Boom! Boom! Boom!

Cha Huan was shaken by an invisible impact, sent flying like a kite with a broken string towards the courtyard. However, when he reached a certain distance, the blood chain on his body suddenly appeared, pulling him back like a rope and sending him actively flying towards the black-robed figure in the air!

"I'm glad that you, Principal, think my strength can help you transcend the shackles of the Blood Essence Stone, but..."

With a smile, he punched Cha Huan's temple. The fist effortlessly shattered the light armor on Cha Huan's surface, like a hammer weighing a thousand catties, striking him vertically into the ground below, smashing the bluestone floor!

"I haven't given you permission to leave yet!"

Amid dust and rubble, Cha Huan struggled to get up. His luxurious and glamorous gold-edged white robe was stained with dirt and blood, and his meticulously groomed silver hair and beard had become gray and filthy. His aged face was covered with blood and mud, looking more disheveled, pitiful, and like a... frail old man than at any moment in the past thirty years.

"It seems I can't fight old age." Cha Huan spat out a bloody tooth and said with a bitter smile, "My old bones and muscles can't compete with young people anymore! It seems I'll have to rely on you two young talents for such formidable enemies like these!"

"Principal, don't say that. You're still strong and vigorous!" Yu Ke, who was shot into the wall, coughed twice and used two long spears to support himself to stand up. The Heaven's Feather Armor woven with iron feathers had collapsed at several corners: "We're still kids and need your care and protection! By the way, those unidentified foreign races hiding in Yanjing should fall under the jurisdiction of the Statistical Department, right? Chief Xie, quickly check if he has a temporary residence permit for Yanjing."

"I'm just a mere Blue-Clothed Chief, of lower rank than Commander Yu, the Purple-Clothed Commander, and much lower in status than the honorary Cabinet Scholar, Principal Cha, merely managing a temporary institution soon to be abolished," Xie Chenyuan said, standing up with the wall for support amid a pile of weeds and mud: "Since you two are present, naturally, I will follow your actions and not fall behind in the slightest."

"You mean if we don't act, neither will you?"

"As the saying goes, the redder the robe, the greater the responsibility."

"Can't you exercise some respect for the elderly and let an old man like me fight to the death?"

"No need to argue." Smiling in mid-air, he said calmly: "I am a pacifist, not fond of killing, not loving conflict, and cannot bear to see blood."

Cha Huan stood up, wiped the blood flowing from the corner of his mouth, and said, "When I discipline students, I always start with a lie to raise their hopes, then follow it with a 'but'."

"But." Smiling, he looked down at them: "It is said, to seek peace through struggle, peace will remain; to seek peace through compromise, peace will perish. Therefore, to reduce future killings and bloodshed, I must borrow the bodies of you three."

"When tomorrow dawns, with your three corpses hanging over the 'Celestial Mandate' plaque at the south gate of the Imperial Court, the Huiyao people will know to lay down their weapons and kneel to the Immortals."

"If it's just you alone, there's no way you can make all Huiyao submit unless you can break their spine," Yu Ke said while turning to look at the depths of the courtyard: "In that case, the conspiracy you're protecting is about secretly seizing the Holy Sword Huiyao, right?"

"What makes a great script great?" Smiling, Youyou said: "Because even if the characters in the play know the causes and effects, they can only follow the script, unable to change their destiny."

Cha Huan looked around the battle situation, unable to help but feel his heart sink.

'Huiyao's Fastest' Crane Tears was now scarred and almost watching himself being skinned by the Three-Eyed Titan.

Cha Huan knew that the Three-Eyed Titan was most effective against Martial Artists. When he was in the Canglan District, he had dealt with the Three-Eyed Titan many times, knowing their third eye was called the 'Eye of Present Reflection,' with various magical uses, the most common being to forcibly lock a target for a moment - causing the target to stop for an instant.

The stronger the Three-Eyed Titan, the greater the effect of stasis. A Three-Eyed Titan with a power at the Peak of Perfection can immobilize Crane Tears for a full second, directly nullifying his Divine Speed.

Meanwhile, Cui Yan, who wielded the Illusion Divine Weapon Purple Resentment, couldn't bring down that Jin Elf.

Although Cha Huan had never been to the northern frontier of Youyun, he knew that elves were naturally mentally strong and full of spirit, meaning they had high mental resistance. Purple Resentment happened to be a Divine Weapon targeting the spirit, and with that Jin Elf's tough hide and tendency to trade blows, it made the rarely-beaten backwards Cui Yan seem embarrassed.

As for Bai Letian and Mo Yu, although they weren't suppressed, they evidently couldn't quickly defeat their opponents.

"Was my attack too light? You can still be distracted while fighting me?"

Invisible hammers descended like divine punishment, instantly pulverizing their positions. Xie Chenyuan lightly flicked his fingers, sending blue finger rays chasing Smiling, saying aloud: "There's no need for a life-and-death struggle. Your strength already represents your group enough to negotiate with Huiyao. Fighting with us will only escalate ethnic tensions. You've established your authority; as long as you let us go back, Huiyao will be willing to negotiate with you as equals."

