At this moment, Jian Mu had already erupted into a fierce battle.
The Eighty-One Heavens, as Qin Yi had anticipated, had never been anything more than a rhythmic time limit. If they truly followed that deadline, they would only be led around by the nose until they could no longer tell east from west.
Even if Jiu Ying wanted to maintain the appearance of keeping its word, it had countless excuses to exploit loopholes and skirt around it. Especially where the Demon Race was concerned, this deadline had never mattered in the first place. If Jiu Ying could launch a surprise attack on Demon City, then it could naturally launch one on Jian Mu as well.
Demon City was in a troublesome state now. The ancient Demon Soul formation crisscrossed the city; Old Dragon had emerged, Kunpeng had emerged. Jiu Ying reckoned that it could not take the city down anytime soon. Once the battle bogged down, Qin Yi and Liusu might turn around and strike back, while Yao Guang might crawl out from who knew where. That would leave it in an extremely passive position.
Then it would change targets first.
When Jiu Ying sensed that something had happened at the Celestial Pivot Divine Palace, suspecting it was a battle between Liusu and Yao Guang, it had already begun arranging a series of moves.
Jian Mu was essential to its control over the Seven Luminaries and Five Elements. Once Jian Mu returned to Heaven and filled the Wood Luminary, the power of heavenly timing it could command would surge dramatically, and its cultivation would rise along with it. The abilities of the Heavenly Emperor's position were directly tied to control over the heavens. It was no longer purely a matter of "improving through cultivation."
If it could completely seize