In Yunmeng Marsh, inside the god shrine of Huaze Village.
Cui Hao sat leisurely, one hand propping up his face while the other casually brewed tea. Compared to Cui Hao's relaxed demeanor, the middle-aged man sitting across from him—the wild boar demon in human form—had a deeply troubled expression.
"Here, have a cup first and speak slowly." Cui Hao pushed the brewed tea toward the boar demon.
The boar demon reached out and took the teacup, gave a bitter smile, and said:
"Envoy… I've done everything you asked to the best of my ability."
Cui Hao nodded in satisfaction. "I've seen it, I've seen it. You've done very well. Isn't Huaze Village now absorbing quite a few people?"
The boar demon nodded, but his tone held no joy. Instead, it was somewhat sorrowful:
"I can certainly see the benefits. But has there been any progress on what you promised, Envoy?"
Cui Hao lifted his teacup, took a light sip, and then said with a contented expression:
"There has. I received a reply long ago. They said they would solve our problem."
The boar demon was stunned at these words.
Received long ago?
Then why was there no effect at all?
"Envoy, your strategy is excellent, and your propaganda policies are unmatched." The boar demon offered a couple of compliments, then spoke urgently. "But right now, two great demons at late Golden Core stage and one giant demon at Nascent Soul stage have issued an ultimatum to me."
"If I don't send their believers back within two days, admit my mistakes, and cancel all measures, they're going to skin me alive."
"Your divine might is certainly real, but you can't stay here forever, can you?"
"Should I back down first, give in to their demands, and wait until you're fully prepared before continuing with your methods?"
The boar demon's tone was earnest, his gaze practically pleading as he looked at Cui Hao.
He had no choice but to beg.
Yunmeng Marsh had developed for a thousand years. The demons inside were all connected in layers of relationships.
This boar demon could believe that Cui Hao had solved three problems with a peerless divine weapon. But after solving three problems, inevitably more would come.
Unless Cui Hao planned to sweep through Yunmeng Marsh by force, the final outcome would inevitably fall on this boar demon, who couldn't leave Yunmeng Marsh.
The key point was that Cui Hao had said from the beginning that he didn't plan to sweep through Yunmeng Marsh by force.
But he was just a Golden Core boar demon. How could he possibly handle the consequences?
Besides, what he was currently doing was undermining the demons' foundations and breaking the unspoken rules.
If Cui Hao couldn't fulfill his earlier promises and suppress the other great demons' actions, then he would inevitably be pushed out.
As for the methods Cui Hao spoke of—the reply had arrived so many days ago, yet there was still no effect.
The day after tomorrow was truly his final deadline.
Cui Hao could afford to be leisurely. After all, he could leave at any time. But the boar demon couldn't.
Although the wish-power after the changes was indeed purer than before and gave him greater improvement—making his efforts at playing the humble servant worthwhile—he still needed to be alive to use it.
Hearing this, Cui Hao glanced at him:
"Once you break trust with someone, the cost of making them believe you again is beyond your imagination. If you send people back today, who will dare to trust you in the future?"
"You have no patience at all. They're not attacking your door today, are they? You still have two days, don't you?"
The boar demon was stunned at these words. He opened his mouth to speak but didn't know what to say.
Two more days?
Said so easily.
Besides handling affairs, he had also been gathering information about what was happening in Yunmeng Marsh, who had arrived, and whether there were any major changes from above.
The results were consistently the same—nothing had happened.
If there really were major moves that could suppress these great demons, how could there be no news at all?
So the most likely scenario by now was—he was being set up.
Cui Hao sighed lightly, picked up the teapot, and refilled the boar demon's tea:
"My connections are higher than the heavens and harder than the earth. You, a frog in a well, have simply never seen the wider world. You don't know our processes and capabilities. I'm clear about the situation here too. Rest assured, two days is enough. Just wait."
The boar demon nodded somewhat stiffly.
