Chapter 2284: Returning Empty Handed

The Amaranthine Clouddew Fruit was the main ingredient of the Divine Transcendence Pill, and Divine Dwelling Grass the main supplemental ingredient. The others were long since readied. Now that Jiang Chen had ascended to fifth level divine realm, his cultivation might not have reached perfection, but it was enough for him to live a carefree life in even the heavenly planes.
With all of the treasures in his possession, he’d be among the top cultivators of the heavenly planes. There would be some individuals who could overpower him, but not many.
It would be extremely difficult to refine the Divine Transcendence Pill without ascending to mid divine realm. Naturally, this hardship no longer existed with Jiang Chen’s new breakthrough.
He went over the details for refining the pill many times before he decided to get to work.
……
At this moment, more than a hundred thousand human cultivators were gathered on Winterdraw Island. They were all elites of the human race, with more than twenty divine cultivators numbering among them.
It was an unprecedentedly powerful group, a fact which imparted great confidence. It wasn’t improbable for the sheer number of gods to rival the demonic army by also utilizing the island’s mighty formations.
The foundation of the formations had been established by Pei Xing, the top wandering cultivator of the ancient times. Back then, the man’s formation prowess had rivaled the Ancient Crimson Heavens Sect and the Earth Bodhisattva Sect, an extraordinary feat considering his faction-less background.
Winterdraw was his life's work. There were a plethora of powerful foundations here. Back when the island was still part of Rejuvenation territory, Warden Ding had tapped into only twenty percent of Winterdraw’s potential.
Now that Jiang Chen had taken over and unleashed the full potential of the formations, Winterdraw was an absolutely impenetrable fortress.
The more he explored the true power of the formations, the more he admired Pei Xing. He had a theory that the ancient senior had set his eye on Winterdraw deliberately because of the portal. Perhaps the senior had long predicted that Winterdraw would become a strategic point for the human race in the future!
No matter what Pei Xing’s true intentions were, the island had become the human race’s most resilient stronghold.
……
The celestial demon third forefather and Forefather Goldenhowl had been waiting outside the Bluesmoke Isles for half a month. They were at the end of their patience, yet Jiang Chen hadn’t shown up at all.
Goldenhowl had had enough. He complained, “It seems you’ve made the wrong call, Third Forefather.”
The third forefather’s face clouded over. He wasn’t too concerned about making the wrong decision. That happened to the best of them.
What worried him was the notion that Jiang Chen had plainly chosen the route through Bluesmoke, but detoured because he’d seen through their plan.
If that was truly the case, then the young man was a much more formidable foe than they’d imagined.
The forefather’s mood plunged downwards.
Goldenhowl interpreted the celestial demon’s silence as guilt and yammered on. “I say the young man is still in the Eternal Sacred Land! We should charge in and destroy everything and everyone. There will be no Eternal Sacred Land after we raze it to the ground!”
Hatred had overtaken him and compelled him to focus solely on revenge. He’d lost sight of the grand plan. He wanted nothing but to murder Jiang Chen and redeem himself.
The third forefather huffed. “We won’t find him in the Eternal Sacred Land now.”
“Oh? Aren’t we wasting our time staying here as well?” Goldenhowl retorted. “Are you still unwilling to admit to your mistake?”
It was the third forefather he was talking to, not Forefather Celestial. Goldenhowl wasn’t scared of the man. If the golden tribe hadn’t suffered a crippling defeat and thus lacked manpower, Goldenhowl wouldn’t have shown the celestial demon the slightest of decorum.
“I can admit to my mistake,” the third forefather said faintly. “However, haven’t you all realized that our foe may be more terrifying than we’ve expected?”
He didn’t think it was a mistake for them to set up an ambush here. His oversight was his underestimation of Jiang Chen’s capabilities.
A shadow demon god spoke up suddenly, “Third Forefather, we seem to have overlooked something important.”
“What is it?” The third forefather wasn’t too prideful to ask.
“With all of us gathered here, our demonic presence must paint a prominent sign in the sky. Jiang Chen is a cunning man. If he guessed beforehand that danger would be in his way, he won’t come near us when he senses so much demonic energy, will he?”
His words were a wakeup call. Everyone’s face fell.
The third celestial demon pulled a face and let out a long sigh. “We considered everything but that. If Jiang Chen flew an airboat, he might have sensed our demonic presence. If he took flight himself, our presence wouldn’t have escaped his notice. He must’ve taken a detour.”
The group’s mood hit rock bottom.
Goldenhowl’s expression turned sardonic. “Did you neglect such a simple issue beforehand, Third Forefather? You really don’t deserve Forefather Celestial’s trust.”
The third forefather didn’t lose his composure. “Do you know why we demons have suffered a series of losses, Daoist Goldenhowl?” he responded calmly. “Are we any lesser than the human race? No! It’s because we fight unnecessarily among ourselves. The monster and titan demons are powerful. If they’d worked together instead of squabbling like children, Jiang Chen wouldn’t have been able to defeat them.”
Goldenhowl scoffed. “Isn’t that exactly what the celestial demon tribe wants? If every tribe is on friendly terms with one another, you celestial demons would be the first to worry.”
The celestial demons had been enabling the internal clashes. The tension between the monster and titan demons, at the very least, had been the celestial tribe’s doing.
Their argument was interrupted when the third celestial demon forefather sensed something with his consciousness. He grabbed at the air to snatch at a celestial brand.
“Oh?” he said pensively. “Forefather Celestial has summoned us.”
“He has? Has something happened?”
It didn’t matter if something had happened. Forefather Celestial had summoned them. They had to return even if the world was ending.
This operation had yielded nothing. The demons were displeased, but they knew there was no use in complaining. If they’d been the one making the call, they wouldn’t have done any better than the third forefather.