Deep underground within Demon Dragon City, inside the cultivation chamber.
"Acknowledge you as master... Impossible!" a Divine Venerable said resolutely.
"With just your Deity Realm cultivation, you want to take us as subordinates? Haha! Kid, when I was roaming the starry skies, your grandfather wasn't even born yet!" an arrogant powerhouse sneered.
"Little brother, you are still young. Don't push things to such extremes!" the beautiful woman said.
"Jie jie! Kid, you look down on us too much. I would rather die than submit to another!" Ma Lian's cold laughter rang out. A wet-behind-the-ears brat actually dared to try and make him a subordinate? There truly was no shortage of arrogant fools in this world.
"On what basis do you think you can take us as subordinates? By relying on that Demon Source Mark?" the red-haired old man demanded. "You can kill me, but there is no way I will ever acknowledge you as my master." He had already resolved himself to die rather than submit—better to be shattered jade than intact clay.
"You want me to acknowledge you as master? Hmph! In your dreams!" the purple-haired old man barked.
"Haha! On what basis do I think I can take you as subordinates?" Wu Tianjun laughed heartily. "First, I currently hold your lives in the palm of my hand. Without my command, you will surely remain trapped here until you rot. Second, do you really think you're so powerful? Hmph! You've cultivated for tens of thousands of years and haven't even reached the Sacred Ancestor Realm. What the hell do you have to be proud of? This young master is... not even twenty years old, yet I'm already..." Wu Tianjun paused. He didn't actually know his exact age. He then allowed the Demon Infant to take control of his body, causing his aura to surge continuously as he continued, "...at the God Lord Realm!"
His words left the powerhouses visibly shaken. Not even twenty? Looking at this kid, he probably wasn't even fifteen yet, and he was already in the God Lord Realm? This...
"That's not right! How could you be in the God Lord Realm? Weren't you just in the Deity Realm?" the beautiful woman cried out in disbelief, her pupils shrinking rapidly. "Impossible..." Even if he were only in the Deity Realm, a fifteen-year-old Deity Realm cultivator was beyond their wildest imaginations. When they were fifteen, they hadn't even reached the Human Core Realm.
"Are you the reincarnation of some mighty figure cultivating anew? There is no need to make sport of us," the purple-haired old man said coldly, feeling as though they were being trifled with.
"Ha! Why would this young master need to lie to you? Is there any point?" Wu Tianjun said, amused. "As for reincarnation, you can forget about that. I don't have many memories from before; I only remember things from when I was one year old onward..." Wu Tianjun was baffled. Who did these guys think he was? He was Wu Tianjun. Since when had he become some old monster's reincarnation? What a joke!
"As for the Deity Realm..." Wu Tianjun's soul opened its eyes and took control of his body. The demonic energy retracted into his form, and his cultivation level dropped back down to the peak of the Deity Realm. "I do indeed possess this cultivation level."
"Possess this cultivation level... What does that mean?" the purple-haired old man asked, utterly confused.
"Even if I told you, you wouldn't understand. I'll give you four hours to think it over. If you still don't agree after that, you can spend the rest of your lives rotting away in this place," Wu Tianjun said, flashing a grin that bared his white teeth.
"May I ask if you, little brother—no, I mean, Senior God Lord—are you from the Primordial Demon Clan?" Ma Lian, who had remained silent until now, suddenly asked. He wasn't entirely sure if that demonic energy was indeed Primordial Demonic Qi.
"Oh? You actually recognized my Primordial Demonic Veins? Not bad," Wu Tianjun said, looking at Ma Lian in surprise.
"Are you really a descendant of the Primordial Demon Race?" Ma Lian said in pleasant surprise. The Primordial Demon Race! Once this person grew up, he would definitely be a super powerhouse of the Demon Race, perhaps even comparable to the mighty figures of the Ancient Era.
"I don't know! But I can tell you that I am of the Human Race," Wu Tianjun said.
"Don't you have the Primordial Demon Meridians? How can you be of the Human Race?" Ma Lian asked, bewildered.
"What's the difference between Human and Demon? I have no interest in that! Make your choice quickly," Wu Tianjun said boredly.
"Do you really have the Primordial Demon Meridians?" Ma Lian asked yet another question.
"Yes! Aren't you tired of asking?" Wu Tianjun glared at him as a ball of blue-black fire appeared in his left hand. "This thing is called the Primordial Azure Flame. You tell me," Wu Tianjun said, looking at Ma Lian as if he were an idiot.
