Chapter 1 Garuda

The roc's restraint on the dragon and snake races should be purely its physical strength and toughness. When capturing long, snake-like dragons and snakes of the same rank, it can quickly pinpoint the key points of the opponent's spine, launching a surprise attack to kill the foe.

Over time, the roc even evolved a comprehensive set of resistances against the attacks of dragons and snakes. Whether it was the pressure of dragons and snakes or various special venoms and supernatural powers, it could always withstand them perfectly.

Therefore, in repeated hunting and evolution, the golden-winged roc became the nemesis of dragons and snakes, even a divine bird that specialized in devouring them. The dragon and snake side also buried their fear of the roc deep within their bloodline, to prevent ignorant younger generations from launching fearless counterattacks when they saw a golden-winged roc, and instead, chose to run away directly.

From a purely objective perspective, the golden-winged roc is indeed a restraint on dragons and snakes—but the premise is that the enemy must be dragon-shaped or snake-shaped.

After all, there is no dragon-attribute spiritual energy or golden-winged roc-attribute spiritual energy in this world. Restraint is obviously something that requires many conditions to be met. Su Zhou, a proper, six-foot-tall human being, is clearly not within the range of dragon and snake specialists—he doesn't even have a dragon or snake true form, just a bit of Yala's immortal blood.

Su Zhou didn't care about this kind of rigid attribute restraint. Anyway, even if it really restrained him, it would just take a little more spiritual energy to suppress it.

In terms of spiritual energy, the Garuda human form has about five to six hundred Zhou Buyi, while after transforming into the demon true form, it directly soars to over a thousand Zhou Buyi.

As for Su Zhou, before cultivating the Heart of Leize, he had about five hundred Zhou Buyi of spiritual energy, and after cultivating the Heart of Leize, that number became eight hundred.

Although it seems that his spiritual energy is at a disadvantage when facing the demon true form of Garuda, Su Zhou's spiritual energy recovery speed is extremely fast. In addition, the Garuda's true form consumes a lot of spiritual energy as well. As long as they fight and he doesn't give the opponent time to rest, the opponent will definitely become weaker and weaker.

Therefore, when the golden-winged bird flapped its wings again, bringing a gust of wind and charging towards him, Su Zhou advanced instead of retreating. He held the long spear, transformed into a cold light, broke through the gale it stirred up with bullet time, closed in for close combat, and released a series of spiritual energy lightning bolts, forcibly forcing Garuda to exchange spiritual energy with him.

The golden-winged bird, having returned to its demon true form, naturally wouldn't fear this kind of head-on fight. What's more, Su Zhou hadn't revealed his true form yet, and even said that he didn't have one—how could he not have a true form with such a strong dragon bloodline? This immediately made Garuda feel extremely looked down upon, and as his anger accumulated, he unleashed strength far beyond his usual level.

At this time, one could see that on Garuda's wings, golden and cyan winds lit up. These winds mixed the sharp cutting intent of the metal element with the rapidly flying wind-attribute spiritual energy, instantly turning the area around its wings into two huge spiritual energy cutting machines. Just the aftermath swept past, leaving ravines over a foot deep on the ground around Yaochi.

Su Zhou wasn't afraid of this. He used the Qi Condensation Technique to strengthen his body, and the Azure Armor around him shrunk, condensing its defensive power. One could even see lightning surging inside the Azure Armor, flowing with cyan-purple spiritual light—apart from weight, his defense and other data were no less than Garuda's. And in terms of combat experience and pain tolerance, he could beat a hundred Garudas.

Only two streams of light were seen flying, and a lightning bolt and a huge golden wind merged together, and then produced a huge roar. The rumble of the shockwave spread in all directions, and an unprecedentedly violent explosion occurred on the shore of Yaochi Lake.

This time, the surrounding demonic beasts were completely wiped out, none surviving—this may be a relief for them, who lacked intelligence.

