The curtain of night hung heavily, but the great swamp was dazzling. Streaks of glorious, silver light shot across the air.
The Silver Dragon King was in attack mode, completely unleashing its firepower. It seemed to truly become a furious dragon, growling and roaring as it penetrated and tore apart the thick demon qi.
However, the demon qi gushing out of the twelve demon caverns was simply too thick. The demonic cloud remained in the air. Even if a part of the twelve Demon Gods’ tremendous bodies was dispersed, it would recover very quickly.
The King of Southern Yue stood before a porthole. He was rather stern. The formation was far more troublesome than he had imagined it to be, and it seemed to be under the control of someone hidden behind the scenes too, always averting the attacks of the Silver Dragon King and minimising the damage. If this continued, the Silver Dragon King would definitely give way first.
He turned around and said to the Great Banyan Tree King, “Fellow, there seems to be some kind of existence that’s eyeing this world. The demon plague this time probably won’t end so easily.”
The Great Banyan Tree King was extremely familiar with formations. His sense of the horror of this person “behind the scenes” was only deeper than the King of Southern Yue’s. The Twelve Citadel Demon Formation of the Ominous did not operate smoothly. Instead, it felt rather sluggish, clearly under the inference of the laws of this world. However, it operated in an unbelievably effective manner as if it had completely read the Silver Dragon King’s attacks. It seemed to be able to completely reverse the situation with a few casual directions from the person behind this.
The Great Banyan Tree King said sternly, “Hopefully it’s not like what I’m thinking!”
“Did you notice something, fellow?” the King of Southern Yue asked.
“Among the twelve Demon Gods, there’s been one that hasn’t received a single attack so far.” The Great Banyan Tree King had realised that the situation was exceedingly severe when he first saw the formation, but he never expected it to be this severe.
“Qiongqi!” The King of Southern Yue recalled the past slightly before becoming stunned. “Surely not! A mere Bone Eating Shaman King is worthy of such honour?”
The Bone Eating shamans worshipped Qiongqi as their ancestral god. This was something that everyone knew about. However, just like the fire god Zhurong that the fire devourers worshipped, many ancient names existed in the south. These higher gods and demons existed in higher worlds and rarely responded to their worshippers. Their names could only ever be passed down in places of wilderness and savageness too.
In the eyes of mortals, cultivators were almost like gods, immortals, buddhas, and demons, with the third heavenly tribulation great cultivators in particular. They loomed right over their heads, beyond their reach.
However, the King of Southern Yue understood very well that they were merely kings among cultivators. They were no closer to the gods, immortals, buddhas, and demons than mortals to great cultivators. This path of cultivation was extremely, extremely long.
There were no great cultivators who would pay attention to battles among mortals, as it was not worth it at all, nor was there any point to it. As such, the King of Southern Yue struggled to believe that Qiongqi would interfere with the nine provinces, just like how he would not be any closer to victory if he massacred a city or two in the Green province. There were many more and much more important matters for him to handle.
“I also hope I’m wrong, but the scale of the formation is well beyond what Demon Kings can operate, let alone operate remotely, from an entirely different world and under the restraint of the laws of the world. Even Demon Emperors aren’t necessarily capable of that.”
The banyan bonsai on the table swayed its branches and turned into an old man. His dark-green hair and beard tangled together, almost covering his entire face. He strode over to the King of Southern Yue’s side. His deep, green eyes were filled with worry.
The King of Southern Yue was silent at first before shaking his head with a smile. “If that’s true, then plans and strategies are useless. What can I say? Man proposes, God disposes!”
The laws of the world were not absolute. As long as Qiongqi was determined enough and willing to pay the price, he could turn this world into a Demon domain. There were even some legendary existences that could ignore the laws of the world and wander through the myriad worlds freely.
“If it’s any other Demon God, then I can conclude it’s not them, but this one is known for stirring up unnecessary trouble.” The Great Banyan Tree King smiled wryly.
Adults would not be bored enough to crouch down and burn ants, but who knew when it came to children? If a child with god-like powers maintained his great curiosity, then no one could predict what he would do.
The two kings that stood at the apex of the Mist province furrowed their brows and sank into their thoughts as they worried about the unpredictability of fate.
At this moment, a resplendent streak of light shot over from the south.
“Pavilion master Ye is here. Looks like my side is still a bit faster.” The King of Southern Yue smiled.
“Looks like you’ve already thought it through, your majesty.” The Great Banyan Tree King smiled.
“If the sky falls, there are always the tall ones to hold it up. This is not for us to worry about. Once it really reaches that stage, you and I will just become Demon Kings at most, unlike those people in the north,” the King of Southern Yue said with ease.
The majority of the cultivation community in the Mist province was composed of demonic cultivators. Going from a demonic cultivator to a demonfolk was only the matter of changing a single word. Meanwhile, many of the so-called righteous cultivators would hold on until they died. For example, it would be impossible for the Chan Monastery of Deva-Nāga to come to a compromise. By then, he could settle the grievances of his family and kingdom easily. At the very least, it could be considered as both a curse and a blessing.
“That’s reasonable. They all say daemons and demons, daemons and demons. We’re one of a kind in the first place.” The Great Banyan Tree King smiled, but there was a hint of irresolvable worry within his deep, green eyes.
A world had a world’s laws. Those that abided by it prospered, and those that defied it perished. The Hungry Ghost realm only accepted the dead, while the Asura realm was the home for warriors to return to. If the nine provinces became a Demon domain, that would definitely be a violent, lawless world where good and bad were inverted. Those that could not adjust would be eliminated and rendered extinct, but if he were to adjust, he would have to twist his own heart.
A world supported its own type of people. Born in this world and growing in this world, the world had already left a deep imprint in him. Changing it was anything but easy, where he would suffer from cultivation deviation with the slightest carelessness. Even if he managed to survive, that would still be the end of his cultivation path.
As a result, no one could remain uninvolved when it came to a war between worlds like that. The King of Southern Yue had only said that with ease, or he would have begun colluding with the Demon domain a long time ago and turned the Mist province into the headquarters of the Demon domain’s invasion. With another several dozen Demon Kings, how would the Green province stand a chance?
And if he did do that, his King of Yue’s estate would immediately fall apart, even when most of his guests were demonic cultivators, had committed countless acts of evil in their pursuit of desires, and had no regard for an inversion of good and evil.
It was slightly different for daemons, as daemons did not exactly have a concept of good or evil, right or wrong, let alone any so-called virtues or morales. They obediently complied to the natural principles where the strong preyed on the weak. Even if the world became a Demon domain, they would only become a little more violent and vicious. Perhaps they would even become more accustomed to it than the current world! As a result, it was truly quite reasonable when people linked daemons and demons together.
If it were not for his great plan, the Great Banyan Tree King could have been even more relaxed than the King of Southern Yue.
“So be it, so be it. I’m just an old tree. Though, if you want to talk speed, my side is still a little faster!”
As he said that, a shadow appeared from the wall, and a distant voice said, “What you were talking about is quite frightening. Li Qingshan has probably reached the Demon domain already. He’s either surrendered or died, so do we have to keep attacking? I’d rather not approach there!”
