Chapter 2278: The Limits of Individual Strength

"When other Sky Demons cause trouble, Saint Sovereign Lingxu can either ignore them or directly intervene," Du Shan chuckled. "But internal conflict among the Lingxu adherents will certainly be an unsolvable headache for Saint Sovereign Lingxu."

Internal conflicts within an organization are the most fatal. "If the Lingxu adherents are not united, the Demon Realm will descend into chaos once more."

He Lingchuan fell silent for a few moments before reminding Du Shan, "I believe Saint Sovereign Lingxu's bold claim suggests that the time for Sky Demons to descend en masse is not far off. All it's trying to buy now is a little time."

Would Saint Sovereign Lingxu be unaware of the immense uproar that announcing the existence of thirteen thousand divine avatars would cause throughout the Demon Realm? Yet, it proceeded anyway. This is partly because conflicts within the Demon Realm have reached an uncontrollable peak, and partly because it might be nearing its end, making it unafraid to employ such drastic measures.

Du Shan's smile faded. "Your Majesty's concerns are very valid."

"Cang'an also has its own internal preparations to make."

Du Shan replied with a serious expression, "Your Majesty, Cang'an is constantly preparing."

Since its founding, Cang'an has not only issued global proclamations and dedicated itself to opposing Sky Demons, but it has also unequivocally declared to its citizens that the Sky Demons are on the verge of returning and that a war between Cang'an and the Sky Demons is inevitable. Cang'an and the Mu Nation are the only two countries in the world to have made such a declaration. Furthermore, only Cang'an has consistently and diligently warned its populace over the years.

It has only been ten years since the turmoil in the Golden Flash Plains ended, and most Cang'an citizens still remember the hardships they endured. They retain their wariness and hatred for the Sky Demons, thus deeply believing in the Dragon God's decrees. Having endured profound suffering, they doubly cherish their present prosperity. Everyone understands that Cang'an's current prosperity was hard-earned, and its continuation will be even more challenging, requiring every individual to defend it with all their might.

Du Shan added, "Our potential military strength and the number of cultivators are at least twenty to thirty times greater than what is apparent on the surface."

In Cang'an, every household takes pride in military service. Even if young adults cannot join the Dragon God Army, they readily join the Homeland Defense Corps to hone their skills. The constant emergence of new demons and wild beasts threatening towns has also fostered a more martial spirit among the populace. Over the past decade, the number of new cultivators has surged. The quality and overall strength of the Cang'an people are significantly improving.

"Alas, if only we had a few more years."

However, He Lingchuan knew that the enemy wouldn't wait for him to be fully prepared. Besides, for a nation, there's no such thing as being 'fully prepared.' He nodded. "You know what to do. Go."

After Du Shan left, Dong Rui and Granny Zhu arrived.

Dong Rui's eyes lit up upon hearing about the significant progress in the Heavenly Palace's demon puppet experiments. He Lingchuan asked him, "In your opinion, can the demon puppets developed by the Heavenly Palace genuinely sustain the long-term descent of a celestial god's complete soul at this moment?"

"Intelligence from the Mu Nation, synchronized six months ago, indicated that their demon puppet experiments were nearing initial success. I wouldn't be surprised if they can now deploy two celestial gods to wander freely." He added that this development was inevitable, sooner or later. "The two sample materials you retrieved for me from the Mu Nation are very similar to what Sun Hongye described as 'masked figures.' They appear to be directly molded vessels, not modified from existing demons."

He Lingchuan's heart sank. "The Hidden God Monarch?"

"Exactly. Many years ago, Jialou Tian defeated the Hidden God Monarch and took control of its body. The Lingxu followers paid a significant price to conquer such a peaceful creature, ultimately for its unique properties," Dong Rui took a shallow breath. "The traditional method for creating demon puppets, such as the ones under my command, involves 'one-to-one modification' and uncontrollable mutations, which makes them unsuitable for large-scale transformation."

Previously, demon puppet creation required using existing demons as a base, stimulating mutations and enhancing strength with divine blood. Thus, the selection of the demon was crucial and highly random, as 'mutation' itself inherently implies uncontrollability. Following this outdated approach, the Lingxu gods would struggle to create more than a few hundred divine avatars, even with immense effort. Consequently, the Sky Demons' large-scale divine descent plan has always been dismissed by Mount Ling and the Mu Nation as an impossible delusion.

"I've tested those two sample materials myself, and they surpass the quality of most demon puppets," Dong Rui said, a hint of admiration in his voice. "The Hidden God Monarch's unique properties genuinely resolved a significant issue for the Sky Demons. The first person to conceive of utilizing the Hidden God Monarch truly possessed a brilliant mind."

The Hidden God Monarch's body is a unique fungus capable of arbitrary extension and deformation, and it can manifest numerous humanoid avatars, making it virtually the chosen progenitor of demon puppets.

"However, as I've said before, research into divine avatars is far from simple. Even if issues of humanoid form and sentience are resolved, the most crucial problem of strength remains. I believe only lesser gods have descended, yet there are still numerous subordinate and true gods in the heavens. For them to achieve a complete divine descent, they would need extraordinarily powerful vessels. Such vessels cannot be created on demand."

Granny Zhu added, "Exactly. If these powerful Greater Celestial Gods cannot descend to the human realm, then the Heavenly Palace's demon puppet experiments are pointless. Lesser gods alone descending would pose no threat to Mount Ling." Such a grand spectacle simply wouldn't be complete without its main attractions.

"Even if they only use the Hidden God Monarch to create vessels for lesser gods and subordinate deities, their numbers will certainly be limited," Dong Rui said, licking his lips. "Though the Hidden God Monarch is a true immortal, the number of avatars it can manifest must have a limit. Otherwise, it could have conquered the human realm with this ability alone long ago; why would it hide in the deep sea? Furthermore, I can guarantee that the stronger each individual avatar it creates, the fewer there will be."

Even for a true immortal, there is always a limit to individual power.

He Lingchuan nodded. "The number of divine avatars Saint Sovereign Lingxu can create is likely estimated based on the Hidden God Monarch's maximum capabilities. However, everyone doubts the figure of 'thirteen thousand.'" A leader's words are often deceptive. As the head of a nation, Great Emperor Jiuyou was well-versed in such tactics. Judging others by his own standards, he naturally suspected that Saint Sovereign Lingxu had inflated the figures.

He then asked Dong Rui, "By the way, how is that experiment you specifically mentioned to me last time progressing?"

Not only is the Heavenly Palace rushing, but Cang'an is also working overtime. While the Heavenly Palace researches demon puppets, Dong Rui researches the Heavenly Palace's demon puppets.

Dong Rui smiled, revealing a mouthful of white teeth. "The progress is delightful."

Granny Zhu, clearly understanding their unspoken communication, interjected, "Hold on. Dong Rui's research primarily focuses on traditional demon puppets. If the Heavenly Palace is mass-producing divine avatars using the Hidden God Monarch, they likely won't need divine blood. What good is his experiment then?"

The Hidden God Monarch possesses the body of a true immortal, rendering the stimulating effect of divine blood negligible on it.

Dong Rui stared, "Hey now, didn't I just send you some good wine a few days ago? Granny, how could you bear to undermine me? His funding! His research funding cannot be cut!"

"Uh..." Granny Zhu scratched her eye. She'd been a little tipsy after drinking, so she couldn't be blamed for forgetting.