The reactions of these two were entirely within Jiang Chen's expectations.
Anyone would have reacted the same way upon hearing this news. When Jiang Chen had first heard them mention the names of Great Emperor Yunlan and the others, he had been just as shaken.
Death and resurrection—this wasn't unheard of in the martial world. But that kind of death was merely the fall of the physical body, not the total annihilation of the divine soul.
As for the deaths of Great Emperor Yunlan and the others, they had been carried out by Jiang Chen's own hand, for the most part. Under that ancient divine bow, Great Emperor Yunlan, Revered One Wei Mo of the Celestial Sound Temple, the Second Hall Master of the Heavenly Harmony Palace…
All of them had been killed by him with the ancient divine bow. Jiang Chen knew full well that this was no dream—it had truly happened.
And now these people had mysteriously come back to life, and were just as mysteriously spreading their influence everywhere, slandering and defaming him, Jiang Chen.
Han Qianzhan's eyes went wide as he stared at Jiang Chen in disbelief: "Young Master Jiang Chen, are you saying that these people had all defected to the demon race and were killed by you?"
"Not just by me—by a group of my retainers as well. Of course, we had the advantage of the ancient Holy One Sect's sacred ground, as well as the might of the ancient divine bow."
Jiang Chen didn't deny it.
Now was not the time for mincing words.
"The demon race, the demon race…" Su Zhenhuan murmured. "For the longest time, I believed the demon race was something distant, something that would never intersect with us. Now I realize the demon race has never truly been far away. It's only because of our ignorance, because of our laziness, that we selectively chose to forget the scars they once inflicted upon us. It's self-deception—self-anesthesia!"
Su Zhenhuan's words were, in truth, quite representative.
Indeed, the problem with the human domain was that everyone knew the dangers of the ancient demon race, yet they all subconsciously chose to avoid the subject.
Muddling through—getting by however one could.
This was a widespread problem. When it came to the brutal battles of the ancient era, most people had not only never experienced them, but even the historical records were sparse.
The impression of the ancient Sealing War against the demons had been passed down almost entirely through word of mouth. But the vast majority of people simply couldn't draw a tight connection between the events of ancient times and the present.
Those who remained vigilant in times of peace were, in the end, exceedingly rare.
Han Qianzhan's gaze suddenly sharpened: "Young Master Jiang Chen, you said those people were imposters. Could the mastermind behind them also be connected to the demon race?"
Jiang Chen shook his head. "I can't say for certain at this point. You are all elders of the human domain. Over the past several thousand years, have there been any hidden forces operating within the human domain?"
Hidden forces?
Everyone shook their heads one after another: "If the human domain had hidden forces, they would have to be hidden awfully deep."
"There shouldn't be any."
"Right—the balance of power among the Upper Eight Regions has been established for a long time now. If there truly were hidden forces, the situation wouldn't be nearly this complicated."
Jiang Chen nodded. "In that case, the human domain likely won't see any more peaceful days. To be perfectly honest with all of you, the moment the Celestial Demon Lord broke free from his seal, I felt a flicker of helplessness. Fortunately, that Celestial Demon Lord fled to the territory of the Southern Dipper Spirit Tribe. Otherwise, the consequences would have been unthinkable."
Everyone nodded gravely. From Jiang Chen's account, they could all sense just how terrifying the Celestial Demon Lord truly was.
So many Emperor-realm and Sovereign-realm experts had been bound by his Celestial Demon Domain, unable to break free. And that was with his dharma body still restricted.
After breaking free from the seal, the Celestial Demon Lord had effortlessly suppressed three Sovereign-realm experts of the Southern Dipper Spirit Tribe—even without having recovered to his peak state.
Though those three Sovereign-realm experts from the Southern Dipper Spirit Tribe were likely only at the lower tier of Sovereign realm, at the first or second level.
But the fact that a Celestial Demon Lord who had just broken free from his seal could handle them with ease was proof enough of how terrifying he would be at full power.
That ancient divine bow—extraordinary as it was—had been able to destroy the Celestial Demon Lord's dharma body, probably because the latter had been caught off guard. At the moment of his escape from the seal, his reflexes weren't fast enough and he hadn't yet recovered to his peak.
Otherwise, those three arrows might not have put the Celestial Demon Lord in such a sorry state, let alone destroyed his Celestial Demon dharma body.
Seeing the complicated expressions on Han Qianzhan and Su Zhenhuan's faces, Jiang Chen offered some reassurance: "Gentlemen, with the situation having developed to this point, even though the Celestial Demon Lord has not yet managed to flee into the human domain, this turn of events is already issuing us a warning—the demon race's dark hand is stirring!"
Han Qianzhan sighed. "I used to think that the strength of our Upper Eight Regions was formidable enough. But perhaps when measured against the demon race, what little strength we have is little more than paper—hardly worth their attention."
"Sect Master Han, there's no need to be so hard on yourselves. The demon race is powerful—no denying that. But given the current cultivation environment, even if they can break free from their seals and escape with their lives, recovering to their peak state is nearly impossible."
The current resources of the human domain, the concentration of spiritual energy—none of it could compare to the ancient era.
After the ancient Sealing War against the demons, the human race's territory had served as the primary battlefield. Spiritual veins had been devastated across the board, and every conceivable resource had been consumed in excess. These were the roots of humanity's decline.