Lu Yun wasn’t worried that his disciple had gone to sort the situation out. As long as Tianqi discovered how to activate the Suppression Seal and deploy the connate treasure of the netherdark, his battle strength would grow by leaps and bounds. Though he still may not be the match of some of these connate demon gods, he would have no trouble defending himself.

…… 

After Ah Bao’s rescue, Lu Yun immediately set up numerous defensive restrictions in her body. They were all rooted in hellfire and thus, incredibly terrifying. With those in place, she would be able to protect herself, even from the likes of ordinary connate demon gods.

……

“Master!” Tianqi stood respectfully by Lu Yun’s side. Pijiu was tied up like a trussed chicken and placed in the central sparring grounds of the Yan Tribe.

The tribe assessed him like a prime cut of meat. They’d feasted like kings on the corpse of Fuzhu when he was delivered by the god of the Yellow River, and their overall strength had indeed improved thanks to the demon god’s core essence. Many Yan youths had ascended to true divinity after that meal. Therefore, the tribespeople swallowed hard upon seeing how closely Pijiu resembled Fuzhu.

Meanwhile, Pijiu’s complexion was ashen, like a dead man walking. He finally understood how terrifying humans could be—they were weak ants who could gnaw away a divine dragon of the nine heavens!

“You’ve done very well!” Lu Yun nodded and looked at Pijiu, continuing coldly, “Do you want to become my disciple’s steed, or do you want to become food for humans?”

Whether it was Fuzhu or Pijiu, neither of them were kind souls. Countless humans had died in their mouths and though it was right and proper for Pijiu to avenge his father, an enemy was still an enemy. Lu Yun wouldn’t show them any kindness.

“I’m… willing, willing… to be a steed!” Pijiu responded haltingly, “I… don’t want to be eaten…”

Lu Yun smiled at Tianqi. “The disciple outshines the master alright, you’re already greater than me. His father wasn’t willing to be my mount no matter what!”

“And wasn’t that because you moved too quickly?” The little fox rolled her eyes. “Fuzhu had already surrendered to you, but you still chopped his head off because you felt like it.”

Lu Yun rubbed his nose as he had no response to that.

Shennong and Jiang Ti turned away while Ah Bao looked highly regretful. She really wanted to see how different Pijiu tasted from Fuzhu.

Delighted, Tianqi danced up to Pijiu and slammed a restriction into his soul, making the demon god his.

“There’s a connate demon god by the name of Qi Sparrow who lives in the Beihao Mountain, which is in the northern reaches of the great wilderness. Go kill him and bring his body back,” Lu Yun suddenly said to Tianqi.

“What?!” The order took everyone aback. He wanted his disciple to kill a connate demon god??

Setting aside whether or not Tianqi could accomplish the task, why did demon gods sound like chickens when Lie Shan talked about them? When did they turn into fruit ripe for the picking at the snap of a finger?

Wasn’t he afraid of angering the other demon gods?

“I hear and obey!” An eager light shone in Tianqi’s eyes when he heard his master’s command.

“You’ll be able to hold your ground at best with the Suppression Seal. But if you can grasp the way to utilize that sickle, you’ll easily kill Qi Sparrow,” Lu Yun said to his disciple. “Go on then, it’s up to you this time.”

Tianqi shook at the reminder and instantly understood. It hadn’t been a coincidence last time that he’d been able to activate the seal with hellfire—his master had surreptitiously helped him from the sidelines.

“This disciple will complete his mission!” Tianqi bowed to Lu Yun and climbed onto Pijiu’s back, vanishing beyond the horizon.

“This… isn’t very good, is it, Lie Shan?” Shennong asked hesitantly after Tianqi left.

“What’s not good about it?” Lu Yun shook his head slightly. “I’m going to pay a visit to the Mu nation located above the East Sea. If we don’t establish our authority now, those demon gods will have further designs on the tribe.

“Besides, that Qi Sparrow slaughtered three thousand human tribes and ate countless members of our race. Now that Holy Emperor Fuxi is gone and Holy Emperor Wahuang protects the human sacred land, I naturally have to take up the mantle of enacting this revenge,” Lu Yun spoke calmly with his hands behind his back.

“Tianqi is following strong in my footsteps and possesses unlimited potential. However, he hasn’t fully unleashed it yet. Though Qi Sparrow is a connate demon god, he doesn’t have any connate treasures and he took form late. He’s only chaos realm, so he’s a perfect target for Tianqi to practice on.”

“…only.” Shennong, Jiang Ti, and the senior priest of the tribe all sighed helplessly.

They hadn’t realized yet that with Lie Shan in their midst, humanity was now on par with the peak tribes of the great wilderness. No one dared provoke any race with a chaos realm great master, but the demon gods repeatedly encroached on humans. They were testing Lu Yun, and if he didn’t respond, they’d become even bolder and get out of hand.

……

A month passed in the blink of an eye. Another big disturbance exploded through the great wilderness when the corpse of an enormous bird passed through the skies, on its way to the Yan Tribe by the banks of the Wei River.

It belonged to the connate demon god Qi Sparrow, and the one flying through the air with it wasn’t Lie Shan, but a young man astride a deer—his disciple Tianqi!

Another demon god had fallen!

It wasn’t Lie Shan responsible for it this time, but the humans still claimed credit!

Though Tianqi wasn’t human, he was no different from being one of them in the eyes of the great masters.

“Qi Sparrow slaughtered three thousand of my race’s tribes and a million of my people.” Tianqi suddenly stopped, walked down from Pijiu’s back, and shouted into the air. “Today, I carry out orders from my master Lie Shan to execute this cretin. May this be a warning to those who would imitate its actions!” 

The soundwaves of his voice boomed through the land, making the murmuring demon gods fall silent.

At the foot of Mount Buzhou, Wahuang processed the rolling announcement with incredulity. She hadn’t thought that Lu Yun would be so domineering that he’d use a demon god as the basis for establishing his authority. Most importantly, it hadn’t been him or Bingyi, the god of the Yellow River, who’d done the deed, but his disciple Tianqi!

How mind-boggling was it that even his disciples could kill connate demon gods?!

“Isn’t he afraid of inspiring the demon gods to band together and attack him?” She smiled wryly.

Leize had once suffered such a fate and fought a battle that’d lasted three thousand years. Countless demon gods had fallen, and Leize himself had suffered innumerable injuries. He’d also become much more reserved after that incident.

And now, Wahuang seemed to foresee Lie Shan going down the same path.