Chapter 646 - 12: Blood Rice

The ruling Demons in Celestial Stone Kingdom were the Earth-Shaking Hog Dragons, famed for their thick hides and tough flesh. The kingdom was home to a great number of Pig Demons.

Pig Demons and Wolf Demons are natural enemies. Despite the Demon Court's repeated attempts to mediate, relations between Celestial Chime Kingdom and Yingyue Kingdom remained extremely tense. The Demon Wolves from Yingyue Kingdom frequently invaded Celestial Chime Kingdom to prey on its Demon People.

For this reason, Celestial Chime Kingdom stationed a Demon Army permanently on its border with Yingyue Kingdom to guard against Demon Wolf incursions.

Although the Rescue Army had two Flying Boats patrolling back and forth along the Yingyue Kingdom's border, hunting down Demons who tried to flee east, the Demon Wolves were, after all, more familiar with the local geography. Quite a few slipped through the net.

However, most of these Wolf Demons, who had gone through untold hardships to escape to Celestial Chime Kingdom, were captured by the Celestial Chime Demon Army and treated as marauders who had invaded the Demon Country to hunt its Demon People.

A Demon Wolf, having reverted to its true form, was trapped in a net. It struggled desperately, but to no avail.

Several Pig Demons, who had mostly achieved human Transformation but still had pig ears and snouts, were viciously beating the Demon Wolf with clubs.

"You idiots! The Human Race has already broken through Yingyue Kingdom's defenses and slaughtered its people! Once Yingyue Kingdom is gone, your Celestial Chime Kingdom won't be far from destruction!"

The Pig Demons' blows were vicious, beating the Demon Wolf half to death.

The Demon Wolf coughed up blood as it cursed.

Among the Pig Demons was one who had fully transformed. Aside from slightly large ears and a big nose, he bore almost no trace of his demonic origins.

He was an officer of Celestial Chime Kingdom and carried a trace of the Earth-Shaking Hog Dragon's bloodline, though it didn't show on the outside.

The Pig Demon officer snorted contemptuously.

"You'll say any lie to save your own skin. The Human Race is a world away, and our Demon Court's army is unstoppable. How could they possibly appear on the borders of my Celestial Chime Kingdom? Beat him harder! Even if the Eclipsing Moon Great Saint of your Yingyue Kingdom showed up today, I'd still beat you to death myself!"

The Demon Wolf closed its eyes in despair.

"The Eclipsing Moon Great Saint was killed by those Human Race Cultivators long ago."

The Pig Demon officer froze, a suspicious look on his face. No matter how much the Wolf Demons of Yingyue Kingdom lied, they would never dare lie about their Great Saint.

A sense of unease crept into his heart.

"Stop hitting him! Go ask the other towns if they've caught any fleeing Wolf Demons."

Although these Wolf Demons often invaded Celestial Chime Kingdom, they always did so in small groups. If other fortresses were also seeing Wolf Demons fleeing eastward, it probably meant that something truly terrible had happened in Yingyue Kingdom.

Just as a thousand thoughts raced through his mind, a violent fluctuation of Spiritual Qi suddenly erupted from the distant sky. Even Demons with dull Spiritual Sense, like the Pig Demons, could clearly feel it.

Instinctual fear made every Demon present tremble, their bodies frozen stiff.

"Quick! Flee into the fortress!"

The Earth-Shaking Hog Dragon possessed Dragon Blood, making it a draconic species with the Talent to turn earth to steel. The many fortresses on Celestial Chime Kingdom's border were all built by the Earth-Shaking Hog Dragons. Even without Arrays, they were nearly as impregnable as the strongholds of Human Cultivators, which were reinforced with all manner of Array Restrictions.

Some Pig Demons, as if waking from a dream, scrambled and crawled toward the fortress. Others remained frozen in a daze.

The Pig Demon officer could no longer bother with his subordinates; he was the first to charge into the fortress.

Just a few breaths later, a scorching True Fire took the shape of a dragon and came roaring down.

The Demons outside the fortress were instantly obliterated, caught in just the aftershock of the Fire Dragon.

