The Great Thousand World's counterattack had lasted for three and a half years.
In those three and a half years, the Great Thousand Alliance had annihilated eight of the 32 Major Clans, along with dozens of Lesser Clans. Overall, it could be considered an achievement, since they had weakened a quarter of the Fiend Clans' strength.
However, Yan Emperor and Wu Zu did not feel the slightest joy from this achievement. On the contrary, as time passed, their countenances grew heavier.
That's because they couldn't find any traces of the Heavenly Evil Monarch over the past three and a half years. However, they could vaguely sense a massive pressure forming. Evidently, the Heavenly Evil Monarch was recovering his strength in an unknown location …
One could imagine that when he reaches the nine-eyed state, the Fiend Clans would be ferocious and launch a counterattack against the Great Thousand World, taking back the losses they suffered over the past three years by a hundredfold.
At that time, it would definitely be a storm of blood that enveloped the entire Great Thousand World.
In the Demon Territory, on a desolate continent, spiritual lights flickered in every direction. Countless spiritual figures were spread out, making this continent livelier.
Those silhouettes were naturally the Great Thousand Alliance's army.
Yan Emperor and Wu Zu stood on the most majestic mountain in this continent with their eyes closed. Their Spiritual Energy perception swiftly spread through the endless space, looking for any abnormal fluctuations coming from the Lower Planes.
Their search lasted for half a day, but there wasn't any result this time. It looked like the Fiend Clans had retreated further away.
With this thought in their hearts, Yan Emperor and Wu Zu decided to retreat. But in that instant when they retracted their perception, the two of them suddenly locked onto a node in space.
At that moment, they had vaguely sensed a familiar fluctuation coming from that direction.
That fluctuation belonged to Tian Xie!
"I've finally found you!"
At this moment, even with Yan Emperor and Wu Zu's temperament, they couldn't help feeling ripples in their hearts. With a thought, their perception contained boundless energy and tore that spatial node apart.
In the endless space, a massive black hole appeared and two myriad feet of Spiritual Energy descended from the sky, containing the wills of Yan Emperor and Wu Zu.
At their level, even if their original bodies were far away, as long as their senses spread out, they would be able to swiftly send their Spiritual Energy over.
The two powerful Spiritual Energies charged into the black space and locked onto a palace in the darkness. Outside the palace, they saw the Saint Sky Monarch with a grave expression.
However, Yan Emperor and Wu Zu paid no attention to the Saint Sky Monarch. and directed their attention towards the depths of this space. There was a terrifying fluctuation brewing in the darkness.
"Tian Xie!"
The two boundless Spiritual Energies emitted thunderous roars as they pierced through the heavens and earth and whistled towards the depths of the darkness.
The darkness was torn apart and a demonic silhouette could be seen sitting in the endless darkness. It was the Heavenly Evil Monarch. He had also sensed the incoming attack, so he slowly opened his eyes.
That pair of eyes was filled with darkness, and any light would be devoured by it.
"The two of you are truly troublesome to deal with …" Tian Xie indifferently looked at the two boundless Spiritual Energies with a ridiculing smile rising on the corner of his lips.
"But the two of you are too late!"
When the Heavenly Evil Monarch finished his words, aside from his eyes and the three eyes on his forehead, the three eyes on his palms and heart had also opened.
Eight Demonic Eyes!
The eight evil eyes opened, and boundless demonic energy instantly filled this world. It was as if countless smoke signals were rising into the air, and finally, it condensed into a black demonic wheel that was tens of thousands of zhang in size. Wherever the demonic wheel passed, it was as if the world was being torn apart.
Boom!
The demonic wheel clashed with the two Spiritual Energy currents descending from the sky, causing the earth to tremble and the mountains to shake. The entire Lower Plane trembled as if it was about to collapse.
"You want to deal with me in my eight-eyed state with just the two of you Spiritual Forces that have descended?
What wishful thinking! "
Tian Xie's ridiculing laughter resounded as the demonic wheel abruptly sped up, tearing the entire Lower Plane apart. At the same time, the two Spiritual Energies had also collapsed.
After shattering the two Spiritual Energies, the demonic wheel did not dissipate. On the contrary, it chased after the trace of response, piercing through space and disappeared.
