Chapter One: Heaven's First Floor

  All sorts of whispers and rumors quickly gathered into a huge wave, sweeping the entire group of young people. Perhaps the young people who saw something first were still shocked and fearful, but the young people behind them were all stirred up with curiosity, rushing forward one after another.

  Monsters and demons, what's going on?

  Shen Shi and Sun You were mixed in the crowd, half involuntarily and half out of curiosity. As they followed the crowd to the source, when they got closer, Shen Shi found that it seemed to be on the side of the road somewhere, but at this moment, it had already been surrounded by people in three layers inside and outside. At the same time, various exclamations came from the young men and women in the crowd, as if they had seen something extraordinary and incredible, with all sorts of unbelievable expressions.

  This situation made the young men who were blocked outside even more anxious, each trying to squeeze into the crowd, or simply jumping up and down outside to get a clear view. Shen Shi was also curious, but after hesitating for a moment at the edge of the crowd, he couldn't squeeze in either, and could only stand there anxiously.

  At this moment, he happened to catch a glimpse of Sun You's face out of the corner of his eye, but saw that Sun You had a calm expression and didn't show any particularly surprised look. Then he saw many Ling Xuan Sect seniors standing on both sides of the road, each one standing by the roadside with a few relaxed smiles.

  What is it inside...

  In the midst of chaos, a deep male voice suddenly came from afar, with a hint of solemnity, coldly shouting: "Silence!"

  As soon as this shout fell, the voice shook the whole field, and it was unknown what magic power was in it. This group of young people suddenly became honest, Shen Shi heard clearly that it was Wang Heng, a senior brother who looked very high in Ling Xiao Sect, who spoke.

  At a certain corner of the main road ahead, two figures turned around. The first person was Wang Heng, and following closely behind him was a handsome young man who was also Kang Zhen, whom most people had seen when he came to greet everyone yesterday.

  King Wang's face was as calm as water, his eyes gleaming like electricity, sweeping over the crowd of young men. As his gaze passed over them, they all felt a strange sensation, as if they had been scorched by flames. The scene fell silent for a moment.

  After a moment, Wang Yun coldly spoke up: "What a fuss over nothing! Today is your first day entering the sect to cultivate. Hurry off to the Morning Star Hall. As for the matters on this island, you will naturally come to understand them later."

  His voice was cold and stern, his presence intimidating, many young men were cowed by his aura, one by one they dispersed quietly, quickly walking towards a grand hall in the distance, from afar, the sign above it read "Chen Xing Hall" in three characters.

  And it wasn't until the crowd of onlookers dispersed that some young men, including Shen Shi, who were standing at the periphery, gradually realized the root cause of what had just happened. For a moment, gasps and exclamations erupted again, and when the crowd cleared, it was revealed that in the place where people had been surrounding earlier, there stood two strange... "people"?

  The skull and limbs looked no different from those of ordinary people. One appeared to be an old man, the other a young girl, but on the bodies of these two "people", there were two shells similar to clamshells in the sea, with a strange red hard shell tightly attached to their bodies, covering their entire torso within.

  It looks like... a monster that can withdraw its hands and feet into its shell at any time.

  At this moment, the first thought that flashed through Shen Shi's mind was: Could it be... could it be the legendary demon tribe?!

  At this moment, the two people with clamshells on their bodies were still standing quietly by the side of the road. The man who was pulling his head back looked calm and composed, with a faint smile at the corner of his mouth, as if he was taking it easy; while the girl standing next to him, who seemed to be his granddaughter, had her cheeks flushed red, her head hung low, looking very shy, as if she would burst into tears and retreat into the red clamshell at any moment.

  "Hmm!"

  A cold snort, and another transmission came from the front, where Wang Heng's senior brother was. The young man who had been standing still suddenly woke up with a start, and one by one they couldn't help but look away from these two strange people and rushed towards the Morning Star Hall in the distance.

  After these young men had all run away, Wang's face finally eased a bit. He walked over and stood in front of the two shell-like men, slightly cupped his fists, with a hint of apology, saying: "Village head, I'm really sorry about this. These little guys are new disciples who were just brought to the island yesterday, they haven't seen much of the world, and have made fools of themselves in front of you."

  The old man chuckled and waved his hand, indicating it was nothing. He then made a clicking sound with his tongue and said, "Alas, I didn't expect that in the blink of an eye, another five years have passed, and another batch of new people has arrived." After speaking, he shook his head, looking quite sentimental. Then he turned to Wang Hou and asked, "Little Wang, it's been a while since you've seen your master, how is he doing now?"

  "Wang Heng respectfully said: 'The family master's health is still good, but recently he has been busy assisting the true person in charge of the sect to deal with various matters, and it's been hard for him to get away, so he hasn't come to see you yet.'"

  The old man smiled and glanced at Wang Huan, saying with a smile: "You're quite eloquent."

  Wang bowed his head and said: "I dare not."

  The old man laughed and said, "Anyway, when you see your master again, just ask him how he's doing for me." He turned his head to call out to the shell girl, saying, "Good granddaughter, let's go! Today is Grandpa's silly day, I forgot it was the new disciple's first day on the island, haha..."

  Looking at his bright and cheerful smile, it seemed that his mood was not bad. The girl then lifted her head, first looking around nervously, seeing that the group of boys had already run away, she let out a sigh of relief and quickly followed behind the old man's back.

  Shen Shi walked out for a while before gently pulling Sun You and saying, "Judging from your expression, you seem to know those two... strange people from earlier?"

