Li Chungang smiled. With Zhou Yan's current combat power, he could actually contend with top-tier powerhouses. Coupled with his numerous abilities and the pseudo-divine artifact "Kun Tian Seal" in his possession, he was already in an invincible position.
Unless a Demigod powerhouse wielded a divine artifact, no one could deal with him.
"Our goals are the same. Everyone, attack together," the man said, realizing he couldn't handle Zhou Yan alone and had to seek help from those around him.
Zhou Yan was too unpredictable. With the "Kun Tian Seal" and his spatial abilities, capturing him was practically impossible.
"Naturally," the Demon race powerhouse, resentful of Zhou Yan for burning the old demon's corpse, stepped forward first.
The others considered, then also stepped forward. They were all here for the treasures left by the old demon, a treasure potent enough to elevate them to the Demigod realm. They could not possibly give it up.
The lowest among these individuals were at the ninety-ninth heaven. While they didn't possess pseudo-divine artifacts like the man, several had sacred artifacts, and the rest wielded spiritual artifacts.
Facing so many powerhouses alone, Zhou Yan was certainly no match. However, Zhou Yan was not alone.
"A numbers game, is it!" Zhou Yan sneered dismissively.
At this moment, Li Chungang arrived beside Zhou Yan. As for Qian Shun, he too came to Zhou Yan's side. Being shrewd and fearing death, he knew Zhou Yan had a sealed Demigod-level fierce beast, making Zhou Yan’s defeat impossible. Otherwise, he would have fled immediately.
"We have so many people, and you only have three!" the Demon race powerhouse sneered.
"Having more people doesn't necessarily guarantee victory."
In an instant, Li Chungang unleashed boundless divine might, like a divine sword descending from the heavens, dazzling and sharp, mysterious and terrifying, leaving the opposing group completely stunned.
"This, this, this... This is a Demigod powerhouse!"
"The opponent is actually at the Demigod realm!"
"This is divine might, and such powerful sword intent, as if man and sword are one. This is the result of sword intent reaching divinity. How terrifying this fellow is!"
The group opposite stared with gaping mouths at this scene. None of them had expected that among these three, one would be a Demigod powerhouse. No wonder Zhou Yan remained arrogant and defiant facing so many of them.
With a true Demigod powerhouse present, he certainly had reason to be fearless.
Those Demon race powerhouses also hadn't anticipated encountering a true Demigod powerhouse. Demigod powerhouses weren't as common as cabbage; how could they have known one would appear?
"We have so many people, and they only have three. If we attack together, we can definitely defeat them," the Demon race powerhouse immediately declared.
But!
Li Chungang produced another weapon. Terrifying divine might erupted from the weapon in his hand, and the surging sword aura seemed capable of cleaving this world apart.
Everyone's faces darkened. Damn it! Another pseudo-divine artifact.
And a Demigod powerhouse wielding a pseudo-divine artifact!
"Our apologies, we have offended you."
"Excuse us, we were rather disrespectful earlier."
"Forgive us, great one, we withdraw."
...
Damn it! They were still going to fight?
Fight what!
If they still made a move, they would be utter fools. Who among them could withstand a Demigod powerhouse wielding a pseudo-divine artifact?
The Demon race powerhouse's expression grew darker. Even the previous powerhouse wielding the "Soul Extinguishing Lamp," a pseudo-divine artifact, apologized to Zhou Yan: "We were rather disrespectful earlier. We sincerely apologize for this matter."
The Demon race powerhouse also intended to slip away quietly, but Zhou Yan spoke: "I can overlook others, but I won't let you demons leave."
"Run!"
"Whoosh!"
The demons didn't hesitate. They transformed into streaks of black light, attempting to escape.
"Hmph!"
Li Chungang let out a cold snort. Everyone's hearts seemed to tremble violently, as if struck by a fearsome sword to their minds. This shocked them again, and their gazes towards Li Chungang were filled with dread.
So this was the power of a powerhouse whose sword intent had reached divinity. Truly terrifying.
"Swish!"
A sword light flashed, freezing space. The demons who were fleeing were suddenly halted, then watched helplessly as their bodies were annihilated by this sword light.
"Ah!"
One sword strike extinguished the entire demon group, leaving them no chance to escape. They vanished into thin air.
This sight instilled even greater terror in the others. Was this the might of a Demigod powerhouse? It was indeed too terrifying.
Although they possessed the strength of top-tier powerhouses, facing a Demigod powerhouse wielding a pseudo-divine artifact left them with no chance. One by one, they plastered smiles of appeasement on their faces.
Zhou Yan and his companions paid them no mind and left the area. This caused everyone present to breathe a sigh of relief. Their not being held accountable felt like their lives had been spared.
After leaving the Demigod's tomb, Qian Shun immediately bid farewell to Zhou Yan. Zhou Yan and his group used town scrolls to return to their territory.
Li Chungang went into seclusion in the [Heaven and Earth Library]. Zhou Yan also showed the Demigod's manuscript to Zhao Xuansu. She too gained insights and, like Li Chungang, retreated to the [Heaven and Earth Library] for cultivation.
The [Heaven and Earth Library] was peculiar, transcending the heavens and earth, unbound by the laws of the cosmos. Here, they could comprehend more. Both were astonished upon discovering this structure and subsequently took up residence there.
Only those at their level of top-tier powerhouses benefited; those below the Demigod realm could not comprehend anything here.
Upon returning to his territory, Zhou Yan's first priority was to construct various buildings.
They had eliminated the twelve allied forces of the Long family and Long Fang's territory, acquiring a large number of buildings from them. Zhou Yan spent two full days completing the construction of all these buildings.
He also upgraded the quality of all his troops to the highest level. Consequently, all his troops were now of RRR quality.
Next was the grand summoning of soldiers. The barracks buildings in his territory were now level 80, capable of summoning a hundred thousand soldiers each. While he couldn't significantly increase the level of all soldiers, Zhou Yan still summoned all the soldiers that could be summoned.
As for their levels, they could be gradually improved by running dungeons, eliminating the need for him to spend vast amounts of soul coins.
With a total of fifteen barracks, each capable of summoning a hundred thousand soldiers, the number of soldiers in his territory immediately reached one million five hundred thousand.
One million five hundred thousand troops, while seemingly numerous, was still far from sufficient when compared to group and family powers.
Their opponents were not single individuals but thousands upon thousands of people. Among so many lords, each territory's soldiers didn't need to be too numerous; tens of thousands each would add up to an astronomical figure.
Zhou Yan was not in a hurry. He had only been a lord for a little over half a year, and he still had ample time to develop and grow stronger.