The demonic bird, though uninjured, was enraged. Its right wing swept back with a loud boom, striking heavily against Brian Sutton's chest. The sound of bones fracturing echoed continuously from his chest, and then Brian Sutton was blasted backward like a broken sack, the immense force from the wing slamming him deep into the mountainside of another towering peak.

The demonic bird seemed unwilling to let him go. With a shrill screech, it twisted in the air, transforming into a streak of light that shot straight toward Brian Sutton.

"It's over. I never expected such an ordinary demonic bird to possess such divine power—I'm not even a hundredth of its strength," Brian Sutton thought, his whole body wracked with searing pain. Just as he resigned himself to death, a furious shout suddenly rang out from the sky above:

"Beast, retreat at once!"

The voice came from all directions, impossible to tell where it originated. The demonic bird, unwilling to give up its prey, its eyes blazing with ferocity, charged straight at Brian Sutton.

"Foolish creature," the person seemed truly angered. A vast, blade-like gale swept down from midair, slicing through the copper-skinned, iron-boned demonic bird as easily as cutting tofu, splitting it in two at the beak. Amid a rain of black blood, the bird's corpse fell in two halves to the ground.

"Meeting you today is fate. Very well, since we are of the same race, I will spare your life," the voice said. In the next instant, an overwhelming force pulled Brian Sutton out from the rock of the giant peak, arcing him through the air to land atop the cliff.

There, in a small space, a middle-aged man dressed in a pitch-black, lustrous robe sat cross-legged above. In front of him burned a campfire, over which a large chunk of meat was roasting. Beside him lay the massive remains of a demonic beast.

The middle-aged man's face was weathered, his beard streaked with white amidst the black, but his eyes shone like jewels in the night. At his waist hung an ancient-looking long blade, a thick murderous aura faintly emanating from its scabbard. In one hand, he held the stick skewering the roasting meat; with the other, he reached out, hovering his palm above Brian Sutton's head, releasing a surge of misty energy. The white vapor, seemingly alive, poured into Brian Sutton's head. In moments, the crisp sound of bones knitting together came from within Brian Sutton, and a surge of robust power coursed through his body, sending his blood racing.

Brian Sutton knelt to the ground and sincerely said, "Thank you, senior, for saving my life." He felt not only fully healed, but as if his cultivation had advanced another level. The middle-aged man accepted the bow without concern and casually handed the skewer of roasted demonic beast meat to Brian Sutton.

Seeing Brian Sutton hesitate, the man sneered, "You're newly ascended, aren't you? Demons eat humans, humans eat demons—sooner or later, you'll understand this truth. In this vast land, aside from plants, every creature that walks is stronger than humans. If you can't accept that, you might as well eat wild fruit from the trees like the lowliest demonic beasts."

The man's outstretched hand did not withdraw after speaking, but simply stared at him coldly. After a moment's silence, Brian Sutton finally lowered his head and accepted the skewer of roasted demonic beast meat. Only then did the middle-aged man smile, calmly slicing another piece of bloody meat from the beast's carcass to roast over the fire.

"Your cultivation is far too weak. You couldn't even handle an ordinary winged bird. If you want to survive, I'll show you the right path."

"Thank you, senior, for your guidance."

"Senior? Hmph, I ascended eight hundred thousand years ago, so calling me senior isn't wrong. Listen well, boy—what I'm about to say concerns your very life."

"In this primordial era, the world is vast beyond measure—its length and width each spanning millions of miles, with countless mountains, rivers, and demonic beasts. In this world, demons are many and humans are few. Rather than say this world belongs to humans, it's more accurate to say it belongs to demons. For hundreds of billions of years, if not for some earth-shattering figures emerging among humans, all of humanity would have long since become demon fodder. These mighty ones, who have slain gods and demons alike, spent untold ages carving out a vast territory in this primordial world for humans to live in. Within this territory, all the powerful demons were slaughtered, leaving only the weak demonic birds and beasts—like the one you just encountered."