"Chief Xie, you're joking." Smiling slapped back, and Yu Ke, who was sneak-attacking from behind, was suddenly hit like being struck by a train, sent crashing to the ground: "How dare our Demon Race stand on equal footing with Huiyao?"

Yu Ke coughed up a mouthful of blood and said with a bitter smile: "Force is the passport to power. Your Excellency's strength already surpasses ordinary Martial Columns, and unless necessary, no Martial Column would want to compete with you. Just with your personal formidable force, you already make Huiyao respect you. Whoever has no fear of you, let me help you smash his head!"

"You're joking. Although we're all strong enough to fight a hundred foes, I don't think an individual can represent the whole group." Smiling pulled Cha Huan, who had crawled into the sky, down, slamming him to the ground: "Ultimately, you are just representatives of Huiyao's interests. If your decisions don't align with Huiyao's interests, Huiyao people won't follow your will."

"I'm the same, although I am currently considered the Demon Race's emperor, if I choose to negotiate with Huiyao, it would be tantamount to betrayal for the Demon Race." Smiling said: "Respect? No Demon Race craves human-given respect. To gain self-respect, we must seize it by stepping on human corpses!"

"As far as I know, although the Demon Race has expanded in recent years, the total number is still less than one hundred thousand." Xie Chenyuan dodged the invisible shock while saying aloud: "Not to mention in Yanjing, if the full Beiwei Army of Xia Mu is deployed, no matter how strong your Excellency is, you can only watch your group perish, losing the green youth and even facing total annihilation!"

"It doesn't matter." Smiling said: "Even if the Beiwei Army does not attack, the Demon Race must attack - the wilderness can no longer sustain the survival needs of tens of thousands of Demon Race. We must grab food from the Beiwei Army's mouth."

"Cooperation, however, can avoid this meaningless expenditure for the Demon Race." Yu Ke said: "Though it might seem inappropriate coming from me, if the Demon Race can take the chance to reproduce and recuperate during negotiations, and after reaching a population of 200,000 or 300,000, you then tear up the treaty, wouldn't it be more assured?"

"Or is it that, 'Immortal,' you can't wait even a few years?"

Thud!

Like being hit by a cannonball, Yu Ke's Feather Armor shattered instantly; he groaned, slammed into the wall, creating a web of cracks, vomiting foamy blood with organ fragments, seemingly having his ribs crushed.

"A meaningless probe." Smiling sneered: "Although your flattering words can sound pleasant, they harbor sinister intentions. Though I am a living Immortal, Huiyao's two thousand-year foundation is not to be underestimated. If I let you go, having fought me, you will definitely find ways to kill Immortals and slaughter Demons."

"Moreover, you can't restrain Xia Mu District already. And I can't restrict my brethren's yearning for revenge. Most importantly, there exists an irreconcilable conflict of interests between us!"

"The group has gone mad! Don't you understand, the group itself is an innately flawed nation, a monstrosity reliant on war to consume its population, with no other path! Either resources are seized through war, or population is consumed through war, no other way exists!"

"In the past hundred years, nearly one-third of the group has become warriors, every two people supporting one warrior! Weak warriors strive for more group resource supply through battling, strong warriors consume the majority of resources, and those responsible for production get exploited into hunger and cold. To escape this fate, their only way out is to become warriors themselves!"

"You, as Martial Columns, must know how many bloody battles it takes to ascend to the Peak of Perfection realm, right? Each Peak of Perfection birth represents the death of thousands of compatriots! But each Peak of Perfection is granted the group's resources and has control over their destiny!"

"What supports such an inhumane operation in the group? It is the benefits after victory, the glory of survival, the hope of becoming strong!"

"From the very beginning, what you faced was not a group that could sit and negotiate!" Smiling exhaled deeply: "The group is already seated on a chariot driven by blood and fire, with only victory or death. Nothing else can stop it! Least of all, worthless peace!"

"What if we help the Demon Race move to another continent?"

Xie Chenyuan calmly said, "To the east of Dongyang, there's a maritime nation called Scandinavia, rich in resources and population, even buying slaves to develop land. It's just that due to inconvenient maritime transport and the distance, Radiance has never intended to conquer Scandinavia."

"To send away you 'troublesome neighbors,' we are willing to help you move to Scandinavia, a new world without Radiance, where you can truly thrive. There, you won't face the resistance like in Radiance, and the Demon Race can quickly grow to a population of millions."

Smile coldly said, "Aren't Scandinavians also humans?"

Xie Chenyuan: "Scandinavians are not Radiance people."

"Hmph, selling out your own kind, aren't you..." Smile lowered his head in thought, halting his attack, and fell silent for a long time.

The three exchanged glances, and just when they thought Smile had been persuaded, a sudden spiritual shock slammed them down once more.

"A very nice plan, a beautiful future." Smile's voice was filled with sarcasm: "I must admit, Director Xie, you speak so persuasively that even I, an Immortal, was moved, if I were unaware of the truth."

"What truth?"

