The Ancestor of All Demons

Sikong Zhan's fate-important Double Hooks were stolen, and he was furious, determined to make the culprit pay.

In the Demon Path, there is no talk of righteousness or morality; strength is everything.

He also wanted to showcase his strength in front of Deng Yin and the other demons, so they wouldn't underestimate him, to make them know he wasn't easy to deal with, and for Deng Yin and others to respect him more.

Upon hearing the name "Red-Handed Venerable," Sikong Zhan didn't think much of it at first, thinking, no matter who you are, even if you can come back to life afterward, I must kill you today first!

He formed seals with his left hand to control the Double Hooks, and with his right hand, he pointed at the opponent. Instantly, green and white needle-like points appeared in the air. The long green ones were over a foot, the short white ones only an inch, and in an instant, thousands appeared, enveloping the person entirely.

The Geng Jia Yunhua Tianmang Divine Needle of the Mahayana Venerable was renowned worldwide, and the crowd exclaimed in unison, retreating and shouting loudly for him to stop: "If you dare harm the Red-Handed Venerable, Jiulei God won't forgive you!"

When these two titles were mentioned together, Sikong Zhan suddenly remembered that the Red-Handed Venerable was named Zou Qin, precisely Jiulei God's junior disciple!

Everyone knew Jiulei God's status in front of Deng Yin, who was still guarding a portal of the altar city.

If he truly injured his junior disciple, he would surely face consequences.

He couldn't possibly just join Deng Yin's ranks and immediately offend a core figure of the opposing camp. How would he continue in the future!

Sikong Zhan led the Infinite Needle Points back, and sternly asked: "Are you truly the Red-Handed Venerable Zou Qin, Jiulei God's junior disciple?"

The opponent, surrounded by the needle points, showed no fear. Having entered the Blood Pool earlier, he already obtained the Blood God Avatar. After being severed by Lie Que's Double Hooks, he dispersed into a mass of Blood Shadows, which gathered without dispersing, surging and quickly reformed into a human shape.

He held a Lu Chen Hun Yuan Banner in his hand, releasing a billowing black smoke and red light, wrapping the Double Hooks, and laughed: "Sikong Zhan! It's been many years, and you still have this temperament! Years ago, I was sealed by the two scoundrels Li Jingxu and Ren Shou at the East Sea seabed. After escaping, I secluded myself to cultivate treasures for a long time and did not walk the world. Do you not recognize me?"

Seeing that it was indeed him, Sikong Zhan was troubled: "Why did you steal my Double Hooks?"

Zou Qin sneered: "Are these Double Hooks refined by you? Or do you have some master-student relationship with the Ancient Immortal Lie Que, who passed it to you?"

Sikong Zhan said: "I obtained it years ago in the Lieque Immortal Mansion and have had it for hundreds of years!"

"Yes, hundreds of years ago, you picked it up from their home. Now I've found it in my home. After following you for centuries, it should change owners and let me use it!"

Sikong Zhan was so furious his chest hurt, gritting his teeth: "You have no shame!"

Zou Qin's face turned stern: "You better watch your mouth. You must know, I also do not have a good temper. Truly infuriate me, and you'll know the might of the Yin Thunder from my sect!"

Seeing that reasoning with him was futile, Sikong Zhan had to turn to Deng Yin: "Blood God! I ask for your justice. Following the Emperor's command, I went down to the Blood Pool to reshape my Dharma Body, leaving my belongings ashore, only for them to be forcibly stolen by him. I caught him in the act, and he shamelessly calls it his find. We all came here for the name of the Blood God and still have to battle the Mysterious Sect and Buddhist bald monks in the future. Without a fitting weapon, how can this be? Considering Jiulei God, I won't fight him. I ask the Emperor to return my Double Hooks."

Deng Yin, standing on the altar, laughed heartily: "I saw everything. Zou Qin has only recently emerged from seclusion. During Chi You's previous southern expedition, he fought the Evil Dragon's subordinate, the Red Snake, in the East Sea. Seeing success, the Red Snake was rescued, and his Flying Fork was destroyed. He's been searching for a fitting weapon ever since. Since you've joined us, let's all work together for the great cause. Be generous and lend it to him for a while. After some time, I'll have him return it to you, or I'll find another Flying Sword not inferior to this Double Hooks and give it to you."

Jiulei God had been with Deng Yin for a long time, second only in closeness to the Princess of Stone God and Red Corpse God Monarch. How could Deng Yin not favor his junior disciple?

A Demon acts differently from a Daoist. Daoism emphasizes heavenly principles, reasoning, human emotions, and desires cannot surpass reasoning. A leader talking sense convinces people, and if everyone values reason, they are more willing to stay within a group.

The Demon Path emphasizes survival of the fittest, strength as supreme. Strength is everything, with a pursuit of decisive killing, passionate revenge, breaking all rules to act as one pleases, doing whatever one desires.

If I am this powerful, the first in the world, my wife, children, relatives, friends, and even stray cats and dogs at my door must benefit. Otherwise, wouldn't my cultivating to be number one be in vain? I kill whoever I want. I open the backdoor for my son, arrange good positions for my relatives; isn't it only natural and rightful?

The more a Great Demon acts in this manner, the more they make subordinates feel a sense of belonging, eager to close ties with him.

