Cao Yun was floating just above the Empyrean Human Emperor Seal. With no hesitation whatsoever, the Young Sect Master fully exposed his entire cultivation. As a 1st-grade Exalted Demon, his body was the color of blood with white hair. His hair was luxuriant and stood in stark contrast to his red skin. His nails were black and shone brightly under the light of his own golden eyes. Around his eyes, his skin seemed to crack, revealing gold beneath it. Instead of a powerful killing intent, Cao Yun was radiating a divine and serene aura. A huge part of it came from the Empyrean Human Emperor Seal itself. Although his cultivation was clearly asura in nature, no human present could have denied that Cao Yun was fully human. However, they were indeed shocked.
Even the Mortal Warriors understood that Cao Yun had been able to cultivate the asura system. Not only had this young man ended the curse of the Forsaken Dao Era, but he had achieved the absolute impossible. In their eyes, Cao Yun truly was a form of living god. Unfortunately, this really wasn't how Cao Yun felt in that moment.
Despite circulating his complete asura cultivation, he could feel that this wasn't enough. Although the Empyrean Human Emperor Seal had crashed down at first, it had now stopped moving. In fact, Cao Yun could feel Demon God Da Mo pushing against the Empyrean Human Emperor Seal. Right now, Cao Yun could use enough of the Empyrean Human Emperor Seal's strength to push back, but it wouldn't take very long for Demon God Da Mo to break free. At most, Cao Yun could last two days. On the other hand, he was convinced that Demon God Da Mo could last longer. Once again, Cao Yun didn't want to exhaust himself. To be fair, he had not been that confident in the Empyrean Human Emperor Seal. Although it was powerful, it had been weakened a lot. Sadly, the Empyrean Human Emperor Seal had already used a lot of its energy to trap Mo Tian recently.
Still, Cao Yun wanted to exhaust Demon God Da Mo as much as possible. The Empyrean Human Emperor Seal wasn't just affecting his body, it was affecting his soul, which was much more important for all their plans. Roots, or branches, grew from Cao Yun's back. They were covered in fresh blood and soon created two new sets of arms behind the young man. The two sets of arms formed two complex mudras above Cao Yun's head and in front of his chest. With his two natural hands, the young man struck downward. His palm struck the Empyrean Human Emperor Seal.
All along the large cylinder, a column of energy fell downward. All the chains pulled with ever more strength and almost tore the swords stabbed in the ground in half. The pulse went all the way underground.
As Demon God Da Mo was pushing against the Empyrean Human Emperor Seal, this sudden pulse hit him. His knees cracked and screamed in agony as he stood strong. Unfortunately, the large Reborn Demon only bent a tiny bit. This wasn't enough to break him or even to tire him a lot. In fact, this galvanized him. He wanted to push this Devil's Jail higher and higher. Now that he had his Reborn Demon body, he had no excuse to lose to insects. He wanted to get out and slaughter them all. His thirst for blood was much more intense. Right now, the Empyrean Human Emperor Seal was also sealing most of his killing intent. Otherwise, the humans above would have been terrorized. Considering their determination, it wouldn't have affected them much, but some might have simply fainted or even literally died from the shock.
Sect Leader Xuan and Matriarch Huang flew toward Cao Yun. Physicians were trying to tend to their wounds, but they didn't mind. Even if they were to survive, they wouldn't have very long to live. The most important thing they had to do was to help Cao Yun vanquish the Demon God. Seeing those two noble elders at death's door who were still giving everything they had to fight for mankind gave more and more courage to everyone else. Sun Liao was still leading the cultivators against the Supplicant Tyrants. The fight was harsh, but it was now the perfect opportunity to destroy them. If Demon God Da Mo got out from beneath the Empyrean Human Emperor Seal, it was essential for all his reinforcements to be dead or driven away.
