Sun Liao's forces were still fighting four surviving Supplicant Tyrants. Although they had suffered several painful casualties, the Spirit Warriors were now, paradoxically, stronger than their opponents. Indeed, they were more focused on each of them. Clearly, the Supplicant Tyrants would not be able to endure for very long. Unfortunately, it was also obvious that the human cultivators would suffer a few more casualties, if not more than that.
At the same time, Demon God Da Mo's arrival changed everything. His mere presence was enough to cause the Mortal Warriors on the ground to fall to their knees. Only a handful of them were powerful enough to resist his killing intent and his murderous aura. Every cultivator felt as though they had been plunged into a boiling sea of blood. Their own blood was frozen in their veins, and they could sense their death approaching. Not only was this terrifying, but it left them feeling powerless and frustrated. Despite all their efforts, some of them were simply unable to move at all, they could barely breathe.
Demon God Da Mo's aura also affected all the Spirit Warriors. After all, he was a literal Reborn Demon. In other words, his cultivation was two entire realms above them. Moreover, he was very close to becoming an Immortal Demon. Although it was difficult to assess it precisely, he would quite clearly become an Immortal Demon before the end of his natural lifespan. This definitely was the very last moment where mankind had the opportunity to slay him, at least, mankind on the Piaolu planet. Hopefully, other humans existed on other worlds. In fact, Emperor Nuwa might still be alive somewhere if her cultivation had progressed far enough.
Although the idea of Demon God Da Mo facing Emperor Nuwa again in the far future was interesting, Cao Yun didn't want it to happen. After all, it would mean that he had failed, and that everyone in the Hongchen Kingdom, him included, was dead.
Sun Liao didn't seem to really care about Demon God Da Mo's presence. In fact, he sent several of his men to activate a few array formations. As soon as they got triggered, his men received more protection from the killing intent. However, Sun Liao's forces kept on focusing on the last Supplicant Tyrants. Sun Liao let go of any restraint, he had to be fast. As such, he was forced to accept more casualties. This was war, to save more lives later, he would sacrifice his own men now. The chief elders didn't bat an eye and obeyed. Under their leadership, the Spirit Warriors didn't question anything. Despite the agonizing fear induced by this large Reborn Demon, they stayed on task. The Supplicant Tyrants had to die as fast as possible. Sun Liao blamed himself as he should have already dealt with them, but he had tried to spare his men as much as possible. Apparently, he had misjudged the timing, and it might cause Cao Yun's plans to fail if they weren't fast enough.
At this moment, Cao Yun was still calculating. Thankfully, he didn't need the Supplicant Tyrants yet. However, he knew what was going to happen very soon. He had tried to stop it, but this stupid demon had decided to dig through the ground. If only Demon God Da Mo had kept on trying to push the Empyrean Human Emperor Seal upward, Cao Yun would have had more time.
Cao Yun wasn't really impressed by Demon God Da Mo's presence. To be fair, Cao Yun had already visited his body so there was no surprise. In fact, his aura was on the weaker side compared to Cao Yun's plans, but he would still have preferred him to be even weaker.
"Thank you, vermin! Had I known that my body was complete, I would have rushed here much earlier. I have to admit that you were smart and even crafty for mere vermin. As a sign of respect, I will crush your cultivation and let you live long enough to see me and my kind slaughter, torture, mutilate, debase, and abuse all of your kind!"
A disgusting smile completely disfigured Demon God Da Mo. All the wounds he had sustained from digging through the ground while the Empyrean Human Emperor Seal was crushing him had already healed. His majestic body was still covered in dust. But all humans had to admit that his new body was incredible. In fact, it almost looked like a statue. It wasn't too different from Cao Yun's body when he was using his full asura cultivation.
Speaking of Cao Yun, Demon God Da Mo finally turned his eyes toward the young man. Even he was surprised by his appearance.
