"Yi Brother, don't rush. Once I eat enough peaches, I should be able to remember the name of this small world."

Da Chun began to devour peaches like a madman.

Chen Yi scratched his head.

"Then let's call it 'Cauldron Realm.' Simple, easy to remember, and the meaning is obvious from the name."

After obtaining the Nine Provinces Cauldron, Chen Yi stored it within his body.

In reality, he would not take it out unless absolutely necessary, as it would attract the attention of the Blood Moon organization.

Da Chun could still come out anytime, no different from before.

By the time Chen Yi emerged from the Cauldron Realm, the Earth Spirit had already vanished without a trace.

The Ten Thousand Souls Banner was extremely disappointed.

"What a once-in-a-thousand-years opportunity! Brother! Do you have any idea what a huge stroke of luck you just missed!"

Chen Yi wore an expression of deep regret.

"Ah, what a shame."

"Brother, you don't look the least bit sorry..."

"I'm the type whose emotions don't show on my face. Let's go, time to get down to business."

"This *wasn't* business?? Huh?? Answer me!!"

Two days later, Chen Yi arrived at Wave Valley.

The fresh traces of Dragon-Man tribe activity flowing through the surrounding area confirmed that Chen Yi had found the right place.

Extending his divine sense, Chen Yi spotted two Dragon-Man tribe members in soul form.

They were inside a crude mountain cave, using Soul Power to draw strange formation patterns on the ground.

The cave also contained stacked crates of Spirit Crystals.

With a mere wave of their hands, the two Dragon-Men remotely absorbed some of the Spirit Crystals, integrating them into the formation.

They were working away busily and happily.

"It looks like this outpost is still in its early stages, with only these two Dragon-Men."

Foreign invaders? Check. Soul entities? Check. So, what was there to say?

Just do it!

Before taking action, Chen Yi first equipped "Silent Step" and "Three Swordsmen in the Grass." Then he moved closer to eavesdrop on what these two Dragon-Men were chatting about.

"Brother, what's your monthly pay?"

"Ah, little brother, that kind of thing shouldn't be discussed."

"Why can't we talk about it? There's no one else here. Even if someone was hiding nearby, they wouldn't understand our noble Dragon-Man tribe language."

"Haha, you're right. To be honest with you, brother, I get three days of lifespan per month!"

"Three days a month! That high? We're both low-ranking Demon Soldiers, why do I only get one day?"

"It's fine, little brother. We're carrying out such an important mission; the year-end bonus is paid directly by the year! The monthly salary is just a pittance."

Chen Yi felt a headache coming on.

The Dragon-Man tribe's military pay is distributed directly as... lifespan?

Is that literal?

How does the Dragon-Man Realm accomplish that?

Chen Yi was burning with curiosity.

Even knowing that Dragon-Men are notoriously tight-lipped, he had to try interrogating them.

"Whoosh!"

Chen Yi suddenly sprang into action, transforming into a gust of wind as he charged straight into the cave.

The two Dragon-Man soldiers were startled.

But their first instinct was to assume Chen Yi couldn't see them.

The next second, Chen Yi grabbed one with each hand and smashed their heads together.

"*Duang~*"

The two Dragon-Men were dazed and disoriented from the collision, complaining in unison, their voices full of grievance.

"Is this right??"

Chen Yi roared.

"Enough nonsense! I am the natural enemy of your Dragon-Man tribe! Speak truthfully! Why can your Dragon-Man tribe directly quantify and distribute lifespan! If you don't talk, I'll beat you until your own mothers won't recognize you!"

Unfortunately.

Dragon-Men capable of coming to the human world on missions would never leak secrets.

Once Chen Yi pressed them, the two, seeing no hope of escape, immediately self-destructed.

The self-destruction of a Dragon-Man's soul is actually quite powerful.

The Wave Valley housing the cave was directly blasted into a basin.

But Chen Yi was completely unharmed.

At most, he was buried for a short while when the mountain collapsed.

With a surge of his Martial King Realm strength, he easily burst free.

Chen Yi opened his palm. Lying in it were two black beads, similar to the Demon Seed previously found in Feng Yucheng's corpse, but with different surface patterns.

"After these two low-ranking Dragon-Men died completely, these things appeared... Classmate Hu Chacha, do all Dragon-Men drop this kind of bead when they die?"

