the Land of Fallen Gods.
In other words, the tens of thousands of miles that now formed the northern wilderness had once all belonged to human civilisation.
The Demon God Monarch led an army of ten million demons northward, invading the human kingdoms and destroying countless nations, reducing humanity’s territory to less than one tenth of what it had once been.
That was how the northern wilderness came into existence, as newly conquered demon territory.
Of the thirteen Demon Kings, eight were granted lands in the southern wilderness, while five ruled in the northern wilderness.
After the Demon God Monarch and the Divine Dragon perished together, the thirteen Demon Kings also fell. Every ancient demon vanished into dust.
Countless years later, the five Demon Kings of the northern wilderness had almost disappeared without a trace. Now, the entire northern wilderness had been conquered by the peerless powerhouse Di Motuo, who appeared only once in a thousand years, and who founded the Motuo Empire.
As for the eight Demon Kings of the southern wilderness, apart from suffering heavy losses during the century of the Ghost King Empire, they had otherwise remained intact.
Even now, all eight still existed, although they were often referred to as the Eight Barbarian Kings.
After the ancient demons fell, true demons no longer existed, and naturally, neither did true Demon Kings.
Rakshasa, the Barbarian King of the southeast, was considered the most open minded among the Eight Barbarian Kings. Faced with refugees pouring in from the northern wilderness, he generally chose to turn a blind eye.
Constantine could be regarded as a minor overlord himself, yet to marry his daughter to the son of the Southeastern Barbarian King as a concubine, he had gone to extraordinary lengths.
So just how great was the distance between Constantine and King Rakshasa?
Constantine was merely the chief of a single tribe. Thirteen tribes formed a tribal alliance. Thirteen tribal alliances formed a Banner Alliance. Thirteen Banner Alliances formed a tribal nation. The supreme ruler of that tribal nation was King Rakshasa.
The southern wilderness still strictly followed its traditional Thirteen Banner tribal system.
Of course, after tens of thousands of years, no tribe could still gather all thirteen banners. In fact, not even a single banner could now assemble thirteen tribal alliances.
This was especially true after the rise of the Ghost King Empire several thousand years ago, which caused some tribes to disappear forever.
Even so, King Rakshasa of the southeast still ruled nearly twenty million square kilometres of land and tens of millions of subjects. His status and power were fully comparable to the monarchs of the Four Great Human Kingdoms.
Unlike the human kingdoms, however, becoming a Barbarian King in the southern wilderness depended on only one thing, strength.
Every succession battle for the title of Barbarian King was bloody. Becoming king was simple, kill every one of your rivals with force.
Legitimacy, seniority, virtue, they were all meaningless nonsense.
Whoever among the royal family possessed the strongest martial arts and the greatest strength became the tribal Demon King.
Of course, if a young Barbarian Prince believed he had become strong enough, he could kill his own father immediately and ascend the throne as King Rakshasa.
So just how powerful was King Rakshasa?
Only heaven knew.
One incident offered a glimpse of the answer.
The current King Rakshasa had killed his own father and seized the throne at the age of thirty three.
Now, he was fifty nine years old.
His martial prowess could no longer be described merely as reaching perfection.
……
The journey from the Ghost Domain World to Rakshasa City covered a full five thousand miles.
To provide the Mirror Demon King with enough spiritual energy, and to wipe out Constantine and Alfonso’s thirty thousand allied troops in one decisive strike, Lanling carried the three treasures given to him by the Mirror Demon King and travelled to Rakshasa City to purchase the Ghost King’s Eye.
After leaving the Ghost Domain World, Lanling travelled day and night without rest, running at full speed every day. Seven days later, he arrived at Rakshasa City, the royal capital of the Rakshasa Tribe.
Dozens of miles before reaching the city, Lanling swallowed the Transformation Pill given to him by the Mirror Demon King.
Instantly, his appearance changed within certain limits.
The transformation was not dramatic, yet it gave him the distinct features of the Rakshasa Tribe, his eyes, nose, ears, and even the flexible, powerful tail.
The Transformation Pill was also one of the Mirror Demon King’s treasures, worth an enormous fortune. It had originally been selected for sale to the Heavenly Pavilion in exchange for the Ghost King’s Eye.
Unfortunately, Lanling needed it himself.
Each Transformation Pill lasted only seven days.
The Mirror Demon King’s treasure collection contained only three of them. Every pill used meant one less remained, so Lanling naturally could not bear to sell them.
This treasure was simply too useful.
……
Standing before Rakshasa City, Lanling was completely overwhelmed by a city of the wilderness for the first time.
