An hour later, the Divine Beast and Ascended races' Immortal Emperors and Venerables had all arrived at the Hunyuan Imperial Palace. Their subordinates, however, did not gather but were already rushing towards the border upon receiving their orders.
The Immortal Realm was vast and its space was stable.
Those with lower cultivation levels would find it difficult to reach the Immortal-Demon frontier swiftly in a short period, hence the need to depart early.
"They still haven't returned. Have they betrayed our world? No, we cannot wait any longer. The matter of the Outer Heavenly Demons must be resolved quickly and decisively. We must prevent any further complications."
The fact that the Nine Demon Venerables had not returned within an hour was somewhat beyond Hunyuan Immortal Venerable's expectations. He could easily surmise that something had happened. Simultaneously, it deepened his wariness of the Outer Heavenly Demons. Regardless of the reason for the Nine Demon Venerables' absence, it implied that the Outer Heavenly Demons were not to be trifled with.
After a brief contemplation, Hunyuan Immortal Venerable issued a straightforward command for a full-scale offensive.
He further instructed everyone to lure the Demon Venerables of the Demon Realm towards the Immortal-Demon barrier, or even the frontier of the Immortal Realm, if possible. This would allow him to take direct action. With his power, entering the Demon Realm to eliminate those Demon Venerables would be somewhat troublesome, as he lacked authority there. Even though he was strong, if the Demon Venerables chose to hide, it would be difficult for him to find them easily.
Furthermore, if they resorted to a suicidal attack, while he might not be injured, the Demon Realm would undoubtedly be left in ruins. This would not be conducive to his ambition of becoming the Lord of the Immortal-Demon Realm.
Indeed, since he had already become the ruler of the Immortal Realm.
Now that the Demon Realm was suffering from a weakened origin and was easily crushed by the Immortal Realm, how could such a golden opportunity not stir Hunyuan Immortal Venerable's heart? He desired to advance further and become the master of the entire Immortal-Demon Realm. Wouldn't that be most delightful?
Therefore, if he could lure all the existing Demon Venerables to the Immortal Realm and effortlessly eliminate them with the power of the Immortal Realm, that would naturally be the best outcome.
Besides this, Hunyuan Immortal Venerable was also concerned that his immense power might frighten the Outer Heavenly Demons if he directly charged into the Demon Realm. If they, fearing the hopelessness of survival, fled or committed heinous acts of world destruction, it would also lead to trouble. Thus, it was better to give them some hope first.
He would only send out ordinary Immortal Venerables and Emperors.
This would give them some hope, and then he would proceed slowly.
Little did he know, his actions inadvertently provided Ding Yun and the others with a crucial window for respite. By the time the Immortal Realm's Immortal Venerables and Emperors had assembled their respective armies and officially crossed the Immortal-Demon barrier into the Demon Realm, three hours had already passed.
Ding Yun and the others had devised a plan.
Lure the enemy deeper and stall for time.
Consequently, the Immortal Realm's army advanced with overwhelming force, encountering no formidable opposition. Most demons prioritized self-preservation and did not fight to the death against the immortal forces.
Although the Immortal Venerables and Emperors greatly desired to follow Hunyuan Immortal Venerable's instructions to lure the Demon Venerables and Emperors into the Immortal Realm, their current situation of relentless advance left them no opportunity.
To lure the Demon Venerables and Emperors into the Immortal Realm,
they would have to fight and retreat simultaneously.
But now, they were the ones advancing. How could they fight and retreat? Bound by the unfortunate reality, they could only temporarily set aside Hunyuan Immortal Venerable's instructions and prepare to fight with all their might, even fantasizing about conquering the Demon Realm without Hunyuan Immortal Venerable's intervention. Perhaps this would lessen their previous offenses against the native Immortal races,
preventing any retribution later.
At this point, Ding Yun had already perfectly refined the entire origin of the Demon Realm. However, due to her previous extravagance, the Demon Realm's origin was now truly inferior to that of the Immortal Realm. Thus, even though she could break through at any moment, she endured and did not.
Only when the Immortal Realm's Immortal Venerables and Emperors were advancing relentlessly,
approaching the center of the Demon Realm, did she make her move.
She directly mobilized the power of the Demon Realm to deify them.
At this distance, even if they could notify Hunyuan Immortal Venerable in time, the transmission of information back and forth would be sufficient for Ding Yun to deify them. Moreover, with the complete refinement of the Demon Realm's origin, Ding Yun's breakthrough would be exceptionally swift, occurring in the blink of an eye. This was the primary reason for her confidence in launching an attack at this moment.
