Old Man Guangdu had clearly realized that the purple-green mist shrouding his form was steadily dissipating, and his demon-demon form was slowly revealing itself before everyone's eyes.
Panic surged through Old Man Guangdu's heart. He knew that the moment his true form was exposed, the human cultivators' fighting spirit would change entirely.
The humans' hatred for the Demon Race, their wariness of the Demon Race — it was the kind of enmity that admitted no compromise.
"Ladies and gentlemen, open your eyes and see clearly what manner of catastrophe this Old Man Guangdu truly is!" the Eternal Sacred Ancestor cried out. "Will you not fight to the death against this enemy? Or would you rather wait for this Demon Race remnant to summon the demon hordes and harvest our lives once more?"
The Demon Race!
Hearing those two words was like an incantation. Each of the Divine Path cultivators felt an involuntary jolt in their hearts, and a creeping dread settled over them.
The Demon Race had been a curse since the ancient era. The terror the demons had brought in those bygone days had never fully dissipated, even to this day.
And now, a Demon Race remnant had appeared before them. Did this mean that the Divine Abyss Continent, which had enjoyed such a long stretch of peace, was about to be ravaged by the demon hordes once more?
In that moment, those Divine Path cultivators who had been calculating their own self-interest found their attitudes shifting. They understood that if they fought half-heartedly and allowed this Demon Race remnant to escape, the Divine Abyss Continent would never know peace again, and Myriad Abyss Island would sooner or later fall into demon hands!
Someone could not help but ask: "Eternal Dao Brother, are you certain this is the Demon Race?"
"What nonsense! Would I speak so recklessly if I were not certain?" The Eternal Sacred Ancestor was not, in truth, entirely certain — but that did not matter, because he knew that Jiang Chen was absolutely certain.
As long as Jiang Chen was certain, then there could be no mistake.
Sure enough, Jiang Chen's dragon cry rang out once more: "Everyone, this Old Man Guangdu is not merely a member of the Demon Race — he belongs to the Demonform Clan, the most skilled among all demon sub-races when it comes to disguise and transformation. The Demonform Clan is adept at using their demonic aura to alter their appearance, allowing them to mingle undetected among human cultivators. Under normal circumstances, no one would see through them. Unless one possesses an especially powerful revelation artifact, it is nearly impossible to uncover a Demonform's true identity. If this Old Man Guangdu had not been besieged by all of you, he would never have been forced to activate his demonic bloodline. And had he not activated it, we might never have discovered his true identity."
Once these words left Jiang Chen's mouth, the Divine Path cultivators believed him seven or eight parts out of ten. They had no further reason to doubt him. The series of upheavals across the Ten Great Sacred Lands of Myriad Abyss Island had amply demonstrated Jiang Chen's capabilities.
Within Old Man Guangdu's heart, terror had stirred for the very first time. The reason for his alarm was not simply that Jiang Chen had exposed his identity and his origins.
What frightened him even more was the golden bell hanging above. That golden bell had dredged up a sliver of agonizing memory from the ancient era.
He remembered that when he had secretly infiltrated Myriad Abyss Island all those ages ago, it had been this very bell that suppressed him. It had been the bell's master who had crushed him, then cast him into the endless prison.
Only, at the time, the bell's master had perhaps never known that the one he imprisoned was a Demon Ancestor of the Demon Race — the supreme commander of the Demonform Clan's invasion of the Divine Abyss Continent.
Was this truly fate?
Terror gripped Old Man Guangdu's heart. That golden bell was among his most terrifying memories. Earlier, when he had been at the Eternal Sacred Land, he had in fact witnessed Jiang Chen use this very bell.
However, at that time Jiang Chen had not engaged him directly, and the bell had not yet been roused to its fullest power. As such, it had not drawn Old Man Guangdu's attention.