At Ye Jingyu's command, Hu Yanqi unflinchingly loosed the Sunset Arrow. The black streak of light shot forward almost instantaneously, reaching the Heaven-rank Demon Chief before it could even react. Pierced clean through, the creature's body exploded with raw power. A roar tore from its throat as the shattered form tried to surge upward, but a black seal materialized directly above its head.

The Heaven-Overturning Seal was formidable enough to challenge Yuan; what chance did a mere Heaven-rank demon have? With a crisp crack, the already gravely wounded demon was pulverized into dust, countless scattered residual souls whisking away in all directions.

Meanwhile, the Eye of Reincarnation in Ye Jingyu's brow swept across them, examining each soul individually. The Chief’s entire life memory, even the very linguistic notes of the Demon Race, were wholly absorbed by Ye Jingyu...

Casually deploying the Twelve Heavenly Witch Annihilation Grand Array, Zhu Rong and Tian Wu stepped forth, followed by Han Ba. The remaining nine phantoms emerged from the void, and an endless stream of lesser demons poured out, charging directly toward the two thousand enemy demons.

With a divine being like Zhu Rong—a figure infinitely close to an Azure-rank master—holding the line, the remaining soldiers were no match. In mere breaths, the demons were utterly annihilated, their essence devoured clean by the Great Array. The nine phantoms became progressively clearer and more defined.

Ye Jingyu even noted that the collective essence from those two thousand demons was equivalent to the vital energy of at least two hundred thousand ordinary human soldiers. This was the true might of the demons? A hundredfold disparity indeed.

Seven hundred thousand troops... that would equate to at least seventy million human soldiers. Where in the Demon Realm or the mortal world could one possibly gather such a force now?

No. Since they had come this far, they absolutely could not stand idly by. At the very least, they had to disrupt the Demon Lords' schemes.

An audacious, yet perilously dangerous, plan began to form in Ye Jingyu's mind. He communicated the details via divine thought. Liang Xiaoke, Hu Yanqi, Jiu Feng, Hu Yanmeng, and the others all nodded in agreement.

As for Ha and the others standing by, they were speechless with shock at how easily Ye Jingyu's group had wiped out the contingent of two thousand. Were they only Heaven-rank cultivators? How could their combat prowess be so fierce? How could a fellow Heaven-rank Chief fail to survive a single move against them?

In the Demon Race hierarchy, Heaven-rank experts served only as minor captains. At the Azure-rank, they could become major captains. Hong-rank masters commanded entire legions, earning the title of Colonel. Due to the Demon Race's limited population, each legion numbered only between thirty and forty thousand, followed by the War Generals above them.

To achieve the rank of minor captain implied considerable strength, yet this captain had been ruthlessly executed. However, what astonished Ha further was watching Ye Jingyu's body slowly transform. In moments, he became indistinguishable from the slain Chief 'Qi'. Furthermore, those lesser demons that had emerged from beneath the dark clouds, having absorbed the soldiers' blood essence, had also taken on the appearance of those very troops. If he had not witnessed it firsthand, Ha would never have believed that the arrival of a two-thousand-strong contingent had been utterly obliterated.

Ye Jingyu, possessing the Chaos Body, found altering his appearance trivial; he even perfectly mirrored Qi's aura. As for Liang Xiaoke and the others, while lacking such specific abilities, Qi's two-thousand-strong unit was a collection of various demons anyway—what was adding a few unfamiliar faces to the mix?

The lesser demons manifested from the Great Array, provided they did not stray more than ten li from Ye Jingyu, posed no risk of dissipation.

Instructing Ha and his kinsmen to remain close by, Ye Jingyu led this two-thousand-strong 'contingent' according to Qi's memories, heading toward the main army of the Devouring Demon Clan. His plan was simple and utterly mad: assassinate a Legion Commander who had reached the Hong-rank and successfully frame another demon for the crime...

Yu was the commander of the Third Battalion, First Legion, serving under Miao, the third-ranking War General beneath the Devouring Demon Lord. He was also a confidant of the First Legion Commander, Mian. This time, he had been specifically ordered to lead the main thrust against the Demon Realm.

Possessing Azure-rank cultivation, Yu was filled with absolute confidence regarding this invasion. The mere thought that the strongest warriors in that realm were only Heaven-rank made his heart pound with excitement.

Where could there be land more vast than the Abyss? Where could there be females more beautiful than the Nightmares? Once they reached that place, he, with his power, could do as he pleased.

More sustenance, greater wealth, and more women—perhaps there he could even successfully advance to the Hong-rank realm?

The Devouring Demon Clan primarily evolved by consuming other energies. However, the Abyss was geographically limited, and resources scarce. No matter the energy source, it was never abundant, and they could not gorge themselves indefinitely; other demons would never permit it. The energy allocated to the Devouring Clan was never sufficient. They could only acquire Dark Stones via distribution from their Lord based on military merit. Above them were Legion Colonels, War Generals, and Lords. No matter how high their merit, after layers of skimming, how much actually reached their hands?

But the older demons spoke of the Demon Realm as a boundless territory. If he reached there, wouldn't he be able to devour endlessly? In that case, attaining the Hong-rank would be effortless.

Every time Yu considered this, he wanted to laugh aloud, especially if a few women more beautiful than those of the Nightmare Clan accompanied him.

While Yu indulged in his daydreaming—on his way to summon the Gold-Eating Demons—the 'Qi' commanded by him had returned.

"Respected Lord Yu, your subordinate has not failed his mission and has completed the task you assigned!" The 'Qi' impersonated by Ye Jingyu bowed with deep respect toward Yu and spoke.

"Hmph... This Lord will note your contribution. You may withdraw..." Having his pleasant reverie disturbed, Yu felt distinctly displeased.

"My Lord, on the way back, your subordinate discovered this..." Ye Jingyu subtly produced a gemstone glowing with a faint crimson light and offered it over.

Yu, who had been impatient moments before, had his eyes light up upon seeing the crimson gem. This... this was actually a Dark Stone, containing the Dark Energy most favored by their Devouring Demon Clan!

Such Dark Stones were to a Devouring Demon's desire what ginseng and Lingzhi mushrooms were to human health—an absolute tonic!

Yet, these Dark Stones, regarded as treasures by the Devouring Demon Clan, were merely ordinary gems in the eyes of Ye Jingyu and his companions. The greedy and lustful Liang Xiaoke had no shortage of them stashed in her storage ring; now was the perfect time to use one to bait Yu...

"Where did you find this?" Yu snatched the ruby almost violently, speaking with palpable excitement.

"In a forest about thirty kilometers from here..." Seeing Yu's agitation, Ye Jingyu smiled faintly. The intelligence gathered from Qi's memories was indeed accurate...

(I will pace things slightly for the next few days to manage this transition properly, then resume a strong burst next week. Dear brothers and sisters, please offer your staunch support!) 【Ti: Dear Book Friends, the current chapter has reached the final page of this book】