The discussions at the Human Emperor Palace lasted for three days. No one knew what the outcome of those deliberations had been.
However, after receiving the results of the discussion, the major sects and prominent clans did not disperse. Instead, they transmitted messages back to their own factions, ordering that the newly formed Demon-Slaying Army must fully converge on the Human Emperor Palace within ten days. Furthermore, all the outer cities of the Three Realms Heaven were to be completely abandoned, with the inner cities contracting back to the seventy-two prefectural cities centered around Zhongdu City. Whether intentional or not, the path of destruction seemed to faintly head straight for Zhongdu City. Having fed upon blood and flesh, even from tens of thousands of miles away, one could feel a pressure surpassing the Divine Emperor level that drained the color from heaven and earth.
Except for the seventy-two prefectural cities and the top-tier sects and clans, whether the living beings in the remaining territories survived was entirely up to fate.
A month later, the seventy-two prefectural cities were reduced to thirty-six prefectural cities.
Two months later, the thirty-six prefectural cities were reduced to eighteen prefectural cities.
All cultivators above the Divine King level were summoned into the Human Emperor Palace to form the Divine King Army, which obeyed only the Human Emperor's Decree. Their mission was to defend the remaining eighteen prefectures to the death.
The guardians of these eighteen prefectures were respectively the Twelve Ancestor Witch Clans, one palace, two gates, and the three upper sects.
The Immortal Palace had long since been reduced to a sacrifice, so its guardians were managed by the Human Emperor Palace, led once again by Taishu Zi. Yet rumor had it that when Taishu Zi returned from the Peak of the Three Realms, his arms had been severed.
Because of this, he remained in seclusion. As for who had severed those arms, everyone said it was Gong Yutian who had struck for the sake of Di Yun.
In an instant, the former Young Palace Master of the Immortal Palace saw his reputation completely ruined.
As for the eleven missing Ancestor Witch young masters, with their life tablets turning gray, everyone assumed they had met with misfortune. Precisely because of this, aside from the Di family, the Hua family, and the Leng family, all the other Ancestor Witch Clans chose to trust the Human Emperor, obeying orders to simultaneously rescue people while the heads of their clans, led by their ancestors, went to the Human Emperor Palace to attend the consultative assembly.
From beginning to end, only the Di family, the Hua family, and the Leng family chose to leave a single elder as their representative stationed in the Human Emperor Palace.
In the Seventh Prefectural City, the territory guarded by the Di family:
Bai Luoqing, You Shisi, Di Chen, along with the ancestors and a gathering of elders from the Di, Hua, and Leng families, all entered a lesser world.
This realm was called Yunshuijian, which was also the former Yunshuijian. Who could have imagined that the once-renowned Yunshuijian was actually a bound lesser world? Its master, naturally, was Bai Luoqing. The moment the Heaven-Sealing Seal was destroyed, he had immediately retracted Yunshuijian and gone into hiding with You Shisi to wait and see how the situation would unfold.
"I never imagined that Yunshuijian was an independently carved-out lesser world. To possess a lesser world even before shattering the void—Sword Master Bai is truly the number one swordsman in the world. This old man is dust by comparison when it comes to such talent."
"Old Ancestor Leng flatters me too much; it is merely a fortuitous stroke of fate," Bai Luoqing said, sitting at the table with a solemn expression. "Now that the Three Realms Heaven is undergoing a drastic upheaval, you all must already understand the current situation. Only by uniting as one can we save the world. Otherwise, within a month, this realm will perish. Once it falls, the Fengxiang Continent beneath the Three Realms will be directly subjected to slaughter. We are all people who ascended from the lower realm; Fengxiang Continent, as our ancestral land, must be preserved, and it is also the only surviving spark after this great upheaval."
