He walked for days without any real direction. He was moving through a landscape that seemed determined to kill anything that dared to traverse it.

  The geography of the Demonic Realm was not static. It was a living and breathing entity of violence. He traversed the Acid Flats, where pools of neon green liquid bubbled and hissed. It was releasing fumes that could melt mortal lungs in seconds.

  Li Yu moved through it without much issues. He used his Opalescent Qi to shield himself from the acid rain. He used his Void Step to bypass the territories of territorial behemoths that slumbered beneath the red sand.

  As he walked, his mind chewed on the bitter gristle of his failure.

  'I thought I was clever,' Li Yu mused as he kicked a skull out of his path. 'I thought I could play the game. Join a mercenary troop, hide my strength and manipulate the board from the shadows.'

  He scoffed at himself.

  'Strategy is for peers. When a Demon Lord can wipe the board clean because he woke up on the wrong side of the bed, strategy is a joke.'

  He realized now that his plan to weaken the demons through subterfuge was fundamentally flawed. It assumed that the demons cared about their losses. It assumed that a dead general or a routed legion mattered to the likes of Malos or Balor. Most of all, it assumed that he was strong enough to take down people that truly mattered.

  They didn't and he couldn’t. To the Lords of this realm, armies were just renewable resources. Lives were currency and they had infinitely deep pockets.

  'To change anything,' Li Yu realized, 'I cannot just be a player. I have to be the one who flips the table at any time I want.'

  He needed power. Not just the power to fight a general but the power to look a Demon Lord in the eye and make them blink.

  Li Yu then took out several maps that he had acquired from the loot he obtained before the Demon Lord had attacked. He overlaid them a few days ago and created his own map using them as the base. It generated a map that was a bit more accurate.

  He decided his next step was to slowly head towards the stronger human nations. Perhaps he would have a better plan by then. It mainly gave him a direction that he could vaguely follow for now as his plans become more clear.

  Three days later Li Yu arrived at the gates of the City of Gorm.

  It was a trade hub. A massive city built into the ribcage of a creature so colossal that its bones formed the city’s walls. The ribs curved upward, piercing the smog choked sky, while buildings of black stone and metal hung from them like stalactites.

  The queue to enter was long.

  It was a parade of the bizarre and the brutal. There were caravans of giant beetles carrying crates of ore. There were floating palanquins carried by enslaved elementals. There were wandering human cultivators with swords on their backs and murder in their eyes. Li Yu stood in line and waited his turn.

  "Entry fee!" A massive Ogre guard grunted while extending a hand the size of a shovel. Li Yu flicked a low grade demonic core into the Ogre’s palm like everyone else.

  The Ogre bit the core to test its quality and grunted in approval. After he was satisfied, he waved Li Yu through. Inside the city, Gorm was an assault on the senses.

  The noise was deafening with the roar of beasts and the shouting of merchants. The air smelled of roasting meat, unwashed bodies and exotic spices that tickled the nose. Li Yu walked through the market district and was exploring around.

  "Fresh Earth Eel!" A vendor shouted. He was holding up a writhing brown creature that shrieked like a banshee. "Guaranteed to increase your soul perception! Only fifty cores!"

  Li Yu paused at a food stall. A four armed chef was stir frying chunks of purple meat in a wok that flared with blue spiritual fire.

  "What is this?" Li Yu asked.

  "Thorn Beast liver," the chef grunted. "Spicy. Good for blood circulation."

  You might be reading a pirated copy. Look for the official release to support the author.

  Li Yu bought a skewer. He took a bite. It tasted like pepper and dirt with a strange numbing aftertaste. It wasn't good at all to him but he saw that others were eating it with a satisfied look on their face. He could feel a tiny trickle of energy entering his stomach though.

  'Even the food here fights you,' Li Yu thought as he swallowed the tough meat. He continued deeper into the city. As he moved toward the central plaza the atmosphere changed. The chaotic noise of the market faded and was replaced by a lower and more rhythmic murmur.

  The Slave Markets.

  It was the heart of Gorm. A massive amphitheater dug into the ground where thousands of buyers gathered to bid on living merchandise.

  Li Yu stood on the upper rim and was looking down. He was curious what type of slaves would be sold here. In the center of the pit an auctioneer was showcasing a lot. The auctioneer was a flamboyant demon with peacock feathers growing from his skin.

