Translator: Henyee Translations Editor: Henyee Translations
Inside the Gate Between Worlds, the demon realm was divided into three regions and one hundred and eight territories; classified by strength, they were divided into ninety-six outer territories, eight middle territories, as well as four inner territories. Given the Sky-Swallowing Toad clan’s overall strength, it was located in one of the four inner territories, and conflict between the four was a lot more varied than those in the middle and outer territories.
At the same time, the four great demon gods of the four inner territories were the most powerful demon gods: Scorpion King of the East, Venerated Ox of the West, Ghost Emperor of the South and Turtle Devil of the North. They were known as the Four Fabled Battle Gods.
Members of the Sky-Swallowing Toad clan lived within the borders of Scorpion King’s eastern territory. The clash this time revolved around the conflict between Scorpion King of the East and the other three demon gods.
On Dragon Teeth Mountain, a Sky-Swallowing Toad clan elder with gray hair and a beard stood on a cliff as he surveyed the border with a deep gaze. He was currently the official acting leader of the Sky-Swallowing Toad clan: Elder Wen He.
Dragon Teeth Mountain was the boundary between the eastern and western territories, and a border consulate had been set up here initially for the sake of negotiating any conflict between the territories. But right now in this elder’s eyes, this consulate only existed in name.
“Elder Wen, everything has been prepared. The old and the young in the clan are ready to evacuate.” At this moment, a beam of light fell and a gleaming-faced young man landed behind Elder Wen.
He nodded and looked up at the sky. “If I can lay down my life to keep the clan safe, everything will have been worth it.”
Saying this, Elder Wen glanced over his shoulder at the young man behind him. “Wen Yu, after I die, you’ll be in charge of clan matters; it’s going to be a little tough on you.”
“No! I’m going with grandfather!”
The young man raised his head. “The proposed talks by the three demon gods this time might be a turning point, grandfather!”
“A turning point? That’s impossible. They’re nothing more than empty words, and I can’t see my grandchild die for nothing.” Elder Wen sighed. “In the end, you’re still too young, and you don’t understand the situation. Like how the other three territories are forcefully making unfair accusations against us; it’s no use no matter how we try to defend ourselves.”
“Who has our clan offended?”
Wen Yu clenched his fists tight and looked extremely furious. “Since ancient times, our Sky-Swallowing Toad clan has always played our part. Several years ago, our tenth generation leader was even pushed out by the other demon gods to charge enemy lines and died tragically. Why are the other three demon gods sullying our clan’s honor by claiming that we’re keeping magic WMDs for Scorpion King?”
In the end, this sort of empty and malicious defamation would, no matter what, be all in vain.
“You’re still young and have your own path to walk, but grandfather is old now.
“Our clan is just a sacrificial pawn to them.
“This time, the other three territories are sending people to negotiate and are saying that they want to thoroughly investigate whether we have magic WMDs. If they confirm we don’t have any, they won’t declare war on the eastern territory.”
Elder Wen pinched his whiskers, as if he had already seen through everything. “But since the beginning, it’s impossible for this war to be called off. They’re well prepared and have formed an alliance to suppress our eastern territory. In these talks, it’s impossible for Scorpion King to allow the other three territories to enter and do a search.”
When he said this, the young man already completely understood.
No matter what Scorpion King did, it was a quandary.
The fact that the eastern territory had magic WMDs was an empty rumor to begin with, but the other three demon gods still insisted on conducting a search and had joined together to condemn and criticize the eastern territory. These other major territories had pledged that they wouldn’t give up, and unless the eastern territory opened itself to be searched, they would join forces to strike at it.
How shameless was this behavior…
“Even if Scorpion King concedes, this will only cast doubt on the overall strength of our eastern territory. The eight middle territories now all covet the position of the four inner territories. As soon as Scorpion King shows any sign of weakness, it’ll only stop the flow temporarily.”
Elder Wen had been very clear about this matter since the beginning. “When the time comes, the eight middle territories will definitely use this issue to kick up a fuss and expel our eastern territory from the four inner territories and fight among themselves for the position as the new eastern territory.”
The young man sank into silence; wars between demon territories had always brought nothing but pain.
The ones who truly suffered were the innocent demon beasts caught in the middle. Most demon beasts enjoyed living peacefully, but competition between demon territories was a brutal thing. Scorpion King of the East had always been someone who stood for power, so he couldn’t get away from the fact that the other three territories joining forces this time to clash with the eastern territory actually had something to do with this character of his – but this wasn’t a reason to make things up and frame them.
Wen Yu stayed silent and quietly wiped away his tears without crying audibly. But the sound of him wiping his tears away was very clear, so much so that it seemed to pierce Elder Wen’s ears a little.
Once Elder Wen left, he didn’t know if he would be able to come back.
Wen Yu was still young, but he was the best candidate from the younger generation to shoulder the heavy responsibility of ruling the clan.
“Wen Yu, don’t feel too sad. Grandfather has been able to live to this age, it’s more than enough for me.” Elder Wen didn’t turn his head, his gaze fixed in the direction of the border from beginning to end.
Lowering his eyelids, the young man was extremely heartbroken. “Grandfather… is there really no other way?”
“Looking at the current situation, there truly isn’t.”
Elder Wen shook his head. “Before this, I already held a prayer meet. Unless we can awaken Great Ancestor Lord Jiang, we truly have no hope.” There was a time when a dazzling demon god had appeared in the Sky-Swallowing Toad clan. He was Great Ancestor Jiang, whose Daoist name in the clan was Venerated Demon Jiang Liu.
But speaking up to this point, Elder Wen suddenly said, “Actually, things may not be as terrible as we imagined. I also had a prophetic dream not long ago that our clan would thrive and prosper under the cover of a green light… but until now, I have yet to understand what the green light means.”
While Elder Wen’s words sounded comforting, it didn’t make Wen Yu feel any better.
The Toad clan’s prophetic dreams…
While a dream might come true, it was also a matter of probability.
Furthermore, Wen Yu had never heard his grandfather bring up this prophetic dream before, so he just treated it as words of comfort. But the truth was that Elder Wen had indeed dreamt this…
At that moment, grandfather and grandson stood on the edge of the cliff on Dragon Teeth Mountain.
A breeze brushed over Elder Wen’s navy blue Daoist robe.
It was time to go.
As he prepared to leave, Elder Wen finally turned to look at his grandson in the moment just before he departed. “Wen Yu, raise your head! A male toad should be a man!”
Chin up and chest out, the young man struggled to control his feelings.
“We are a clan bathed in the light of a demon god’s glory. Even if things are hopeless now, you must remember: for the sake of past generations, for the sake of our clan’s great undertaking, you must never lower your head, no matter what!”
Gazing in the direction of the peace consulate, Elder Wen gritted his teeth. “If I don’t come back this time… I never will!”