In the blink of an eye, three days had passed.
The River Styx was still sealed. At one point, the Ocean Emperor attempted to enter its waters, but it sealed him off. However, in comparison to its former dazzling radiance, the river’s glow had dulled somewhat.
Ye Zichen and Xuan Ji, meanwhile, had spent this whole time setting up defenses along the riverbank.
The information shared in the group chat, the fox clan’s reports, information his intelligence officers had gathered, all of it said the same thing: in the near future, the yao of the Southern and Western Kingdoms were sure to bear down on the River Styx en masse.
The great emperors still on their Divine Mountains were much the same; they, too, had sensed the demons’ movements.
All of god race territory was now utterly on edge.
“Ye-zi, everything’s just about set up.” Yang Jian, clad in silver armor, strode into their war tent. They’d only placed the tents recently as temporary housing for the Upheaval Alliance, Hermits Palace physicians, and Profound Pavilion, as well as the river denizens.
It was similar to war camps of ancient times. Ye Zichen’s tent even had a map, albeit one made of divine power, not paper. It recorded the geography of the area around the River Styx, as well as surrounding yao territory in full detail.
“Thank you for all your hard work.” Ye Zichen gestured to a steaming hot cup of tea, then stretched his neck. “Have you seen the river denizens’ commanders lately?”
“They’re already back.” Yang Jian nodded. “It wasn’t long ago that they returned to the River Styx. I asked them where they went, but they all fell silent, and they seemed rather irritable.”
“Keep an eye on them. For them to leave at a time like this, there must be something going on.”
“Got it. Monkey’s already keeping them under watch, so they shouldn’t be able to stir up any waves,” snorted Yang Jian.
“How are things on the yao’s end?”
“The South and the West have already set up encampments near our borders. It seems they’re waiting for a signal of some sort,” said Hu Bazi.
“They’re probably waiting on a signal from the demons.” Ye Zichen glanced down and muttered. Based on their movements thus far, he could guess a fair bit of the enemies’ thoughts. “Remind everyone not to be negligent. The yao are certain to attack the River Styx en mass soon.”
As soon as the words left his lips, Ye Zichen gazed off into the distance, his fingers gently drumming against the table. He thought to himself, Gu Li, it’s you, isn’t it? I wonder what new tricks you’ll get up to this time, and if they’ll be able to surprise me?
Meanwhile, in the Demon Emperor’s palace.
The palace was pitch-black and eerie. Several demon experts stood inside, but shockingly, the person sitting on the throne wasn’t Demon Emperor Kui Lin.
Kui Lin stood below the platform. While his gaze wasn’t necessarily pious, he dared not show any signs of pride as he gazed up at the figure seated on his throne.
“You’ve contacted them all, yes?” The man on the throne glanced down at them. His tone wasn’t the least bit calm. On the contrary, his question sounded rather urgent.
He had a reasonably handsome face, but he was so overwrought that he looked rather distorted. His eyes contained a hint of viciousness, and his pearly white teeth were tightly clenched.
He was Gu Li.
It was exactly as Ye Zichen thought. The demon-yao joint invasion was entirely due to Gu Li’s intervention.
“Yes, we’ve contacted them all.” Demon Emperor Kui Lin nodded. “So long as we give the orders, the yao, gods, and River Styx river denizens of our alliance will take action.”
“Good.” Gu Li nodded firmly, then grinned viciously. “Our people in the Fox Clan are already in place, I trust? Are the people I had you investigate currently within fox territory?”
“Su Yan and Xia Keke are currently in Fox Territory. As for Li Jiayi, Lu Lu, and the others, we’ve yet to discover their precise location,” said the Demon Emperor.
“That’s enough,” said Gu Li, his smile hideous. “The two of them will be plenty.”
Gu Li muttered to himself, but no one knew exactly what he meant.
This was the plan he’d made after returning from the yao realm. They’d bumped their plans to invade up a little. They started with a feint, then gave up invading the god realm in preparation to attack their real target: the Nine-Tailed Fox Clan. He’d also ordered his people to investigate Su Yan and the others.
Kui Lin had investigated in secret, too. Only then did he learn that these women were all Ye Zichen’s confidantes and lovers.
“Gu Li, what are you doing all of this for? Will this help you transcend in any way?” Their entire alliance had formed in order to survive the end of the Third Era. Demon Emperor Kui Lin had lowered himself, submitting to Gu Li’s authority, entirely for the sake of transcendence.
However, neither Kui Lin nor the rest of their alliance’s higher-ups could understand the point of his current plans.
“That’s none of your concern. “Gu Li narrowed his eyes.” When he heard that, Kui Lin’s expression soured.
Remember, he was the lofty, venerable, esteemed Demon Emperor. He’d only lowered himself like this out of consideration for Gu Li’s status as the Emperor Star.
But from how he’d been acting lately, it seemed Gu Li now thought himself the undisputed leader of their alliance.
“Fine.” After a long time, Kui Lin repressed his fury.
Their current situation was indeed rather unusual. Kui Lin was relying on Gu Li to transcend. Gu Li, meanwhile, completely ignored his displeasure, then continued giving out orders.
“Attack!” The grand, imposing demon army rose and prepared to leave demon territory.
The Southern and Western Kingdoms were already ready and waiting, so as soon as they received word from the demons, they took action. “Begin!”
Meanwhile, countless family clans of the Divine Mountains received word as well, They instantly lashed out at their respective Divine Mountains.
It wasn’t just the outer eight Divine Mountains, either; it happened on the Central Divine Mountain too, and even within Heavenly God City.
The God Realm was instantly in chaos.
“Ye-zi, the yao have started moving!” Yang Jian rushed inside, clearly frantic.
Ye Zichen shot to his feet, narrowed his eyes, and roared, “Everyone, prepare to defend!”
The atmosphere grew solemn, and the air filled with killing intent. Countless rulers and experts stood in the skies, while the supremes gathered into tight military formations.
Emperor Hades had yet to leave seclusion, but the River Styx was still their final line of defense. Even in his absence, they had to hold it no matter what.
A full hour passed, but to their confusion, they saw no sign of the yao armies anywhere near the riverbank.
Ye Zichen and Xuan Ji couldn’t help but frown. Even walking at a normal pace, the enemy encampments were close enough that they should have arrived a long time ago.
“Send someone to find out what exactly is going on.”
Before he’d even finished giving orders, the Great Sage leaped into the air and went off to investigate. Before long, he returned to Ye Zichen’s side, looking visibly alarmed.
“The yao aren’t headed this way at all. They’ve just left a token force in their encampment near the borders. The rest of them, the bulk of their forces, have vanished.”
“They’ve vanished?” Ye Zichen didn’t know why, but he felt a sudden sense of foreboding. Before he could react, his phone started buzzing like crazy. When he took it out, he saw that all the messages were from the Fox Empress!
