"My sneaking into this realm without the other elders' knowledge wasn't so I could cower and hide — it was to secure greater benefits for our faction. According to the original Holy Sovereign agreement, whichever side conquers human territory is entitled to disposal rights over half the area when establishing a foothold in the Spirit Realm. With such enormous benefits at stake, naturally I intend to fight for the greatest advantage for our side!" The black-armored woman said, her expression grave.
"What does Elder Sister mean?" Yuansha asked, her delicate brows furrowing.
"After I return, I will take a Dragon-Locking Pill to unleash this avatar's latent potential, temporarily restoring eighty to ninety percent of my Magical Power. That way, so long as I don't face an overwhelmingly powerful opponent, I can still act from the shadows." The black-armored woman paused in thought for a moment before continuing.
"A Dragon-Locking Pill! But doesn't that mean Elder Sister will have to enter seclusion for a thousand years after a hundred years to fully recover from the injuries?" Yuansha appeared genuinely shocked.
"It doesn't matter. As long as we reap sufficient benefits this time, what is a mere thousand years of seclusion for a single avatar? However, during that period, I'll need you to keep watch and protect it, lest the avatar actually be destroyed." The black-armored woman said slowly.
"Rest assured — I descended to this realm specifically to assist you, Elder Sister. I just never imagined we would also encounter Bao. Thinking back on the old bond between us few, it truly brings a sigh!" Yuansha said with a bitter smile.
"Hmph. Since Bao chose a different path from ours, there is no friendship to speak of. The principle of the victor being king and the loser a bandit has always been an ironclad rule of our Holy Tribe. Had we been the ones to fail that day, our fate would have been far more wretched than Bao's!" The black-armored woman snorted coldly.
"Perhaps. But Bao is, after all, one of our Holy Tribe's three Founding Ancestors. Eradicating her influence entirely is still unlikely. Many who outwardly show nothing are secretly devoted to her." Yuansha said with a light sigh.
"As one of the Founding Ancestors, her influence naturally cannot be compared to that of an ordinary Holy Sovereign. But no matter how great that influence, it cannot withstand the erosion of time. Thirty thousand years, forty thousand years — perhaps some will still remember their loyalty to her. But once a hundred thousand years, a million years pass, that influence will naturally dissipate like mist. Still, we cannot simply allow her to wander nearby. Once my true body can descend, I will personally assemble a dedicated force to deal with her. Even if we cannot completely eliminate her, I will absolutely not permit her to ruin our grand plans!" The black-armored woman said, her face brimming with killing intent.
"Mm. Since Elder Sister has made her decision, this little sister naturally has no objections. Now that your injuries have been suppressed, let us set off for human territory immediately. When I departed, the protective formations of Heavenly Spirit City had been nearly breached. By the time we return, the city may well have fallen entirely." Yuansha nodded, a flash of excitement crossing her face.
"The army led by my other elite avatar consists of forces I hand-picked over centuries — strong enough to rank among the top three of all armies that have descended into the Spirit Realm. If they still cannot take a single human city, that would be the strange thing!" The black-armored woman said mildly, showing no surprise whatsoever.
"That's true. Otherwise, your avatar wouldn't have had the spare capacity to send me out to disrupt those little schemes of the humans." Yuansha laughed.
"Let's go. Let us hope things proceed as smoothly as we envision!" The black-armored woman raised her head to glance at the sky, her gaze flickering.
"What a pity — this time that brat surnamed Han got off easy. He escaped with his life for nothing." Yuansha recalled their original quarry and muttered resentfully.
The black-armored woman smiled faintly without commenting. Instead, she opened her mouth and spat out a ball of crimson light.
Within the red glow sat a crystalline flying carriage, mere inches in size and exquisitely crafted. With a single pulse of magical incantations, it instantly expanded to several zhang in length.
Without a moment's hesitation, Yuansha moved and reappeared atop the carriage in a flash.
The black-armored woman rose to her feet, then gracefully drifted onto the carriage with a light lift of her slender legs.
The next instant, the carriage's surface shimmered with light, transforming into a crimson arc that shot into the sky and streaked toward the horizon.
--- Five months later, Heavenly Spirit City — one of the three great imperial cities of the human race — was finally engulfed by an endless tide of demon armies.
Not a single cultivator within the city survived. Even several Integration-stage Elders were surrounded and cut down by high-ranking demons through sheer overwhelming force.
Yet the dying counterattacks of these pinnacle human existences were devastatingly fierce. They dragged down an equal number of Demon Lords of the same rank and caused thousands of high-ranking demons to perish alongside them in self-detonation.
Only the newly appointed Spirit Emperor, through some inconceivable divine ability, suddenly elevated his Magical Power to an unimaginable degree and fought his way bloody through the demon army, escaping gravely wounded.
But after the battle, no further news of this Spirit Emperor was ever heard again.
The high-ranking demon commander leading the army, in towering fury, not only slaughtered every captured human cultivator but also chopped down the towering heavenly tree that symbolized Heavenly Spirit City — the one that pierced through to the ninth heaven.
The entire spirit city collapsed in its wake, with less than one in ten buildings remaining intact.
However, the demon army also suffered considerable losses in the battle for Heavenly Spirit City. Rather than immediately continuing its sweep into neighboring territories, it instead set up camp amid the ruins to recuperate, continuously funneling reinforcements of demon soldiers and beasts through the passage from the Demon Realm.
What truly alarmed the remaining human factions in the Heavenly Spirit Region was that these demons began constructing massive fortifications and strongholds throughout the occupied territory, and even planted strange, pitch-black trees that exhaled thin wisps of demonic qi — as though they intended to settle among human lands permanently.
Panic-stricken, the human factions frantically transmitted this intelligence to every human stronghold they could reach.
Before long, several super-strongholds — including Heavenly Prefecture City — all received the news. Outwardly, they showed little reaction, but in secret, currents of alarm and urgency surged beneath the surface.