"This system of sacred grounds is somewhat akin to an alternative abdication system in the world of cultivation," Bai Ze remarked, nodding thoughtfully. "Given the worldview here, where individual power surpasses collective strength, it does make sense."
Everything seemed to be progressing in a favorable direction.
[The Demonic Race Takes Shape]
The demons, unlike the humans, fell into disarray after the fall of the demon progenitor. The once-unified Ten Thousand Demons Alliance disbanded, splitting into countless factions based on species.
Although they didn't achieve a state of ten thousand races vying for supremacy, they did fragment into hundreds, even thousands, of factions.
From this chaos emerged three dominant powers: the Demon King's Palace, the Demon Court, and the Celestial Fox Manor. These factions, led by the remnants of the Ten Thousand Demons Alliance's elite, wielded immense influence and ruled vast regions.
Over time, the demons' unrestricted evolution and the diversification of their species caused their population to grow exponentially. The world's biological diversity surpassed 3,000 species, with the combined populations of humans and demons approaching one million.
Meanwhile, as the Sacred Ground System took root among humans, prodigies began to emerge in every corner.
[A New Era of Prodigies]
Various unique constitutions were identified and classified into three tiers: Divine Bodies, Dao Bodies, and Spirit Bodies.
Among these, those with Divine Bodies stood at the pinnacle of the younger generation, engaging in competitions and rivalries, each aspiring to claim the title of the era's greatest prodigy.
As fortune continued to favor humanity, the seeds of countless prodigies were slowly being nurtured:
In the Xiao Family of Wutan City, a young man rejected by his fiancée declared with conviction, "The river flows east for thirty years, west for thirty years!" Soon after, he stumbled upon an unassuming ring.
In the Stone Kingdom, a young child was cruelly tormented by a vicious stepmother, having their chest bone removed in a horrific ordeal.
In a branch family of the Great Flame Empire's Qingyang Town, a crippled boy discovered a glowing rune stone that changed his destiny forever.
In a remote area known as Soul Village, a small child, munching on a rabbit head, excitedly shouted, "Blue Silver Grass, bind!"
Under the governance of the Four Heavenly Thrones, humanity enjoyed peace and prosperity.
New cultivation techniques and systems were introduced, marking the Spirit Sea Realm as the threshold for becoming extraordinary. This led to an explosion of talent, with over ten thousand humans and demons ascending to extraordinary levels.
The Four Heavenly Thrones and the demon elites began striving for the Saint Realm, ascending to pinnacle power as region-defining figures.
[The Iron Age Begins]
Beyond raw strength, human artificers leveraged their intelligence to forge new tools. With the discovery of refined iron, they began replacing bronze weapons with iron ones, heralding humanity's entry into the Iron Age.
Though their physical forms were inferior to true beings of strength, humans had unparalleled ingenuity. Bai Ze couldn't help but wonder, What would happen if cultivation intersected with technology. Would an immortal-imbued missile rewrite the battlefield?
[Shadows Loom]
As Bai Ze's gaze drifted toward the darker corners of the world, his expression darkened. "How can this be? The celestial energy doesn't just nourish ordinary creatures it even affects these monstrosities?"
[Late Fifth Epoch: Where Light Exists, So Does Darkness]
The malformed, native creatures of the world also began absorbing celestial energy. Their twisted and bloated bodies gradually restored themselves, gaining rudimentary intelligence. Though still grotesque, with bulging green faces and fangs, their distorted features were becoming more defined.
The most unsettling aspect was their newfound power. Some of the stronger creatures, bolstered by celestial energy, were on the brink of reaching the Commander Level.
Fortunately, their low intelligence prevented them from forming collective consciousness, reducing them to beast-like behavior driven purely by instinct to hunt and devour.
[The Evolution of the Demonic Beings]
"Yes, devouring," Bai Ze muttered. "Could these creatures evolve themselves by consuming others?"
His theory was soon proven correct.
The monsters' first victims were demonic beasts. It became common to find skeletal remains of devoured beasts in the wilderness and ravines.
At first, people assumed it was due to beast infighting, but the appearance of these strange creatures shattered that notion.
By the time humans recognized the threat, many sects and holy grounds had already suffered devastating losses.
When reinforcements arrived, they found only carnage fields of severed limbs, shattered bones, and eerie silence.
Among the wreckage stood grotesque figures with green faces and fangs, crowned with horns, feasting on the remains of their victims and absorbing celestial energy.
[The Birth of the Demon Race]
"These creatures are evolving again?" Bai Ze was startled. "When they first appeared, their facial features were hardly recognizable. Now they even have horns?"
The humans weren't the only ones shocked. The cultivators who faced the creatures in battle were equally unprepared.
[The Rise of the Demon Horde]
The creatures, later named Heavenly Demons, displayed remarkable abilities.
Despite being initially outnumbered, the demons proved their resilience. They could consume slain enemies to heal wounds, evolve their strength, and grow in intelligence.
This terrifying capability allowed them to establish small tribes of up to a hundred members, spreading across human territories to hunt.
[The Fall of Tai Xu Sacred Ground]
In response, humanity mobilized an elite force of over a thousand cultivators, led by one of the Twelve Elders of the Zodiac Palaces.
At Tai Xu Sacred Ground, they confronted a group of Heavenly Demons numbering just over a hundred.
Initially, humanity's overwhelming numbers promised victory. But the demons' ability to fight and evolve simultaneously turned the tide.
They consumed the fallen cultivators to restore their strength and ascend to even greater heights.
The human forces suffered a devastating defeat. Tai Xu Sacred Ground fell, one of the Zodiac Elders perished, and several Saint-level demons emerged, wielding power rivaling the pinnacle of the Servant Class.
[The Age of Chaos Begins]
The demons rampaged across human territories, leaving countless cultivators dead in their wake. The golden age of human prosperity crumbled, and the Unified Era of Fan Heaven came to an end.
[Recorded in the Immortal Chronicle: The Demon Invasion and the Devastation of All Beings.]
This period became known as the Demonic Turmoil.
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