"The truth of the races." Smile lifted his head, the blood in his eyes shining beneath the mask: "Do you think the frenzied, militaristic race I described earlier was the Demon Race, Elf Race, or Titan Race?"

"Wrong, the race I described just now is none other than you, the Radiance people!"

"Why has Radiance survived two thousand springs without falling, passed on through two thousand winters, with martial virtues abundant, ever-renewing, unchanged for ten thousand years?"

"The Holy Sword Radiance serves as the mainstay, maintaining Imperial Family rule, shaping the soul of Radiance, which is the internal reason."

"Using the four Barbarian Races as the exterminator of excess population and the plunderer of resources is the external reason!"

"Relocate the Demon Race? The first to disagree would be the Beiwei Army of Xia Mu!"

"Since two thousand years ago, when the Radiance Grand Ancestor chose not to exterminate the Barbarian Race, his strategy of 'fostering barbarians' became the foundation of Radiance, a silently acknowledged policy of governance in the Outer District! Though successive emperors wanted to wipe out the Barbarian Race, and Radiance was capable of it, why do the four Barbarians continue to persist until today?"

"Because we are both the crops and the sickle." Smile's voice was cold like a rusty execution blade: "The emperor may be foolish, but the Outer District General represents the military's will and the local people's will! They would never extinguish the Barbarian Race; no matter what, they would leave a spark of us, so they can harvest the excess human population, so they can have another chance to reap us in the future!"

"Without the Demon Race, what would happen to Xia Mu's 100,000 Beiwei Army soldiers? Without the Demon Race, on what would Xia Mu's fur, food, and livestock industries, which are based on the Demon Race, rely for survival? Without the Demon Race, nearly half of Xia Mu's population would lose their jobs, then famine, and finally rebellion!"

"The Demon Race is the livelihood of Xia Mu's population of millions." Smile firmly stared at Xie Chenyuan, pushing his palm from afar, pinning him to the ground: "From the start, Xie Chenyuan, you have been deceiving me! You had no intention of negotiating or cooperating; you merely wanted to confuse me with rhetoric!"

"You're very confident because you are human, and I am a Demon. As a self-proclaimed superior race, you think manipulating me, an inferior race, is something very easy!"

"Humans, you are too arrogant!"

Zheng!

Cha Huan and Yu Ke simultaneously attacked Smile, who coldly snorted, retracting his hand and then pushing towards them.

Pa!

As Cha Huan and Yu Ke were sent flying, a blue light swept across Smile's face, shattering his mask. Xie Chenyuan took the opportunity to swallow back the reverse blood from his throat with several flicks of finger light and quickly climbed out of the pit to evade attacks.

The face, adorned with mammoth tusks and a single blood-red eye, was exposed in the moonlight. He pulled back his hood, revealing long hair, and the massive single blood-red eye gleamed like a Blood Essence Stone. Everyone who looked directly at the blood-red eye felt a pang of fear stemming from the food chain.

"To think there is still a Behemoth alive..." Yu Ke couldn't help but curse: "Are the people over in Xia Mu raised on eating shit?"

Behemoths, also known as the Beast Horde, Gluttons, are the natural rulers among the barbaric, and once matured, they can rival those at the Peak of Perfection stage, always ranked top three in the list of races for extermination throughout the ages!

"Please don't blame the Xia Mu army; they have tried their best." Smile calmly said: "If it weren't for my natural shortcomings and short stature, I couldn't have escaped Xia Mu's extermination. Moreover, I am already the last Behemoth in this world."

"After me, there will be no more Behemoths."

"But since history chose me to live as the last period for Behemoths," Smile's single eye half-closed: "Then I intend to live well."

"Xie Chenyuan is despicable and shameless, with promises equivalent to dog shit, so what about me?"

Cha Huan coughed twice, stood up, and said: "The strategy of fostering barbarians, I had vaguely perceived it when I was in the Canglan District, I also thought about changing this unreasonable system, but even if I became Chief Minister of the Cabinet, I couldn't shake this fundamental policy of the Outer District military's existence. But if you exert pressure externally, and I coordinate internally, perhaps we could indeed achieve cooperation, changing this world where it's either devour or be devoured."

"Let's sit down and talk properly, not just for the Demon Race, but for Radiance as well."

Smile remained silent for a moment, then shook his head: "The character of the principal, I naturally trust."

"However, not all mistakes can be forgiven, not all wounds can be healed; there are things that even time cannot change."

"When the Behemoths were exterminated, you didn't sit down; when I saw Xia Mu come to exterminate the Demon Race every year, you didn't sit down; when I sacrificed all the old, weak, sick, and disabled Demon Race, you didn't sit down; when I lurked in Yanjing for twenty years, you still didn't sit down."

"You never gave us a chance to talk properly."

"Perhaps in the past, I might have considered it. But now, I have achieved immortality, revealing my holiness in the present age."

"I neither want to sit down nor do I want to talk properly."

"I only wish to achieve one thing,"

Smile placed his hands behind his back, overlooking the land:

"From now on, my command will be the destiny of the earth!"

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