  Sun You smiled slightly and said: "I actually saw these 'Red Clam Demons' for the first time today, but I had heard about them many times before when I was at home."

  Shen Shi was startled and said: "What, is it really a demon clan?"

  Human and demon tribes, deep-seated hatred that cannot be shared under the same sky. In those years, how many bloody battles were fought, this hatred has long been irreconcilable. For many years, almost every child of the human tribe would be told about those past events while growing up, they would know that after the fall of the Heavenly Demon King's Court, the demon tribe could only flee in disarray, retreat into the demon realm and lock themselves in, never to emerge again for eternity.

  But what's going on with the Red Clam Tribe of Qingyun Island today...

  Sun You glanced around, pulled Shen Shi aside and said in a low voice: "It's not what you think." After saying that, he whispered something in his ear, leaving Shen Shi stunned. It turned out that over 10,000 years ago, during the prosperous era of the Tianyao King Court, the true meaning of the demon tribe actually referred to the "Tianyao" tribe. This type of demon tribe looked almost identical to humans from the outside, but generally speaking, they were a head taller than humans. Apart from that, both male and female members of the Tianyao tribe were exceptionally beautiful, said to be the true descendants of the gods, the chosen people. In the myths of the Tianyao tribe, they claimed to be the only bloodline descendants of Pangu, the giant god who opened up the sky and earth in ancient times.

  In short, during the Tianyao Wangting era, it was an era when the Tianyao clan, led by the Youhuang lineage, dominated the Hongmeng multiverse and its hundred clans. Under the Tianyao and above the human race, there were actually many strange and exotic tribes that would later be collectively referred to as the Hongmeng Hundred Clans. These exotic tribes also flourished during the Tianyao Wangting era, with some powerful tribes even dividing the land and ruling over their own domains, reaching the pinnacle of power for a time.

  The demon tribe had been cruel to the human tribe in the past, and these other powerful tribes were not much better. In short, the human tribe was bullied by many powerful races. However, 10,000 years ago, the human tribe suddenly rose up after obtaining the secret of the Spirit Crystal. After a hundred years of bloody war, they overthrew the Heavenly Demon Kingdom. The demon tribe's vitality had been destroyed, and these other powerful tribes also could not escape the fate of being avenged by the human tribe. They were either exterminated by the human Six Saints leading their armies or killed to the point where their vitality was severely injured, and they could only flee to certain corners of another realm to struggle on in a precarious state, no longer having any of their former prestige.

  As time passed, the human race unified the primordial chaos, and there was no longer any opposition. It is unknown when it started, but all the alien tribes except for the Tian Yao tribe were also referred to as the Yao tribe by the human race. The Tian Yao, who were once proud and arrogant, would consider this a great insult, but they are no longer within the consideration of the human race.

  However, among the many ethnic groups of Hongmeng, although there were many cruel and powerful tribes that had a deep hatred for the human tribe in the past, there were also many weak and small ethnic groups. They themselves were weak and often stayed out of the way during the great war between humans and demons. Although after the human tribe dominated Hongmeng and drove out many ethnic groups, ordinary people almost never saw any ethnic group other than humans, but in places like Lingxiao Sect, a overseas immortal mountain, there would occasionally be some weak and small ethnic groups that had been passed down from ancient times, with no great power, and a very gentle attitude towards the human tribe. So under the protection of these powerful human sects, they lived quietly and unknown to outsiders.

  "These red clam demons are like that, I heard their dwelling is on the east coast of Qingyu Village, it's a small village with only two or three hundred people in the whole tribe."

  "So that's how it is." Shen Shi was greatly enlightened, gaining a new understanding of the world. Compared to his humble beginnings in the remote and impoverished region of Yinzhou, his time at Ling Xiao Sect had truly allowed him to see another side of the vast and mysterious world.

  Sun You smiled and said, "Don't underestimate these red clam demons. They've lived on Qingyu Island for a long time and have good relationships with the disciples of our sect who have come out from here. There are many elder masters in our sect who know them, so ordinary people don't dare to bully them easily."

  Shen Shi smiled and said, as they walked to the outside of the Chen Xing Hall. The flying eaves were carved with beasts, the red pillars coiled with dragons, and the hall was majestic and solemn. From the outside, the interior of the hall seemed a bit dark, but it could still be seen that the young men who had arrived earlier were already seated on the mats on the ground in rows. On a platform in front of the hall, Wang Huan was sitting cross-legged, but it was unknown when he had returned to this place.

  The surrounding young men poured in, and Shen Shi and Sun You didn't dare to linger either. They hurriedly walked in and found two adjacent cushions inside, sat down like the other young men, and quietly waited.

  After a while, all the young men finally arrived here. Until this moment, Wang Heng, who had been closing his eyes as if meditating, opened them and swept his gaze over the lower part of the grand hall, which was now quiet.

  "Take out the Star Luo Secret Method."

  Wang Heng's calm and thick voice echoed in the Chenxing Hall, at the same time, the two large and heavy doors behind the young men suddenly closed automatically with a loud bang.

  In the Morning Star Hall, it suddenly darkened, and just as these young men were somewhat surprised, a faint, soft light, like the starlight of a clear night, shone down from the top of the Morning Star Hall, sprinkling over all the young men.

  A faint star appeared above the Chenxing Temple, then a second starlight lit up, followed by the third, fourth, fifth...

  At that moment, it was as if all the stars in the sky had miraculously appeared in this mortal hall. A magical and intangible force, accompanied by the brilliant starlight descending from the heavens, enveloped all the young people in its midst, like a dream, an illusion, or a paradise.