Jiang Chen was exceedingly patient as he laid out the many details of the demon race's ten lineages for Ziche Min, explaining everything thoroughly until he was certain the old man had grasped it all. Only then did he offer a word of caution: "The demon race is powerful, yes, but they have a fatal weakness—their numbers are far inferior to ours, and their capacity for reproduction pales even further in comparison. The reason they've been able to invade the myriad planes of the heavens is by relying on blood assimilation and waging war to fuel more war. More often than not, they command puppet troops to do their fighting. The true demon armies are elite forces that are rarely deployed. When they do take the field, it's always for a hard battle. That means every authentic demon-blood cultivator you kill is one fewer. Every divine-path demon ancestor you destroy is one fewer. If the demons can't bring in fresh invading armies, then every kill truly counts—there's no replacing them."
This was the demon race's greatest disadvantage.
Sealed away for two hundred thousand years, the demons had seen no population growth during that time. Their ranks were still what remained after the Ancient Demon Sealing War. Not only had they not increased—they had dwindled, many perishing across the endless ages of imprisonment.
As a result, the demons' current manpower was absolutely insufficient. They lacked the numbers to launch a full-scale demonic war. This was precisely why they had chosen to attack only a few points.
Myriad Abyss Island, for instance.
Even venturing deep into Myriad Abyss Island, they had no capability to wage a war on all fronts, let alone blanket coverage across all Ten Great Holy Lands.
Moreover, the person the demons feared most was still, ultimately, Jiang Chen.
His name had long since made the register of even the Heavenly Demon lineage's old ancestor.
Encouraged by Jiang Chen's words, Ziche Min felt the pressure in his heart ease somewhat, though the anxiety had not entirely lifted.
"Elder Ziche, rest assured—I cannot and will not sit idly by while the situation in Myriad Abyss Island unfolds. Besides, I've already made a promise to the Holy Ancestor to help turn the tide on the extraterritorial battlefield. These things must be done step by step. It's very difficult to achieve everything in one stroke. I hope you can understand."
It wasn't that Jiang Chen truly feared battle. It was that the human domain's situation had not yet been fully stabilized. Only once he had secured the home front would he feel at ease venturing to Myriad Abyss Island to fight. Otherwise, if this great rear base fell, it wouldn't matter if he cut a swath of destruction across Myriad Abyss Island—it would all be meaningless.
After his conversation with Jiang Chen, Ziche Min finally felt he had a pillar to lean on.
He immediately reactivated the Mind Transmission Formation to contact the Rising Sun Holy Land.
The Rising Sun Holy Land and the Radiance Holy Land had developed a deep fondness for the Eternal Holy Land—and for Jiang Chen in particular—after their previous battles alongside Elder Guangdu and the clash at Pingsha Island. As a result, the relationship between the two sides was now quite close.
Though both of these great holy lands had also been harassed by the demons, the situation remained relatively stable for the time being. When Ziche Min mentioned the Dawnfire, the Rising Sun Holy Land readily promised to collect a large quantity of it and secretly transport it to the Eternal Holy Land, helping them counter the Wood Demon clan.
After all, the Ten Great Holy Lands were allies now—shared prosperity or shared ruin. The Rising Sun Holy Land would never refuse the Eternal Holy Land, whether out of duty or self-interest.
…
On Myriad Abyss Island, within Divine Venerable Jiaye's secret realm island.
An Jiaye had been making the rounds lately, visiting many of the divine-path cultivators who had escaped from the Endless Prison. There had been quite a bit of interaction between them.
On this day, he was hosting a gathering of these divine-path cultivators within his secret realm.
In recent times, the many developments occurring in the outside world had left An Jiaye feeling deeply anxious.
He had agreed to lobby these divine-path cultivators on Jiang Chen's behalf to join the cause. So far, only two or three of them had shown any real inclination to do so.
The rest remained undecided, unable to commit one way or the other.