The Heavenly Demon Lord was truly seething with fury. His scheme to ensnare intruders had been virtually flawless. But thanks to the existence of this human youth, at least half of his plan had been shattered. He had reeled in a large batch of demonic servants, yet after the previous battle, his losses had been devastating.
Originally, the Heavenly Demon Lord had calculated that the Zhuque Divine Bird was in the final stage of its life cycle, powerless to turn the tide. Meanwhile, his demonic consciousness was steadily recovering. Barring any major upheavals, though the chances of breaking through the seal in the short term remained slim, as long as the Zhuque was gone, this ancient holy ground of the Saint Origin Sect would eventually fall entirely under his dominion.
Through his demonic consciousness, he could manipulate everything, luring more and more powerful humans to their doom.
This plan of the Heavenly Demon Lord's was nothing short of perfect.
Yet he had never anticipated that this flawless scheme would end up so thoroughly undermined by a single human youth.
What frustrated the Heavenly Demon Lord most now was not merely the imperfection of his plan, but the fact that this human youth steadfastly refused to leave.
It was obvious that the young man had dug in his heels against him.
Had the Heavenly Demon Lord been in his prime as an ancient Heavenly Demon, he would never have deigned to spare even a glance at some young human prodigy.
But now, trapped by the seal, he could only pull strings through his demonic consciousness. His true demonic form was utterly unable to break free.
And this human youth — who knew what secret technique he had used — had actually reanimated those eight colossal stone statues. That fact filled the Heavenly Demon Lord with a vague sense of unease.
As an ancient Heavenly Demon, the instinct of his race was formidable.
His intuition told him this human youth would cause him enormous trouble, potentially even threatening his very survival.
When he thought of those eight towering giant statues, the Heavenly Demon Lord instinctively felt a threat.
"If I don't eliminate this human youth, sooner or later he'll become a mortal thorn in my side. He refuses to leave, and that proud ancient divine bird, the Zhuque, has somehow taken such a liking to him. What kind of special charm does this brat possess?"
The Heavenly Demon Lord couldn't make sense of it. According to what his demonic consciousness had gleaned about the current Divine Abyss Continent, the human race should have deteriorated to an exceedingly feeble state.
Look at the demonic servants he had recruited this time — Emperor-realm fighters were already considered the absolute pinnacle of power among present-day humans. The fortune of the human race had declined so drastically, which only deepened the Heavenly Demon Lord's yearning for the outside world and his desperate urge to break free of the seal and regain his liberty.
In his view, if the demon race could stage a comeback this time, given the current weakness of humanity, the demons would stand an excellent chance of conquering this territory and enslaving the human race.
Yet despite humanity's so pathetic state, they still produced talents like this — ones who could see through the Heavenly Demon Lord's machinations and earn the admiration of the ancient Zhuque Divine Bird.
The Heavenly Demon Lord knew that the human race, for all its myriad shortcomings, possessed remarkable tenacity. Whenever crisis struck, certain human geniuses would invariably emerge from the ranks.
The stubborn resilience of this race was something the Heavenly Demon Lord knew all too well.
"I must find a way out of here. A snotty brat thinks he can derail my plans? Impossible!"
The Heavenly Demon Lord had no desire whatsoever to let such a thing come to pass.
It was just that, for the moment, he could not find a better approach. Sending subordinates to attack — he had already tried that, and it was nothing more than moths hurling themselves into flame.
The demonic servants he had dispatched had been crushed with absurd ease.
This was precisely what worried the Heavenly Demon Lord so. If this human youth controlled such terrifying combat power, then even if the Heavenly Demon Lord restored himself to peak condition, he might not find it easy to deal with him.
…
The Heavenly Demon Lord was anxious, but so was Jiang Chen in his own way. He had spent a considerable amount of time in the Chenxiang Valley secret realm, and stumbling upon the Heavenly Demon Lord's schemes entirely by accident had left him in a terrible bind.
Walking away now would be easy enough for him. But if he left and let the situation here develop unchecked, it was entirely possible that before long, the Heavenly Demon Lord would break free of his seal and bring catastrophe upon the human domain.
This was something he didn't want to get involved in but had to — and even if he wanted to wash his hands of it, he couldn't.
He was deeply conflicted. He had learned more or less all of the Saint Origin Sect's formation techniques. But to elevate those formations to a higher tier, to restore their original power, or even surpass it, the resources required would be astronomical.
Jiang Chen's personal wealth was staggering, yet even he could not produce such a mind-boggling quantity of materials.
These resources might not have been anything remarkable in the ancient era. But in the current age, gathering them was an undertaking of almost impossible difficulty.
Standing once more beneath the Heavenly Cauldron, Jiang Chen found himself torn.
The Zhuque Divine Bird, seeing Jiang Chen in this state, offered its counsel: "Jiang Chen, the ancient Saint Origin Sect left behind this formation — they must surely have left resources here as well. The Saint Origin Sect of old was wealthier than any nation. It would make no sense to claim they left none of the resources the formation required. Perhaps this holy ground of the Saint Origin Sect still holds secrets we have yet to uncover?"
The Zhuque Divine Bird knew that this human youth was its only hope.
If this young man lost his will to fight, then its chance of ever leaving this place would be gone forever.