Lu Jun looked down upon the land. From all directions of the mining zone, strands of brightly colored venomous snakes were winding their way over.
What was strange was that these snake–scorpion creatures were not even Servant-level demons, yet they still rushed forward wave after wave, as if something fatally alluring lay ahead.
Seeing this, he finally understood why his sister's expression had been so grim. Ordinary snake–scorpion demons, no matter how numerous, would not truly trouble the two women.
But venomous snakes—one of the creatures most feared by women—densely packed together into writhing masses, were enough to make anyone lose composure.
Besides that, at the end of the withered yellow earth, Lu Jun also saw torrents of baleful aura surging in the sky, gathering into dark clouds. Thousands of snake–scorpion demons had assembled, with Commander-level great demons suppressing the formation, once again charging over.
"So the scent mark on my body has taken effect, drawing hostility from the snake–scorpion clan?"
Lu Jun felt irritated. No wonder African natives avoided the snake–scorpion race like the plague. Even when forced to encounter them, they would be extremely cautious about killing them, and afterward would still have to offer blood sacrifices to appease matters.
Someone like him, who slaughtered them clean, was undoubtedly making the worst possible choice.
The snake–scorpion clan truly was powerful and hard to deal with.
"I'm afraid it's not just that. It's also because human forces aren't united enough—preferring to worship demons as totems—which makes the snake–scorpion lineage feel there's profit to be had, growing ever more 'vengeful and united,' turning the tables on humans."
Lu Jun snorted coldly, beginning to recall whether humans ever carried out equivalent retaliation when slaughtered by demons.
The answer was obvious. Those in power remained aloof, indifferent to matters that didn't concern them, naturally causing surrounding demons to feel that 'two-legged beasts' were easy to bully.
Nothing illustrated this better than how Egypt treated the snake–scorpion Medusas—lowering their heads wasn't enough; they even continuously selected innocent human girls to feed the Medusas. Such evil was simply appalling.
But Lu Jun was different. How could he ever lower himself before demons? From the very start of his cultivation, he had set down a grand ambition—to pacify demons in all directions and expand humanity's territory.
Thus, when he encountered Duke Snake Lord Jiehai while traveling by ship, he killed him outright. When Scorpion Lord Medusa occupied the Taibai mining zone, he beheaded her as well. And so what?
Now the snake–scorpion clan believed their endless pressure would, as always, force humans to compromise. This time, however, they had clearly provoked the wrong enemy.
"Heh heh heh, the entire clan as my enemy? I'm still short on soul essences anyway. Come as many as you want—I'll kill them all."
Lu Jun's killing intent surged forth. He had long been fed up with the snake–scorpion clan. Attacked while traveling by ship, harassed even while mining—again and again invading human territory, yet still playing the victim seeking revenge.
His anger flared, and he prepared himself mentally for a major battle.
Thus Lu Jun said calmly, "The three of us will take turns standing guard. Treat it as tempering our cultivation."
Hearing this, his sister Lu Mei and Jun Yaoxin had no objections. After all, Lu Jun's Tai'a Sword was still refining the Taibai Xin Metal, and he couldn't leave for the time being.
Buzz buzz buzz!
Lu Jun stood at the edge of the Taibai mining zone. With a thought, he formed a constellation, releasing the fourth-level high-tier magic Gate of the Beast Tide. Behind him, a magnificent moon-white gate swung open.
Immediately after, figures wrapped in black qi stepped out one by one—humanoid undead swordsmen known as Fierce Sword Death Guards.
Under the double enhancement of the Spiritual Heaven Realm and fourth-level high-tier magic, the beast tide he summoned in one breath actually reached over five hundred Warrior-level units, every single one a top-tier demon among the Warrior rank.
Back then, the mirage projection of the Puni City-state pyramid in Egypt had only gathered five hundred Fierce Sword Death Guards—enough to restrain a Super Mage.
Now, with just his Summoning element alone, Lu Jun could threaten an entire city.
And that wasn't all. Lu Jun controlled the star particles. His entire body bloomed with milky-white holy radiance as pillar after pillar of milky-white light condensed out of thin air, crashing down among the deathly undead swordsmen and spreading into rippling waves.
