Chapter 2443 - Pressure on the Palace

The bodhi leaf burned into ash and vanished, and the curtain of light faded.

“Old Man Heart Demon” sat there alone, lost in thought.

Added up, the experts of the Outsider Celestial Demons numbered in the millions, and they were stationed throughout the Boundless Battlefield.

Even though he’d ordered them all into hiding, there was no way they could hide from Su Yi.

Of course, “Old Man Heart Demon” wasn’t bothered by that. He knew that after the battle in the Thousand Deaths Mountains, the tables had turned. Su Yi had seized the initiative!

All the Outsider Celestial Demons could do was passively defend themselves. There would be no avoiding casualties. Thus, the way “Old Man Heart Demon” saw it, what mattered most was figuring out how best to drag this out while minimizing his losses.

A respectful voice emanated from outside the palace. “Progenitor, the Demon Emperors have arrived!”

“Excellent!” The imposter rose, then strode out of the hall.

𝐟𝐫𝕖𝗲𝘄𝚎𝗯𝕟𝐨𝕧𝐞𝚕.𝕔𝕠𝐦

......

Kaboom!

A fierce, bloody battle raged in a basin deep within a mountain range.

An army of Outsider Celestial Demons was stationed here. It wasn’t a particularly large force, but there were still around eighty thousand soldiers here.

When Su Yi, Wen Qingfeng, and the others arrived, they didn’t waste any time on talk before launching a bloody massacre.

Screams shook the sky, and blood splattered the air. Heaven and earth were in upheaval. The basin was now a bloody vision of purgatory.

Within moments, the entire demon army had been annihilated, and the sky was stained red.

Su Yi hovered in midair, calmly taking all of this in. His heart didn’t so much as ripple with emotion, and he felt no joy at all.

This wasn’t even enough to truly vent his hatred and murderous intent. This battle had just been too unremarkable, and their opponents couldn’t even put up a fight.

“Strange. There wasn’t even a single Demon Emperor here to oversee things,” Wen Qingfeng said with a frown.

They’d crushed the enemies’ ranks with unstoppable force, leveling them without ever once running into danger.

It wasn’t particularly satisfying, as even the strongest of their opponents were merely Commander-Level figures. They were entirely beneath the notice of an old-timer like Wen Qingfeng.

“I interrogated one of those filthy demons earlier, and I learned that just an hour ago, the two Demon Emperors stationed here were called back to the Blood Lake!” someone said gravely.

The Blood Lake. That was the Outsider Celestial Demons’ current base of operations.

“That aside, I learned that Old Man Heart Demon is actually still alive. He’s overseeing things from the Blood Lake!”

“What? He’s still alive!?”

“How is that possible?”

Wen Qingfeng and the others all looked stricken. They clearly found this hard to believe.

“Old Man Heart Demon is definitely dead,” said Su Yi. “If I’m not mistaken, the ‘Old Man Heart Demon’ at the Blood Lake is actually the mysterious figure in the Well of Turbulent Daos in disguise.”

Only then did his allies grasp the situation.

“It’s obvious that he’s already figured out that we’re out for revenge, so he called back all of the Emperor-Level experts,” said Su Yi. “From this, I can infer that they’ve abandoned their pawns in favor of preserving their elites. They’re no longer concerned about what happens to those beneath the emperor level.”

“In that case, let’s just attack the Blood Lake!” Wen Qingfeng gnashed his teeth.

“If we go now, it’ll be too late,” said Su Yi. “They wouldn’t be stupid enough to just stay there and wait for us to attack them.”

The group exchanged glances. They couldn’t help but frown.

If “Old Man Heart Demon” wanted to lie low, this really would be troublesome.

Someone looked at Su Yi. “What do you think we should do then, Brother Fuyou?”

Su Yi’s gaze was utterly calm. “We’ll nibble away at their army, pillaging to sustain ourselves. No matter how long it takes or what kind of price we must pay, we have to rip the Outsider Celestial Demons up by the roots!”

All of them could hear the hatred and determination in Su Yi’s voice!

“But... but what if they flee the Boundless Battlefield?” asked Wen Qingfeng.

Su Yi shook his head. “If they could have escaped, they wouldn’t have stayed here while the Tribulation of the Five Witherings swept across the Boundless Battlefield.”

He paused, then said, “That aside, when I came to the Boundless Battlefield, I asked someone to send word. If I’m not mistaken, Di E already knows what’s happening here.”

Everyone was flabbergasted.

“Brother Fuyou, earlier, you said that the Dipankara Buddha and Old Man Heart Demon were colluding in secret. The Dipankara Buddha is in Di E’s camp. How could he not know of all this already?” someone couldn’t help but ask.

“Di E really doesn’t know about this,” said Su Yi. “Because his allies have deliberately kept him in the dark.”

He didn’t explain the reasoning behind it.

Because at this point, all he knew was that when it came to him and the Boundless Battlefield, the Dipankara Buddha and the Angler obviously weren’t in agreement.

It was for this reason that he’d asked someone to leak word that he was going to the Boundless Battlefield. He wanted Di E to know about it.

He wanted to see how Di E would react upon finding out that he’d been tricked!

There was one thing he could say with certainty. Di E was certain to take action and prevent the Outsider Celestial Demons from escaping the Boundless Battlefield!

After all, it was Di E who’d sealed the exit in the first place. If Di E were colluding with the Outsider Celestial Demons, he’d have helped them escape a long time ago. How could he possibly have sealed their only exit out of the Boundless Battlefield?

