Chapter 401

Inside the cave dwelling, the golden light of the imperial path gradually faded.

Sun Wukong flipped his wrist, and the Demon Emperor Seal sank into his palm.

The phantom images of the demonic ape and the three-legged Golden Crow behind him dissipated along with it.

That supreme pressure which had forced the ten thousand demons of Mount Huaguo to their knees finally receded like a retreating tide.

Bai Ze stood up straight, the sorrow on his face already hidden away.

This first strategist of the Demon Court, who had lived through ten thousand ages, once again displayed the composure of one whose plans never fail.

"Your Majesty." Bai Ze changed his form of address, his tone respectful.

Sun Wukong waved his hand and said casually, "Forget these empty formalities; my old Sun finds them grating to the ears. You mentioned the Demon Court's foundations earlier—how much of a nest egg is actually hidden away? Give me the bottom line."

Bai Ze looked at Su Chen, then at Sun Wukong, and spoke slowly: "The rules of the Demon Alliance are well established, but the foundation is too shallow. If we are to stand on equal footing with the Heavenly Court and the Buddhist Sect, relying solely on these demon soldiers and generals of Mount Huaguo is far from enough."

"This old subject was ordered to withdraw from the battlefield back then, and I took away the most core bloodlines of the Demon Court." Bai Ze extended five fingers. "Su Chen has been to Demon Emperor Island and seen a portion of them."

Su Chen nodded and took up the conversation: "Xuan Ming, Cang Li, Shang Qing, Qin Xuan, and Bai Hui—five Great Luo Golden Immortals."

Sun Wukong's eyes lit up.

Great Luo Golden Immortals were the peak combat power of the Three Realms; the Demon Alliance currently had no others besides himself and Su Chen.

To suddenly have five more meant their strength would directly double.

Bai Ze continued: "Xuan Ming is a direct descendant of the Bi Fang lineage, a late-stage Great Luo Jinxian, whose fire-control techniques are divine. Cang Li is a descendant of the Nine Infants, a mid-stage Great Luo Jinxian with a formidable physical body capable of hard-hitting ordinary innate magic treasures. Shang Qing belongs to the Shang Yang lineage, a mid-stage Great Luo, proficient in water-element laws. Qin Xuan is a descendant of the Qin Yuan, an early-stage Great Luo, whose poison techniques are impossible to guard against. Bai Hui is this old subject's registered disciple, an early-stage Great Luo, well-versed in ancient remnant arrays."

Sun Wukong listened, scratching his ears and cheeks, golden light flickering in his eyes.

He knew the weight of these five people.

Those star lords and divine generals of the Heavenly Court, in one-on-one combat, might not be a match for these five.

"Besides those five?" Sun Wukong pressed.

"There are tens of thousands of direct descendants of ancient great demons on the island." Bai Ze's words were startling. "These people have pure bloodlines and cultivate ancient demon arts. The weakest among them are at the Heavenly Immortal Realm, there are over a thousand Golden Immortals, and dozens of Tai Yi Golden Immortals. They have been dormant for tens of thousands of years, untainted by karma or karmic obstacles, and their combat power far exceeds that of demon cultivators of the same rank in the outside world."

Sun Wukong gasped.

Even with his Mount Huaguo and the seventy-two cave demon kings, he couldn't even scrape together ten Golden Immortals.

Once this force was unleashed, it would be enough to sweep across North Ju Luzhou.

"Good! Good! Good!" Sun Wukong said the word 'good' three times, clenching his fists. "With troops like these, why should my old Sun have to take the Heavenly Court's bird-brained insults!"

Bai Ze's expression turned solemn, and his tone shifted: "Your Majesty must not be arrogant. Today's Heavenly Court has a foundation even greater than the Demon Court of the past; our strength is far from enough to wage war against the Heavenly Court. However, Your Majesty can rest assured—these are just soldiers and generals; the most core element is the 'Demon Emperor Inheritance' left behind by His Majesty Di Jun."

"Inheritance?" Sun Wukong raised an eyebrow.

"It is within the Demon Emperor Hall on Demon Emperor Island." Bai Ze replied. "Back then, His Majesty deduced that the Demon Court would fall, so he extracted a trace of the origin of the Zhou Tian Xing Dou Array in advance, and together with the remaining imperial luck of the demon race, sealed it away. That is the core power to rule over all demons; only by holding the Demon Emperor Seal can one open the great hall and receive the inheritance."

