Page 602

The legendary powerhouse known as the "Demon King" was actually born with cognitive limitations? Chen Xuanfeng couldn't help but feel a sense of absurdity as he watched the Demon King's puppet before him speak so eloquently.

"After that, I barely survived but could only live as a slave among low-ranking demon clans. There, I often played the role of a war beast in tribal battles. The name 'Barto' was given to me during that time. However, in truth, I spent more time using my appearance to intimidate enemies than actually fighting," Barto said with a hint of self-mockery. "For a long time, I thought my life would just fade away like this. But one day, a disaster became the turning point of my fate."

"A high-ranking demon lord raided the place where I lived, capturing all the demons from hundreds of nearby tribes and sending them to the Hellforge," Barto continued, his fiery red beast-eyes glancing at Chen Xuanfeng as he explained. "Unlike the heavenly gods who collect faith, the demon gods of hell rely on sacrifices of souls and flesh to empower themselves. However, unlike the Prime Material Plane where believers are few and summoning a demon god's attention is required for each sacrifice, sacrifices in hell are so frequent that many demon gods have established numerous specialized 'altars'—the Hellforges. Simply by designating the target of the sacrifice and throwing masses of living beings into the forge, one could receive power bestowed by the demon gods. This process, repeated countless times, became almost reflexive, with the demon gods hardly paying any attention to it. And this was precisely the opportunity for my transformation."

"When that sacrifice ended, the power granted by the demon god flowed into the high-ranking demon's body. Since the amount of power bestowed each time was not fixed, the demon didn't realize he had received only half of what he should have. After he left the forge, another demon—me—climbed out, becoming the first infernal being to survive a sacrifice. Additionally, having obtained half of the demon god's bestowed power, my magic jumped from fifth-rank to eighth-rank, and my intelligence finally reached the level of a normal Barto demon."

"Once I learned how to think, I began investigating the secret of my survival. After several risky experiments, I discovered that no matter the sacrifice, my soul would never be taken by the demon gods. The reason wasn't my focus at the time. The key was—what should I do next?"

"It was like a thief standing before an open royal treasury. The easily obtainable power came with the risk of future pursuit by the demon gods. Other demons might have hesitated, but I, who had been a slave to weaker clans since birth due to my lack of strength, chose the most audacious path without hesitation."

"Sacrifice, endless sacrifices. I didn’t use other beings—only repeatedly offered my entire body and soul to one demon god after another. This method of sacrifice was typically only used by demons in desperate situations, as it could greatly boost power in the short term but would ultimately claim their lives and souls. But I was different. Every time, I survived, and the power I gained allowed my rank to rise continuously. With each rank-up, the power I could obtain through sacrifice grew even greater."

"Within just a few years, I traveled across nearly every plane of the demon realm, finding every altar I could and deceiving every demon god whose name I knew into granting me power. One day, when I finally realized there wasn’t a single demon god I hadn’t tricked, I calmed down and began contemplating my future."

"Clearly, the demon gods wouldn’t be fooled forever. They would eventually discover my existence and judge me. The power I had stolen might be insignificant to them, but it was an affront to their dignity. Unlike the Prime Material Plane, the demon realm was their domain, where their avatars could descend at will. If I didn’t want to live like a rat, hiding until I was eventually found and torn apart, there was only one path left."

"So, I gathered a massive army and launched an invasion of the main material plane, under the banner of spreading the chaotic and bloodthirsty laws of hell to a broader domain. If successful, the power of the demon gods would overwhelm the heavenly deities, so they tacitly allowed my existence. However, the main material plane was not so simple—it was a land watched by all sides. I suspect the demon gods’ true thoughts were: If I succeeded by luck, that would be good; if I failed, a glorious death in battle would atone for my sins. I knew this, so my initial goal was to drag the war into a stalemate—suppressing the beastmen, confronting the elves, and maintaining the deadlock for centuries if necessary, until I assimilated into the main material plane and freed myself from the demon gods’ shackles."

"Unfortunately, I made a grave mistake—I actually used the standards of denizens of hell to evaluate the combat strength of the elves."

"Power level does not equal combat effectiveness, especially in large-scale warfare. Morale, combat awareness, national structure, and ideology all greatly influence the formation of battle strength. Elves, indulgent in art and pleasure, possessed only a fraction of the combat power of hellspawn at the same strength level. Misjudging them turned what should have been an evenly matched battle into a one-sided slaughter. In the end, I had no choice but to lead my army to attack the elven capital—Xilin-Meilidania—or else I couldn’t justify myself to the demon gods. Though they couldn’t descend directly to this plane, they still had ways to deal with a heretic like me. But going there was also a death sentence, for it was a land under the protection of the Elemental Sovereign, the Nature Goddess. Destroying that city would surely provoke the wrath of the sole ruler of the elemental planes. So, my plan was to attack without capturing it, slaughtering some before retreating."

"Yet, the nature of the elves once again thwarted my expectations. They didn’t resist at all—instead, they moved the entire city into the elemental plane."

"Frankly, when I saw the empty space where Xilin-Meilidania once stood, I was beyond tears. At that moment, I knew it was all over. The demon gods of hell wanted me dead, and the heavenly deities naturally wouldn’t spare me either. Add the Nature Goddess to that, and though I was invincible beneath the gods—capable of defeating even a thousand dragons—I stood no chance against even a lesser deity. Even if the gods couldn’t descend directly, just a few of them bestowing power upon their followers would be enough to annihilate me. In the end, my premonition proved correct. The only thing I hadn’t anticipated was that, because I had subjugated the abyssal dragonkin, even the Dragon God of the Astral Plane joined the forces against me. Without their guidance, the elves’ Six-Star Demon-Slaying Array wouldn’t have been able to gather such immense astral power."