It was… truly… unbelievably enormous!
The city walls were at least thirty metres high.
As for flying mounts, something incredibly rare in the human kingdoms, all he had to do was look up.
The sky was packed with them.
Countless griffins and every imaginable kind of flying beast filled the air.
Even more astonishing, the guards standing watch at the massive city gates were a squad of two headed giants, each over five metres tall. Their fists were larger than Lanling’s head, and the spiked clubs they carried weighed several thousand jin.
Most of the people passing through the gates belonged to the Rakshasa Tribe.
However, every kind of tribe imaginable was represented. Lanling had never seen so many demons, barbarians, and beast folk gathered together.
There were the Snake Tribe, half human and half serpent.
The Thunder Tribe, which resembled gigantic lizards without the slightest trace of a human face.
The Rift Tribe, whose entire bodies looked as though they were made of crimson stone, every step they took seeming to set the ground ablaze.
Lanling’s horizons had truly been broadened.
King Rakshasa was indeed far more tolerant than the tribes beneath him.
Countless tribes entered and left Rakshasa City openly and without fear.
By rank, Rakshasa City was equivalent to Zhidu, the royal capital of the Kingdom of Furious Waves.
Entering and leaving Zhidu was strictly controlled. Everyone had to undergo searches and identity checks.
Rakshasa City required no inspections whatsoever. Anyone could enter or leave freely.
Lanling had carefully prepared a false identity, yet it proved completely unnecessary. The giant gate guards did not even spare him a glance.
Passing beneath the city gates, anyone would feel insignificant.
The twenty metre high gate was simply too magnificent and imposing.
……
After entering Rakshasa City, Lanling was once again struck by one overwhelming impression.
Everything was enormous.
Every building was massive, every road astonishingly wide.
Zhidu was one of the great cities of the human kingdoms, yet in terms of sheer size, it was nowhere near Rakshasa City.
However, cities of the wilderness had nothing to do with elegance.
The buildings were simply huge. There were no carved railings, no beautiful gardens, no luxurious decorations.
Apart from stone and timber, the only embellishments were a few tribal totems.
The roads were extremely wide, yet there was no order whatsoever.
The city possessed far richer supplies than the outlying tribes, but most of those goods were related to warfare and strength.
Exquisite clothing, paintings, porcelain, jade, and other luxuries common in the human kingdoms were exceedingly rare here.
At least here, Lanling finally saw silk. Occasionally, women wore silk garments.
Without exception, each of these women was followed by dozens of barbarian warriors.
Zhidu had countless pleasure houses.
Rakshasa City had none.
It had only brothels.
Here, people sold only their bodies, not artistic performances.
There were an astonishing number of prostitutes, women from almost every race imaginable.
However, Lanling had come to buy the Ghost King’s Eye. Time was short, and he had no leisure to appreciate the sights of Rakshasa City.
He stopped a Rakshasa patrol warrior.
“Excuse me, where is the Heavenly Pavilion?”
The Rakshasa warrior glanced at Lanling and simply held out his hand.
Lanling placed one gold coin into it.
The warrior casually pointed into the distance before walking away without another word.
Lanling was speechless.
With such a careless gesture, how was anyone supposed to find the place?
Then he looked in the direction indicated and realised he actually could find it.
The building stood out far too much.
Every other structure in Rakshasa City was crude, massive, and rough.
Only this building was exquisitely beautiful.
Although it was still built of timber and stone, it featured carved railings, ornamental stonework, and brilliantly coloured decorations.
Among all the buildings of Rakshasa City, it stood out like a crane among chickens.
It was as though, in the middle of a tribe of primitive people, stood a graceful beauty dressed in a cheongsam.
This was the Heavenly Pavilion.
The richest place in Rakshasa City.
The most magnificent place.
The place with the greatest collection of treasures.
……
Lanling stepped into the Heavenly Pavilion.
Once again, he was struck by its splendour.
Soft carpets.
Elegant chairs.
Finely carved jade cups.
Exquisite silverware.
Every corner radiated luxury.
For a moment, Lanling truly felt as though he had returned to the human kingdoms.
The Heavenly Pavilion consisted of three buildings, the tallest rising nine storeys high.
It even contained a sizeable garden.
The moment Lanling entered, he was greeted by a sea of beautiful women.
It seemed as though every beauty in Rakshasa City had gathered there.
Not only that, silk garments, rarely seen outside, had become standard attire here.
Every counter was crowded with customers.
When Lanling looked at the merchandise behind the counters, he was astonished.
Almost every item had come from the human kingdoms.
