Chapter 196: Wu Prefecture's Great Demon King

Zhou Fu and another Great Solar realm Godfiend stood there, stunned. They watched helplessly as the Green Snake Demoness, who held an absolute advantage, retracted her black chains, abandoned her river domain, and transformed into a stream of water, disappearing with a 'Water Escape' technique.

"The Green Snake Demoness escaped?" They exchanged glances.

"Junior Sister, Junior Brother," they murmured.

They stopped their forbidden Godfiend technique and immediately released their True Yuan. Threads of True Yuan submerged into the river, retrieving the two Godfiend corpses. Junior Brother Yang and Junior Sister Chen had been with them for days, fighting side by side. Now they were mere corpses, a sight that filled both Zhou Fu and his companion with immense grief.

"What do we do now?" the armored man beside them asked.

"Mount Yuanchu has given orders: if a Godfiend team suffers fatalities, the entire team is to cease rescue operations," Godfiend Zhou Fu said softly. "Without the help of Junior Sister Chen and the others, our team's strength has been halved, making us unsuitable for further combat."

Although only two Indestructible-realm Godfiends were lost, Junior Sister Chen and her companion were vital to the team, one skilled in domain control and the other in illusions.

Just then, a flash of lightning streaked from the horizon, arriving at the river's surface.

Zhou Fu and his companion immediately spotted the black-clad youth standing on the water.

"Senior Brother Meng," Zhou Fu and his companion said respectfully from the riverbank, bowing.

"The demon king escaped?" Meng Chuan's expression subtly changed as he saw the two Godfiend corpses. He spoke.

"It was the Green Snake Demoness. She is suspected of having reached the 'Dao realm' and is particularly adept in river domains, making her extremely formidable in aquatic environments," Zhou Fu immediately relayed everything he knew. "She escaped using a Water Escape technique about ten breaths before Senior Brother Meng arrived."

"Ten breaths?" Meng Chuan shook his head slightly.

Even an ordinary Great Solar realm Godfiend could flee dozens of miles in ten breaths, let alone the Green Snake Demoness, who was clearly powerful. No one knew where she had escaped to now.

"If we could have held her for another ten breaths, Senior Brother Meng could have killed her," the armored man next to them said, somewhat resentfully.

"She wanted to escape; we couldn't stop her," Zhou Fu replied, shaking his head.

Meng Chuan mused.

Ten breaths earlier? That was precisely when he had killed the White Fox Demon King. Did the Green Snake Demoness learn of the White Fox Demon King's death via a token and immediately flee without hesitation?

"Take these two junior siblings back," Meng Chuan sighed. "Leave the other areas to me."

With a flash, he vanished into the horizon.

"With Senior Brother Meng here, the many counties within Gushan Prefecture will quickly be pacified," Godfiend Zhou Fu stated. "We don't need to worry."

"Understood."

The two of them carried their two companions' bodies to the nearest county town and arranged for the local Earth Net personnel to handle their placement.

Meng Chuan visited all the places that needed rescue, and even those in Gushan Prefecture that hadn't requested aid, he thoroughly investigated. Along the way, he would 'pass through' any areas where he spotted smoke signals rising.

Phew.

Less than an hour later, Meng Chuan returned to Gushan Prefecture's capital city, to his small residence.

"A'Chuan." Liu Qiyue had been staying there, responsible for guarding the entire capital city.

"The capital city hasn't been attacked again, has it?" Meng Chuan asked.

"No."

Liu Qiyue quickly followed up, "What about the other places?"

Meng Chuan was silent for a moment before replying, "All other county towns were attacked, and many fortified villages and settlements were also assaulted."

"All county towns attacked?" Liu Qiyue was astonished.

"Yes."

Meng Chuan nodded. "I also found two Godfiend teams conducting rescue operations within Gushan Prefecture. One team was intact, while the other lost two Indestructible-realm Godfiends."

"Two more Godfiends died in battle?" Liu Qiyue felt a pang in her heart. Yet, this was war; ultimate victory could only be bought with blood.

In fact, recently, the entire world had been subjected to probing attacks by the demon race. For a time, beacons lit up everywhere, and people lived in fear.

The inhabitants of these fortified villages and settlements never imagined that their homes would become so unsafe! In the past, demon attacks were rare, and ordinary demons caused limited damage to these settlements. But now, with demon kings attacking, a fortunate fortified village might only lose 20-30% of its population before Godfiends arrived. Those less fortunate... faced complete annihilation!

