Chapter 538 - 376: All Factions Shaken
Chapter 538: Chapter 376: All Factions Shaken
The headquarters of the Demon Spirit Sect.
"I have a bad feeling about this..."
Zhao Chongguang, a Supreme Elder of the Demon Spirit Sect, felt a pang of worry as he finished his cultivation.
Normally, the reinforcements from their Demon Spirit Sect shouldn’t have reached the Celestial Demon Sect yet.
He wasn’t sure what he was so worried about at a time like this.
’I’m overthinking things. I should focus on my cultivation.’
Soon, Zhao Chongguang immersed himself in cultivation once more.
But not long after he began,
a frantic knocking came from outside, forcing him to stop.
"Come in."
The stone door opened, and the Demon Spirit Sect Leader entered.
"What’s the matter? Why the rush?" Zhao Chongguang asked first.
"This is bad, Supreme Elder! The Demon Jars of the two Supreme Elders sent to reinforce the Celestial Demon Sect have shattered!" the Demon Spirit Sect Leader quickly explained.
"What!?"
Hearing the news, Zhao Chongguang’s face was a mask of disbelief.
For them to have fallen at this point in time, they must have run into an ambush... His bad feeling from just moments ago had come true.
Zhao Chongguang had had many bad premonitions before, but most of them had never materialized.
"What were the circumstances of the Demon Jars shattering?" Zhao Chongguang asked again.
"They shattered at almost the exact same time," the Demon Spirit Sect Leader replied.
Zhao Chongguang took a deep breath. The fact that the two Supreme Elders’ Demon Jars shattered so close together made the situation extremely grave. Moreover, not a single scrap of information had been sent back.
This feeling was so familiar...
With the two Supreme Elders falling so quickly, the Elders following them had likely met the same fate.
Just as Zhao Chongguang was thinking this, the Demon Spirit Sect Leader received a message.
"What is it now?"
"The fifteen Elders... they’re gone too..."
"Alright, I understand. Quickly, send people to investigate. Find out exactly what the situation is over at the Celestial Demon Sect."
"Yes!"
"Send more people to investigate. I want you to get to the bottom of this, do you understand!"
"Yes!"
"As soon as you have any news, report it to me immediately."
With the Demon Spirit Sect Leader’s final "yes," Zhao Chongguang dismissed him to carry out the arrangements.
The Demon Spirit Sect Leader left, leaving Zhao Chongguang alone once more.
At this moment, he was in no mood to cultivate. Unstoppable thoughts flooded his mind.
Their Demon Spirit Sect had dispatched two Supreme Elders and fifteen Elders to reinforce the Celestial Demon Sect. This was a formidable support force, especially the two Supreme Elders at the Core Formation Stage.
Losing this force was a devastating blow to their Demon Spirit Sect.
After Supreme Elder Pang Feng passed away, their Demon Spirit Sect had already lost one Core Formation cultivator. Now, with two more gone, they only had three left, including himself, Zhao Chongguang.
Among the Demon Cultivation Core Formation Influences, their overall strength was now near the bottom.
Things were truly becoming difficult!
Furthermore, given what had happened, the Celestial Demon Sect was most likely annihilated.
This was terrible news for the Demon Spirit Sect.
Originally, their Demon Spirit Sect bordered five Core Formation Influences: the Black Ghost Cave and Ghost-Controlling Sect of the Ghost Cultivator Influence; the Celestial Demon Sect, a fellow Demon force; the Celestial Cloud Sect of the Spirit Refiners; and the Purple Blood Pavilion of the Blood Demon Influence.
Among these, their shared border with the Ghost-Controlling Sect was the largest, while the one with the Celestial Cloud Sect was the smallest.
The size of a shared border was closely related to the level of conflict between two powers; typically, the larger the border, the more frequent the clashes and the greater the friction.
The Demon Spirit Sect’s situation was a case in point. Their greatest conflict had always been with the Ghost-Controlling Sect. Their support for the Celestial Demon Sect against the Celestial Cloud Sect had been covert, only coming into the open in the last century. And then, this whole series of events unfolded.
If the Celestial Demon Sect was destroyed and the Celestial Cloud Sect completely occupied its territory, then the shared border between the Celestial Cloud Sect and their Demon Spirit Sect would become nearly as large as their border with the Ghost-Controlling Sect.
But that was only a secondary concern.
The primary issue was that with the Celestial Demon Sect destroyed, their Demon Spirit Sect would no longer border any other Demon Cultivation Core Formation Influence.
Such a geographical position was extremely disadvantageous.
These surging thoughts made Zhao Chongguang’s mood grow ever more somber.
’Sigh... If only we had continued supporting the Celestial Demon Sect in secret.’
Overt support had only intensified their conflict with the Celestial Cloud Sect. This meant that the stronger the Celestial Cloud Sect became, the more danger they were in, and they might ultimately suffer the same fate as the Celestial Demon Sect.
If their conflict with the Celestial Cloud Sect were less intense, the situation would be much better.
These were Zhao Chongguang’s thoughts.
The sun set and rose.
Another day had come.
While he was waiting, Zhao Chongguang received the latest news from the Demon Spirit Sect Leader.
As expected, the Celestial Demon Sect had been annihilated!
The Supreme Elders and Elders from their Demon Spirit Sect had been ambushed on their way there. This essentially confirmed the Celestial Demon Sect’s destruction; otherwise, it would have been difficult for the Spirit Refiners to lay such a trap.
Zhao Chongguang exhaled slowly.
Their Demon Spirit Sect would not just sit back and wait for death. The Celestial Cloud Sect destroying the Celestial Demon Sect didn’t mean their Demon Spirit Sect would suffer the same fate.
First of all, with the situation having deteriorated this badly, it wasn’t unreasonable to ask the Black Dragon Hall for some free support. Secondly, when it came down to it, the conflict between their Demon Spirit Sect and the Celestial Cloud Sect was nowhere near as deep as the one between the Celestial Cloud Sect and the Celestial Demon Sect.
The first point was the most critical.
Perhaps once the Black Dragon Hall understood the situation, they would offer support directly, without the Demon Spirit Sect even having to ask.
...
The headquarters of the Black Ghost Cave.
The five Core Formation Stage Cave Masters were gathered together once more.
Considering when they had last gathered, this was the shortest interval between their meetings.
"Second Cave Master, everyone is here. Go ahead, what is it?"