Chapter 901: Far-Reaching Significance
Once turned into a soul puppet, the Steel-Slashing Demon Emperor would completely lose his sense of self.
It was no different from being erased.
Even though he cried out in despair, shouting "No!", how could Ling Zhan possibly show mercy and stop?
Buzz!!
Profound soul ripples spread outward.
Under the effect of Soul Control, the Steel-Slashing Demon Emperor's soul essence was transformed into a fully armored soul knight.
And that wasn't all…
The Steel-Slashing Demon Emperor's body was also completely preserved.
These Demon Emperors had eight lives.
So for the first seven, Ling Zhan mercilessly bombarded them with all his array effects.
But once the Steel-Slashing Demon Emperor reached his eighth life, Ling Zhan held back in order to preserve the corpse.
That's why the body could be retained so perfectly.
The more intact the corpse, the greater the power retained when made into a corpse puppet.
Right now, the Steel-Slashing Demon Emperor could retain at least 80% of his former power.
And because the brain was preserved, his combat memories were also intact.
That was excellent.
Under these conditions, the Steel-Slashing Demon Emperor only lost 20% of his power.
With Ling Zhan's buffs, he could easily be restored to peak form—or even exceed it.
Turning the soul and corpse of a Demon Emperor into puppets for reuse—only Ling Zhan could do such a thing.
Seeing this, the Storm and Thunder Demon Emperors were completely overcome with fear and despair.
Yet they remained trapped in the array, suffering endlessly.
"Ling Zhan! Please! Spare us!"
"Whatever your terms are, we'll accept them!"
"Even if you want us as your slaves!"
The Storm and Thunder Demon Emperors were scared out of their minds.
Literally—they pissed themselves.
Once made into puppets, there was truly no coming back.
Even being enslaved offered a sliver of hope.
Ling Zhan gave no response, only commanding the demon soldier puppets to form ranks.
Also…
Let's not forget—Ling Zhan had many shadow clones leading his Demon Slaying Legion to conquer one camp and tower after another!
And those soldiers were likewise turned into puppets using Soul Control and Corpse Command!
With this many puppets…
He'd already surpassed the limits of what a fourth-tier Undead Sovereign could control.
No ordinary Undead Sovereign could do what Ling Zhan was doing.
In one breath!
He was commanding over a billion puppets!
Including demon soldiers, generals, and even Demon Emperors!
There were fifty million Demon Emperors above level 170!
When it came time to siege Lemoris Fortress, these puppets would play a huge role!
"Ah!!"
At that moment—
The Storm and Thunder Demon Emperors also died under the arrays' wrath.
And like the first, were processed into puppets.
Even top-tier Demon Emperors could not escape this fate.
With all Ten Thousand Demons in the fortress turned into puppets—
The original 300 million troops became 600 million!
Amos Fortress was now packed wall-to-wall!
Under Ling Zhan's command—
The puppets stood perfectly in formation like statues, expressionless, holding their positions.
At this point, claiming Amos Fortress would be effortless.
But Ling Zhan wasn't in a hurry.
He was waiting for word from the other four fortresses.
Then he would teleport and repeat the process—turning every soldier, general, and Demon Emperor into corpse and soul puppets.
The beauty of puppets was their perfect obedience.
Take formation control, for example.
If these soldiers weren't puppets, arranging them this neatly would take long training—and unwavering loyalty.
Now though…
It was effortlessly easy!
One command—
Perfect execution!
Ten minutes after Ling Zhan's battle ended—
Reports came in from the other fortresses, towers, and camps.
"Master, Melis Fortress secured! All enemy forces slain! Guarding Demon Emperor has fallen!"
"Instructor Ling, the Ogre Camp has also been taken!"
You might wonder—wasn't this part of the Ten Thousand Demons' frontline?
Why are there ogres?
Actually, not just ogres—
There were dark elves, orcs, dwarves… and more.
All traitors who surrendered and joined the Abyss of Ten Thousand Demons.
In truth—
Long ago,
When the abyss still held the advantage, many traitors preached surrender, hoping to reshape the world under its rule.
Some tribes and small kingdoms, seeing the Kingdoms' forces struggle, also chose to surrender.
They feared if the Kingdoms fell, the demons would slaughter them without mercy.
So they joined early.
But many now regretted it.
Because instead of faltering, the Kingdom armies grew stronger—and now held the upper hand.
Faced with Ling Zhan's overwhelming campaign, these traitors begged for mercy.
But Ling Zhan had already ordered:
No surrenders accepted from the Ten Thousand Demons—kill them all!
Thus, every camp, tower, and fortress became a mountain of corpses and a sea of blood.
But it's fine…
'Ling Zhan' turned them all into puppets.
"All forces, hold position and rest for one day. I will construct a military teleportation path to Lemoris!"
"Tomorrow at 8 AM sharp—we march on Lemoris Fortress!"
"At 7:59, we will officially claim all camps, towers, and fortresses!"
"Then I will issue precise orders to form a four-directional siege on Lemoris Fortress!"
Ling Zhan gave the command solemnly.
"Yes!"
Everyone responded in unison over the comms.
Each face was filled with excited anticipation!
The first major siege was finally about to begin!
If they could take Lemoris Fortress, it would be a massive leap forward!
After that, reinforcements could be stationed in Lemoris Fortress!
The Kingdoms had struggled until now because they couldn't break Lemoris Fortress—crippling their supply lines.
Conquering Lemoris meant opening the road to seizing other massive strongholds.
Its significance couldn't be overstated.