Jiang Chen was well aware of this. Bloodmalva had attracted a number of crazed worshippers to his side, among them the master of the Resplendent Emerald Veranda.
Blood demons were probably the most invasive of the demon tribes. A mere wisp of blood was enough to convert anyone into one of their thralls.
More fearsome still was the difficulty of detecting their subterfuge. Blood demons liked to turn themselves into vast clouds of crimson mist, infecting unwitting cultivators without a sound. They were the most headache-inducing of their brethren.
Anyone who was assimilated instantly cast aside his past associations for his blood demon master.
Each of the ten demon tribes was unique and troublesome in its own way.
Jiang Chen did manage to extract some more information from the demon underlings. One piece of information, relating to the wood demons, mildly troubled him.
He had encountered their parasites way back in Veluriyam Capital, and had refined several varieties of pills to counter them as a result at the time. According to his sources, the wood demons were now taking aim at the ten sacred lands.
This was terrible!
His antidotes had spread far and wide throughout the human domain, but Myriad Abyss Island was a different story. Even the Eternal Sacred Land didn’t possess these cures.
For a time, he became rather worried.
The Fire of Firstdawn and Dragonwhisker Water were the two treasures most effective at warding off the wood demons.
Jiang Chen had plenty of the latter.
Long Xiaoxuan’s blood was exceedingly pure, which meant that his spittle naturally spited the wood demons. However, since the dragon was on Winterdraw right now, he wouldn’t be able to solve the Eternal Sacred Land’s problem.
More importantly, demons were everywhere in Myriad Abyss. Even Jiang Chen wouldn’t be able to travel unimpeded to his destination.
“Why are you so unhappy, young master Chen?” inquired Xia Tianze. “You should be pleased with our recent victory.”
The young man sighed softly, then communicated his concerns to Xia Tianze.
The old advisor chuckled when his young liege finished. “Myriad Abyss has never been reliable. Its survival won’t matter too much in the grand scheme. Why should its condition bother you?”
Jiang Chen’s expression darkened. “You’re very much wrong if that’s what you think, Old Brother Xia. Most in Myriad Abyss are descendants of ancient deserters, but the ten sacred lands have an undeniable historical connection to the ten leaders of old. They’ve contributed a great deal to the stability of Divine Abyss. If not for their efforts on the offworld battlefield all these years, our continent would have been invaded a long time ago.”
“What do you suggest, then?” Xia Tianze sighed and didn’t deny the veracity of what he heard. “The human domain has just gotten its own act in order. Should we go reinforce the sacred lands en masse? You won’t be facing just Old Lightford this time, but all ten tribes!”
“…Aha!” Jiang Chen slapped his thigh. “Yes, Rejuvenation has a transportation formation. I can make use of it!”
He headed toward it as soon as he said this.
Rejuvenation obeyed Jiang Chen’s every command, of course. Nowadays, they could only look up to his incredible strength, and the young man had saved their lives besides.
The transportation formation was activated immediately, connecting with the Eternal Sacred Land’s.
Eternal was embroiled in its own troubles. It had profited a fair bit from the last battle with Old Lightford, having been given three of the old man’s subordinate gods.
It was a very strong faction nowadays. Elder Ziju Min’s astonishing ascent to divinity a few years back had further contributed to that; he was now a peer of Eternal’s forefather.
Nevertheless, Eternal couldn’t afford to be optimistic about its own position. The ten years that Jiang Chen had spent behind closed doors had seen a serious demonic crisis in Myriad Abyss.
The Great Formation of Heavenly Soul Confinement had barred the demons from the human domain, which had forced them to heavily recruit from the surrounding domains and find another route in. That led their movement into Myriad Abyss through a number of connected transportation formations.
The demonic menace quickly applied a tremendous amount of pressure upon Myriad Abyss in a few short years.
Though Eternal wasn’t at the front line of the demonic attack, the demons knew that it was the de facto leader of the island. Thus, their hordes assailed the sacred land endlessly.
The Eternal Sacred Land was burdened by responsibility.
The forefather remained on the offworld battlefield still, while Ziju Min defended the sacred land proper. Another god, one of the captives from Lightford, remained under Ziju Min’s command in Eternal as well.
The first prime was also present.
These days, the situation in Myriad Abyss was getting worse and worse. There were only two kinds of news: bad and worse.
Eternal’s close ally, Abyssal Sacred Land, had suffered a large-scale demon attack in an almost incredible fashion.
Many of its executives had fallen prey to demonic subversion of the toxic variety. The symptoms were outlandishly peculiar, and conventional pills and spirit herbs failed.
Abyssal crumbled over the span of only a few months.
Eternal felt the sting despite the distance. The great Abyssal Sacred Land was done for, without a single chance to call for help.
It was the first time Ziju Min felt so troubled after breaking through to divinity.
“Forefather Ziju, the healthy survivors from Abyssal have succeeding in breaking through their blockade. They’re planning to come join Eternal. Should we accept them or not?”
The first prime was restless over the gravity of recent affairs.
Abyssal was one of Eternal’s closest allies. There was no reason for them not to allow the survivors asylum. But what if the source of the poison was hidden among the refugees?
If that was the case, wouldn’t Eternal be infected as well?
Naturally, Martial was under a considerable amount of stress as well. The demonic menace was on their doorstep.
