With a sudden thrill, an idea sprang into the young lord’s mind.
“It seems everyone’s still hungry for battle. Very well, let’s test the winged demons’ mettle in that case!” He too felt enlivened by the prospect.
The kills seemed ripe for the picking. What if such an opportunity never arose again? He had to seize the moment.
He’d crushed several tribes by now. A few more winged demon forefathers would make a nice addition to his list.
He’d run into more than half of the ten tribes so far and thwarted the demon resurgence at every single turn. This had surely knocked the celestial demon tribe down a peg.
To weaken the enemy was to strengthen himself. Little by little, the balance of power might shift in his favor. And more importantly, alleviating the demon rampage might give Myriad Abyss enough space to recover from the current devastation.
“Get ready, everyone. Same old plan, we’ll catch them while their guard is down.”
When fighting demons, one had to be more cunning and brutal than them. The slightest show of weakness would reinvigorate them.
Demons weren’t invincible. If one could seize the initiative from the very start and keep them on the backfoot, never allowing them a chance to strike back, demons could also be intimidated and made to despair.
His successive run-ins with the tribes were proof enough.
No matter how ferocious they were, they could be made to bleed like everyone else, given sufficient preparations.
He’d killed many demon forefathers so far without a single defeat to his name. Yes, he had the requisite strength, as well as immense help from the divine beasts and the Goldbiter Rats, but his planning deserved the lion’s share of the credit.
Every engagement had been meticulously thought through. He’d always acted with a clear strategy in mind, which enabled him to run circles around his enemies.
He was more devious than his enemies, commanded greater battle prowess than they, and understood them like the back of his hand. His existence was a natural scourge for the demons. No humans in the history of the continent had ever possessed this kind of superiority against them.
The first winged demon to arrive was a fifth level god. Transformed into a roc, he flew with terrifying speed, traveling thousands of miles with a single flap of his wings.
A short few breaths after Jiang Chen’s group vanished from sight, this forefather, called Demonroc, arrived in the vicinity.
He was extremely cautious by nature. He circled a few times in the sky, in absolutely no rush to descend and land. The obvious aftermath of a harrowing battle astonished and horrified him.
Hovering high above, his frosty eyes were filled with vigilance as he surveyed the lay of the land.
“Why were the fellow daoists from the fire demon tribe in this place? It’s not particularly rich in fire elements. Why were they fighting here?”
Many questions nagged at him, but there were no obvious answers.
The aura of a devastating confrontation still permeated the air, yet he couldn’t spot the beginnings of a shadow.
“Daoist Blazingsun, Glaringflare, are you two nearby?” He probed with extreme caution, transmitting his demonic voice via consciousness.
However, no answer was forthcoming.
His eyes swept left and right over the area, but he ultimately chose not to go closer.
Instead, he remained in the sky and slowly extended his consciousness downward in a search for clues.
“Hm? What’s this?” Suddenly noticing something, he directed his attention at a pile of rocks. Unexpectedly, he spotted a storage ring among them.
It was imprinted with a mark unique to demons. Moreover, only a cultivator at the same level as him was entitled to wear it.
If alive, why would one with the power of a divine forefather leave his storage ring behind? And if defeated, why hadn’t the victors claimed it yet?
Despite a sudden, intense greed, cold logic told him there was something strange about the presence of this ring.
Struck by a sudden thought, he whistled at the sky and summoned his companion.
Not long after, a reply that rumbled like a landslide travelled back from a location not too far away.
Judging by the sound and the distance, his tribesman had finally arrived.
“Daoist Demonhawk, you’re a little late.” Demonroc smiled in obvious happiness. He was much less nervous now that he could count on a companion to back him up.
A blue figure shot through the sky as fast as lightning. It briefly dimmed the clouds, then reached Demonroc in the blink of an eye with a speed even greater than the latter’s.
It was precisely Forefather Demonhawk. Like Demonroc, he was a preeminent leader of the winged demon tribe. Both were about equally matched in strength. His face dark, Demonhawk was noticeably in a very bad mood.
“Fellow daoist, what’s the matter? You don’t look very happy,” asked his companion with surprise.
Demonhawk clenched his teeth. “I’ve asked around. The one who killed my brother Bluefalcon at the Rejuvenation Isles turns out to be that kid from the human domain, Jiang Chen!”
“Eh, wasn’t that our guess from the beginning?” Demonroc blinked.
“Guesses are one thing, and clear evidence another. You probably haven’t heard yet, but the celestial demons have ordered the tribes to stop all of their operations in the other major territories. They’re to gather all of their forces in Myriad Abyss within seven days. Forefather Celestial seems very displeased with those who came here first.”
“Isn’t that to be expected? He knows full well the human domain is key to our conquest of Divine Abyss. The other territories won’t influence the outcome of the war.” A little bemused, Demonroc blurted out, “But what does it have to do with your dead brother?”
“Everything! I’ve offered to spearhead the attack, but they’ve turned me down. It looks like the celestial demons are as selfish as ever. They won’t let anyone take the spotlight away from them!” Demonhawk huffed in anger.
“What does it matter if they refuse? Are you really so keen to be their cannon fodder? This Jiang Chen won’t be so easy to deal with, let me tell you that. He allegedly eliminated the golden demons at Everlasting, and something also happened recently with the titan and monster demons at Flora. I’m really worried he might come for us,” Demonroc said, a little troubled.
