Prime Originator

In the two hours Leon spent cultivating, he did not completely shut off his perception.

In fact, he was fully aware of everything around him due to his heightened perception of gathering the Darkness Energy.

Nevertheless, Saresha did not make a single move nor reveal hostile intention against him during his 'defenseless' state.

Saresha simply stood on the side to guard and look out for dangers.

Thus, even if Leon had yet to trust the dark fae fully, he silently gave her some recognition.

"Follow me."

"Yes, my lord."

Swoosh—!

Saresha leaped down from the treetop, following after Leon as they went to confront the demon group at the forest edge. 

"It's a human! Kill him!"

"No, wait—!"

The majority of the alarmed Lesser Demons immediately jumped into action while the five dark faes noticed Saresha following behind Leon and sensed something off. 

However, their words failed to reach the other Lesser Demons.

Puchi!

Leon casually shot out a thread of concentrated darkness like a whip and decapitated all 19 hostile Lesser Demons in a single instance. 

The five remaining dark faes froze on the spot. 

When Leon manifested his power of darkness, they immediately felt suppressed, especially for the 19 fallen Lesser Demons who were closer. 

'A noble demon!' 

The dark faes thought. 

Shortly after, the five dark faes dropped to the knees and prostrated themselves to Leon in fear.

"Your Excellency, please spare us! We did not know you were a noble demon!" they pleaded. 

The dark faes were unaware that a noble demon of human origins was among the demon forces that entered the secret realm. 

In fact, none of the demons knew because Leon wasn't one of them. 

"I give you two choices; submit or die."

Leon stated. 

The five dark faes trembled before they quickly made their choices and simultaneously planted their foreheads on the ground in submission.

"We submit to you, Your Excellency."

"Good. Swear on it."

After Leon made the demand, the dark faes compliantly swore their allegiance to him and joined the ranks with Saresha.

…

Saresha already knew that her clansman would choose to submit in the face of death, but she still felt relieved to witness their submission.

Shortly after, Leon collected the fallen demons' blood, weapons, and armor before allowing the dark faes to salvage the rest.

"You may make use of their body to improve your cultivations; this includes their demon cores," Leon permitted. 

He was not interested in the demon cores of Lesser Demons. 

"Thank you, my Lord!" 

Saresha and the five other female dark faes expressed their gratitude before making quick work on the demon corpses.

Once it was done, Leon led the six dark faes to another location with denser Darkness Energy before resuming his cultivation. 

Not long after, his monstrous absorption left the dark faes in shock.

"You're called Saresha in the clan, right?" one of the dark faes whispered to Saresha before inquiring, "What's going on here? Who is our lord?"

"You ask me, but I don't really know either… But this might be our lucky chance to change our clan's fate," Saresha could only say. 

Leon's origin was an enigma to her as much as it was to them. 

"T-this… you might be right…"

…

Over half a day, Leon continued to cultivate in dense-energy spots and slew over four hundred demons that got attracted over. 

At the same time, the number of dark faes under his rule increased to 50. 

However, Leon eventually furrowed his brows with dissatisfaction and muttered, "I can't go on like this. I need to cause bigger waves."

Over four hundred demons have been slain, but the number of Greater Demons he attracted from the Bone Sea did not even exceed the number of his fingers. 

He needed a better luring method.

At the same time, the luring method couldn't be too good that it attracts far more demons than he could handle. 

'The Devil Emperor's Tome of Eternal Darkness can suppress Lesser Demons, but it doesn't have much effect on Greater Demons. If I want to suppress Greater Demons with the power of darkness, then I need a higher cultivation base…'

Leon mused. 

However, he estimated that he wouldn't be able to reach the Truth Manifestation Realm within a short time. 

'I'm getting close to Mid-stage Heaven Ascension Realm, but it'll take even longer in the following stages.'

After a moment, Leon turned his attention to Saresha. 

"Is there something you need, my lord?" Saresha carefully queried after stepping forward in response to Leon's summoning glance.

"How many members does your Dark Fae Clan have?"

"Our Dark Fae Clan has 20-thousand members, but only 300 reached the satisfactory level of strength to participate in the secret realm. And given the secret realm's dangers, the number should be less than now." 

