The holy war was already unpreventable. The war between the humans and demons had only just begun.
After a simple sweep through the battlefield, Long Haochen vanished into the horizon with his companions. Including the leader of the imperial Black Dragon guard Huang Shuo, all twenty imperial guards had died in the battle just then.
Long Haochen did not waste any time, quickly hurrying towards the Dragon Resisting Mountain Pass with his companions. He let Cai’er who moved the fastest to immediately catch up with the army ahead, to tell them to travel at full speed and hurry back to the Dragon Resisting Mountain Pass.
Despite destroying the demons’ vanguard, Long Haochen was unable to loosen up at all. This was only a start. Yue Ye’s information was proven to be correct, which verified the other information she had provided. The Demon God Emperor was currently leading almost two hundred ninth step powerhouses to kill him. He could only choose to retreat now, to quickly return to the mountain pass and fend them off using the impregnable pass.
Completely defeating the demons could not be achieved through a single battle. What Long Haochen needed to do was to wait and to persist.
When the Demon God Emperor saw Ah’Bao, his face had become so twisted that if it was a sponge, it would have been dry now.
Ah’Bao was in far too terrible of a shape. He did not even fly in the sky, instead walking on the ground in dejection. In that moment, he teetered about like a normal human. The Demon God Emperor had sensed in the moment Ah’Bao had been defeated by Long Haochen, but Ah’Bao’s had not been activated, so he thought the two of them were both heavily injured. He could not think of a reason why Long Haochen would spare Ah’Bao.
But when he actually saw his son wander through the wilderness alone did the Demon God Emperor realise he was wrong. He understood Ah’Bao just too well. If Ah’Bao and Long Haochen were both heavily injured, he would never have this expression. He would definitely try to heal as much as he could and report back as quickly as possible. However, he was more like a zombie now. Ah’Bao’s expression no longer possessed the confidence and pride of the past. His hollow gaze and gradual steps made him seem like a puppet.
Slap!
The Demon God Emperor sent Ah’Bao flying with a slap. If it were not for the Moon Demon God Agares who had quickly grabbed him, his right hand would have fallen completely.
Ah’Bao was sent several dozen meters away by the slap, falling onto the ground heavily. Mouthfuls of purplish blood and flesh spurted out. He directly fainted. The Demon God Emperor was surprised. He obviously knew how much force to use when he slapped him. Ah’Bao was his successor and his son. The forceful slap actually only contained physical power. However, Ah’Bao’s situation clearly was not as simple as it seemed on the surface!
Before Agares could say anything, the Demon God Emperor arrived beside Ah’Bao with a flash. He made a gesture with his right hand and Ah’Bao’s body slowly rose up before the Demon God Emperor. A dim, purple light surrounded the duo.
A while later, the dim, purple light faded. Agares clearly saw dark golden light surge a total of three times in the Demon God Emperor’s eyes. He knew that the Demon God Emperor had become utterly furious.
In that moment, whether it was the Moon Demon God, Star Demon God or the twenty other demon gods, they all remained silent. They dared not to emit even the slightest sound. The Demon God Emperor looked at Agares and said sternly, “Ah’Bao’s been crippled.”
“What?” Even though Agares had guessed Ah’Bao was in a bad state, he was left utterly speechless when Fengxiu mentioned the word ‘crippled’.
Ah’Bao was the Demon God Emperor’s only successor so far! Ever since Ah’Bao broke through to the ninth step, the Demon God Emperor had begun paving a path for his succession.
How did he just be crippled? It was not just Agares. All of the demon gods paled in fright. The crown prince had taken twenty members of the imperial Black Dragon guard with him. Not only was he alone now, he had even been crippled as well. What happened to the imperial Black Dragon guard? Were even the powerhouses of the greatest clan among the demons incapable of protecting their crown prince? Not to mention, Ah’Bao was not weak himself! He even failed to retreat safely!
“What happened? His highness is connected to your majesty by blood. He can borrow your power whenever he needs to!” Agares said in confusion.
The Demon God Emperor said coldly, “He sealed off the connection between me and him. He used the Demonic Collapse Technique and he suffered heavy injuries as well. Even if I heal him personally, he won’t be able to return to his original state within the next twenty years. Even if he spends his entire life trying, he’ll never be able to reach my level of cultivation. Asmodeus.”
“Your majesty,” the Dragon Rider Demon God who ranked thirty-second out of the seventy-two demon gods, Asmodeus, quickly stepped forward and replied politely.
In the past, Yang Wenzhao and Duan Yi had suffered heavily under his hand. He had destroyed their respective demon hunt squads as well. It was Long Haochen who had saved them from him, but that also began the trap that the Demon God Emperor and Star Demon God had been scheming.
“Take him back to core city, and then bring Leng Xiao to see me.” As he said that, he passed Ah’Bao to Asmodeus as the dark golden light in his eyes flickered once more.
