The sky over the Wubei Sect was in utter chaos. The remaining Supplicant Tyrants were fighting Sun Liao and his men. Many strange and ethereal phenomena were happening. Sun Liao had fully manifested his 'Heavenly Mirror Longbow'. Many array formations were also activated to their fullest. It was an all-out war against the forces of Demon God Da Mo. Although the Supplicant Tyrants weren't as powerful as all the cultivators surrounding them, they were literally dead and made of Death Energy. The mere fact that they were using Evil Qi was an issue. Fighting them was like fighting a very poisonous enemy. Apart from Cao Yun, Evil Qi and Death Energy were incredibly dangerous and painful to all the other cultivators present.
In the center of this apocalyptic scene, Cao Yun had manifested his asura form and was using it to push the Empyrean Human Emperor Seal down. Sect Leader Xuan and Matriarch Huang were supporting the young man. The old woman's Qi was weak as her Lower Dantian was literally a hole now. No vital organ had been destroyed, and she had cauterized the wound with her flames. Clearly, she couldn't last very long, so she gulped down a few pills as if they were candy. It was obvious that she didn't really care about the future. Although it was painful to admit it, Cao Yun agreed with her. She had no future at all.
On the other hand, Sect Leader Xuan was still bleeding from his throat. Unfortunately, it wasn't the kind of wound one could cauterize, as his jugular had been torn open. If Matriarch Huang tried to burn his wound shut, it would most likely just kill him. The only reason why he was alive was his will. Despite the insidious effect of Demon God Da Mo's Dao of Blood, the sect leader was using his sheer will to control the flow of blood as much as he could. Some blood still poured out of his wound, but it wasn't enough to kill him fast. Most likely, he could live several hours, if not days, without any treatment. That being said, physicians were trying to treat him. Sadly, they couldn't do much except change the cloths around his neck and give him pills.
The last two Sages of mankind, but also the newest Sages of mankind, were helping Cao Yun. The situation seemed difficult, because it was. Thankfully, Emperor Weide's words had galvanized the crowd, and they didn't pay enough attention to the wounds of the Sages. They were busy dealing with the Supplicant Tyrants. Besides, Cao Yun's powerful aura was helping as it hid the weakness of the two elders.
"Don't do anything. If you squander the last bits of strength you have left now, it's over. Try and recover as much as you can."
"Can you crush Da Mo?"
"... No. I can barely hold the Empyrean Human Emperor Seal. Even if I were to use all of my strength, I wouldn't be able to kill Da Mo. It's exactly as I feared, we'll have to use Mo Tian, and maybe more than that..."
"Then do not concern yourself for us. We know what we have to do and we'll do it. No matter what, make sure that the old demon dies. Huang Cixi will take care of my Huang family and of the Hongchen Kingdom. My death and Emperor Weide's death are no problems at all. However, your death would be a terrible blow to our Hongchen Kingdom. Do not be naive, boy. Even if you have to sacrifice many others, you must survive and kill this abomination."
"Sadly, Matriarch Huang is absolutely right. Although I hope that our Wubei Sect survives, the future of mankind on the Piaolu planet is more important. As long as the Hongchen Kingdom survives, the Wubei Sect can be rebuilt. You must destroy that so-called demon god, but you must also survive, no matter what. Mankind needs you more than anyone else at the moment. I will add that Sun Liao must survive, too. You must make sure that he and his knowledge survive. Through you and him, we can produce many more Sages. Mankind will be able to stand up against the demons even if they were to all unite. Hopefully this won't happen, thanks to you and your plans."
Cao Yun felt terrible as he knew that Sect Leader Xuan and Matriarch Huang were thinking of those words as their last ones. Indeed, they knew that they wouldn't survive this fight. In fact, Cao Yun himself was convinced that they wouldn't. Worse than that, their deaths had always been part of his plans. Of course, these were the very last plans he hoped never to use, but he had taken this possibility into account, and they all knew it. The two Sages were perfectly aware of what they should do in that situation, they were ready for it. Instead of helping Cao Yun, they began to meditate to save as much strength as possible. Moreover, they focused on their own Soul Embryos.