Su Yi was certain that, at least for the near future, the Outsider Celestial Demons could forget about escaping the Boundless Battlefield!

“Come on, let’s go find a place to rest, then keep going.” Su Yi turned to leave, and the others followed.

They were old friends, and they cooperated with incomparable tacit understanding. There was no need for further orders. After the curtains fell on this battle, they split up to gather the spoils and interrogate the prisoners.

Their trophies could replenish their supply of cultivation resources, and the information they pried out of their captives helped them prepare for the next steps.

This was called strengthening oneself through battle.

They flew in like the wind, and left as quick as lightning, striking unpredictably and catching their enemies off guard!

......

Three days later.

Su Yi and his companions had traversed ninety thousand miles, crushing another army of eighty thousand demons.

Blood flowed like a river. Not one demon survived.

Seven days later.

Su Yi and his companions discovered an enemy base hidden in a perilous forbidden zone and slaughtered yet another thirty thousand Outsider Celestial Demons!

Ten days later.

As time passed, Su Yi and his companions created one storm of bloodshed after another throughout the Boundless Battlefield.

Wherever they passed, everything died, down to the last blades of grass!

They occasionally ran into places beset by the Tribulation of the Five Witherings, or the nests of ancient variant species, but Su Yi and his companions fought through everything in their path!

A month later.

Beneath the dome of heaven, blood permeated the air, and the sky collapsed

A grand battle had just ended.

Some people were busy gathering trophies, while others were interrogating the captives.

Su Yi, however, was seated cross-legged in meditation.

“Brother Fuyou, we’ve uprooted thirteen Outsider Celestial Demon bases and slain almost four hundred thousand enemies,” said Wen Qingfeng, taking a seat on the ground as he delivered his report. “But it’s a pity that, as many as we’ve killed, we’ve yet to encounter even a single Demon Emperor."

“It’s just as you predicted. The enemies have abandoned their weaker soldiers. They’ve clearly given up on everyone beneath the emperor level.” Wen Qingfeng furrowed his brow. “Should we... adjust our plans?”

They’d spent the past month fighting all across the Boundless Battlefield, creating storms of bloodshed and killing countless enemies.

But the way Wen Qingfeng and the others saw it, this accomplishment wasn’t at all dazzling. It wasn’t enough to vent their hatred and fury, either.

This was because everyone they’d killed thus far was a mere small fry. There were a lot of them, but it didn’t matter; killing them provided little sense of satisfaction.

“We don’t need to change anything,” said Su Yi as he meditated. “Consider this. If we keep killing, eventually, the Demon Emperors will jump out into the open of their own accord.”

Wen Qingfeng was stunned. “Brother Fuyou, you think that once their casualties go beyond a certain point, it’ll force the Demon Emperors out into the open?"

Su Yi didn’t explain. He just grunted, “Mmhm.”

Wen Qingfeng mulled that over briefly. “But if we continue in accordance with our plan, things are only going to get more and more troublesome.

“Our enemies are obviously in touch with each other, and they’ve changed their strategy, dispersing into smaller groups instead of gathering together. They’re now as scattered as grains of sand.

“We might be able to find any given group with ease, but it’ll contain few enemies, and as time goes on, the process will only get more and more time-consuming.”

Of late, they’d discovered that the Outsider Celestial Demons’ bases had changed. The gathered experts had dispersed and hidden themselves in different places throughout the surrounding area.

If things went on like this, it would severely delay their plans. Hunting down their enemies would be like trying to fish each individual fish out of a river one by one. They couldn’t possibly crush whole armies at once as they had before.

“When a school of fish splits up, it’s because they’re scared. We just have to toss out bait enticing enough to overcome their terror,” Su Yi said casually. “The spoils we’ve gathered along the way will come in handy.”

Wen Qingfeng was briefly stunned, but then, his eyes lit up.

“If this bait is insufficient, all the better,” said Su Yi. “That will prove that their fear has sunk deep into their bones. Under those circumstances, what do you think they’ll do to preserve their lives?”

Wen Qingfeng understood. He slapped his thigh and said, “They’re sure to do everything in their power to seek out the Demon Emperors’ protection! In that case, we won’t need to do anything at all. The enemies scattered across the Boundless Battlefield will help us find the Demon Emperors’ hiding place! That’ll force the Demon Emperors to fight back!”

As he said this, Wen Qingfeng’s spirits soared. He was full of anticipation. He finally understood Su Yi’s intentions. Killing those small fries had never been his real goal!

Rather, he wanted them to be so terrified that they’d have no choice but to seek the protection of the Demon Emperors!

......

Another month passed in a flash.

In a desolate stretch of mountains, a black palace stood. It was swathed in mist, and nly the eaves were visible.

“Progenitor, over the past two months, each of our races has lost almost half its population! We cannot endure this any longer!” Demon Emperor Chi Nie’s eyes were bloodshot. Grief and hatred were written all over his face.

“Do you realize that every race of our people is in turmoil? Everyone is terrified. If we don’t attack soon, there’ll be no need for Su Yi to lift a finger. We’ll descend into inner conflict and destroy ourselves!” He gnashed his teeth and roared, obviously furious to the extreme.

A group of other Emperor-Level Outsider Celestial Demons stood behind him, gazes overcast. All of them wanted answers from Old Man Heart Demon.

“Old Man Heart Demon” sat alone at the center of the hall. Despite himself, his brow furrowed.

Were they here to discuss things with him?

No! They were trying to put pressure on him!