pjbooks Chapter 101 The Demon Clan's Actions
Chapter 101 The Demon Clan's Actions
The rift in the Demon God Realm closed completely in the void, the last wisp of dark red mist swallowed up by the eternal dark golden light of the Apostle Realm. On the circular throne, the silence of the ten Apostles was heavier than ever. Two crumbling empty thrones hung at the end of the circular arrangement, the dark golden light on their bases completely extinguished, the outlines of the thrones peeling away from their edges at an extremely slow pace, turning into fine dust that drifted into the depths of the void.
Kahn leaned back on the first throne, his amber pupils reflecting the slowly repairing light screen. On the screen, where Balthalon had vanished, a very thin, dark red crack remained, like a scar that could not be fully healed.
"Baal," he spoke, his voice still calm, "If the Demon God Realm sends out seventy-two Demon Kings, how long do you think they can last against Jiang Chen?"
Baal's dark eyes flickered. His thick arms were crossed over his chest, his short, fiery hair burning silently on his head, and a dark golden light pulsed intermittently within the vertical crack in his chest, like a heart gathering power. He remained silent for a long time—an extreme rare occurrence for Baal, for he was always the first to speak, the first to act, and the first to ignite his fighting spirit to its fullest.
"The Seventy-Two Demon Kings." He finally spoke, his voice rough like the grinding of volcanic rock. "Each one is the strongest fighting force under the Seven Pillars of the Abyss Demon God. The lowest is at the peak of S-rank, and the strongest have already touched the threshold of SSS-rank. In the human world, any one of them could single-handedly destroy a city without an S-rank awakened being."
He paused, a complex emotion surging deep within his dark eyes.
"But against Jiang Chen—if they attack one by one, they won't last an hour. If they attack together, maybe they can make him take it a little more seriously. But that's about it."
The runes in Sorg's pure white eyes flowed faster. His voice remained calm, but every word seemed meticulously calculated before being uttered: "Balsalon isn't stupid. For three hundred years, the Demon God Realm has benefited from the Abyss's blessing, and its overall strength has been steadily expanding. But their intelligence system isn't as advanced as our Apostle Realm's. They don't know how Astra died, and they don't know that Morgana's Soul Scream couldn't even break through Jiang Chen's defenses."
A emotionless voice rang out, belonging to the Third Apostle—the Void Watcher, Neltharion. His dark blue skin gleamed with a cold, bronze-like sheen in the void, and his pupil-less, dark blue eyes remained half-closed, as if nothing in the world was worth fully opening to see: "Before Balthalone came to the Apostle Realm, he should have already sent out reconnaissance troops. The seventy-two Demon Kings won't all be sent at once. They will first use low-level demons to probe, then use mid-level demon generals to wear them down, and only then will they send out the Demon Kings. This is the Demon God Realm's consistent tactic—using cannon fodder to push the enemy to their limits, and then using the main force to deliver a fatal blow."
"But their cannon fodder means nothing to Jiang Chen." Baal stood up from his throne, his fiery short hair suddenly shooting up a height that cast a play of light and shadow on his face, and a wild smile slowly spread across his lips. "So the Seventy-Two Demon Kings' probing will ultimately prove only one thing—the Demon God Realm, like us, is nothing but an ant in his eyes."
Thran finally spoke, his voice soft, as soft as wind blowing across a dry riverbed, yet every word caused the core of the laws within each apostle present to tremble slightly: "If the test of the Demon God Realm fails, if Jiang Chen crushes the seventy-two Demon Kings with the same overwhelming force—what will Balsalon do then?"
"He will take action himself," Nesario answered the question for everyone. "The Seven Pillars of the Abyss are all beings on par with the Apostles. Balthazaron is the 'Plague of a Thousand Eyes,' and the core of his law is 'Corruption'—he can corrupt any matter, energy, or even the law itself he comes into contact with, turning it into his own nourishment. If he absorbs Jiang Chen's true essence—even just a trace—"
"He can't absorb it." Seran's voice was still very soft, but it carried an undeniable certainty. "Jiang Chen's Dao heart was planted when that man named Qingyunzi taught him how to use the sword a thousand years ago. He developed the first layer when half of his body was crushed by the Primordial Dragon Elephant in the Demon Beast Forest. He developed the second layer when he faced a million dead souls alone on the ancient battlefield after his master was possessed. He developed the third layer when he was tortured by the Heavenly Dao during his tribulation and ascension and almost lost his mind and body."
On the circular throne, all the apostles looked at Thran. This was the first time the Mirror of Nothingness had spoken so much since the meeting began.
"I have seen Balsaron's past. He slept in the depths of the abyss for tens of thousands of years, and after awakening, he climbed to the position of one of the Seven Pillars of Demons in less than a hundred years. His corrupting laws were so powerful that even the previous Seventh Pillar of Demons could not withstand them—that old man was corrupted from within by him for three hundred years, his core of laws shattered into dust, and his soul was imprisoned in Balsaron's dark green left eyeball, where it is still wailing to this day." Kahn's amber pupils twitched slightly, and no one knew what he was thinking.
A faint, almost transparent smile appeared on Seran's lips: "Yes. But he is a Celestial Emperor. In the system of cultivation civilization, a Celestial Emperor is someone who has shattered the void, cleaved the heavens, comprehended the three thousand Great Daos, and ascended to the pinnacle of the world. The strongest opponent Balsaron corrupted was the previous Seventh Pillar Demon God. And the strongest opponent Jiang Chen has killed in the cultivation world is the Heavenly Dao itself."
In the void, there was a deathly silence. The Dao itself. The weight of these four words was heavier than all the forces they had encountered on this planet in the past three hundred years combined.
"So the conclusion is simple." Kahn rose from his throne, his black robes falling silently in the void. His amber pupils slowly swept over each apostle present, his voice as calm as the unchanging void itself. "If the Demon God Realm wants to test them, let them go. If Balsalon wants to send seventy-two Demon Kings, let him send them. If the Demon King's army wants to launch an attack on the border of the human world, let humanity deal with it themselves. We will not interfere, nor will we provide any intelligence. Let the Demon God Realm use their own blood to measure Jiang Chen's Dao Heart and strength—and to show it to all of humanity."
He turned around and walked toward the end of the void.
"Three hundred years ago, we gave humanity the power of awakening, not to make them kneel at our feet forever. It was to see how far they could go. Now, it's time to see how far they can go with our power, and it's also time to see how much malice from the abyss Jiang Chen can shield humanity with his power. This experiment has entered its next phase."