The sudden emergence of five new Immortal Venerables in the Celestial Realm not only instilled fear in the Demon Lords of the Demon Realm but also surprised the original ten Immortal Venerables of the Celestial Realm, leading to clandestine undercurrents.
Especially the five native Immortal Venerables.
They were exceedingly worried about this matter.
This was because all five newly born Immortal Venerables hailed from the Ascender faction, meaning the balance of power at the top between their native immortal clans and the Ascenders had been shattered. Previously, it was a one-on-one situation; neither side could decisively defeat the other without mutual destruction, or even complete annihilation, thus maintaining a semblance of peace.
But now, the number of Immortal Venerables on the Ascender side.
Was enough for a two-on-one beatdown.
How could these native Immortal Venerables not be worried?
Furthermore, both the virus that threatened the lives of the common folk of their native immortal clans and the various potent medicines that could completely cure those viruses were all creations of the Ascenders. This made them inevitably anxious that the Ascenders might not just aim to surpass them and dominate the Celestial Realm, but harbored intentions of exterminating them and claiming the Celestial Realm for themselves.
Most critically, based on the current situation.
They might truly possess the capability to do so.
How could these native Immortal Venerables not be worried? They were practically losing sleep, unable to focus on their cultivation.
Out of these concerns.
The native Immortal Venerables frequently contacted each other in secret.
And from then on, the Ascender faction became increasingly arrogant, frequently provoking the native immortal clans, even encroaching upon their territories. Many native immortal clans, fearing an all-out war between the two sides, often endured silently and suppressed their anger.
Of course, they weren't foolish enough to declare war directly.
The eruption of the native Immortal Venerables primarily manifested as:
They sealed all ascension channels and secretly contacted all the Divine Beast clans, the Divine Beasts born in the Celestial Realm itself. Through negotiations, promises, and various other means, they forged an unprecedented comprehensive cooperation with them.
Preparing to jointly confront those Ascenders.
In reality, the historical grievances between the native immortal clans, the ascended immortal clans, and the Divine Beast clans were quite complex.
A long, long time ago, the Celestial Realm actually had no Ascenders. There were only native immortal clans and Divine Beast clans. These two groups hunted each other, harboring deep animosity, and both aspired to be the rulers of the Celestial Realm. At that time, the native immortal clans were slightly inferior, and the Divine Beasts were more powerful than them.
Until the appearance of the Ascenders.
When the Ascenders first appeared, their strength was meager. Neither the Divine Beast clans nor the native immortal clans of the Celestial Realm took them seriously. Unlike the Divine Beast clans, the native immortal clans were the first to extend an olive branch to the Ascenders, incorporating them within their sphere of influence and even treating them as cannon fodder.
This was to reduce casualties among their own people.
Although the Ascenders harbored resentment, they lacked the ability to resist at the time and could only strive to survive, improve their strength, and accumulate power. By appearing docile and obedient, they gradually gained trust and obtained some higher-level cultivation techniques from the native immortal clans.
There were no ascension channels back then. It was extremely difficult for mortals to ascend. Only by cultivating to the extreme and shattering the void did one have a certain probability of entering the Celestial Realm. Note that it was a certain probability; most actually perished in the turbulent currents of space after shattering the void.
After the native immortal clans discovered that the Ascenders were very obedient and useful, in order to gain more cannon fodder.
They specifically devised methods to create ascension channels and continuously dispatched people to search for new planes. If a new plane had cultivators, they would directly create an ascension channel. If there were no cultivators, they would spread cultivation techniques. Even if there was no life, they would sow life seeds in the new plane.
In any case, their lifespans were incredibly long, and they could afford to wait.
From then on, the number of Ascenders began to gradually increase. Moreover, ascension was completely safe at that time. One could ascend safely upon reaching a certain level of cultivation.
There was no need to undergo tribulations.
They just had to serve as cannon fodder for the native immortal clans after ascending.
With the assistance of numerous Ascenders, the Divine Beast clans, due to their relatively small numbers and difficulties in reproduction, gradually lost their advantage. Although they were not exterminated as a result, they gradually withdrew from the stage of history. Even after imitating the native immortal clans and absorbing some beast races they previously disdained to create demonic beasts as subordinates.
However, due to the loss of the initial advantage.
There were only minor reversals, and they were never able to regain their dominance and surpass the native immortal clan forces again.
With the defeat of the Divine Beast clans, the native immortal clans naturally and swiftly became the de facto rulers of the Celestial Realm. However, the Ascenders who had made outstanding military contributions did not enjoy corresponding treatment. They were even relegated to second-class citizens in the Celestial Realm, just above demonic beasts.
Although they were not arbitrarily killed like slaves.
Their status was indeed not much better than that of slaves.
Only a few powerful individuals were slightly better off.
