Wood demons cultivated rather differently from each other. Some possessed an affinity for pure wood attribute, which gave them a natural gift when it came to spirit herbs.
Others were masters of poisons and toxins, and as such were markedly more fearsome than their compatriots.
Of course, the parasite experts were the scariest ones of all.
The wood demons who were masters of these arts gained prominence among their kinsmen via their mastery.
There was no clear-cut separation between these disciplines, and many wood demons were skilled at multiple fields. They might be poisoners, spirit herb experts, and parasite users at the same time.
Moreover, they didn’t prefer fighting toe-to-toe as a rule, since that wasn’t their specialty.
After conquering Abyssal and Martial, the wood demons had retained almost all the spoils from the battles. That was an absolutely enormous gain.
They had incurred a few casualties in the process, but nothing major. They still had more than enough numbers to besiege the Eternal Sacred Land.
If not for the comparative difficulty of the latter, they would have three divine nations under their tyranny. Indeed, it could be said that they had done the best out of all the tribes so far.
Recent troubles marred their record, however. The latest news informed them that the celestial demons were about to arrive upon Myriad Abyss, as were the main forces of all ten tribes.
Apparently, the celestial demon forefather was dissatisfied with the tribes’ progress. Aside from the wood demons, the other tribes were having significant trouble.
Some had been seriously injured, while others had suffered devastatingly total losses.
There wasn’t much time left for the wood demons to conquer the Eternal Sacred Land. If they tarried any longer, the main force would come in to take over their efforts and their credit.
If they wanted the bountiful resources that Eternal held, they needed to move quickly.
As the leader of the ten sacred lands’ alliance, Eternal was no doubt a veritable treasure trove. Wasn’t that Jiang Chen from there, too?
If they could capture him, they would be handsomely rewarded.
Two forefathers were among the wood demons presently, as well as a smattering of demigods, empyrean cultivators, and emperors. It was a formidable lineup by any measure.
“We’ve at most three days left to us. The main force is about to arrive under Forefather Celestial’s leadership any minute now. I’m sure all of you know what that means,” hoarsely stated a forefather with strange markings upon his entire head.
His tone was rather unique, almost as if there was a different voice that sounded from within his throat. It was a peculiar sound: like that of silkworms chewing on mulberry leaves.
“Daoist Kingspot, we took only three days to take over Martial, and barely more than that for Abyssal. Why has Eternal wasted so much of our time? We’re still outside. I don’t think that we lack the strength – no, what we need to do is channel our natural fervor and bloodlust. Do you agree?”
The demon who responded was green-robed and green-haired. His whiskers and eyebrows strangely resembled the elongated leaves and branches of a willow tree.
This was the other forefather of the wood demons, Ghostbranch.
Kingspot and Ghostbranch were the commanders of this campaign. They were similar in status, though the former was slightly elevated due to experience.
A smile cracked upon Kingspot’s ugly face, one that evoked more disgust than any look of sorrow could.
“Eternal has stubbornly held on because of its gods and ways to deal with our parasites. We’ve tried attacking them many times using our parasites, but nothing has worked. It’s an irksome state of things,” sighed Kingspot. “We already lost some demons when attacking Martial and Abyssal. If we forcibly assault Eternal, we would certainly add more casualties to the tally. That’s why I haven’t ordered an all-out attack.”
Kingspot’s concerns were quite valid. If the wood demons used all they had to attack Eternal, they stood a pretty good chance of success.
However, Eternal had the antidote to their parasites. If they simply sent in their parasites wholesale, most would die in the attack. That would be a tremendous disaster for their tribe.
Cultivating wood demon parasites wasn’t easy. The strongest ones were results of long-term breeding and training.
The death of just one of these would be a quantifiable loss. Ten or a hundred, a catastrophic one. So what if they got their hands on Eternal’s resources? That wouldn’t make up what it would cost them.
Raising a new parasite would take several millennia or more. Ten thousand years were needed at minimum for them to evolve to their highest states.
Kingspot was a master of breeding parasite mothers. He had a plethora personally on hand, as well as an uncountable number of normal parasites.
Even so, he didn’t want to risk his parasites on such a worthless gambit. After Myriad Abyss was fully conquered, the tribes’ relative strengths would inevitably come into comparison.
The future authority the wood demons possessed was based on how strong they remained, not how much they had already done.
Though demonkind cared about merit, absolute strength was more important. Weaklings were worthless, regardless of their prior contributions.
Strength was the law of their race.
Ghostbranch was a different kind of expert than Kingspot. He was a master poisoner, a charmer of plants, and a grower of spirit herbs. He viewed Kingspot’s conservative strategy with disdain.
“Brother daoist, you just said that the main force would gather together in three more days. This is the only chance we have left. We’ve crushed two divine nations already! Eternal has gods, yes, but they’re not hopelessly strong. We should just push in with brute force. You can send out your army of parasites, and I’ll back you up with my plant abilities. Let us break Eternal wide open in an invasive siege.”
