Donghai Longzi once again entered the Sacred Fire Grotto. Everything appeared exactly the same as when all the demons entered and left the Divine Beast Pseudo System. At least on the surface.
He had already noticed a lightness in his sleeve. Although not significant or noticeable, it was still a familiar weight, which accompanied him for thousands of years, that disappeared. His main bodyâs conduit had taken action.
A pair of pitch-black eyes gazed up.
âWhatâs wrong?â Honglin asked, noticing his abnormal movements.
Donghai Longzi didnât say anything for a moment. Finally, he shook his head and said, âItâs nothing.â
Honglin didnât believe him, and also looked up, but she couldnât capture what drew his attention.
âSilly girl, I couldnât detect anything. The reason I looked up was because my intuition told me that something changed in the Sacred Fire Grotto,â Donghai Longzi thought. Although he didnât know what or how, Tianyiâs conduit definitely took action. Just look at Demon Empress Bluefeather.
Demon Empress Bluefeather appeared unfazed, with nary a change in her expression. Well, for the amount of expression a bird could have. Still, Donghai Longzi detected the wariness in her eyes, as well as the change in the flow of qi in the realm artifact.
That change soon settled down and the spiritual qi calmed down. It seemed that Demon Empress Bluefeather couldnât discover anything, but that didnât mean she wasnât wary. Although Donghai Longzi couldnât sense anything outside of the Sacred Fire Grotto, he got a vague sensation of extreme vigilance during their return.
Still, that had nothing to do with Donghai Longzi. Sooner or later, they would return to the Divine Beast Pseudo System. He wasnât worried about the ambush that might occur when the Sacred Fire Grotto arrived outside the pseudo system. The time would be far too soon.
This was a war between the daoist path and the Demon Clan. Catching Demon Empress Bluefeather might sound good and all, but how could war preparation be done so fast? Even if they had already allied ahead of time, they couldnât show too much because of the need for secrecy.
Donghai Longzi didnât think the Demon Clan would be alerted, either. Because of their recent actions, both the Immortal Court and Numinous Sword Sect used this chance to clean up as many spies as possible. To prevent these two hegemonic forces from catching their tails, the Demon Clan would hide as much as possible to prevent any accidents.
Unfortunately, they didnât account for one Xi Tianyi.
Donghai Longzi threw the information into the back of his mind and resumed his role as a rising star of the Demon Clan. Demon Empress Bluefeather delayed their return by a decade, but eventually, she returned to the Divine Beast Pseudo System.
âI have failed everyoneâs expectations,â Demon Empress Bluefeather said when she saw the fellow members of the Four Divine Beast, Demon Emperor Redraco and Demon Emperor Blacktiger, with no intent on shirking her responsibility.
Demon Emperor Redraco didnât admonish Demon Empress Bluefeather, but he didnât comfort her either. He only sighed.
âItâs not your fault,â Demon Emperor Blacktiger said. âWho would have known that stinky dragon had long sold us out?â
âWhat do you mean by stinky dragon?â Demon Emperor Redraco asked. He felt like Demon Emperor Blacktiger was pointing at the mulberry tree, but cursing the locust.
âExactly what I mean. Now that I know heâs a lackey of the baldies, no wonder he always reeked. I was just too polite to say anything.â Demon Emperor Redraco made an expression saying, âyou, polite?â However, Demon Emperor Blacktiger acted as if he didnât see it and continued. âI always said that you should have observed him more, but you always protected him. If you had listened to me, this wouldnât have happened.â
âNonsense,â Demon Emperor Redraco snapped back. âYujiao was approved by all of us back then. Why didnât I see you bring up these oppositions back then? Right, Demon Empress Bluefeather?â
Demon Empress Bluefeather didnât immediately respond. No matter what, the Phoenix Clan would suffer setbacks because of her. The Demon Clan was united against the humans, but that didnât mean there wasnât any internal fighting. She originally thought the Dragon Clan and Qilin Clan would use this chance to fleece some benefits from the Phoenix Clan, but judging by Demon Emperor Blacktiger, did the Qilin Clan want to unite with the Phoenix Clan to suppress the Dragon Clan?
As for staying neutral and becoming the oriole watching the mantis stalk the cicada? She had no thoughts. It was too obvious. If she did that, the Qilin Clan would immediately turn on the Phoenix Clan and join the Dragon Clan to fleece them.
âI also had some reservations back then, but because of your shining endorsement, I held them back,â Demon Empress Bluefeather said.
Demon Emperor Redracoâs eyes chilled. He focused on Demon Emperor Blacktiger, then back at Demon Empress Bluefeather. How could he not see the calculations? The fault that should have been held by Demon Empress Bluefeather transferred to him instead.
However, how could it be so easy? For this operation, the Dragon Clan even dispatched Jiaohu, someone everyone was optimistic about. But what happened in this war, Jiaohu died! Now, the only demon with comparable spatial talent belonged to the Qilin Clan.
âWhat about Donghai Longzi, do you think he is a spy?â Demon Emperor Redraco asked.
Demon Emperor Blacktiger snorted. âWho knows? We only knew that kid for a few thousand years. Itâs not outside of the realm of possibility that heâs some contracted spirit beast. How could the humans allow a true dragon to roam free and flee back to us? No matter how you look at it, heâs suspicious.â
âNot necessarily,â Demon Empress said. Although she wanted to counterattack the Dragon Clan, it didnât mean burning the bridge with Donghai Longzi.
