The enormous airboat halted above the island, while a procession of smaller airboats stopped in its vicinity. These were unmistakably the main battleships that housed the demons’ core fighting force.
Under the crowd’s watchful eyes, someone pushed open the giant airboat’s cabin door. Escorted by celestial demon elites, a cultivator clad in golden robes and a tall crown made his entrance, his eyes full of solemn dignity.
He radiated the aura of a monarch, and his eyes sparkled like rivers of stars. They seemed to encompass the mysteries of the universe. Lightning danced within irises as glorious as the sun and the moon.
“Forefather Celestial! Forefather Celestial!” All of the demons prostrated themselves.
This demon was indeed the supreme leader of the demonic invasion in Divine Abyss. He possessed the noblest of bloodlines among all ten tribes, and was the supreme forefather of the celestial demons.
The other airboats’ cabin doors also opened. Several demon forefathers, escorted by a host demon cultivators, emerged in turn.
There was a clear demarcation between the ten tribes at this moment.
Six other celestial demon divine forefathers surrounded Forefather Celestial. Like the latter, the six of them possessed a subtle mark on their foreheads unique to their tribe, called the Celestial Demon Mark.
It only appeared on those possessing the tribe’s bloodline. Its existence was the reason for their superiority to the other tribes. Like the bloodlines of the four sacred beasts, one could inherit the race’s heritage memories thanks to it.
Every time this mark resuscitated, it brought with it some of the tribe’s legacy that dated back to the most primordial times. It even purified their bloodline.
Collectively, the seven forefathers of the celestial demon tribe were called the Celestial Demon Seven.
Their existence was the reason for their tribe’s supremacy. In the past, other tribes had also counted seven or eight divine forefathers among their ranks, but an obvious gap in strength and well-roundedness had existed nonetheless.
Most of all, none of the Celestial Demon Seven had fallen in the ancient war. They’d been sealed away, but none had been grievously wounded. Now free, they still numbered seven.
In contrast, all the other tribes had lost forefathers to the humans, leaving three or four alive at most.
The center of attention, Forefather Celestial’s gaze swept across every tribe, a frown instantly maring his brows.
“Where are the others?” His voice possessed a unique metallic timbre. It was forceful and sonorous, but wasn’t without its own charisma.
Goldenhowl shrugged. “If they’re not here by now, they probably won’t ever make it.”
He sounded a little mystifying, but the crowd paled as soon as they understood the implications.
Forefather Celestial’s voice turned somber. “What?”
Goldenhowl heaved a long sigh. “We’ve been careless. We’ve never suffered such heavy losses, not even in the last war.”
Forefather Celestial already knew of the battles at the Rejuvenation Isles and Everlasting, as well Flora’s siege.
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But time had been pressing and the army already en route to the transportation formation, so he hadn’t been apprised yet of later confrontations at Sunrise, Radiance, and Eternal.
Therefore, the main force was still unaware of the bitter fate the fire, winged, and wood demon tribes had suffered.
“Old Brother Goldenhowl, what do you mean?” A fire demon forefather couldn’t resist piping up. He was also freshly arrived with the main force and had yet to learn of his tribe’s misfortune.
Goldenhowl chuckled tragically. “How do I say this? Out of the forefathers who came first to Myriad Abyss, I’m the only one still alive.”
The sky was clearly blue, but his words struck like a clap of thunder, making the forefathers blanch in shock.
The only one alive?
How was that possible? The demons had invested several tribes into Myriad Abyss, alongside more than ten divine forefathers. And they were all dead? Why did that sound so ludicrous?
Even Forefather Celestial’s indifferent face darkened. He’d sensed danger after the defeats at Everlasting and Flora. That had been precisely why he’d ordered the main army to move earlier than scheduled, in order to force a decisive battle against the human domain.
But what was this? In a few short days, the fire, winged, and wood demons had also fallen prey to treacherous ambushes?
When had the humans become so powerful?
The scene was deathly still. Demons were ferocious, but they weren’t entirely immune to fear. When they were suddenly pitted against an existence that could threaten their existences, they fretted and cowered all the same.
Forefather Celestial took a deep breath. “Is everything that Jiang Chen’s doing?”
“We still haven’t reached a definite conclusion yet, but I’m afraid he’s deeply involved if the rumors are anything to go by. The fire and winged tribe survivors have returned recently, but they didn’t fight in a battle to begin with, so they can’t say for certain. The wood tribe survivors haven’t arrived yet, so no one knows the exact cause of their downfall.”
Jiang Chen had ambushed the two fire demon forefathers away from prying eyes, and no one had witnessed the battle against the winged demon forefathers.
So, while the two tribes knew they’d lost their leaders, they didn’t know the perpetrator’s identity. They’d merely assigned the blame to Jiang Chen by force of habit.
That wasn’t unreasonable either, of course. Who else could threaten them time after time and massacre their forefathers, other than this human kid who’d mysteriously appeared from nowhere?
There was an unprecedented gravity on Forefather Celestial’s face. He’d faced humanity’s greatest cultivators in the past, but had never experienced a situation this severe.
The current state of affairs had already developed beyond his understanding.
In the ancient times, no leading human figure had been able to withstand him in single combat.
Two or three of them together might have withstood his power for a short time, but they could only flee with their tails between their legs in a more drawn-out confrontation.
This fighting prowess was the root of their psychological superiority over their human counterparts from the moment they invaded Divine Abyss.