Under the intense heat of the Spiritual Fire, the sturdy fortress quickly melted and collapsed. The Pig Demons who had hidden inside only survived for a few extra breaths before they too were turned to ash.

The helmsman on the Flying Boat performed a quick scan with a Water Mirror Technique. Confirming there was no trace of Demon Qi, they steered the Flying Boat deeper into Celestial Chime Kingdom.

In groups of three Flying Boats, the Rescue Army brazenly invaded Celestial Chime Kingdom from Yingyue Kingdom.

The fortresses along Celestial Chime Kingdom's border had no way to resist the Flying Boats and were destroyed with ease.

Using maps confiscated from Yingyue Kingdom and scans from their Water Mirror Technique, they flew toward Celestial Chime Kingdom's cities and demon fields.

Unlike in Yingyue Kingdom, the Pig Demons of Celestial Chime Kingdom were one of the few Demon types in the Demon Court who were exceptionally skilled at farming and cultivation. Celestial Chime Kingdom had several vast demon fields, and the provisions produced there accounted for over thirty percent of the Demon Court's total supply.

For this very reason, the Demon Court had dispatched an elite Demon Army under its direct command to guard the area.

In the boundless demon fields, countless Pig Demons bustled among the ten-foot-tall stalks of Biluo Blood Rice, mixing foul-smelling fresh blood with turbid water to irrigate the roots.

If not for the fact that these Pig Demons were half-pig, half-human, with ferocious faces, the scene might have been almost pastoral.

Biluo Blood Rice was a type of Spirit Plant native to the Western Continent. It thrived in Muddy Veins, and irrigating it with turbid spring water mixed with fresh blood could accelerate its growth and improve its quality.

Many of the Demon Races in the Demon Court favored bloody meals and utterly despised vegetarian food, yet they could accept Biluo Blood Rice.

The blood rice contained abundant Blood Qi and Muddy Qi, allowing Demons to restore their Demon Power and increase their Cultivation by eating it, even in places rich with Spiritual Qi.

The blood rice in these demon fields was the lifeline for tens of millions of soldiers in the Demon Army on the front lines, so the Demon Army stationed here dared not be the least bit negligent. Not only were several Mingyi Dogs, who were highly sensitive to changes in the Spiritual Mechanism, on guard, but a group of Cultivators who had defected from the Six Sects had also been brought in to set up Warning Arrays inside and outside the demon fields.

The ones responsible for commanding this Demon Army were the Nine Nether Great Saint and the Heavenly Evil Great Saint, both of whom held immense prestige in the Demon Court.

Among the many Demon Saints of the Demon Court, the Power of these two ranked near the top. The Demon Court had stationed them in Celestial Chime Kingdom specifically to prevent Nascent Soul Cultivators from the Six Sects from sneaking in to destroy the demon fields and cut off the army's provisions.

Compared to guarding fields for the army, the Nine Nether Great Saint and Heavenly Evil Great Saint much preferred charging onto the front lines to enjoy a meal of blood and flesh.

The flesh and blood of Cultivators, nourished by Spiritual Qi, was far superior to that of the fodder-humans raised on Muddy Qi.

Today, the two Great Saints were feasting. Pig Demon after Pig Demon carried in enormous platters, setting them down with trembling hands, terrified that the two feasting Great Saints might get carried away and casually devour them as well.

On the platters were cooked fodder-humans.

Demons were savages who ate raw meat and drank blood; even these two Great Saints had not changed their fundamental nature.

The fodder-humans were simply steamed in baskets, not even bled out first.

At the feast, several Cultivators who had defected to the Demon Court wore troubled expressions. If the fodder-humans had been prepared with more skill, they would have held their noses and eaten. But as it was, the dirt was still on the soles of the fodder-humans' feet. How could they bring themselves to take a bite?

"What's this? Are you trying to disrespect me?"

A covetous glint flashed across the Nine Nether Great Saint's brutish face.

'These Cultivators in front of me look far more appetizing than any fodder-human.'

"Great Saint, we'll eat right now, right now."

One of the Cultivators was about to grit his teeth and cut off a piece of flesh when his expression suddenly changed drastically.

"Not good! We're being invaded!"