The moon set and the stars faded as the sun began to rise.
On the banks of the Wild River, the 8th-rank beast sovereigns from the East Desolation all wore livid expressions.
Their eyes were chillingly dark, and their divine senses pierced through the air for a thousand miles.
They had personally witnessed that unusual night within the Demon Suppression Abyss.
Was it a battle?
No, it was a slaughter!
Now, they were witnessing the rout of the beast kings and beast emperors of their respective tribes.
Like stray dogs, they were being driven out of the three-thousand-mile Demon Suppression Abyss, all shrinking back into Spirit Elixir City, not daring to strike out.
Some beasts from smaller tribes were even leaping across the Wild River in a daze, intending to flee deep into the East Desolation.
All of them were below the eighth stage.
A ten-day stalemate had been overturned by the humans in a single night.
Beyond their fury, they felt an even greater sense of shame.
The wretched state of the demon race was repeating itself after ten thousand years.
If not for that Spirit Eye suspended in the sky, constantly monitoring the three-thousand-mile Demon Suppression Abyss, some among them would have already been unable to resist stepping across the river and crossing that red line to charge into the fray.
But with the Spirit Eye present, though they had the will, they ultimately lacked the courage.
On a high peak by the Wild River, the view was vast. Standing upon it, one could see farther and wider...
At this moment.
Red Moon, the scarlet blazing tiger and personal guard of the Beast God, sat upright, watching the fire from across the bank.
Before her, the messengers of the Eight Great Tribes were gathered, standing respectfully to the side in silence.
From beginning to end, the atmosphere was permeated by an indescribable heaviness and oppression.
Red Moon’s red hair danced lightly in the wind as she let out a slow sigh.
"Sigh—"
The eight beast sovereigns before her, each in unique attire with varying skin and hair colors, all furrowed their brows. The light in their eyes flickered between brightness and gloom.
Red Moon gazed toward the Demon Suppression Abyss and said with hidden meaning:
"Ten thousand years. It has been too long—so long that the younger generations of our race have lost their bloodlust. They have forgotten that they are the true beasts. Humans are becoming less like humans, while beasts are becoming more like them. Heh."
The eight beast sovereigns either clenched their fists or gritted their teeth. Anger burned in their eyes, but it could not overcome the shame that welled up within them.
They understood the underlying meaning in Red Moon's words. Though she did not explicitly scold them, her words were filled with mockery.
They tried to argue, but after thinking it over, they swallowed the words that reached their lips.
It was true.
For ten thousand years, the demon race had been cooped up in a corner of the Great Desolation, forgetting that they were born with claws and fangs meant to tear everything apart.
In just one night.
They had been beaten so pathetically by the humans. The Eight Great Tribes, who prided themselves as royalty, had truly lost all face.
The atmosphere grew even heavier.
Seeing that no one answered, Red Moon curled her lips in a sneer. "How about this? Why don't we just hand over this newborn Imperial Son to the others on a silver platter?"
The eight beast sovereigns lowered their eyes even further.
Red Moon continued her mockery. "I shall return and tell the Beast Emperor that the Eight Great Tribes have no successors and are no match for the humans. What do you all think?"
One of the beast sovereigns could no longer endure it. He raised his head to look directly at Red Moon and defended, "Your Excellency, it is not that the warriors of our race are afraid to give their lives, but a youth suddenly appeared from the Wendao Sword Sect. With only sixth-stage power, he can slay 7th-rank beast emperors."
Hearing this, another person chimed in to help, "Yes, his name is Xu Xian, the Little Grand-Uncle of the Wendao Sword Sect. He reached the fifth stage in two years and the sixth stage in seven. His strength is formidable, and he practices the Green Lotus Sword Song, the foremost of the human race's ten great sword arts. It is far too overbearing."
"The juniors of my tribe told me that the boy isn't human at all."
"..."
Once Xu Xian was mentioned, the eight people who had been silent seemed to open a floodgate, venting their indignation and criticism incessantly.
Red Moon lowered her brows slightly, a flicker of agitation flashing through her eyes.
She remembered clearly.
Six years ago, by the Divine Moon Pool, a Heavenly Star Anomaly appeared. The Beast Emperor did not hesitate to sacrifice his lifespan to perceive the future.
