The intentions of the demons was obvious.
They would first take down the leaders.
With an absolute advantage in strength, it took barely a single exchange, those in the air could no longer hold their ground and were forced down under suppression.
The demons laughed wildly in the sky, "You talk big, yet in reality you don't even have the ability to resist. Have you truly decided to throw your lives away?"
A surge of demonic power descended, directly striking Immortal Yin Jun.
She staggered back several steps, and with just one strike, spat out a mouthful of blood.
Shock flashed across her face.
Demons were already individually stronger than humans. Among human cultivators, she wasn't considered particularly powerful even in Tribulation Crossing Stage.
But she hadn't expected that a single blow would actually injure her.
She'd thought she could at least hold off one or two demon cultivators of the same level!
Yun Jin blended into the crowd, being very inconspicuous.
She lifted her gaze slightly, a cold glint passing through her eyes as she looked at the demons.
Old Fire was nearby and could act at any moment.
But if he appeared now, those on Yang Yun's side would probably abandon their next move.
If the Demon Lord escaped into the vast sea of people, with his male lead Qi Luck, he would recover quickly and that would only make things more troublesome.
Wait, just a little longer.
At this moment, unrest spread through the crowd.
These demons were far stronger than expected.
The peak masters and elders, figures once seen as unreachable, actually had no ability to resist at all.
If even the elders couldn't resist, what chance did they have?
The crowd's thoughts wavered more and more.
The demon leader observed everything calmly and expressionlessly said, "I'll count to three. Those who surrender, step into the circle over there. Those who don't… die."
Nearby, the demons had already set up a simple formation.
The leader was severely injured and urgently needed blood food to recover.
That formation would increase the efficiency of absorbing blood food.
If they could trick these people into entering willingly, his injuries would heal to the greatest extent.
As for the stubborn ones, they would simply be consumed by force. The yield would be lower, but since entering the formation required consent, if they don't willingly enter, it would just be losing some blood.
A cruel light flashed in the demon leader's eyes.
From the very beginning, he had never intended to spare anyone in Tianxing Sect.
If he wasn't injured, he wouldn't have even bothered with all this.
But since he's injured now and needed to recover his strength, he needed lots and lots of blood food.
"Three…"
He began counting coldly without expression.
No one moved.
They hesitated, but facing demons, they dared not choose rashly.
"Two…"
His voice grew colder.
Demonic energy surged, forming a massive black sphere in the sky, ready to descend towards the humans the moment his count ended.
Finally.
Someone broke.
A trembling figure stepped into the circle.
Everyone turned to look.
That person dropped to his knees, shaking, "If I don't surrender, I'll die! I! I cultivate for longevity, I don't want to die, I don't want to die!"
His voice was filled with endless fear.
"Foolish!" Yin Jun shouted angrily. "Do you think the demons would spare you out of kindness?! Surrendering now is the beginning of falling into demonic cultivation!"
The demon leader smiled faintly and didn't rush to continue counting down, he said slowly, "We have no enmity with Tianxing Sect. This time, we weren't even targeting you. As long as you surrender, we'll just take what we need within Tianxing Sect and leave. There's no need to kill you."
Take something?
The crowd grew even more restless.
What could be more important than life?
If that was all, then letting the demons take it and leave quickly seemed reasonable. It's better to surrender temporarily than die needlessly.
Slowly, more people began walking toward the circle.
"Supreme Elder, Tianxing Sect's most valuable treasure is the Tianxing Bell. If they're really just looking for something…" Huo Lie said softly.
"Silence." Nie Hai rebuked sharply. "At your age, have you learned nothing? This is clearly an excuse! Look at them, do they look like they're searching for something? They're tricking the weak-willed into walking to their deaths!"
"Not at all," the demon leader replied leisurely. "We are indeed looking for something. It's simply hidden and takes time to find. If you all give up resisting, we won't make things difficult. Otherwise, Tianxing Sect will be bathed in blood tonight."
When he spoke of slaughtering Tianxing Sect, his voice even carried hints of laziness, as if to them, this was just a small matter that wasn't worth fussing over.
And that was indeed the case.
To the demons, humans were merely blood food.
If not for the human race still being strong enough to hold them back, this world would've long since become a hellscape.
Still.
Even if that's true, more people walked to the other side.
They weren't ignorant of how terrifying the demons were.
But surrendering now meant they could keep their lives.
It's better than dying immediately!
Even if there was a trap, only the living would ever see it.
Those who didn't surrender would die right now.
What future would they have to speak of!
Some people trembled as they stood in the circle.
Others, however, began cursing at them in fury.
"As humans, you are bowing down to demons, that's simply a disgrace to the human race."
"I actually once admired you, thinking of it now makes me puke."
"Even death is more honorable than living like you."
The insults came wave after wave.
Those who surrendered lowered their heads in shame, but still knelt under the demons' orders.
Once they chose surrender, there was no turning back.
They told themselves.
Only the living had a future.
After waiting for a while and seeing no more movement.
The demon leader sneered, "Very well. The rest of you can all die."
The massive black sphere of demonic energy descended slowly, carrying terrifying destructive force.
The moment when the black sphere was about to descend, two figures suddenly dashed into the surrendering circle at the very last moment.
Yun Jin glanced over expressionlessly.
It was Huo Lie and Long Yi.
She wasn't surprised in the least.
These two people who could actually blindly follow and support Zhao Wuji's actions, clearly were never the type of person with strong principles. And now, when facing death, it's no wonder that they would collapse under pressure.
Only Du Wuxin, another of Zhao Wuji's followers, stood still, giving a bitter smile.
In order to protect himself, he joined Zhao Wuji's camp.
But.
What had happened before already proved that Zhao Wuji had already fallen into demonic cultivation.
He wanted to protect himself and live, but not like this.
Life was still important, but there were a lot of things that were more important than life.
"Join forces. Resist!" Yin Jun gritted her teeth.
Those who remained gathered their spiritual power, pushing back against the descending black sphere.
Spiritual energy and demonic power collided in the sky, but it only slowed down the inevitability of being swallowed by the demonic qi.
The overwhelming demonic force pressed downward, as if it would crush the entire world.