After the unpleasant turns of events, the demons returned to one of the islands occupied by their fleet.
Despite a lot going on with the demon race right now, they still didn't back away from the Fiery Hell Secret Realm because of the Spirit Fire. In fact, no one does because the Spirit Fire was just as important as capturing the elusive thief.
Not to mention the three races have been planning for this event for a century. So, nothing changed except the demons getting robbed of over a hundred original slots because of the Demon Ancestor's predicament.
If it was just a matter of the demon race's grudge against the Sky Stealer, then they won't have to compromise so much, but the thing was, it was far more than just that, so they had to pay the price for asking everyone's cooperation.
"Leland, summon 1st to 100th ranking participants. It's time to pair them up with the Miasma Demon Soldiers." The Northern Council Minister coldly ordered while he sat in his camp, and his voice was laced with fury.
A demon in black robes appeared out of thin air as he respectfully yet with rage spat, "Are we really going just to accept that ridiculous quota? They even give those hunters more slots than us! Do they think we are some sort of pushovers?"
"Sigh…" Northern Council Minister sighed ruefully as he shook his head, "I know what you're implying, Leland, but I already discussed it with the Demon Emperor. We are to accept this sharing without making any fuss. Ever since the day that wrenched symbol stained our temple, nothing has been the same, and the Demon Emperor is always agitated and no longer seems like his past self."
Leland remained silent for a moment before he hesitantly asked, "Is this to have something to do with that giant demon who was said to be our race's Ancestor?"
Before the tragedy of the Imperial Demon Domain, only the Demon Emperor, Demon Empress, or another person knew about the existence of the Demon Ancestor who stayed in the Demon Temple indefinitely.
However, after the Imperial Demon Scepter was stolen right under everyone's noses, the Demon Ancestor didn't care about hiding his existence at all. Now, almost all the high-ranking demons in the Royal Demon Nation knew about the Demon Ancestor.
Although this gave the demon race more moral boost. As a result, the influence of the Demon Emperor also greatly plummeted as the ruler of the Demon Race.
Now, everyone respects the Demon Emperor because of the Demon Ancestor. They no longer seem to revere him like before as the most powerful demon. Some even thought of the Demon Emperor as a puppet emperor whose strings were in the hands of the Demon Ancestor.
"Don't speak nonsense. It is not our place to speak about the matter of Imperials." Northern Council Minister chided coldly.
"Please forgive me. I was angry and spoke out of my place." Leland knew his place and quickly apologized.
He then inquired about another important matter, "Is it wise to send the Miasma Demon Soldiers with your limited slots? We should go with the original pairings of the ranked 1st to 200th participants and drop the Miasma Demon Soldiers. They are, after all, just sacrificial pawns."
Northern Council Minister coldly answered, "Although they are just pawns, but they are trained to be far more resilient in the Fiery Hell Secret Realm's special environment.
"Especially when it comes to those absurd trials. Furthermore, they will give away their life without hesitation and can make the one who killed them wish for death.
"Paring them with those top 100 participants who we nurtured for over two years and can even last a little while against a new Soul Manifestation Realm Cultivator, they are a deadly combination.
"So, what if those bastards give us 200 spots? I'll let them know that even if our reputation is maimed by that cowardly thief, we are stronger than ever. In the end, it will all come down to who can bring out and then able to keep the Spirit Fire at the end of this gathering."
Leland nodded in agreement, "You are right, Minister, even if none of our participants got their hands on that Spirit Fire. What matters the most is someone can bring it out, and only then the true fight for the possession of the Spirit Fire will begin!"
---
While the five races were scheming against each other about outside the Fiery Hell Secret Realm for the Spirit Fire, without even knowing that the Spirit Fire was already stolen by the Sky Stealer yet again.
Ace finally found the cathedral of the third layer in the middle of tall mountains surrounded by giant hominoid stone statues.
After spending some time in the third layer, Ace knew just how dangerous this place was for those who didn't know how to fly.
Only with his map did he manage to avoid all those traps and reach this place, and those 33 statues were giving him a very dangerous feeling, just like the lava river on the second layer.
But he knew time was essence here, and he still needed to pass the damn trial of this layer to enter the fourth layer, and he was still a long way from reaching the ninth layer.
Ace used his stealth to sneak past those giant statues and enter the crimson cathedral. He was hoping since his stealth worked on those other rocky beings, it would work on those statues as well.
To his relief, those statues remained motionless as he flew over their heads in stealth, and without delay, he started to shoot down toward the cathedral. He knew that even if there was something wrong with those statues, these cathedrals seemed to have some sort of protection around them, like some safe zones.
Without any hitch, Ace safely landed in front of the cathedral's peculiar entrance.
However, instead of entering right away, he decided to recover first because he was exhausted after continually flying for so long, and he hadn't rested since the events with the Grim Ancestor.
After spending twelve hours in recovery, Ace was finally at his peak and entered the cathedral!
He appeared in the same redness, and the same static voice rang at this moment, "Sun and Moon Seeker Token detected!
"Welcome Sun and Moon Seeker in the Lower Layer, Third Level Trial!
"Pass the Unique Trial solely made for the Sun and Moon Seeker to earn an entry in the Middle Layer, First Level!
"Unique Trial: The Burning Sun Refinement will now commence!"
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