-
Near the border leading to Heidai Peak, Silver Wolf General Long Cheng was present with his forces. They didn't try to be subtle or to hide. Clearly, they were here to stop anyone from entering the Wubei Sect. Of course, they had let Empyrean Asura in without any interference. Their goal was to intercept any reinforcements while mankind was dealing with Empyrean Asura. Although they were quite far, they could see the various phenomena in the sky above Heidai Peak. Obviously, they had no idea what had happened and couldn't know that Emperor Weide had given his life for the cause. That being said, they were all ready to give their lives as well.
They didn't have much time to create defenses. Fortunately, the Heidai Peak was part of the Nine Peaks, a huge mountain range that offered natural defenses to the Hongchen Kingdom. Moreover, the Wubei Sect had obviously set up defenses for centuries, if not millennia, in addition to the array formations left behind by the Four Saints and Emperor Nuwa.
A few dozen thousand soldiers were spread all over the place. They were Mortal Warriors with a few Mortals just to help with the logistics, mainly. In the air, only three thousand Spirit Warriors were floating. However, many more were on the ground as well. After all, they wouldn't exhaust themselves all day long, they alternated shifts to stay fresh and alert.
Everyone knew that Emperor Weide was fighting Empyrean Asura. Thus, they were all under pressure. Although this hadn't been said explicitly, they all understood that this was the end. Either this was the end of mankind, or the end of the Empyrean Asura Theocracy. Either way, it was the end of the war. They couldn't take part in this final battle because their role was to stop anyone else from interfering.
Cao Yun had been right. Empyrean Asura had been in such haste to get Demon God Da Mo's blood that he had come ahead of anyone else. However, he had called reinforcements. Since no one knew how long the fight would take, it was necessary to make sure it wasn't interrupted. More forces at the Wubei Sect probably wouldn't have been very helpful anyway. In fact, they would have probably caused tensions between various battle formations. Just adding more soldiers wasn't always a good idea if they got in each other's way. Besides, Cao Yun's plans didn't rely on numbers. If Demon God Da Mo got his body back, all the army of the Hongchen Kingdom would probably be useless against him. Of course, he hadn't revealed that kind of information to the soldiers. Only a handful of people knew of the actual risks. Silver Wolf General Long Cheng was among them.
At last, they saw something. Silver Wolf General Long Cheng was alerted by scouts. Silver Wolf Marshal Shanyin Guan and his Six Fangs Generals were flying in that direction. Although Empyrean Asura had flown much faster than them, they had ironically been closer to the Heidai Peak. As such, they arrived less than a day later. Just like Empyrean Asura, they were flying incredibly fast.
Silver Wolf General Long Cheng called his troops. Thousands of Spirit Warriors rose in the air. They formed many battle formations all over the area. There were huge cubes made entirely of soldiers in tight formations. Some other formations were much more complex, but with fewer soldiers, of course. From afar, it truly looked like there were literal buildings flying all over the place, at varying altitudes. But those buildings were not made of bricks, they were made of human beings in arms and armor. At a moment's notice, they could scatter into swarms of Spirit Warriors.
With his long sword, Silver Wolf General Long Cheng was standing ahead of his army in his shining silver armor. As soon as he saw Long Cheng, Silver Wolf Marshal Shanyin Guan stopped his men. Behind the Six Fangs Generals were only four thousand Accomplished Demons. Besides, they had no force on the ground. In the air, Silver Wolf Marshal Shanyin Guan could see at least eight thousand Spirit Warriors. Lu Xiaoya confirmed that the count was accurate. Besides, she couldn't detect many more Spirit Warriors out of those formations.
With her perception, Lu Xiaoya had already found out the various scouts. By the time he stopped, Shanyin Guan already knew everything about Long Cheng's forces. In his mind, he had already made the calculations. Shanyin Guan could win this battle, but he wasn't absolutely certain of it. At the very least, it would be a close battle. Considering the circumstances, the humans would probably fight until the very last man. In other words, winning would be harder. Moreover, Shanyin Guan would lose most of his forces. In fact, he might win but die himself, or lose his Six Fangs Generals.
