Chapter 469: The Venerable Twenty-two Years Later

Time flies. Twenty-two years had passed in the blink of an eye since the War of the World Gap.

Within Jiangzhou Prefecture, a territory of the Great Zhou Dynasty.

A caravan of several hundred people was traveling along the main road. The caravan included two mule carts, on the beds of which sat a group of children. In total, there were over a dozen children across the two carts.

"We barely managed to get a spot with this caravan to Jiangzhou City, so don't you children cause any trouble. If you upset the caravan, they'll kick us out," said the plain-clothed man driving one of the carts. "Then, your uncles and I won't be able to take you to Jiangzhou City, which is hundreds of miles away."

"Yes, yes."

"We'll be very well-behaved."

All the children nodded repeatedly.

"Uncle Liu, Uncle Zhang, we're going to Qingyu Dao Academy in Jiangzhou City, right? Is it true that the Godfiend 'Feather Dragon King' trained there when he was young?" a boy asked. Instantly, all the children on both mule carts perked up their ears and looked at the adults expectantly.

"Haha," a young man with a saber at his waist, walking beside the mule carts, said with a laugh. "It's true. The Feather Dragon King trained at Qingyu Dao Academy when he was young. He and his wife, the children of Prince Dongning, both cultivated there. Qingyu Dao Academy is definitely one of the top academies in the world, perfect for children like you to study at. Only sixteen of you were chosen from the entire stronghold, so you must cultivate diligently once you get there."

"We know, we know."

"Prince Dongning's family is truly remarkable—three princely Godfiends from one lineage."

"And Prince Dongning himself is the most powerful Godfiend in the world; he single-handedly swept away a million demon kings." The children chattered excitedly. Nearly forty years had passed since Meng Chuan defeated a million demon kings, and this long period had made Prince Dongning, Meng Chuan, highly renowned throughout the land.

"Uncle Wu, I heard Jiangzhou City is two hundred *li* long and wide. Is that true?"

"Yes, from the East Gate to the West Gate, you could walk from morning till night and still not reach the end," the saber-wielding youth said with a laugh. "And the city walls of Jiangzhou City, I heard, were built by a powerful Godfiend in just half a month."

"Built in half a month?" The children were wide-eyed with astonishment.

As the adults and children chatted, suddenly—

"Quick, quick!"

A figure came sprinting from a distance, shouting angrily, "Demons! Run forward, run, run!"

The sprinting figure was also a master at the 'Mortal Transformation' realm, and his furious shout was so loud that almost the entire caravan heard it.

The caravan members first paused in surprise, then turned to look. They vaguely saw a black 'line' rapidly spreading towards them in the distance.

"It's the demons! Run!" Two experts of the 'Unleashed' realm, who had excellent eyesight, were also among the caravan. Their expressions changed drastically upon seeing the 'line,' and they immediately roared.

"Hurry!"

"Faster!"

The entire caravan descended into chaos. Many simply abandoned their goods and fled frantically for their lives.

The black line in the distance rapidly spread closer; it was a dense mass of demons. Leading the charge were primarily greater demons and some 'demon commanders,' whose running speed was no less than that of an Unleashed realm expert. They were much faster than the caravan as a whole. The caravan members were fleeing for their lives with all their might, but could only watch as the demons behind them drew nearer and nearer.

Each of the demons was extremely ferocious; some were even sprinting while carrying mangled human corpses.

"Too slow, we can't escape!" Panic spread through the caravan. The four adults with the children in the two mule carts were especially desperate.

"Brother Liu, what do we do?"

"The Godfiends know! They'll be here soon! Hold on, hold on!" Uncle Liu shouted anxiously. It was already difficult for them to escape on their own, and with sixteen children from the stronghold, their pace was even slower.

The mule carts ran desperately, but they were far too slow compared to the demons.

"We can't protect them all. Let's save whoever we can," a skinny, hunchbacked man suddenly jumped out of a mule cart and sprinted away on his own.

"Liu Laoqi!" The other three adults were furious. Immediately, one of them took control of the mule cart to keep it moving.

