Chapter 404: Crimson Flame Copper Mine, Thousand Feather Great Saint, Fleeing in Panic, Demon Race

Chapter 404: Crimson Copper Mine, Great Sage Qianyu, Fleeing in Panic, The Demon Race Suffers a Crushing Blow

Three hundred kilometers west of the Bone-Burial Wasteland, within the God-Chosen Battlefield.

The topography here stands in stark contrast to the desolate, silent plains. If the Bone-Burial Wasteland is a cold and pallid realm of death, this place is the feverish, restless edge of purgatory.

The earth wears a shade of dark crimson, as if it were not magma flowing beneath the surface, but torrents of scalding blood.

The air is thick with the suffocating stench of sulfur and the acrid scent of scorched metal. Massive fissures scar the ground, from which plumes of dark red smoke erupt, staining the sky a turbid, brownish-red.

This is the Crimson Copper Vein.

A strategic resource site of immense importance to both primary and intermediate civilizations. Crimson copper is not only durable and highly conductive to magic, but it is also an essential component for manufacturing energy transmission conduits and the outer shells of early-stage mechs.

At this moment, within the core of the vein, inside a fortress constructed from crude boulders and scrap metal, the atmosphere is stretched to the breaking point.

The masters of this fortress are the Lizardmen.

They are a race of cold-blooded creatures that walk upright, their bodies covered in dark green scales, trailing thick, heavy tails. Cruel by nature and pathologically greedy, they are a third-rate species clinging to the coattails of the cosmic powerhouse known as the Demon Race.

On the highest watchtower of the fortress, the Lizardman chieftain, Gruk, stands trembling in fear. Though he stands three meters tall with knotted, powerful muscles, in the presence of the being before him, he is as humble as a broken-backed gecko.

That being is draped in golden plumage, his figure slender, his features hauntingly beautiful, with a golden flame-like mark etched between his brows. He does not sit upon the oil-stained stone throne; instead, he hovers in mid-air, the faint phantom of a pair of massive golden wings slowly beating behind him.

The Demon Race’s God-Chosen—Great Sage Qianyu.

True form: Golden Rooster (an ancient, exotic species).

Realm: Saint-Sealing Realm (Early Stage).

As one of the top prodigies of the Demon Race, Great Sage Qianyu is a formidable hegemon with a fearsome reputation in the outside world. His "Golden Cry at Dawn" divine ability once shattered an asteroid, and his natal golden feathers are weapons of peerless sharpness.

Yet, at this moment, the Great Sage’s face is unnaturally pale.

"My Lord..." the Lizardman chieftain Gruk begins cautiously, his voice raspy, "The scouts report that a terrifying presence is closing in on us at high speed... It must be the Human God-Chosen who triggered the mission."

Great Sage Qianyu’s eyelids twitch violently.

Just ten minutes ago, he too had received the mission prompt from the God-Chosen Battlefield.

[Triggered Confrontation Mission: Protection.]

[Mission Description: Human God-Chosen Qin Feng is heading toward the Crimson Copper Vein. As a member of the Demon faction, assist the vassal Lizardmen in holding the vein and repel or slay the Human God-Chosen.]

[Mission Success Reward: Demon territory avian hatching rate +10%, gain one fragment of the "Law of Crimson Flame."]

[Mission Failure Penalty: An F-class epidemic, "Cartilage Flu," will break out in Demon territory, and your own total attributes will be reduced by 1%.]

Had this been a standard defense mission, Great Sage Qianyu would have been delighted.

After all, he holds an absolute psychological advantage against the weak humans. The Demon race possesses inherently formidable physical bodies, and as a Saint-level powerhouse in a battlefield that suppresses cultivation, his advantage should be immense.

However.

When he saw that name—"Qin Feng"—the Great Sage’s heart nearly stopped.

"How could it be him..." Qianyu mutters to himself, his once arrogant eyes now filled with terror. "How could the Humans send this scourge in here?!"

"M... My Lord?" Gruk does not catch the muttering, feeling only an instinctive sense of dread. "Can we... can we win?"

Great Sage Qianyu snaps his head around, his golden pupils boring into Gruk with a look of pure, unadulterated resentment.

Win?

With what, exactly?

The outside world might not know, but as a high-ranking member of the Demon Race, he knows all too well what Qin Feng did in the Endless Sea!

It was at the 68th level: within ten breaths, he wiped out 43 Saints!

Though Qianyu is conceited, he possesses self-awareness.

While he counts as a powerhouse in the early Saint Realm, in front of a monster like Qin Feng—who treats Saints like slaughtered pigs—he is no different from a common chicken.

