Jiang Chen activated his Evil Golden Eye, piercing through the void as he directed his gaze toward the palace.
The Vermilion Bird Divine Beast caught sight of the golden light shining from Jiang Chen's pupils and let out a murmur of surprise. "Young one, that eye technique of yours is quite interesting."
Jiang Chen peered as far as his vision could reach, but all he could see inside the palace was a layer of black mist coiling and drifting—thoroughly eerie. As for what was actually happening within, he had no way of sensing it.
After all, however powerful his divine sense might be, it could not compare to that of an ancient Vermilion Bird Divine Beast. Even a Vermilion Bird at the tail end of its life cycle possessed divine sense far beyond what Jiang Chen could match.
"What do you see?" the Vermilion Bird Divine Beast asked.
"A mass of black mist—very eerie," Jiang Chen said in a low voice.
"That Heavenly Demon Lord must be imparting demonic arts to them. To think he actually restrained his own greed and didn't devour these human cultivators—instead, he plans to refashion them into demonic pawns." The Vermilion Bird's tone carried a complex weight.
"Hmph. As long as the Heavenly Demon Lord doesn't break free himself, even if those people become his puppets, they won't be able to stir up much of a storm." Jiang Chen was dismissive.
"You think so?" The Vermilion Bird's expression hovered somewhere between a smile and a frown. "If that's what you believe, you're truly underestimating the capabilities of the Heavenly Demon Clan."
"The Heavenly Demon Clan possesses methods that are unfathomably profound. With demonic arts to guide them and demonic power to bolster them, a single human cultivator's strength can surge three to fivefold! And if they are fortunate enough to receive demonic bloodline, their power could increase tenfold! Once these Emperor-realm powerhouses obtain the demonic bloodline, it becomes entirely possible for them to break through to the Heavenly Position realm in the short term. Given the current foundation of your human domain, even if you were facing nothing but demonic puppets—how confident do you think you'd be in a fight?"
The Vermilion Bird let out a soft sigh. "I never expected that this Heavenly Demon Lord would ultimately not be a brute, but rather a demon lord of ambition and far-sighted vision."
Hearing this, Jiang Chen understood that the Vermilion Bird was not speaking to frighten him.
If these human cultivators truly received the Heavenly Demon bloodline, breaking through to the Heavenly Position realm within a short time was no empty possibility.
And if that happened, it would indeed be a catastrophe for the human domain.
These human cultivators knew the human domain far too intimately. As demonic puppets, they would be even more destructive than actual demons.
An enemy who doesn't know your inner workings—even if you can't defeat him, there's still room to maneuver.
An enemy who knows every detail about you—if you can't beat him, you probably won't even get the chance to flee.
"Young Master Jiang, what's happening over there?" Great Emperor Shaoyang could also see the black mist shrouding the area, but he had no understanding of the situation.
"Those traitors have defected to the Heavenly Demon Lord. They are currently receiving demonic art empowerment from him. The situation is extremely dire." Jiang Chen hid nothing from Great Emperor Shaoyang.
"What should we do, then?" Great Emperor Shaoyang's expression shifted.
Jiang Chen did not answer. Instead, his gaze turned grave as he fixed it on the direction of the Sacred One Sect's palace. His Evil Golden Eye locked onto the eight statues flanking the palace entrance.
"Senior, what exactly is the mystery behind those eight statues at the entrance of the Sacred One Sect's holy ground?" What Jiang Chen cared about most was these eight statues.
The Vermilion Bird Divine Beast was visibly surprised. "You've noticed something?"
Jiang Chen had felt that the eight statues were unusual, but the specifics of their mystery eluded him for the moment.
However, these eight colossal statues were identical in every detail to the eight stone sculptures he had previously obtained—with the sole exception of their scale.
That was precisely why Jiang Chen had been paying such close attention to those stone sculptures.
"Senior, I have a feeling these eight stone sculptures harbor tremendous power. They shouldn't be mere ornaments," Jiang Chen ventured cautiously.
The Vermilion Bird's tone grew complex. "Even the headmaster of the Sacred One Sect in ancient times could never give a definitive explanation for those statues. The Sacred One Sect's holy ground was supposedly constructed in the primordial era, when the first generation of the sect's founders employed great divine abilities to build this sanctuary. Those eight statues have stood there since that very era. According to the Sacred One Sect's records, they were powerful beings of the primordial Giant Stone Clan. In the primordial age, the divine Giant Stone Clan suffered a catastrophic calamity. The first patriarch of the Sacred One Sect used a secret technique to take in eight members of the Giant Stone Clan, separating their souls from their physical bodies. These eight statues are the physical bodies of the Giant Stone Clan. However, their souls have long been lost. So these eight statues are the bodies of Giant Stone Clan beings—but bodies without souls."
"Such a thing exists?" Jiang Chen's heart raced upon hearing this, and he immediately combed through his memories of his past life for any knowledge of the Giant Stone Clan.
The Giant Stone Clan was an exceedingly rare existence across the Myriad Heavens Planes. The bloodline of this clan was extraordinarily scarce, but their combat power was nothing short of astonishing.
If this clan's bloodline weren't so overwhelmingly powerful, it would never have drawn the jealousy and hatred of other races.
Yet every powerful race had its own weaknesses—and the Giant Stone Clan was no exception. Like the demon race, their reproductive capacity was limited, and their consumption of resources was fearsome in the extreme.