Army of Dao Slaves

"Primordial Divine Being! Prison-Suppressing Dragon Elephant! Indestructible Sword Qi!"

Gu Qingfeng roared, preparing to strike.

But at that very moment, a spatial ripple emerged behind him, and a radiant long sword suddenly thrust forward, its blade gleaming with unstoppable sharpness as it aimed straight for his heart.

"Oh? No wonder you all had the courage to face me—so you had a hidden Heavenly Monarch as your trump card."

Gu Qingfeng snorted coldly. Without even turning his head, he swung his palm backward, and the Prison-Suppressing Demonic Dragon and Divine Elephant behind him roared furiously as they charged at the ambusher.

BOOM!

A deafening explosion shook the heavens and earth, forcing the attacker back.

Only then did Gu Qingfeng leisurely turn around to see who had tried to assassinate him.

And in an instant, he froze.

Holy shit!

Wasn’t this his nominal master, the 13th-generation Holy Maiden of the Sword Sect, Yan Mengdie—the same woman from the Primordial Forbidden Land who had once suffered from "leakage" issues?

Yan Mengdie’s appearance was identical to how she had been in the Primordial Forbidden Land, with one exception: her once-empty, lifeless eyes now faintly pulsed with demonic energy.

Seeing her first strike fail, Yan Mengdie lunged forward again like a battle automaton, executing the Sword Sect’s myriad sword techniques and divine abilities with seamless fluidity, ensnaring Gu Qingfeng in a relentless onslaught.

Unfazed, Gu Qingfeng effortlessly parried with his Indestructible Sword Qi while taunting, "Hey, how’d you get out? I thought Dao Slaves couldn’t leave the Primordial Forbidden Land. Don’t tell me you’re here to reclaim the Reverse Scale Sword?"

Yan Mengdie remained silent, attacking with frenzied intensity, her overwhelming sword aura churning the very fabric of the sky.

The surrounding Celestial Beings could only watch helplessly, unable to intervene in such a high-level battle. Instead, they frantically manipulated their formation to hinder Gu Qingfeng.

And indeed, it was working. Gu Qingfeng could feel his divine energy growing sluggish, while an immense gravitational force weighed down on him, as if a divine mountain had been strapped to his back.

A glance at their formation told him everything—breaking it would be child’s play with his Heaven-Sealing Restriction. But the problem was, his "master" was clinging to him like glue, giving him no opening to act.

Still, Gu Qingfeng wasn’t worried. He hadn’t even activated his Barbarian Totem to amplify his physical strength yet. Once he did, his power would double, rendering him unstoppable.

At that point, one divine mountain’s worth of pressure would mean nothing—even a few more wouldn’t faze him.

In no hurry, he continued toying with his nominal master—or rather, observing her. He was genuinely curious. How had this woman escaped? And why was she ambushing him?

Though Yan Mengdie had once been a peak Heavenly Monarch, the annihilation of her soul had drastically weakened her, leaving her with only mid-stage Heavenly Monarch strength.

Yet now, she seemed to possess a soul again, capable of wielding divine abilities—albeit at a reduced power, roughly equivalent to late-stage Heavenly Monarch level.

This intrigued Gu Qingfeng. He activated his Indestructible Demon Soul, probing her with his spiritual sense to uncover the reason for her transformation.

And what he discovered shocked him.

Yan Mengdie’s body did indeed house a new "soul"—but it wasn’t a soul at all. It was a Demon Seed!

The Demon Seed had taken root within her, functioning as a makeshift soul.

In an instant, everything clicked. Demon Seeds were unique to Human Demons—meaning Yan Mengdie’s escape from the Primordial Forbidden Land had to be their doing.

This revelation thrilled Gu Qingfeng. A grand opportunity now lay before him.

If Human Demons could use Demon Seeds to control the Dao Slaves of the Primordial Forbidden Land, why couldn’t he?

His Indestructible Demon Soul was infinitely superior to a mere Demon Seed.

A Demon Seed operated similarly to a Heart Demon—clearly derived from their essence, like a child born from one.

But the Indestructible Demon Soul?

It had been forged by devouring countless Heart Demons—making it their father.

So if the "grandson" could do it, why not the "grandfather"?

Didn’t that mean...

Gu Qingfeng’s eyes blazed with excitement. If he mastered this method, every Dao Slave in the Primordial Forbidden Land could become his subordinate!

Meanwhile, the formation’s effects slowed Gu Qingfeng’s movements further. To the Celestial Beings watching, it looked like Yan Mengdie had him completely suppressed.