On the continent, Yan Emperor and Wu Zu opened their eyes at the same time with a dark expression on their faces. They raised their heads and saw the void being torn apart as a myriad foot demonic wheel whistled down, as if it wanted to split the continent into two.
The sudden attack had immediately attracted the attention of the Great Thousand Alliance on this continent. Shortly after, their faces changed, since they could sense the terrifying power contained in the demonic wheel.
Yan Emperor's face was cold as he formed seals with his hands. His sleeves trembled and blazing Emperor Flames swept out, forming into a huge dragon that roared and clashed with the demonic wheel.
Boom!
When the two clashed, Yan Long was torn apart, but the demonic wheel had also dimmed down from the heat.
The Martial Ancestor threw a punch from afar, causing space to collapse in its wake. In the end, the punch landed heavily on the dimmed demonic wheel, blasting it into black dots that filled the sky.
"Not bad, not bad. The two of you have grown in the past few years, but it's still not the best time for us to meet. Let's wait for this God's ninth eye to recover, and I will naturally fight with the two of you.
"Haha, the two of you have been killing my Fiend Clans for the past few years. At that time, I will slaughter them back tenfold!"
When the demonic wheel shattered, Tian Xie's laughter resounded between the heavens and earth.
All the experts of the Great Thousand World wore an unsightly expression with fear and rage in their eyes.
On the summit, Yan Emperor and Wu Zu exchanged a look. They could see the solemnity in each other's eyes. In that brief confrontation, they had already sensed the rise in Tian Xie's strength.
In the past, the two of them could still gain the upper hand if they joined hands, and if the timing was right, they could even find a flaw to suppress Tian Xie. But this time, even if they joined hands, they couldn't gain the upper hand.
They did not relax for the past few years, and their strength had also increased. But clearly, Tian Xie was growing stronger at a faster pace.
Rustle!
Qin Tian, the Azure Sword Saint, True Dragon Emperor, and the other Saint Heavenly Sovereigns appeared behind Yan Emperor and Wu Zu with grave expressions. "Yan Emperor, Wu Zu, have you found any traces of Tian Xie?"
Yan Emperor and Wu Zu nodded their heads. "We've already found him, but I'm afraid that Tian Xie has moved again. That demon is too cautious, and it looks like he doesn't intend to face us before recovering to his peak."
"From what I heard from Tian Xie, he should have recovered his eighth eye." Qin Tian's expression was unsightly.
The Flame Emperor and Martial Ancestor let out a sigh.
"What should we do now?
Should we continue to search? "The True Dragon Emperor asked.
Shaking their heads, the Flame Emperor and Martial Ancestor replied, "Prepare to retreat. After three years of retaliation, our army is exhausted, and we can't stop the Heavenly Evil Monarch's recovery. Since that's the case, we can only wait."
Furthermore, with Tian Xie's current strength, even if they managed to find him, they wouldn't be able to pose any threat to him. Who knows, they might even be held back, and the Great Thousand Alliance's army would be heavily injured by the Fiend Clans.
Everyone fell into silence. Although they managed to get rid of some of the Fiend Clans in the past three years, they did not manage to achieve their objective.
The Heavenly Evil Monarch was only a step away from the ninth eye.
However, there was nothing they could do, and they could only wait for that day to come.
"Everyone, there's no need to be anxious. Senior Undying has sent news that Mu Chen has already reached the Three God Realm, and he's currently cultivating the Endless Radiance Body and Ancient Spirit Body. If he succeeds, there's a high chance that he will become the third Ranker. At that time, with the three of us, we might be able to fight with the Nine-eyed Tian Xie." Seeing everyone's uneasy mood, Yan Emperor smiled.
Hearing his words, everyone's faces eased up with a trace of hope in their eyes.
"Pass down my orders, prepare to retreat."
Everyone cupped their fists and flew out. Shortly after, the continent went into an uproar with countless spiritual lights flickering. The army was preparing to retreat from the demonic domain.
Yan Emperor and Wu Zu stood on the summit and looked at the countless spiritual silhouettes on the ground. They couldn't help sighing and their faces turned grave. They knew that the moment of life and death for the Great Thousand World would soon arrive.
At that time, if anything unexpected happened, all the lifeforms in the Great Thousand World would be annihilated …
"Right now, we can only hope that Mu Chen can succeed …"