Saresha reported. 

Of course, she did not directly mention the dark faes killed during her first encounter with her lord, lest she put him in an awkward position, not to mention it was an uncomfortable topic to bring up.

"I see… The Dark Fae Clan only had 300 Lesser Demons, huh?" Leon muttered before rubbing his chin with a thoughtful look. 

The Dark Fae Clan was one of the weakest demon clans, but it still had 300 Transcendent-level demons. 

That force could easily steamroll the Crawford Empire if it didn't have Elder Evergreen and the Blue Luan Tribe safeguarding it.

The Crawford Empire was truly weak without them. 

'I wonder how my parents and the others are doing back in the Human Domain… They should have reached the Grassland Region and started building the new capital…' 

Leon wondered.

He silently decided to return and check on his home after making it out of the Eternal Night Secret Realm with the others.

Nevertheless, he still needed to find Duna, stop the demons, and resolve the issues of the Infertile Plains. 

The conflict between the Desolate Netherbird Tribe and the Desolate Crow Clan was also a concern, but Leon wasn't too bothered by it for the time being. 

He enabled the Desolate Crow Clan's ability to prosper before he left.

'I can only deal with one problem at a time, and right now, the demons in this secret realm pose the greatest threat to humanity. But what can I do to hinder them?' 

After pondering for a short moment, Leon facepalmed himself at a sudden realization.

'It seems I am still thinking like a human.'

Leon shook his head wryly. 

Since it was easy to mistake him for a noble demon due to the Devil Emperor's Tome of Eternal Darkness's power, he shouldn't have a problem entering the Bone Sea without getting hunted down by all demons.

Nevertheless, he won't be able to bring Aria, Darlene, the One-Eyed Venerable Shaman with him.

It was too dangerous for them.

"Given the pile of Lesser Demon-level demon cores we've accumulated, how long will it take you and the others to reach the Greater Demon level?" 

Leon questioned Saresha. 

However, Saresha revealed an ashamed look and lowered her head. 

"Saresha is unable to provide an accurate estimation, my lord. It could take days or even weeks to assimilate the demon cores."

"That long?" Leon frowned. 

"Yes, my Lord. And even then, Saresha cannot guarantee she will be successful in becoming a Greater Demon with the other clansmen."

"Why? What seems to be the problem when you have the resources?"

Leon questioned Saresha and the other dark faes before he learned that one reason for the Dark Fae Clan's decline had much to do with their inferior cultivation method. 

They lacked a suitable cultivation method to improve themselves. 

"Even during our clan's golden days when we still had the resources to support our talented clansmen, the number of Greater Demons our clan produced was far inferior to the other Mid-rank Clans."

"Your Dark Fae Clan was only a Mid-rank Clan in the past, and you call it the golden days? That's rather underwhelming to hear."

Saresha and the other dark faes felt ashamed by Leon's remark. 

Their Dark Fae Clan has nothing great about themselves to boast.

"Never mind." Leon shook his head before ordering with a frown, "Tell me more about your Dark Fae Clan's cultivation methods. Perhaps, I have some means to improve it. If not, I will give you a better one."

"Y-Yes, my lord!" Saresha complied with a hint of excitement.

If Leon wanted to raise the Dark Fae Clan into a reckoning force to do his bidding, he had to fix their problem at its root.

"The Dark Fae God Canon is…"

Leon listened to Saresha explain her Dark Fae Clan's cultivation method, the Dark Fae God Canon, before he understood it was a primordial technique. 

It would be too arrogant of him to try improving something like that.

"Do you have a copy of this Dark Fae God Canon?"

"Yes, of course, my lord!"

Saresha pulled a sheepskin from under her black robe before passing it to Leon for his perusal and advice.

After Leon gave the recorded texts on the sheepskin a quick look, he furrowed his brows immediately before asking, "Is this the original text?"

"No, my lord. The original Dark Fae God Canon is written in a language that no one in the clan can understand. However, in the past, our ancestors managed to derive the original text and produce what we have now."

"I see…" 

Leon uttered without much change in his expression, but he labeled the Dark Fae Clan's ancestors as incompetent in his heart.

All techniques originating from the primordial era are far from ordinary.

'Those crooks…'