"What Sword Master Bai says is extremely true, but our forces are weak right now. Internally, the Human Emperor harbors wild ambitions, and externally, the Heavenly Demon King devours humanity. How easy is it to turn the tide?" the Hua family's ancestor said with deep worry. "Moreover, that Taishu Xu is extremely fanatical in his conduct. Right now, among the twelve clans, only our three families have left a single elder in the Human Emperor Palace, and we have long since become the target of public criticism. Before Taishu Xu makes his move, he will surely point his sharp sword at us first. When that time comes, facing the remaining nine factions, even if we burn our souls and erupt with power, we will not be able to resist."
As those words fell, the gathered elders all nodded.
Clearly, they were all extremely worried about this problem, and it was also the truth. Once all the factions assembled by the Human Emperor Palace turned their targets toward their three families, exhausting their remaining strength might still not be enough to resist, even though the Di family was the head of the Ancestor Witches.
You Shisi finally grew serious and said unhappily, "Do the ancestors of those few families have bean-curd brains? How could Gong Yutian and that girl Yun possibly have such immense capability? Not only were they able to destroy the Heaven-Sealing Seal, but they also killed two family heads and a crowd of elders, murdered their own biological brother and the other ten young masters, and even managed to retreat completely unscathed from that old undead Human Emperor. Even if they are top-tier prodigies, they could not possibly pull this off. Falling for such an obvious frame-up and framing—I truly don't know how those nine Ancestor Witch Clans have managed to develop until now. If I were their ancestor, I'd be angry enough to lift my coffin lid and jump out to beat these brainless idiots to death."
The crowd: "……"
After placating You Shisi, Bai Luoqing continued, "Shi makes a valid point. Such an obvious frame-up—anyone can see it. But why would they rather choose to believe it?"
"Are you all clear on what is inside the Human Emperor's subterranean palace?"
"Those ninety-nine brutally murdered Divine Emperors?"
"And those silenced witnesses who were already eliminated?"
"Taishu Xu dares to issue orders so blatantly simply because there are no dead bodies to confront, and all the witnesses are gone. But what if there are witnesses?" Bai Luoqing suddenly curved his lips, lightly tapping his fingers against the table. "Their life tablets only turned gray; they didn't shatter. Who can guarantee for certain that they have already fallen? Is there truly not a single survivor?"
"Does Sword Master Bai mean that as long as someone can stand up and testify, Taishu Xu's lies will collapse of their own accord?"
Bai Luoqing sighed. "Although there are human witnesses, how to deal with Taishu Xu, the Heavenly Demon King, and that so-called Emperor Venerable behind the scenes is the real difficulty. No one knows what trump cards Taishu Xu has left behind. While we certainly have our guesses about what happened at the Peak of the Three Realms, no one knows the specifics. Because of this, we are somewhat passive. If we cannot break through in a single stroke, we will never have another chance and can only be buried along with them."
"So, everyone... regarding the Heaven-Sealing Seal, besides the Ancestor Witch bloodline seal, is there any other method capable of restraining the Heavenly Demon King?"
Hearing this, the ancestors of the three families all fell silent. After exchanging glances, the Di family ancestor said, "There is. The Ancestor Witch Spirits. If we can awaken the spirits of the Twelve Ancestor Witches, we can instantly suppress all heavenly demons."
Before anyone could ask further, the Di ancestor continued, "And there are two methods of awakening. The first is through bloodline power; a successor capable of inheriting the bloodline demon pearl, once their bloodline can reach one hundred percent, can awaken the Ancestor Witch Spirit. The Jun family's Xuanming Spirit was awakened through bloodline."
"However, right now, not everyone can achieve a one-hundred-percent bloodline for the Ancestor Witch bloodline. The successors of the Di, Hua, Leng, and Jun families all possess one-hundred-percent bloodlines, but the bloodline power of the other eight is insufficient—especially the Lan family's bloodline power, which is only sixty percent. Not to mention that Jun Guyun's whereabouts are unknown after leaving the Jun family; even if all twelve of them were here, it would be impossible to awaken the Ancestor Witch Spirits within a month."