The first heavenly calamity, a monstrous beast that melted into Chen Fan's rule-infused long river.
A phantom image of the Sky-Drilling Rat, immensely colossal.
With every inch it grew, the river widened.
The rule-infused long river was being expanded.
As time slowly trickled by…
At this moment, a single rule-infused great dao of the Sky-Drilling Rat tribe was finally completely occupied by the heavenly calamity.
"Buzz."
Until…
A surge of blood-red light suddenly erupted from the heavenly calamity.
Within the blood-red light were ancient characters Chen Fan did not recognize.
"City Lord, my bloodline has been completely awakened, and the memories of the Sky-Drilling Rat tribe have appeared." The heavenly calamity's voice grew increasingly excited.
The demon race and humans were different.
The demon race inherited through bloodlines, with memories flowing within their blood.
At this moment, the Sky-Drilling Rat had unlocked the memories buried deep within its bloodline.
The heavenly calamity boomed, "My demon race should not cultivate imperial qi, but only the physical body. The paths of other monstrous beasts are wrong…"
A memory had completely unlocked the long-lost ancestral memories of the heavenly calamity.
The demon race did not cultivate imperial qi.
They cultivated rules, but only the rules of the physical body.
"Open."
The next moment, with a loud shout from the heavenly calamity, a thunderous roar echoed.
A chain suddenly appeared on the Sky-Drilling Rat's physical body.
No, it wasn't a chain, but a form of inscription.
The inscriptions, passed down through the bloodline, had awakened.
The heavenly calamity continued to exclaim, "City Lord, this is the path of my demon race's physical body, called Battle Marks. Humans cultivate imperial qi, and demons cultivate Battle Marks. Battle Marks are equivalent to imperial qi."
"..."
Chen Fan remained silent, carefully observing the Battle Marks on the heavenly calamity's body that continued to multiply.
One, two, three…
In an instant, eight strands of imperial qi appeared on the heavenly calamity's body.
This was the benefit of controlling a single rule-infused great dao.
If Chen Fan's rule-infused long river was compared to heaven and earth, then the heavenly calamity was the foremost expert of the demon race in this realm.
"Haha."
Accompanied by the heavenly calamity's laughter, the rule-infused great dao of the Sky-Drilling Rat tribe completely traversed three thousand zhang.
Three thousand zhang was the maximum length of a rule-infused long river, created by the primordial chaos.
"Whoosh."
The heavenly calamity leaped out of the rule-infused long river.
On its face, there was unconcealed excitement.
With eight Battle Marks, it would soon be able to reach the Imperial Dao realm.
"Thank you, City Lord." The heavenly calamity prostrated itself.
This bow was from the heart.
It had gambled correctly, and it had won.
"..."
Chen Fan did not respond.
At this moment, he stood with his eyes closed within the rule-infused long river.
The river's flow washed over him as he contemplated the rule-infused great dao of the demon race.
The heavenly calamity quickly fell silent.
…
"That's not right."
Chen Fan sensed it.
The demon race's rules had not transformed into swords.
Previously, he had forged his sword dao long river, transforming the entire river into a sword.
But the current demon great dao had not become a sword; instead, it took the form of the Sky-Drilling Rat.
"Different from humans," Chen Fan mused.
With this thought, Chen Fan's mind sank into the Sky-Drilling Rat's rules.
"Very strong."
This rule was a path of the physical body.
The physical body path of the demon race.
He attempted to move this spatial rule of the demon race and have it interact with the rules of the five elements.
"Impossible."
The two naturally repelled each other.
He tried numerous methods, but all ultimately failed.
"Alas."
With a sigh, Chen Fan opened his eyes.
It could not be integrated.
Humans and demons seemed to be naturally antagonistic.
In the end, he could only move this demon great dao to the other side of the long river.
The left side of the river contained human rules, the right side contained demon rules, and the middle remained filled with chaotic rule-infused great daos.
