Sweeping across the heavens, starting with the first emperor of the ancient times.

Jiang Hao withdrew his hand, no longer looking at the alien demons, but instead looking at the humans who were still alive.

They stood on the street, by the stalls, and in the cages.

Some people were still clutching the broken bowls they had just picked up, some were leaning against the wall, and some were perched on the cage bars.

They just stood there, staring blankly, watching the otherworldly demons rot and scream in agony.

No one ran.

No one called out.

No one speaks.

They showed no reaction, their eyes were vacant, as if nothing had happened.

Those cannibalistic demons are clearly suffering.

The cage was clearly open.

But they just stood there, motionless.

Jiang Hao stood there, looking into those eyes, and felt that saving the world was a long and arduous task.

Killing someone is easy, but bringing them back to life is difficult.

It's even harder to bring back to life those whose hearts have died.

Jiang Hao paused for a moment, then made a move, and a beam of light shone down.

The iron cages opened silently, and the chains broke silently.

Jiang Hao then turned around and walked towards the city center.

No one chased after them.

No one called him.

Behind him was only silence, and the endless, incessant screams of the otherworldly demons.

Ahead was a huge mansion, covering a vast area.

Above the gate of the mansion hangs a plaque with three large characters: City Lord's Mansion.

Jiang Hao looked into the mansion.

There were humans and otherworldly beings inside, coming and going, making it quite lively.

But the humans who came and went were dressed in fine clothes and had an arrogant demeanor, which was completely different from the humans who walked with their heads down in other places.

Of course, they were arrogant towards humans, but they remained obsequious and humble towards the otherworldly demons.

A long line of people stretched out outside the side gate of the city lord's mansion.

They were all humans.

Men, women, young and old—all were there, dressed in tattered clothes, their expressions blank. There were women carrying children, elderly people leaning on canes, and teenagers so thin they were skin and bones.

They were queuing up, waiting for something.

Jiang Hao walked over.

A middle-aged man at the back of the line turned around and glanced at Jiang Hao. His lips moved as if he wanted to say something, but he swallowed his words back.

"What are you doing?" Jiang Hao asked.

The man paused for a moment, then lowered his voice and said, "Are you from out of town? Don't you know the rules of Ain City?"

Jiang Hao shook his head.

The man sighed, lowering his voice even further: "On the first day of each month, the city lord's mansion recruits people. The men do hard labor, and the women become servants. Those who are chosen, if they're lucky, can survive; those who aren't..."

The man didn't continue speaking, but just glanced at the row of iron cages on the street corner.

Jiang Hao understood.

Those chosen to be enslaved at least survived.

Those that weren't suitable were sold directly to the Otherworldly Demons as food or materials.

Jiang Hao looked at the long line ahead and roughly counted at least a hundred people.

"Is it always like this?" Jiang Hao asked.

"It's the same every time." The man smiled bitterly.

"The city lord said that this is to appease the alien demons and give the humans a chance to breathe. A batch of people will be sent every month in exchange for the safety of the rest of Ain City."

The middle-aged man spoke, his tone devoid of anger, only numbness, clearly indicating that he had become accustomed to it.

Jiang Hao looked at the long dragon.

At the very front of the procession, a human steward dressed in fine clothes was selecting people.

Several alien demons stood beside him, drinking tea and watching the show.

"This one is too thin, no good." The manager pointed to a boy.

The boy was pushed aside, his expression one of despair.

"I'm too old for that."

An elderly man was pushed aside.

"This one's pretty, keep her." The manager pointed to a young woman.

The woman was trembling all over and was dragged to the other side by two guards.

The young woman suddenly broke free and ran outside, knocking over several people.

"Grab her!" the manager shouted.

Several guards chased after her and quickly pinned her to the ground.

The woman struggled desperately, crying out, "I won't go! Please, I won't go!"

A demon stood up, walked up to her, and looked down at her.

"A bit intense, not bad." He grinned. "Take him away, I'll personally train him."

The woman's face was deathly pale, her whole body was trembling, and she couldn't even cry anymore.

Several guards, their faces expressionless, escorted the woman toward the city lord's mansion.

The demon, meanwhile, sat back down smugly and continued drinking his tea.

This is a world corrupted by the Great Dao.

Human hearts die faster than the world.

Jiang Hao withdrew his gaze.

He raised his hand.

With a gentle wave.

puff!

The demon sitting in the chair drinking tea, along with several of his kin, instantly turned into specks of light and vanished into the air.

The teacup fell to the ground with a thud.

Everyone was stunned.

The guard holding the woman stopped and stared blankly at the empty chairs.

The woman lying on the ground forgot to cry and stared wide-eyed at the points of light.

Someone in the crowd gasped in surprise.

"The Demon Lord is dead?"

"Who did it?"

The crowd stirred.

The steward in the fine clothes paled, turned abruptly, and looked around: "Who? Who dares to commit violence in Ain City?"

No one answered him.

next second.

The head of the steward in charge of the fine clothes rolled off his neck, and his body slumped to the ground.

Blood was splattered all over the ground.

"Murder! Steward Hua is dead!"

The crowd erupted in screams and scattered in all directions.

The guards abandoned the woman and ran away completely.

Jiang Hao stepped out from the back of the line.

He didn't look at the fleeing people or the manager's corpse. He walked up to the young woman and reached out to help her up.

The woman trembled all over, looking at him, her lips quivering: "You..."

"Don't worry, you're safe now."

The woman stared blankly at Jiang Hao, then suddenly knelt down, kowtowed, got up, and ran away without looking back.

She was smart; she knew that a major battle might be coming, and staying behind could be dangerous.

"good."

Jiang Hao nodded. This woman had a good temperament; she wasn't long-winded or prone to tears.

Jiang Hao turned around and looked at the city lord's mansion.

Inside the mansion, a powerful aura was rapidly approaching.

"Who is it? Who's causing trouble in my city of Ain?"

A furious shout rang out!

The gates of the mansion burst open, and a figure rushed out.

He was a middle-aged man with a handsome face and a powerful aura, surrounded by the oppressive aura of a king.

He was dressed in fine clothes, his sharp gaze sweeping across the street before finally settling on Jiang Hao.

The middle-aged man stared at Jiang Hao. "Who are you?"

Jiang Hao looked at the middle-aged man in front of him; he was indeed a powerful King Realm expert.

He is indeed considered a strongman among the humans in this world.

"Lord Wang Feng of Ain City?" Jiang Hao asked indifferently.

Upon hearing this, the middle-aged man sneered: "Since you know who I am, you still dare to make a move?"

Wang Feng glanced at the empty chairs and the corpse on the ground, his expression shifting between anger and uncertainty.

Those alien demons were his honored guests.

Every month, he had to rely on these people to curry favor with the demon nobles in order to keep his position as city lord.

And these alien demons are now dead.

"Do you even know how big of a mess you've made?" Wang Feng gritted his teeth.

"These are nobles of the Otherworldly race. They died in Ain City, and the Otherworldly army will come to punish them when they find out."

"The entire city of Ain will perish with you. You think you're saving lives, that you're a hero, but actually you're harming people, that you're a sinner!"

Jiang Hao looked at Wang Feng, but instead of refuting him, he asked a question.

"I heard you used to be a human fire-bringer?"

Jiang Hao had heard about the city lord's past. This city lord was once a prodigy of the human race's holy land and had a personality that hated evil as if it were his enemy.

He once swore to wipe out the evil demons and restore peace to the world, but later...