Not every demon foot soldier was willing to die without a fight. After a round of interrogation,
But the more sensitive intelligence was clearly beyond what grunts could possess.
Jiang Chen gathered the broad strokes — this campaign had been orchestrated by a certain lord of the Heavenly Demon lineage, who had issued the Heavenly Demon Decree, rallying all demon branches to unite and cease their internal feuding.
"So my name has already made it onto the Heavenly Demon ancestor's watchlist?" Jiang Chen had killed a few demon ancestors in the Human Domain, but those incidents shouldn't have reached the Heavenly Demon ancestor's ears just yet.
It could only be attributed to his exploits on Myriad Abyss Island — they had been far too resounding, catching the attention of that particular power.
Perhaps it was the battle against Elder Guangdu that had caused the biggest stir?
"Chen Shao, I genuinely don't know whether to congratulate you or pity you. Being targeted by the Heavenly Demon Ancestor… that's extremely bad news."
He understood all too well that the Glazed Deity Lord and those other ancient cultivators had burned their very lives away to seal the Heavenly Demon Ancestor. That was the kind of existence they were dealing with.
Perhaps Jiang Chen could still outwit and kill a few more ordinary demon ancestors. But once the Heavenly Demon Ancestor himself took action, no amount of schemes would matter. Jiang Chen's cleverest stratagems would be utterly useless.
The Heavenly Demon Ancestor's strength was simply too overwhelming — even the Glazed Deity Lord hadn't been able to defeat him one-on-one.
Before absolute power, strategy was all but meaningless.
Still, Jiang Chen wasn't about to be frightened into inaction. The Heavenly Demon Ancestor might well be formidable, but Jiang Chen reasoned that since the ancestor had been personally sealed by the Glazed Deity Lord and his peers, the toll on him must have been the heaviest of all. Why had the ancestor sent others to fight in his stead? Because he simply hadn't recovered to his peak state yet.
Now, what everyone was racing against was time and speed.
If the Heavenly Demon Ancestor needed time to recover, was Jiang Chen supposed to sit around and wait?
Jiang Chen asked himself — his own cultivation speed was nothing to scoff at. Besides, with his father from his previous life standing behind him, he had a genuine source of confidence.
The Heavenly Demon Ancestor was powerful, but could he surpass the Heavenly Emperor?
A single slap from the Heavenly Emperor could crush the Heavenly Demon Ancestor in an instant. Of that, there was absolutely no doubt.
"Brother Xia, the Heavenly Demon Ancestor is indeed formidable, but there's no need to lose your nerve over him. First, his strength has certainly not recovered to its peak. Second, we won't be sitting here waiting for him to come knocking. Third, if we systematically cut off the demons' wings, the Heavenly Demon Ancestor will be nothing more than a lone commander without an army."
"Cut off their wings? Easier said than done," Xia Tianze sighed.
"Sure, it isn't easy. But aren't we already on the right path? Look at how far we've come — we've already killed quite a few demon ancestors, haven't we?"
If Elder Guangdu was counted among them, Jiang Chen had already slain five demon ancestors and captured one alive.
That was an absolutely remarkable record.
If he could keep up this pace for a while longer, the total number of demon ancestors would be drastically reduced.