Something else was gnawing at Shanyin Guan's mind. His Six Fangs Generals didn't even want to fight. They would still follow his orders, but they knew that they were here to save Empyrean Asura while all of them would have preferred to see him dead. To be honest, Shanyin Guan also wanted him dead, but he didn't believe mankind could do it. Besides, he was terrified of what would happen after his victory. Shanyin Guan was ready to humiliate and debase himself as much as necessary to save his Langyin Region. Unfortunately, he wasn't sure it would be enough.
Silver Wolf General Long Cheng moved forward and talked with Silver Wolf Marshal Shanyin Guan only through telepathy. Their spiritual senses touched. In other words, their actual souls touched, and they talked in their minds.
"Venerable Marshal, this humble warrior pays his respects to you. You are an honorable man. You and your men are the only demons I genuinely respect. Do not involve yourself in this conflict."
"Noble General, this simple servant pays his respects. I have my orders. As you said, I am a man of honor. I do have to uphold my word."
"We both know that you're serving this monster out of love for your countrymen. But we also know the fate of all those you protect if this abomination triumphs. Do not be a fool."
"If I asked you to let your Emperor die, would you accept?"
"My Emperor would die to protect his people, would yours?"
Long Cheng's answer was so fast that Shanyin Guan didn't know what to say. The Silver Wolf General waited for a while. After all, he wanted to stall and buy as much time as necessary. However, he was the one who talked first once again.
"You would die for your men, and they would do the same for you. But they wouldn't give their lives for Empyrean Asura. The only reason you're ready to do so is out of fear for what he'll do to your people. Just let us deal with him. Even if we fail, you can still pretend that you were too late. I implore you to listen to reason.
"You asked me if I would let my Emperor die... This is what I'm doing right now. Instead of fighting at his side, I am merely keeping a border. Believe me, I would rather be dying at his side right now. Emperor Weide, Sect Leader Xuan, Matriarch Huang, and even the Young Sect Master Cao Yun are all risking their lives to vanquish this plague on our Piaolu planet."
"But do they have a chance...?"
Finally, Long Cheng saw the chink in his opponent's armor.
"They've all broken through into the fourth realm of cultivation."
Shanyin Guan's eyes changed. He had not been aware of that fact, and it changed a lot of things. There was now a genuine reason to believe in this fight. However, Long Cheng also saw doubts in those eyes. Even four Sages wouldn't be enough to kill Demon God Da Mo.
"Marshal, we know who Empyrean Asura really is. As such, I absolutely understand your fear. This abomination has enslaved my people for millennia. This vile creature is truly a disease on this planet. Mankind is ready to die, until the very last, in order to purge this filth. I do understand that you want to protect your people. But how do you think they'll be treated by Demon God Da Mo? Do you really think that their fate will be better than ours?"
Shanyin Guan was full of doubts, so Long Cheng used them against him, for his own good.
"I will betray my Emperor's trust by telling you this, but you need to hear it. We have the actual body of Demon God Da Mo, his Reborn Demon body. If your Empyrean Asura triumphs, he will become closer to an Immortal Demon than ever in his existence. If that happens, no one on this Piaolu planet will be able to stand against him. But more than that, he won't need to suffer a pact with anyone. The only reason why you can protect your Langyin Region is that he needs you, for now. Soon, he won't need you or your people.
"Silver Wolf Marshal, go back to your Langyin Region. If we fail, your people will need you in their last moments, as you will share our fate. Maybe you could save some of them for some time... But if we win, your people will need you to liberate the demons from the monstrous cult of this perverse abomination. Please, listen to reason."
Shanyin Guan's mind was in chaos. He genuinely didn't know what to do. So he turned toward his Six Fangs Generals. In their eyes, he saw that they didn't want this fight either. They didn't want to protect Empyrean Asura, who had been tormenting demons all over the demon territory. Long Cheng was right, if Empyrean Asura survived, his Langyin Region would be obliterated. Perhaps the humans could do what he was too afraid, and too weak, to achieve on his own.
Surprising everyone but Long Cheng, Shanyin Guan flew back toward his Six Fangs Generals and ordered them to retreat.