The thousand-foot-tall Demon Venerable, with its formidable might, was turned into a mere shadow by Wang Zhifan’s demon-slaying skill, as if boiling a frog in warm water, and the surroundings quickly returned to calm.

Simply put, the guy who was previously collaborating with the thousand-foot Demon Venerable fled directly, disappearing into the void without a trace, leaving Wang Zhifan without a target to attack.

"What a pity, that little thing is too cunning and too fast. I had several opportunities but couldn’t hit it. Maybe only using the time stop technique could resolve it... Better to go help others instead."

At this moment, Wang Zhifan felt a slight regret in his heart. He had successfully taken down the thousand-foot Demon Venerable using the covert nature of the demon-slaying skill, but he couldn’t deal with the demon venerable known for speed and stealth. This left him regretting not using the time stop technique earlier.

However, this kind of thing is hard to say whether it’s good or bad.

The ideal situation would have been to take down both Demon Venerables simultaneously, to prevent his technique from being leaked, which would make the Demon Realm even more wary of him and target him further.

But he didn’t have the right opportunity to take them both down at once and ultimately had to choose whether to leak the demon-slaying skill or the time stop technique.

In comparison, leaking the demon-slaying skill is definitely the more economical choice. After all, this skill is something he will inevitably use often in the future, and it will eventually be exposed.

Immediately, Wang Zhifan made a step into the air from the wilderness, heading to support other human cultivators in battle nearby.

Lately, their battles with the Demon Venerables often involved keeping distance and fighting separately. The reason is both sides wanted to gain merit by killing the other, and too many people in a melee could lead to friendly fire and dilute individual achievements.

But this isn’t always the case. If either side gains the upper hand or acknowledges they are losing, they will seek aid or emergency support. No one mindlessly fights a losing battle to the death.

Once Wang Zhifan joined the battle of the nearby human experts, the originally balanced battle was immediately disrupted by his presence.

Some Demon Venerables, thinking themselves powerful and new to the Calamity Realm from the Demon Realm, might still attempt to confront him. In contrast, those who had witnessed him in past battles reacted swiftly. Seeing him approach, they howled to gather their companions and fled collectively, not giving him the chance to kill them one by one.

Thus, the separate battles quickly turned into a chaotic grand chase. The Demon Venerables, unable to win, didn’t linger, and their smooth coordination forced Wang Zhifan and the others to give up the chase after a while, as continuing would likely lead to encountering additional Demon Venerables offering support, reversing the tide.

At this moment, on the wilderness, Wang Zhifan and the human cultivators watched the fleeing silhouettes of the Demon Venerables receding further and further. They gradually stopped their footsteps and began discussing the next strategy.

"Stick to the old method. We’ll head to another far enough place to continue the fight, to prevent those guys from bringing reinforcements back to encircle us."

As the leader, Wang Zhifan didn’t let everyone linger at the spot for long. He promptly pulled out the Demon Sealing List and selected a lucky demon army on the map, planning to head there to bring warmth to them.

But before everyone set off, a cultivator suddenly let out a cry of surprise, in a situation quite similar to what Wang Zhifan had experienced before.

"Martial Lord, Emperor Tianhua and the Great Desert Extremist Spear’s names have turned gray! I remember they were both alive just before the battle!"

It turned out that this cultivator, during a brief post-battle respite, checked the Demon Sealing List rankings, only to find top experts on the list suddenly fell and almost simultaneously too.

There’s no need to mention Emperor Tianhua, currently ranked sixth on the Demon Sealing List. Though the Great Desert Extremist Spear is not in the top ten, he has been there before and often hovers around the eleventh or twelfth spots, undoubtedly a top expert too. 𝙛𝒓𝓮𝙚𝔀𝒆𝒃𝓷𝒐𝓿𝙚𝓵.𝙘𝒐𝒎

When high-ranking cultivators like these fall, especially multiple ones simultaneously, it often indicates something unusual has occurred.

"Could it be that the ancient god Martial Lord spoke of has descended?"

Another cultivator was instantly shocked upon hearing that, reflexively recalling the enormous upheaval at Extreme Origin Mountain a month ago, where multiple top experts also fell.

"Everyone, stay calm! I remember that today Carefree Roaming Dragon was with Emperor Tianhua and the others, so we can ask him to find out!"

Wang Zhifan remained calm, but was equally shocked internally, as he knew well how powerful these human experts were, and ordinarily, unless they were courting death deliberately, it was very difficult for them to fall. Their sudden demise likely means the ancient god has indeed emerged.

So he quickly turned his gaze to the ranking on the Demon Sealing List to locate the scholar sect expert Carefree Roaming Dragon currently ranked fourth, and sent him a communication.

However, expecting an immediate response from the Carefree Roaming Dragon was a bit unrealistic. It was likely the other party was currently in a battle with a Demon Venerable, so after sending the communication, Wang Zhifan immediately led the cultivators beside him to set out, discussing the matter while heading to the next battlefield.

"I heard that Emperor Tianhua has the national fortune of Tianhua Country supporting him, with formidable combat power and rapid recovery from injuries. Even ten Demon Venerables combined might not take him down. Could Tianhua Country have been destroyed?"

"The Great Desert Extremist Spear is equally extraordinary! His elder self with a single Golden Sand Spear performs flawlessly, once slaughtering two Demon Venerables single-handedly without a scratch. Ordinary Demon Venerables are definitely no match for him!"

"Martial Lord, if it truly is the ancient god’s arrival, we must find the foreigner who summoned the ancient god and eliminate them!"

...

While a few were discussing as they hurried along, the cultivator who earlier discovered Emperor Tianhua’s fall exclaimed again, informing them of an even more terrifying piece of news: