Upon hearing Demon Sheep Venerable's words, the two men felt a chill in their hearts.
Was he serious? However, they were not yet fully prepared.
Demon Sheep Venerable did not elaborate but instead took out a stick of incense with three lit joss sticks and walked towards the secret palace's temple to light it.
Reverently burning incense.
Soon, a golden light appeared in front of the temple, and a young man in a silver-white robe walked out. He exuded an innate noble and sacred aura, and the edges of his eyes were a light silver color, as if endless silver light was reflected in his eyes.
"A year in the Holy Land is a decade in the mortal realm."
A soft and indifferent voice came from the young man's mouth as his eyes swept towards the three demons in the secret palace. His expression was cold as he asked, "How is the situation here?"
"Your Highness, it's like this..."
Demon Sheep Venerable quickly bowed and knelt on the ground, explaining the situation and their plan.
Saint's quiet listening face turned cold:
"In other words, after I waited for decades, and you plotted here for hundreds of years, it was all in vain. Are you suggesting that we should just confront them directly?"
Demon Sheep Venerable's body tensed, and he lowered his head, "This subordinate is incompetent. The rise of that human brat was too abrupt, and we failed to kill him in time. Now, it's already too late."
Originally, they had followed the Saint's orders and dared not make too much noise. They were slowly eating away at the Jin family, where the ancestor was quietly resurrecting. Although the Divine Dynasty had lasted for more than three thousand years, it had only been three hundred years in the Holy Land of the Saints.
And three hundred years to the Saints were just a snap of the fingers.
"I already told you before, either make sure it's a sure-kill, or slowly eat away at them. Don't get caught in a protracted stalemate. In the end, you still messed it up."
The Saint's eyes brewed with killing intent, and the temperature in the secret palace dropped.
He had originally planned to quietly plunder the incense offerings of the Jin family, so he let these three demons plot here, spending hundreds of years, and he had also waited for decades in the Holy Land.
Now that they had to show their hands and fight openly, wasn't the time wasted before meaningless?
"Your Highness, please forgive us."
The three demons lowered their heads, trembling.
"Are you sure about this at the age of sixteen?"
The Saint suddenly changed the subject, narrowing his eyes as he spoke.
Demon Sheep Venerable nodded, "This is no longer a secret. We now suspect that he may be a reincarnated Saint."
"Reincarnated Saint..."
The Saint's eyes flickered, "That is indeed a possibility. Now, in the lands of the Saints within the Immortal Realm, all the Saints are plotting something big. It will require the opening of all the ultimate martial realms to accomplish, and it may be a step left by a Saint. But according to what you said, he's acting too high-profile."
"Even if this is the mortal realm, there is still a possibility of being spied on by other Saints, who could then kill him."
The three demons looked at each other, feeling that they had heard a great secret but dared not ask.
"If we had known that this brat was so monstrous, we should have taken care of him personally back then." Demon Sheep Venerable said in a low voice, full of regret.
When Li Hao became famous, they thought of plotting in Liangzhou and taking care of the brat along the way.
But with the intervention of the Too Void Realm Overlord, they still failed to kill him, and Li Hao was only fifteen years old at the time!
Now, even if they took action, they didn't have the assurance of a sure kill. This felt like a sudden appearance out of thin air, leaving them no time to react.
In the past, they had secretly plotted against other monstrous talents born during the Great Yu Dynasty and assassinated them. Some of the top talents were on their must-kill list, and those who managed to escape assassination were basically not a threat to them.
They secretly cut off the new forces of this dynasty, letting it rot and wither.
But now, a monstrous talent had suddenly appeared, shattering the darkness with thunder, and disrupting all their plans and rhythms.
If not for this, he wouldn't have dared to disturb the Saint.
"Are you seeking reinforcements from me now?"
The Saint asked coldly.
Demon Sheep Venerable lowered his head, "Your Highness, with our current strength, we are indeed a little thin. If that brat joins forces with that True Man, we..."
"Hmph!"
The Saint snorted coldly, "The Great Yu Dynasty secretly collects incense offerings to resurrect its ancestors. Do you know why those five God General Mansions have that divine formation? They use the mountains and rivers as a formation, reversing the incense offerings, transferring the incense offerings accumulated in that Taoist temple to the Jin family."
"They are so cautious to avoid being detected by other Saints and having their plans ruined."
"After all, it's unknown whether that ancestor of the Jin family has a hostile Saint."
"If we make a big fuss now, we might end up drawing water with a sieve!"
Demon Sheep Venerable and the other two demons were stunned, their faces turning pale.
"It's impossible to ask for more reinforcements. Besides, even if we did, I doubt you would be able to handle it. I'll take care of this matter personally and leave him no hope!"
The Saint's eyes were firm and ruthless. He had no intention of dragging things out any longer, giving the opponent a chance to grow stronger.
The idea of sending slightly stronger villains for the protagonists to continuously kill and strengthen themselves until they became invincible was impossible.