Su Zhou's attack was good at utilizing weapons. The Demon Emperor's dragon horn spear was made of sturdy material and was extremely woody in nature, making it difficult to conduct electricity. Su Zhou could use it as the origin point to unleash lightning magic without worrying about the excess lightning harming himself. Every time he swung the spear, the spearhead could break the sound barrier, stirring up a series of mighty sonic booms.

And the golden-winged bird was extremely large. Every time it swept its wings, the sharp golden wind could force Su Zhou to retreat, or even leap up to dodge. Occasionally, when Su Zhou blocked head-on, he would be blown away by its terrifying brute force combined with the gale—but at this time, Su Zhou would directly gather a thunder spear or heavenly thunder from afar, forcing the golden-winged bird to actively pursue him and engage in close combat.

This process of repeated fighting lasted for more than twenty minutes, but unexpectedly, Su Zhou was the better in this battle that seemed to be determined by brute force.

"Ah ha, you're out of spiritual energy, aren't you?"

At this time, one could see that the golden-winged bird, which had been on the offensive throughout the battle, suddenly retreated. Su Zhou's eyes lit up, knowing that the opponent's vast spiritual energy had been mostly consumed in the process of facing him head-on—while he still had nearly three-fifths of his total spiritual energy, thanks to the cycle of heaven and man.

How could Garuda respond to such words? Extremely exhausted, it just tried its best to avoid panting heavily. Seeing Su Zhou, who was still full of energy, it immediately understood that the other party's total spiritual energy, or the previously mentioned spiritual energy recovery speed, was truly far beyond ordinary people—this guy really wasn't lying, everything he said was the truth, his strength was truly terrifying!

In that case, it needed to seize the time to absorb the spiritual energy of heaven and earth and restore its spiritual energy, otherwise, facing such a terrifying opponent, it might not even be able to escape.

How could Su Zhou give the opponent time to rest? Naturally, he would take advantage of its weakness and strike it down. He gripped the spear in his hand, and his steel-like muscles contracted, accumulating violent power—then, lightning erupted under his feet, and after an extremely swift Thunderclap Flash, Su Zhou instantly crossed a hundred meters in the midst of the earth's trembling, and thrust his spear towards Garuda's forehead!

This thrust was the simplest, most unadorned straight thrust, extremely swift and powerful. Even Garuda found it difficult to dodge, and could only barely open its mouth, attempting a bird version of catching a blade with its bare hands.

But after all, it made a strategic error, and its spiritual energy was consumed too much by Su Zhou. At this time, its reaction speed was far from its peak, and Su Zhou slightly changed the spear's path, dodging its mouth.

However, at this time, Su Zhou also took the opportunity to turn the spear into a staff, turning the thrust into a smash. He didn't intend to directly pierce through the opponent's eyes and into the brain, but only intended to knock Garuda down.

He didn't intend to kill it, after all, although he had fought with Garuda for so long, the opponent hadn't done anything to him. And to be honest, Garuda hadn't done anything bad either. In the Evil-Devouring Demon Lord's divine power of identification, the opponent wasn't an extremely evil person, at most at the level of someone who doesn't wash the dishes after eating.

He couldn't possibly eat a sentient being just because it tasted good, right? Although he, Su Zhou, was a Demon Lord, he wasn't that depraved.

Most importantly, Garuda currently held the authority to the Kunlun Secret Realm. Rather than killing it and blindly messing around in the central control point, whose location he didn't even know, it was better to catch a live one first.

Boom! Su Zhou's heavy spear fell, condensing extremely thick spiritual energy. Although it looked like just one spear, in the spiritual energy's vision, it was an extremely deformed spiritual energy sledgehammer, or a super-giant barbell. It slammed heavily towards the top of Garuda's head, which was full of despair, stirring up the scent of ozone and the breath of thunder, and the shockwave stirred up by the aftermath blew away the mud and fog, causing the atmosphere to tremble.

