Chapter 1436: Face-Off

The celestial demon lord was furious. The trap he had set had been virtually perfect. Thanks to this human youth however, at least half of it was foiled. The mass of demon slaves he had collected was dying in droves as well.

The Vermilion Bird had been the only obstacle in his plans. But because the bird was at the end of its lifespan, it was no match for the recovering demon lord. Though the seal was unlikely to be broken in a short amount of time, the demon lord would eventually reign supreme in the Primosanct Sect’s sacred place without the bird’s interference. He could then use his consciousness to attract more and more human cultivators.

There was absolutely nothing wrong with the plan. Just that he hadn’t imagined said plan would be greatly disrupted by a human youth.

What depressed the demon lord the most was not the fracturing of the plan, but the youth’s refusal to depart. It was obvious that he was targeting the demon.

Given the age of the demon lord’s existence, he wouldn’t have cared a whit for a young human genius if he was at peak form. Alas, he was sealed away right now. He could only use his consciousness to create trickery because his body was immobile.

He didn’t know what secret method the human youth had used to revive the eight giant stone statues. It rather worried the demon lord.

As one of the crowning races of old, the celestial demons had incredible instincts as a race. The demon lord’s instincts told him that the young man would create a lot of problems for him, possibly even endanger his safety.

Meanwhile, the eight giant statues threatened the demon lord on a psychological level.

“If I don’t get rid of this human youth, he’ll become a real threat sooner or later. He hasn’t left yet and that proud Vermilion Bird is getting along with him far too well. What special charisma does this kid have?”

The celestial demon lord couldn’t understand it. From what he knew of the current Divine Abyss, the human race should have decayed to a very weak point.

His slaves were largely only great emperors, yet they were considered to be the very best humanity had to offer. The waning of human fortune made the demon lord very much desire to rampage in the outside world. He wanted his freedom back as soon as possible.

From his point of view, if the demons could make a new sortie into human lands, the weakness of its current residents gave demonkind a very good chance of enslaving humans altogether.

Still, it was rather unbelievable that there was a genius like this amongst humans despite their weakness. He had pierced the demon lord’s conspiracy and garnered favor with an ancient Vermilion Bird.

The celestial demon lord knew that despite humanity’s various problems, it was supremely resilient. Whenever it was endangered, a group of geniuses always rose to meet the challenge. He had very personal experience of their persistence.

“I have to think of a way to leave this place. A kid as immature as him, disrupt my plan? Impossible!” 

The demon lord plainly didn’t want to see that happen.

Unfortunately, he didn’t have a good way to resolve the situation. He had tried sending subordinates to attack, but they’d perished like moths to a flame.

His demonic servants had been trivially crushed.

This was the primary reason for the demon lord’s concern. If the human youth had control over such terrifying forces, then the demon lord would have difficulty dealing with them even at peak strength.

……

Jiang Chen was actually in as much of a rush as the demon lord was. He had stayed in Agarwood Valley for too long. The unwitting discovery of the celestial demon lord’s plot put him in his own dilemma.

He could easily up and leave at any moment, but that would simply lead to the situation here spiraling out of control. The demon lord could struggle free of his seal in no time at all and proceed to devastate the human domain.

He had no choice in staying or going. He was the only one who could exterminate the source.

He had learned the majority of the Primosanct Sect formation’s secrets, but enhancing and restoring it to its previous power level and beyond would cost an astronomical amount of resources.

Jiang Chen was very rich, but not quite to the degree that the formation demanded.

In ancient times, the sum would have been quite reasonable. In the modern era however, it was exceedingly troublesome to gather together such a king’s ransom.

Returning to the top of the mountain, Jiang Chen was stuck between a rock and a hard place.

“Jiang Chen, the Primosanct Sect must have left some resources here,” advised the Vermilion Bird. “The sect was as rich as a large nation. It doesn’t make sense that they haven’t left anything their formation needs. Maybe there are still secrets waiting to be discovered?”

The divine creature knew that the human youth was its only hope of seeing its duty through. If the youth lost his fighting spirit, then it had no hope of leaving this place at all.

Its time was short on this mortal coil. In truth, it was even more anxious than Jiang Chen.

Big Stone of the Primordial Stone Golem Tribe was more insensitive. “Savior, demons don’t have three heads or six arms. Don’t worry. If he dares to try to escape, we brothers will handle it.”