"I see... Boy, there is something even my eyes can't perceive hidden in your very heart. While I'll keep the others alive to show them how much I respect them and their kind, I'll have to rip your heart out. Hopefully, I'll be able to keep you alive long enough for you to realize how insignificant you and all your actions were."
"Old demon, I have read the diaries of Emperor Nuwa. You never changed... Your arrogance sent you into many losing campaigns in the Withering Fusang Domains. It prevented you from seeing treason in your own midst. And in the end, it caused your downfall. The little girl you abused with so much malice and pleasure for so long destroyed you and everything that you built. And yet, even now, you are unable to contain your arrogance. Sadly, cultivation didn't come with wisdom for you. In the name of Emperor Nuwa and Fangzhi Hunpo, the Weaver of Souls, I will put a definitive end to your stupidity and depravity. Your entire cult will collapse this very day. On the entire Piaolu planet, you will be remembered as a butcher and a monster while your former brother-in-arms will be remembered as a saint and a founder of a dynasty."
Having read enough about Demon God Da Mo, Cao Yun knew exactly which words would cut deep. As he was listening to Cao Yun, Demon God Da Mo only wanted to rip out his heart. However, he controlled himself because he felt as though this boy was strange. This human was hiding something, or maybe planning something. In Cao Yun's words, Demon God Da Mo perceived many things. Begrudgingly, Demon God Da Mo had to admit to himself that he was too arrogant. Unlike Weaver of Souls, who had focused on training his Po in order to control his Turbid Demons, Da Mo had simply used brute force to subdue them. As such, he had the most widespread flaw of many demons, he was too emotional.
If Demon God Da Mo had been able to go this far, it had been thanks to his brother-in-arms balancing his arrogance and brutality. Despite knowing all of that, Demon God Da Mo was unable to change. At that moment, he realized that the answer might lie with his former friend's work. Maybe this boy knew enough that keeping him alive long enough to extract all the information was interesting. However, Demon God Da Mo decided that it was too dangerous. Even with his current strength, he was uneasy in front of that young man.
In the eyes of Sect Leader Xuan and Matriarch Huang, he couldn't see the fear he induced in so many others. But they were the most powerful humans on the Piaolu planet, so it didn't surprise him. However, in Cao Yun's eyes, Demon God Da Mo saw nothing. For the young man, Demon God Da Mo was already dead. It was just a question of how much damage he would cause while writhing around in his last moments. There was no doubt for Demon God Da Mo, he had to kill that young man on the spot.
As soon as this thought appeared in his mind, Demon God Da Mo felt intense pain throughout his body. It originated from his heart and spread through his blood. Even when Da Mo stopped his blood flow, the pain still spread until it reached his head and entered his sea of consciousness.
"It seems like you finally activated the Black Death Prison. Sadly, even I was unable to replicate the actual 3-star Spirit poison, but it should be close enough."
Demon God Da Mo had obviously heard about the Black Death Prison poison, as had everyone in the Wubei Sect. Indeed, it was the poison that had killed Chief Elder Suxian. Ironically, it had been used by Mo Tian on that occasion. And today, it was also Mo Tian who had used it.
Hidden within Demon God Da Mo's body, Mo Tian had received a seal from Cao Yun made of Death Energy and the essence of the Black Death Prison poison. As soon as the seal detected Da Mo's killing intent toward Cao Yun, it was triggered and spread in an instant. All of Demon God Da Mo's acupoints were sealed by a mixture of the poison and Death Energy. The point of such a poison was to trap one's Qi and soul within the flesh by attacking all the acupoints. Of course, a Demon Soul as powerful as Demon God Da Mo might be able to break free, but it would take some time and still cause a lot of damage. In the meantime, Demon God Da Mo's strength was diminished.
For Mo Tian, this was the perfect moment to strike. However, he still waited. Just like Cao Yun, he had guessed what would happen next. The young man could tell that Mo Tian was waiting, as Cao Yun had put a seal in Mo Tian. Of course, Cao Yun could have triggered the seal, but he needed Mo Tian to increase his chances of victory. At this moment, Cao Yun truly hated Mo Tian. Mankind was on the brink of extermination, but he was still plotting.
