"Laxi, rescue all the demons. If any disobey, kill them. If any cause trouble, kill them. If any resist, kill them. I need obedient demons. Those who are not obedient deserve to be food."
This was Li Xi's cold command to Laxi, leading the insectoid soldiers. His voice also spread throughout the battlefield, ensuring that even if one were buried ten meters deep in the sand, they would hear Li Xi's voice.
At this moment, Li Xi had first killed seven Balrogs, then an eighth-level Blood Race Duke, and finally, under the gaze of all the demons, defeated the Lord of the twenty-fifth layer of the Abyss, the Balrog. He was like a god of war, imbued with a great victory, and no demon dared to defy him. Obedience to the strong was a traditional habit of demons.
"I plan to have the existing demons and insectoid soldiers in this plane forcefully believe in you, providing you with an endless supply of faith. With this arrangement, how long will it take for you to produce a drop of divine power?" Li Xi asked the evil god Can Bao Bao, who resided in his heart. This had been Li Xi's plan for a long time; the production of divine power always depended on a vast number of believers.
The evil god Can Bao Bao replied, "Faith from one million lives can allow me to produce one drop of divine power per day. I estimate that the total number of demons and insectoid soldiers combined is currently only about 400,000."
"Four hundred thousand. That means two drops of divine power in five days. This speed is not slow," Li Xi was very satisfied. This was much better than constantly searching for evil gods. As long as he had this plane in hand, he could continuously improve his strength. Although the daily output seemed small, over a year or half a year, this accumulated quantity would be astonishing.
"By the way, how are these insectoid soldiers of yours produced?"
"Divine power. I can convert divine power into an incubator. I can hatch and produce insectoid soldiers from level one to five."
The evil god Can Bao Bao almost counted on her fingers to explain to Li Xi: "One drop of divine power, supplemented with other materials, can hatch 10,000 level-one insectoid soldiers, or 1,000 level-two insectoid soldiers, 100 level-three insectoid soldiers, 10 level-four insectoid soldiers, or one level-five insectoid soldier. Each insectoid soldier's strength is at the bottom of its respective level."
"So expensive." This was Li Xi's first feeling after hearing the evil god Can Bao Bao's explanation. One drop of divine power could only produce one level-five insectoid soldier. No wonder she had so few insectoid soldiers, and the vampires took the opportunity to constantly exploit them. No family could withstand such consumption.
But to Li Xi's surprise, the evil god Can Bao Bao continued, "If you want me to mass-produce insectoid soldiers and have them believe in me, converting divine power, then don't even think about it."
"Why?" Li Xi had indeed planned to do so.
"Because level-one and level-two insectoid soldiers do not possess intelligence and cannot generate faith. So, to proceed according to your method, I need to hatch level-three insectoid soldiers."
"I see."
Li Xi suddenly understood. No wonder he had never seen level-one or level-two insectoid soldiers on the battlefield; they were all level-three. It turned out that the evil god Can Bao Bao had already considered his method. One drop of divine power could only hatch one hundred level-three insectoid soldiers, and the faith generated by one hundred level-three insectoid soldiers to convert into one drop of divine power would require 10,000 days, which is nearly 28 years. This was a time that could drive one to despair.
"I suggest you don't think so far ahead and first consider how these demons and insectoid soldiers will survive. I don't know why you didn't take the opportunity to attack the abyssal plane opposite, but the current small plane is no longer sufficient to support such a large population of life."
"This problem is indeed quite tricky." Li Xi looked at the groups of demons crawling out of the sand dunes and standing obediently, and felt a great headache. He hadn't expected that the battle with the Balrog had almost collapsed the small plane. How much food would so many demons and insectoid soldiers consume in a day?
"If we rely on the corpses of other demons and the food found on the plane, we can barely hold on for a few days, but what about after a few days?" The evil god Can Bao Bao constantly offered suggestions. She had now firmly sided with Li Xi, and the unpleasantness of being deceived earlier had long since vanished with the Balrog's escape.
"Yes, what about after a few days?" Li Xi constantly calculated his assets. Even if he emptied all the storage in his spatial rings, he couldn't support so many demons and insectoid soldiers.
"If my divine power were still here, I could create an oasis, but my body is now empty..." The evil god Can Bao Bao felt regret. Divine power was known as the ultimate primal energy.
"Oh? Are you talking about this?" Li Xi took out a bottle filled with golden liquid from his spatial ring.
...