It was such a pity that they would never get to fully explore this Sage realm. But they were glad to have reached it in their last moments. Besides, they would die for a noble cause, fully expecting to save mankind. Better than that, they would help bring mankind to a new golden age of cultivation and prosperity. Mankind wouldn't need to fear the demons. Maybe mankind could become the dominant kind on the Piaolu planet once again, just like it was before Demon God Da Mo had enslaved them all. His death would herald the domination of mankind. With Cao Yun, this domination wouldn't be just revenge against the demons. In fact, they might forge alliances with some demon kingdoms like the Four Saints had done during the Seven Treaties Era.
Under the Empyrean Human Emperor Seal, Demon God Da Mo's skin was pierced by many swords with chains coiled around most of his body. Some blood was visible here and there, but it was barely flowing as his blood was even more impressive than Cao Yun's Golden Blood. After all, his body was a Reborn Demon. The blood stains on the chains were golden and crimson.
Over Demon God Da Mo's upper back, the massive Empyrean Human Emperor Seal was pressing down. Bulging his muscles, the huge, chained demon was able to prevent it from moving downward. However, he was still unable to push it upward either. He could tell that this object was absolutely monstrous. But he could also tell that it had aged a lot. If the Empyrean Human Emperor Seal had not been as old and weary, Demon God Da Mo would have been crushed and reduced to nothingness in an instant. As such, the Reborn Demon could imagine how powerful the Empyrean Human Emperor's enemy was. However, this Empyrean Human Emperor Seal didn't seem to have been targeted at High Lord Asura. In fact, it didn't seem to have been made to seal an asura in the first place. The Empyrean Human Emperor Seal appeared to have been forged in order to seal humans specifically.
To be fair, Demon God Da Mo didn't have much time to study the Empyrean Human Emperor Seal, so he based his analysis on his first impressions. Also, he didn't really care. The only reason why those thoughts crossed his mind was that he was trying to find a way to move or even destroy this Empyrean Human Emperor Seal. As such, he had found out that his asura cultivation wasn't as suppressed as it should have been. It was suppressed, of course, but the demon god realized that he could use his True Fire. A seal targeted at an asura would have made using one's True Fire almost impossible.
From Demon God Da Mo's heart, heat began to rise. Within his blood system, sparks appeared and ignited a powerful flame. Crimson and golden flames spread throughout the large demon's body. Then, they finally licked the chains holding the Reborn Demon down. It was as if his own Golden Blood had turned into fire and was now spreading. The chains became hotter and hotter, to the point where they literally melted the flesh off Demon God Da Mo's body. Unfortunately, they were too sturdy to be melted. However, the burned flesh of Demon God Da Mo made some of the swords become looser and looser, and the same was true for the chains themselves. As they dug into his skin, they became looser.
Demon God Da Mo was in intense pain, more than ever before. The Empyrean Human Emperor Seal wasn't to be trifled with. Also, the fact that he had just recovered this body made it a bit more difficult for him. He wasn't used to this kind of pain anymore. However, this body was so compatible with him that he could use almost all of his strength already.
Finally, the demon was able to move one arm. Just by pulling some of the chains, he was able to get more room for his other arm. Slowly, over the course of several hours, Demon God Da Mo was able to free one arm. From there, it was much easier to free the other one. Only then could he become much more aggressive.
Demon God Da Mo grabbed the Empyrean Human Emperor Seal with his massive arms. Immediately, he pushed upward before realizing that it was a mistake. Indeed, the next instant, a wave of energy and force came crashing down and hit his back. Cao Yun had hit the Empyrean Human Emperor Seal with all his strength. As the wave traveled downward, Demon God Da Mo lost his grip on the Empyrean Human Emperor Seal, and it slammed him right on the upper back. If he had waited to recover a bit more strength, Demon God Da Mo would have held the Empyrean Human Emperor Seal more tightly. He had acted too fast. He corrected himself. There was no reason to be afraid of humans, or even to plan ahead. They were just insects he would crush. Right now, he was in a difficult situation just because of this ancient artifact. As soon as he came out, he would slaughter everyone in a matter of minutes, if not seconds.