If a Great Demon is selfless and impartial, the minor demons below would feel that, if you're unwilling to help even your children, parents, or relatives, that's too ruthless and devoid of demonic flavor. How can they manage us sincerely?

Thus, Deng Yin's words clearly favored Zou Qin, tacitly allowing him to take away Lie Que's Double Hooks without having to return them to Sikong Zhan.

Sikong Zhan was infuriated, wishing he could release all the newly refined Great and Small Twelve Heavenly Secret Demonic Divine Thunder and blow everyone present to dust, reducing the entire altar city's Blood Pool to rubble.

But he knew he couldn't do that, because he knew that even if he fought with all his strength, with all his life, it would still be useless. It would only kill some worthless ones, like Deng Yin. Not only would it not kill them, his own end would surely be extremely miserable.

When under a low eaves, one must bow one's head. He had no choice but to swallow his anger forcibly and retract the Heavenly Bright Divine Needle.

Zou Qin complacently held the Double Hooks and looked at him: "You shouldn't be discontent. Even in a one-on-one fight, I'm not afraid of you. It's just that now we're both under the Demon Lord's command. It's not good to kill each other."

Sikong Zhan snorted hatefully, turned his back, no longer looking at him.

Others jumped in, accusing Sikong Zhan: "This guy harbors resentment and will surely think of avenging the Heavenly Venerate in the future. Keeping him could eventually become a curse. It's better to act early and remove the threat!"

Zou Qin sneered and asked Sikong Zhan: "Do you harbor resentment towards me, thinking about seeking revenge in the future?"

Sikong Zhan did not answer, continuing to walk into the crowd, trying to hide himself.

But everyone saw he had offended Zou Qin, and dared not stand with him. As soon as someone approached, they immediately split left and right, keeping a distance.

Zou Qin asked him again: "I'm asking you a question, are you mute? If you're discontent, come forward now, and we'll fight for three days and nights in front of the Demon Lord's altar!"

Sikong Zhan felt this guy was excessively bullying, and not a single person around even stood up to speak for him; instead, they were all mocking him. This made his anger boil over, almost spitting blood.

The more he stayed silent, the more triumphant Zou Qin became.

Within the large Demon Path group, there are small groups. Small groups always need to bully an unlucky fellow. The small leader with a group of followers teases, bullies, and insults the other for fun. This not only demonstrates his own authority but also makes followers take sides and shows who is loyal and who isn't, further increasing cohesion, similar to internal team building of the small group.

The more the bullied humbles themselves, the more they dare not fight back, the crueler the bullying becomes.

Zou Qin gained an inch, bullying Sikong Zhan in public. Sure enough, a bunch of people volunteered to act as lackeys, jeering and cursing Sikong Zhan, and the crowd grew.

Just as Sikong Zhan was almost livid with anger, finally someone stood up to speak: "Don't bully too much! Fellow Daoist Sikong is also a person with several hundred years of Dao Level, a renowned figure. He traveled thousands of miles in response to the Demon Lord's call. You've taken his Double Hooks, and still humiliate him like this, aren't you cutting off the path for others to come to seek the Demon Lord's alliance in the future?"

Sikong Zhan turned around to look; the speaker was a red-dressed beauty, with a handsome young man standing beside her, looking like a perfect pair.

They looked familiar, but the other also had obtained the Blood Magic Body, and their temperament had changed. He couldn't tell who they were for a moment.

Before he could inquire their names, a cricket-like sound came from the crowd, saying these two were Bodhi and Gan Que from North Heavenly Mountain.

Bodhi is Jiu Panpo's sister. She eloped with Gan Que back in those days. Jiu Panpo chased after them, trying to kill them both. Bodhi destroyed her own appearance, trying to use a Secret Demon Forbidden Curse to perish together with Jiu Panpo, while bitterly pleading with her elder sister. Secretly, Gongye Huang assisted them, and only then did they escape Jiu Panpo, fleeing to North Heavenly Mountain to hide.

Now that the great catastrophe is about to arrive, they couldn't make it through, they must plan for their future.

Thinking and thinking again, they finally decided to come to Deng Yin.

Deng Yin's Blood Demon World planned naturally attracts these Demon Path cultivators. Transforming the world from Mortal Land to Demon Domain, at most they would abandon their physical form. Nothing else would change significantly. If they went to Taishan to seek the Giant Wood God, they would have to melt away their carefully cultivated Lifebound Demon of a thousand years, then reincarnate into a mortal .... Not only themselves, but their entire set of Demonic Path Skills and treasures would be unusable.

No one can bear to burn all their painstaking efforts of a thousand years. They also couldn't bear it, so they came to seek Deng Yin.

Here, they met the Sand God Child.

They were originally on guard against whether the Sand God Child would deal with them, prepared to flee immediately if things went wrong, but surprisingly, the Sand God Child treated them well, openly announcing that Bodhi is equivalent to his own younger sister, giving them a lot of protection.

If someone else dared to stand out and speak for Sikong Zhan, like an unsupported Loose Cultivator, Zou Qin would immediately take action to dispatch them, possibly even Soul Extraction and Refining, to deter others and establish his authority.

But Bodhi is different; she herself has mana no less than his, and also has a husband, Gan Que.

Most importantly, the Sand God Child calls Bodhi his sister.