Jiang Chen departed the Radiance Holy Land with the First Yang Fire in hand, slipping away quietly.
Throughout his journey, Jiang Chen remained extremely cautious and deliberate. Between the Radiance Holy Land and the Rising Sun Holy Land, he lingered for a long while in a particular stretch of terrain, stopping to study the landscape.
"This is the spot. At this distance, it's just right to lure the Fire Demon cultivators of the Rising Sun Holy Land into coming. The Winged Demon lineage is busy preparing for the assault on the Radiance Holy Land, so they may not be able to rush over immediately. By the time they receive the call for reinforcements and make their way here, they'll walk straight into the trap I've been building."
The terrain Jiang Chen had selected wasn't the most ideal for an ambush, but it was exceedingly well-concealed. To use this location, the first step was to scout the demonic presence within a thousand li. This area, precisely because it was so remote and rarely visited by anyone, meant that demonic cultivators almost never gathered here. Even the occasional patrol that passed through wouldn't linger long.
"As a burial ground for the Fire Demon Ancestor, this place really is perfect." Jiang Chen felt that this spot, with its superior feng shui, would be far too wasted as a mere grave for the Fire Demon Ancestor.
He began setting up the formation.
This formation, naturally, Jiang Chen didn't place on the surface. Instead, he arranged it deep underground, drawing upon the yin malevolence concealed beneath the earth. To counter the Fire Demon lineage, it was essential to harness this underground yin malevolence. The yin essence was frigid to the extreme — once unleashed, it could suppress the fire-attribute affinity of the Fire Demon cultivators within a short span.
Of course, this was only one of the many preparations Jiang Chen had made.
Against the Fire Demon lineage, he needed multiple contingencies.
Setting up formations was no difficult task for Jiang Chen. With his current cultivation, arranging anything short of a highly complex array was child's play.
After two or three hours, everything was in place.
Jiang Chen summoned the true spirits of the Four Divine Beasts and addressed the Vermilion Bird Divine Beast: "Brother Vermilion Bird, I plan to use the First Yang Fire to lure the demonic ancestor out. Do you have a way to amplify the formation's signal with the First Yang Fire so that the Fire Demon Ancestor can't resist coming?"
"Heh, what's difficult about that? All you need is to create some fluctuations that resonate with the Fire Demon Ancestor, and they'll come on their own. They'll be absolutely convinced there's some treasure waiting to be claimed." For the Vermilion Bird Divine Beast, this was indeed trivially easy.
"But what if the Fire Demon Ancestor is cautious and doesn't come? What if they just send a few expendable pawns instead?"
"That's simple too — just scare them off. If the Fire Demon Ancestor discovers that the First Yang Fire is here, along with the First Yang Fire's companion beast, they won't be able to sit still. Trust me, fire-attribution cultivators have an almost pathological obsession with the strongest flames in existence. You don't need to worry in the slightest about them staying away." On this matter, the Vermilion Bird Divine Beast sounded supremely confident.
Jiang Chen chuckled. "Then we're all set."
He turned to the Black Tortoise Divine Beast: "Brother Black Tortoise, among the Five Elements, some phases generate while others overcome. Your abilities in certain areas have a suppressing effect on the Fire Demon lineage. In this battle, I'll be relying on you heavily in many respects, so brace yourself."
"What do you need me to do?" the Black Tortoise Divine Beast asked.
"The moment the battle begins, you'll first unleash your strongest Black Tortoise Corpse Qi, enveloping all the surrounding void. Then, as you usually do in combat, the Four Divine Beasts will combine your domains to restrain the enemy."
"Dragon Brother, Xiao Bai — you two handle the offense."
"Brother Vermilion Bird, you'll need to guard against contamination from the yin malevolence as well. Don't push too close during the fight. Any gaps that open up, I'll fill in promptly."
Jiang Chen's current combat strength was in no way inferior to the Vermilion Bird Divine Beast's — in fact, he might even surpass it. After all, the number of treasures at his disposal now was staggering.
When deployed in battle, they were nothing short of heaven-defying.