Eastern King?

Song Lin thought this name wasn't bad, evoking a sense of simplicity and unadorned nature.

Although the title of Emperor Donghua carried a certain grandeur, the Heavenly Court would eventually have many Emperors, which rendered the name somewhat ordinary. Pure Yang Venerate, on the other hand, sounded overly lofty.

As for other imposing titles like Xuantian God, Emperor Ziwei, or Heavenly Emperor, they all seemed to suggest one's virtue could not match the weight of the name, and they felt like echoes of different incarnations.

After ruminating for a while, Song Lin decided that the title of Eastern King was his original creation and carried an adequately distinguished tone.

Not overly ostentatious, it gave off an air of modesty, unembellished yet noble.

Of course, outsiders would eventually come up with their own nicknames for him.

After all, those who accomplished great things—how many of them didn't have resounding monikers?

"We've finally driven back the allied demon armies, and the Human Clan's territories are now restored. Next comes the phase of recuperation and recovery. The final battle approaches."

The Human Clan now had its foundation stabilized, and his strength had ascended into Harmonization. With the Twelve Yuan Chen and the Kunlun Ancestral Court in place, their foes dared not invade lightly.

The presence of the Kunlun Ancestral Court allowed the Human Clan to steadily amass strength.

In the 300,000-plus years since the birth of this realm, the Human Clan had known its peaks, but their lifespan was inherently shorter than that of the demons. Often, even before the demons launched a counterattack, the Human Clan had already entered periods of decline.

Time was on their side now; they merely needed to patiently gather strength before retaliating.

"This realm should have no practitioners who have fully merged with the Innate Pure Yang Dao, so cultivation here shouldn't be too difficult."

In summary, the demon race had yet to be defeated fully. Humanity had only reclaimed a fraction of its land and position.

To restore its peak population of three billion, it would likely take at least a Jiazi.

The Kunlun Ancestral Court establishing Yin God Earth Deities across every mountain under Human Clan territory would also take at least a Jiazi.

An army of a million Heavenly Soldiers, a million Taoist Soldiers, and tens of thousands of Immortals remained a distant goal.

Only when that time truly came could one speak of a full-scale counteroffensive.

There was still much to handle in the interim.

With this thought in mind, Song Lin strode towards the rear hall of the Palace of the Polestar.

This place was the very essence of Kunlun. The ground was crafted from pure white jade, and Coiled Dragon Jade Pillars rose skyward, supporting magnificent palaces.

The palaces were connected by corridors, flanked by ponds, gardens, groves, and unique stones.

The ground was shrouded in a rolling white mist, resembling an Immortal Realm.

One had to admit, the Jade Emperor had exquisite taste.

This complex housed the Alchemy Hall, the Sensing Mortal Realm Hall, the Prince and Princess Palaces, the treasure vault, the Imperial Kitchen, and the sleeping quarters, among others.

This was Kunlun's most concentrated essence, where the density of Heaven and Earth Essence Qi was hundreds of times that of the mortal world. Cultivation here yielded twice the results with half the effort.

Carved into the white jade pathways was an array—designed to prevent spirit monsters from forming. Otherwise, under such high concentrations, even plants, stones, and ornamental rocks might gain sentience.

Other than the structures, most treasures hadn't been relocated here; it was rather empty, and filling it up would be a task for the future.

Fortunately, this battle had yielded considerable gains: the Soul Suppressing Bell from the Green Lion, the Sea Gold Bowl from the Sea Rakshasa, the sword scales from the Nine-tailed Sword Dragon, as well as Magic Artifacts, corpses, Beast Bone Demon Pills, and so forth from other demons.

These items could be consolidated into the treasure vault and used in the future to reward meritorious contributions.

Song Lin secluded himself to attune to his realm, stabilizing his newly harmonized Innate Pure Yang Dao.

This state of unifying with the Great Dao, where every motion could trigger Heavenly Phenomena, far surpassed the other levels below.

Ever since the Kunlun Ancestral Court was established, morale soared, and under the leadership of the Civil and Martial Arts Academy, the forces of the Human Clan swiftly rebuilt.

In the mortal world.

Not far from the base of Kunlun Mountain stood a Heroic City, which once served as the Central Capital of the Xia Dynasty.

With the assistance of numerous Martial Artists, the Central Capital had been reconstructed, and its population had rebounded to tens of millions.

The Xia Emperor Wu Yi presided over the heart of the capital, assisted by State Preceptor Yangg Xiao and Chuu Yun, his left and right arms. The court quickly returned to stability.

