The Demon Realm Overhaul (Continued)
The Immortal Emperor's silence was more suffocating than the simultaneous roar of a million celestial soldiers.
It was the daze of one's cognition being completely shattered, the stagnation of a worldview being forced to twist with nowhere to settle. Behind him, the celestial soldiers and generals—who had been brimming with murderous intent, ready to crush all demons at any moment—now looked somewhat at a loss. The immortal light still blazed brilliantly, and the battle formation remained imposing, yet that unyielding sharpness seemed to have crashed into an invisible, soft wall and dissipated.
Lin Mo held the lopsided bone trophy, not even shifting his posture. He even had the leisure to use his other hand to brush off non-existent dust from his green robe.
"You…" The Immortal Emperor finally found his voice, but the majestic tone that once carried the weight of divine law now held a faint, imperceptible dryness. "What is this object? And… what is the situation here?"
His gaze, uncontrollably, swept over the "demon lair" once more.
Fields of glowing moss (though shabbily grown), neatly arranged bone handicrafts (though crudely made), strange arrays carved into the ground (unintelligible, yet seemingly somewhat profound), and those little potato-like demons hiding behind rocks—fearful yet unable to resist peeking out…
This was nothing like the demon's den he had imagined—one that should be drowning in demonic energy, paved with bones, and dotted with blood-stained altars. They were not just dissimilar; they were two entirely different worlds.
"As you see," Lin Mo's tone remained flat, as if introducing an ordinary community project, "the Abandoned Land of the Demon Realm is currently in the initial stage of economic transformation and development. Its main industries include characteristic agriculture, handicraft production, and preliminary inter-plane cultural exchange and trade."
He paused, adding, "Public order is sound, demon employment rates are steadily rising, and society as a whole is harmonious and stable."
The Immortal Emperor: "..."
The celestial soldiers: "..."
Harmonious and stable? Demon employment rates? Economic transformation?
They recognized every word, but hearing them strung together and spoken by this "demon" about this legendary land of darkness felt so… bizarre.
Beside the Immortal Emperor, a divine general holding a treasure mirror—responsible for monitoring the lower realms—broke out in a cold sweat and whispered, "Y-Your Majesty… This minister has inspected with the Heaven-Viewing Mirror. Within a hundred miles of this place, there is indeed no aura of bloody slaughter, nor any accumulation of powerful demonic energy… Instead, there is a hint of… vitality?"
Though this vitality was rooted in barrenness, desolation, and an indescribable "rustic crudeness."
The Immortal Emperor took a deep breath, trying to rally his resolve and reclaim the justice and necessity of this campaign: "Even if… even if it appears this way! You have recklessly opened an inter-plane passage, stolen energy from various realms, and disrupted order—this is a heinous crime!"
"Stolen?" Lin Mo finally lowered the hand holding the trophy, raising an eyebrow as if hearing a ridiculous accusation. "That is a fair trade. We provide unique Demon Realm-style goods and cultural experiences, and the other party voluntarily pays with energy ores as compensation. As for disrupting order…"
He pointed to the flickering light screen still covered in static. "The passage is unstable, traffic is minimal, and we have already (in our own minds) submitted a temporary business filing to the relevant realms (though we actually haven't). Everything is within controllable limits."
The Immortal Emperor was left speechless by this series of unapologetic arguments that somehow sounded plausible. He had waged war for ten thousand years, wiping out no fewer than eight to ten thousand demons. Every one of them was ferocious and brutal, ready to fight at the slightest provocation. How could there be one who reasoned with you, talked about economics, and discussed management?
How was he supposed to fight this battle?
Was he to order a million celestial soldiers to charge down and slay those moss-farming, bone-carving little demons as battle achievements? If word got out, would the Immortal World still have any dignity left?
Just as the standoff dragged on, the atmosphere growing so awkward that even the dim yellow sky seemed to darken further, another unexpected change occurred!
It came neither from the Immortal World nor from Lin Mo's side.
From the depths of the twisted stone forest in the distance, the space suddenly twisted violently. Accompanied by a grating, tearing sound, a pure, overbearing, and terrifying demonic energy—filled with the desire to destroy and devour—erupted like a geyser!
"Roar—!"