This was the best he could do for now.
"City Lord."
At this moment, the heavenly calamity spoke again, "I feel that the rule-infused long river is evolving my rule-infused great dao, as if it wants to change its shape."
"I know."
Chen Fan also felt this.
The long river wanted to compress the heavenly calamity's great dao into the shape of a sword.
"This cannot be."
Chen Fan made a decision.
A sword could exist,
and a saber could also exist.
His rule-infused long river could not be limited to a single path.
"Let's change it."
As soon as he thought of it, he acted, telling the heavenly calamity to step aside. Chen Fan began to move.
"Splash."
Chen Fan once again became a laborer.
The sword-shaped long river he had painstakingly compressed earlier was now unhindered.
It had been forcibly compressed, and now that the restraint was released, the rule-infused long river immediately returned to its original state.
The rules of the five elements, yin and yang, etc., also instantly shed their limitations.
"I cannot cultivate only the sword path," Chen Fan murmured to himself.
Previously, he hadn't considered forging the heavens, so he had intended to walk the sword path alone.
Now that there was an opportunity to forge the heavens, to then focus solely on the sword path seemed rather petty.
My dao encompasses all things.
…
"It's done."
After tidying things up, Chen Fan led the heavenly calamity out of the rule-infused long river.
The two reappeared in the thatched hut.
"Thank you again, City Lord." The heavenly calamity once again expressed his heartfelt gratitude.
"Mm."
Chen Fan nodded and continued, "You can go back and ask Huangdie if she is willing to integrate into my rule-infused long river."
Huangdie did not have a physical body, but in Chen Fan's mind,
if Huangdie could integrate, perhaps… there might be a chance to regain her physical body.
"Yes."
This time, the heavenly calamity was much more deferential.
Although it had inherited ancestral memory, after experiencing Chen Fan's rule-infused long river, it felt Chen Fan's immense power even more deeply.
Everyone had their own destiny.
Its destiny had been given by Chen Fan.
Inside the thatched hut, Chen Fan continued his cultivation.
Not long after, Huangdie arrived.
Not only Huangdie, but also Qing Luan, and then dozens of disciples of Yi Fu.
"You all…"
Chen Fan looked at the group in surprise.
What was going on?
"Greetings, City Lord." They all bowed.
"Rise."
Still confused, Chen Fan asked, "What is this?"
"City Lord."
The heavenly calamity peeked out from behind, "I told them about what happened, and they all wish to integrate into your rule-infused great dao."
Chen Fan: "..."
He swept his gaze over them.
All right, they were all monstrous beasts.
No wonder they came in such numbers. This was to help him re-organize the demon great dao.
"Have you all thought this through?"
"Yes."
These individuals, led by Qing Luan, stated solemnly, "City Lord, our demon race has no strong experts, and we can only survive by depending on others.
Now, there is a powerful opportunity, and we beg the City Lord to grant it."
As they spoke, they all prostrated themselves.
"That's not quite right."
Chen Fan pondered, "There were demons among those Level 1 powers before, weren't there?"
That girl with wings was a demon.
Qing Luan gave a wry smile, "In the demon race, those with the title of Emperor are the strongest. There is a lack of someone to stabilize the demon realm.
Some things are not uncommon in the Immortal Realm.
Qing Luan continued, "The demon race is weak. For countless years, whenever a catastrophe strikes, the demon race serves as cannon fodder, suffering heavy casualties. Apart from those demons with strong protectors, others… alas…"
They couldn't speak further; their words were filled with tears.
The demon race had suffered too much.
"Very well."
Having heard this, Chen Fan couldn't refuse further, "If you are willing, then all of you may come."
"I'll join too."
In front of the first thatched hut, Long Ling opened her eyes.
She was the eldest disciple.
"Senior Sister, you…" Chen Fan was surprised.
This one was not weak; she had the potential to walk the path of a titled emperor.