And just as Su Zhou's spear hit the top of Garuda's golden-winged bird's head, its demon body suffered heavy damage, and then transformed into light and disappeared—what reappeared was the golden-haired girl, whose wound on the top of her head had not yet healed, dizzy and weak, slumped on the ground.

The practical use of the Transformation Technique lies in this—it is equivalent to cultivating an external avatar. When one body suffers heavy damage, it can be taken back for nurturing, and another body can be used to fight and walk, which is equivalent to having two lives.

And when Garuda saw Su Zhou approaching menacingly with killing intent, carrying a long spear, despair and fear of death surged into its heart: after all, it was only sixteen years old, and even with the memory and combat experience inherited from its innate bloodline, as well as various wisdom and knowledge, it had not yet integrated them and completely turned them into its own.

What's more, even if it had integrated them, what could it do? Facing a monster like Su Zhou, one of the best in the world, even a proper golden-winged roc would probably not have imagined that Su Zhou hadn't even used his most fundamental 'Fire-attribute enhanced spiritual energy' to strengthen his body, or the fundamental Evil-Devouring Demon Lord's divine power.

In other words, Su Zhou at this time was essentially like a mage who didn't use magic, but instead picked up a greatsword to play melee… no, it's the other way around, he was a good warrior who didn't fight in close combat, but instead played with lightning magic, and even played with it so happily, fighting with the golden-winged bird in a lively and colorful way.

"Tell me, what should I do with you, steam you or boil you, or roast you?" Casually spouting intimidating trash talk, Su Zhou had actually already thought about what to do with Garuda: first, he would force it to reveal the location of the Kunlun Secret Realm's control center, and then ask it to hand over its authority. If it could satisfy this point, he would of course not kill it—after all, a living golden-winged roc was probably no less valuable than seven or eight demon god inheritances.

"Wuwuwu, don't kill me…"

But at this time, hearing Su Zhou's greedy tone, which was disguised to be just like the real thing, Garuda, who was powerless and slumped on the ground, was immediately frightened—it had no strength to resist at all, and facing Su Zhou, who was standing in front of it, smiling but not smiling, thinking about, but most likely thinking about what method to use to cook it, it immediately panicked and was at a loss, tears gushing out like a spring: "If you want to kill me, do it quickly, don't add chili peppers, it hurts…"

"Damn it, Su Zhou, you're actually intimidating and abusing a young girl?" At this time, seeing Garuda really cry, Yala in his mind also pretended to be imposing, and booed at Su Zhou, but what it said was not normal at all: "What are you still standing there for? Do more! Hit her! Keep hitting her until she calls you mommy—make her eat snakes!"

But if you tell me to hit her, I'll hit her, wouldn't I be very spineless? And Yala, aren't you ashamed? She might not have eaten snakes since she was a child!

The argumentative Su Zhou clicked his tongue in his heart, and then generously said to Garuda, who was lying on the ground: "Alright, you've regained a life, golden-winged bird."

Of course, he didn't let Garuda get up, but continued to point the gun at the location of the other’s heart. Although Su Zhou's tone was kind, his questioning was crisp and neat: "How are you considering it now? Are you willing to hand over the authority?"

Garuda: "I'm willing, I'm willing!"

"What is the real purpose of your obstruction?"

Garuda: "To see what humans are really like, and whether they are as fierce, cruel, ruthless, and terrifying as the black giant hole said."

Black giant hole? What is that?

Hearing unexpected information, Su Zhou, who considered himself a good person, frowned slightly—wasn't it good to spare Garuda's life? He thought for a while and continued to ask: "Do you know humans? Is it bloodline inheritance, or records in the Kunlun Secret Realm? Do you know what this place is… by the way, how long have you been born?"

Garuda: "My bloodline inheritance includes humans, and there are records in the Secret Realm. This is the gathering place of the demon race in the past, the burial place of ten thousand demons, and I don't know anything else… As for birth, about sixteen years, there is a clock in the Secret Realm, I have checked the time accordingly."

