Chapter 170: Jiang and Wu Are Ripe, the World Is Satisfied.

Episode 8, Chapter 10: Jiang and Wu, the Land of Plenty.

Qian Rucheng and the other two Heavenly Demon Gate disciples saw the Thunder God-Demon's figure descend two bolts of lightning from mid-air and fell into complete despair. They had originally harbored a faint hope that this God-Demon would spare them, two mere pawns.

Boom, boom. Two bolts of lightning struck, turning Qian Rucheng and the two Heavenly Demon Gate disciples into ashes. Even the items they carried were completely destroyed, leaving only two craters on the ground.

Evil must be eradicated completely! Meng Chuan never showed mercy to the demon race or the Heavenly Demon Gate. He knew very well that even seemingly weak Heavenly Demon Gate disciples could harm many innocent people. Having joined the Heavenly Demon Gate and thoroughly betrayed humanity, they should not dream of being spared by humans.

Meng Chuan quietly returned to the secret residence with the Heavenly Demon Gate elder.

"Junior Brother Meng," Zhang Junfeng and Yang Fang immediately came to greet him. They also saw the black-robed, goat-bearded old man Meng Chuan was holding.

"He's a Second Heaven Demon," Meng Chuan said. "He was responsible for receiving those spies. Unfortunately, he can transform into a flying bird. If I had been a little slower just now, he would have flown high into the sky and escaped."

"He can transform into a flying bird?" Zhang Junfeng nodded. "He's a Heavenly Demon, so my illusionary techniques might not be enough to interrogate him. I'll go find Junior Brother Cheng Shiyou to question him. Junior Brother Cheng is a Grand Sun Realm Illusory Demon; his illusionary skills are far superior to mine. Interrogating a Second Heaven Demon whose demon power has been sealed shouldn't be difficult."

"We'll go with you," Yang Fang said. "After all, your specialty is your domain. Don't act alone."

"Okay," Zhang Junfeng nodded in agreement.

The three of them quietly left and went to the Yuanchu Mountain Jiangzhou Branch, where they found Cheng Shiyou.

After Zhang Junfeng showed his token, Cheng Shiyou immediately said, "Please wait a moment, Senior Brothers. I will interrogate the Heavenly Demon now."

Inside the hall, right before Meng Chuan and the other two, Junior Brother Cheng performed an illusion. As a top-tier Grand Sun Realm Illusory Demon and one of the important God-Demons openly guarding Jiangzhou City, his strength was in no way inferior to Yu Chiyan of Beihe Pass.

The black-robed, goat-bearded old man, controlled by the illusion, became completely dazed and answered whatever was asked.

"I don't know," the black-robed, goat-bearded old man mumbled. "I'm just responsible for collecting intelligence and reporting it to the Grand Elder. The Grand Elder communicates with the sect."

"Who is the Grand Elder? How do you contact him?" Cheng Shiyou asked.

"He is Chunyu, the Grand Elder of our Wushan Palace lineage. I need to fly to Lanze Lake, six hundred li away..." the goat-bearded old man continued.

Pieces of information flowed from his mouth, but Meng Chuan and the others frowned as they listened.

"Within the Heavenly Demon Gate, everything is linked in a single chain of command, with only one-way contact. It's impossible to trace," Meng Chuan said.

"If it were that easy to uncover, the Heavenly Demon Gate wouldn't have been dormant for so many years," Zhang Junfeng said calmly. "However, I did find one thing: he just mentioned that when the Wushan Palace Master issued orders, he said, 'Among the densely populated areas of the Great Zhou Dynasty, Jiang and Wu are the most important. The mission to investigate the God-Demons in Jiangzhou City is extremely crucial and must be carried out well.'"

"The Wushan Palace Master holds a very high position within the Heavenly Demon Gate. Besides the two Sect Masters, there are seven Palace Masters," Zhang Junfeng explained. "Since he said, 'Among the densely populated areas of the Great Zhou Dynasty, Jiang and Wu are the most important,' then Jiangzhou and Wuzhou... might be the main targets of attack."

"Indeed," Yang Fang and Cheng Shiyou both nodded in agreement.

Meng Chuan's heart tightened. He agreed with Senior Brother Zhang's conjecture, but Wuzhou was his hometown. His father, his father-in-law Liu Ye Bai, and tens of thousands of Meng clan members were all within Dongning Prefecture. The prospect of a demon attack made him anxious. However, he was helpless; all God-Demons were currently under the command of Yuanchu Mountain.

Of course, when formulating the defense system, Yuanchu Mountain would try its best to consider God-Demon families, but the primary goal was always to protect the large population.

"I will write a letter immediately to report everything we've learned from the interrogation to Yuanchu Mountain," Zhang Junfeng said.

Meng Chuan and his companions remained hidden, silently guarding Jiangzhou City as days passed. A 'great migration' of people from various medium and small-sized cities and passes across the land was underway. The demon race occasionally assaulted the passes, but knowing that Marquis God-Demons were present, the demon kings were terrified during these attacks, ready to rush into the world entrance and escape back to the Demon Realm at any moment.

The demons' objective in these assaults was to force the Marquis God-Demons to remain at the passes.

On the morning of March 19, the sky was gloomy, threatening rain at any moment.

