What on earth just happened?

The guards who had gathered behind the gate could only stare in shock as whatever remained of the fortified South Gate flew past them in chunks.

At this moment, standing where the gate originally stood were three demon martial artists, all of them possessing cultivation levels that not a single one of the guards could fathom.

The Essence Building realm guards were stunned by this ridiculous scene, unable to comprehend exactly what was going on. However, the gate master who was already at the Essence Condensation realm had no doubt whatsoever.

As an Essence Condensation realm martial artist, his perception should allow him to sense the cultivation level of any martial artist below the Origin Core realm. Even so, he was still unable to determine the cultivation level of these three opponents.

This could only mean one thing.

"Origin Core realm!" the gate master cried out in horror.

"What?" the surrounding guards immediately turned their attention towards him, almost refusing to believe what they just heard.

"These are Origin Core realm demons! We are not their match, run for your lives! Regroup at the Officials District, seek the protection of the City Lord!" the gate master yelled before dashing off.

But instead of following his lead, the rest of the guards froze on the spot.

What did the gate master just say?

Origin Core realm?

These demons?

Which one?

Wait, did he mean all three of them?

As though answering their doubts, the Origin Core realm demons dashed forward, their feet hovering just slightly above the ground.

The ability of flight, something that belonged solely to martial artists at the Origin Core realm or above!

It's over..

The guards felt their bodies go limp.

Most of them were mere Essence Building realm martial artists. Just how were they supposed to escape from Origin Core realm demons?

All they could do was to pray in their hearts, hoping that some miracle would happen and save their lives.

What happened next was completely unexpected.

These Origin Core realm demons simply flew past them, heading straight into the depths of Ivory Rock City.

It was almost as though the guards were concealed under a veil of invisibility, completely hidden from the view of these demons!

The guards turned to look at the backs of the three Origin Core realm demons as they gradually became smaller and smaller due to the increasing distance.

After they were sure that the Origin Core realm demons had left, deep gratitude finally welled up from within them, even inducing tears of relief in some.

Their prayers worked!

The Origin Core realm demons had, for some reason, failed to notice them!

Was it the power of prayer?

Or was it pure fortune?

Either way, it did not matter.

What mattered was that they were still alive!

"S-Shall we go to the Officials District as the gate master said?" one of the guards asked hesitantly.

"To face those demons?" another replied with a self deprecating snicker. "Thank you for the suggestion, but I would rather not!"

"H-Hey guys.."

One of the guards nudged his companions who were all watching the Origin Core realm demons disappear into the distance.

"Look, behind you.." the guard mumbled under his breath.

"What is it?" his companions all turned around to look back towards the South Gate.

What they saw caused their throats to go dry.

Now that the fortified city gate had been blasted wide open, there was no longer anything standing between the inside of the city and the outside.

And at this moment, a second wave of demons was directly pouring into Ivory Rock City through this newly formed opening!

Essence Condensation realm.

Almost all of them were at the Essence Condensation realm.

This second wave of demons was much weaker than the first wave of demons, but it was still far beyond what the guards could handle!

After all, the guards were mostly at the Essence Building realm.

This time, the demons did not simply run past them as though they were invisible. Instead, the second wave of demons headed straight towards them, intending to neutralise them as soon as possible.

Even if these guards had been all pumped up and ready to battle, they would have been completely overwhelmed by the might of the demon offence.

Now that their psyche had already taken a serious hit from witnessing the Origin Core realm demons' existence, they no longer posed any challenge to the demon forces.

Slash-!

One by one, the guards sloppily scrambled for their weapons as they tried to defend themselves.

One by one, they were cut down by the powerful demons who hungered for their blood.

With the group of guards eliminated, the demon forces spread through the area, combing the surroundings for any signs of life.

Upon entering Ivory Rock City from the South Gate, one would arrive in the Workers District. Apart from the guards at the South Gate, most of the people here were part of the worker population.

In other words, they were mere mortals.

Against the powerful demon forces, they never stood a chance.

It was a complete massacre.

Screams and shouts echoed out incessantly as everyone desperately tried to escape towards the Officials District, towards the North.

Still, there was no way they could outrun the demon martial artists.

Many young parents were weighed down by their children, falling behind the rest and ultimately dying as a family.

Some people lost control of their bowels due to fear, yet continued running without stop. Some gave up altogether, just sitting there and patiently awaiting their end.

Some decisively abandoned their loved ones to their doom, seeking survival on their own. Some took up arms, hoping to block the incoming tide and buy time for others to escape.

It was only in times of adversity that human nature would show itself.

The selfless ones were truly one in a million, worthy of everyone's respect. But even so, their efforts still proved to be for naught.

As mere mortals, no matter how brave and courageous they were, they would not last more than a second when pitted against a trained martial artist.

