Xuanzheng: I'll Give You One Incense Stick, Either Hire Me for Engineering or Treat Me to a Feast!

The Demon General Ying Zhao stepped forward, his voice like a thunderous bell.

"Your Majesty, absolutely not! This is a scheme by the Witch Clan!"

"That Xuanzheng has malicious intentions, wanting to use this opportunity to lay his hands on our Demon Clan's sacred land, the Solar Star. His heart deserves to be punished!"

"Ying Zhao speaks the truth!" Bai Ze lightly fanned himself, his expression grave. "When has the Witch Clan ever been so kind? This report is likely a trick they're using to shake our morale! We should immediately activate the Myriad Stars Array and expel them!"

A group of hardline members of the Demon Clan chimed in, filling the hall with a murderous aura.

Di Jun's expression was unreadable, his fingers tapping idly on the armrest.

That report... it was too accurate. So accurate it made him, the lord of the Solar Star, feel a chill to his very core.

How could Xuanzheng possibly know the precise location of the core energy accumulation point? That was a vital spot that he and Taiyi had spent ten thousand years of effort to barely stabilize!

Suspicion was instinctive. But every simulation diagram in the report was like a heavy hammer, striking his most vulnerable nerves.

Taiyi stepped forward, placing a hand on the restless Eastern Emperor Bell, and whispered to Di Jun, "Big Brother, this Xuanzheng is prepared. We cannot fall into disarray. Let's send them away for now and discuss it later!"

Just then, Xuanzheng's infuriatingly "earnest" voice drifted over once more.

"Fellow Daoist Di Jun! Fellow Daoist Taiyi! Time waits for no one!"

"This report of mine was painstakingly deduced by our Witch Clan, based on a profound understanding of the operational laws of all things in the Primordial World. There is not a single false word in it!"

Xuanzheng's voice was filled with a "compassionate" urgency.

"If we delay any further, the imbalance in the Solar Star's core will worsen. At that time, let alone your ten sons, even the entire foundation of the Demon Clan, and indeed all living beings in the Primordial World, will face utter annihilation!"

He chuckled inwardly: Heh heh heh, hurry up, I charge by the hour, and Heavenly Dao Merit pays very well!

"Nonsense!" Ying Zhao roared.

"Boom--!"

Before his words had even fallen, a violent roar erupted from the depths of the Heavenly Court!

A surge of Solar True Fire, far exceeding the ordinary, like a rampaging golden dragon, brazenly broke through the layers of seals Di Jun and Taiyi had set!

The pillar of fire grazed the edge of the Southern Heavenly Gate, instantly incinerating a floating side hall nearby into ashes!

The entire Demon Clan's Heavenly Court shook violently. Countless demon soldiers and generals were thrown into chaos by the sudden turn of events, their formations in disarray.

The pressure, in an instant, shifted from outside the hall to inside.

Xuanzheng, with "perfect timing," let out a long sigh, his voice filled with "regret" and "sorrow."

"Alas... do you see? This is the consequence of treating the symptoms and not the root cause."

"We too are acting for the sake of all beings in the Primordial World. We truly cannot bear to witness such a tragedy!"

This sigh was like an invisible slap, fiercely striking Di Jun and Taiyi across the face.

What made their hearts split with terror, however, was yet to come.

From the distant depths of Tanggu, the cries of the ten little Golden Crows suddenly became unbearably shrill!

"Chirp! Chirp chirp--!"

Their cries were no longer just of pain, but mingled with an extreme sense of longing and anxiety.

Relying on the most primal instincts of their bloodline, they began, regardless of the cost, to mobilize the faint power of their origin, attempting to break free from their fathers' suppression and move towards Xuanzheng's location!

As if there, lay a life-saving spring that could save them!

"What?!" Di Jun and Taiyi exclaimed in shock simultaneously.

They quickly strengthened their divine senses, attempting to suppress the little Golden Crows back into the depths of Tanggu.

However, this time, they felt unprecedented resistance!

The little Golden Crows exhibited strong resistance to their power, yet showed closeness and reliance towards the aura belonging to the Witch Clan, which should have been their mortal enemy!

This... this was the "betrayal" of their offspring!

Seeing that the time was ripe, Xuanzheng's "honest" smile instantly vanished, replaced by an undeniable majesty.

He spoke out loud, his voice echoing throughout the Heavenly Court.

"Fellow Daoist Di Jun, Fellow Daoist Taiyi!"

"I will give you the time it takes for one stick of incense to consider!"

"Will you cooperate sincerely with my Witch Clan to resolve the crisis of the Solar Star, or will you embrace this 'solar bomb' that could detonate at any moment and bring about your own destruction along with the entire Demon Clan?"

"Do not say I did not warn you!"

As his voice fell, Xuanzheng slowly raised his left hand.

The [Karma Scale] quietly materialized.

He flicked his finger, and a wisp of karmic misfortune representing the "uncontrolled explosion of the Solar Star" was precisely flicked onto the scale pan.

Buzz--!

The beam of the [Karma Scale] violently dipped downwards, falling straight to the bottom!

The pointer, representing the outcome, trembled so violently as if it had gone mad, almost shattering on its own!

That scene silently declared one outcome: once the explosion occurred, the Demon Clan's Destiny would face certain death, with no room for any reprieve!

Xuanzheng even "thoughtfully" cast a spell, projecting the scene on the [Karma Scale] with perfect clarity into the Lingxiao Treasure Hall, so every great power of the Demon Clan could see it clearly!

A fatal threat!

The "betrayal" of his offspring!

And... the naked death sentence of the Law of Karma!

Three unparalleled pressures, like three ancient divine mountains, crashed down!

Di Jun's pride and dignity as the Demon Emperor were crushed to pieces at this moment.

He watched the frantically shaking pointer in the image, listened to the shrill cries of his sons echoing in his ears, and the divine light in his eyes dimmed inch by inch.

"Big Brother..." Taiyi's voice was dry and hoarse.

Inside the Lingxiao Treasure Hall, there was a deathly silence.

After a long time.

Di Jun slowly closed his eyes, and when he opened them again, only coldness and humiliation remained within.

"Good!"

"Xuanzheng!"

"This Emperor... agrees to 'cooperate' with your Witch Clan!"

He stared intently at the figures of the Witch Clan team and added, word by word.

"But if I discover any malicious intent from you, my Demon Clan will be... irreconcilably at odds with you!"

Di Jun's "Good!" weighed more than ten thousand pounds.

A "gratified" smile instantly spread across Xuanzheng's face, as warm as a spring breeze:

"Fellow Daoist Di Jun understands righteousness profoundly, which is truly a blessing for the Primordial World! We shall discuss the details of our cooperation in person."

With a wave of his hand, Zhurong, carrying the Fire God Staff, and Gonggong, holding the Black Water Pouch, strode grandly into the Southern Heavenly Gate, which symbolized the supreme glory of the Demon Clan, as if inspecting their own territory.