One of them gloated, "Gu Qingfeng, today you’ll learn what it’s like to be purged by your own master! Hahaha—"

Gu Qingfeng smirked.

With a thought, his Indestructible Demon Soul invaded Yan Mengdie’s body, instantly seizing control of the Demon Seed within her.

"Master, these insects are laughing so obnoxiously. Why don’t you go kill them all?"

"Hah! The fool’s lost his mind! Holy Maiden Yan is on our si—AH! Holy Maiden, what are you doing?!"

Like a machine following orders, Yan Mengdie abruptly turned and charged at the Celestial Beings.

Terror gripped them as they scrambled to redirect the formation’s pressure onto her.

But Gu Qingfeng wouldn’t let them succeed. Freed from restraint, he unleashed his Heaven-Sealing Restriction, dismantling their formation in an instant.

Yan Mengdie tore through them like a hurricane—none could withstand even a single strike.

"Actually, don’t kill them yet. Just cripple them first." Gu Qingfeng amended his command.

Screams filled the air as, within minutes, every Celestial Being had their limbs severed, rendered immobile.

Of course, their bodies were far from ordinary—regrowing limbs was trivial. But Yan Mengdie stood watch, shattering any regenerated limbs with a swift sword strike.

Then Gu Qingfeng stepped in, casting sealing spells to prevent their recovery.

Approaching Yan Mengdie, he casually extracted the Demon Seed from her body and popped it into his mouth.

Before maturing, a Demon Seed was like a fetus—devoid of memory. But once nurtured within a host, it functioned like a soul. Since this one had resided in Yan Mengdie for some time, it carried memories. He wanted to see what had happened.

As the Demon Seed dissolved, its memories flooded his mind.

Gu Qingfeng finally understood everything.

Originally, Yan Mengdie had been peacefully admiring flowers in the Primordial Forbidden Land—specifically, the Ten-Thousand-Year Soul Nurturing Blossom, which enhanced spiritual power.

But then the Sword Demon, leader of the Human Demons, had plucked it.

Could Yan Mengdie accept that?

Though soulless, her instincts remained. Driven by desire for the flower, she chased after it—all the way to the edge of the Primordial Forbidden Land, where she stopped, as Dao Slaves couldn’t leave.

There, the Sword Demon planted a Demon Seed in her, taking control. Without a soul to resist, Dao Slaves were easy to manipulate.

The reason for staying at the edge of the Primordial Forbidden Land was that, no matter how much the demonic seeds mutated, they were still akin to divine souls. Such entities would also suffer the Heavenly Dao's curse upon entering the Primordial Forbidden Land, gradually eroding into nothingness.

However, at the fringes, the curse's power was weaker. The demonic seeds could take root in the bodies of the Dao Slaves before being completely annihilated. Once a Dao Slave possessed a divine soul, they would no longer remain mere Dao Slaves and could leave the Primordial Forbidden Land.

This was the Sword Demon's method of controlling Dao Slaves. As for how the Sword Demon could venture deep into the Primordial Forbidden Land, it was also due to the demonic seeds.

The Heavenly Dao's curse corroded divine souls, so he created numerous demonic seeds to encase his own divine soul, effectively wearing a layer of protective armor. Thus, before the demonic seeds were exhausted, he could survive within the Primordial Forbidden Land for a time.

It was a clever method—just extremely wasteful. Often, he would lose many demonic seeds just to obtain a single Dao Slave. It was precisely because of this limitation that the Sword Demon controlled only a handful of Dao Slaves.

After learning the whole story, Gu Qingfeng grew even more ecstatic. His Indestructible Demonic Soul could achieve a similar effect—simply by splitting off fragments of his soul to act as demonic seeds and invade the Dao Slaves.

Moreover, he didn’t need to go through the same hassle as the Sword Demon. First, the Heavenly Dao's curse of the Primordial Forbidden Land had no effect on him, allowing him to seek out far more Dao Slaves. Second, he didn’t even need to lure the Dao Slaves to the edge of the forbidden land.

Because the split souls of his Indestructible Demonic Soul were still part of him, they too would remain untouched by the Heavenly Dao's curse. This meant that as soon as he found a Dao Slave, he could convert them on the spot!

"Kekeke... Sword Demon, oh Sword Demon, you’ve given this venerable one quite the pleasant surprise. With this, my army of Dao Slaves is within reach!"

Gu Qingfeng couldn’t contain his excitement and burst into maniacal laughter, startling the nearby Celestial Beings.