Success was cut short before the battle even began.
A Great Power-realm cultivator of the Pan Niu led the team in person, yet vanished mysteriously before he even caught a glimpse of their target!
Bizarre! Far too bizarre!
If it were a collective disappearance, that would be one thing, but it was just a single Great Power-realm cultivator vanishing right under the noses of the Pan Niu Demon.
In an instant, a basin of cold water was dashed over those eager Great Power-realm cultivators who had been raring to go.
"Brother Wan Qing, what realm is your elder in? This is simply too terrifying! He obliterated a Great Power-realm cultivator without a sound!" Brother Peng was greatly startled.
Azure Emperor fell silent. The one capable of escorting him across the cosmos had to be at least a Saint.
"Soon is the Heaven's Pride Grand Tournament of White Tiger Holy City. I must prepare to break through!"
A few days later, word spread that a Great Accomplished King and a Half-Saint of the Pan Niu had arrived in person at the scene, using supreme divine abilities to recreate the past scene.
Afterwards, the two returned to the Holy City, and then the Pan Niu issued a rule.
As of today, no demons of the Pan Niu were permitted to make an enemy of Azure Emperor. Those who held past grievances with Azure Emperor were to seek him out themselves to plead guilty; if they failed to win Azure Emperor's forgiveness, they were to execute themselves!
As soon as this news broke, it caused a tremendous uproar.
The Pan Niu was one of the major clans backed by a Half-Saint, yet now even they had to lower their heads and admit fault. There was bound to be a Saint standing behind the other party!
Who could it be?
White Tiger Demon Saint or Azure Luan Demon Saint?
The demons were more inclined to lean toward Flowing Flame Demon Saint, because a demon had leaked a heaven-shaking piece of news: Azure Emperor himself was very likely the transformation of an Immortal Medicine, and his origin shared some deep roots with Flowing Flame Demon Saint.
However, some also speculated that the figure was not one of the three great Demon Saints of the Demon Star, but possibly a Saint from beyond the realm.
This news was not entirely groundless, for some had already pried out from the few people at Azure Emperor's side that Azure Emperor was not a demon of the Demon Star itself, but rather looked more like he had come here to undergo trials.
In short, opinions varied, and everyone had their own speculations.
Naturally, there were also Great Power-realm cultivators who refused to believe in evil and attempted to make a move, deeming these mere rumors, and declared that they were determined to consume Azure Emperor, this "Great Medicine."
In the blink of an eye, three years followed by another three years.
Azure Emperor stood at the perfection of the Dao Palace Secret Realm and was about to step into the Four Extremes Secret Realm. He had already swept through all matchless opponents on the Demon Star, unrivaled in the same realm!
That year, he participated in the Heaven's Pride Grand Tournament of White Tiger Holy City, defeated cultivators of the Four Extremes Secret Realm while still in the Dao Palace Secret Realm, and seized first place. The demons were shocked, and it even alarmed White Tiger Demon Saint, who had been in closed-door cultivation for many years, prompting him to ask whether Azure Emperor was willing to take him as a master.
Azure Emperor refused, stating that he had already walked out on his own Dao.
White Tiger Demon Saint was not angered; instead, he openly called him a freak of nature with the bearing of an Ancient Great Emperor, one who might perhaps become a Demon Emperor in the future if he did not suffer an untimely death!
Countless demons were greatly startled.
They had not expected White Tiger Demon Saint to hold him in such high regard.
They all scrambled to befriend him!
White Tiger Demon Saint even declared outright: "If Azure Emperor is willing, he can become the Lord of White Tiger Holy City!"
Some were envious, while others were shocked. White Tiger Demon Saint actually attached such great importance to Azure Emperor, and everyone knew that White Tiger Demon Saint was running out of lifespan-was he considering a successor when he spoke those words?
Yet, not long after, a piece of news emerged that shook the Demon Star, even alarming Azure Luan Demon Saint and Flowing Flame Demon Saint.
No one knew who had leaked the news, but Azure Emperor's blood contained immortal divinity; he might well be the transformation of an Immortal Divine Medicine!