After waking, he had said:
He saw a youth carrying four divine swords charging into the Great Desolation. The East Desolation became a sea of blood and mountains of corpses, and the destiny of the demon race was exhausted.
Later.
She had specifically sent people to secretly cross the Boundary Mountain into the Central Plains to gather information, attempting to find the youth the Beast Emperor had spoken of.
In the returned intelligence, among all the geniuses of the Central Plains mentioned, she had remembered only one name: Xu Xian.
He entered the Wendao Sword Sect at twelve, awakened a sword spirit root, and solved the chess endgame left by the Sword Ancestor, entering a state of enlightenment for four years.
Upon waking, he reached foundation establishment in ten months. He entered the Sword Mound for four months and returned with an immortal sword.
Then, in the land of Yecheng, with only a foundation establishment cultivation, he survived the hands of a nascent soul and a beast king.
Within the following months.
He broke through to the core formation stage and then to the nascent soul stage.
At that time, he was barely seventeen.
It was also in the year he broke into the nascent soul stage that the Heavenly Star Anomaly appeared in Fanzhou.
At that moment, Red Moon knew that if there was truly such a person in the Beast Emperor's prophecy, it could only be Xu Xian.
At least so far, it could only be him.
Afterward.
She had always paid attention to everything concerning Xu Xian. She knew he had come to the neutral zone and to Demon-Slaying City.
She was also very clear that his arrival had caused the conflict between humans and demons in the Demon Suppression Abyss to deteriorate.
Until today, four years later, the auspicious beast was born.
All these events seemed unrelated, yet the figure of this youth could always be seen in the midst of it all.
She could not say if there was a necessary connection between Xu Xian and the appearance of the auspicious beast, but she absolutely did not believe it was a mere coincidence.
It just so happened that he came.
It just so happened that the auspicious beast was born.
Now.
He had intervened, carrying the sword of the Wendao Sword Sect and slaughtering his way through the Demon Suppression Abyss for a night, showing his sharp edge.
The East Desolation demon race had suffered greatly, and the younger generation was terrified of him as if he were a tiger.
They said he was a lunatic, that he wasn't human, and that he was a vicious beast specifically meant to eat the demon race.
According to the intelligence, he was not even twenty-five years old.
It had only been a short eleven years since he entered the immortal sect.
And yet, such a human junior had struck terror into the hearts of the demons below the eighth stage in the Great Desolation.
They had been chased and slaughtered from beginning to end, forced to retreat and defend Spirit Elixir City.
If they were already this afraid before he had even fully grown...
If he reached tribulation transcendence in the future, would not the entire East Desolation have to submit beneath his sword?
Just as they had submitted beneath the sword of that man ten thousand years ago.
It was a disgrace.
A humiliation.
She was very clear that this child could not be allowed to live. Even if the auspicious beast were truly snatched away by the humans, the threat would still be less than that of this youth who had yet to reach his full potential.
She also believed.
If the Beast Emperor knew, he would surely think the same.
Previously.
The youth had stayed obediently inside Demon-Slaying City. She had not dared to touch him, partly because she wasn't certain of killing him, and partly because she feared the wrath and retaliation of the Wendao Sword Sect.
But now it was different.
Currently, the Demon Suppression Abyss was in a state of chaos, where life and death were decided in an instant.
Xu Xian had taken the initiative to throw himself into this mire. If he died, he died.
The Wendao Sword Sect would not be able to find a single fault.
Most importantly.
In the midst of the chaos, the success rate of killing him was higher.
Unfortunately.
The two beast emperors she had sent out last night had both died under the youth's sword.
Red Moon knew very well that Xu Xian was not that easy to kill, especially now that he was surrounded by dozens of people.
The people she had brought from the Divine Moon Pool were far from enough.
To kill him, she needed to borrow the strength of the Eight Great Tribes.
Red Moon spoke up, interrupting everyone's complaints and grumbling, and said coldly, "Since you know this, then have your people kill him."
Everyone fell silent, their gazes shifting toward her in unison...
Red Moon’s gaze did not waver as she said word by word:
"If you cannot kill him now, then in the future, his sword will kill you—not just you, but everything you cherish."
She paused, took a deep breath, and said heavily once more, "Or... it will mean the extinction of your tribes."
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