The Plateau had been far from peaceful lately. Desolate Heaven Emperor was fighting the Ancestors, and the Immortal Emperors under him needed Dark Immortal Emperors to keep them occupied. Empyrean was dead but not yet extinguished and required Immortal Emperors to stand guard. The Three Heavenly Emperors had also caused a great disturbance in All Worlds, starting the war at the Soul River and drawing away part of the enemy's attention.
Under such circumstances, there simply were not enough hands. The three emperors who had been cultivating in seclusion—the Red-Haired, Black Blood, and Yellow Bone Immortal Emperors—had no choice but to emerge to take charge and stabilize the situation.
The Red-Haired Immortal Emperor listened to the intelligence relayed by the Dao Ancestors below. One item caught his attention.
[The Heavenly Emperors of All Worlds speculate that the number of Plateau Ancestors corresponds to the number of Immortal Emperors]
"There are ten Ancestors? How is that possible?!"
The Red-Haired Immortal Emperor's first reaction was denial. This exceeded the ultimate number of nine prescribed by the Great Dao and defied the natural order of the world. Flourishing to the extreme and then declining was the norm.
After countless ages, Empyrean had produced only one Pollen Emperor. All Worlds were the same; only after innumerable tribulations had a Desolate Heaven Emperor risen.
The Plateau having three Ancestors already showed a deep foundation. If it had ten Ancestors, even the Great Chiliocosm would be drained dry. Sacrificing every living being would still not be enough to support so many powerful beings.
Then the Red-Haired Immortal Emperor fell silent, for he had extracted a piece of information from this: ancestor-level substance—Black Blood.
Back then, when the Corpse Immortal Emperor had been created, Plateau Immortal Emperors had indeed acted in secret to corrupt him.