A fiery explosion spread throughout the sky. Blood and fire encompassed the firmament. Even the Desolate Sepulcher could see it. High Mother Lisha could sense the presence of Cao Yun within. More specifically, she sensed a few strands of Death Energy that reminded her of him. Besides, he was the only one she could think of with the ability to reverse fate in such a manner. After all, he had received the blood of her god, the Weaver of Souls. Who else could stand strong against Demon God Da Mo?
Everyone in the Desolate Sepulcher could tell that Demon God Da Mo had been bested. Although they didn't know the details, the Sisters of the Abyss quickly took advantage of this. They made up stories and legends, rumors that spread like wildfire. Soon, the Sisters of the Abyss heard even more exaggerated tales about what had happened. The hand of the Weaver of Souls had pierced the darkness and made Demon God Da Mo's blood fall and burn into the heavens. Most demons took those rumors with a grain of salt, or simply as metaphors. However, some demons took them to heart. It wouldn't be long before some cults decided they should wage a holy war for their god and annihilate the Empyrean Asura Theocracy. To be fair, they were blaming a large part of the recent increase in slavery on the Empyrean Asura Theocracy. First of all, it wasn't false. More importantly, though, it served Lord Wanghuo.
Similar scenes were happening throughout the demon territories. All those who had been hiding or even rebelling took the phenomena in the sky as a sign of their future success. Among those was Lan Duoyan. This reaffirmed that he was right. Like High Mother Lisha, he connected this event to his teacher. Unlike her, he didn't notice anything to make him say that, it was just a gut feeling. Lan Duoyan had idealized his teacher, so obviously, when he saw what a miracle it was to his eyes, he attributed it to his teacher. Then, he had to lie and manipulate the Xueyan couple. In the end, it was for the greater good. He would force them to go to war. But ultimately, they would prevail and end the tyranny of the Empyrean Asura. His teacher would ensure it, somehow.
For the believers, the scene was perceived in a completely different light. At first, they all saw the black sky and the Blood Sun. Obviously, those were proof of the superiority of their god. Demon God Da Mo was so powerful that he could hide the Sun and cast the world into darkness and blood. Mankind would be slaughtered. All non-believers and heretics would suffer in lakes of boiling blood. And those loyal to Demon God Da Mo would feast on their flesh and blood. Their cultivation would rise, and all demons could become Immortal Demons. The Forsaken Dao Era was just a test put on them by their god. Those who proved themselves loyal would be reborn in his blood and attain godhood under him.
When the Blood Sun collapsed, their entire worldview collapsed. They were unable to make sense of what was happening above them. Their very eyes, all their senses, their minds and souls, were all screaming that Demon God Da Mo's technique had been obliterated. Someone stronger than their god had intervened. Their god wasn't supreme. All the promises of their god would break and shatter. No! There was another explanation. Maybe their senses were all wrong. What they had seen had simply not happened. This might just be another test of their faith. Those who would walk away from Demon God Da Mo in this moment of doubt would forsake salvation and doom themselves.
Some cults even began to cast accusations. First, they blamed the heretics, the rebels, their own neighbors. Paranoia grew stronger and stronger. Before long, though, voices began to rise against Empyrean Asura. Maybe he had lost the favor of Demon God Da Mo. After all, Demon God Da Mo couldn't fail, it was his emissary, Empyrean Asura, who had failed. But Empyrean Asura was supposed to be Demon God Da Mo's embodiment on the Piaolu planet. Demon God Da Mo couldn't choose an apostle who would fail in such a manner. Then, Empyrean Asura was also a fake apostle, a fake prophet. They needed to take him down to restore their favor in the eyes of their god.
There was utter chaos throughout the demon territories. Small rebel groups grew larger overnight. To be fair, demons were always prone to infighting, and Empyrean Asura had tamed them through oppression, fear, and religious zealotry. Most of his forces were massed near the Hongchen Kingdom's border. He had just suffered a very visible and crushing defeat in the eyes of everyone on the planet, and even his religious foundation was shaken. Everything was in place for many groups to take advantage of his apparent weakness.
