Peacock Venerable emerged like a Demon Mountain that had stood since time immemorial, tearing through the nether mist above the Underworld. His overwhelming pressure shook even the Eighteenth Abyss!
Countless Weird Dao Ancestors slumbering in the depths awoke. Their mighty auras surged skyward like black smoke, while more than a dozen gazes pierced the blood clouds and locked onto the uninvited guest above.
Yet several abysses remained silent as graves. Their masters had perished body and soul in ancient wars, and no new Dao Ancestor had claimed those barren domains. Only broken Dao Runes wailed in the bitter wind.
The demons of the Underworld stirred. Dao Ancestors gathered above the eighteen abysses like black crows, their eyes flickering behind ghostly masks.
Ditian stroked the prayer beads at his chest and murmured with a frown, "Does he want another bloody clash with Dao Origin? Last time, by the Guidu River, their robes were stained with blood."
His words dripped with mockery. To him, Peacock Venerable was only inviting humiliation.
Peacock Venerable had sworn a blood oath with the Netherworld Prison Dao Ancestor: the matter of Jiang Yun suppressing Guidu for four Sacrificial Eras was settled. If he went back on his word now, a Dao Ancestor's dignity would be trampled into the mud of Jiuyou, making him the Strange Race's laughingstock for a thousand years.
Unless he produced a reason the Dao Ancestors could accept, the Netherworld Prison Dao Ancestor would surely act himself, perhaps even rallying them all to suppress Peacock Venerable.
The Dao Ancestors were veterans of the strange path. They knew Peacock Venerable was sinister and never let a slight go unanswered, but he valued his reputation. He was no reckless fool.
Some guessed that a thousand years of chaos in the Sacrificial Sea had disrupted the order