"Shut up!"

Qianyu growls, fine beads of cold sweat breaking out on his forehead.

Only two words occupy his mind now: run away.

Meanwhile, on the universal broadcast screens, the live chat is scrolling at a frantic pace.

The God-Chosen Battlefield’s broadcast mechanism is highly intelligent; when two God-Chosen from opposing factions are about to collide, the screen automatically splits, generating a massive "Confrontation Countdown" in the center.

On the left screen, Qin Feng is seen as a black streak of light, advancing at breakneck speed across the wasteland.

On the right screen, Great Sage Qianyu hovers above the fortress, his face as pale as parchment.

In the Human territories, the atmosphere is one of pure jubilation.

[Hahahaha! I’m dying, look at that Demon God-Chosen’s face—it’s whiter than a fresh coat of paint!]

[Is that Great Sage Qianyu? I heard he’s quite arrogant over in the Demon camp, calling himself the fastest under the "Golden-Winged Peng King." Why does he look like a diseased chicken now?]

[Brother above, be confident—drop the "like." Once you meet Venerable Qin Feng, he *is* a diseased chicken!]

[Physique +1%! Physique +1%! I’m just waiting for Venerable Qin to take this first blood so my son can improve his constitution!]

[It’s in the bag, it’s in the bag. Venerable Qin doesn’t even need to lift a finger to kill an early-stage Saint like that; one glare and he’s dead.]

In the Demon territories, however, the atmosphere is one of mourning.

Countless Demons watch the screen, their hearts turning to ice.

[It’s over... why did it have to be Qin Feng?]

[That unlucky bastard Qianyu, did he not check his horoscope before leaving?]

[Damn the God-Chosen rules! Why do the Humans get to send in a monster like that? Qin Feng has clearly already ascended to Venerable status!]

[Stop whining, the rules say "below Venerable," but Qin Feng is being suppressed by the battlefield, so technically he fits the criteria... it’s just that his combat power is completely off the charts!]

[Can Qianyu hold him off? If he can just stall Qin Feng and use the fortress’s grand formation...]

[Hold him off, my ass! Qin Feng kills Saint Kings in the Endless Sea like he’s chopping vegetables. With Qianyu’s meager skills, he’s just going up there to be served as a meal!]

[Don’t fight! Qianyu, run! As long as the green hills remain, there’s no need to worry about firewood!]

[Run? Run where? Mission failure carries a penalty for the whole race! An F-class epidemic—it won’t kill anyone, but it’s disgusting!]

[Disgusting is better than letting a God-Chosen die inside! Qianyu is a once-in-ten-thousand-years genius of the Golden Rooster clan; dying here is too big a loss!]

The Demon Race is instantly divided into two factions.

One advocates for a fight to the death, even if it means throwing lives away to exhaust Qin Feng; the other advocates for preserving strength and fleeing immediately.

But regardless of the faction, there is one consensus: in this battle, the Demon Race is destined to lose.

The countdown hits zero.

Outside the Crimson Copper fortress, a gale suddenly rises.

It is not a natural wind, but a shockwave formed by an object moving at high speed and compressing the air.

"BOOM—!!!"

With a deafening roar, the fortress’s heavy refined-steel gate collapses inward as if made of paper, shattering into countless burning fragments that spray into the interior.

Dozens of lizard warriors hiding behind the gates were pulverized into pulp by the shockwave before they could even scream.

The smoke and dust dissipated.

A figure in black stood silently at the threshold of the shattered gate.

Qin Feng’s expression was indifferent, as if he were not invading a heavily guarded fortress, but merely inspecting his own back garden.

Around him, the air seemed to solidify.

The pressure belonging to a "Venerable," though suppressed by the laws of this world by ninety-nine percent, remained a cataclysmic force for the living beings present.

"Hiss..."

Countless lizard warriors gripped their weapons with trembling hands, their slit pupils filled with terror; instinct urged them to flee, yet the commander's orders and the fear of divine retribution kept them frozen in place.

Qin Feng did not look at the underlings.

He raised his head slightly, his gaze piercing through hundreds of meters to lock precisely onto the golden figure hovering in the sky.

"The Demon Race?"

Qin Feng spoke softly, his voice quiet yet clearly echoing throughout the entire mine.

"Early Saint Realm... Golden Rooster bloodline?"

The moment he was locked in Qin Feng’s gaze, the Great Sage Qianyu felt every feather on his body stand on end.

It was the sensation of having one's throat marked by an ancient, primordial beast.

No, it was more terrifying than that.

It was the absolute crushing weight of a superior life form.

