[Since only a slight leakage of power shattered an area of several tens of meters in radius and did not affect the load-bearing capacity, the Feather Demon King casually swept away the debris and dust with a wave of his blood energy.]
The Feather Demon King sensed joy in the last syllable of the Thorn Demon King's voice, but before it could ask further, the Thorn Demon King spoke up, beaming with delight.
"Excellent! Absolutely excellent! This is an opportunity our race has never had before in its entire history!"
The Feathered Demon King asked, puzzled, "What do you mean?"
"Because the 'Creators' are now facing a formidable enemy, they are resorting to desperate measures, drawing power from the scattered bodies of the True Kings!"
"However, their backup plans are not omnipotent; they have too many limitations. For example, they can only be used once a week; and they cannot be used on all five realm 'military clans' simultaneously!"
"The fact that neither Xiaoman nor I were hurt proves this point!"
"It's just that you're unlucky enough to be selected as one of them."
[Realizing that even the "Creator" has a power ceiling, the Thorn Demon King couldn't help but laugh.]
The Feather Demon King could no longer laugh.
The Thorn Demon King, seemingly oblivious to the expression on its bird-like face, pressed on, "After losing a portion of your power, did you also feel the voice calling you in that direction growing stronger, and your resistance to it weakening?"
The Feathered Demon King nodded, his face green (his face was naturally green).
[Because you weakened its physical and mental strength by 2%, but failed to remove the "lower-level brainwashing code" within it as well.]
The strength of that "brainwashing code" varies with cultivation level; it's a mechanism, not a numerical value... In any case, no demon has reached its numerical limit so far.
The weaker the physical body, the stronger the brainwashing effect; conversely, the weaker the mind, the weaker the resistance to brainwashing.
Under this dual pressure, the Feather Demon King felt that after another twenty rounds of exhaustion, it would completely succumb to the brainwashing effects and head straight for the edge of the Azure Domain.
Yun Shou: "It seems it can withstand up to 0.8 times its essence. So, what about the Thorn Demon True King? Can it hold out until... 0.95 times?"
The True King's ability is merely invisibility plus a slight concealment of his aura; the Thorn Demon King, which provides no numerical bonuses, is the weakest "one-time True King combat power".
It is of the same status as the "lower-level human pseudo-king" that was used to calculate one's "one thousand times combat power" before the 11th.
"This is yet another powerful proof!" The Thorn Demon King's laughter practically echoed throughout the entire Heavenly Demon Palace.
"They cannot actively intensify the brainwashing, or rather, our current brainwashing intensity has reached the upper limit within the same realm. We must either reduce it or shut it down!"
"But they didn't lower or shut down, which means they abandoned the path of allowing us, the true kings, to continue growing and reaping sustainably outside. Instead, they urgently want us to return and become tools for the 'Creator' to resist the great enemy!"
"Therefore, they are now facing an extremely dire situation!"
"It might even be a matter of life and death for the race. After a period of time, we won't even need to struggle; the shackles will break on their own!"
"At the very least, it will severely damage its vital energy, and it will take thousands or even tens of thousands of years to recover!"
"What kind of image have you conjured up in your mind?"
Yun Shou could only admire the old Thorn Demon's mentality.
Whatever situation it encounters, after a period of reflection, it will embellish it and imagine it as a situation that is advantageous to itself.
Its desire to "escape its fate" has become an obsession.
Demons cannot share the same joys and sorrows; at this moment, the Feather Demon King only found the Thorn Demon King noisy.
It realized that if what the Thorn Demon King said was true, then it could only pray that the "Creators" would be defeated quickly within the next hundred days, and the sooner the better.
[With each additional day, its power or some other aspect weakens. After twenty more instances, its resistance to "brainwashing" will drop to a critical point!]
The Feather Demon King felt utterly hopeless; its remaining time was dwindling, leaving no room for joy.
Seeing the relaxed and carefree Thorn Demon King, it felt increasingly agitated, especially since the seven days were almost up.
Finally, even its voice betrayed suppressed rage: "Old man, are you really sure it was that 'Creator' race that pulled this stunt behind the scenes!?"
The Thorn Demon King chuckled, his thorns standing erect with delight: "If not, you can break off all of this old man's thorns as an apology!"
Then, an extremely concentrated burst of true energy blasted through the massive, high-strength architectural complex of the Heavenly Demon Palace above them, the shockwave causing sound to penetrate its internal structure.
[Some parts are distorted, but the content of the sentences can still be discerned.]
"Want to know what's happened to you these past few days? Little birdman, I'll mercifully tell you, it was all done by your human father, Cloud Father!"
[Feather Demon King: "..."]
[Thorn Demon King: "..."]
The Feather Demon King glared fiercely at the Thorn Demon King, his gaze seemingly saying: "Once you bring me back, I will break every single sharp thing off your body!"
Yun Shou: "Should that be broken too?"
[Then, the Feathered Demon King wasted no more time. It didn't even bother with the proper exit route, instead tearing its head open with its blood and energy, soaring straight into the sky!]
The Thorn Demon King remained silent, feeling as if a word of danger hung over his head, and the sharp points all over his body felt weak.
"It's all humanity's fault!"
[...]
"Old man, are you really sure it was that 'Creator' race that pulled this trick behind the scenes!?"
"If not, you can break off all the thorns on this old man's body as an apology!"
The two demons are arguing.
Then, the Feather Demon King's vital energy suddenly and without warning surged outwards once more, and its essence weakened once more!
[Feather Demon King: "..."]
[Thorn Demon King: "..."]
The two demons stared at each other for a long while before the Thorn Demon King slowly spoke: "What did I say again?"
"Have faith in the wisdom of elders."
["This is the 'Creator' race using their 'backup plan' left within you, extracting your power every seven days with some unimaginable force!"]
"Look, although the extraction process only happens in an instant, beyond our notice, it still leaves a trace!"
The Thorn Demon King reaffirmed his point: "Your sudden outward release of vital energy is the best proof!"
"They are separated by countless primordial realms, and there will inevitably be a slight oversight, which is that they took your life essence with them!"
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