The Saint continued, "Moreover, when the ancient sacred clans of the Great Wilderness learn of this, they will most likely come to meddle. After all, the Merit Treasure Vault was closed due to the great battle between the ancient sacred clans. It is a blessing from the Heavenly Dao."
The three demons, including Demon Sheep Venerable, were stunned. They had not expected the Saint to take action personally.
Previously, the Saint had remained hidden, avoiding exposure and attracting the attention of others. But now, he seemed to be throwing caution to the wind.
"We are incompetent and have caused trouble for Your Highness," Demon Sheep Venerable said, his face filled with shame.
"Don't spout useless nonsense," the Saint said, his eyes flashing with cold light. "If you fail again this time, I will definitely not let you off."
"However, it's good that that boy eliminated the Buddha Lord, saving us the trouble of dealing with him later. He dares to compete with me for incense offerings; he is asking for it!" the Saint added coldly.
Previously, the Buddha Lord and the three demons had collaborated, each aware of the other's intentions. The Buddha Lord wanted to use their hands to obtain the Taoist orthodoxy and accumulate enough incense offerings to become a saint.
Meanwhile, the three demons intended to use the Buddha Lord's help to plunder the Jiang family, as their goals were ultimately the same.
However, there would inevitably be conflicts of interest.
Both parties were highly confident in their abilities.
Now that the Buddha Lord was dead, the three demons felt that although they lacked an insider in the Buddhist sect, this upcoming battle would be troublesome. Nonetheless, they considered it a stroke of luck that one potential opponent in the final confrontation had been eliminated.
"Yes, we will not fail to meet Your Highness's expectations again," the old man, Demon Sheep Venerable, said hastily.
The young man in black and the purple-patterned woman also lowered their heads nervously, their hearts heavy.
"We must act quickly and not give them any opportunity," the Saint instructed. "Who knows what tricks those guys have up their sleeves, especially that group from a thousand years ago who entered the Immortal Realm. They've been making moves in the Land of Saints recently, trying to open the Immortal Realm's gates. We must not delay any further!"
The three demons shuddered, suddenly understanding why the Saint had chosen to take matters into his own hands. The situation had already deteriorated to such an extent.
The Divine Yu Dynasty was too stubborn; even after hundreds of years, they had barely made a dent!
"We will definitely kill that old Taoist!" Demon Sheep Venerable said solemnly.
...
...
In Liangzhou, at the Heavenly Gate Pass, messages were continuously delivered to the small courtyard.
Upon learning of the Yu Emperor's edict, Li Hao was taken aback, as it seemed somewhat different from what had been discussed earlier.
However, the subsequent reports of demon attacks and other incidents made Li Hao realize that the Emperor had apparently chosen a different path from the one they had initially discussed.
But by doing so, he would be exposing too many cards.
Was it worth it?
Li Hao fell silent.
"Heh, it seems that my dear brother has placed high hopes on you as the future heir to the Taoist orthodoxy. It makes sense; with over three thousand years of prosperity and incense offerings, the ancestor of my Jiang family should also be close to resurrection. The incense offerings from now on can help you on your path to sainthood," Jiang Licheng said as he sat in the small courtyard, holding a small wine flask and eating and drinking leisurely.
Seeing his carefree demeanor, Li Hao asked, "Didn't you say that you were going to slash him with your sword? Why did you run away when he came?"
Not long before the Yu Emperor's arrival, Jiang Licheng had seemed to sense his presence and slipped away quietly, saying that he was going for a walk.
He had only returned silently after the Emperor's departure, which piqued Li Hao's curiosity.
"Hmph, I will slash him with my sword sooner or later. But I said that I would only do it after rescuing you from the Yellow Springs. In other words, you would have to be in trouble, and I would save you. Only then will I slash him. Otherwise, I'm not as thick-skinned as him; when I say something, I mean it!" Jiang Licheng said proudly.
However, Li Hao felt that these words sounded like a child trying to show off.
"You're probably just scared, aren't you...?" Li Hao looked at him doubtfully. "You must have sensed His Majesty's realm, right?"
"What nonsense are you spouting?!" Jiang Licheng flew into a rage.
"Calm down, calm down," Li Hao said with a smile.
"Why wouldn't I dare? He personally promised me that I could slash him. Why wouldn't I dare?" Jiang Licheng said angrily.
Li Hao thought about it and said, "That's true."
Jiang Licheng's expression eased, and he coldly hmphed. "Wait until my sword technique reaches perfection. I won't need incense offerings. I will sacrifice the sword to the Dao, and even if it's a Saint, I will slash him for you to see!"
"You're still quite far from that," Li Hao said bluntly. He then asked, "What did you mean earlier about resurrecting the ancestor? Is that your royal family's secret? How can you reveal it so easily?"
"So what if it's exposed? What does it have to do with me? I've said it before: everyone in the world is irrelevant to me. As long as they can help me sharpen my sword, even if I have to slash everyone in the world, I won't even bat an eye!" Jiang Licheng coldly hmphed.
Li Hao raised his eyebrows slightly. No wonder this Ninth Prince was known as the Sword Demon; he was indeed insane.