Zhang Junfeng and Yang Fang remained in the secret residence, while Meng Chuan, as usual, patrolled the city.

Meanwhile, above the clouds, more than a hundred li away from Jiangzhou City.

Whoosh. A mass of black water flew over. Standing above the black water were eleven figures, led by a bald, black-robed man who stood barefoot on the slowly moving mass of dark water. Behind him, the ten Heavenly Demons each possessed extraordinary aura, yet all were exceptionally respectful.

"Look, there's a flying demon king ahead," the bald, black-robed man said, observing a flying beast more than a li away. His eyes held a hint of pity. "It's a shame. This flying demon king, once free, has been completely controlled and enslaved by a God-Demon. Now it diligently serves the God-Demon, unaware that it was originally a demon king from the Demon Realm."

"This flying beast is probably on an aerial patrol, but even though it's very close to us, it can't see us at all."

"How could this flying demon king possibly break through the Palace Master's techniques?" the Heavenly Demons behind him complimented.

This bald, black-robed man was the Master of Blackwater Palace, one of the Heavenly Demon Gate's seven lineages, and thus held a naturally esteemed position.

Whoosh. The bald, black-robed man extended his hand, remotely enveloping the flying beast. An invisible force acted upon the creature a li away; it immediately struggled in agony, but countless streams of blood flew out from its body. Soon, it became a dried corpse, with not a trace of blood or water left within.

"Let's go, we'll rendezvous with the other demon kings," the bald, black-robed man said, guiding the black water flow and descending with the ten Third Heaven Demons behind him.

A hundred li outside Jiangzhou City.

On a patch of grassland, over a hundred demon kings had gathered: sixteen Third Heaven Demon Kings and one hundred and three Second Heaven Demon Kings.

"They're here." The demon kings saw the distorted scene ahead reveal the bald, black-robed man and the ten Third Heaven Demons behind him.

"Greetings, Blackwater Palace Master," said the leading demon king, bowing. The other hundred-plus demon kings also bowed respectfully.

Although the demon race was far more powerful than the Heavenly Demon Gate, in the human world, the demon race still had to show deference to the Heavenly Demon Gate. In fact, their relationship was more like a partnership of equals.

After all, the Blackwater Palace Master before them was a Fourth Heaven Demon, on par with Marquis God-Demons and Fourth Heaven Demon Kings. In the Demon Realm, there were many Third Heaven Demon Kings, but the emergence of a 'Fourth Heaven Great Demon King' was extremely rare, and each one held a considerably high status. Correspondingly, they dared not show the slightest disrespect to the Blackwater Palace Master.

If the Blackwater Palace Master were to casually exterminate them and claim they were killed by human God-Demons, the demon race would likely have nothing to say.

"One hundred and nineteen demon kings?" The Blackwater Palace Master observed, speaking indifferently, "Is this all you could gather?"

"We are constantly hunted while lurking in the human world, so gathering this many for the attack on Jiangzhou City was not easy," the leading sheep demon king respectfully replied. "May I ask, Blackwater Palace Master, what is the strength of the God-Demons within Jiangzhou City?"

"Unknown," the Blackwater Palace Master said.

"Unknown?" The demon kings were astonished. The Heavenly Demon Gate was responsible for intelligence gathering, yet they claimed ignorance?

"Not one of those responsible for scouting Jiangzhou City returned alive," the Blackwater Palace Master said calmly. "But since we've confirmed that the Marquis God-Demons are at those medium-sized city passes, what is there to fear?"

"Yes, yes," the sheep demon king obediently replied. The other demon kings exchanged glances but dared not utter a sound.

"Jiangzhou City," the Blackwater Palace Master murmured softly, gazing at the vaguely massive city a hundred li away. "When Jiang and Wu are ripe, the world is abundant?"

Indeed, there was a saying in the Great Zhou Dynasty: "When Jiang and Wu are ripe, the world is abundant."

This was because, while the Great Zhou Dynasty was more densely populated than the Great Yue Dynasty, it was only relatively so. The Great Zhou's twenty-three prefectures still differed. Areas around Beihe Pass in the north, for instance, were harsh and cold lands with continuous mountain ranges. Places suitable for growing grain were few, and they only yielded one harvest per year.

Jiangzhou and Wuzhou, however, were different. Located in the southeastern region of the Great Zhou, they were almost entirely plains, with numerous lakes and abundant water, eliminating concerns about drought. The vast, fertile lands within these prefectures consisted of large stretches of good farmland, yielding two harvests a year. Consequently, they produced far more grain than the northern regions.

"If God-Demons allow demon kings to enter, and God-Demons hold a decisive advantage, it's very difficult to commit widespread slaughter. Even if they pay a heavy price to kill twenty to thirty percent of the world's population, humanity's reproductive capacity would quickly allow it to recover. Do they want to reduce the population? The best method is to deprive them of food. Without grain, the population will naturally dwindle," the Blackwater Palace Master was well aware of the strategy decided by the Heavenly Demon Gate and the highest echelons of the demon race. Grain was the core of the demon race's plan.

Jiangzhou and Wuzhou were even more critical.

"You, over a hundred demon kings, are to disperse and infiltrate Jiangzhou City from all four directions. Once inside, kill anyone you see; just slaughter," the Blackwater Palace Master commanded.

"Yes," the demon kings replied in unison.