Just as Li Xi was teleported to the location of the small plane, similar spatial fluctuations appeared, and a burly man carrying a giant axe on his shoulder materialized.
As soon as he landed, he looked at the harsh environment after the great battle, which seemed to have been repeatedly attacked by powerful magic. A sandstorm-like weather was still howling in the air. This made the burly man squint, otherwise, his eyes would easily be irritated. He was filled with confusion, "What is this place?"
"The missions posted by the Underground Mercenary World are becoming less and less reliable. Even the location has to be kept secret, and they say it's very simple."
The burly man, who was complaining, suddenly looked up and saw the red streak of light, and instantly froze. A blood-red sky was a standard feature of the Abyss, spread across various planes.
The giant axe on his shoulder slipped. The burly man, who had always been fearless, felt a tremor of panic at this moment. An angry voice erupted from his mouth, "Damn it all, they tricked me into coming to the Abyss."
Knowing his location, the burly man hurriedly took out a pile of spherical objects from his spatial ring and threw them in all directions without hesitation. The burly man's strength was not to be underestimated; each watermelon-sized spherical item was thrown by him for thousands of meters.
Anyway, he was told when he accepted the mission that these things were not afraid of breaking. The burly man just wanted to finish the mission quickly and teleport back.
After finally throwing all the spherical objects, the burly man took out a teleportation token. After activating it, he looked at the faint white light emanating from the token and urged, "Faster, faster, faster."
Because he was afraid, the burly man felt time passing very slowly. The teleportation, which usually took a few breaths to complete, now felt incredibly slow.
Finally, the faint white light enveloped the burly man. This was the sign before teleportation. The burly man did not feel any abyssal creatures around him, so he let go of the heart that was in his throat. This trip was fraught with danger but ultimately safe, thanks to the protection of the Barbarian God. He vowed never to accept such vague missions again.
However, just as the teleportation light grew brighter and was about to send the burly man away, a pillar of yellow energy suddenly shot over from a distance.
The burly man broke out in a cold sweat instantly, almost crushing the teleportation token in his hand in his haste. But looking at the energy pillar and comparing it to the teleportation time, he, who was at a level six strength, knew that the teleportation was doomed to fail. "No!"
"Boom!"
The energy pillar and the teleportation collided in a fierce explosion. The burly man and his giant axe were blasted out. Unable to withstand the energy explosion, blood flowed from all seven orifices of his body.
The burly man did not dare to delay. He casually wiped the blood from his face, grabbed his giant axe, and got up, ready to fight. Barbarians had no tradition of surrendering without a fight. But everything in the distance made him dumbfounded.
Countless demon armies rolled in from the sandstorm. The first three rows of hundreds of horned demons were enough to kill him dozens of times. The demons behind them were endless.
These demons were all within the burly man's expectations. After all, he knew he was coming to the Abyss, not an ordinary plane, so encountering demons was not surprising. But what was that strange demonic beast, hundreds of meters tall, burning with blue flames, at the rear?
Its astonishing aura weakened the incessant sandstorm in the air. The entire world was dyed blue. The burly man's hand, gripping the giant axe, was constantly sweating.
...
It turned out that the Round Moon Plain was now covered by sparsely growing characteristic abyssal vegetation. All the life that had survived the great battle in the small plane was now living here. Due to the scarcity of resources, all life faced a survival environment ten times more brutal than before. But compared to the environment immediately after the battle, where survival was impossible, it was much better now.
In the center of this survival area, which could be called an oasis of life, stood a giant totem of the Silkworm God.
This totem, made in the image of the evil god Can Bao Bao, was thirty meters tall, covered in gold, and shone brilliantly. Su Dan Novel Network.
This was a work led by Li Xi, with the assistance of tens of thousands of insectoid soldiers, completed in three full days. Every detail of the Silkworm God was perfect, especially its image of roaring at the heavens, which was soul-stirring.
"Every demon, every insectoid soldier must pray for two hours every day. Believing in the Silkworm God is the mission that every life must complete. Anyone who pretends or disobeys the order – dies."
This was Li Xi's death order to all life, no room for objection or questioning, only obedience and execution.
The insectoid soldiers naturally obeyed unconditionally. Believing in their evil god Can Bao Bao was a mission etched into their genes from the moment of their birth.
However, the demons had always been chaotic beings, accustomed to being disorganized and undisciplined. Now, suddenly being asked to do as Li Xi required, many of them muddled through, thinking Li Xi wouldn't notice. But they had all underestimated Li Xi's methods.
