He traveled through ten thousand years and returned as the patriarch of the demonic path.

Chapter 2: Those who harmed me have all become brothers in the Ten Thousand Soul Banner.

The night was dark, and the lights in the small building were dim.

The family sat around the table. Except for Lu Heng, who kept slurping his noodles, the other bowls of noodles had already clumped together.

Lu Heng sat opposite his parents, with Lu Xue close to him, and Su Rourou obediently huddled to the side, occasionally stealing a glance at him.

"Brother." Lu Xue felt sorry for his experiences, her eyes reddening. "The cultivation world you described is so dangerous at every turn. How many hardships and difficulties must you have endured in these ten thousand years?"

"Your brother is pretty awesome. I've never suffered a loss. The people who wronged me have all become brothers in the Ten Thousand Souls Banner." Lu Heng picked up a mouthful of noodles with his chopsticks and put it in his mouth, smiling with a hint of pride. He had no airs of an old clan member, and his movements were as casual as if he had just come back from the market.

Lu Jianguo opened his mouth. He had spent half his life as a worker, and this information was clearly beyond his comprehension. But after witnessing his son leap into the air and retrieve objects from a distance, demonstrating that superhuman strength, he couldn't help but believe it.

Wang Xiulan didn't say much, only tightly gripping her son's other hand, as if he would disappear again if she let go.

"Hehe, that's good." Lu Xue pressed on again, "Cultivating demonic arts? And becoming an ancestor?"

"The Demonic Ancestor," Lu Heng corrected, his tone flat and straightforward. "He cultivated a frivolous cultivation technique, raised a Ten Thousand Soul Banner, and lived a long life. Over there, he unknowingly became an ancestor. In short, he's doing alright."

"How good is 'okay'?"

"No one in the entire cultivation world can defeat me," he said as if stating the weather.

There was a moment of silence on the table.

Su Rourou gasped, her eyes growing even more intense.

Lu Xue was silent for a few seconds, then suddenly asked, "Have you ever killed anyone?"

Lu Heng paused for a moment with his chopsticks.

He didn't answer, but put down his chopsticks and looked out the window at the night. Silence itself was the answer.

Wang Xiulan gripped his hand tightly, and tears fell again.

"Mom, don't cry," Lu Heng said softly, his tone gentler than that of a demon who had slaughtered for millennia. "I spent ten thousand years over there, thinking of you every single day. Now that I'm back, nothing else matters."

Lu Jianguo coughed heavily to hide his reddened eyes and changed the subject: "Alright, it's good that you're back. Let's eat noodles."

Only then did everyone pick up their chopsticks.

Su Rourou ate while observing the family. Lu Heng seemed no different from the eldest son of an ordinary family—serving food to his mother and only smiling helplessly when his sister snatched his fried egg. But she couldn't forget how he crushed that fat monster with one finger, nor could she forget the terrifying energy that "combed the middle part" of Blue Star.

This man is a walking god.

After dinner, Lu Xue cleared the dishes, while Lu Heng sat with his parents in the living room. He finally asked the question that had been nagging at him since he stepped into the house: "What exactly happened on Earth? When did those strange creatures appear?"

Lu Jianguo's face darkened.

"About eight months ago." He lit a cigarette, his expression particularly somber through the smoke. "At first, it was just a small-scale disappearance, and nobody took it seriously. Later, more and more people disappeared, and the surveillance cameras captured those things. Officially, they're called 'mutants,' but the common people call them monsters."

"Where did they come from?"

"I don't know." Lu Jianguo shook his head. "There were no signs, no source, they just appeared out of thin air. They feed on living people, especially flesh and blood. The army resisted, but ordinary bullets are basically ineffective against advanced monsters. In one year, the global population has decreased by 30%. Cities have fallen one after another, and survivors have begun to migrate to a few safe zones."

"Safe zone?"

"In areas where government and military research capabilities are concentrated, high walls are built using special materials, and combined with defensive technologies developed from the monsters, they can barely hold out. Although our place is on the edge of the city, it's not in the safe zone." Lu Jianguo gave a wry smile. "Fortunately, the monsters here aren't too strong. My family has survived until now thanks to our cellar and luck."

Lu Heng listened in silence, his knuckles lightly tapping the table.

"What is Lu Xue doing now?"

Wang Xiulan finally spoke, her voice still trembling with tears, but her eyes softened considerably when she spoke of her daughter: "Xiaoxue is an Awakened One. Eight months ago, when the strange phenomenon occurred, she had a high fever for three days, and when she woke up, she had special abilities. She can sense the location of the strange creatures, and her speed is much faster than that of ordinary people. She joined a civilian Awakened One team, and usually goes out to clear out the strange creatures in the surrounding area and protect the people in this area."

