Chapter Eleven: The Trembling Trio of Sun, Moon, and Stars

Maple Yun spoke calmly, “Xiu’er, Little Lei, Little Wa, you should know the origins of our clan.”
Once again, the name Xiu’er...
Maple Xiu showed no expression, no reaction at all; she was already used to the ancestor addressing her this way.
But Agales and Washak were not accustomed to it.
Agales disliked being called Little Lei.
Similarly, Washak disliked the nickname Little Wa.
However, considering Maple Yun’s god-level terrifying power, the three decided not to fuss over such trivial matters and chose to endure it!
They could swear to the heavens that they were absolutely not afraid of Maple Yun!
Maple Xiu continued coolly, “That’s right. Other Demon Gods may have forgotten, but the three pillars of Sun, Moon, and Star Demon Gods remember it clearly.”
There are seventy-two Demon Gods in total, each corresponding to a Demon God Pillar.
Originally, the seventy-two Demon God Pillars did not belong to this world; to be precise, they came from another dimension called the Genesis Continent.
Many years ago, Austin Griffin was born in that dimension. Whatever tragic experiences he endured transformed him into the God of Retribution, intent on destroying that realm.
To resist Austin Griffin, all the races of that continent pooled their resources to construct seventy-two Demon God Pillars.
These seventy-two pillars formed a formation known as the “Ten Realms and Nine Heavens God-Extinguishing Array,” which trapped Austin Griffin.
But how could seventy-two pillars possibly imprison a mighty God of Retribution?
When Austin Griffin broke through the formation, the seventy-two Demon God Pillars traversed space and descended upon the Holy Demon Continent.
These pillars are divine artifacts—supernatural powers from another world, whose energy fundamentally differs from that of the Holy Demon Continent.
Their immense power assimilated the native creatures of the continent and gave rise to the Demon Clan.
However, the Demon Gods are somewhat different.
The first generation of Demon Gods were beings nurtured by the Demon God Pillars, and after over six thousand years of development, they have reached their current scale.
Therefore, the spiritual power possessed by the Demon Clan differs entirely from that of humans. This explains why Maple Xiu has to seal her internal spiritual power to avoid revealing her identity to Bai Lingxuan.
Maple Yun continued, “Our clan is a foreign entity, rejected by the Holy Demon Continent. But now, I have developed crops that our Demon Clan can cultivate ourselves. I will first distribute some to your two clans. You must care for them diligently.”
With a wave of her hand, Maple Yun tossed spatial rings to the Moon Demon God and the Star Demon God, each containing seeds.
Back when Maple Yun was at Zhen Nan Pass, she had acquired a batch of native seeds from the Holy Demon Continent.
Over these past days, she used the power of the laws to improve these seeds, and now they have finally been refined.
These seeds require trial planting, so she decided to let the clans of Sun, Moon, and Star handle the farming.

These seeds can be accelerated with wood-element magic. Since the Sun, Moon, and Star clans are all adept at magic, it was most fitting to entrust them with this task.
“Moreover,” Maple Yun said calmly, “issue an order: for the next ten years, our clan shall not attack Zhen Nan Pass.”
“Yes!”
Although the Moon and Star Demon Gods did not fully understand why the ancestor gave this command, they obeyed without question.
Of course, they dared not defy a god-level being’s order.
With these matters addressed, Maple Yun said lightly, “Now, it’s time to discuss the three of you.”
What about them?
Maple Xiu, Agales, and Washak were slightly confused.
Hadn’t the ancestor just been praising them?
Their hearts tightened, and almost simultaneously, they averted their gazes to avoid meeting Maple Yun’s eyes.
Not me, not me!
The scene somewhat resembled a classroom in ancient China, with the homeroom teacher calling on students one by one. Maple Yun was the teacher, and the three juniors were the students.
Maple Yun was a little bewildered herself.
She thought she appeared gentle.
What were these three so afraid of?
She smiled faintly and was the first to call Washak’s name: “Little Wa.”
“Yes, ancestor,” Washak immediately stood and responded.
Though he was the formidable Star Demon God, for some reason he felt a bit intimidated before such an elder.
To him, Maple Yun’s smile was a deadly one.
Maple Yun sighed, “I told you to call me sister.”
“Also, am I really that fierce?”
“No, sister, you’re very gentle.”
Washak, being emotionally intelligent, quickly gave the answer Maple Yun preferred.
Maple Yun: …
“I’m not here to scold you. Why is everyone so scared?” she asked helplessly.

Maple Yun shook her head and began the serious talk: “Little Wa, your internal spiritual power is only just over 600,000. That’s too weak. I’m setting you a small goal: within twenty years, raise it to 800,000. Can you do that?”
“Well…” Washak felt troubled.
Six hundred thousand spiritual power corresponds roughly to Level 9, Stage 6; eight hundred thousand corresponds to Level 9, Stage 8.
Once you reach Level 9, each advancement is exponentially harder.
He was already the best Star Demon God in history, yet even he found it impossible to advance two stages in just twenty years!
Maple Yun continued, “Little Lei, your internal spiritual power is only in the 700,000 range. Can you raise it to 900,000 within twenty years? Do you have confidence?”
“Um…” Agales was also troubled.
The ancestor’s demands were truly harsh!
Finally, when Maple Yun’s gaze turned to Maple Xiu, it immediately became stern.
“And you, Xiu’er, as the Demon God Emperor, you haven’t been training diligently lately. Instead of focusing on your duties, you went off and started a romance.”
“Within twenty years, if your internal spiritual power does not reach one million, you should abdicate to the next generation.”
Maple Xiu felt utterly despairing.
Why was the ancestor so affectionate when speaking to the Moon and Star Demon Gods but so severe with him?
“Well…” Maple Xiu was at a loss.
In truth, the Sun, Moon, and Star Demon Gods had been invincible for a very long time, with no rivals left.
Combined with their long lifespans, they had indeed become somewhat lax in their cultivation.
Maple Yun’s intention was to spur them to work harder and not slack off.
At the same time, it was also a show of authority.
Sighing softly, Maple Yun’s tone softened: “Why are you all stammering? Cultivation isn’t that difficult.”
“When I first came to the Holy Demon Continent, I didn’t have your resources or conditions. I had to figure out the cultivation methods myself and gather all resources on my own.”
“You already have such favorable conditions—can’t you even accomplish this small goal?”
Though the path of cultivation was arduous, Maple Yun had reached one million internal spiritual power by the age of three hundred through her own efforts.
Maple Xiu was already six hundred years old and still only had just over 900,000 internal spiritual power, which truly disappointed the ancestor!
If the three brothers dared to retort now, they could only mutter, “Ancestor, you are a genius among geniuses, but we are merely small talents!”