Chapter Sixty-Six: The Operation of the Primordial Demon Lair

Just as Han Shuo was secretly delighted and about to agree, another dwarf suddenly spoke up: “Bennett, the village chief said we can’t bring humans into our settlement—have you forgotten?”
“Benson, but he saved us from those villainous forest trolls!” Bennett looked at the other dwarf and replied.
“I know, but we have to obey the chief. Otherwise, we’ll be punished,” Benson replied stubbornly.
“It’s alright, it’s alright, I won’t go. I’m glad to have met you all. I’ll be adventuring in the area for a while—perhaps we’ll meet again. Goodbye,” Han Shuo said with a smile, understanding that relations with the dwarves could not be rushed. Gaining their recognition and friendship would not happen overnight, so he chose to withdraw gracefully.
“My dear friend, I am terribly sorry. This is a bag of our home-brewed ale—let it be our way of thanking you. Please forgive us,” Bennett said apologetically, handing Han Shuo a bag of ale from his arms.
Han Shuo would have preferred a fine weapon crafted by the dwarves as a reward, but naturally he did not let that show on his face. Smiling, he accepted the ale and expressed his understanding with humility, then left with the little skeleton.
If he could advance his demonic arts to the True Demon level, Han Shuo would be able to forge magical weapons himself. For now, however, if he wanted a handy weapon, the dwarves were definitely his best chance.
There was a kind of magic weapon called the Demon-Slaughtering Edge—it was a bit longer than a dagger, but shorter than a longsword, sharpened on both sides to a lethal edge, its tip a vicious trident-like spike. When powered by the “Demonic Control Art,” it could sweep through the air at will, taking heads with a thought alone. In Chu Canglan’s memories, it was a truly fearsome instrument of death.
At his current stage, Han Shuo’s demonic cultivation was far from sufficient to refine iron into a Demon-Slaughtering Edge directly. However, he could have the dwarves forge a prototype, then slowly refine it further with his demonic energy. When he found the right materials and reached mastery, he could eventually reforge the perfect Edge.
Pondering the forging of the Demon-Slaughtering Edge, Han Shuo’s mind was made up—he would win the dwarves’ friendship and forge his weapon with their help.
Back at the Deathly Graveyard, Han Shuo stopped on an open patch before a black ravine. The ground was littered with broken bones. The graveyard’s enchantment kept it in perpetual darkness, the sky shrouded by thick brown clouds. Here, Han Shuo felt strangely at home; the dense yin energy was perfect for undead beings.
“Fallen warriors of the underworld, at the call of the dark messenger, reveal yourselves!”
With Han Shuo’s incantations, one skeleton warrior after another began to appear before him.
He didn’t stop until there were five skeleton warriors on the field. By then, he felt his spiritual energy nearly depleted and ceased his summoning.

Although his mental strength had greatly improved, Han Shuo could still only control six skeleton warriors, including the little skeleton. Extending his spiritual force, he gave a command, and the six skeletons, weapons in hand, began to move as he directed.
Under Han Shuo’s mental control, their bone blades carved the earth, soon forming a number of grotesque pits and trenches.
The central trench connected these deep pits like a long line; seen from afar, the arrangement became a grim six-meter-long ghastly face, the pits forming the eyes, nostrils, and ears—a sinister and eerie sight.
The “Origin Demon Pit” was a formation left in Chu Canglan’s memory for cultivating “Origin Demons.” When Han Shuo advanced from the “Solidified” stage to “Vessel Expansion,” the knowledge had suddenly resurfaced in his mind.
“Origin Demons” required “Yin Spirits” as a base—eighteen Yin Spirits placed in the Origin Demon Pit, where, driven by the formation, they would slaughter and devour each other until only the three strongest remained. After refining in the pit, these three would become Origin Demons.
The pit had to operate for thirty-six days, constantly absorbing yin energy from the earth and sky. Each day, the refiner had to drip six drops of fresh blood into the pit and infuse it with demonic energy. Once the Origin Demons formed, they would become linked to the refiner’s will and could silently invade an enemy’s body during battle, consuming their life force from within.
In Han Shuo’s memory, the Origin Demon was the lowest of four demonic familiars: Origin Demon, Shadow Demon, Profound Demon, and Spirit Demon.
Of these, the Origin Demon was the weakest and easiest to make, requiring only the world’s yin energy and the cultivator’s blood.
Naturally, for that reason, the Origin Demon’s power was also the weakest—many things could destroy it. Fire and ice could annihilate it utterly, and even if it invaded an enemy’s body, a foe with strong true or demonic energy could kill it from within.
But with Han Shuo’s current abilities, the Origin Demon was all he could hope to refine. The higher-level Profound Demon and above were still beyond his reach, and he didn’t even know the method yet.
Han Shuo cultivated the Origin Demon partly as a tool for gathering information, and partly because, in combat, if an enemy was invaded, it would at least distract them, giving Han Shuo an opening. And if the enemy was weak, the Origin Demon’s invasion alone could kill them.
Once the pit was finished, Han Shuo had the skeleton warriors tidy it up, then, relying on the green sphere as before, spent the night cultivating his mental power. The next day, using all his spiritual strength, he summoned eighteen Wraiths and placed them into the pit.
Wraiths, coming from another dimension, were essentially the same as Yin Spirits in his understanding. Since he had learned necromancy, he no longer needed to go out collecting such spirits—one incantation was all it took, making things immeasurably easier.

Once all eighteen Wraiths entered the pit, a chill wind rose, and streams of cold energy gathered from all directions into the Origin Demon Pit—far denser than Han Shuo had expected.
It was only then that Han Shuo realized both necromancy and demonic cultivation were paths of darkness. In both worlds, such arts were considered heresy, sharing many similarities; combining them yielded twice the results for half the effort, saving Han Shuo a great deal of energy.
When the pit had absorbed enough yin energy, the ghastly face seemed to come alive—its features twisted and shifted, and black mist seeped from its seven orifices.
Seeing this, Han Shuo knew his guess was right: Wraiths could indeed replace Yin Spirits as the foundation of the Origin Demon Pit. He bit his finger and dripped six drops of blood into the pit, infusing it with demonic energy. The eighteen Wraiths instantly went berserk, shrieking as they fought desperately for the blood, slaughtering each other in a frenzy.
“All done. Now, in thirty-six days, the three Origin Demons will be complete!” Han Shuo smiled, glancing at the skeleton warriors—then suddenly noticed the little skeleton, refined with demonic energy, seemed drawn to the pit. Without waiting for Han Shuo’s command, it stepped in and leisurely lay in one of the deep hollows, even crossing its little leg bones in the air, giving off an absurd expression.
It looked, bizarrely, as if it were—enjoying itself!
Han Shuo was dumbfounded. He projected his spiritual force, intending to call the little skeleton out, but instead sensed the skeleton’s happiness, which startled him. He looked in bewilderment at the content little skeleton lounging in the pit.
After a long moment, Han Shuo still couldn’t understand. He checked the pit again; everything ran as usual and the Wraiths were still fighting to the death, unaffected. Shaking his head, Han Shuo muttered, “The little skeleton is getting stranger and stranger. Well, as long as it doesn’t disrupt the formation, I’ll just leave it alone.”
Muttering to himself, Han Shuo walked deeper into the Deathly Graveyard, intent on studying the book “Elementary Necromancy.” He wanted to advance together on both paths and achieve breakthroughs in each.

PS: After the eleventh, the release speed will increase—don’t worry, everyone! O(∩_∩)O