Chapter 2052: Fire Seed

Zu An quickly returned to his original spot. With a flick of his sleeve, an invisible force swept away years of accumulated snow, revealing a dozen or so snow-covered graves nearby.

His gaze fell upon the weapons stuck into the ground beside the graves.

The weapons beside each grave varied: some were swords, some were knives, some were long spears, and others included bows and arrows.

The issue lay in the quantity. Some graves had only a single sword stuck beside them, while others had several weapons, including knives, spears, swords, and bows and arrows.

In a normal burial, different grave goods might indicate the deceased's varying status in life. However, these were soldiers who had fallen on the front lines, clearly buried in haste with ice and snow to prevent their bodies from being exposed in the wilderness.

It was inconceivable that they would implement differential treatment or vary grave goods at such a time; wouldn't that dishearten the vast majority of soldiers?

Theoretically, the weapons beside the graves should have been those used by the soldiers during their lives. It made sense if someone used both a knife and a spear, but why bows and arrows?

Furthermore, there were several different styles of knives and spears. With his current cultivation level, he keenly perceived that these knives and spears could not have been used by the same person.

Therefore, these weapons, placed beside the graves, must have had a special purpose.

Zu An then swept away more snow, revealing additional snow-covered graves.

After a period of observation, he realized that the key lay not in the style or total number of weapons, but in the number of *types* of weapons.

All knives counted as one type, regardless of how many knives were beside a grave. All spears counted as one type, swords as one type, and so on.

The number of weapon types beside these graves increased from 1 to 9. Every nine graves formed a group, and these groups appeared to be arranged in a specific formation.

Just now, when he had dug open that grave, the nearby weapons seemed to emit a faint glow, which quickly faded.

After a moment of thought, he approached a grave with only a single sword. He channeled a subtle wisp of qi towards it, and the sword indeed lit up.

Next, he moved to a grave with two types of weapons...

In this manner, one grave after another began to glow faintly until all nine graves were illuminated.

Zu An secretly breathed a sigh of relief, thinking that even if someone accidentally lit up one or two graves, they would quickly extinguish if the pattern wasn't discovered.

As the nine graves lit up, the ground suddenly began to tremble, as if an earthquake had struck.

Zu An ascended into the sky, looking down at the snow-covered graves below. He quickly lit up some snow graves in other groups, following certain specific sequences.

The entire snowy plain suddenly illuminated with lines of blue light, and then a massive magical array began to emerge from the snow.

Zu An secretly mused on his good fortune. This must be an ancient arrangement left by the ancestors of the demon race, with its solution presumably preserved among the demons.

However, over time, their legacies had gradually been lost, leaving only fragmented legends among the various races. That's why, after combining intelligence from different races in Mont City, he had been led to this place.

Fortunately, he had studied the 'Baopu True Scripture' and was quite familiar with various formations. Coupled with his own intelligence, he had accidentally activated these ancient arrangements.

He wondered what exactly the ancient demon ancestors had left behind.

Staring at the magical array forming on the ground, his expression suddenly changed. This appeared to be a soul-binding formation!

This type of formation was exceptionally sinister, trapping the souls of any creatures that died within it, preventing them from ever finding liberation.

Was this arrangement left by the ancient demon race, or by ancient fiends seeking revenge?

Just then, a buzzing sound emanated from the weapons beside the snow graves, as they began to vibrate.

Initially, the vibrations were subtle, but they quickly grew more intense. The accumulated snow and years of ice shattered, revealing the weapons' original forms.

One by one, the weapons lifted into the air and flew towards specific graves, circling them and emitting mournful wails.

Immediately afterward, the surroundings became exceptionally cold. The already frigid icy landscape grew even colder, but this was not a physical cold; it was a chill that permeated the very soul.

Soon, shadowy figures began to rise from the graves. Zu An felt a chill, recognizing the figure from the grave he had previously opened also ascending.

However, he quickly composed himself. These appeared to be the souls of ancient demon soldiers, and having encountered all sorts of beings in various secret realms, he was accustomed to seeing ghosts.

At this moment, the soldiers' souls all turned towards Zu An, murmuring in unison: "Not a descendant of the demon race. Human. Enemy. Must be eliminated..."

As they finished speaking, the weapons instantly pointed directly at Zu An. Weapons surrounded him from all directions, trapping him in the very center.

"Wait, I am now the demon race's regent..."

Before he could finish, the souls possessed their respective weapons and attacked Zu An from all sides.

Zu An moved like lightning, narrowly dodging various attacks in mid-air. Unfortunately, there were too many weapons, and these soldiers seemed to have possessed considerable cultivation in life, certainly much stronger than the elite troops under the current little demon empress.

