Su Huanzhen stepped forward and advised gently: "Young Lord Jiang Chen, you are the one chosen by the Peacock Grand Emperor and must surely carry his tremendous expectations. You absolutely cannot throw yourself away in despair. At worst, we fight! Even though they outnumber us, when it comes to Emperor realm combat, they can't necessarily afford the cost of attrition either!"
Once Emperor realm cultivators clashed in earnest, the carnage would be absolutely devastating.
If the enemy wanted to wipe them out entirely, very few on that side would survive either.
In a war of attrition like this, even if Emperor Danji was willing to pay that price, the other sects certainly would not be.
Emperor Jingzhong also chuckled: "Danji, if you want to deal with Jiang Chen, you should bring along your own people from Pill Fire City. Dragging everyone else in to charge the front lines for you—that's quite the clever scheme. If the leaders of those first-grade sects all fall in battle, you get to waltz back home and take over their territories, seize their foundations. Bring half the Upper Eight Regions under your control. I have to say, that's a fine calculation indeed."
Emperor Jingzhong was no fool.
Emperor Danji could sow division on their side, but Emperor Jingzhong could do the same on the enemy's side.
This coalition of Pill Fire City and several first-grade sects was far from a monolithic block—they all had their own interests.
Sure enough, Emperor Jingzhong's words planted a seed of wariness in the hearts of those various sect leaders.
That's right—if a real blood battle erupted, there was no reason to rush to the front lines. If one were killed in action, the sect would lose its pillar. Before long, it would be swallowed by Pill Fire City.
Even if it weren't directly absorbed by Pill Fire City, with an Emperor realm pillar gone, the sect would rapidly decline. The prestigious title of first-grade sect would very likely be stripped away.
"Your Majesty Danji, if that brat wants to play the hero, we should let him."
"Exactly, Your Majesty. Our target is that brat alone. Whether the others stay or leave makes little difference to us."
"Your Majesty, in the chaos of battle, casualties are unavoidable. There's no need to kill a thousand enemies while losing eight hundred of our own. As long as we capture this boy Jiang Chen, the others can be dealt with anytime."
Voices one after another urged Emperor Danji to reconsider.
Emperor Danji naturally wanted to wipe them all out in one fell swoop, but he also knew that was extraordinarily difficult. The Emperors from Pill Fire City might be willing, but those other sect leaders—aside from the Indestructible Heavenly Capital—would likely not fight so recklessly.
Even the Indestructible Heavenly Capital feared only Jiang Chen himself. The Lord of the Heavenly Capital would not necessarily be willing to risk everything fighting others.
Emperor Danji pondered for a moment, then fixed his gaze on Jiang Chen: "Brat, letting them leave is not impossible. But what if you're playing some trick? How do you explain that?"
Jiang Chen smiled leisurely: "If you're that afraid of me, then there's nothing this Young Lord can do about it."
Emperor Danji was struck speechless.
"Jiang Chen, boy, no need to show off with your glib tongue. You've defied the natural order and earned the wrath of every major power in the Upper Eight Regions, becoming the public enemy of the Upper Eight Regions. Today, even if the heavens rain down flowers, you cannot escape death." The Lord of the Heavenly Capital from the Indestructible Heavenly Capital finally spoke up.
Emperor Danji nodded: "Friend Luo is right. Today, we only execute Jiang Chen. As for the rest of you—you were all deceived by him. If you turn back from the wrong path and leave now, this Emperor guarantees you will not be obstructed. But if you insist on aiding the wicked, this Emperor will not hesitate to suppress you along with him!"
On Jiang Chen's side, Han Qianzhan and the others wanted to speak, but Jiang Chen raised his hand to stop them.
"There's no need for any of you to say more. This is my, Jiang Chen's, personal affair. Today, let me resolve it alone. I will not drag any of you into it."
"Please rest assured—if I, Jiang Chen, make it out of here alive, the original agreement remains fully in effect. Today's events will absolutely not invalidate that agreement."
Jiang Chen knew that a significant reason the independent cultivator Emperors had not yet departed was that they were still thinking about the Pine Crane Pill.
But no matter how precious the Pine Crane Pill was, it was not more valuable than one's own life. Several independent cultivator Emperors had actually already been preparing to bid Jiang Chen farewell and withdraw.
Han Qianzhan wanted to say something, but Jiang Chen stopped him again: "Sect Master Han, I appreciate your intentions, truly I do. But if everyone stays here today and a battle breaks out, it will absolutely be a great catastrophe for the human territories. When that happens, a massive number of Emperors across the human lands will fall, and the Upper Eight Regions will be shattered beyond recognition. That is not an outcome I, Jiang Chen, ever wish to see."
These words from Jiang Chen were by no means mere alarmism.
Indeed, of the eight great first-grade sects of the Upper Eight Regions, aside from the Moon God Sect and the Nine Yang Heavenly Sect, who had not been dragged in, no fewer than six first-grade sects' strong cultivators were embroiled in this.
Of the six great independent cultivator Emperors, four were present today. Aside from the Peerless Grand Emperor and the Mo Zhe Grand Emperor, the other four were all accounted for.
If a battle of this scale played out to the end, a massive number of Emperor realm cultivators would surely perish.
Jiang Chen absolutely refused to let that happen. Especially given the current situation—with the Demon race tribulation potentially erupting at any moment, if the first-grade sects of the Upper Eight Regions were all badly weakened, the fortune of the human territories would truly be at an end.
Jiang Chen was not the kind of person who forgot the greater good for the sake of personal grudges.
As for the Emperors on the enemy's side, he would not particularly grieve over them. After all, they had come looking for trouble—their deaths would be well deserved, and however many fell, Jiang Chen would not shed a tear.
But the allies he had invited over—even losing one or two of them would be an enormous loss. After all, these people had come here to help him.