Chapter 61 Human Demon God

Inside a luxurious, exquisitely decorated room, a night-shining pearl worth millions was violently shattered against the floor. The sharp fragments pierced through a palm, drawing crimson blood that trickled steadily down. The surface of the blood reflected a distorted, ferocious youthful face.

Why?!

Why must I be compared to that bastard?!

How can a single sentence of yours effortlessly invalidate my achievements over the years?!

Have I, Lin Tianjiao, truly caused you, Lin Zhengyang, to feel disappointed?

Just like your disappointment with that bastard in the past?

Like a trapped beast, Lin Tianjiao let out a hysterical, silent roar. Yet, deep within the Prince's Mansion, he knew all too well how terrifyingly thorough his father's eyes and ears were, forcing even his roar down to a soundless hiss. In his mind, his father's words lingered like an unshakeable nightmare; every time they echoed through his consciousness, they made this immature face grow even more contorted and resentful.

Am I, Lin Tianjiao, the heir of the Lin family, who has reached the third tier of Bone-Forging before turning seventeen, still not exceptional enough?

Looking across the entire human race in the Eastern Lands, which royal family could guarantee that their younger generation possesses such excellence?

I have always been the pride of the Lin family, but, but, but! Why should a single sentence be enough to write me off?

Ahhhhhh! Lin Tianjiao closed his blood-shot eyes, screaming silently to vent the unwillingness and fury burning in his chest.

"Is the only way to earn your approval to remain endlessly exceptional?" Looking at his bleeding palm, Lin Tianjiao's gaze gradually turned deranged as he muttered, "So the cost doesn't matter at all, right? In your eyes, only the flawless deserve your approval, is that it?"

"Father, oh Father... then I shall grant you the approval you desire..."

Outside the window, sunlight poured into the luxurious room, but where there is light, there is also shadow. Lin Tianjiao's figure happened to be cast in the darkness, as if swallowed whole by the gloom.

He picked up brush and paper, his expression numb as he penned a letter.

A farewell letter.

Then, picking up his treasured sword, he pushed open the door and stepped out mechanically.

"Tianjiao? Where are you going?" Holding a name list, Yang Kaihui happened to be right at the entrance of the Prince's Mansion. Seeing Lin Tianjiao walking toward the gate in a daze, she asked curiously.

"I want to go out and temper myself in the outside world for about half a month."

"Oh, alright, then I'll send..."

"No need, Mother, I can manage on my own."

"Oh... well, be careful in everything, and keep in touch with the family." Yang Kaihui's face was filled with worry. Although it was customary for scions of noble families to travel and temper themselves in the pugilistic world, she could never truly feel at ease when it came to her youngest son. Therefore, after Lin Tianjiao left, she sought out A-Long and instructed him to secretly protect Lin Tianjiao.

Leaving the Prince's Mansion, Lin Tianjiao walked blindly toward the west. His heart beat wildly in his chest, demons whispered in his mind, and as he opened his eyes to gaze at the distant west, ten thousand fiends shrieked within his vision.

I will definitely make you satisfied.

I will become far more powerful than before.

Lin Tianjiao suddenly smiled with a eerie twist, his complexion deathly pale.

And Lin Yin, you will never be able to wrest away everything that rightfully belongs to me.

Everything belonging to the Lin family—the glory, the fame, the fortune, and the dignity—belongs to none other than me, Lin Tianjiao.

I admit you are no longer a frog at the bottom of a well, but I, Lin Tianjiao, shall tower even above the moon in the sky.

Following in secret, A-Long frowned deeply as he watched the unhinged-looking Lin Tianjiao, utterly bewildered.

...

Boom! In the imperial capital of the Great Xia Kingdom, within the palace city, a heaven-shaking radiance suddenly erupted.

Following closely, a hearty laugh rang out.

"Hahaha, so that's how it is! Body-Refining Peak, so this is what it truly is!"

Xia Changsheng, who was in the middle of wielding his brush to paint, trembled all over. He hastily rushed out of the room, and right before him stood an aged yet immensely powerful figure.

"Congratulations, Elder Jiang!" Xia Changsheng was overjoyed and quickly cupped his fists in salute.

Elder Jiang had a head of snowy hair, but faint, profound runes were now flickering ceaselessly within his eyes.

