Chapter 1791: Two Clans in the Great Ascension

"Since Senior has no objections, I will make sure to meet you in the city on time. Also, my real name is Xu Qianyu; you may call me by that name from now on. I would never presume to refer to myself as a Fairy in your presence," Xu Qianyu said respectfully, lowering her head slightly.

"Haha, Fellow Daoist Qianyu, there's no need to be so reserved," Han Li said, first looking surprised, then quickly smiling and shaking his head.

After this, the woman did not linger much longer with Han Li and soon took her leave.

Even though the cave dwelling was near Tianyuan City and she had two days, traveling back and forth would still be very time-consuming.

Fairy Qianyu could not afford to delay too much.

Han Li, on the other hand, made another trip to the residence of the scholar and his companions. After removing the materials he had already acquired, he provided them with a new list.

He then faithfully returned to the Gathering Immortal Pavilion and did not leave it again.

Almost at the same time, in a mysterious hall within Tianyuan City, five or six cultivators were gathered, discussing highly confidential matters.

"So, this person has no chance of joining Tianyuan City at all?" a white-robed old man with a full head of silver hair and a youthful complexion asked with a furrowed brow.

"Elder Gu, I've already done my best. However, Fellow Daoist Han is an ascetic who wholeheartedly pursues the Grand Dao; he has no intention whatsoever of joining other forces," another old monk, clad in a golden kasaya, replied with a sigh.

It was none other than Chan Master Jinyue!

Both the white-robed elder and the other individuals present possessed an impressive presence, clearly all Body Integration stage cultivators on par with Chan Master Jinyue.

These individuals were, naturally, several elders from Tianyuan City's Council of Elders.

"If that's the case," a burly man with a pale golden complexion, clad in a black leather robe, said coldly, "won't our city's strength be greatly diminished, and the Council of Elders forever unable to reach its full complement of ten members? Before the war against the foreign races, our Council not only had all ten members but also included Fellow Daoist Yinguang, an alternate elder unknown to outsiders. Given Tianyuan City's current state, should the true demon calamity descend and those demons target our city as a primary siege point, wouldn't that be utterly catastrophic? Such things have certainly happened before."

"It's no use," Chan Master Jinyue replied somewhat helplessly. "Neither the Hegemon Emperor, the Saint Emperor, nor your Demon Race's Seven Great Demon Kings will allow their Body Integration cultivators to join Tianyuan City. Everyone knows that the descent of the Demon Realm is inevitable, perhaps within the next thousand years. They are all concentrating their forces, seeking to protect themselves. After all, during the last demon calamity, although it lasted only a little over a hundred years, nearly half of the previous generation's Three Emperors and Seven Demon Kings perished. They naturally wish to avoid a similar fate."

"Fellow Daoist Jinyue, can you be sure the Demon Realm will truly reconnect with the Spirit Realm within a thousand years?" another woman with a full head of black hair and wearing a silver mask suddenly interjected. Her voice was exceptionally melodious.

"Absolutely no doubt," Chan Master Jinyue said grimly, his eye twitching a few times. "Not only has a warning been issued from the Holy Island, but Lord Mo Jianli also personally risked entering the True Demon Realm with an astrolabe. He found that the ancient demons there were undergoing large-scale preparations for war, seemingly getting ready to invade our Spirit Realm. Unfortunately, Senior Mo was discovered by a Demon Realm Holy Ancestor before he could investigate thoroughly and was forced to return to the Spirit Realm. Judging from this situation, it's possible that the Demon Realm could descend within mere centuries, rather than a full millennium. The entire region where our human and demon races, along with several other nearby races, reside is one of the areas where the Demon Realm will integrate. A great catastrophe is certainly unavoidable."

"Since both the Holy Island and Lord Mo have spoken, it must be true," the white-robed elder asked, stroking his beard and narrowing his eyes. "So, the Three Emperors, the Seven Demon Kings, and other major powers have also received this news, which is why they are unwilling to contribute members to our Tianyuan City Council of Elders anymore?"

"That must be the case," the masked woman calmly stated. "Since the Wood Tribe, Yakshas, and other foreign races are also within the affected areas during the demon calamity, they too will only consolidate their forces and will certainly not attack our two races. Therefore, they naturally wouldn't want to needlessly weaken their strength when they need it for self-preservation. After all, the defensive formations protecting our two races are ineffective against the Demon Realm's descent. The original establishment of the Three Emperors and Seven Lands was also intended to address this demon calamity that occurs once every tens of thousands of years. In fact, since the last siege by the foreign races, our city has not only failed to gain any new Body Integration stage elders, but even our Void Refinement and Spirit Transformation stage guards haven't been significantly replenished. The current personnel were still recruited by our Council of Elders sending people out themselves."

"Our Tianyuan City suffered significant losses during the previous siege by foreign races," a young woman with hair like purple flames said, her delicate brows furrowing slightly. "Without replenishment of personnel, in the upcoming demon calamity, we will only be able to defend ourselves. We won't be able to dispatch forces to actively pursue and eliminate the demons as we did during the last calamity."