The evil god Can Bao Bao could sense every life that believed in her, so whoever did not believe earnestly naturally could not escape Li Xi's eyes.
Newly made crosses, enough to encircle the Silkworm God totem twice, were erected. On each cross, a demon wailed incessantly.
Directly killing these disobedient demons would not showcase Li Xi's methods. So, he adopted another approach.
That is, select suitable wooden sticks and insert them into the demons' bodies. If done skillfully, the stick could pass through the throat without a single drop of blood. Such demons were fixed to the crosses and could survive for more than ten days, enduring unimaginable pain every moment. Their constant wails and pleas for mercy echoed day and night, and to other demons, such a fate, knowing death was inevitable yet enduring such torment, was more terrifying than anything.
Of course, those demons who were pierced through their internal organs by the less skilled insectoid soldiers with wooden sticks died more quickly, ending their painful lives.
So, when the burly man was brought in like a fattened pig, and he personally witnessed thousands of demons wailing with wooden sticks inserted into their bodies, even his racial talent, which allowed him to face any danger with cold indifference, made him tremble with fear. What kind of demon could devise such cruel punishments? It was too barbaric!
"Master, this is the human who was teleported here," Laxi pointed at the bound and immobilized burly man. Then he took out a pile of spherical objects, "These are unknown items he threw into the plane upon teleportation."
The burly man lay on the ground, barely lifting his chin. He saw a Balrog sitting on a chair made of ancient jade.
The aura of a king emanating from it made the burly man's heart turn to ash. His monstrous face had a single eye that emitted a chilling glare. His overwhelming killing intent made other beings dare not look directly at him. Slaughter, blood, and destruction were his synonyms. Such a creature was the nemesis of a beautiful world.
"It's over, it's over. I've encountered a tough opponent. It'll be hard to avoid death this time."
Li Xi, transformed into a Balrog and seated on a chair he'd snatched from a vampire, looked at the burly man thrown on the ground and couldn't help but laugh heartily. What a coincidence! Wasn't this the barbarian Katch? Why hadn't he formed his own mercenary group in the Underground Mercenary World and come to the Abyss instead?
Li Xi pretended not to know the barbarian Katch and picked up the spherical objects Katch had thrown into the plane.
These items had faint magical energy fluctuations on their surfaces, and complex magic array diagrams were drawn on them. These were rare magical equipment. Judging from the cost alone, such items were not affordable for ordinary people.
With a single hand, he exerted force. Although faint lightning was activated on the magic array diagrams on the surface, constantly striking Li Xi's palm, such an attack was not even enough to tickle him.
"Crack!"
This spherical magical equipment was directly crushed by Li Xi, revealing a yellow crystal ball and a magic crystal the size of an infant's fist inside.
From the outside alone, Li Xi could not recognize what this item was for, but upon seeing its internal structure, he understood. This was a detection magic equipment. The magic crystal provided energy, and the yellow crystal ball could transmit images. Li Xi was familiar with this item. In his previous life, a certain country loved to throw these things all over the world. It was said that picking one up could allow one to not work for a year, making it the ultimate goal of getting rich overnight.
However, the fact that this detection magic equipment had been thrown at his feet was not a good thing.
The barbarian Katch clearly saw that after this Balrog crushed a spherical item, its face turned ashen, as if the temperature had dropped by three degrees.
"Human, why did you bring so many detection magic equipment here?"
The barbarian Katch did not want to answer. Although he had been tricked again this time, he still possessed the qualities of a mercenary: loyalty to the mission, and the mission above all else. So, Katch lowered his head, prepared to endure the ensuing storm, but uttered not a single word.
A strange smile flickered across Li Xi's lips. Dealing with a straightforward barbarian was not a difficult operation.
"It's okay if you don't say anything. Let me guess if I'm accurate."
"You are a straightforward barbarian, very loyal to your friends, and you have many friends, but few close ones."
The barbarian Katch raised his head in horror, unable to believe that such intelligent words could come from a Balrog.
"You don't need to be so surprised. I am the Lord of this plane, not a demon king of slaughter. I have achieved what I have today by using my brain, not my muscles."
The barbarian Katch couldn't help but grumble in his heart, "They all say that we barbarians only have muscles in our brains, and you demons are even more exaggerated than us. Why am I encountering a Balrog today who claims to like using his brain? Did I come to the wrong place?"
"Is this a fake Balrog?"