Top-Tier Perception Starts From Basic Fist Techniques

"Oh? You are truly worthy of the name Taozun. To completely destroy you, I might actually have to go through some trouble."

Lu Changsheng's flesh had settled over Taozun and begun devouring him in every way it knew, holding him down completely.

However, holding him down was all it was. Killing him off entirely might take a very long time, and Lu Changsheng did not want to lose that much time. The noise he had made at the Flower Spirit Hall was very loud. If things dragged on, who knows what could happen?

His objective had been the demon plants and not the killing of demons. Once he had enough of them, he withdrew his flesh back into himself and stopped devouring Taozun.

"Let's go!"

With that, Lu Changsheng took Liu Feng with him and moved away from the place quickly. In a short while, the two of them were out of sight.

Once he was gone, Taozun's flesh slowly drew back together and took shape. The dread of what had nearly happened filled him. He had genuinely been afraid a moment ago, which made sense since he had actually come close to dying. There was no mistaking that sense of being held down entirely. A little more time and he would have died without question.

"Who in the world is that man? He actually holds strength equivalent to an ancient demon and can actually kill me? There is no blood descendant anywhere this terrifying. That is, unless he is the source they all come from, that mysterious Flesh and Blood Progenitor."

Taozun was not stupid. He reasoned out the situation soon enough and arrived at roughly the right answer about who the man was. It was the Flesh and Blood Progenitor! Only the Flesh and Blood Progenitor could hold such strength.

Until then, Taozun had not thought the Flesh and Blood Progenitor worth minding and had taken him for nothing much. However, he no longer thought so. Even he had come close to dying in the man's hands. The tide had turned the Flesh and Blood Progenitor's way, and he was certain to become a sickness at the demon race's heart.

Taozun's face was grave beyond description. "The Flesh and Blood Progenitor has come. I have to tell the other ancient demons, and the Demon Progenitor above all. Alas, the Demon Progenitor has not fully woken yet. Who here is a match for him? There is nothing to do but wait."

He understood exactly how matters stood, and waiting was all he could do. Suppose he wanted revenge and dragged the Flesh and Blood Progenitor out into the open. Who was going to cut the man down? Even if he joined hands with several other ancient demons and went at him together, could they genuinely kill him? It was very likely not.

However, if the Flesh and Blood Progenitor was left unchecked, who knows what immense destruction he’d wreak? Taozun hesitated no further and passed word to the other ancient demons at once. The Flesh and Blood Progenitor was in the demon nation!

Whoosh!

Well clear of Taozun and of the Flower Spirit Hall, Lu Changsheng set Liu Feng down. "Liu Feng, do you know anywhere reasonably safe and well hidden?"

"I do, Progenitor. I know of a safe, hidden place that the true demons are unlikely to find."

Liu Feng brought Lu Changsheng to a forested range of hills. A good many blood descendants were hidden in caves there, and the caves were all interconnected, so the people inside rarely had to come out. That made them very hard for true demons to find. Lu Changsheng was well satisfied with it.

"I am going into seclusion for some time. Nobody is to disturb me."

"Yes, Progenitor." Liu Feng did exactly as he was told.

He understood that if the blood descendants, or humanity itself, were ever to stand against a Demon Progenitor, the whole of that hope rested on the Flesh and Blood Progenitor. The man could already face ancient demons. Facing them was also putting it too mildly. He could grind them under! Even Taozun had not been his match.

If he climbed just one more step up, would he not be able to face a Demon Progenitor? Only by being able to face one could humanity and the blood descendants ever genuinely stand against the demon race.

Lu Changsheng went into a sealed chamber and looked over what he had taken. The haul was a full one, and it amounted to a great deal. Demon plants were piled on the ground in vast quantities, enough to carry a year of his training. Yes, it was enough for a year, not a month, and more than a year in fact!

Naturally, that was for the rate he currently trained at. How long they would last him after a breakthrough was hard to say, and whether he could progress at all after one was harder still. With a full year's worth of demon plants in hand, the last five percent of his progress was certain to come, regardless of what was going to happen.

"Let us begin."

Lu Changsheng was fully prepared, and he wasted no more time. He set about refining the plants at once and started training the Flesh and Blood Martial Dao.

***

Taozun came hurrying to a palace. It was one of the most important places the demon race had, the Demon Progenitor Hall. There was more than one Demon Progenitor and only ever one Demon Progenitor Hall, which said enough about what the hall meant.

He had barely arrived before another ancient demon spoke up. "Taozun, they tell me a blood descendant beat you."

"He wasn't a blood descendant," Taozun said coldly. "It was the Flesh and Blood Progenitor. He is the source of every blood descendant, and his strength is unreasonable. I was genuinely not his match. Had he not been in a hurry to leave, I would most likely be dead."

"What?" The other demon looked taken aback. He had not expected Taozun to admit defeat unprompted, or to say he had come near dying.

What sort of being was Taozun? No ancient demon there needed telling. He was in no way weak, and stood strong even measured among ancient demons. A man who could kill Taozun could certainly kill any other ancient demon.

The fact that blood descendants could kill demons no longer surprised any of them. If ordinary blood descendants could do it, then the Flesh and Blood Progenitor killing ancient demons seemed natural enough.

"So what do you intend to do, Taozun?" the demon asked.

"I intend to see the Demon Progenitor and put this before him. The news matters."

The demon's brows drew together. "Lord Demon Progenitor has not woken, and he warned us plainly not to trouble him unless something of particular importance came up."

Taozun laughed coldly. "Is this not important enough for you? The Flesh and Blood Progenitor can already cut down ancient demons. If he advances one step further, the consequences will be unthinkable. This dictates whether our race lives or dies. If this does not count as important, tell me what does."

The other demon fell silent. After a long moment, he spoke slowly. "Very well, come in."

An underground passage opened in the hall, and Taozun followed it down to a sealed chamber below.

Calling it a sealed chamber underground was an understatement. It was more like a magnificent and extremely spacious underground palace. Taozun went straight to one chamber door and knelt respectfully. "I greet you, Lord Progenitor."

"What is it?" A hoarse voice came out of the chamber.

Taozun made his report with the utmost respect. "Lord Progenitor, I encountered the Flesh and Blood Progenitor. His strength is extreme. He came close to cutting me down, and he is a sickness at our heart. Please make a decision on what to do, my lord."

He was confident that the Demon Progenitor would understand exactly what weight this man carried.

After a long while, the Demon Progenitor spoke unhurriedly. "Doesn't matter. Give it another month or a little more, and I will be fully awakened. Wiping out this Flesh and Blood Progenitor will cost me nothing when the time comes. This world belongs to our race to rule and always will. No one takes what's ours!"

That settled Taozun's heart completely. With those words said, the Flesh and Blood Progenitor was as good as dead. Whatever the man's abilities or methods, none of them meant anything in front of a Demon Progenitor.

With that, Taozun withdrew respectfully.

A long sigh was left behind in the chamber.

"Several thousand years and there is still no escaping the binding of this world. This world made us what we are and bound us in the same motion. Now, it's become a cage. However, the time is drawing near. This world is on the verge of making contact with another. When that moment arrives, it might well be the time to break free from this cage..."

The Demon Progenitor's voice echoed round the chamber, but not one demon was there to hear any of it. Quiet returned to the place soon enough, as though nothing had happened at all.

Time went on, and a month went by in no time. Lu Changsheng stayed in his sealed chamber throughout, refining demon plants and training his Flesh and Blood Martial Dao. Progress at Fifth Growth was genuinely hard to obtain, and without demon plants, the pace of his growth turned as slow as a snail's.