As long as she could keep these Immortal Venerables and Emperors here,
she was absolutely confident in restoring a significant portion of the Demon Realm's origin, making it capable of contending with the Immortal Realm.
As Ding Yun launched her decisive attack, the Immortal Venerables and Emperors were instantly enveloped by the boundless laws of the Demon Realm, with no ability to resist. They began to deify rapidly, submerged in a sea of unconscious laws. Even without Ding Yun's conscious manipulation of the Demon Realm's laws to deify them, they would not have been able to resist for long.
Before long, all the Immortal Emperors had perished.
The origin of the Demon Realm began to surge.
Although there were energy differences between the Immortal and Demon Realms, their world origins were essentially similar. Both Immortal Emperors and Venerables involved laws, and thus could involve origins.
Their origins were no less significant than world origins.
They were also the most effective in nurturing world origins.
With the complete deification of the Immortal Emperors, the remaining Immortal Venerables would not last much longer. The deification of these Immortal Venerables truly caused the Demon Realm's origin to expand significantly. Concurrently, the Immortal Realm's consciousness, though slow to react, finally responded and began to urge Hunyuan Immortal Venerable frantically. The Immortal Realm's consciousness could not detect the specifics of what had happened, but it could sense the rapid expansion of the Demon Realm's origin, clearly indicating an accident!
Of course, by this time, Hunyuan Immortal Venerable had also sensed something. He felt the demise of his two direct bloodline descendants and knew without a doubt that a grave problem had arisen in the Demon Realm. Thus, he immediately stepped to the Immortal-Demon barrier and charged into the Demon Realm.
It was this single step that led to his utter failure.
A failure from which there was no recovery.
The moment he entered the Demon Realm, Ding Yun swiftly completed her breakthrough. She then mobilized her authority as the Lord of the Demon Realm to trap him. Simultaneously, she urgently commanded all her subordinate Demon Venerables, Demon Emperors, and companions to immediately invade the Immortal Realm, with the crucial task of inscribing imprints.
Frankly speaking, before Hunyuan Immortal Venerable entered the Demon Realm, Ding Yun was not absolutely confident of completing the mission. She even felt that the Immortal and Demon Realms might only be able to reach a stalemate.
Because they were both world lords, as long as they did not leave their respective worlds, they were invincible within their own realms, and neither could overcome the other.
However, Ding Yun's failure to break through led Hunyuan Immortal Venerable to mistakenly believe that there was no existence in the Demon Realm comparable to him. Confident, he entered the Demon Realm. Ding Yun, having just broken through and completely refined the Demon Realm's origin, might not be able to kill him instantly, but she could trap him for a period using the Demon Realm's authority.
This period was sufficient for Ding Yun's companions and subordinates to enter the Immortal Realm and occupy the territories of the annihilated Immortal Emperor and Venerable armies. Subsequently, as long as a third of the Immortal Realm's territory was imprinted, the Origin Universe could immediately take over the Immortal-Demon Realm.
A single Hunyuan Immortal Venerable was not a cause for concern.
Those willing to submit would not be alone.
Those unwilling could also be easily annihilated.
What followed was uneventful. Everything proceeded as Ding Yun had predicted. After Ding Yun's subordinates and companions entered the Immortal Realm, they easily captured more than half of the territory, and the imprinting process was carried out concurrently.
Once their imprints merged with Ding Yun's, the objective was instantly achieved. A vast consciousness descended from the Origin Universe, instantly taking control of the entire Immortal-Demon Realm. At the same time, the Immortal Realm's consciousness was erased. Furthermore, both Ding Yun and Hunyuan Immortal Venerable simultaneously lost their positions as Lords of the Immortal-Demon Realm.
In the next second, Ding Yun chose to return, as the mission was complete and there was no need to remain.
Hunyuan Immortal Venerable was captured in a state of furious confusion.
However, he would likely submit, and even willingly, because after the Origin Universe took over a new world, it would most likely resurrect those who had died previously. This would not only demonstrate their immense power and benevolence but also instantly eliminate most hatred, thus facilitating a smoother takeover of this new world.
The reason for such a powerful force to not simply attack directly was that a direct assault could easily destroy the world. Once a world was destroyed, or its origin was severely depleted, many things would become impossible, let alone resurrection. Therefore, the Origin Universe's intricate approach was primarily driven by the same concern that Hunyuan Immortal Venerable had initially, which was the fear of mutually assured destruction or a desperate gambit where someone would take the entire world down with them.
Wouldn't all previous efforts be in vain?