Fifth-Level Healing Light · False Life.
The Fierce Sword Death Guards, instead of showing disgust or rejection toward the overwhelming life aura, appeared comfortable and eager. Their entire bodies were coated in a layer of milky-white glow, their presence growing even more formidable.
That's right—Lu Jun's Life-element enhancement might not do much for himself, but when applied to summoned creatures, the effect was exceptionally outstanding.
After finishing all this, Lu Jun returned to his spot, sat down, and resumed meditation and star control.
Roar roar roar!
Before long, thousands of snake–scorpion troops surged ferociously to the edge of the Taibai mineral vein.
Without the need for Lu Jun and the other two to act, the Fierce Sword Death Guards moved. With sharp swish swish sounds, countless dark sword lights flashed.
Some vanished in an instant, sword light like stars; some carried overwhelming force, cleaving straight down; others swept horizontally like a crescent moon, slashing at the waist…
Thousands of jet-black, shocking sword scars appeared across the region, like a raging blade storm, mowing down grass and trees alike. Even a small nearby hill could not withstand the terrifying dark sword force and collapsed into rubble.
In the next instant, the thousands-strong snake-scorpion army was cut down like harvested leeks. Row after row of snake-scorpion monsters fell to the ground, flesh and blood flying everywhere.
As for the extremely few Commander-level great demons, the two summoned beasts—the Mermaid Holy Spirit and the Night Thunder Dream Beast—stepped in, executing precise single-target kills.
Lu Jun's expression remained indifferent as he sat upright atop mountains of corpses and seas of blood, silently cultivating.
One day… two days… three days…
In the blink of an eye, seven or eight days had passed. The aura of the Tai'a Sword grew increasingly powerful, its sharp edge fully revealed. At the same time, more and more snake-scorpion corpses piled up across the mining zone, stacking into mountains, blood flowing like rivers!
Yet the snake-scorpion race not only failed to restrain itself—on the contrary, it seemed enraged. Large numbers of clansmen rushed in, and faintly, Medusa figures had already begun to appear.
Lu Jun felt no fear whatsoever. Whenever his Summoning Element Star River ran out of magic energy, he would switch to Death Element cannon-fodder undead to fill the gap. Summoned beasts and snake-scorpion corpses could both be reused—forming a perfect, endless cycle, a flawless bug.
If both the Summoning Element and Death Element were exhausted, he would unleash the terrifying Psychic Element and Curse Element instead.
High-Tier Fourth-Level mind control and soul seizure—called [Human World].
Based on Third-Level Soul Grinding, it evolved to its pinnacle, drawing upon the power of belief to lure the complexity of sentient minds, driving those afflicted into complete loss of control.
Its manifestation was extremely bizarre. It spread and infected through contact between individuals. Rather than "Human World," it was more like a mental plague.
Boom—!
Lu Jun's eyes flashed with deep azure light as he looked down upon tens of thousands of snake-scorpion demons locked in chaotic battle, completely descended into madness. Their eyes burned red as they slaughtered one another, as though the battlefield had become purgatory itself. Within several kilometers, black-red mist faintly rose into the air.
"Heaven's will is not supreme—human hearts are."
He murmured softly. This Fourth-Level soul-seizing mind control embodied one of his realizations.
Its true terror lay in the fact that it was not sustained solely by his psychic magic energy. Every infected individual continuously fed their own mental power back into the spell, supporting and expanding its spread.
Just like the mortal world—where people are trapped in the vast web of human relations and worldly affairs, unable to break free.
"Not bad. It's somewhat similar to the Red Demon's ability."
Lu Jun pondered. To dispel soul-seizing mind control, the best solution was intervention by a Super-Tier Psychic Mage whose spiritual realm was equally strong. It could be said that this spell was designed specifically for large-scale clearing of low-tier enemies.
Hiss—!
Suddenly, deep within the surging yellow sands of the battlefield, a colossal serpentine body emerged, accompanied by a deafening hiss.
"So you've finally come—the Sovereign-level Crimson Serpent Matriarch."
He sneered, his eyes flashing with darkness, and behind him, a void opened, from which two sub-monarch-level demonic beings emerged.
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