Hu Chacha refused to answer the question.

Chen Yi raised an eyebrow. He really had no way to deal with these tight-lipped Dragon-Men.

"I wonder if Black Wind can eat this kind of bead. I'll have Black Wind try when I get back to Baiyun County."

A text prompt appeared before Chen Yi's eyes.

[Simulation Mission Progress: Destroy Dragon-Man Tribe Outposts Progress (1/6)]

"Next stop, Changhai Forest in the Great Wastes!"

Take a guess, what place is located less than fifty miles south of this Changhai Forest?

Ten Thousand Demons Lake!

Chen Yi planned to pick up the old Lord Pot along the way.

A family should be complete and together.

Mahjong in the Cauldron Realm is just around the corner.

The Great Wastes is an extremely vast region.

The maps of the Great Wastes found in the Five Regions are all insufficiently detailed, only marking the names of large areas.

Like a certain forest, a certain mountain range, and so on.

But Chen Yi knew the specific locations of Changhai Forest and Ten Thousand Demons Lake.

Because during the fourth simulation, the Sword Lord had taken him to the Great Wastes to find the pot.

Along the way, the two had chatted about the names of the places they passed through, their local specialties, and such.

Fortunately, this Ten Thousand Demons Lake wasn't too far from the Eastern Wastes either.

Chen Yi flew for two months and arrived.

"*Hng!!*"

"*Ha!!*"

From a distance, Chen Yi heard the distinctive battle cries of the Hum-Ha Demon Generals.

These two giants, over ten meters tall and resembling monsters, were playing sumo by the lakeside.

From the simulations, Chen Yi knew these two Martial King Realm members of the Demon Tribe were tasked with guarding the Demon Refining Pot.

Probably because guard duty was too boring, they passed the time by sparring with each other.

Chen Yi used his divine sense to probe the lakebed.

He discovered a formation layer at the bottom of the lake suppressing the Demon Refining Pot.

The Demon Tribe had always been mediocre at learning intricate disciplines like formations, artifact refining, and pill refining.

A formation capable of suppressing an Immortal Artifact was definitely not weak.

It likely wasn't something they set up themselves. They probably kidnapped some human Formation Master to arrange it.

With Chen Yi's current cultivation level, breaking the formation wouldn't be difficult.

But the commotion would certainly be significant.

Would the Hum-Ha Demon Generals just stand by and watch?

Rather than having to deal with them while distracted later, it was better to knock them down first.

Chen Yi swaggered out into the open.

The Hum-Ha Demon Generals stopped their roughhousing, fixing their round eyes on Chen Yi.

"Where did this human come from, daring to set foot on our Demon Tribe's territory?"

"And he's a Martial King too!"

Chen Yi extended a finger, pointing at the two demons.

"Allow me to correct you two. This world doesn't have any 'Demon Tribe territory.'

This is the human world, not the Demon World!

Your Demon Tribe are invaders. It's only because our human race weakened after the war between the two worlds, with our population drastically reduced, that we couldn't control so much territory, allowing you to occupy the nest like a cuckoo and seize this stretch of the Great Wastes."

The Hum-Ha Demon Generals exchanged a glance, then burst into loud laughter.

"*Hng!* Are you here to declare sovereignty over the Great Wastes then? All by yourself?"

"*Ha!* You're killing me with laughter! Brother Hng, hold back a moment. Let me deal with this human Martial King who doesn't know his own limits!"

Demon General Ha stomped down fiercely, as if a bomb had exploded under his foot. Shattered earth shot upward, and the previously calm lake surface beside them became turbulent with waves.

Demon General Ha leaped into the air, descending towards Chen Yi in an elbow-drop posture.

Chen Yi remained motionless, activating the *Stellar River Divine Art* to directly manipulate gravity.

"Eh? Eh? Eh?"

Demon General Ha, who should have smashed down with earth-shaking force, instead floated upward like a balloon.

"Controlling the Earth Force? That's the Shen Family's Heaven-Grade Martial Art, the *Stellar River Divine Art*! You're from the Shen Family!"

Chen Yi sneered coldly.

"This great hero does not change his name while traveling nor his surname while sitting! I am precisely Shen Yi of the Shen Family! Today, I come to reclaim a portion of lost territory in the Great Wastes for the human race! What say you?!"