For some reason, Cui Hao's "just wait" unconsciously segmented and added words in his ears, becoming—Wait! And you're done for.
The boar demon picked up the teacup on the table, forced a respectful expression onto his face, and downed it in one gulp. Then he sat silently in place.
Seeing this, Cui Hao lazily shook his head, as if everything was under his control.
The boar demon sat for a while, growing more and more apprehensive. This visit hadn't yielded any guarantees at all, so he asked quietly:
"Envoy…"
"Zhu Tu! The Yunze God has issued a decree!"
A somewhat rough voice rang out from outside the shrine.
Cui Hao raised an eyebrow slightly and looked at the boar demon.
Zhu Tu was also stunned, then immediately stood up:
"Envoy, this is an envoy of the Yunze God. It called my name."
Cui Hao rose leisurely and walked toward the back of the shrine:
"Understood. Handle it first."
"Thank you for your understanding, Envoy."
Zhu Tu quickly cupped his fists in greeting. Only after watching Cui Hao walk to the back did he hurry outside and invite in the envoy, who had a rat-like face and a thin, emaciated figure that didn't look quite human.
The Yunze God's envoy scanned the surroundings, then fixed his gaze on Zhu Tu. Without wasting words, he stated directly:
"Divine decree: From this moment today, all territorial demons in Yunmeng Marsh are prohibited from any fighting, harming, or insulting behavior toward humans. At the same time, no restrictions of any kind may be placed on humans."
"This is a hard requirement. Regardless of right or wrong, regardless of circumstances, anyone who does so is violating the divine decree."
"Violators will be dealt with personally by the Yunze God."
Zhu Tu was stunned at these words. A wave of relief washed over him, followed by uncontrollable joy. Cui Hao's words had been true after all—he hadn't been fooled to death.
He barely resisted the urge to look behind him. Instead, he took out a high-grade sealed stone storing wish-power from his robes, grabbed the divine envoy's hand, placed it in his palm, and asked quietly:
"Envoy, what's the situation?"
The Yunze God's envoy felt the abundant, high-grade wish-power in the stone, nodded in satisfaction, and looked at Zhu Tu, who clearly knew the rules. His voice also softened:
"I'm only telling you this—don't spread it around. This time, the higher-ups are serious."
"Some formidable figure has come to Yunmeng Marsh, saying they're here to inspect."
Zhu Tu's mind raced. A formidable figure here to inspect—it had to be someone from Yunmeng Pavilion. He smoothly took out another sealed stone and handed it over, then asked:
"Please tell me more clearly, Envoy."
The Yunze God's envoy accepted it smoothly, sighed lightly, and then said:
"This is just between us. The person who came is Yunmeng Pavilion's current core disciple, Zheng Zhaoling. When she arrived, I saw her from afar at the gate. Truly magnificent beyond compare."
"No one knows what she's planning to do this time. The Yunze God is also annoyed. Right now, whatever happens, we all have to endure it. Don't lose your life over a moment of temper."
After finishing, the Yunze God's envoy saw Zhu Tu's shocked, disbelieving expression and nodded with satisfaction before turning to leave.
Of course, he had no qualification to meet Zheng Zhaoling. He didn't even have the qualification to see her from afar.
He was simply packaging the information he knew to make himself seem higher-status, so these demon kings would offer more tribute.
Zhu Tu watched the Yunze God's envoy leave, stood stunned for a moment, then immediately turned around.
He saw Cui Hao leaning against the wall, his smile still the same as before.
But now, looking at it again—
Cui Hao's smile was not unpleasant. Instead, it was… unfathomably deep.
What kind of grand gesture, what kind of power… could pressure Zheng Zhaoling to come, and handle what needed to be done without her knowing?
Thinking this far, Zhu Tu quickly put on a humble and ingratiating smile.
He understood that although the sky over Yunmeng Marsh was bright right now—
In reality, it had ultimately been covered by a giant hand.
Covered so tightly that not a ray of light could get through.
The sky!
Had gone dark!
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