Another Connection Added

Just as you were hesitating whether to directly cross the red zone to save time and avoid a detour.

Ahead, billowing black smoke flowed from the distance, covering the earth. It rose hundreds of meters high, looking like a massive black sandstorm.

Looking closely, you saw that the black smoke was constantly shifting, forming into hideous and terrifying human-faced evil spirits.

These evil spirits were like a passing swarm of locusts. Wherever they went, all living creatures, whether they were demons or ordinary flora and fauna,

were all reduced to a withered and yellowed state, as if completely drained of their moisture, leaving behind only shriveled husks.

"What is this?"

You had never heard of such a phenomenon.

The Myriad Soul Banner flew out of your hand and took a few glances in the direction of the black smoke.

"Oh no! It's a forbidden zone riot! Run for your lives, children!"

You glared at the Myriad Soul Banner, which was preparing to run away ahead of you, and yanked it back.

"Explain clearly, what the hell is a forbidden zone riot?"

"What is there to say! Can't you see? These dark evil spirits are devouring the life essence of living creatures. They are making them as dead as dead can be!"

"What is life essence?"

"All living creatures have a body and a soul. The soul has its soul origin, and the body has its life essence! The reason living beings are different from dead objects, the reason they can grow, think, and cultivate, is all because they are born with these two special types of energy! Every so often, the forbidden zones in the Great Wasteland release these dark evil spirits to devour the surrounding living creatures! When the impact is at its widest, it can even spread from the central Great Wasteland all the way to the borders of the Five Regions!"

You didn't expect the Human Realm to have such a dangerous place.

However, seeing those aggressive, clawing evil spirits, you smiled confidently.

"Xiao Wan, others might have to run when encountering this situation, but why are you running? Come on, let's see your specialty!"

If the Myriad Soul Banner had a face, its expression right now would be a frozen JPEG.

"These are not souls."

Hearing this, your hands immediately itched to fight, your craving for battle flaring up.

"Since they aren't ghosts, then they are alien races! I'll do it!"

You finally understood why the Traffic Light had been constantly indicating a red danger warning.

With the forbidden zone riot spreading so widely, taking a detour was no longer realistic. You either had to retreat and wait for it to end at some unknown time, or slaughter your way through!

You flew through the air, releasing your true qi. The powerful oppressive aura of the Martial King Realm shocked the surroundings!

Equipping the Fenji Set, you wielded the Fenji Battle Spear and charged into the dark storm.

"Alien races! Die!"

Every move you made was fierce and your momentum was unmatched. Your wide, sweeping attacks forced the darkness to retreat and made the storm cower!

However.

It was completely useless.

After these dark evil spirits were dispersed by your attacks, they quickly reformed and came roaring at you to kill once again.

"What the hell? Why can't they be killed?"

You also discovered that the two traits, The Strictest Father of Alien Races and Heart of Steel, had not taken effect!

"I messed up, I messed up! Time to slip away!"

You quickly retreated explosively, breaking out of the evil spirits' siege.

Due to the sheer number of enemies, the back of your hand was still bitten by an evil spirit.

There was no pain from the bite itself, but the flesh on the back of your hand rapidly decayed and turned black, showing a tendency to spread continuously.

You were incredibly decisive. Gritting your teeth, you drew your sword and sliced off the decaying flesh, exposing the eerie white bone beneath!

"Hiss—"

That really hurt.

Fortunately, you had already used proficiency to upgrade the Heaven-rank martial art, Seven Divine Steps of the Starry Sky, to the realm of perfection.

Running away was still very convenient.

Even though those evil spirits had formed a massive killing array, they could not trap you at all.

After flying to a safe distance, you took out healing pills from your storage ring and consumed them, staring at the overwhelming black smoke in the distance with lingering fear.

You deduced that those evil spirits should be pure energy bodies, but the Materialist Warrior trait did not immunize you from their damage, which meant that the entity releasing this energy was not an immaterial existence.

Only this could explain what had just happened.

"I'm afraid I can only wait a bit."

Just as you were preparing to retreat a bit further away, you suddenly heard someone calling out to you in broken human language.

"Young hero, please wait!"

Turning your head to look, you saw a red, half-human, half-bird creature. She possessed obvious female features, a graceful figure, and well-developed pectoral muscles.

This was, of course, a demon.

Actually, you had noticed her just a moment ago.

Like the other demons around her, she had been dodging the devouring dark storm.

Sweeping over her with your divine sense, you found that this demon was merely at the Spirit Condensation Realm, not worth mentioning.

"What demon are you, and what do you want?"

"I am Hongluan, the youngest daughter of the Vermilion Bird. Just now, I was trapped in the forbidden zone riot while trying to save my clansmen. Thanks to the young hero's intervention, we were saved! The young hero is human, yet you were able to cast aside racial enmity and draw your blade to help when seeing injustice. Leaving right after saving people without asking for any reward or gratitude truly touches Hongluan deeply..."

You noticed that as she spoke, her eyes rippled with emotion and her face flushed red.

Could it be...

Wake up, humans and demons walk different paths!

You saw that there were still some demons on the ground, all kneeling and kowtowing to you, thanking you for saving their lives.

It was clearly a misunderstanding.

You had merely been overly confident just now, and had even almost messed up.

It was just that your combat power was fierce, and by charging in, you diverted a large number of attacks from the dark evil spirits, indirectly allowing Hongluan and the other demons to escape.

"Ahem, well, actually, as the saying goes, saving a life is better than building a seven-story pagoda. In my eyes, saving a human or saving a demon is the same."

"Wow..."

Demons were not good at hiding their emotions.

You felt that in Hongluan's eyes, you were already radiating golden light all over, practically ascending to Buddhahood on the spot.

With the forbidden zone riot blocking the way, you simply decided to travel with this group of demons you had saved and head to a safe area.

Not long after, the Vermilion Bird arrived with flames filling the sky, frantically searching for her most beloved youngest daughter.

Just like that, you successfully acquired the Vermilion Bird's connections.

"Although Your Excellency is human, you risked danger to save my daughter. We demons are by no means an ungrateful bunch; this great kindness must be repaid..."

"There is no need. I did not save lives for any ulterior motive. I traveled with Hongluan and the other demons because they were injured, and I feared other humans might harm them. Now that they are fully healed, it is time for me to go."

As soon as you said these words, the Vermilion Bird, who was also a demon and equally poor at hiding her emotions, looked at you with reverence.

"I never expected there to be someone with such a pure heart among the human race. It seems I have been prejudiced against humans."

Actually, when the Vermilion Bird first arrived and saw you with Hongluan, she thought you were a demon hunter and almost attacked you.

Now, the Vermilion Bird felt even more guilty and even more strongly that she should repay you.

【However, the Demon race has always coexisted with the natural world, and their cultivation basically relies on slowly accumulating power over their long lifespans. Thus, they had no idea what they could possibly give you as a reward.】

【And so, you unrolled your map of the Yan Kingdom.】