They were running on fumes.
That was the state Sage Ze and Sage Ape were in.
It had taken all Twelve Demon Sages working together to sustain the Heavenly Demon Palace's consumption.
Now, four Demon Sages were gone.
It was only natural that things had come to this.
What surprised them was how quickly the other Demon Sages had fallen.
Among the reasons for this,
the Human Emperor's greater strength had undoubtedly caused the Heavenly Demon Palace to burn through its power faster.
Sage Ape's eyes dimmed as he said in a low voice, "I entered the Heavenly Being realm fifteen thousand years ago and became a Demon Sage seven thousand years ago. Yet even now, I have never had the chance to reach the peak. Perhaps dying now is just as well."
The Demon Race had long lifespans.
For humans, even those at the Heavenly Being Peak lived only around seven thousand years.
But demons could easily live for over ten thousand years once they broke through to the Heavenly Being realm.
However,
no matter how long a lifespan was, it would eventually run out.
Moreover, the Demon Race had paid for their long lives with their talent.
Talented humans could enter the Heavenly Being realm in a few hundred years and have a chance of becoming Great Powers in one or two thousand.
Among demons, however,
even the talented needed several thousand years to reach the Heavenly Being realm. Becoming a Great Power could take several thousand years at the very least, or over ten thousand, with no guarantee of success.
Both had their advantages and disadvantages. It was hard to say which was better.
Still, in Sage Ape's view, even if the Human Emperor had not come, his remaining lifespan would have lasted only another thousand or