Chapter 2972: Kindred Devouring Kindred

"In short, before the Punishing Dragon Pillar appeared, the celestial realm had devoured most of the nightmare energy from the mortal realm, making its environment far better than ours. But most demons understand this 'prosperity' is unstable—once the mortal realm changes, such as with our appearance, their good days will be affected. Ultimately, they must still seize benefits directly in the mortal realm." Red General concluded, "Only the demons' desires have long since grown boundless, and the promises the Holy Lord of the Void has painted for them over the past two thousand years have only grown larger, leaving even him unable to dismount the tiger."

No matter how good the celestial realm's environment or how rich its spiritual energy, the four words "peace and contentment in one's livelihood" do not exist. Because the demons all hope their promised share of flesh will arrive quickly, and they hope the Holy Lord of the Void's promises to them will be fulfilled soon.

The Fallen Heaven also nodded: "If they don't descend to the lower realm, this pie will explode."

"Isn't this just a bubble?" He Lingchuan heard this and couldn't help but find it both laughable and exasperating.

He could understand the Holy Lord of the Void's original intention. After the ancient war, the Heavenly Luo Xing caused new laws to emerge between the two realms—whichever realm is more stable draws in more nightmare/spiritual energy. Initially it may not be obvious, but over time the scale's tilt grows greater. This is destined to be a long-term competition; to ensure a continuous influx of nightmare energy into the celestial realm, the Holy Lord of the Void must guarantee this realm's peace and stability.

But the Holy Lord of the Void knows all too well what the demons are truly like—divinity is just humanity, after all.

To govern the divine heart and reduce warfare, the Holy Lord of the Void set a new target for all celestial gods: return to the mortal realm, no longer bound by the Heavenly Luo Xing, and freely enjoy the nourishment of nightmare energy.

Once the demons had this aspiration, the Holy Lord of the Void gained authority.

This is just like how the Emperor of the Nine Abyss unified the Flashing Gold Plains and founded the Cangyan Empire—he also set a target for everyone:

Expel the demons, and all things shall vie for freedom under the frost of heaven.

With a target, people and gods could unite in cooperation. Over the past two thousand years, the celestial realm's cohesion and stability surpassed that of the mortal realm, so the Holy Lord of the Void's wish was fulfilled: nightmare energy ceaselessly nourished the originally lifeless celestial realm.

Yet success and failure are one.

The Holy Lord of the Void's power rests on the demons' desires.

Desire is ever-growing; to maintain his rule, the Holy Lord of the Void must continually promise new things to the demons, agreeing to their new demands.

This pie keeps getting bigger, while the original resources have long been insufficient—what to do?

So promise future returns instead—for example, how the mortal realm will be divided after descent, which great celestial gods can obtain the best subjects and lands… and as promises multiply, the demons eagerly await fulfillment.

At this point, does the Holy Lord of the Void still have any reason not to descend?

Only through external expansion can new growth be found before the bubble bursts!

Otherwise, the desire accumulated by the celestial gods over two thousand years will turn into raging fury, and the first to suffer may well be the Holy Lord of the Void himself! "No matter how the Holy Lord of the Void beautifies the reasons for descending or exaggerates his own strength, it does not change the fact that they are betting everything." Fallen Heaven said slowly, "They are deceivers; I have never been optimistic about the Gods' Descent Plan."

"Why?"

Fallen Heaven did not answer directly, but said:

"I was once the God of Fate, and I know fate's unpredictability."

Whether god or man, once one goes all-in, they usually see only what they want to see and believe only what they want to believe—unable to perceive the discrepancy between that and true reality.

Because they have no other path.

How did the gods lose last time?

It was the Black Dragon God Sovereign leading the celestials, who drove them back to the celestial realm.

Three thousand years later, the Holy Lord of the Void planned a second invasion. But this time, how can they be certain they will succeed?

Though the Dragon God has fallen, the mortal realm is so vast that another Dragon God might yet appear.

In this world, it seems there is always a legendary figure "born of the times."

Thus, Fallen Heaven was not swayed by the Holy Lord of the Void's words, but chose a path completely opposite to theirs.

In their view, the beings of the celestial realm have a second path. But only after the gods' fervent following of the Holy Lord of the Void fades will they understand. Seeing that Fallen Heaven does not wish to say more, He Lingchuan does not press him and changes the subject:

"The Holy Lord of the Void has painstakingly maintained his dignity for thousands of years—now he suddenly jumps down from the divine altar and personally strikes down a great celestial god… What do you think he is after?"

Fallen Heaven pondered for a moment before saying: "Perhaps it is because the Punishing Dragon Pillar is no longer sufficient."

What does that mean?

"The Punishing Dragon Pillar absorbs nightmare energy from the mortal realm and can offset part of a god's power consumption during descent to the mortal realm. But the number of Punishing Dragon Pillars gathered by the Void Celestials is limited and cannot support the needs of all celestial gods on the list. When the time comes, even if they descend, their robes will be drained of much power crossing the barrier between realms."

"So?"

"Insufficient reserves naturally mean we must take from others." Fallen Heaven said solemnly, "The Void Celestials descending need nightmare energy and divine power; other celestial gods in the celestial realm happen to possess exactly those. If the Void Celestials cannot gather more from the mortal realm, then simply taking from within the celestial realm would be much quicker, wouldn't it?"

He Lingchuan understood: "Kindred devouring kindred?"

"Don't put it so harshly." Fallen Heaven gave a contemptuous smile, "Isn't it just like your humans' mutual slaughter?"

How different is the Holy Lord of the Void seizing nightmare energy and divine power from other celestial gods from humans seizing money and beauty from their own kind?

"Only at the final moment does the Holy Lord of the Void dare to oppose the entire celestial realm." Red General and He Lingchuan exchanged glances, both seeing the heaviness in each other's eyes, "It seems now is indeed the final moment."

The Gods' Descent is about to begin.

He Lingchuan crossed his arms: "You are also celestial gods—will you just meekly become lambs, letting the Void Celestials slaughter you at will?"

Fallen Heaven said coldly: "What do you know?"

This fellow truly speaks while standing, feeling no back pain. If they did not resist, how did over a thousand celestial gods die? The Holy Lord of the Void has already torn off his former "holy" pretense—when he slays gods, he is fiercer than anyone. Other celestial gods know that begging for mercy means death, and resistance also means death, so they might as well resist to the end.

Unfortunately, the Void Celestials' forces have already formed and are overwhelmingly strong. They can oppose the celestial realm single-handedly with ease.

He Lingchuan and Red General exchanged glances, and four words flashed in their minds:

A rabble.

It cannot be said that the other celestial gods have no power to resist at all, but facing the Void Celestials' intimidation, fragmentation, and pursuit, they have never been able to organize an effective counterattack.

"For these three thousand years, you have all entrusted your safety to the Holy Lord of the Void, never considering danger in times of peace." Red General shook his head, "Once the Holy Lord of the Void turns against you, the government becomes bandits—you can only stare helplessly."