  "Lot 405!" The auctioneer boomed as his voice was amplified by an array. "A prime specimen of the Iron Shell Race! Look at that carapace! Look at those claws! Perfect for mining or heavy infantry!"

  A massive crab was dragged onto the stage. It was chained with glowing runes that suppressed its cultivation. The creature looked defeated with its eyes dull.

  "Do I hear five hundred cores?"

  "Six hundred!" A voice shouted from the VIP box.

  "Sold to the fat imp in the corner!"

  Li Yu watched as the crab was dragged away. He didn’t quite understand why the crab was worth that much. Perhaps its meat tasted good or something. The next lot was brought out.

  It was a group of Demons. Specifically, Fire Imps. They were being sold by a larger, Ice aligned Demon clan.

  "Domestic servants!" The auctioneer pitched. "They cook! They clean! They heat your bathwater! And if they disobey, you can extinguish them!"

  Li Yu was relatively expressionless.

  'It isn't about race,' he realized. 'It’s purely about strength. Demons enslave demons. Beasts enslave beasts. If you lose a war, a fight or just lose in general, you lose your freedom.'

  Then the next lot came out. A hush fell over the crowd.

  "And now," the auctioneer grinned, "a rare treat for our connoisseurs. A cultivation vessel from the Humans!"

  A woman was led onto the stage. She was human and perhaps in her twenties. She wore tattered robes that hinted at a once-noble status. Her cultivation had been crippled and her dantian sealed.

  She didn't look defeated. She looked furious. She spat at the auctioneer, though the glob of saliva fell short.

  "Feisty!" The auctioneer laughed. "Pure Yin constitution! Perfect for dual cultivation or as a blood sacrifice for your artifacts! Starting bid: one thousand cores!"

  The bidding was frantic. Demons and Beastmen shouted numbers, their eyes filled with lust and hunger. Li Yu looked around the amphitheater. There were thousands of slaves. Humans, elementals, demons, plant-like creatures and other monsters.

  'I can't save everyone. And saving one just to make myself feel better... is vanity. I need to grow up…'

  He watched as the woman was sold to a cloaked figure. She was dragged away, kicking and screaming. Li Yu turned away. He felt bad but this was a scene that happened all over this world multiple times a day.

  'This world is a disease,' Li Yu thought. 'But it is one that has been operating as such for who knows how long. I won’t be able to change anything with how I currently am. I can’t just buy everyone I think needs saving either. Where would I even send them to?'

  He walked away from the slave market and needed to wash the taste of despair out of his mouth.

  He found an inn near the city walls called The Wild Cabbage. The sign for some reason depicted a skull being used as a drinking cup. Not matching the name at all.

  Inside, the air was thick with smoke from narcotic herbs. The patrons were mostly mercenaries and travelers. People who lived on the road and died on the road. Li Yu found a table in a dark corner. He ordered a jug of "Black Grain Wine." It tasted like gasoline and burnt sugar.

  He sat there sipping the vile liquid and listened. Information was the most valuable commodity for a traveler and taverns were the exchange floor.

  "Did you hear about Black Pass?" A voice whispered from the next table. A group of Rat-Kin scavengers were huddled over a map.

  "Wiped out," another Rat-Kin replied. "I heard it was Demon Lord Malos. Just... poof. Gone."

  Li Yu took a sip of wine. This wasn’t the first time he had heard the stories of what had happened. It became a common topic that was spoken of everywhere. He didn’t hear much else during his stay.

  He finished his wine. He stood up and paid for his drink. He walked out of the inn and back into the teeming streets of Gorm.

  The sun was setting. His thoughts drifted towards the human nations. He didn't know what he would find there. Maybe it was just another slave pen with a nicer name. Maybe it was a fortress of resistance.

  But it was a direction. And right now, a direction was all he had. He walked toward one of the gates to leave the city.

  As he passed a beggar, an old blind demon with withered wings, Li Yu paused. The beggar was playing a haunting tune on a flute made of bone. The sound cut through the noise of the city. It was sad and longing.

  Li Yu dropped a few low level cores into the beggar’s bowl. Nothing that would harm the demon for having but perhaps it would help him in some way.

  The music stopped. The blind demon tilted his head. "Thank you young man."

  "Take care of yourself old man," Li Yu said softly. He walked out of the gate and was leaving the city of slaves and masters behind him. The wilderness stretched out before him. It promised to be vast and hostile.