"There's nothing we can do about it," the white-robed elder said with a grim expression. "The terrifying nature of past demon calamities has always been a great catastrophe for us cultivation practitioners. Fortunately, these demons have no interest in ordinary humans without spiritual power; they merely plunder the Spirit Realm's resources and slaughter us cultivators. They rarely engage in widespread slaughter of common mortals and beasts. Otherwise, with a demon calamity occurring every tens of thousands of years, our human and demon races would probably have been wiped off the map of the Spirit Realm long ago."

"Hmph, this isn't out of the demons' kindness," Chan Master Jinyue said slowly, a cold glint appearing in his eyes. "I'm afraid they deliberately leave ordinary humans and beasts like livestock, so that new cultivators like us can continue to be born among them, providing them with more to slaughter during the next demon calamity. After all, for successful cultivation practitioners like ourselves, whether it's our demon cores or nascent souls, they are the best supplements for the demons."

"Furthermore, there are some resources our two races cannot afford to abandon," the purple-haired young woman said somewhat helplessly. "Otherwise, if we simply held a single stronghold and survived until the Demon Realm separates from the Spirit Realm, we could preserve much of our vitality."

"Since other powers have different plans for this demon calamity, our Tianyuan City cannot demand anything and can only prioritize self-preservation," the white-robed elder said, gently tapping the armrest of his chair a few times, a glint in his eye. "Effective immediately, let's lift the restrictions on those previously concealed subsidiary cities of our city. We should massively relocate ordinary humans from nearby areas into these cities. Additionally, we should dispatch a group of cultivators proficient in earth-attribute cultivation techniques to construct several more empty cities. All we can do is provide shelter for ordinary humans in some nearby regions."

"It is still early for the demon calamity to arrive, but making preparations early is a prudent measure," the white-robed elder said, turning his head abruptly to address the pale-gold-faced burly man. "Although we have magical formations and restrictive spells to rely on, it would still be best to recruit more high-level guards. After all, the most difficult part of this great catastrophe to withstand will be the initial waves of intense offensives; as long as we can repel them, these demons won't fight to the death and will likely settle into a stalemate. Fellow Daoist Bao, it's unlikely anyone from my race will advance to the Body Integration stage in the next few centuries. However, I've heard that someone from your Demon Race is recently attempting to break through the Body Integration stage bottleneck, so I would trouble you to pay extra attention to that."

"No problem," the golden-faced burly man nodded, responding in a deep voice. "Indeed, among our Demon Race's major royal families, there are a few amazingly talented individuals among the younger generation, with good prospects of someone else achieving Body Integration."

"Speaking of fellow Daoists from the Demon Race, Fellow Daoist Yinguang, there's something I'm not sure if I should ask," the white-robed elder said, hesitating for a moment before addressing the masked woman.

"Brother Gu and I have known each other for so many years; what could you possibly not ask?" the masked woman replied, a hint of curiosity in her voice.

"Since Fairy has said so, I will be direct and ask," the white-robed elder said, gazing at the woman. "Is Senior Ao Xiao of your esteemed clan doing well these days?"

"Oh, what did I imagine it would be?" the masked woman chuckled lightly, first looking surprised, then her gaze sweeping over the black-robed burly man. "So Brother Gu is concerned about Ancestor Ao Xiao. However, I'm not the only Demon Race elder present, so why specifically ask me?"

"Fairy Yinguang, why ask when you already know!" the black-robed burly man said lightly, raising both eyebrows. "Although you are not from the Silver Moon Wolf Tribe, you possess a portion of their bloodline and were a disciple of Senior Ao Xiao for a millennium. If anyone understands Senior Ao Xiao's recent situation better, it would naturally be you, Fellow Daoist."

"Fellow Daoist Yan's words are true," the white-robed elder asked cautiously. "To be frank, Fellow Daoist Yinguang, ever since Senior Ao Xiao made an appearance in Giant Cloud Mountain over three thousand years ago, no further news has emerged from him. With the demon calamity now upon us, and Senior Ao Xiao being one of the two Mahayana stage cultivators of both the human and demon races, we are naturally feeling some anxiety."

Hearing the elder's words, the others also looked intently at the masked woman, evidently just as concerned.

A flicker of hesitation crossed the masked woman's beautiful eyes. After a long pause, she finally replied with a sigh.

"I know what you are concerned about. Indeed, since our human and-demon races established themselves in the Spirit Realm, very few have managed to pass more than twenty Great Heavenly Tribulations. And when our Ancestor underwent his twenty-first Great Heavenly Tribulation some years ago, many fellow Daoists were greatly worried. After all, it is only with Ancestor and Senior Mo, our two pillars of stability, that our races have maintained true peace all these years. Rest assured, fellow Daoists, Ancestor Ao Xiao did not perish in his last Great Heavenly Tribulation. It's just that this tribulation depleted some of his vitality, which is why he has been in secluded cultivation."

"Is that true?" the black-robed burly man asked, his face immediately lighting up with joy.

As a fellow elder of the Demon Race, he was naturally more concerned about this Mahayana stage ancestor of their race than the white-robed elder and the others.

The white-robed elder, the old monk, and the others also let out a collective sigh of relief.

"A few centuries ago, I even saw Fairy Linglong, who has been attending to our Ancestor all these years," the masked woman said with certainty. "Reportedly, the Ancestor's recovery is proceeding very smoothly, and he should soon fully recover his magical power and emerge from seclusion."