Everyone present was an Emperor-realm cultivator, so Jiang Chen saw no need for theatrics. Nor did he have to worry about being too blunt and scaring anyone.
"In truth, this young master has already fought a powerful expert of the demon race within the Human Domain. It was a Demon Emperor who had not yet fully awakened."
Jiang Chen's tone was grave, his gaze sweeping slowly across each of the rogue Emperor-realm cultivators in turn.
"I can assure you — in a one-on-one confrontation, even if that Demon Emperor had recovered sixty or seventy percent of his power, perhaps only Old Brother Jingzhong could hold his own against him for a time, but the chances of victory would be exceedingly slim. As for Emperors Huoyan and Ruoyi, they might be able to preserve their lives under his hand... As for the rest, with good luck, perhaps you could escape with your lives. With bad luck, you might not even have the chance to flee."
Jiang Chen was absolutely not trying to alarm them with empty warnings. The Blood Sunflower Demon Emperor had recovered only twenty to thirty percent of his power, and that alone had been enough to send Jiang Chen scrambling for his life.
Had Jiang Chen not possessed numerous techniques and an endless array of trump cards, he might well have perished during that battle in the Collapsing Cloud Mountain Range.
Therefore, if that Blood Sunflower Demon Emperor were to recover sixty or seventy percent of his power, he would be an absolutely terrifying existence. Ordinary Emperor-realm cultivators would stand no chance against him.
If he recovered one hundred percent of his power, then across the entire human race, there would be precious few who could stand against him.
This was precisely what worried Jiang Chen the most.
If large numbers of Demon Emperors awakened and broke through their seals into the human world, it would be an unprecedented catastrophe for the Human Domain.
The Human Domain as it stood now, including even its first-tier sects, would likely have no power to resist.
"Young Master Jiang Chen — you've actually fought a Demon Emperor?" Emperor Jingzhong drew in a sharp breath. "Was it at that demon-sealing site?"
"No. It was right here in the Human Domain, in the central region of Chiding. Back then, the master of Cuihua Pavilion in the central region of Chiding had been brainwashed by that Demon Emperor and become his follower. He deliberately laid down misleading traps, luring many cultivators to that place to serve as blood sacrifices for the Demon Emperor's revival. That Cuihua Pavilion master had even prepared the flesh and blood of numerous women for the Demon Emperor to consume and absorb. Fortunately, that Demon Emperor had only recovered twenty to thirty percent of his power. Had he recovered fully, the entire Human Domain would likely already be in complete chaos."
Everyone drew in a sharp breath. Clearly, they believed every word Jiang Chen had said. They all knew he was not the type to speak irresponsibly.
Emperor Jingzhong could not help but ask, "Young Master Jiang Chen, you fought that Demon Emperor and came away unscathed? Was Fellow Daoist Wushuang with you at the time?"
"No, no, no!" Jiang Chen shook his head. "That was a separate matter, before the Dragon and Tiger Gathering. At the time, I had gone to the central region of Chiding alone and stumbled upon the situation by chance. I never expected to charge straight into an ancient sealed lair of a Demon Emperor — with a human cultivator acting as his traitor on the inside!"
"So... that Demon Emperor, was he destroyed by Young Master Jiang Chen?" someone asked in a deep voice.
Jiang Chen shook his head, his tone tinged with regret. "At the time, I could barely hold my own against him. He wanted to destroy me but couldn't manage it. In the end, he resorted to a forbidden technique, willing to injure himself in order to kill me. I managed to escape by the narrowest of margins. He was gravely wounded as well, and I don't know where he slithered off to. But after that battle, it will take him thirty to fifty years before he can awaken again. To return to his peak state, barring any extraordinary opportunities, it will take at least a hundred years — that's assuming nothing special happens."
Hearing this, everyone finally breathed a sigh of relief.
"That's wonderful, truly wonderful. Young Master Jiang Chen, you've rendered an immense service to the human race!"
"A Demon Emperor with only twenty to thirty percent of his power was already enough to give Young Master Jiang Chen such difficulty. Remember, back when it was the Shura Emperor, he didn't exactly send Young Master Jiang Chen fleeing for his life either. It seems the demon race really is terrifying!"
"The ancient demon race has always been humanity's nightmare!"
"Sigh. The demon race is vicious and cruel. Let's hope this calamity never comes to pass."
These Emperor-realm cultivators, hearing just how formidable the demon race was, felt their scalps go numb. The situation was deeply troubling.
Emperor Jingzhong sighed. "The demon race is so terrifying, yet we of the human race are still tearing ourselves apart. That fellow Emperor Danji—his actions are nothing short of courting disaster."
"Alas, less than a tenth of our ancient legacies have survived. With the human race's current reserves and strength, once the demon race breaks free of its seal, what hope will we have of standing against them?"
"Exactly. From the sound of it, the demon race is overwhelmingly superior to us. This gap seems almost impossible to bridge."
Seeing the deep worry in everyone's tone, Jiang Chen smiled and offered some words of encouragement. "There's no need to be quite so anxious. The demon race is indeed a fearsome one, but they are neither flawless nor without weakness. If they were, our ancestors would never have been able to seal them away back in the ancient era."
Upon hearing this, the group considered it and found that Jiang Chen had a point. Indeed, if the demon race were truly that powerful, they should have swept across the entire world in ancient times.
Yet the end result had been their sealing and their suppression.
"Young Master Jiang Chen, from the way you speak, you seem to know a great deal about the demon race. Why not take this opportunity to share what you know with all of us? We independent cultivators roam far and wide and often find ourselves alone. We are perhaps the very targets the demon race would most like to pick off."