"The Primordial Azure Flame! Haha, it really is! I wasn't sure before... Haha, I, Ma Lian, am willing to follow Master for the rest of my life, even unto death without regret!" Ma Lian suddenly laughed out loud, then, as if realizing something, knelt down and spoke respectfully. Following someone who possessed the Primordial Demon Meridians—and not just any, but those of the Primordial Demon Royalty—was an incredibly glorious thing. Even in the Ancient Era, an ordinary member of the Primordial Demon Race was an invincible existence, let alone royalty.
His actions startled the other powerhouses present. Ma Lian was a mighty figure at the Great Perfection of the Holy God Realm, with one foot already in the Holy Ancestor Realm, yet he was willing to acknowledge a junior as his master.
"Oh! Good!" Wu Tianjun was also startled, not knowing what madness had gripped this guy. "Stand up! The light barrier hasn't been removed yet. When that guy wakes up later, he will help you remove it."
"Thank you, Master," Ma Lian said respectfully, then turned a cold gaze toward the other powerhouses. "Jie jie! Master has not yet fully grown. Acknowledging him as your master now is your honor. In the future, when he grows up, he will surely awe the myriad races and conquer a domain in the starry sky. At that time, even if you want to become his subordinates, you won't have the chance." Ma Lian firmly believed that once Wu Tianjun grew up, he would surely be like the mighty figures of the Ancient Era—covering the sky with one hand, looking down on all heroes, and dominating the starry sky.
"Haha, Ma Lian, you cowardly demon, there's no need to lecture us," a powerhouse said coldly. He was also a super powerhouse with a Mid-stage Holy God cultivation.
"That's right! Don't think we will be like you," another one chimed in.
"Haha. It seems you don't know what kind of existence the Primordial Demon Race was in the Ancient Era. The collapse of the Ancient Era was partly caused by the mighty figures of the Primordial Demon Race! Tell me, how terrifying will Master be, carrying the bloodline of the Primordial Demon Royalty? He is not even fifteen years old, yet he is already in the Divine Lord Realm. Give him another hundred or thousand years, and what height will he reach? Surpassing the Holy Ancestor Realm is not impossible. At that time, who in this starry sky will be able to oppose him..." Ma Lian said gleefully. Recruiting a few more powerful subordinates for his master would also make things easier for him in the future. Just the twelve of them would be enough to awe a vast region of the starry sky.
"This..." The other powerhouses fell into silence once more.
"Right now, I haven't fully grown, which is why I need you. How about this: acknowledge me as your master, and in ten thousand years, I will set you free. At that time, whether you stay or leave will be up to you." Wu Tianjun's voice rang out. He believed that in ten thousand years, he would have grown so powerful that even he wouldn't know his own limits, so whether he had these people or not wouldn't matter.
"Ten thousand years..." The red-haired old man sighed. "Fine! I've been trapped for thirty thousand years, so another ten thousand isn't much. I, Chi Danzi, acknowledge you as my master." Having said that, Chi Danzi knelt down and bowed respectfully to Wu Tianjun. "Master!" He did this because he knew that the decline of the Ancient Era indeed involved the intervention of a Primordial Demon Race powerhouse.
"I hope that ten thousand years from now, you will still remember this promise..." several powerhouses said. Instead of being imprisoned for the rest of their lives until death, serving as a subordinate for ten thousand years was not unacceptable. Moreover, looking at him, he did not seem to be an extremely vicious or evil person.
"Acknowledging you as master is fine, but you cannot restrict our freedom too much, nor can you force us to do things we do not want to do," the beautiful woman said, then knelt down.
"Fine! I, Wu Zixian, acknowledge you as master for ten thousand years!" The purple-haired old man also spoke and knelt down respectfully. At this point, all twelve of them had acknowledged Wu Tianjun as their master. In the future, they would become the Twelve Protectors of the Wu Family, whose names shook the starry sky. Each of them was no less than a supreme hegemon of their own region, yet they would spend their entire lives loyally protecting the Wu Family, even when the family nearly fell into dormancy!
"Haha, rest assured. I may not be fully worldly-wise, but I will absolutely never do anything against conscience or morality. Not only that, but ten thousand years from now, I fear that even if I chase you away, you won't want to leave," Wu Tianjun said confidently. "I didn't take you in to follow me, but rather to protect my family's clansmen!"
