This was a land forsaken by the light.
The skies were shrouded in an eternal haze, poisonous gases drifted through the air, and the black soil was so barren that basically nothing could grow from it.
Only the most tenacious of existences could survive here.
To adapt to this harsh environment, demons evolved various abilities. Some demons could go as long as a year without eating anything and could eat three times their body weight in one sitting. Other demons could forage for food in various types of challenging environments. There were also many demons that had evolved powerful digestive systems, and their choice of food ranged from the decaying soil to Primordial Fog violet energy, to elemental flames. Anything could be eaten, their digestive systems breaking it all down to fundamental energy to nourish the body. Of course, many demons were predators that fed on other demons. Big demons preyed on small demons, small demons preyed on insects, and insects preyed on the microscopic organisms living in the air, creating their own little food chain in the world of demons.
But even the famously desolate Primordial Fog Domain had some places of plenty and prosperity.
They were oases in the desert, islands in the ocean, holy lands that countless demons yearned for.
The Plains of Crimson were such a place.
These plains were a deep red as if they were drenched in blood, and dark purple plants grew there. Their roots, rich in water, dug deep into the soil, while their corollas were full and fleshy. These plants were known as Crownvine Grass, and while they were just ordinary plants, they meant life for demons. Thus, the Plains of Crimson were a thriving place where countless demons survived.
In the depths of the Plains of Crimson was a palace made entirely of black stone. This black stone exuded an extremely cold energy, and faces twisted in agony could be made out upon it, silently crying out. This was the infamous Jailstone of the Primordial Fog.
Jailstone was a special product of the Primordial Fog Domain. It was rich in energy, its status comparable to spirit stones of the Stellar Chiliocosm, but it had an extremely cold nature and was also brimming with resentment. This was the opposite of the harmonious and bright spiritual energy of the positive plane, and for this reason, it was called demonic energy.Only those who could cultivate demonic energy were considered true devils. This was the essential difference between the positive plane and negative plane, and the reason for their differences.
Worth noting was that demonic energy had far too much negative energy, so it was not easy for humans to digest. Meanwhile, demons could absorb both demonic energy and spiritual energy.
This was the greatest shortcoming of the positive plane cultivators compared to the devils of the negative plane. The Primordial Fog devils could freely enter the positive plane and absorb its spiritual energy to grow stronger, but human cultivators could not easily enter the Primordial Fog Domain, nor could they could they absorb and cultivate demonic energy, for that would cause them to fall into demonhood.
This difference meant that in the eons of war between the humans and demons, it had always been the demons invading the humans, and in the history of humanity, the only time the humans had ever invaded back was when Yu Cheng had led his army. And even Yu Cheng's assault had failed to deal a heavy blow to the Primordial Fog devils' foundation.
A palace made of Jailstone was akin to a palace made of gold in the human world, but no demon dared to covet it, for its master was one of the 99 Demon Lords of the Primordial Fog, Demon Lord Libido.
In this palace eternally cloaked in demonic energy, Libido was holding a conference of several hundred devils, each one at Violet Palace or higher.
But none of these devils had the temperament of "dignitaries", instead squabbling like children.
"Another Spatial Gate destroyed! Up to yesterday, a total of eight Spatial Gates have been destroyed, and none has been able to survive for more than a day!" a Skyshaker Devil angrily roared. Its entire body burned with purple flames, two horns sprouted from its head, and it had four thick arms. But most attention-grabbing was the massive mouth that occupied almost the entirety of its face.
"Logi, even if you shout down the heavens, you still can't change reality. Our infiltration of the positive plane is clearly an utter failure. Currently, not a single fortress has been established, and we have been unable to gather any information on the positive plane. Continued infiltration is only sending our soldiers to their deaths," a Shade Devil coldly laughed. It appeared like a black vortex of wind in which a face could vaguely be made out.
"Windfang is right. In the current situation, continuing to send soldiers is just sending them to their deaths. In my view, we should give up on sending soldiers for now and wait for the spatial barrier to weaken even more, and only when the spatial fissures are large enough should we send in our soldiers. Rather than infiltration, we just build up for an all-out assault!"
"This is weakness! Cowardice!" a devil immediately roared in protest.
"Better than sending our soldiers on suicide missions."
"When have demons ever feared death?"
"That's right! This means that we can only watch the spatial fissures and not go in."
"Like being only able to stare at a feast!"
"But those gourmet delicacies will break your teeth."
"Then we just get stronger teeth… Send more in!"
"You've gone crazy! Sending in more soldiers rather than decreasing them? Only an idiot would make such a decision."
"Who are you calling an idiot?"
"You!"
"You bastard!"
The devils argued back and forth, and there were even signs that a fight was brewing, if someone hadn't suddenly coughed lightly.
The devils immediately fell silent, a deathly stillness gripping the hall.