Grass. Uttering a common exclamation, Su Zhou felt that he might have gone a bit too far after knowing that the other party was really a young girl—but for some reason, images of roast pigeon, roast suckling pig, roast lamb, roast calf… livestock cubs seemed to be tastier?

No, Su Zhou, you have to hold back, not eating sentient beings who are not extremely evil is the bottom line!

After repeating it several times in his heart, Su Zhou felt that his mind had become pure. He lowered his head and continued to ask: "How were you born? Were you born from the inheritance of the demon god corpses in these mountains? If so, why is there only you, a descendant of the divine bird, in the Kunlun Secret Realm, and the other divine beast inheritances have not transformed into new divine beasts?"

"According to the black giant hole, I was transformed… without parents, nurtured by heaven and earth."

Garuda also replied confusedly. It also knew that it would not die immediately at this time, and its tone recovered smoothly: "My birth is not normal. I have the pure inheritance of the divine bird in my mind, and the inheritance of the divine bird from the human demon god… So I have always been wondering whether I am a divine bird, or a human who has obtained the power of the divine bird, but I seem to be neither…"

Garuda's confusion is a cognitive problem that has plagued it for more than a decade. For a newborn who has been living alone in a closed environment, even if it has fully automatic awakening bloodline knowledge and inheritance, without the correspondence of 'you and him', it is extremely difficult for an individual to generate the self-awareness of 'I'. Garuda barely obtained the cognition of what 'I' is through inheritance and fighting with the surrounding spirit beasts. After that, the communication with the black giant hole further strengthened this point, causing it to quickly awaken its intelligence.

However, with the birth of wisdom, the problem came. I am me, but which side do I belong to? The demon gods who simulate the Dao and the pure divine beasts are completely opposed. Although I am naturally transformed, I also rely on the corpse of a human demon god… and how will humans view it? This kind of question always plagued Garuda, making it difficult to decide the direction of its future life.

Therefore, it always wanted to find humans and contact them.

Now, the ordinary human Su Zhou has come.

He didn't think about Garuda's doubts at all: "Your intelligence is really a bit problematic—you can use the Transformation Technique, isn't it that you can be a human if you want to be a human, and a bird if you want to be a bird?"

Human Garuda: "Huh?"

Can it be like this? Can race also be freely determined?

Seeing that the other party was hesitant, Su Zhou glanced at it and shook his head: "You can turn into a human, which means you are a descendant of a demon—and demons are all transformed from humans. Although this doesn't actually explain anything, because the identification of self-identity must be based on cultural identity. You are learning in this secret realm alone, even if you are influenced by Kunlun culture."

"And Kunlun has been the sacred mountain of the Zheng Nation since ancient times, and the Kunlun Secret Realm is also the territory of the Zheng Nation. Well, in that case, roughly speaking, you are a Zheng Nation person, but you need to apply for a birth certificate and household registration."

Zheng Nation person Garuda: "Ah?"

Has nationality also been solved? What are birth certificates and household registration?

Obviously, this kind of simple argument that even elementary school students can do is a bit too complicated for Garuda. Considering that the other party has never been to school, Su Zhou mercifully did not talk about solipsism or the more complex philosophical questions such as evil people are not people, but directly brainwashed… and educated: "Do you understand? Helping us is helping yourself. You are a Zheng Nation person, you are our compatriots. You help us control the Kunlun Secret Realm, which is equivalent to helping yourself control the Kunlun Secret Realm…"

After saying a long passage, Su Zhou stopped for a while. He looked at the golden-winged bird with a dull gaze, not to mention resisting, even its thinking ability might not have much left. He comforted it with trash talk: "Don't worry, considering that you haven't had time to commit a serious mistake, you will never die, at most you will be charged with obstructing official duties. This charge can be big or small, depending on your subsequent performance."

"But, come to think of it, what exactly is the 'black giant hole' you've been talking about?"