Eventually, he had nowhere left to dodge. Just as countless weapons were about to pierce him, a large golden bell suddenly rose around him. The weapons struck its surface and were all repelled.

However, this was not the genuine Pure Brahma Bell, and there were simply too many weapons. He was essentially resisting an entire army, and soon cracks began to appear on the bell's surface, indicating it would be breached before long.

Zu An had been on the defensive from the start, and a surge of anger welled up within him. He snorted coldly and immediately unleashed the 'Hongmeng Yuanshi Scripture'. A white light enveloped his body. As the weapons approached, terrified shrieks suddenly erupted. They hastily retreated, emitting plumes of white smoke as if they had encountered something dreadful, and their soul bodies were visibly half-damaged.

Subsequently, the weapons halted their advance, no longer daring to launch such a frenzied siege.

Zu An sneered, "Come on, why aren't you coming?"

As he spoke, he flew towards the weapons, but they dodged away as if they had seen a ghost.

This created an odd spectacle: moments ago, countless weapons had surrounded Zu An, but now Zu An alone surrounded countless weapons. Wherever he moved, the weapons scattered to avoid him.

Zu An secretly smirked. He might not be invincible against everything else, but dealing with undead entities was far too easy for him.

The purifying effect of the 'Hongmeng Yuanshi Scripture' was the perfect counter to such beings.

After chasing them for a while, a strange flying sword suddenly emerged from among the other weapons. Its blade was not straight but wavy, its surface dull, and even faint traces of rust were visible.

Yet, the other weapons seemed to treat it as their leader, respectfully withdrawing to the side.

At this moment, a general-like soul figure, clad in armor, flew out from the strange sword. He bowed to Zu An and asked, "Does esteemed sir have any connection with our demon race?"

"You started attacking without letting me finish speaking, and now you want to be friendly?" Zu An said coldly. However, this general's strength seemed considerable. If it weren't for the 'Hongmeng Yuanshi Scripture' perfectly countering him, defeating him wouldn't have been easy.

"Indeed, we were in the wrong just now," the general said with an awkward smile. "But after being trapped here for so many years, it's inevitable to harbor some resentment. Upon first seeing that you weren't one of our kind, we naturally assumed you were an enemy and attacked."

"And why aren't I an enemy now?" Zu An retorted irritably. He hadn't expected these beings, even as spirits, to be so prone to bullying the weak and fearing the strong.

"Because, esteemed sir, despite your divine cultivation and lethal moves against our soul bodies, you always exercised restraint and never sought to harm our existence. That's when I realized you were not an enemy, but a friend," the general stated solemnly.

Seeing his good attitude, Zu An found it difficult to get angry. "I was indeed entrusted by the demon race to search several possible locations for the sealed land. However, from the looks of it, the sealed land is not here."

"So the sealed land has indeed run into trouble again?" The general's expression suggested he had expected this.

"You don't seem surprised?" Zu An asked, curious.

"Because the Grand High Priest predicted this day, which is why we were left here, waiting for a future generation of the demon race to arrive and contribute our final strength for them." At this point, the general hesitated before asking, "May I ask your name, and what is your relationship with our demon race?"

He quickly added, "It's not that I don't trust you, esteemed sir. It's just that this matter concerns the rise and fall of our entire demon race, and even the survival of this world. I find it difficult to imagine how the demon descendants would allow a human to come to this place."

"I am currently the Regent of the demon race. At this time, there is no one more suitable within the entire race to come here than me," Zu An replied.

"Regent?" The general was dumbfounded. The other weapons also hummed, seemingly whispering among themselves. This was truly beyond their expectations—how could a human become the Regent of the demon race?

A look of sorrow appeared on the general's face. "Has our demon race been conquered by humans?"

Zu An knew he was mistaken. "No, that's not it. I became Regent through a fortunate coincidence."

He then took out the Regent's token and tossed it to him.

The general took the token and gently stroked its patterns. Soon, faint glows illuminated the token, and the general nodded slightly. "It is indeed a legitimate heirloom of the demon race."

Relieved that the demon race had not been conquered, he returned the token. "May I ask how exactly you became Regent?"

Zu An grew a little impatient. "Are you going to keep questioning me indefinitely? There's a demon invasion right now, and I have more important matters to attend to. I don't have time for idle chatter here. Instead, you should tell me what's going on with all of you."

The general chuckled apologetically. "My apologies. I haven't spoken to anyone in so long that I couldn't help but be a bit garrulous."

Immediately, his expression turned solemn. "Years ago, the Grand High Priest prophesied a great calamity for the demon race in the future, one that might even destroy the entire world. Therefore, we voluntarily allowed our souls to be trapped here forever, guarding the divine artifact and awaiting this day's arrival, to leave a spark of hope for the demon race's resurgence."