In Saint Citadel Sidi, Empyrean Asura was, in fact, the most surprised among all. He saw the explosion but couldn't believe it. In fact, he would have never believed his senses if it weren't for the powerful backlash that followed. In an instant, his array formation collapsed. Many weak points all over the place caved in. Several priests simply burst into flames while others rotted alive. The Staircase to Hell array formation was the culmination of Empyrean Asura's efforts against the Hongchen Kingdom, but it had been destroyed. All those years, all those sacrifices. Everything was turning into ash before his very eyes.
Suddenly, a terrible pain spread throughout his soul. It targeted his Demon Soul. In other words, it was Demon God Da Mo himself who was targeted. His Demon Soul was still weak and injured. As such, he couldn't fully showcase his late Reborn Demon's cultivation. If he pushed himself to the limit, he might be as strong as a middle Exalted Demon. If he accepted the risk of injuring or even killing himself, he might push his strength into the late Exalted Demon category. However, it didn't matter in that moment. His Demon Soul was fighting against the backlash of an array formation powerful enough to destroy an entire kingdom. Millions of souls had been used to activate it and power up its destructive power. Although a large part of the energy had already been used up, there was still enough to obliterate his Demon Soul.
In that very moment, Demon God Da Mo actually feared for his life. His effeminate face was completely deformed by rage, hatred, confusion, refusal, denial, and outrage. This shouldn't have happened! No one should have been able to do such a blasphemous act! Not even that wench Nuwa could have!
In fact, Demon God Da Mo now felt that Emperor Nuwa really wasn't behind this counterattack. He had known her very intimately. Despite all the hatred, disdain, and disgust he felt toward her, he would have been able to recognize even a tiny fragment of her soul. Behind this attack, there was nothing of Emperor Nuwa in it. For the very first time since he had come back to the Piaolu planet, Demon God Da Mo felt a deep fear seize his entire being. Memories of the Great War resurfaced. Mankind had almost slain him once, they might actually succeed this time...
Empyrean Asura could feel the Death Energy coming straight from the array formation. Whoever had broken apart his Staircase to Hell was a great master. They had targeted the greatest weaknesses. In fact, Empyrean Asura himself discovered a couple of weaknesses in that very moment. As he was the center of the array formation, he was suffering from the worst backlash. He could have put up barriers and various layers of protection. However, he had never even entertained the possibility that someone would destroy his array formation. As such, he had decided not to spend a few more years on those. To be honest, he didn't really decide it, this simply never even crossed his mind.
Several priests were the cornerstone of the array formation. Several were either killed or severely injured. Without any hesitation, Empyrean Asura extended his arms and literally drew their blood and souls. Those who had just died had their souls taken from them at the very moment they had been turned into Death Energy. One of the priests had been fast enough to let his Demon Soul escape his body, hoping to survive a few more centuries. However, he felt a powerful force. Horrified, he realized that Empyrean Asura was absorbing him. Various seals within his own soul prevented him from fighting back.
At the moment, Empyrean Asura was extremely weak for a 9th-grade Accomplished Demon. As such, it would have been difficult to forcefully steal the energy of any Accomplished Demon, even most Golden Blood Children. Unfortunately for the priests, they all had some of his blood in them and seals embedded within them. As such, they simply couldn't fight back at all. Even those who had miraculously survived the backlash were thrown into pure despair.
For a short while, they had believed that Empyrean Asura would help them fend off the backlash. They even hoped for their god to appear and save them. But their hopes and zealotry were met with disdain. They were mere pawns to be discarded and sacrificed when the time came. Right now, the time had come. In fact, even if he didn't need their energy to survive, Empyrean Asura would have slaughtered them all anyway. After all, they had seen him at his weakest, he couldn't accept that. Thankfully, very few people knew that Empyrean Asura was really Demon God Da Mo.
