Ancestral Demon Realm, Ancestral Demon Hall.

The demon envoy, with half his face swollen, was sent straight to the Ancestral Demon Hall the moment Jiang Che slapped him back to the Ancestral Demon Realm.

The Ancestral Demon Hall stood atop the highest peak in the Ancestral Demon Realm, at the very summit of Ancestral Demon Mountain.

Its entire body was as black as ink, cold and austere. Billowing Demonic Qi surged, forming a thick cloud of demonic haze above the Ancestral Demon Hall, while a blood-red radiance swept in all directions, shrouding the entire Ancestral Demon Mountain in a chamber of crimson light.

From afar, the Ancestral Demon Hall looked like an ancient demon beast crouching at the mountaintop, exuding an aura that filled all who beheld it with dread.

At this moment, the interior of the Ancestral Demon Hall was packed with demons, forming a dense and oppressive mass.

Atop the seven highest stone platforms, the seven greatest demon races were seated, each tribe led by its clan leader, with numerous clansmen standing respectfully behind them.

Below, to the left and right, stood over a hundred stone platforms, occupied by the large demon races of the Ancestral Demon Realm, each with at least one eighth-rank powerhouse in their ranks.

As for those even more numerous medium and small demon races, they were not qualified to participate at all.

At this very moment, the gaze of all the demons was fixed upon the rather bedraggled demon envoy standing at the very center of the grand hall.

Feeling the collective stares boring into him, shame and anger warred in the envoy's heart, but with the mission failed, he could only hang his head low.

"Gulouja, we sent you as our envoy and this is how you return?"

Just then, from atop one of the stone platforms, a brawny demon race with immense presence, his body covered in purple scale armor, fixed his eyes coldly upon the demon envoy and reproached him sharply.

"Clan leader, I… I had no way. That emperor from the Otherworld was utterly firm—he had no intention of negotiating with our demon race at all.

He even said he disdained being associated with us, and simply gave me a slap and sent me back."

Hearing his own clan leader's voice, Gulouja trembled inwardly, looked up, and spoke helplessly.

That Otherworld emperor was far too despicable—not only did he trick him out of intelligence, he also slapped him. Who could he even complain to?

Of course, he dared not reveal that he had leaked information—if the great demon races present ever found that out, even his own clan leader could not protect him from punishment.

"How dare he! That emperor of the Profound Yellow Realm is simply insolent! Does he truly think that becoming an Imperial Realm emperor makes him invincible?"

The Thunderlight Clan Leader's face instantly darkened, his voice angry as thunder.

"It seems negotiations are no longer an option. We must let that emperor of the Profound Yellow Realm witness the might of our demon race, force him to give up in despair.

Otherwise, with him barring the Spatial Channel, our demon race cannot invade the Profound Yellow Realm at all!"

As soon as the Thunderlight Clan Leader finished speaking, the Divine Mountain Demon Race clan leader—his whole body clad in gray scale armor, as solid as stones, and standing half a head taller than others—spoke in a cold voice.

"My Red Flame Demon Race also agrees. That Profound Yellow Realm emperor has become the greatest obstacle to our demon race's invasion; he is obstinate and unrepentant. If possible, we should unite the strength of our entire demon race to slay him!"

The Red Flame Demon Race clan leader nodded with hatred in his eyes.

If there was any tribe among the great demon races present who hated that Profound Yellow Realm emperor the most, none surpassed the Red Flame Demon Race.

After all, including their Great Elder, three elders of the Red Flame Demon Race had fallen at the hands of that Profound Yellow Realm emperor.

Even as a top demon race, the Red Flame Demon Race could not endure such loss!

After much discussion among the seven top demon races, they resolved to dispatch heavy forces to strike at the Profound Yellow Realm emperor.

The Divine Mountain Demon Race clan leader swept his gaze across the assembly and proposed: "The enemy is a ninth-rank emperor. Those sent to deal with him must be at least eighth-rank!

Each top demon race must send at least three eighth-rank powerhouses, and one of them must be late eighth-rank!

As for the large demon races, each must send one eighth-rank powerhouse. This is not up for discussion!"

At these words, an uproar broke out among the large demon races below.

After all, they were not top demon races—eighth-rank powerhouses within the tribe were exceedingly rare. If they sent one and it died, it would be a devastating blow to their vitality.

Some large demon races perhaps only had one eighth-rank powerhouse keeping the tribe afloat. If that one perished, their tribe would fall from being large to just a medium demon race, and who knew when they'd ever climb back up.

"Hmph! Have any of you objections? This concerns whether our demon race can seize the Profound Yellow Realm and its resources—every demon race must contribute!

Now it is you large demon races' turn to act. Once we drive off or slay that Profound Yellow Realm emperor and succeed in our invasion, it will then be the turn of the medium and small demon races to contribute!

If any tribe objects, you may step forward now. As long as you swear to forgo any share of the resources gained from invading the Profound Yellow Realm, you may abstain from sending your powerhouses!"

The Thunderlight Demon Race clan leader snorted coldly, and the peak eighth-rank pressure swept the entire Ancestral Demon Hall, making the large demon race clan leaders quake with fear. 𝙛𝒓𝓮𝙚𝔀𝒆𝒃𝓷𝒐𝓿𝙚𝓵.𝙘𝒐𝒎

Even those clan leaders whose tribes possessed only a single eighth-rank powerhouse quickly withdrew their forward steps.

Seeing the grand hall fall silent, the Thunderlight Demon Race clan leader finally withdrew his pressure.

"My Red Flame Demon Race has no objections to these arrangements. However, our tribe just lost three eighth-rank powerhouses, and it won't do to send more now.

We have decided to dispatch an Imperial Realm demon beast with ninth-rank battle prowess to take their place!"

At that moment, the Red Flame Demon Race clan leader spoke suddenly.

On hearing this, the other six clan leaders were thoughtful for a moment, then nodded in agreement.

They actually knew very well about the Red Flame Demon Race's Imperial Realm demon beast—the Three-headed Demon Lion.

Apparently, this Three-headed Demon Lion was already at death's door, its lifespan nearly exhausted; otherwise, the Red Flame Demon Race would never part with it.

Profound Yellow Realm, Demon Valley.

Boom!

Sitting cross-legged above the Demon Refining Stone Mill, Fang Yuan's body suddenly gave a muffled explosion, and his aura soared dramatically, sweeping out in all directions.

Fang Yuan slowly opened his eyes, joy overflowing within them. With the aid of several hundred drops of Primordial Demon Liquid, he finally broke through to the mid-eighth rank.

"Big Brother!"

Leaping to his feet, Fang Yuan caught sight of Jiang Che in the distance and flew over in delight.

"Big Brother, this… did you kill all these?"

The next moment, Fang Yuan stared in shock at the mountain of corpses below, unable to believe his own eyes.

He'd been wholly focused on refining the Primordial Demon Liquid earlier, completely oblivious to the outside world—after all, with his big brother guarding, there was nothing to worry about.

"That's right, these…"

Jiang Che smiled, then recounted for Fang Yuan everything that had happened while he was refining the Primordial Demonic Qi.

"Big Brother, since the demon race aims to invade the Profound Yellow Realm, they'll surely send more powerhouses across."

Hearing his brother's account, Fang Yuan frowned slightly.

"No matter—it doesn't matter how many come, this king will kill them all!"

Jiang Che let out a cold laugh.