Great Heavenly Demon Venerable's choice was only to be expected. This ancient Heaven-Connecting Realm expert had never possessed a pleasant temperament.
Otherwise, if he had chosen to submit to the Human Emperor back then, he too could have continued living like the Taoist Ancestor and Buddha. Yet he had chosen a road where death was all but certain, insisting on clashing head-on with the Human Emperor.
Jiang Yuanzhen probably still had no idea what sort of enemy had set his sights on him.
Su Xin said in a deep voice, "By the way, Demon Venerable, there is something else I wish to ask. Who were the nine Heaven-Connecting experts of antiquity? The Heaven-Connecting Realm experts rumored in the current Jianghu do not number nine."
Great Heavenly Demon Venerable said, "That is perfectly normal, because some of them died early. Not counting the later Martial Ancestor, the nine Heaven-Connecting experts you know of were myself, the Human Emperor, the Taoist Ancestor, Buddha, Haotian God, and Great Emperor Fengdu—six in all. The other three had already fallen before the Monster Race was defeated.
"Of those three, one was the Sword Saint, Mo Li. He was the progenitor of the sword path and the foremost among all sword cultivators beneath heaven. He was the first to fall, back when that old Human Emperor had yet to establish the First Dynasty and formally rebel against the Monster Race.
"After Mo Li's beloved was slain by the Monster Race, he stormed into the Monster Race's sacred ground, Void Kunlun, in a fury. Fighting with his life on the line, he severely wounded four Monster Sages before finally perishing.
"The First Dynasty's rise was also possible because the Monster Race's might had been greatly diminished after four Monster Sages were severely injured. Thus, they could not