In the Heart Nurturing Hall, the three gazed up at Kunlun, whose peaks pierced the clouds. Wu Yi couldn't help but marvel, "A mountain so high it commands reverence. I never imagined the Human Clan could achieve this."

This peak was, after all, constructed stone by stone by eight hundred million citizens under his orders.

"Unbelievable," remarked Yangg Xiao, the former King Zhou.

He had once doubted that such a monumental array could exist in the world, thinking it to be an elaborate deception by Song Lin. Yet the accomplishment stood before them, indisputably real and astonishing.

This far exceeded the legend of the Foolish Old Man moving mountains; it was truly awe-inspiring.

Creating dragon veins and an ancestral court by human hands.

"Since the heavens denied it to us, we made it ourselves. What audacity to reverse the order of the cosmos!"

"The Donghua Heavenly Master firmly believed in the power of humanity. He repeatedly assured all allies that the Human Clan was not a subset of the demons but the spirit of all living things with boundless potential... Yet, there were still skeptics."

"The skeptics are all dead."

Chuu Yun thought of her kin, Chuu Yuying, as well as the Tianhe Heavenly Master Qingchen Heavenly Master, Jiuxiao Miao, and those henchmen of the Black Heaven Witch God.

All those with weak knees had been obliterated, turned to ash.

This single campaign had elevated the standing of the Donghua Heavenly Master to an unshakable height—a brilliance unmatched in the annals of the Human Clan's history.

"How many people are still alive now?"

Wu Yi inquired.

"Under two hundred million, but fortunately, the Eight Sceneries World concealed some of our people. Otherwise, we truly might have faced extinction."

Chuu Yun reflected momentarily.

This was indeed the Human Clan's darkest hour. Just decades ago, their population had been thirty billion; now, it was less than two hundred million. Most had ended up in the bellies of the demons—a feud of blood and hatred that ran deep.

Faced with such stark numbers, silence fell over the group.

Twenty-some billion lives...

It all stemmed from the chain reactions instigated by one obstinate Dragon Head Master, plunging the Human Clan into decades of darkness.

Had the Donghua Heavenly Master not stepped in at the last moment, the Human Clan really could have devolved into just another branch of the demons, with half-demons enjoying higher status than humans.

"Enough. Let's not dwell on it. Keep rebuilding the cities. There's just six months until the assembly, where the Heavenly Master's method of divinely ordaining gods will be revealed."

Far across the East Sea.

Two forces clashed in brutal combat.

Chiyou, wielding the Blood-drinking Demon Blade, slaughtered his way through the field. Demon Lords were decapitated, and demon armies were routed in disarray.

Tens of thousands of demons couldn't overpower a mere thousand troops.

"The White Elephant Clan surrenders to Chiyou Demon King!"

"The Whale Clan surrenders to Chiyou Demon King!"

"The Giant Turtle Clan surrenders!"

"The Green Lion Clan surrenders!"

"The Yellow God Clan surrenders!"

"The Sea Snake Clan…"

"The White Dragon Clan…"

"The Black Flood Dragon Clan…"

One by one, as they lost their strongest members, even the ferocious demon clans began to collapse and kneel to plead for mercy.

There was no secret to it—Chiyou was their natural nemesis. The demons themselves called him the Demon King, unable to kill him. Whenever he got the chance to devour a strong opponent, he would immediately return to his peak strength.

They simply couldn't withstand him any longer.

If the Turtle Clan could serve him, why couldn't they surrender as well?

"Heh heh…" Chiyou chuckled, baring his bronze-colored teeth. His scarlet eyes glistened with killing intent as he sneered, "Surrender, and stand still. Laozi will draw lots and kill one out of ten. Don't move."

Whoosh!

With one massive gulp, Chiyou swallowed thousands of demons whole. There was no drawing of lots; he couldn't even be bothered to count.

The demons quickly fought back upon seeing this.

"Still resisting? Then I'll kill five out of ten!"

A fresh wave of carnage ensued.

After countless rounds of this, the demons finally accepted his terms, only for Chiyou to renege again and again. Each betrayal led to another cycle of resistance.

After dozens of such exchanges, less than one percent of the demons were left. All the hardliners had been eradicated, and the survivors had been brought to complete submission under Chiyou's brutal "games."

"Save some. Don't kill them all. Keep them as tribute."

…

(Salted fish ends here. Tomorrow, there will be more updates in a big burst.)

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