The person coughing was a rather clean-faced young man with a most handsome face that was so white as to be devoid of blood. He sat on a throne around which fourteen Womanface Snakes were coiled. Implanted in the center of the throne's back was a woman's face, blood streaming out of her eyes.
The young man was also holding a handkerchief on which a gorgeous flower was embroidered.
He was the master of this demon palace, Demon Lord Libido.
He brought the handkerchief to his lips, lightly wiping away some invisible dust before saying, "Roamlizard died… just now."
"What?" There was an uproar in the hall, but the volume was much smaller than before, the devils careful to control their emotions. To be honest, this wasn't easy, but they had to do it!
Shade Devil Windfang said, "Demon Lord, we can't send any more soldiers. The other side is clearly prepared. I think it's better to wait until the spatial barrier weakens even more before launching an assault."
"'Prepared'…" Libido pondered these words and then burst into laughter.
He smiled.
This wicked smile exuded an immense pressure.
He said:
"When has the Stellar Chiliocosm not prepared themselves against us?"
The devils fell silent.
Yes, when had the Stellar Chiliocosm not been prepared for them?
Demon Lord Libido continued:
"For eons, the Great Stellar Chiliocosm has constantly been wary of us, and has there been any situation that we have not experienced before? Humans and demons represent the two opposites of the world. Some of them are particularly powerful, but so what? In the end, we devils will emerge victorious.
"No matter how hard they work, how well they prepare, all they can do is die a little less. They occupy the most fertile land and possess the most abundant resources, enjoying three thousand wonderful years. But these one hundred years belong to the demons!
"Some of them might be able to avoid this fate, can win, or even counterattack, but the Primordial Fog will never lose!"
He looked at the devils, briefly pausing before going on:
"Why?
"Because we are demons! The nightmares in their hearts!
"Demons are never afraid and will never back down.
"Pausing our attack might drop our losses, but that is meaningless. We are chaotic by nature, and our mission is to destroy all, including ourselves!
"Stopping the attack is going against our own nature!
"Defies our principles!
"Charge, kill, plunder, destroy!
"This is the mission of we demons of Primordial Fog!!!"
His voice rumbled through the palace, and behind the young man, a giant purple-black shadow loomed, exuding a terrifying aura and a madness that sought to destroy all.
All the devils kowtowed, not daring to say a word.
That imposing shadow faded away.
The young man waved his hand. "Continue everything as is."
The attacks from the Primordial Fog Domain persisted.
Every day, numerous demons came through the spatial fissures into the Rosecloud Domain, and even though Tang Jie could sense the entire world, as trouble spots appeared all over the place, he gradually couldn't keep up. As more and more demons invaded, Tang Jie had to start choosing targets.
This meant that the demons were no longer slain on entry and could finally rampage across a region and gather information. Even though all of them died in the end, some of them were fortunate enough to send back information. In these circumstances, Demon Lord Libido gradually gained an understanding of the domain he was attacking.
Tang Jie was ready for this. He had never planned for this method to be able to stop the invasion of the demons. Foremost in priority was always survival.
For Tang Jie, the greatest advantage this time gave to him was that he had more time to organize the humans and gather more resources for the Eight Ocean Mountains.
This period was when the Eight Ocean Mountains expended the least and gained the most.
Month 12, Day 8: A spatial fissure 1200 feet in length appeared over the western mountains of Rosecloud.
Numerous demons charged out of the fissure, most of them fiend-type demons. They started to wreak havoc, and even though Tang Jie quickly mustered his forces, there were still heavy losses.
Day 12: Two demon armies broke through the spatial barrier and entered Rosecloud, engaging in a bloody battle with the Rosecloud cultivators.
Day 19: Two Immortal-level demons entered the Rosecloud Domain. Tang Jie marshaled four Immortals against them, and after a fierce battle, one of them still managed to escape.
The situation grew more and more severe.
One day, Heavenweave Ridge.
This wasn't a particularly famous place in the Rosecloud Domain, but its name would soon be known throughout the land.
In the clear skies over Heavenweave Ridge, a bronze gate abruptly appeared.
This gate was ten thousand feet tall, and a savage ghost head was embedded into it, surrounded by mysterious carvings. Just a simple glance at it could make one dizzy.
A moment later, the gate slowly opened, and demonic energy poured out, blotting out the skies.
Through the black energy, one could see row after row of demons, stretching into the distance.
At the same time: the Vast Wilderness Continent.
That massive abyss that spanned the entire domain began to spew out demonic energy, and countless demons charged out into that flourishing world.
The Moonshadow Domain, the Icefrost Domain, the Lotus Blossom Domain, the Rosecloud Domain, the Scarlet Flame Domain… one domain after another, even each of the 33 Heavens that were established by ancient Immortals from High Antiquity, was invaded by Primordial Fog demons.
The Primordial Fog Calamity had officially begun!