The grand rhetoric the Great Sage Qianyu had prepared—threats like "Human, do not be arrogant" or "This is the territory of the Demon Race"—stuck in his throat, unable to manifest as a single syllable.

He looked into Qin Feng’s eyes.

What eyes they were... deep as the abyss, devoid of any emotional fluctuation, holding only an ultimate indifference toward life.

In those eyes, the Great Sage Qianyu saw no "hostility," only "erasure."

It was as if a man had spotted dust on a table and intended to wipe it away.

And he... was that speck of dust.

"I do not kill the nameless."

Qin Feng took a step, his figure instantly crossing dozens of meters.

"State your name."

The Great Sage Qianyu shuddered.

He watched Qin Feng closing in, the frantic warnings of impending death in his mind pushing him to the brink of collapse.

Fight?

With what? His head?

The spatial control and physical explosive power the opponent had just displayed were on an entirely different level. Most importantly, Qin Feng was too composed. That composure was not feigned; it was the absolute confidence forged from slaughtering countless powerhouses.

The Great Sage Qianyu would bet his life that if he dared to strike, he would be reduced to a pile of feathers in the next second.

Mission penalty?

A flu for the whole clan?

To hell with the flu!

That’s just a cold for the clan, what does that have to do with me? If I die, I’m truly dead!

The Great Sage Qianyu made his decision in an instant.

This was the only consensus reached by the "clever" ones among the Demon Race when facing Qin Feng.

The Great Sage Qianyu took a sharp breath, and golden light erupted from his body!

"Such intense demonic energy!"

The lizard commander, Gruk, was overjoyed, assuming the Divine Envoy was about to unleash a world-shaking technique to suppress the human. He brandished his battle-axe and roared:

"Children! The Divine Envoy is about to strike! Charge with me! Slaughter the humans!!" "Kill!!!"

Tens of thousands of lizard warriors, their morale bolstered, shrieked as they charged toward Qin Feng.

However.

The next second.

Every viewer in the livestream, human and demon alike, witnessed a scene that left them dumbstruck.

The golden light on the Great Sage Qianyu reached its zenith, and then...

"Boom!"

A sonic boom.

He did not charge at Qin Feng; instead, he spun violently, transforming into a massive golden rooster with a wingspan of a hundred yards. With a single flap, he burned thirty percent of his life essence to unleash his fastest escape technique—[Golden Rainbow Piercing the Sun]!

Whoosh—!

A streak of golden light tore across the sky like a meteor, fleeing in the opposite direction at an impossible speed.

He was so fast that he left layers of afterimages in the air.

He didn't leave a single parting threat.

He didn't even attempt a single probing attack.

He didn't even dare to look back.

This Demon Race Chosen, this dignified Great Sage Qianyu, faced with Qin Feng, chose the most thorough, decisive, and shameless path—betraying his allies to run for his life.

Gruk’s hand, holding the battle-axe, froze in mid-air.

The tens of thousands of charging lizard warriors were also stunned, their momentum grinding to a halt so abruptly it nearly caused a pile-up.

The fortress fell into a deathly silence.

Only the golden light in the distance remained, growing smaller until it vanished entirely.

Qin Feng stopped.

He was taken aback.

He had seen cowards, but never one this pathetic. He was a Saint-level being, after all; how could he not even harbor the thought of resisting?

"He certainly runs fast."

Qin Feng shook his head, a sneer of disdain curling his lips.

As the figure of the Great Sage Qianyu vanished completely from the edge of the map.

The system notification echoed mercilessly in the ears of every demon in the sky.

[Ding—]

[Demon Race Chosen "Great Sage Qianyu" has abandoned the mission and fled the battlefield.]

[Confrontation mission failed.]

[Penalty enacted: The "Cartilage Flu," an F-grade epidemic, has broken out across the Demon Realm. Duration: three months.]

In the physical universe, within the territories of the Demon race.

Almost the moment the notification chime faded, countless Demon planets saw a vast number of beasts and shapeshifted high-level demons suddenly feel their bodies go limp. Their once-formidable physiques felt as if their very sinews and bones had been extracted, leaving them collapsing to the ground, sneezing uncontrollably.

"Achoo! Achoo!"

"Damn that Qianyu! He actually ran away!"

"I... Achoo! My legs have turned to jelly... What kind of pathetic flu is this? It’s not fatal, but... Achoo! It’s so humiliating!"

"Qianyu! You are the disgrace of the Demon race!!"

The official Demon forums and live-stream chat feeds exploded instantly.

They were filled with vitriol directed at the Great Sage Qianyu.

[Spineless coward! What a weakling! Ran away the moment they met, didn't even trade a single blow!]