Asmodeus received Ah’Bao carefully. All of the demon gods present were silent. They knew what the Demon God Emperor was implying. This is ended all possibilities of Ah’Bao inheriting the position of Demon God Emperor. Wasn’t he making Leng Xiao replace Ah’Bao as the next Demon God Emperor by calling her over?
Indeed, even thought Leng Xiao’s talent was nowhere as great as Ah’Bao’s, twenty years was more than enough for her to surpass Ah’Bao drastically. Not to mention, theDemon God Emperor was not only furious because of strength.
“Father…” Just as Asmodeus was about to turn around a leave, Ah’Bao slowly woke up. After the healing from the Demon God Emperor, his wounds had somewhat stabilised. At least it no longer threatened his life.
The Demon God Emperor looked at his son coldly, “You have completely disappointed me.”
Ah’Bao’s lips curled into a bitter smile, “Father, I’ve lost. I’ve lost to Long Haochen. Even when I used the Demonic Collapse Technique and invoked the power of the Devil Dragon Pillar, I still could not defeat him.”
The Demon God Emperor’s interest was piqued, “Tell me exactly what happened. Also, where’s Huang Shuo and the others?”
Ah’Bao said with hollow eyes, “I don’t know where Huang Shuo and the others went. At that time, all I could see was Long Haochen. My only opponent was Long Haochen as well. I released the power of the Devil Dragon Pillar…”
“… Long Haochen wants me to pass on a message to you. He’s waiting for you and that the era of darkness which has lasted for six thousand years is about to end. He also said that he’s sparing me in order to return the favour of letting his companions live back then in the Star Demon Pagoda.”
The Demon God Emperor sighed heavily as the golden light in his eyes slowly subsided. There was a mixture of extremely strange emotions in the bottom of his eyes. It was complicated and conflicted.
Agares had always been observing the Demon God Emperor quietly, while the other demon gods dared not to interrupt him.
After quite a while, the Demon God Emperor waved his hand at Asmodeus and Asmodeus obliged, turning around with Ah’Bao and leaving. He really did not want to remain before the Demon God Emperor for too long. The pressure was just too great.
“It’s a pity,” The Demon God Emperor did not actually erupt with anger, sighing instead.
“Your majesty, are you taking pity on Ah’Bao? There’s still a possibility for the crown prince to recover. Once the war ends, I am willing to do everything I can to assist your majesty in healing the crown prince,” Agares said.
The Demon God Emperor shook his head, “I’m not taking pity on Ah’Bao. Ah’Bao is headstrong. His inability to see the greater picture is his fatal weakness. I originally planned on indirectly influencing him and changing him as such, but he was still unable to overcome the matters haunting him, which was why today happened. He has lost the right to become the leader of the demons in the future. What I am finding pity on is how my relationship with Long Haochen has already reached the path of no return. Otherwise…”
Upon reaching there, the Demon God Emperor paused, but Agares instead stiffened up. He thought of a possibility, because he suddenly remembered something the Demon God Emperor had said back in the Star Demon Pagoda.
The Demon God Emperor waved his hand, “Let’s go. I’d like to see how Long Haochen ends this era of darkness.” With that, he took a step and returned to his imperial carriage. The people who carried it were thirty-two members of the imperial Black Dragon guard.
Over a thousand figures set off once again. Even without the Demon God Emperor’s command, they suddenly sped up, traveling northward.
Agares wasn’t ranekd second out of the demon gods for nothing. As they traveled, he sent away groups of Moon Demons to stabilise the situation in the six capitals of the north.
He seemed like he was taking over control of the group, but he only ordered the people around in front of the Demon God Emperor, which instead made him seem straightforward and frank.
The Demon God Emperor seemed to ignore everything. He only sat on his carriage quietly as he pondered something.
Temple Union, Northeastern Fort, Department of Military Affairs.
Qiu Yonghao sat at the front. Although he had already passed on the position of temple head to Wang Yuanyuan, he was actually the one in charge of the Warrior Temple right now.
To his left sat nine Eternal Heroes, while to his right were the powerhouses of the Warrior Temple.
It was possible to tell from the gazes of these powerhouses of the Warrior Temple that they held great respect for the nine Eternal Heroes. The reason for this was very simple. All of these Eternal Heroes were originally warriors and their chosen successors were also from the Southeastern Fort. They were the juniors of the upper echelon of the Warrior Temple. And, out of the nine warriors, the strongest had reached the fourth rank of the ninth step, while the weakest was only at the third rank of the ninth step. Any single one of them was an absolute powerhouse in the Warrior Temple.
After this period of contact, basically all of the high ranking members of the Warrior Temple below Qiu Yonghao admired these nine Eternal Heroes from the bottom of their heart. These nine seniors had never paraded their identities around, nor did they take part in any important decisions. They all listened to Qiu Yonghao’s command. At the same time, they also passed on their cultivation and battle experiences to other outstanding young members of the Warrior Temple, without the slightest selfishness, while they taught their chosen successors. The only thing they held back on was their special techniques, which they only passed onto their successors.