This news was well-founded with logic and evidence. It was reported that three years ago, Azure Emperor had once saved the heavily injured daughter of a demon king. At the time, the female demon had barely a breath left, and it was entirely thanks to Azure Emperor feeding her a mouthful of blood that she weathered the crisis, and as a result of this blessing in disguise, she increased her lifespan by five hundred years.
A mouthful of blood extending one's lifespan by five hundred years...
Aside from the legendary Immortal Medicine, he could not think of anything else capable of such a feat!
It was precisely upon discovering this that White Tiger Demon Saint had promised numerous benefits, racking his brains to keep Azure Emperor in White Tiger Holy City.
In an instant, all the demon clans on friendly terms with Azure Emperor fell silent.
That was an Immortal Medicine! Even transformed into human form, the blood and flesh within his body could definitely be called worldly rare nectars, imbued with immortal divinity.
No wonder Azure Emperor was able to turn danger into safety time and again, undergoing nirvana and rebirth-so he harbored such a secret!
It was simply too astonishing!
The three Demon Saints gathered together in White Tiger Holy City, discussing how to carve up Azure Emperor.
Originally, it should have been White Tiger Demon Saint who enjoyed him alone, but somehow the news leaked, forcing him to share the feast of Azure Emperor with the other two Demon Saints.
Nor was that the end of it. The situation continued to ferment, and countless powerful demon cultivators rushed over upon hearing the wind, also wanting a share of the spoils. That was an Immortal Medicine! An Immortal drug that even Ancient Great Emperors would be moved by, a precious treasure capable of letting a person live for another Lifetime.
After deliberating, countless powerful demon cultivators decided to host a Myriad Demon Banquet.
Strong though the three Demon Saints were, they had to make concessions when facing the demon race of the entire Demon Star.
Among them, the most aggrieved was none other than White Tiger Demon Saint. Originally, this humanoid Great Medicine was supposed to be his alone to enjoy, but now he had to share it with the rest of the demon race.
He just prayed he never found out who had leaked the news, or they would see what he was made of!
"Brother Peng, we have already spread the news according to your instructions. What should we do now?" Not everyone was willing to watch Azure Emperor be carved up and eaten as a humanoid Great Medicine.
These young demon geniuses were all proud prodigies who had been defeated by Azure Emperor in the past. After their defeats, they harbored no arrogance; instead, they chose to follow Azure Emperor, witnessing such a peerless freak of nature sweep across the world with no rivals under heaven.
They were unwilling to resign themselves to this and wanted to pursue Azure Emperor's footsteps, walking further and seeing higher!
That news was precisely what they had spread, solely to buy some time.
"Brother Wan Qing has temporarily escaped mortal danger, but this is merely a delaying tactic and won't last long! Moreover, those are the three Demon Saints; it is simply impossible for us to rescue Brother Wan Qing from right under their noses!" said another demon.
Brother Peng spoke, "Many years ago, when Brother Wan Qing was still a Sea of Bitterness cultivator, he told me a piece of news: he has an elder who is currently living in seclusion in a secret realm. If he encounters danger, that elder will take action!
Didn't you all notice? Over these past years, quite a few powerful demon cultivators have made a move against Brother Wan Qing, but without exception, not a single one was a figure ranked in that realm of the Immortal Platform. The ones who struck were at most at the Great Perfection of Dragon Transformation!
Those people didn't choose not to strike, but rather that those powerful cultivators who did strike mysteriously vanished!"
Hearing this, the demon prodigies carefully recalled, and it indeed seemed to be the case!
"Then why hasn't this senior shown himself?" asked a demon in puzzlement.
Brother Peng continued, "I surmise that perhaps this senior has fallen into some kind of special state, temporarily losing connection with the outside world, which is how Brother Wan Qing's current predicament came to be!
Therefore, this time we need to find the dwelling place of that senior before the Myriad Demon Banquet begins and awaken him. Only with him stepping forward can Brother Wan Qing's current crisis be resolved!"
"Do you know the seclusion dwelling of that senior?"
"I roughly know." He and Azure Emperor shared an extremely close relationship, having known each other for many years, and he had often seen him quietly gaze off into a certain direction in the dead of night, letting out faint, lingering sighs.
"There's no time to lose, let's set out immediately!"
"Let's go!"