As he thought that, Empyrean Asura immediately imagined Silver Wolf Marshal Shanyin Guan. This man was a real threat to his authority. Hopefully, he would die in the current war. Empyrean Asura was truly panicking. After so long, so much preparation and planning, he couldn't abandon. If he waited any longer, his lifespan might actually run out. One way or another, he had to end this fight. Empyrean Asura got even more desperate to eradicate mankind. Maybe getting to this Piaolu planet had been the worst mistake of his life. But now he was fully engaged, and he had no possible retreat. He would prevail or die. And he wouldn't die!
All the blood and soul energy from his priests and priestesses flew right into Empyrean Asura's hands. They entered his body through all his pores and flooded his flesh. He became a vibrant red, and all his muscles bulged and pulsated alongside his heartbeat. Within, he was fighting Death Energy. No matter what he did, he simply couldn't control it, so he had to snuff it out through sheer force.
Within the Death Energy, there was so much hatred against him that Empyrean Asura began to think about letting himself die or even killing himself. The obstacles, the threats in front of him, were too big. It would be better for him to accept his fate and surrender to death. Those thoughts came from his own victims. Their hatred toward the one who had caused their torments was affecting Empyrean Asura. However, the surge of vitality from the priests helped Empyrean Asura's mind stabilize.
There was so much Death Energy that even Empyrean Asura couldn't suppress it all. He would have needed more sacrifices. As such, he decided to use his Supplicant Tyrants. For a long time, he had wondered if he should have sent them alongside Silver Wolf Marshal Shanyin Guan. In the end, he had decided to keep them by his side. It wasn't that he feared being attacked. He simply didn't want them to be destroyed in battle. After all, without Yu Xiangling, it would be much more difficult to both replenish those Supplicant Tyrants and make more of them.
Considering that Empyrean Asura was hoping for a lot of casualties in the attack on the Hongchen Kingdom, he had preferred to protect his Supplicant Tyrants. Moreover, he didn't want them to inadvertently save Silver Wolf Marshal Shanyin Guan's life, or even his men's lives. That man would always be a thorn in Empyrean Asura's side. The best result was for Shanyin Guan to die at the hands of the humans so that Empyrean Asura could use his heroic sacrifice to galvanize his own troops while getting rid of a rival. Ironically, this would save Empyrean Asura's life today.
Empyrean Asura diverted some of the Death Energy directly into the Supplicant Tyrants. Those abominations seemed to feast on the torment and anguish within the Death Energy. Unfortunately, Empyrean Asura couldn't send them all of it, but just enough to stay alive and safe. The process was incredibly painful. For several days, Empyrean Asura would still have strands of Death Energy wreaking havoc within his flesh and soul. For years to come, he would still feel pain. In fact, it would probably take half a century or so for him to be fully healed. That being said, he had survived. Everything else was secondary.
For the next few days, Empyrean Asura would have to purge his own men. Those who had seen him so weak couldn't remain. The priests who had been so close to him were already dead, but many followers were observing from the ground below. Somehow, he had to spin it. He could put the blame on the dead priests. Maybe the backlash was a retribution from Demon God Da Mo because those priests didn't believe strongly enough. But Empyrean Asura had been spared, proving his virtue and loyalty. Honestly, this wasn't very convincing, but he had to find a way, any way. As long as he could annihilate the Hongchen Kingdom, everything would be smoother.
Empyrean Asura had hoped to kill his only real obstacle, any remnant of Emperor Nuwa. But he had found another threat. Now, he had to crush it thoroughly, by any means available to him. Once that threat was dead, no one on the Piaolu planet could harm him. It would only be a matter of time before he ruled the entire planet. Besides, he could wait several decades here while only a few weeks or months passed in that other realm. He had enough time to recover and strengthen himself for his last crusade.