Chapter 776: Commanding the Demon Gods into Battle

Ancient worlds engulfed in flames flickered to life within Yan Lie's blazing divine domain.

Boiling lakes of magma, erupting volcanoes, and streaking meteors formed across those burning worlds, gradually becoming real.

Crimson arcs of lightning wove the foundational laws of these emerging worlds, turning them into fully independent worlds with astonishing speed.

Signs of life stirred, born from Yan Lie's divine power. Before long, Blazing Qilins, Flame Dragons, warriors of the Flame Race, and Fire Spirits appeared in the miraculous worlds bathed in flames.

Yan Lie's divine domain appeared to re-enact the process of creation and the birth of living beings.

When Pang Jian's glaciers and glacial stars touched these worlds, they were reduced to ashes in the blink of an eye. Even the icy currents flooding in from the frigid Demon Realms proved ineffective against Yan Lie's divine domain.

Once Yan Lie, a true high-ranking God, manifested his divine body and unfolded his divine domain, he could unleash immense power that left Pang Jian feeling as though he were being crushed beneath a mountain.

While Pang Jian stood dazed, the burning flames surged into the center of the pitch-black canopy. Yan Lie's divine domain swept up the demonic energy and malicious thoughts that were blocking the cluster of Fortune from descending.

Freed from the cloak's suppression, the crystalline radiance shot between Luo Hongyan's brows and was instantly absorbed.

A vibrant aura of life spread from her flawless figure. She pursed her lips gently, a look of satisfaction glinting in her eyes.

"Life," she whispered.

The vitality of the dense jungles of the Fifth Continent transformed into pale green rivers that streamed into her body. Her thick blood essence surged, enveloping her in a crimson glow.

The crimson glow and the pale green vitality converged in a wondrous fusion, melding into a single stream of life energy that flowed through her. With it, she forged her fourth Divine Persona.

Sha Jia, Lie Yang, Ah Man. There's a Blood God named Dong Tianze. Remember not to kill him. I still have use for his life,

she mentally instructed the three foreign race powerhouses.

The trio, all newly ascended mid-ranking Gods, responded in unison,

Understood.

Atop the City Lord's Mansion, her clear eyes suddenly locked onto Pang Jian, frowning as she noticed the Thunder Pool within the blazing divine domain was steadily growing in strength.

Realizing the cluster of Fortune had slipped from his grasp, Pang Jian decisively donned the demonic cloak. The names of the Demon Gods on the cloak shimmered like scarlet stars, each radiating a terrifying demonic aura.

"Eighteen mid-ranking Demon Gods in total," she murmured coldly, her eyes gleaming with a ghostly chill. "Yan Lie, be cautious."

Yan Lie's expression grew grim. "He has some tricks up his sleeve."

Pang Jian's aura steadily rose with the cloak once again draped over his shoulders.

Demonic energy and a tide of wicked thoughts gathered around him. The flames of Yan Lie's divine domain no longer affected them.

Pang Jian stood within the Thunder Pool, using it to move freely through the flame-forged worlds within Yan Lie's divine domain. The laws of these worlds collapsed, and the beings within perished as the Thunder Pool swept past them.

Yan Lie's divine domain slowly unraveled.

An inexplicable sense of fear stirred in Yan Lie's heart as eighteen colossal demonic figures emerged within his sea of consciousness. They shackled his divine consciousness, warping his sense of self and stirring the darkness buried deep within him.

These were the eighteen Demon Gods!

Pang Jian had forcibly summoned these eighteen mid-ranking Demon Gods through their names on Sovereign Demonheaven's cloak, driving them straight into Yan Lie's sea of consciousness.

While he still lacked the strength to command the Great Demon Gods, Fa Ji, He Motian, and Luan Ji, he could at least make use of the mid-ranking Demon Gods. If any dared defy his orders, he was prepared to channel the violent lightning of the Thunder Pool to strike them.

Mid-ranking Demon Gods had no hope of resisting the might of the Thunder Pool. If they did not want to die, they had no choice but to fight.

Although Yan Lie was a high-ranking God, he had yet to recover his peak strength due to the limited resources in the Abyss.

Thus, eighteen mid-ranking Demon Gods, acting in concert with Pang Jian and the Thunder Pool, launched a coordinated assault on Yan Lie's divine soul and consciousness, leaving him no room to maintain control over his divine domain.

One by one, the blazing worlds in his divine domain were obliterated beneath the wrath of the Thunder Pool.

***

The Demon Gods forced to join the battle let out sighs of resignation in the starry skies.

"Yan Lie."

"A trusted enforcer of Sovereign Luo."

"To strike at Yan Lie is to stand against Sovereign Luo herself. There's no way this'll end cleanly. But if we don't act, we will die. What choice do we have?"

With bitter expressions, the Demon Gods continued concentrating their strength with great reluctance.

***

Inside a crumbling temple overrun with cobwebs, a Demon God named Hei Lian complained to his companion, "If I'd known it would come to this, I never would've left my name on that damn cloak."

"Hei Lian, back when Sovereign Demonheaven was still alive, having your name inscribed on that cloak meant that you could call upon his help during a crisis," his companion said, shaking his head. "You nearly died more than once, didn't you? Each time, your name on that cloak saved you. You ought to show some gratitude."

"Bi Lin, cut it with the smug talk," Hei Lian said with a miserable look. "No matter how this battle ends, Sovereign Luo's going to come after us. We've struck at her favored enforcer. You're a Demon God too. Won't it also be difficult for you when she comes knocking on your door?"

Bi Lin remained calm and unbothered. "Her struggle with that Black Empyrean Phoenix...who's to say she'll be the one laughing in the end?"

"The Black Empyrean Phoenix is dead! No matter how powerful the Sovereign of the Fey Race is, she still fell in the end!"

"You don't understand the Phoenix Race," Bi Lin replied with a strange smile. "The Black Empyrean Phoenix is nearly impossible to truly kill with her ability of nirvanic rebirth. Moreover, every time she's reborn, she returns stronger and more terrifying than before.

"I suspect her death was calculated. After all, no one can kill her aside from another Sovereign of equal standing, not even she herself.

"But unless she dies and is reborn once more, she'll never break through to a higher realm," Bi Lin said with unsettling certainty.

Hei Lian stared at him, stunned. Bi Lin felt almost unfamiliar to him at that moment. "How do you even know that? Are you saying her death was intentional?"

"I'm just saying it's possible."

A handsome man of the Nether Demon Race suddenly stepped into the temple with a black-gold demonic sword in hand.

"Found you at last." The man grinned.

Bi Lin rose to his feet and gave him a gentle nod. "I've been waiting for you for a long time."