To put it simply, they were all luxury goods meant for wealthy noble families.
Furthermore, among the attendants selling the merchandise behind the counters, there were actually humans.
Lanling was genuinely shocked.
To encounter humans tens of thousands of miles away in barbarian territory was beyond imagination.
Humans and barbarians were mortal enemies who killed each other on sight.
Yet here, not only were goods from the human kingdoms openly sold, but human attendants were employed as well.
This mysterious yet extraordinarily powerful King Rakshasa was truly impossible to understand.
For now, however, obtaining the Ghost King’s Eye was the priority.
Lanling put aside his doubts, though he worried the Ghost King’s Eye might already have been sold.
After all, more than three years had passed since its previous owner had sold it to the Heavenly Pavilion.
Lanling chose the oldest shopkeeper and stepped forward.
“Excuse me, is the Brilliant Star Tear still here?”
Since no one knew the Ghost King’s Eye contained immense power, everyone believed it was merely a peerless gemstone, so it had been named the Brilliant Star Tear.
The elderly shopkeeper looked at Lanling in surprise, then nodded.
“Yes. Are you looking to buy it?”
Lanling was immediately overjoyed.
“Yes, I want to buy it!”
……
Time turned back two years.
In this world, if one spoke only of the love between a man and a woman, no woman loved Soren more deeply than Yan Nai’er.
Suo Ningbing loved Soren deeply as well, but her feelings were mixed with the affection of an elder sister. It was not purely romantic love.
After Soren was taken out to sea by Princess Zhiyan and failed to return for a long time, Yan Nai’er and Zhuang Zhixuan became extremely anxious.
They left Tianshui City and headed for the Eastern Sea to search for him.
However, when they reached the shore, they happened to witness the Dragon Temple’s aerial legion flying away.
The vast army stretched endlessly across the sky like a black cloud, flying towards Tianshui City.
At that instant, Yan Nai’er felt darkness close in around her vision, and her head spun violently.
The most terrifying possibility had come to pass.
Yan Nai’er did not know Soren’s identity as the World Destroying Demon Emperor, but she was far from ignorant.
After all, she was the person who had shared his bed.
Soren never cultivated through martial arts. Instead, he grew stronger by killing and devouring others.
He possessed many strange abilities.
He could conceal them from everyone else, but never from Yan Nai’er.
The next moment, Yan Nai’er went mad with panic.
She was about to throw herself into the sea and swim east in search of Soren.
Zhuang Zhixuan remained slightly calmer.
She found a small boat on the shore and forcibly rowed it out to sea using martial strength.
After rowing several hundred miles.
Yan Nai’er and Zhuang Zhixuan were chilled to the bone.
The sea was covered with the wreckage of warships, stretching for dozens of miles.
Countless corpses floated upon the waves.
Hundreds.
Thousands.
Terrified, Yan Nai’er leapt into the sea and desperately searched among them.
She was terrified she might find Soren’s body.
Yet she searched with all her strength anyway.
Then she found a warrior of the Suo Clan clinging to a piece of driftwood, still alive.
When the Dragon Temple’s aerial army had arrived, this Suo Clan warrior had reacted quickly.
He jumped overboard before the devastating attack struck the warship, allowing him to survive until now.
Even so, although he had been hundreds of metres away, the tremendous shockwave had swept him away.
Now he was barely clinging to life.
“My husband? Where is my husband?” Yan Nai’er cried, gripping the warrior tightly by the shoulders.
“My Lady…” The Suo Clan warrior’s eyes lit up.
Using the last of his strength, he said, “Quick… return to Tianshui City. Tell everyone to flee. Tell the Young Master to flee. You must flee too. The farther away, the better.”
Yan Nai’er burst into tears.
“Where is my husband? Where is Soren?”
The warrior replied.
“The Master… is dead. Princess Zhiyan killed him.”
Instantly, Yan Nai’er’s heart shattered.
She spat out a mouthful of blood and collapsed unconscious.
Tears streamed down Zhuang Zhixuan’s face as she trembled.
“Then… where is Master Soren’s body?”
The Suo Clan warrior replied.
“It was burned… drifting south along the sea… Run… My Lady… run…”
Then he could hold on no longer.
He closed his eyes and died.
When Yan Nai’er awoke, her face was deathly pale, drained of every trace of colour.
Only her eyes blazed like flames, as though her very life were burning away.
“I don’t believe my husband is dead. I’m going to find him. I’m going to find him!”
Then Yan Nai’er and Zhuang Zhixuan continued rowing their little boat.
South.
Further south.
Ever south…