"Elder Jiang has broken through?!"

"Just a stroke of luck, haha!" Elder Jiang was in high spirits. That Body-Refining manual was truly a masterpiece of its time; all the doubts regarding body-refining that had plagued him for years were instantly unlocked, much like when he had witnessed the complete version of the [Three Thousand Mo-Dao Slashes] that day. His bottleneck shattered completely, and years of accumulated might poured into his body like a breached floodgate, propelling his realm forward by leaps and bounds as if ascending to the heavens!

Grandmaster, fourth tier!

He had now stepped into the realm of Earth Grandmasters, and from this day forth, he could rightfully style himself an Earth Grandmaster.

"Nothing major happened while I was in closed-door seclusion, did there?" Elder Jiang asked cheerfully, already planning to return to the Heavenly River.

Xia Changsheng's expression shifted as he recounted the battle of Jiayuguan Pass.

Elder Jiang's expression gradually darkened. His aged, tiger-like eyes gazed toward the Three Myriad Mountains with biting chill. The aura of an Earth Grandmaster naturally exuded a majestic pressure, forming a pale-yellow, profound domain a hundred meters wide around his feet. This was a special ability unique to Earth Grandmasters, which automatically released a domain during emotional fluctuations, subjecting all living beings within it to various negative suppressions.

"So, eight Demon Kings gathered at Jiayuguan Pass, and if it weren't for my disciple Lin Yin entering the Great Wall mechanisms to release electromagnetic waves, the pass would have been breached?"

"Indeed." Xia Changsheng hesitated for a moment, but still chose to advise him: "The war has already ended, and we emerged victorious, so there's no need to..."

"Hmph, Sovereign Xia, does Your Majesty not know that only by turning defense into offense can one achieve long-lasting peace?" Elder Jiang sneered as he looked toward the Three Myriad Mountains. "If their demon race can gather Demon Kings to attack Jiayuguan Pass, can this old man not pay a visit to their Three Myriad Mountains?"

"If they can hunt down my disciple, why can't I hunt them down?"

"It just so happens this old man wants to test whether my fists have grown old."

Elder Jiang stepped out of the palace city, his footsteps marking the ground into a fortress.

...

That day, Elder Jiang traveled a thousand miles in a single day, stepping out of Jiayuguan Pass. While the rest of the world remained entirely unaware, he walked alone into the depths of the Three Myriad Mountains.

The Three Myriad Mountains, which had remained tranquil through countless suns and moons, welcomed a mortal demon god, leaving not a single chicken or dog at peace, nor a blade of grass growing in his wake.

In the end, the violent commotion outside the pass left even the garrison soldiers of the Jiayuguan Great Wall feeling deeply unsettled.

With eyes full of terror, they stared into the boundless mountain ranges, utterly failing to comprehend what was happening within.

Yet, just a few days later, a massive corpse suddenly plummeted from the sky, crashing heavily onto the ramparts of Jiayuguan.

The garrison warriors rushed forward quickly to inspect it, and upon doing so, every single one of their faces turned pale with fright.

"The Demon King... Hong He is dead?!"

The unmoving, gigantic corpse was the size of a truck, covered in blood and littered with wounds. Its pair of hawk-like eyes remained open in death, staring wide like copper bells, seemingly filled with utter terror and awe right before its final moments.

Under the watchful eyes of the garrison warriors, Elder Jiang walked out from the Three Myriad Mountains, his white hair dancing wildly in the wind. A thick layer of pale-yellow domain enveloped his entire body, and what shocked the soldiers the most was that Elder Jiang was dragging yet another colossal tiger corpse with his left hand.

"The Demon King Tiger-Chang... is also dead?!"

The garrison soldiers were so stunned their entire bodies went numb.

That very evening, upon the battlements of Jiayuguan Pass, the corpses of two Demon Kings were hung high.

The bodies of Demon King Hong He and Demon King Tiger-Chang dripped with fresh blood as they dangled from the city walls, their baleful aura soaring into the heavens.

Deep within the Three Myriad Mountains, countless pairs of eyes gazed upon this scene, before shrinking back in terror into the deepest shadows.

Deterrence—the deterrence of ultimate might and slaughter. That old man was quite literally a living demon god...

The Three Myriad Mountains finally fell silent.