Now that Cao Yun had felt the Empyrean Human Emperor Seal move upward, he knew that it was only a matter of time before Demon God Da Mo broke free. This time, it hadn't just been his back pushing upward, it had been more aggressive. As such, Sect Leader Xuan and Matriarch Huang also became more ready than ever. Although several hours had passed, five Supplicant Tyrants remained. Many cultivators had given their lives in the fight, and the remaining Supplicant Tyrants were all in terrible condition. Seeing the Empyrean Human Emperor Seal move, Sun Liao gave new orders.
Sun Liao had tried to be as fast as possible in his elimination of the Supplicant Tyrants without sacrificing cultivators for no reason. However, it seemed as if he needed to be more aggressive. Maybe he would have to sacrifice more lives to take down the last Supplicant Tyrants. As that thought crossed his mind, Cao Yun sent him different orders. Although it would be good to kill the Supplicant Tyrants, it wasn't essential so long as they were weak enough. Using Cao Yun's knowledge, they knew exactly where to strike to make them weaker and make them lose control over the Death Energy within. Sun Liao obviously obeyed his new orders. Besides, he preferred not to have to sacrifice his men.
Demon God Da Mo tried to push upward with all of his strength over and over again. Each time, he was pushing a bit farther. But he was also exhausting himself. After some time, he had a very simple yet effective idea. He stopped pushing upward and tried to push diagonally. He put more force on his right side to make the Empyrean Human Emperor Seal lean to one side. Demon God Da Mo didn't need to actually push the Empyrean Human Emperor Seal all the way out, he simply had to get out from under it. Since it began to lean, it was also a bit harder for Cao Yun to exert as much strength by hitting it. It wasn't much, but the angle diminished the strength actually sent into Demon God Da Mo.
The large demon was able to move the Empyrean Human Emperor Seal faster and faster now. From his massive, bulging arms, his True Fire was spreading. Now, the golden and crimson flames were covering the entire base of the Empyrean Human Emperor Seal. By moving around as much as he could, Demon God Da Mo was able to remove many of the swords as they weren't too deep in his flesh. He quite literally scratched himself against the walls of the cavern he was in to get rid of some swords. It was painful but effective.
As soon as he saw the opportunity, Demon God Da Mo propelled the Empyrean Human Emperor Seal as high as he could, and he rushed forward. The demon slammed into the wall of the cavern and immediately flew upward. The cavern was also extremely resistant, but not as much as the Empyrean Human Emperor Seal. His massive body was dragging against both the wall of the cavern and the Empyrean Human Emperor Seal.
Unfortunately, Cao Yun didn't feel it in time. As such, he slammed the Empyrean Human Emperor Seal, which suddenly dug deeper into the hole of the Devil's Jail. Suddenly, Cao Yun realized that his enemy had gotten free. Cao Yun spread his spiritual senses and felt Demon God Da Mo's blood vitality. The Empyrean Human Emperor Seal leaned ever more as Demon God Da Mo pushed it while flying.
In an explosion of rocks and dust, the massive red body of Demon God Da Mo appeared. He was covered in small injuries and had lost most of his dignity. It didn't look like a powerful Reborn Demon, but like a massive beggar covered in dust, wounds, and some blood here and there. But, the very moment it appeared before everyone, his vitality and his killing intent spread throughout the battlefield. No one could escape it.
After that wave of killing intent, his disheveled appearance made him even more menacing. Mankind was facing the biggest butcher and worst criminal in all of mankind's history. No one could imagine even a dozen Sages vanquishing such a cultivator. The truth was that they couldn't. Even a hundred 1st-grade Sages probably wouldn't be enough to kill Demon God Da Mo at the moment. Thankfully, Cao Yun had planned ahead. But he wasn't sure it would be enough. Hopefully, hopefully...