At that time, some Ascenders were dissatisfied and rebelled. However, some Ascenders were keenly aware that they were not as powerful as the native immortal clans and continued to endure. Moreover, the native immortal clans controlled all ascension channels, which was sufficient to easily manipulate a large portion of the Ascenders. Therefore, the rebellious Ascenders were actually suppressed by other Ascenders.
The ascension tribulation only began to appear afterward.
This was because the native immortal clans had already realized that they did not need too many Ascenders. Too many Ascenders could become a hidden danger. If it weren't for the Divine Beast clans specifically creating ascension channels for demonic beasts and starting to absorb demonic beasts from the lower realms in large numbers, they might have directly abolished the ascension channels instead of increasing the difficulty of ascension.
Afterward, the Ascenders continued to endure.
Some geniuses were also protected by them and secretly sent to places less controlled by the native immortal clans, hoping they would have a relatively safe environment to grow. Once sufficient strength was accumulated, they would then consider independence.
During the period when Ascenders endured humiliation and accumulated resources.
A major event also occurred, which was that a portion of the defecting Ascenders, in order to evade pursuit, truly made strenuous efforts to escape to the ends of the earth and accidentally discovered the existence of the Demon Realm. Some of them even entered the Demon Realm and defected to the demons.
Among the Ascenders who defected to the demons, some, in order to seek revenge, deliberately lured some demons into the Celestial Realm and even instigated some demons to exterminate immortal clans.
And this eventually triggered the First Immortal-Demon War.
Although if it weren't for the instigation of those Ascenders, the countless immortal and demon races would have eventually discovered each other, and due to the opposing cultivation foundations, they would inevitably not have been able to coexist harmoniously, and a war would have eventually occurred. However, the Ascenders who accidentally discovered the demons and the Demon Realm, and who harbored resentment towards the immortal clans, played a guiding and promoting role in provoking the relationship between the two.
After the First Immortal-Demon War concluded, a large number of defectors again appeared from the Ascender side, entering the Demon Realm.
The main reason was that the demons in the Demon Realm did not discriminate against them. The demons genuinely valued strength above all else and did not enslave Ascenders. In fact, if an Ascender possessed great strength, they could hold high positions in the Demon Realm.
Becoming the lord of a city or a nation was not an issue.
This was absolutely impossible in the Celestial Realm at that time.
As second-class citizens, Ascenders did not have this qualification. Even if their cultivation reached the level of an Immortal Lord, they still lacked this qualification. In fact, if their cultivation was too high, they would be suppressed.
Fearing that they might develop rebellious thoughts and become a threat.
Therefore, naturally, many Ascenders who were unwilling to accept the oppression of the native immortal clans and could not resist it chose to reside in the Demon Realm. Moreover, Ascenders had an advantage: their foundation in the Celestial Realm was based on immortal energy, which could not be changed. Ascenders could change their foundation at any time if they were willing and become cultivators of demonic energy.
Their magic power and other aspects were no different from those of demons.
They could also perfectly adapt to the environment of the Demon Realm.
Subsequently, many more events occurred. The Ascenders who entered the Demon Realm gradually forgot their original identities, accepted their new demon identities, and even united with the native demons to build ascension channels in the Demon Realm, spreading demonic cultivation techniques to the lower planes, and so on.
The current structure of the Immortal and Demon Realms was basically formed.
As for the complete independence of the Ascenders in the Celestial Realm, it was not until after the Sixth Immortal-Demon War. The Celestial Realm was defeated, and three Immortal Venerables of the native immortal clans perished, while an Immortal Venerable was again born on the Ascender side.
Only after the number of Immortal Venerables equaled that of the native immortal clans.
Did they finally achieve formal independence.
And the native immortal clans had no choice but to accept it, not daring to wage another war when their own forces were depleted.
Among the Demon Lords who killed those three native immortal clan Immortal Venerables at that time, only one was a native Demon Lord of the Demon Realm; the others were all Immortal Venerables who had joined the Demon Realm later.
It can be said that the Ascenders who entered the Demon Realm also made significant contributions to the rise and independence of the Ascender faction in the Celestial Realm. It's just that such matters were not easy to speak of openly; it was sufficient for the rulers of both sides to be aware of it.
If not for the constant external threat from the Demon Realm.
The Ascenders and the native immortal clans would have long ago fallen out.
With so much historical background, the native Immortal Venerables naturally dared not underestimate the sudden rise of the Ascenders and the fact that five Immortal Venerables had suddenly appeared. They were well aware of what they had done to the Ascenders in the past.
Naturally, they were even more worried that after the Ascenders became powerful.
Whether they would treat them in the same way.
Therefore, they could only desperately contact the Divine Beast clans, and even the Demonic Beast clans, to seek cooperation.
And the Divine Beast and Demonic Beast clans were also very worried about the continued cooperation between the Ascenders and the native immortal clans. At this time, they had no objections to being divided and cooperating.
They were even quite happy to see it happen.