Human blood dyed the ground red. The metallic scent of iron mixed with the stink of human waste, shrouding the entire Workers District in a pungent odour.

Even against these helpless workers, there was no mercy to be seen from the demons.

Male or female, young or old, even the handicapped or bed-bound.. all of them were killed without exception.

After all, demons had never seen the human race as their equal.

No matter how physically powerful a bull was, humans would only see it as an inferior being. If they were able to make use of its strength for tilling the farms, they would enslave the creature, allowing the bull to live out its life.

But if the bull ever ran wild and posed a threat to humans, or simply stopped being of use to its owners, most humans would not spare a second thought before taking its life. After all, they could still get precious meat out of its carcass.

And just like how a human would not think twice about culling a beast, demons felt nothing wrong when killing humans.

While humans could eat the meat of beasts, demons could similarly absorb the primordial Slaughter Essence of humans.

This was the martial path of demons, the road of slaughter!

Lu Tianzi rushed through the streets of the Workers District, ignoring everything that was happening around him.

He did not join in the massacre, but this was not due to mercy for the members of his fellow human race.

While he bore no goodwill towards the humans in Ivory Rock City, Lu Tianzi did not see the need to partake in such senseless killing either.

Lu Tianzi was different from the rest of them, he was an inscription master!

As for the pitiful amount of primordial Slaughter Essence that he could absorb from killing mortals all day, Lu Tianzi could easily obtain it from the low ranked beast cores that he earned with each inscription job.

Rather than wasting time like that, Lu Tianzi had something else on his mind.

And now, he had set out to accomplish this goal of his.

Even though months had passed, the streets of the Workers District seemed all so familiar to him. He easily found his way around, weaving in and out of the panicking crowds.

With his speed, Lu Tianzi was already far ahead of the pack. By now, he was already running among humans.

In the current state of confusion, no one bothered with the strange masked guy who appeared out of nowhere.

All that they were concerned about right now was to heed the warning horns and run.

To the North!

Everyone headed in a single direction, but Lu Tianzi was naturally not going to just blindly follow along.

His eyes scanned the rushing crowds, trying to find anyone whom he could recognise.

And he did.

Lu Tianzi charged forward, reaching his target in an instant.

"Wha-?" the young man exclaimed in shock when he felt Lu Tianzi's arm grab him by the shoulder.

Lu Tianzi ignored his shock, forcefully pulling him away to a corner and away from the stampeding crowds.

"Answer me, where is Gong Shengjie?" Lu Tianzi asked.

"Huh? Gong Shengjie?" the young man blinked his eyes repeatedly.

Seeing the blank look on the other party's face, Lu Tianzi could not help but frown.

Back then, Lu Tianzi had utterly failed in his plan to win over the entire populance of Ivory Rock City by suppressing Hu Yuanbo and executing him in the main square of the Officials District.

At that time, Gong Shengjie was the only one who had stood against everyone, buying Lu Tianzi the bit of time that he had needed to survive.

Now that the tides had turned, Lu Tianzi had decided to lend him a hand if possible.

Even though there was no way that Lu Tianzi could provide Gong Shengjie with a means of survival after today, helping Gong Shengjie escape from Ivory Rock City might still be within his means.

As for why Lu Tianzi chose to ask this young man, it was because he was one of Gong Shengjie's subordinates, one of the ten men who once ambushed Lu Tianzi in a deserted alley!

"Are you planning to speak?" Lu Tianzi slammed the young man against a wall with just enough force to let him feel a bit of pain.

"Ouch!" the young man exclaimed with a grimace before turning to face Lu Tianzi once again. "What do you mean where is Gong Shengjie? Are you screwing with me right now?"

"Hmm?" Lu Tianzi could not quite understand. "What do you mean?"

"What do YOU mean?!" the young man retorted. "Look, the demons have already invaded the city, and we both need to get to the Officials District as soon as possible. I don't know who you are and what I have done to you in the past while I was still working under Gong Shengjie, but now is not the time for this!"

"In the past while you were still working under Gong Shengjie?" Lu Tianzi frowned. "Does that mean you are no longer working under him?"

"Oh my big brother, please spare me from this nonsense! How can I still be working under him when he is already dead?" the young man yelled out in indignance. "Or should I go plead with the City Lord to execute me for treason as well? Should I die in the same way as him, huh? Is that what you want?!"

"What?" Lu Tianzi blurted out subconsciously.

Executed for treason?

So that was how things developed in the few months after Lu Tianzi left..

As for the reason why Gong Shengjie was executed, Lu Tianzi did not have to ask. There could only be one reason why Gong Shengjie, the son of one of the four District Heads, would be labelled with the crime of treason.

Lu Tianzi sighed as he released his grip on the young man, prompting the fearful young man to scramble away in a hurry.

It seemed like there was no longer anyone worth saving in this wretched Ivory Rock City!