Jiang Chen snuck out of the Radiance Sacred Land with the Fire of Firstdawn.

He exercised constant vigilance and dithered in the territory between Radiance and Sunrise, surveying the terrain.

“This is it. From this distance, I’ll be able to attract the attention of the fire demons in Sunrise, and the winged demons won’t be able to come to their aid in time because they’re preparing to attack Radiance. They’ll arrive just in time for me to strike at them.”

It wasn’t the best place for an ambush, but it was very obscure.

He first had to check if there were any demons within a thousand mile radius. There were no humans around, which also meant that very few demons would come to this area. A patrol passed by every once in a while, but they never lingered.

“This is a good place as a resting ground for the forefathers of the fire demons.”

Given the area’s perfect feng shui, it’d be a shame for the fire demons to die elsewhere.

Jiang Chen made preparations for his formation. He laid it deep under, rather than over the ground, in order to tap into the violent yin energy beneath the surface.

Violent yin energy was crucial to defeating fire demons. It was extremely cold, which would suppress fire demons’ power for a short period of time once unleashed.

Of course, the formation was far from Jiang Chen’s only tricks. There were many other things that he would set up. Given his cultivation, it was as easy as lifting a finger for him to set up simple formations. He completed the work in only six hours.

He then summoned the four divine beasts and asked the Vermilion Bird, “Brother Vermilion, I’d like to lure the fire demon forefathers here with the Fire of Firstdawn. Can you enhance the fire so that their attention will be caught?”

“Haha, of course. We simply have to create a resonance to bring them to us. They’ll think there are treasures here waiting for them.”

It was a piece of cake for the bird.

“Ah, what if the forefathers are too cautious to come themselves? Why if they send only some underlings?”

“Then we’ll scare the underlings away. If the forefathers find out that there’s not only the Fire of Firstdawn, but also its companion spirit, they won’t be able to resist temptation. Rest assured, fire element cultivators are all completely obsessed with the strongest source of fire. You need not worry that they’ll stay away.” The Vermilion Bird was confident in its judgement.

Jiang Chen cackled. “That’s perfect then.”

He turned to the Black Tortoise. “There’s a mutual relationship of complementation and counter between the five elements, Brother Black. Some of your techniques are naturally more effective on the fire demons. You’ll play an important role in this fight. Please be prepared for that.”

“What should I do?” asked the Black Tortoise.

“Once a fight breaks out, deploy your festering gas to the fullest and cover the entire area with it. Then, all of you should work together to trap our enemies with your combined domain.

“Brother Long, Little White, you be on the offense.

“Brother Vermilion, you must avoid being infected by the yin energy. Don’t get too close when you fight. I’ll fill in your role when needed.”

Jiang Chen could now rival the bird in battles. In fact, he might be the more powerful fighter. The sheer number of treasures he possessed made him incredibly powerful.

After assigning each of his companions their role, it was the Vermilion Bird’s time to shine.

𝒇𝙧𝙚𝓮𝙬𝙚𝓫𝒏𝓸𝓿𝓮𝒍.𝓬𝙤𝓶

The Fire of Firstdawn danced elegantly like a fairy under the bird’s command, as the sacred beast had a natural affinity with the fire element.

The incredible power resonated strongly with the fire demons all around Sunrise. A strange sense of excitement agitated within themselves.

This wasn’t going to escape the notice of their divine forefathers.

The fire demons had anticipated great rewards for taking over Sunrise, but found to their great dismay that half of the Fire of Firstdawn, one of the purest fire sources, had been moved by Sunrise’s cultivators, leaving behind only disparate kindling flames for the demons.

That was something, but not enough to satiate the fire demons.

The forefathers were discussing if they should invade Radiance as well. These two sacred lands had always been close allies. Perhaps they would find some loot there!

Their discussion was interrupted by the simultaneous resonation of every fire source around the Sunrise. Strange natural phenomena of the fire element emerged one after another.

The two forefathers gaped in shock.

Forefather Blazingsun, the head of the tribe, ferociously widened his ruthless, red eyes. “What’s going on? Is a powerful fire spirit entering the world??”

An equally ugly red-haired forefather made calculations off his fingers. He was Forefather Glaringflare, and his status was a hair lower than the other forefather.

“It’s to the southwest from here, in the area between Sunrise and Radiance Sacred Land.”

The two forefathers exchanged a look and read surprise and interest in each other’s eyes. There was no doubt that the powerful resonances was a result of a fire treasure or spirit creature.

“Shall we go take a look?” asked Forefather Glaringflare.

“We shall!” Forefather Blazingsun cackled. “Or perhaps you can stay and defend our post, little brother. I’ll check what all that is about. What do you say?”

Glaringflare cackled. “If we work together, we can overcome even the greatest of challenges. I’m too concerned for you to let you go on your own. It’s better that we go together and fight together should anything go wrong, isn’t it?”

They maintained the appearance of civility, but each knew what the other was trying to do. Neither wanted his counterpart to claim all of the benefits. Although they were both fire demons and their interests mostly aligned, neither of them was selfless.

They didn’t want to argue, and there was no convincing the other. Since they couldn’t afford to undermine their alliance, they’d go together.

Without hesitation, they summoned their demigod underlings and ordered them to stay and defend the Sunrise Sacred Land, to wait for their return.

Once that was done, the two forefathers left for the source of the resonance in a rush. They didn’t think they had anything to fear within Sunrise territory.