The battle near the Blood Gate raged with furious intensity, the clamor naturally drawing the attention of Demon Kings from further out. Driven by curiosity, they rushed over one after another to investigate, eager to see what manner of upheaval had erupted.
Within moments, over a dozen Demon Kings had gathered five li away. The instant they caught sight of the faces of the enemies locked in combat with the Eight Envoys, every last one of them blanched.
"The Stone Spirit Clan! How could they be here?"
"Impossible! We have defensive deployments along the entire outer perimeter—they couldn't have appeared out of thin air!"
"Could they have come from underground?"
"What are they trying to do—force their way through the Blood Gate?!"
…
The Demon Kings clamored among themselves in a cacophony, then suddenly their expressions all shifted. While the notion of storming the Blood Gate had crossed their minds more than once, none had ever truly possessed the audacity to act on it. Now, witnessing the Stone Spirit Clan appear from nowhere and clash head-on with the Eight Envoys, they felt a strange mixture of admiration and fury.
Admiration, because these spirits possessed such brazen courage, showing no fear of the retribution the Four Great Sacred Spirits would surely impose afterward. Fury, because when these troublemakers caused a scene of this magnitude, the rest of them were bound to face punishment as well.
At that thought, the Demon Kings exchanged glances and moved to rush forward in support.
The Stone Spirit Clan's infamous tenacity was common knowledge among all living creatures of the Ancient Wilds. The Eight Envoys were powerful, certainly, but against the full might of the Stone Spirit Clan, they might not necessarily gain the upper hand.
Only by joining forces could they swiftly suppress the Stone Spirits' arrogant blaze.
"Fear not, Envoys—we shall lend you a hand!" one of the Demon Kings bellowed, surging forward wrapped in a cloak of demonic energy.
Over there, the burly Sacred Envoy locked in a fierce exchange with Shi Yi narrowed his eyes and barked, "Nobody come any closer!"
The advancing Demon Kings froze in their tracks, expressions flickering with uncertainty. While the thirty-two Demon Kings and the Eight Sacred Envoys were roughly comparable in raw strength within the Ancient Wilds, in terms of actual authority the Sacred Envoys held a clear advantage—they were the confidants of the Four Great Sacred Spirits, ever at the Spirits' side, effectively serving as their spokesmen.
Under normal circumstances, their words were tantamount to the Sacred Spirits' commands.
So when the burly Sacred Envoy issued his order, not a single Demon King dared disobey—yet every one of them was bewildered, unable to fathom what the envoy meant.
"Maintain your vigil on the outer perimeter! Guard against anyone attempting to provide reinforcement. Any who dare trespass again shall be killed without mercy!" The burly Sacred Envoy shouted the order even as he fended off Shi Yi's world-ending attacks.
"Yes!" the Demon Kings responded in unison, though their expressions were utterly perplexed.
They were all powerful demon race cultivators who had practiced for untold millennia—sharp-minded and perceptive enough to sense that something was deeply wrong with the Sacred Envoy's command.
Under normal circumstances, they should all be joining forces to deal with the Stone Spirit Clan as swiftly as possible. The Blood Gate was of paramount importance, not something to be treated carelessly. Yet here was the Sacred Envoy insisting they remain on the outer perimeter, clearly unwilling to let them enter the fray.
The Eight Sacred Envoys alone certainly couldn't do much against the Stone Spirit Clan.
They exchanged glaces, suspicion churning within. They couldn't tell whether this was the Sacred Envoys' own decision or an order passed down from the Sacred Spirits themselves.
If it was the Sacred Spirits' command, that might actually make some sense—the Great Sacred Spirits had long desired to subdue the Stone Spirit Clan and put them to use. Unfortunately, each and every Stone Spirit was as stubborn and foul as a rock pulled from a cesspool, and despite numerous attempts the Sacred Spirits had never succeeded. This battle might represent an opportunity. But surely the Sacred Envoys wouldn't gamble with the Blood Gate itself, no matter how badly they wanted to bring the Stone Spirits under their control.
"Hm? There's a human over there—what is he doing?" One of the Demon Kings suddenly seemed to notice something and pointed toward Yang Kai's position with wide eyes.
The other Demon Kings turned to look. After watching for a moment, their faces drained of color.
"That human is dismantling the Blood Gate's seal!"
"What?! Preposterous! What exactly do those eight lords mean, standing by and watching this human break the seal without lifting a finger?! If the Sacred Spirits learn of this, what then!"
"This is terrible—the eight lords are tied down by the eight Stone Spirits, and that human is acting with absolute impunity!"
"What on earth are we supposed to do?"
"What's all the rush? Perhaps… this is what the eight lords deliberately intend to allow?" A seemingly shrewd Demon King suddenly let a sharp gleam flash in his eyes.
Another Demon King turned his head and regarded him with a leisurely look, speaking flatly: "Hu Li, you can eat whatever you like, but be careful what you say."
The Demon King called Hu Li chuckled. "I was just tossing it out there. Brothers, take it or leave it."
But certain words, once spoken, could not simply be dismissed as idle talk. The Sacred Envoy's earlier refusal to let them approach the battlefield—his insistence that they remain on the outer perimeter—had already planted seeds of doubt in these Demon Kings' minds. Now, prompted by Hu Li's remark, their hearts trembled violently. They had a creeping suspicion that this might indeed be the truth.
In an instant, every Demon King felt his scalp go numb and his body turn cold.
The Eight Sacred Envoys… were they rebelling against the Sacred Spirits? If so, the entire Ancient Wilds would be plunged into chaos.
With that preconceived notion coloring their perception, the Demon Kings looked again at the seemingly ferocious battle raging nearby and quickly spotted the anomaly. At first glance the fight appeared genuinely intense—the Eight Envoys and the Stone Spirit Clan both seemed to be doing everything in their power to destroy each other, their attacks delivered without a shred of restraint.
But as they watched more closely, not a single combatant had sustained so much as a scratch.