"When will the Godfiends arrive?"

"If the Godfiends catch up, we live. If not, we die," Uncle Liu said, gritting his teeth. Everyone watched as the dense mass of demons drew closer behind them. Some of the bear demons and ox demons were as burly as small mountains, completely dispelling any thought of resistance in the people's minds.

The children on the two mule carts were utterly terrified. They had no idea how to react; this group of children had never encountered such danger before.

Just as this vast horde of demons reached within ten *zhang* of the caravan's rear...

...suddenly, all the demons froze completely.

The dense mass of demons, stretching for two or three *li*, had all frozen solid, motionless.

Then, with a soft "whoosh," as a gentle breeze swept across the land, all the demons turned into dust. Tens of thousands of demons were annihilated just like that.

Meng Chuan stood high in the sky, looking down at the scene.

Invisible spatial fluctuations had long since spread across the surrounding two hundred *li*; no demon within that range could escape his detection.

"Hm?" Meng Chuan turned his head to look into the distance. A flying demon king was rushing there at full speed.

Meng Chuan's figure blurred, and then he appeared before the flying demon king.

The flying demon king was startled. Seeing Meng Chuan, it immediately stopped and lowered its head in utmost respect. "Greetings, Prince Dongning. Your subordinate received a distress call from the Earth Net and came here to provide support."

"Tens of thousands of demons have all been slain by me. There are five Second-Heaven demon king corpses about thirteen *li* to the northeast from here; you are responsible for handling them," Meng Chuan said. "Also, the unstable world entrance is approximately eighteen *li* to the northeast. Keep a close watch on it."

"Yes, sir," the flying demon king replied respectfully.

Meng Chuan nodded, glanced at the distant caravan, sighed inwardly, and then continued on his way.

As he flew onward, Meng Chuan's mood was not good.

"In recent years, as the human world and the demon realm have gradually drawn closer, unstable world entrances have appeared with increasing frequency," Meng Chuan mused inwardly. "Within the Great Zhou territory, they appear several times a day, sometimes even more than ten times."

"Since their defeat in the War of the World Gap, the demon race has become even more frantic."

"Each time an unstable world entrance appears, they try their best to dispatch demons into the human world for slaughter."

"The Earth Net now has many personnel, and a large number of Godfiends and demon servants are guarding various regions... Yet, unstable world entrances appear without any warning, still frequently leading to casualties," Meng Chuan shook his head slightly. Even he had no solution for this.

Nearly forty years had passed since he dealt with the million demon kings.

Forty years was a long time for mortals. Many young people had not experienced the bitter devastation wrought by a million demon kings, nor the days spent hiding underground, in lakes, or deep in the mountains. The human population had also proliferated significantly.

"Out of every ten unstable world entrance appearances, almost one results in a heavy price."

"Over these years,"

"The world has been largely peaceful overall. Large city gates and passes are well-guarded, and mid-to-small-sized entrances are secretly monitored by 'demon servants'," Meng Chuan mused inwardly. "The only thing causing significant casualties is the unpredictable 'unstable world entrances' that can appear anywhere."

Meng Chuan had no solution for this.

"Major cities are guarded by Godfiends."

"However, strongholds and villages are prone to disaster," Meng Chuan thought. "Fortunately, the Earth Net is widespread, and Godfiends and demon servants regularly patrol various regions... The demons can at most attack one stronghold or village at a time. Last year alone, within the Great Zhou territory, one hundred seventy-five strongholds and villages were attacked by demon armies, resulting in over a million fatalities."

Over a million died, and more than a hundred strongholds and villages were attacked.

Compared to the entire Great Zhou Dynasty, these numbers weren't particularly significant.

Such casualties... were already much lighter compared to the past.

"Whoosh."

Meng Chuan flew through the air, heading straight south.

"There it is."

In the distance, a majestic city appeared in his sight: Quyun City in Longyun Continent, a bustling metropolis with a population of over ten million.

Seeing the grand city, Meng Chuan smiled. He had come this time to congratulate a friend.

His friend, Yan Chitong, had just become a princely Godfiend!