Chapter 551: The Plot of Zi Xiao

Whoosh!

A faint green light fell from outside the hall, turning into Shang Yang, who was missing an arm and drenched in blood.

"I… Shang Yang, salute Your Majesty!" Shang Yang fell to his knees with a splash, tears streaming down his face, "I am incompetent! Thirty thousand elite demon soldiers were wiped out, eight great demon generals perished… If the Dao Ancestor's decree had not descended, I… I have no face to see Your Majesty again!"

Whoa—!

Inside the great hall, Fuxi, Nüwa, the demon master Kun Peng, and the other nine great demon saints who had rushed in upon hearing the news were all horrified and pallid.

All thirty thousand elite troops were annihilated!

Eight Taiyi Golden Immortals fell!

Even the demon saint Shang Yang, who had reached the pinnacle of the Great Dao Golden Immortal and wielded a supreme spirit treasure, was beaten to the brink of disappearing from the Dao and dying!

"Demon clan! You have insulted me far too much!!!"

From Di Jun's eyes, true solar flames surged, burning through the void and creating two massive holes.

He stepped forward, came to Shang Yang's side, and personally transferred a vast, gentle solar origin into Shang Yang's body, stabilizing his near‑collapse Great Dao Fruit; the murderous intent around him nearly flipped the entire Lingxiao Treasure Hall:

"Transmit my decree! Align all heavenly demon deities, and raise the Heavenly Stars Great Array! Today, I will descend personally, trample the Ten‑Thousand‑Bone Abyss, and shred Xingtian and Houyi into countless fragments!"

"Your Majesty, calm your anger!"

Fuxi, standing nearby, hurried forward a step and solemnly urged:

"Absolutely not! The Dao Ancestor's decree has just descended, announcing a cease‑fire between heaven and earth, and within ten thousand years the Zi Xiao Palace will be opened. This follows the great trend of the Heavenly Dao and the authority of the sage! If we were to raise a massive army now to attack the demon clan, we would be openly defying the Dao Ancestor's decree, going against heaven; then the Heavenly Dao would unleash karmic retribution, and our demon clan's Heavenly Court would be doomed for ten thousand eons!"

"Is that all we can do?!" Di Jun's eyes bulged, his fists cracking, "Our great commander has been severely wounded, thirty thousand of our boys' corpses are still warm, and if I remain indifferent, how can I command the myriad heavenly demons?!"

Inside the hall, the atmosphere was suppressed to the extreme.

Kun Peng's eyes flickered, Nüwa sighed lightly and shook her head, and the demon saints were all furious yet hesitant to act.

At this tense moment, with the ministers at a loss for action.

"Cough cough… cough cough cough…"

A weak yet clear coughing sound slowly came from the side door of the great hall.

The raging, chaotic murderous aura inside the hall, the moment it heard that cough, miraculously stalled.

Everyone turned their heads in unison.

In the direction of the Eastern Emperor Palace, Gu Yuan was draped in a snow‑white fox‑fur cloak, his complexion as pale as snow, and, supported by two delicate little demon maidens, he staggered in, weak as a gust of wind.

His aura was so weak it seemed it could be scattered at any moment by the hall's raging celestial wind, and his brows bore a heavy sickly pallor and fatigue.

"Brother? Why did you come out?!"

Di Jun's raging anger and murderous aura vanished in an instant, replaced by endless tension and concern.

He darted forward in a single arrow‑step, barely minding the Celestial Emperor's decorum, and personally reached out to support Gu Yuan's other arm, gently shielding Gu Yuan with an extremely gentle force, his reproach full of concern:

"Your primordial spirit is deficient; you cannot endure such violent murderous aura. Didn't we send you to the Eastern Emperor Palace to recuperate in peace? Here we can take care of you for brother!"

Seeing this, the kneeling Shang Yang felt even more ashamed, unable to rise: "Your Highness! It is my incompetence that disturbed your convalescence; I deserve ten thousand deaths!"

Gu Yuan lightly waved his hand, signaling the little demon maidens to step back, and allowed Di Jun to help him walk to the soft chair beside the Celestial Emperor's throne and sit down.

He lifted the hot spirit tea handed by a maid, took a sip, then raised his head, his gaze calmly sweeping over everyone in the hall.

"Brother, Xi Huang's words are absolutely correct."

Gu Yuan's voice was gentle, yet carried a power that steadied the spirit:

"The Dao Ancestor's second lecture is imminent; this is a monumental upheaval unseen since the primordial ages. To clash with the demon clan at this critical juncture would only waste our clan's qi and anger the Dao Ancestor, offering no benefit whatsoever."

"But Taiyi…" Di Jun's eyes were full of resentment, "The demon clan's move is clearly an affront to our Heavenly Court! They set an ambush to kill Shang Yang, clearly premeditated!"

"They certainly premeditated it."

Gu Yuan's mouth curled into a cold smile, and he said lightly:

"Our Heavenly Court forged the Star Banner, sealed the nation, and thus the Blood Sacrifice Great Array the demon clan set up on the primordial earth has no battlefield. They grew desperate, seeking to use Shang Yang the demon saint's life as bait to force our Heavenly Court's main forces to descend for a decisive battle."

"As long as our entire army charges out, rushing into the battlefield they have pre‑filled with murderous aura, the Blood Sacrifice Great Array of the Ten‑Thousand‑Bone Abyss will instantly go berserk, devouring the resentments of billions of living souls and dragging our demon clan's qi into a mire."

After hearing Gu Yuan's meticulous analysis, Fuxi, Kun Peng, and the other demon saints in the hall all inhaled a cold breath, their spines chilled.

"Now I see! No wonder Xingtian kept verbally insulting and enraging me; their true aim was indeed the Heavenly Court's main army!"

Di Jun also snapped to clarity, his after‑fear overwhelming.

"If it hadn't been for my brother and Fuxi stopping me just now, and me raging and leading the army to the lower realm, the demon clan would likely have already fallen into the demon clan's meticulously prepared, irredeemable trap!"

"Brother… if it weren't for you, I would have almost made a grave mistake!" Di Jun grasped Gu Yuan's hand, his eyes full of lingering fear and gratitude.

"Brother, you speak heavily; we are one brother, there is no distinction between us."

Gu Yuan gave a faint smile, his expression exceedingly sincere.

Then, shifting his tone, he looked toward the vast purple aura gradually fading above the Nine Heavens, his gaze deepening:

"At present, since the demon clan's plot has been forcibly interrupted by the Dao Ancestor's decree, they will not dare make any major moves in the short term."

"The current top priority is not the earthly grudges, but the Zi Xiao Palace beyond the heavens."

"Zi Xiao Palace?" Di Jun was startled.

"Exactly."

Gu Yuan nodded, his eyes flashing with wisdom,

"The Dao Ancestor's second lecture speaks of the Great Dao Way, the subtlety of the Quasi‑Saint, and the legendary 'Cut Three Corpses to Attain Sainthood' method!"

"Brother has now reached the Quasi‑Saint pinnacle; only a single step separates him from the supreme saint realm. Though the He Tu Luo Shu is powerful, without the saint's illumination the Heavenly Stars Great Array can never reach its ultimate."

"After ten thousand years, the Zi Xiao Palace's listening to the Dao will be the true battlefield that decides our demon clan's eternal fate!"

"As long as brother can obtain the Dao Ancestor's true transmission in Zi Xiao Palace, cut the three corpses, and even pierce the saintly mysteries… then, in the blink of an eye, we can suppress the Twelve Prime Ancestors, no need to contest them now."