Having the genes of a demon king, I never intended to be a kept man.

The territory they inhabit possesses extremely rich magical energy stone mineral resources.

Magic Stones are the primary energy source in this extraordinary world. They possess excellent conductivity and stability, and can perfectly stabilize many extraordinary energies such as magic power, soul power, spiritual power, and primal force.

For example, Gao Shenxue invented a spirit-powered pistol, in which the energy bullets are conducted and stabilized through magic energy stones. Without magic energy stones, the spirit-powered pistol would explode directly after the trigger is pulled, and would not be able to condense into energy bullets to fire.

Magic stones are needed not only by humans, but also by all other races on the continent.

Therefore, in this extraordinary world, the status of magic stones is higher than that of oil, electricity, nuclear energy and so on on Earth combined!

The reason Tang Shan was able to enjoy life so peacefully before was because the territory's income could be perfectly met by the output of the magic energy stone mine alone.

It's practically a guaranteed job... no, a golden job!

Tang Shan frowned: "Why did those mining merchants go bankrupt? Have we run out of magic stones in our territory?"

The old minister looked bitter: "The magic stones haven't been mined out yet. Our territory may not have enough magic stones for hundreds of years, but... Your Majesty, times have changed!"

"A special and inexpensive synthetic liquid energy has suddenly appeared on the continent. This liquid energy can almost perfectly replace the function of magic energy stones. Now this cheap liquid energy is gradually becoming popular on the continent, and even many races are using it. Our business is getting more and more difficult..."

Magic stones are rare and expensive, while liquid energy is cheap, readily available, and has similar effects, so who would buy expensive magic stones?

So in recent years, magic stones have basically become decorative items... and their price has dropped to less than 10% of what it used to be!

Many merchants among the myriad races who hoarded magic energy stones lost everything.

"What?!" Tang Shan exclaimed in shock, "How could such a thing be?! Which race invented this?"

"It is said that it was invented by a small human nation," the old minister said.

Tang Shan paced anxiously in place.

"how so......"

This is indeed a very tricky problem.

But despite the difficulty, he couldn't think of any solution.

In the twelfth year, the kingdom gradually declined, and various territorial problems became increasingly apparent.

Tang Shan tried other businesses, but failed repeatedly. Not only did he fail to reverse the decline in territory, he also suffered even greater losses.

The number of superhumans in the territory has dwindled from 500,000 at the beginning to just over 100,000 now.

In the thirteenth year, Tang Shan suffered from insomnia every night and was extremely anxious.

His new business venture failed again. He felt as if the entire business market was being controlled by an invisible hand. Every time he chose to invest in a particular industry, that industry would suddenly decline. Once or twice could be a coincidence, but it always happened...

Tang Shan sent people out to investigate, but to no avail.

In the fifteenth year, various upheavals occurred in the territory. Due to the great famine, more and more crimes emerged, and for the first time, there were even extraordinary individuals who jumped out to rebel against the imperial court. However, all of these people were suppressed by the imperial court.

But this can't go on forever.

Tang Shan racked his brains but couldn't find a solution, so he made a decision—he decided to take advantage of the tens of thousands of extraordinary warriors he still had and quickly set out to plunder.

There are many small tribes of dark races on the continent. Each tribe consists of only a few thousand people, and the strongest among them is only at the Heavenly Realm. With the current strength of his territory, dealing with these small tribes is more than enough.

By plundering these small tribes, Tang Shan's territory experienced a temporary recovery.

In the sixteenth year, Tang Shan's territory was plunged into war.

An army of 100,000 men besieged the city. The survivors of the dark tribes he had previously plundered, the ones who had barely made it, rallied together and launched a campaign of revenge against him!

Furthermore, this army is quite unique, not only consisting of dark races, but also including humans, spirits, dark races, fire races, beastmen, elves... it's a whole mixed army!

Tang Shan panicked completely. He had no idea why things had turned out this way. Those dark tribes from small tribes should have been a rabble, so who had gathered them together?!

In less than a week, Tang Shan was utterly defeated. Of his 60,000 extraordinary warriors, over 40,000 deserted. Tang Shan nearly collapsed in that short week. Death reports arrived daily, along with the sighs of his old ministers and the cries of his concubines. He watched helplessly as his territory was eroded, and seventeen of his nineteen children perished in those seven days…

A week later, the army had already reached the palace.

Tang Shan abandoned his concubine and child, and fled overnight under the cover of his trusted subordinates.

He wondered if Ye Ge's situation sixteen years ago was also tragic.

Tang Shan fled for three days, during which he was tormented by nightmares. The death of his child, Fei Zi, kept replaying in his mind. In just three days, his cheeks became sunken and his hair turned half white. He was also mentally unstable, constantly worried that there might be enemies around him who would suddenly attack.

At that moment, a sentence suddenly popped into his mind.

"I told you, you little guys have no idea about war."

Tang Shan's face was pale, and his body trembled violently. He couldn't remember who had said those words, but he seemed to finally understand their true meaning.

This is war.

What he used to think of as war was actually nothing more than one-sided bullying.

"Someone come...someone come..."

Tang Shan sat before a bonfire, shivering. He felt inexplicably cold, as if he were in the coldest, most chilling cave in the world: "Bring me some clothes..."

However, no one responded.

The camp was eerily quiet.

A moment later, the sound of scattered footsteps could be heard.

Tang Shan stiffly raised his head, and blankly discovered that he was surrounded by a lot of people.

There were dark races whose homes he had once invaded, as well as orcs whose skin color was obviously abnormal due to the corruption of demonic energy, and many other races.

And, many human warriors.

Tang Shan exclaimed in terror, "Who...who are you?! Guards! Where are my guards?!"

These people slowly made way for them, their expressions respectful and solemn.

Ye Ge slowly walked out from inside and stood in front of him, staring at him indifferently.

......

Do you think I'll write a few filler chapters?