He didnât grow up in the Divine Beast Pseudo System, meaning that his sense of belonging wasnât actually that deep. On average, demons lived far longer than their human counterparts, a short thousand years wasnât enough to develop a sense of belonging, especially as a non-native. If she played her cards right, she could make the Phoenix Clan gain another Demon Emperor Realm expert.
âDonghai Longzi is someone with extremely noble blood. It wouldnât be strange for him to have an inheritance that allowed him to hide while he was weak,â Demon Empress Bluefeather said. âWe cannot give him the same level of trust we gave Yujiao, but we donât have to be needlessly suspicious of him either. It would be a grave crime for us to push him onto the other side.â
âAlright, enough,â Demon Emperor Redraco said. âWe can discuss this after we leave the void. For now, we should bring the demons out of the Sacred Fire Grotto. Although the operation failed, their efforts are undeniable. They should take a good rest. As for Donghai Longzi, Iâll send someone to monitor him and make sure he isnât a spy.â
âBy monitor, you mean your granddaughter, right?â Both Demon Emperor Blacktiger and Demon Empress Bluefeather thought. They both knew that Red Emperor Redraco was very optimistic about Donghai Longzi and wanted to have his granddaughter become his wife.
Demon Empress Bluefeather didnât quibble and opened a portal. Donghai Longzi, Honglin, and the other demons walked out. A few, like Honglin, felt emotional, as if they had finally returned home. Donghai Longzi didnât appear like them, but the demon emperors noticed that he seemed to have loosened his nerves.
Donghai Longzi returned to his residence in the True Dragon Realm and entered secluded cultivation. No one was allowed to disturb, unless it was a crisis of life-or-death, not even Honglin. It was as if the turbulent waves in the Divine Beast Pseudo System had nothing to do with him.
It was partly true. Although he was strong, he was not part of the decision makers, making him free and unrestrained.
Although he returned, the black palace Donghai Longzi lived in remained empty except for a few servants. It was not that the demons who received his guidance didnât want to visit, but that the pressure emanating was too terrifying. The pressure intensified with each passing year, and even Honglin could barely resist the pressure after the tenth year. She couldnât stand in front of the entrance to Donghai Longziâs cultivation chamber.
Demon Emperor Redraco also came once. Once he felt the pressure, he could only sigh. âAs expected of the bloodline that can rival the Nine-Clawed Golden Dragon. Soon, the Dragon Clan will have another dragon king.â
The negotiations between the three clans had finished. The Dragon Clan ceded some resource points because of Yujiao, but its strength was not affected much. Although the Phoenix Clan also gained a portion, the Qilin Clan swallowed most of the resource points. Still, at least they didnât pay any price for Yujiaoâs betrayal under Demon Empress Bluefeatherâs watch.
Now, all the Demon Clan wanted to do was bide its time and regain their strength, watching for the next opportune time to relocate the Divine Beast Pseudo System.
âIt took over ten years.â
âWhat did you say?â Daoyi asked, looking at Tianyi.
Tianyi shook his head. âItâs nothing.â
He, along with Daoyi, stood in the main hall of the control palace of Shangri-La. Although Shangri-La wasnât sparse by any means during the Jade-and-Numinous Conference, the amount of resources in it at this time made Tianyi feel what it meant to be poor for the first time in his life.
There was even an inner voice telling him to snatch the resources and store it into his Nine Heavens Universe. Of course, he would not let this little greed control him. The Nine Heavens Universe had far more resources, but they havenât been discovered or processed yet.
The Immortal Court and Numinous Sword Sect really went all out this time. If the Immortal Court had pulled out these cards during the Huang Realm unification war, Tianyi estimated that they would have steamrolled all opposition. Well, except the founder of the Saintly Scholar School. Yet, they only brought them out now. They really were careful.
Even without expanding his spiritual sense, Tianyi could sense over ten immortal emperors, two hundred immortal monarchs, and countless true immortals on Shangri-La. And that was just the advance force. He was sure that both sects kept reserves.
Granted, most of the immortal emperors were in stasis and emitted an aura of decay, meaning that their willpower was reaching its end. Still, over ten immortal emperors! That was a force that could easily conquer an immortal-rank realm back in the day.
His mother and Sovereign Yanxu stayed in their respective realms to hold the fort in case the Demon Clan attacked the Primordial or Numinous Realm with most of their fighting force gone. It would not be a wrong tactic, divide and conquer.
At this time, Minister Primewood stepped next to Tianyi. âHow is it?â
âWeâre almost there,â Tianyi said. âI didnât expect it. The reason the Demon Clan was able to hide for so long was because they hid their location partly in another timeline. No wonder itâs so hard to find.â
âWell, it is the Demon Clan, mankindâs oldest nemesis,â Minister Primewood said. âBut thatâs even better. Theyâll suffer a backlash once theyâre dug out.â
Tianyi said nothing. He could feel Meng Tingfengâs gaze on him, so he purposely kept conversing with Minister Primewood. Finally, Shangri-La stopped.
âBe careful. Although thereâs a concealment formation on Shangri-La, and I havenât sensed anything, the Demon Clan may have already noticed our presence,â Tianyi said.
At this point, the sleeping immortal emperors have awakened from their stasis. Each one stared at the empty void in front of them with frightening gazes.
âLike we planned before, the Immortal Court will shatter the Demon Clanâs barrier and expose them to the world,â Minister Primewood said. He, along with the eight other immortal emperorsâTianyi includedâforty-nine immortal monarchs, and eighty-one true immortals flew out of Shangri-Laâs protection and formed a formation with it at the core.
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The war against the Demon Clan had officially commenced.