My mom is waiting for treatment, and you're summoning me to be a hero?

The desolate landscape stretched monotonously beneath my feet.

The wind whipped up the sand and gravel, making a whooshing sound.

This is not a no-man's-land; occasionally, small moving dots can be glimpsed at the edge of the field of vision.

Those were adventurers wandering the wasteland.

They come in various races: orcs, lizardmen, and even diminutive goblins.

They gathered in small groups, their eyes wary.

"Tsk, these are all people who make a living in the cracks between various powerful forces."

Yin Xue sat on Lin Mo's shoulder, legs crossed, looking like a well-informed person.

"Level 30 is the mainstream, and level 40 is considered good, enough to make a living deep in the wasteland."

"These don't seem to be human."

Lin Mo asked, puzzled.

Yin Xue was speechless: "Of course, adventurers aren't just for humans. Tsk, looks like it's time to give you a basic lesson."

Yin Xue suddenly realized that Lin Mo seemed to have no concept of the overall situation of this continent since he transmigrated.

I'll take this opportunity to tell him.

"This continent is called the Divine Descent Continent, and it can be roughly divided into three parts. To the east is the Holy Ancient Empire, where you were summoned. It's human territory, a monolithic entity with a strict hierarchy, and incredibly boring. To the west is the Tower Holy Kingdom, which is quite similar to the Holy Ancient Empire."

Lin Mo kept walking, his gaze fixed straight ahead, listening to Yin Xue's explanation.

"These two empires, on the surface, have the largest territories, but in reality, they are all under the control of a common father—the Holy See of Light. The churches in every city are staffed by their people, and their headquarters are located in the capital of the Holy Tower Kingdom. Their influence is pervasive. Summoning heroes, issuing quests, assessing ranks, and even interfering with royal power to some extent, are all their doing."

A hint of undisguised mockery flashed in Yin Xue's bloodshot red eyes.

"As for the vast land between the two great empires, it is a buffer zone, a place where various races and small countries are active. It is a place of survival of the fittest, chaotic, but also relatively free, and is collectively referred to by you humans as 'other races'."

She paused, then added, "Don't underestimate these alien races. The dwarves you just subdued are a force to be reckoned with. Besides them, the dragons of the North, the elves of the southern forests... are all races with long histories and powerful individuals. If a sufficiently strong being is born among them, he can call himself a 'Demon King'."

"Personally call himself? The Demon King can call himself that?"

Lin Mo caught the word.

"yes."

Yin Xue scoffed.

"Any hothead with enough strength can call himself a Demon King, but to become a true Demon King, one must build up a power strong enough to threaten the gods, and then be marked by the gods as the target of all heroes. Only then can one be considered a true Demon King."

Her tone carried a subtle complexity, as if she were mocking herself.

Lin Mo nodded to himself, gaining a rough outline of the situation on the mainland.

He suddenly remembered something and turned to look at the small figure on his shoulder: "And you? What race were you originally?"

Yin Xue's swaying legs came to a stop.

She was silent for two seconds, then suddenly turned her head, grinned at Lin Mo, and revealed a very sly smile.

Guess!

After saying that, she flapped her wings and flew to Lin Mo's side in a flash.

Lin Mo looked at that small, somewhat stubborn figure and didn't ask any further questions.

Everyone has a past they don't want to touch, and the Demon King is no exception.

The two continued their journey across the wasteland.

After walking for about half an hour, the terrain on the horizon ahead began to change significantly.

The flat wasteland was gradually replaced by undulating rock formations.

A huge rocky ravine appeared ahead.

The ravine was deep and narrow; looking down, one could vaguely see jagged rocks and the even darker bottom of the canyon.

A smell mixed with earthy, musty, and some kind of wild animal stench wafted up on the wind.

Yin Xue flapped its wings and hovered at the edge of the ravine.

Her delicate nose twitched slightly, and her blood-red eyes narrowed.

"Yes, this is it. Troll Canyon... I can smell the stench from those big guys from far away."

Lin Mo nodded, his gaze fixed on the entrance to the canyon.

It was not a naturally open passage, but a narrow pass that had been artificially constructed.

A simple but sturdy wooden and stone fence stood there, with several watchtowers and barracks built next to it.

A squad of about several dozen soldiers is stationed there.

They were wearing standard leather armor, the same equipment they had seen in Ash Keep.

These people looked well-trained, quite unlike the ragtag adventurers on the wasteland.

As Mad Mountain said, this place has been taken over by humans and is now the territory where the heroes of Ash Fortress upgrade their power.

These soldiers are probably there to prevent anyone else from breaking in.

Lin Mo thought this, but his steps did not falter or hesitate at all, and he walked straight toward the pass.

With a slight thought, a cold, pure wave silently spread out.

The killing field unfolds.

A pale red spherical force field, almost imperceptible to the naked eye, expanded instantly from Lin Mo's center.

With a radius of fifty meters, it precisely encompassed the entire pass, fence, watchtower, and all the garrison troops within.

The soldiers covered by the field simultaneously felt a strange chill run through their skin, as if cold silk had been pressed against their necks.

They turned around in surprise to look at the black-robed figure walking straight towards them.

"stop!"

A soldier who looked like a captain stepped forward and came to stand in front of Lin Mo.

Without wasting words, he drew his sword and pointed it at Lin Mo, his voice serious and businesslike.

"This is the Imperial Trial Zone for Heroes, and unauthorized personnel are not permitted to wait..."

His words came to an abrupt end.

Lin Mo didn't even look at him, but casually raised his hand and swung his sword towards the empty space to his side.

laugh!

A barely perceptible black sword aura swept through the air.

A very thin line of blood appeared on the captain's throat without warning.

His eyes widened, and he futilely clutched his neck, blood gushing from between his fingers. He swayed and fell forward.

Almost at the same moment—

puff!

puff!

puff!

……

Within the killing field, every soldier enveloped in it simultaneously had an identical black sword aura mark appear out of thin air on their neck!

The sword energy precisely sliced ​​through their trachea and blood vessels.

There were no screams, no struggles.

Dozens of soldiers froze at the same moment, like puppets whose strings had been broken by the same invisible thread.

Then they all fell to the ground, their blood quickly staining the land in front of the pass.

Lin Mo's pace was not affected in the slightest.

He didn't even glance down at the corpse at his feet, as if he were merely brushing away a few insignificant specks of dust.

His figure passed through the entrance, which was filled with a faint smell of blood, and stepped into the dark shadows of Troll Canyon.

Yin Xuefei landed back on his shoulder and glanced at the now deathly silent pass behind him.

A hint of satisfaction flashed in his blood-red eyes.

"Clean and efficient, just like the style I had back in the day."