"Your clansmen..." several powerhouses said with strange expressions. Given this kid's monstrous talent, how terrifying must his family be? Did they even need protection?
"Haha... No need to overthink it," Wu Tianjun laughed, then his voice turned cold. "My family was destroyed, and my clansmen were almost completely wiped out. Only a few of us juniors managed to escape, along with some members of the older generation. It was only due to a fortuitous encounter that I reached my current realm. Once I have enough strength, I will definitely take revenge and completely annihilate the forces that attacked my family back then." As he spoke, Wu Tianjun's eyes turned red, and an overflowing killing intent surged, causing even the powerhouses to frown. He was so young, yet his killing intent was incredibly heavy.
"Haha, don't worry!" Wu Tianjun suddenly snapped out of it. "It's just that the last time demonic energy invaded my body, it affected me a little, hehe." Wu Tianjun laughed embarrassedly. With his Demon Infant present, he believed he would soon eliminate all of those hidden dangers.
"Let me share some news with you! My eldest brother's talent is not inferior to mine. By now, he has probably reached the Divine Lord Realm... He is eight years older than me... hehe." Wu Tianjun looked at the old monsters before him with amusement.
"Divine Lord..." The old monsters were visibly shaken. Eight years older than this kid meant he was only around twenty at most. Since when was cultivating to the Divine Lord Realm so easy? Had they been cultivating like blocks of wood all these years? Each of these youngsters was more terrifying than the last. It seemed that the force which destroyed their family was definitely not simple either.
"Alright, since you have acknowledged me as master, I won't be stingy. Right now, this is the only thing on me that is worth some money." Wu Tianjun tossed nearly a thousand drops of Lightning Tribulation Liquid to one of them. Surprisingly, the light barrier did not block it at all; it seemed it only blocked things from coming out. "Sigh... Actually, I am very poor, I don't even have clothes left," Wu Tianjun looked up at the sky and sighed.
"Light... Lightning Tribulation Liquid?!" Chi Danzi gasped in shock. He had only ever seen this substance in ancient records, yet this young master actually said it was only worth "some money"... Motherfucker! What a prodigal spendthrift.
"It really is Lightning Tribulation Liquid! Haha, Wu Zixian, I'm afraid this old man will reach the Saint Ancestor Realm before you, hahaha! Thank you, Master, for bestowing this treasure." The physical bodies of the Demon Race were freakishly powerful, but their souls found it extremely difficult to make breakthroughs. Thus, their cultivation was mostly bottlenecked because their Primordial Souls could not break through. Now, with the Lightning Tribulation Liquid—which purified soul power and strengthened the soul—it was truly a divine treasure for the Demon Race.
"Hmph! Mo Lian, there's no need to be so smug," Wu Zixian snorted coldly. They had been trapped together for over twenty thousand years, and their cultivation realms were neck and neck. Looking at the Lightning Tribulation Liquid, he could not hide the shock in his eyes. Even his father, a Saint Ancestor, did not possess such a thing.
"Lightning Tribulation Liquid..." the beautiful woman said, her voice trembling. With this, even a damaged Primordial Soul could be healed. "Thank you, Master, for bestowing this treasure!" Only now did she truly acknowledge Wu Tianjun as her master. Even a Saint Ancestor powerhouse might not necessarily possess such an item.
"Thank you, Master, for bestowing this treasure..." The remaining experts also voiced their gratitude one after another. The more they understood their master, the more they realized how extraordinary he was, and how many unfathomable methods he possessed.
"Go ahead and cultivate. I don't have much of this left, so use it sparingly. I'll get more when I undergo my tribulation in about a year," Wu Tianjun said nonchalantly. In his eyes, his Wu Clan had plenty of this stuff anyway. His words nearly made them cough up blood in frustration.
"Not much left..." one of them muttered, his voice shaking.
"He'll get more after undergoing his tribulation in a year..." another said, his eyes flashing with pleasant surprise. Didn't this mean their Primordial Souls and soul power could be enhanced indefinitely?
"His Heavenly Tribulation actually produces Lightning Tribulation Liquid..." They all shared the same question: just how powerful was Wu Tianjun's heavenly tribulation?
"Go cultivate. Once that fellow wakes up, I'll take you all out to have some fun. Sigh, it's been a long time since I've had my fill of fun..." Bored, Wu Tianjun walked back toward the Artifact Spirit. It was about time for him to leave this place. He wanted to find his mother's clan, as well as his younger sister. He had only seen his sister a few times back when she was still in her cradle.