Not every demonic pawn was as fearless of death as their higher-ups. After a bit of interrogation, Jiang Chen was able to gather some tangential information.
Naturally, peons weren't privy to more important secrets.
He found only a vague version of the truth: that some important celestial demon had issued an order for the demons to work together, with no infighting allowed whatsoever.
“My name is known to a celestial demon forefather, then?” Jiang Chen had slain a number of demonic forefathers in the human domain, but the celestial demons couldn’t know about that.
Perhaps his exploits in Myriad Abyss had been too conspicuous. Even the forefathers of the celestial demons had taken notice.
Or it might have been his battle against Old Lightford.
“I’m not sure whether to congratulate or commiserate with you. If you’re being targeted by a celestial demon forefather… that’s very bad news indeed.” Xia Tianze looked rather dejected.
It had cost Great Divine Veluriyam and a number of his ancient fellows their lives to seal away the ancient forefather of the celestial demons.
Jiang Chen could slay forefathers of other demonic tribes with strategy, but no amount of plotting would work against a celestial demon one.
They were far too strong. Even Great Divine Veluriyam hadn’t been able to win one on one.
Schemes were of little use in the face of absolute strength.
Jiang Chen remained fearless, however. Yes, the celestial demon forefather was very strong, but it was a very safe assumption that he had been worn down by Great Divine Veluriyam’s seal. Why would he have sent the others otherwise?
Time and speed was of the essence.
The celestial demon forefather needed time to recover, and Jiang Chen wasn’t going to wait around for that to happen.
The young lord was confident in the speed of his own cultivation. Moreover, he knew that the protection of his father, the Celestial Emperor, was with him.
Was a celestial demon forefather stronger than a celestial emperor?
The latter could crush the former in the palm of his hand!
“Old Brother Xia, the celestial demon forefather is strong, but you’ve no need to be scared. He definitely hasn’t recovered to peak strength yet. We’re not going to sit around and wait for him to come find us. We need only to cut down his lackeys to render him a sitting duck.”
“Killing his lackeys isn’t going to be easy,” sighed Xia Tianze.
“Sure, but we’re already on the right path, eh? We’ve killed quite a few demonic forefathers so far.”
Including Lightford, Jiang Chen had slain five demonic forefathers already. One more was in his captivity. That was an impressive record, to say the least.
If he could continue at this pace, the demon forefathers’ numbers would be greatly diminished.
The ancient war had no doubt taken care of a considerable portion of them already. There wouldn’t be too many around right now in the first place.
The reduction in the demons’ strength was permanent with each kill.
“We did kill a few forefathers,” sighed Xia Tianze, “but the two we got rid of in the human domain hadn’t broken free of their seals yet. Today, we got the drop on two more. Luck was absolutely a factor.”
“What of the golden demons’ forefather?” Jiang Chen disagreed.
“We won against him, but we needed to send out many experts in order to do so,” Xia Tianze continued to dampen the young man’s enthusiasm.
“You have a point, but the demons will be weakened with each kill regardless.”
“If the demons realize how difficult you are to deal with, you’ll have a much harder time killing any more of them. It’s safe to assume that the celestial demon forefather will order the other demon tribes to move against you – and potentially experts from his own, as well.”
This was Xia Tianze’s concern.
Jiang Chen shrugged. “Let them come. Others may be afraid of demons, but not I.”
Xia Tianze blinked. “I’m not sure why, but I feel that you’ve a deep understanding of them. You seem to know all their qualities and traits. You didn’t participate in the ancient demon-sealing war, nor have you really made the acquaintance of many. How can you know so much? Did the knowledge spring into your mind fully-formed?”
“Indeed,” Jiang Chen chuckled.
Momentarily taken aback, Xia Tianze remembered something. “That’s right, you’re a reincarnated god, are you not? You were no ordinary existence in your past life, then. Not many gods would be so knowledgeable about the demons. You must have been someone really important.”
Jiang Chen didn’t know whether to laugh or cry. He knew perfectly well who he was in his past life, but could hardly tell Xia Tianze that.
“I’ve come across celestial, blood, monster, yin, shadow, winged, and golden demons so far. Perhaps wood demons should be tangentially added to the list as well. Only titan and fire demons remain. Titan demons are similar to Primordial Stone Golems in many ways, though they possess the same battlelust fervor as golden demons. Furthermore, they are absolutely loyal to the celestial demons – an exceptional quality among the tribes.”
That was what Jiang Chen remembered about them.
As for fire demons, he didn’t have much of an impression of those from his past life. Still, their name was revealing enough; they were demonic cultivators who naturally had an affinity for fire.
Their expertise in the field couldn’t possibly compare to the Vermilion Bird’s.
“Have you fought a blood demon too?” Xia Tianze inquired curiously.
Jiang Chen remembered his battle against Blood Emperor Bloodmalva. He hadn’t come out well out of it at all. Even now, the demon emperor’s strength seemed terrifying.
Blood demons were closer to yin demons in tactics, but they thirsted for blood in a way that yin demons didn't.
He related his yesteryear encounter to Xia Tianze.
“Blood demons are as adept at trickery as yin demons, but can taint blood as effectively as wood demons. A tainted cultivator is immediately converted to their side,” remarked Xia Tianze.
