“Little White, try a little harder to reach mid divine realm as soon as possible. Once all four of you are there, I’ll teach you another formation that’ll enhance the foundations of your domain. Apart from restricting the enemy, it’ll also boost your attack and defense.”

Jiang Chen took the White Astral Tiger aside to motivate him one on one.

Frankly speaking, the tiger was already progressing at a startling pace. He wasn’t any slower than Long Xiaoxuan; he’d just simply started much later.

Little White grinned. “Hehe, no sweat. Maybe I’ll wake up from a nap one day, and tada! I’ll be at fourth level. Don’t worry.”

The young lord handed him a mid divine relic, unconcerned about this show of favoritism. “Little White, I’m giving you special treatment, so keep it hush hush. With your bloodline and your constitution, you should be able to endure refining this relic. Breaking through will be child’s play then. Maybe you’ll even reach fifth level at the same time as Brother Long.”

The tiger’s eyes sparkled. “Awww young lord, I knew you loved me most.”

Look at this fellow acting cute after profiting.

Long Xiaoxuan chuckled with no hint of jealousy. “Little White, if you can’t catch up to me after all this special attention, it’ll mean you astral tigers are worse than us true dragons.”

“Poppycock! As if! I’ll definitely catch up to you, just you watch!” The tiger strutted around.

There was no need to worry about the sacred beasts’ cultivation. Their bloodline contained tremendous power, to say nothing of their unique abilities. They barely needed advice from him to begin with.

The Goldbiter Rats had also made considerable headway recently. The rat king’s cultivation, in particular, had skyrocketed.

“Young lord, the children of my tribe have recently noticed unusual activity on the outskirts. You need to be careful,” Old Gold warned.

“Ah? Are the demons finally on the move?” Everything was well within his calculations.

“They are. In the past few days, we’ve sensed a continuous stream of unfamiliar but dreadful energy approaching the surrounding islands. They’ve hidden themselves well enough, but there’s clearly a tremendous backer behind it all. I suspect it’s the demonic army. They must be approaching in small groups to avoid attracting our attention.”

Jiang Chen nodded, his expression grave.

He wasn’t too surprised by his enemy’s movements. It made perfect sense for them to start their operations now. In fact, he was rather pleased with their prudence.

Resorting to small movements clearly spoke of their fear of him. Why would they begin their offensive so furtively otherwise?

In any case, whether a straightforward charge or an ambush from the shadows, it was all the same to him. Winterdraw wasn’t entirely impregnable, but it was fully capable of resisting for three to five months, enough for the sacred beasts to reach mid divine realm and exponentially boost their fighting potential. By then, he gave himself a forty percent chance of victory in a frontal clash.

He knew better than anyone in Divine Abyss how fearsome the sacred beasts could become. Why else had he made sure to gather all four of them?

He knew their potential. Fully grown, they’d hold the absolute power to refine the earth, water, fire, and wind to create their own heavenly plane. By then, they could rampage through the universe unopposed if they so wished, to say nothing of swatting away some demon invaders.

Other than the items left by his father the celestial emperor, the four of them were his mightiest trump card. Not even the Veluriyam Sect’s legacy could compare.

“Old Gold, tell your children to keep an eye on the demons, but don’t fight them directly. Preserve your strength. You simply need to report on their movements.”

In the heavenly planes, Goldbiter Kingrats didn’t pale in the least compared to demons. A single rat wasn’t much of a threat, but an entire tribe was a swarm-like existence that wreaked terrible carnage wherever they went.

Everyone steered clear of their path, demons included. To provoke such a race was to stir up a terrifying hornet’s nest.

The demon army on Divine Abyss was only a small detachment from their race in the universe at large. Even their other brethren avoided falling afoul of the Kingrats.

However, no matter how the Divine Abyss ones feared the young lord, they still were unaware that he possessed such a dreadful weapon. Otherwise, they wouldn’t have been so optimistic about their conquest of the continent.

Time and time again, they’d increased their assessment of his abilities, but they’d yet to taste the full extent of his power.

In other words, they were blissfully ignorant of their enemy’s terrifying potential. If they’d known his past and the strength hidden within him, they’d do a one-eighty and depart this world without regret, rueing the day they’d set foot on Divine Abyss.

Only, there was no turning back once they launched their campaign.

On this day, Forefather Celestial scouted Winterdraw alongside several forefathers from his tribe They hid behind the clouds and observed their enemy in silence.

A haze lingered above the island, born from the sea mist. They could see through the layer of clouds, but all they could make out on the island itself were vague outlines.

“Damn it, it’s a smokescreen. Our physical eyes are useless, but probing with our consciousness will definitely alert them,” swore Celestial.

“Heh, so what if they know we’re here? What’s there to fear? Our army’s only a few thousand miles away, ready to attack with a word from us. Forefather, aren’t you being too cautious?” said the celestial demon sixth forefather.

“Heh, Old Sixth, keep looking down on them. They might come out the victors in this battle at this rate. You don’t believe me?” Celestial said, his tone a mix of emotions.

“Isn’t our army powerful enough to break them by brute force? Jiang Chen might be strong, but he’s at Goldenhowl’s level at most. He’s still a ways away than you.” The sixth forefather seemed flabbergasted.

“Have you learned nothing from our past mistakes? Fighting against humans is never about raw strength alone. Why are you still so conceited?” Forefather Celestial rebuked, a little resigned.

It seemed not even he could remedy his race’s bone-deep complex of superiority toward the humans.