Upon hearing this, Sun Wukong's eyes lit up.

"Let's go! Take my old Sun to see it!" Sun Wukong was impatient and turned to walk out.

Bai Ze nodded and looked at Su Chen: "Would Young Friend Su like to come along?"

"I won't go." Su Chen sat on a stone stool and shook his head slightly. "Mount Huaguo cannot be without a master for a day. You go to the North Sea; I will stay behind to guard the Demon Alliance's base camp."

Sun Wukong stopped his steps, turned his head to look at Su Chen, and looked puzzled: "Little Brother, that Demon Emperor Island has a deep foundation; don't you want to go pick out a few handy treasures?"

Su Chen raised his right hand, and a gray light flashed in his palm.

"Hum—"

A dull bell toll sounded.

The Chaos Bell floated out, the mysterious yellow energy dripping down, causing the space within the cave to twist.

"I have this, and it is enough." Su Chen looked at the Chaos Bell, his eyes deep. "I have just entered the Great Luo, and my Hunyuan Great Luo Dao Fruit is not yet fully stabilized. This bell contains forty-nine innate restrictions, each one an immeasurable supreme treasure. Refining it requires a massive amount of time and energy."

Sun Wukong realized.

He had witnessed the terrifying power of Tai Yi wielding the Chaos Bell and naturally knew that the difficulty of refining such an innate supreme treasure was immense.

Su Chen was walking the Hunyuan Dao and could not afford the slightest distraction.

"Little Brother is right." Sun Wukong stopped persuading and patted his chest. "Mount Huaguo is in your hands. My old Sun will go subdue that group of Demon Court descendants and then come back to drink with you!"

Su Chen nodded: "Brother Monkey, be careful on this trip. The Demon Emperor Inheritance is no small matter; do not be overly eager for success."

"My old Sun understands!" Sun Wukong grinned.

"Take care, Young Friend Su." Bai Ze cupped his hands.

A stream of light flashed, and Bai Ze and Sun Wukong disappeared from the cave.

Su Chen stood up and walked out of the cave.

He followed the mountain path and headed straight for the Water Curtain Cave.

The monkey demon soldiers and generals patrolling the mountain along the way saw him coming and stopped one after another to bow respectfully.

Su Chen nodded in response, his pace unceasing, and arrived at his own cave.

Su Chen opened the restriction and walked inside.

Sitting cross-legged on a prayer mat, Su Chen closed his eyes.

Inside his dantian, the chaos-colored Hunyuan Great Luo Dao Fruit rotated slowly, with Hunyuan magic power breathing within it.

Su Chen smiled slightly, his intent moved, and the Chaos Bell appeared from his brow, hovering above his head.

His spiritual sense reached out and touched the body of the bell.

The moment he touched the Chaos Bell, Su Chen's consciousness was instantly pulled into a vast and boundless chaotic space.

When Dong Huang Tai Yi gave him the Chaos Bell, he had only imprinted a wisp of his soul into it; to fully refine this innate supreme treasure, he needed to refine each of the forty-nine innate restrictions one by one.

Now, before Su Chen was the first innate restriction.

North Sea.

A gale whipped up dark blue giant waves thousands of feet high, smashing fiercely onto the sea surface. The cold wind was bone-chilling, and even the void felt dead and silent.

In less than half a day, the two had arrived near the sea area where Demon Emperor Island was located.

Bai Ze stopped his cloud, and Sun Wukong stood to one side.

Ahead was a sea area that appeared empty.

Bai Ze formed seals with his hands and struck them into the void ahead.

The space above the entire sea area rippled slightly.

An ancient, wild demon aura appeared, and the outline of a vastly enormous island gradually emerged above the vast North Sea.

On the island, ancient trees reached for the sky, mountain ranges were layered, and magnificent palace complexes could be vaguely seen nestled among them.

The island-protecting array opened, and deep within Demon Emperor Island, five powerful Great Luo auras instantly shot into the sky.

"Someone has entered the island!"

A violent voice came from within the island.

Immediately following, a ball of crimson fire tore through the sky and headed straight for the entrance of the array; it was Xuan Ming of the Bi Fang lineage.

Subsequently, gray water vapor, cyan gales, black poison mist, and white divine light rose into the sky one after another.