The impact of the Demon King abandoning the ancestral city and fleeing to save his life far exceeded his expectations.

The consequences of this were almost devastating.

This is why Lin Che still went to the Ancestral City after hearing that the Demon King had run away.

In the eyes of the demon race, the ancestral city is an incomparably sacred existence; it is no exaggeration to call it a kind of faith.

As long as the Demon Emperor is still alive, as long as the Ancestral City is still there, and as long as their great Demon Emperor continues to govern the Ancestral City, then the cohesion of the Demon Clan will remain.

They dared not disobey the orders of the Demon King.

This power was built up day by day over thousands of years, but the collapse happened in an instant.

Even the Demon King has fled; even the Demon King is unwilling to stay and guard their sacred ancestral city; even the Demon King is afraid of the Forest King.

Then how could other races possibly be a match for Lin Che?

The invisible yet immense faith began to crumble. At this moment, they realized that the belief in the "ten thousand races" and the "ancestral city" had been shattered, and that they were not originally one.

When disaster strikes, each race should prioritize self-preservation.

After all, self-preservation is not shameful; what is shameful is the Demon King who fled for his life.

In fact.

The Demon King was also in immense pain and resentment.

In the void, the ancestral city army was flying away with a whoosh. The row of dazzling ancestral steles still led the way.

However, as they flew, fewer and fewer cultivators followed behind them.

The Demon King, clad in black armor, appeared even more inky black under the sunlight.

He sat alone on the steps of the ancestral monument, looking ahead expressionlessly, without uttering a single word throughout the entire process.

He knew exactly what he was doing. Abandoning his ancestral city and fleeing for his life seemed like a rash decision, but in reality, the idea had been brewing for a long time.

Not far away stood a cultivator also dressed in black armor. He was very old, the kind of person who was frail and aged.

He spoke in a deep voice: "Your Majesty, if you regret it, we can go back now and tell the public that this was just a test of the loyalty of our subordinates. It will not affect your prestige."

The Demon King remained motionless, like a statue, not even blinking. After a long while, he finally spoke in a deep voice:

"There's no going back! Going back will only lead to our deaths. Do you want to die?"

"This old servant has lived for over a thousand years. I am not afraid of death!"

The Demon King raised an eyelid, seemingly responding silently: But I'm afraid of dying!

Although the Demon Emperor didn't say it aloud, this was his truest feeling.

He was indeed afraid of dying!

Outsiders don't know this; they all think that even if Lin Che destroys the Heavenly Dao Alliance and kills the Martial Emperor, so what? This is precisely to eliminate the rivals of the Myriad Demon Emperor. As long as the Myriad Demon Emperor kills Lin Che, everything will be over.

However, the Demon King didn't tell them that Lin Che had even broken his curse-killing divine power. It wasn't just that it was broken; even the Demon Queen had been captured alive by Lin Che.

As long as Lin Che releases this news, all races will definitely force the Demon Emperor to rescue the Demon Queen.

He simply couldn't refuse!

However, he had very little chance of winning against Lin Che. Or rather, he had already died once at Lin Che's hands.

You could even say he's died twice.

More than two thousand years ago, Lin Che actually traveled back in time and killed his past self. Not only did he cultivate his power of cause and effect, but he also greatly weakened his power.

What shocked the Demon King the most was the battle at Mount Ling.

Lin Che's cultivation level was terrifying. Even when he and Tathagata joined forces at Mount Ling, they couldn't kill Lin Che.

The Demon King had a very certain feeling that his past self had been killed by Lin Che, but since he couldn't kill Lin Che in Mount Ling, he would never be able to kill Lin Che again.

It was an incredibly mysterious feeling.

It was as if it were destiny, as if the great fortune of heaven and earth had fallen upon Lin Che.

Therefore, he was put to fight Lin Che alone.

Must die!

After killing the Martial Emperor, Lin Che's cultivation will undoubtedly increase again. Knowing this, why would he stay in the Ancestral City to await his death?

The Demon King panicked. He was afraid of dying. He had lost the ancestral city, which might incur the curses of all races. But he could just take it back later and slowly rebuild his prestige.

At least he won't die! If he's killed again this time, he'll really be dead, and there's no way he'll ever come back to life.

Therefore, we must run!

It's just a temporary retreat! There's no shame in temporarily retreating!

"Then, Your Majesty, where shall we go now?" the aged subordinate asked again.

Although they retreated from the ancestral city, where could they run to?

Are we supposed to hide in some forbidden zone, like the Dead Sea? What's the difference between that and suicide?

The Demon King clenched his fist and said in a deep voice, "We're going to Mount Ling! To find the Buddha!"

Now, the only way to truly kill Lin Che is to join forces with Tathagata once again.

Moreover, Buddha Tathagata is undoubtedly mortal enemies with Lin Che; they share a common foe. Meanwhile, Mount Ling suffered severe damage over two thousand years ago but has long since recovered and is now even stronger than before.

This time, they won't let Lin Che escape again!

When Lin Che takes over the ancestral city, he will join forces with Tathagata to kill Lin Che and hang Lin Che's corpse on the highest city tower of the ancestral city.

The Demon King gritted his teeth, desperately wanting to utter the words in his heart, but the thought alone gave him a sliver of confidence: Buddha, save me!

...

now.

Above the mountains, flying cities are rapidly advancing.

Lin Che finally emerged from his Eight Gates Divine Palace.

Over the past few days, he has finished writing down all the cultivation techniques. Now, when he looks at the Divine Palace, the techniques within have reached a huge bottleneck.

Or rather, he has reached a bottleneck.

"Is something missing? I always feel like something's missing."

Lin Che muttered to himself, unable to pinpoint what was missing. After writing down all the cultivation techniques, his cultivation seemed poised to reach an even higher level, but unfortunately, there was no path forward.

At the same time, his upright character seems to be at a critical stage.

"The transformation of righteous spirit is about breaking through from a semi-saint to a Confucian saint. But it's just missing a catalyst."

As for what this opportunity will be, when it will arise, and whether he can seize it, all of these are unknowns.

After all, there weren't many examples to refer to, only the Confucian sage Muli. The Confucian sage Muli was also a person who wrote books, founded academies, and passed on the virtues of "benevolence, righteousness, propriety, wisdom, and trustworthiness."

Now, Lin Che has gone from possessing righteous energy to becoming a half-saint in such a short time.

If one wants to become a Confucian sage, one can only follow one's own path.

"King Lin, we have now entered the territory of the Ancestral City."

Upon seeing Lin Che appear, Wu Guang quickly stepped forward to report, "We haven't seen any cultivators from the Ancestral City come to intercept us, and even some defensive formations haven't been activated. This is enough to prove that the Demon King has escaped. If nothing unexpected happens, we will be able to take over the Ancestral City in three days!"