It was truly tragic.

In contrast, cities were much safer because Godfiends would prioritize defending them. Cities were also larger, leading to a relatively lower casualty rate. The larger the city, the safer it was. For example, major cities like the Royal Capital, Yuanchu City, Luotang City, Anhai City, and various provincial capitals were not attacked by demon kings at all, as powerful Godfiends were stationed there. Therefore, anyone with some means wanted to relocate.

Godfiend families, for instance, would arrange for some of their clan members to move to major cities like provincial capitals, ensuring the continuation of their bloodline. Families with fewer resources also wanted to move to prefecture capitals. Those with even a little capability hoped to at least move into a county town.

This trend caused the population of fortified villages and settlements across the world to gradually decline. With repeated demon attacks, the diminishing population of these settlements became an undeniable 'great trend.' Meanwhile, house prices in cities soared, making urban living increasingly difficult. The mass influx of people into cities also led to rising food prices, as cultivating crops required labor.

Some people even voluntarily left cities to undertake large-scale cultivation, settling directly near their fields. This way, the likelihood of being attacked by a 'demon king' was somewhat lower. Engaging in large-scale farming would become a high-income profession in the future, but also a high-risk one. Living outside the cities for extended periods naturally increased the mortality rate. However, as long as the income was high enough, there would always be those willing to take the risk to earn a significant amount of silver.

In a dim, luxurious underground palace.

Inside the palace, a one-horned figure sat on a throne, looking down at a Black Fox Demon King. Other demon kings stood respectfully nearby.

"Reporting, Your Majesty, all intelligence within Wuzhou Province has been compiled," the Black Fox Demon King said fawningly.

"Speak," the one-horned figure commanded.

"Over the past month, various locations within Wuzhou Province followed Your Majesty's orders to launch probing attacks on different prefectures and cities," the Black Fox Demon King reported. "As a result of these attacks, ninety-one Triple Heaven demon kings in Wuzhou Province were lost. In return, we killed three Great Solar realm Godfiends and fifteen Indestructible-realm Godfiends."

"Ridiculous," the one-horned figure sneered. "The Emperor has said that if ten demon kings die to take down one Godfiend of the same level, we profit. But this time, it took thirty demon kings to eliminate one Godfiend of an equivalent tier. That's a considerable loss."

"At least we now understand the distribution of Godfiends within Wuzhou Province," the Black Fox Demon King said, presenting the intelligence scroll ingratiatingly. "It details the Godfiend deployment in each prefecture."

"This only provides a rough idea," the one-horned figure said, shaking his head. "The human Godfiends will certainly adjust their defenses."

The Black Fox Demon King offered a flattering smile. "We are only the first wave of demon kings to arrive. More will follow, and our power will only grow stronger."

"Indeed," the one-horned figure replied, calmly leafing through the intelligence scroll. "Wait. Once more demon kings arrive, we will slowly contend with humanity. Destroying the human race requires patience."

He was the only Fourth Heaven demon king within Wuzhou Province.

Unlike Triple Heaven demon kings, Fourth Heaven Great Demon Kings were extremely rare in the demon realm. To break through to the Fourth Heaven, one needed to possess a Nascent Soul, comprehend a 'Dao,' and also be relatively young. However, demons generally had lower comprehension abilities than humans, and acquiring a Nascent Soul was even more difficult for them. Therefore, in terms of breakthrough ratios, only one Marquis Godfiend might emerge from dozens of Great Solar realm Godfiends. In contrast, hundreds of Triple Heaven demon kings were needed to produce a single Fourth Heaven Great Demon King.

Their numbers were scarce; there were fewer than two thousand Fourth Heaven Great Demon Kings in the entire demon realm! While the demon race cared little if Triple Heaven demons perished, Fourth Heaven Great Demon Kings were highly valued. Even fewer of those remaining at the Triple Heaven realm had the confidence to break through to the Fourth Heaven Great Demon King stage. Those willing to come to the human world were truly rare. The demon race went to great lengths to gather nearly forty to infiltrate the human world. To their surprise, a third of them were intercepted and killed upon entry!

Only twenty-seven successfully infiltrated!

Fourth Heaven demon kings in the human world were indeed very few! Wuzhou Province, being densely populated and rich in food resources, was highly valued by the demon race, which was why Demon King Fujiao was stationed there.