The battle inside the Demonic Flame Space never became public knowledge.
For one thing, before the fighting began, almost everyone hoping to pick up scraps on the Demonic Flame Plains had fled like thieves.
For another, both sides in the battle had tacitly kept silent.
The Soul Clan kept silent because its high-level fighters had been almost completely wiped out.
Without its two strongest Nine-Star Dou Sheng, the Soul Clan was now weaker than even the destroyed Shi Clan and Ling Clan.
Its Seven- and Eight-Star Dou Sheng had been all but lost in one battle, while Soul Heaven Emperor had drained much of the bloodline power from its Dou Sheng below Six-Star. No one knew how much strength the clan had left.
The Coalition Army kept silent because Xiao Jin was still in seclusion.
His seclusion had lasted a full six months. A month ago, he had crossed that threshold and successfully reached the Nine-Star Dou Saint Initial Stage.
But the gap between levels in the Dou Saint Realm was immense. Even within a single minor stage, the difference between someone newly advanced and someone on the verge of another breakthrough was plain to see.
After a month of consolidation, Xiao Jin was no longer merely new to the Nine-Star Dou Saint Initial Stage. He even faintly felt another breakthrough approaching.
Of course, everyone, Xiao Jin included, knew he could not push straight through to the Nine-Star Dou Saint Middle Stage in one burst. Most of the energy stripped from the Purifying Lotus Demon Flame had already been refined.
Xiao Jin could wake from seclusion at any time within the next three days and bring this breakthrough to an end.
Things unfolded much as everyone expected. As the second day drew to a close, the energy fluctuations around him