As a primordial race, the Stone Golem Tribe naturally looked upon the more junior demons with disdain. The demons had run free not because of their own strength, but due to the weakness of the juniors on Divine Abyss!

The Vermilion Bird respected these stone golems quite a bit. It knew that they were one of the stronger races in the primordial times. If the strongest races of the primordial era hadn’t become extinct, the demon race may not have had any opportunity in the ancient era at all.

It was precisely because the primordial era had come to a close that civilization on Divine Abyss had taken the turn into the ancient era.

Strictly speaking, the primordial era was Divine Abyss Continent’s true ancestry. The experts and races back then could claim superiority over even the ones in the ancient era, just as the ancient era was many times more impressive than the modern.

Jiang Chen’s mood settled down a good deal after returning to the mountain. His formation studies had yielded splendid fruit. It wasn’t his fault that he lacked the resources to apply that knowledge to the practical problem before him.

Like the Vermilion Bird had said, maybe the Primosanct Sect had more secrets not yet dug up.

For example, there was a barely discernible killing intent hidden on the peak. The Vermilion Bird had mentioned that there was a signature treasure here, an ancient bow.

Perhaps all to be revealed was concealed right beneath them.

The Primosanct Sect had three signature treasures. The ancient bow was one, the True Spirit Post was another, but there was no information on the last. Even the Vermilion Bird didn’t know what it was supposed to be.

Time passed day by day.

Jiang Chen and the demon lord were at a standstill.

The demon lord used his consciousness to sniff out Jiang Chen’s scent everyday, hoping desperately for the human to leave the valley.

But Jiang Chen was unwilling to depart. Though he had no way of getting rid of the demon lord, he wasn’t going to give up.

This kind of passive confrontation was extremely boring. Emperor Newsun and the Purple Smoke Sect’s forefather couldn’t bear the experience much longer. This was pure suffering for them.

“Daoist Newsun, are you leaving? You too, Zi Tan?”

When the emperor and the forefather subtly expressed their intents to depart, Jiang Chen was rather surprised.

“Young lord Jiang Chen, we can’t help very much with what is happening here. The outside world knows nothing about what’s taken place. I’m worried that there’ll be brewing concerns in the outside world and further explorers who make their way in. We must stop that kind of unwanted development.”

Jiang Chen saw no reason to oppose the resolute emperor. “Daoist Newsun, there’s no reason for me to oppose your decision. Still, we must discuss what you’re going to do after you leave the valley!”

The great emperor blinked. “We must announce the happenings here, of course. The human domain must know of these cultivators’ traitorous ways and swearing of allegiance to the demons. Furthermore, we should also send out the call for everyone to gather their strengths and prepare to defend against a demonic invasion. We can’t live in numb normality any longer.”

Emperor Newsun had the right idea.

The Purple Smoke Sect’s forefather nodded in agreement. His thoughts hadn’t been as noble as the emperor’s. The expert from the Ninesuns Sky Sect had considered things more holistically than he could.

Jiang Chen considered this for a few moments before sighing. “Daoist Newsun, if you break with them immediately after going out there, things may be stacked against you. Do you know how many sects will frown upon your declaration, even if it’s entirely truth? They’ll think that you’re slandering them! They’ll unify in their rejection of what you say, and perhaps even pick fights with you as a person by attacking your sect.”

All of this was very possible.

When one or two people tried to speak poorly of a larger group, there wouldn’t be many who believed them. In fact, they could very well attract undesirable skepticism.

It was painfully obvious that if Emperor Newsun were to reveal the truth to the public now, he would be the primary target of cynicism than the accused. How come he was the only one who’d managed to escape from the demon lord’s clutches, eh?

Emperor Newsun felt the beading sweat on his brow. “Thank you for reminding me, young lord Jiang Chen. It seems I can’t be in too much of a hurry.”

“There’s no need for that. The demon lord isn’t going to break free of his seal any time soon. You should make some adjustments and preparations in your own sects internally, though. The demon invasion is on the horizon.

“The current human domain,” Jiang Chen continued, “hasn’t endured any losses at demon hands. Thus, most have no sense of urgency or danger. They still think that demons are relegated to ancient mythology. But the demons’ blade of slaughter is about to appear very soon!”