Lu Heng raised an eyebrow and looked towards the kitchen.

The Awakened. This world is also evolving.

He had cultivated demonic arts for millennia, witnessing countless shifts in the world's landscape. The arrival of the bizarre was often accompanied by a resurgence of spiritual energy; in such environments, human constitutions would mutate, and a few would awaken special abilities. Earth was on this path.

"Was she injured?"

Wang Xiulan fell silent.

This silence instantly turned Lu Heng's eyes cold.

"Mom, tell the truth."

"Once," Wang Xiulan began with difficulty, "three months ago, their team encountered a mid-level monster. Xiaoxue was injured while covering her teammates' retreat, fracturing her left arm and lying in bed for more than a month."

Lu Heng's expression remained unchanged, but the air in the room suddenly turned cold. A thin layer of frost condensed on the surface of the water glass.

Su Rourou shivered and quietly shrank back.

"So," Lu Heng's voice was so calm it sent chills down one's spine, "my sister was risking her life to protect you and this place before I came back."

"Brother." Lu Xue came out of the kitchen, her apron still on, wiping her hands on her clothes. "Don't look like that. It was my own choice. When monsters come, someone has to step up."

Lu Heng looked at her.

Twenty-three-year-old Lu Xue was much taller than the little girl with a ponytail in my memory. The immaturity between her brows had faded, replaced by a resilience beyond her years. She looked like her mother when she was young, but the flame burning in her eyes—was like his.

"Starting tomorrow." Lu Heng stood up, his tall figure casting a shadow in the dim light. "I'll handle all the strange creatures."

Lu Xue frowned: "Brother, although you are strong, the number of strange creatures is enormous, and there are also—"

"No, and no." Lu Heng interrupted her, his tone calm and unquestionable. "No one has been able to defeat me in ten thousand years. These lowly Yin creatures, whose intelligence hasn't even fully developed, can be crushed with a single finger."

Lu Xue wanted to say something, but swallowed her words when she met those deep eyes.

Those eyes held no arrogance, no boasting, only absolute confidence that had settled after countless trials.

"And another thing," Lu Heng turned to Su Rourou, "what position does your father hold in the military?"

Su Rourou was taken aback, and subconsciously replied, "My father is the deputy commander of the Eastern Theater Command, responsible for the defense of the Northern Security Zone."

"Take me to see him tomorrow," Lu Heng said. "This disaster on Blue Star should end."

His tone was casual, as if he were saying he was going to buy groceries tomorrow.

Su Rourou stared blankly at him, her heart pounding like a drum, having witnessed his power before.

Others might use this power to rule the world, but although he is a demon, his heart is not demonic.

The monstrous creature that seemed to plunge all of humanity into despair was nothing more than a swarm of ants blocking the way.

This is the man I want to spend my life with!

"Brother," Lu Xue's voice was complicated, "Do you know how many monsters are out there? Do you know some can't even be killed by missiles? I know you're strong, but you're all alone—"

"Xiaoxue." Lu Heng turned around and looked at her.

The living room fell silent once more.

Lu Heng didn't speak, but took out an item from his storage ring.

A flag.

The flag was pure black, without any patterns or decorations, so black it seemed to swallow all light. The moment it appeared, the temperature in the entire building plummeted to freezing, and everyone felt an indescribable fear surge from the depths of their souls, as if an invisible hand had gripped their hearts.

Lu Xue's face turned deathly pale, and she instinctively stepped back.

Su Rourou slumped into the chair, trembling all over.

Wang Xiulan and Lu Jianguo were deathly pale, almost suffocating.

Lu Heng only opened the storage ring for a moment before retracting it.

As the temperature returned to normal, the fear receded like a receding tide.

"This is the Banner of Ten Thousand Souls." Lu Heng's tone remained calm. "It took ten thousand years to refine. It contains ninety-nine million nine hundred and ninety thousand souls, just ten thousand short of breaking the hundred million mark."

The living room was deathly silent.

"Among these souls are supreme experts from the cultivation world, ancient ferocious beasts, and ancient demon gods." Lu Heng looked out at the dark night sky, a dangerous smile playing on his lips. "The monsters on Blue Star aren't even worthy of carrying their shoes."

Lu Xue's mouth was open, and she couldn't close it for a long time.

She suddenly felt that what she had just said was superfluous.

Her brother didn't come back alone.

Her brother returned with a "little brother" who had nearly 100 million yuan in assets.