A sky-shaking howl swept over, carrying primitive savagery and hunger. This demonic energy was far more powerful than that of the little "potato demons" under Lin Mo's command; it even made the Immortal Emperor in the sky furrow his brows slightly.
"I-It's the Lord of the Soul-Eating Marsh! It's awake!" A little demon screamed in terror, its voice trembling. "When it's starving, it comes out to hunt! So many of our companions were… were eaten by it before!"
Before the words faded, a gigantic figure—condensed from thick black mist and countless fragments of agonized, wailing souls—burst out from behind the stone forest! It resembled a giant python but had no physical form; its massive body was made of pure malice and demonic energy. Wherever it passed, even rocks corroded and melted away.
Its target was clear: the vast energy emanating from the Immortal Emperor and the million celestial soldiers—a delicious feast it could not resist! Of course, crushing a few little demons along the way as a snack would also be nice.
"Protect the Lord! Protect our fields!" The timid demon from earlier, summoning courage from nowhere, picked up a stone from the ground and tremblingly stood in front of Lin Mo. Though the other little demons' legs shook with fear, they also grabbed bone flutes, stone carvings, or even stood empty-handed, huddling together to form a weak yet resolute line of defense.
The Immortal Emperor's eyes sharpened; he was about to order an attack on this demon that finally looked "proper."
However, someone moved faster than him.
Lin Mo acted.
He didn't even glance at the soul-eating python howling toward them. He simply lifted his right hand casually, facing the twisted space, and made a light slash in the air.
There was no earth-shattering commotion, no dazzling radiance.
It was like using a finger to gently wipe away a speck of dust from a tabletop.
The soul-eating python—now疯狂地 tearing through space and exuding a terrifying aura—suddenly froze mid-charge. Its massive body, composed of malice and demonic energy, began to dissipate and vanish little by little from the head down, like a pencil drawing erased by an eraser.
No struggle, no screams—even the last trace of demonic energy fluctuations disappeared without a trace.
It took less than a breath.
The twisted space calmed, the terrifying demonic energy vanished, and the soul-eating lord—powerful enough to make ordinary celestial generals stand on guard—seemed to have never existed.
Between heaven and earth, only the dim yellow sky, the desolate stone forest, and… the figure in the green robe who slowly lowered his hand remained.
Lin Mo turned to look at the Immortal Emperor in the sky, his expression still calm:
"You see? Public order here is indeed good."
The Immortal Emperor: "..."
The million celestial soldiers: "..."
This time, the silence carried a piercing chill.
The Immortal Emperor finally understood—this "demon" before him was unlike any he had ever destroyed.
He did not rule through cruelty and slaughter; his power… had transcended conventional understanding. That casual slash contained control and erasure of the very essence of rules.
Destroying him? What would the cost be?
The Immortal Emperor's gaze fell again on the Demon Realm's Abandoned Land—exuding an eerie "harmony"—on the little demons nervously guarding their moss fields and handicrafts, and finally settled on Lin Mo's calm, unperturbed face.
The Nine-Dragon Agarwood Palanquin behind him trembled imperceptibly.
This campaign, it seemed, had targeted the wrong enemy and taken the wrong path from the very start.
"...Withdraw the troops."
After a long silence, the Immortal Emperor uttered two words, his voice carrying a faint, imperceptible weariness and a deeper sense of confusion.
The golden light began to fade, the auspicious clouds slowly retreated, and the million celestial soldiers—filled with confusion and shock—withdrew like a tide. They had come quickly, and left just as fast.
The dim yellow sky returned to "normal."
The little demons stared blankly for a moment, then erupted into cheers of relief. Most of them still hadn't fully understood what had happened in that split second.
Lin Mo watched the last trace of golden light disappear from the sky, then lowered his gaze to the barren land beneath his feet.
He bent down, pulled up a stunted black moss shoot from the moss field, and twisted it between his fingers.
"Infrastructure is still too poor," he muttered to himself. "Inconvenient transportation, unstable energy supply, lack of educational resources, insufficient reserve of demon talents… Hmm, the next five-year plan must focus on solving these bottlenecks."
He tossed the moss shoot aside casually, his gaze turning to the deeper, darker regions of the Demon Realm.
"It seems it's time to consider mergers and reorganizations, and expand the scale of operations."