Sect Leader Xuan and Matriarch Huang looked at each other and at Cao Yun. The old man put his hand on the young man's shoulder.
"Disciple, it is time. We all know that we won't survive this fight anyway, or not for long. No matter the sacrifice, you must prevail."
Sect Leader Xuan's voice was only in Cao Yun's mind, he also sent a letter into his spatial ring. Finally, the old man turned his voice outward and spoke for all to hear.
"We, Sect Leader Xuan Mu of the Wubei Sect, hereby declare Young Sect Master Cao Yun as the new Sect Leader of the Wubei Sect."
"Boy, this old woman thanks you for what you did for her family. You've saved my daughter's life and my successor's life as well. Despite what some members of my family did to you, you've repaid us with gratitude. My Huang family owes you a lot. And I know that the two women I leave behind will know how to repay you. This old crone plotted all her life to help her family, but you did so much for us while I failed to protect the Cao family. In my last moments, I have to beg for your forgiveness. However, I have to be sincere. As much as I wished for your family to have been spared, the results of this abomination are so good for my family and for our Hongchen Kingdom that I can't stop myself from praising that terrible day. I hope you can forgive the foolishness of this old woman. Without your nightmare, I would never have had my dreams. Please, keep protecting the Hongchen Kingdom, which already took so much from you. In my very last moments, I don't know if I speak with honesty because of some sense of morality or if I'm still scheming to use your emotions for the greater good of mankind. Isn't it sad that a lifetime of politics clouded my perception of my own psyche?"
"We, Matriarch Huang Yufeng of the Huang family, hereby declare in front of all the noble witnesses that Matriarch Huang Cixi is the new Matriarch of the Huang family."
As soon as the thunderous voices of the two elders echoed through the area, they both flew toward the massive body of Demon God Da Mo. Before they even got close to him, their bodies suddenly fell to the ground. From the two heavily injured bodies, two ethereal forms appeared, their very own Soul Embryos.
Cao Yun had planned for this in one of his worst-case scenarios. Unfortunately, the two elders knew that they could not fight efficiently anymore. At least, their bodies were in no condition to fight. But their souls were still powerful. And Cao Yun was the one with the best understanding of souls. Besides, he was the one who knew the most about the Black Death Prison and could control the Death Energy within. As such, Cao Yun used his knowledge of the Dao of Death.
Now that they had abandoned their bodies, the Po of the two elders had already turned into Death Energy. With no hesitation at all, Cao Yun took over all the Death Energy in their dead bodies. Although he hated it, he couldn't let their deaths go to waste. Now that their Soul Embryos had fully left their bodies, there was nothing to do. Even if they came back into their corpses, they wouldn't miraculously come back to life.
As the massive Death Energy came toward Cao Yun, he used 'Soul Chains'. A large amount of the Death Energy from those two corpses turned into two chains. The next instant, those chains stabbed directly into the two Soul Embryos and kept on going. They struck Demon God Da Mo's body right in the head. The young man had targeted specific acupoints where the Black Death Prison was a bit weaker. As the chains were made of Death Energy, they seemed to melt into the skin of Demon God Da Mo. Instead of actually stabbing him, they merged with the Death Energy and poison within, turning back into formless energy.
Before Demon God Da Mo could even react, the two Soul Embryos rushed through the chains and entered his body. The very next instant, they were both inside the sea of consciousness of Demon God Da Mo. Although his Demon Soul was weakened, Cao Yun knew that he was still an enemy vastly superior to the two elders. Even with the Black Death Prison, it might not be enough to crush Demon God Da Mo. However, they would buy some time. Hopefully, Mo Tian would help as well. Unfortunately, the snake was still waiting for the two elders to weaken Da Mo even more. Despite the severity of the situation, that old traitor was still thinking about his own survival, no matter what. Sadly, Cao Yun had given him his word, as long as Mo Tian did what he had been asked to do.