[What does he take our vassal races for? Cannon fodder?]

[I suggest we banish him from the Demon race! A piece of trash who flees in the face of battle is not fit to be a Great Sage!]

Meanwhile, the chieftain of the Lizard race watched the live feed, so enraged that he vomited blood and collapsed into a coma. That was a vital branch of their race on the God-Chosen Battlefield! Just like that, they had been sold out!

In contrast, on the Human side.

The chat feeds were filled with "Hahahaha" and voices of understanding.

[To be fair, I think this chicken is quite smart.]

[Indeed, staying behind would have meant certain death. He ran away, and while his whole race caught a cold, he at least survived.]

[This is the deterrent power of Venerable Qin Feng! Subduing the enemy without a fight!]

[I’m dying of laughter, did that chicken use a secret technique to burn his essence blood while running? Was it really necessary? Venerable Qin hadn't even moved yet!]

[Demon race: There is a traitor among us. Qianyu: I call this a strategic retreat! Staying alive is the only truth!]

On the God-Chosen Battlefield, at the Red Flame Copper Mine.

Great Sage Qianyu had fled, but the mess he left behind remained.

Gluk looked in despair at the man in black standing at the entrance.

It knew it was over.

Without the containment of a Saint-level powerhouse, facing this Human Venerable, no matter how many lizards they had, they were nothing more than slightly larger ants.

"The Divine Envoy... ran away?"

Gluk’s voice trembled, then curdled into extreme rage and madness. "Liars! They’re all liars!!"

It turned its head, glaring at Qin Feng with blood-red eyes.

Since there was no way out, they could only fight to the death!

"Human! This is the territory of the great Lizard race!"

Gluk roared, trying to mask its fear with volume. "Kill him! The time to die for our kin has come!"

"Kill!!"

Though the tens of thousands of lizards were in despair, driven by their leader, they launched a suicidal charge.

Qin Feng watched the tide of alien life rushing toward him, his expression devoid of ripples.

He did not need to employ any profound laws.

On this battlefield where cultivation was suppressed, the most efficient way to kill was often the most primitive.

Qin Feng extended his right hand and gripped the void.

"Gravity."

Two simple words.

[Local rule modification: Gravity coefficient increased by one hundred million.]

Hum—!

Centered on Qin Feng, the gravity in the fan-shaped area before him surged a hundred million times over!

One must realize that the initial gravity of the God-Chosen Battlefield was already ten thousand times that of the outside world. To add another hundred million times on top of that—what a terrifying concept.

"Crack! Crack!"

That was the sound of bones shattering.

The thousands of lizards at the front could not even scream; they were instantly pinned to the ground by the horrific weight.

Following that, their physical structures, unable to withstand the pressure, exploded into mists of blood, only to be crushed into paper-thin meat patties, pressed tightly against the earth.

The lizards behind tried to brake, but were pushed by their comrades into the gravity field, meeting the same fate.

Qin Feng was like a heartless meat grinder.

He walked forward step by step.

Wherever he stepped, the lizards turned into heaps of pulp in droves.

There was no room for resistance.

Gluk watched its kin fall like harvested wheat, its mind completely shattered.

"Devil... you are a devil..."

When Qin Feng reached it, Gluk had already been forced to its knees by the gravity, its bones pulverized, blood leaking from its seven orifices.

Qin Feng looked down at it.

"On this battlefield, there are no devils, and there are no gods."

Qin Feng raised his foot and stepped onto Gluk’s head.

"There are only winners, and the dead."

"Pop."

A soft sound.

The lizard leader’s skull shattered like a watermelon.

Tens of thousands of lizards, completely annihilated.

Qin Feng walked through the blood-soaked ground to the core control crystal of the mine.

He reached out, pressed his hand against the crystal, and the power of the Human civilization’s spark flowed into it.

[Ding—]

[Congratulations to Human representative Qin Feng for successfully occupying the resource point: Red Flame Copper Mine.]

[Main mission two completed.]

[Reward distributed: All citizens of the Human race have received +1% to their physique (already in effect).]

[The stronghold level has been elevated to tier two.]

[New architectural blueprint acquired: Automated Mining Golem Factory.]

Qin Feng withdrew his hand, watching as the once dark-red crystal slowly transformed into the azure hue characteristic of the human race.

He turned his gaze toward the distance.

There lay the deeper reaches of the God-Chosen Battlefield, the domain where even greater adversaries awaited.

"The first one."

Qin Feng whispered softly.

This war, played upon the chessboard of the galaxy with the destiny of races as the wager, had only just begun.

(End of chapter)