The Demon Realm, the secret realm behind the Seven Emotions Demon Palace.
A few days after the other nine Demon Lords led their troops to attack the Immortal Realm, Ding Yun immediately summoned all her subordinates at the Demon Lord level and above to gather in the secret realm behind the back hall.
"I want to unify the Demon Realm, what do you think?"
As soon as the demons were seated, Ding Yun dropped such a bombshell. Wan Fa Demon Emperor, the one with the highest cultivation, almost jumped up in shock and tried to dissuade her, "Absolutely not, Demon Lord, absolutely not. Although the other Demon Lords have taken most of their Demon Emperors to fight in the Immortal Realm, it doesn't mean you can unify the Demon Realm here! They are just on an expedition, not dead. Even if they don't retreat immediately, the possibility of all of them perishing in the Immortal Realm is extremely slim. When they return, it will be difficult for you alone to resist the combined assault of the other nine, won't it? Please reconsider, reconsider!"
If Ding Yun's cultivation wasn't so high, Wan Fa Demon Emperor would have cursed her for being insane. Taking advantage of a power vacuum was one thing, but this was something else entirely. Expanding territory a bit, or even stealing some treasures from their territories, or enticing some geniuses to join them, would have been considered normal. But to attempt to unify the Demon Realm in their absence was simply outrageous. This was pure self-destruction.
The other demons likely had similar thoughts, but they dared not voice them, only lowering their heads in silence.
"Haha, Wan Fa, you don't need to be so polite. I know you're probably wondering if I've gone mad. How about this, if I can get more than ten Demon Lords to cooperate, do you think it would be possible to truly unify the Demon Realm?" Ding Yun chuckled lightly and continued to guide the conversation step by step.
"Uh, but there's no 'if.' Unless you've already discussed it with all the Immortal Venerables in the Immortal Realm, deliberately set a trap to lure the nine Demon Lords there, and then annihilated them. But that's simply impossible. Even if it were possible, it would be like snatching chestnuts from the fire, and it's still highly likely to fail, leading to a counterattack from the Immortal Realm." Wan Fa Demon Emperor was still bewildered, not understanding why Ding Yun was saying so many illogical and impossible things today.
"Don't think so much, just tell me if it's possible!" Ding Yun pressed on.
Wan Fa Demon Emperor could only reply helplessly, "If the two-digit number is ten, it's a bit dangerous. If the two-digit number starts with two, then it's absolutely successful."
"What about you all, do you think so?" This time, Ding Yun asked the other demons present.
"What Wan Fa Demon Emperor said is correct." The other demons were merely confused and went along with it.
"Since you all think there's no problem, then that's fine. Wan Fa, you'll come with me, and then you'll know why I'm asking you this." Ding Yun didn't give Wan Fa Demon Emperor a chance to refuse. She then used her great magical power to directly capture Wan Fa Demon Emperor, taking him into a specially prepared secret chamber to help him improve his cultivation. Using the River God Technique combined with a conceptual River God, she helped him raise his cultivation. The process was quite smooth. Wan Fa Demon Emperor not only broke through to the Demon Lord realm but also reached the mid-stage of the Demon Lord realm. He also controlled six laws. Correspondingly, Ding Yun's magic power was completely depleted, and her origin was damaged. However, fortunately, she had thirteen avatars, and through timely switching between them, she did not show any weakness, as if performing such an unprecedented feat had caused her no harm.
Then, Ding Yun, along with the newly promoted Demon Lord Wan Fa, who was still in shock and hadn't fully recovered, walked out of the secret chamber. "You should have all seen that Wan Fa Demon Emperor has broken through to the Demon Lord realm with my help. I'm not afraid to tell you that I have the ability to forcibly raise you all to the Demon Lord realm. The only issue is that after your breakthrough, you will be restricted by me. The lower your cultivation, the greater the restriction you will face later. Wan Fa, you don't have to worry too much. At most, your cultivation will not be able to surpass mine." After reassuring Wan Fa Demon Lord, Ding Yun continued to ask, "Now, who among you is willing to be promoted to the Demon Lord realm by me? Sign up quickly. I only have thirty spots available. Only by signing up first will you be eligible to compete. From now until the unification of the Demon Realm is the assessment period, and the assessment standard is contribution points. The assessment is divided into thirty stages, and the one with the highest contribution points in each stage automatically obtains this qualification."
As soon as Ding Yun finished speaking, the Demon Lords and Demon Emperors present all eagerly expressed their willingness to sign up. After all, they knew that it was virtually impossible for them to break through to the Demon Lord realm on their own. Moreover, they were already Ding Yun's subordinates and had no intention of resisting. A little restriction was acceptable. Therefore, in reality, everyone except Ding Yun herself and Wan Fa Demon Emperor signed up. Ding Yun was not surprised by their reaction and recorded their names one by one.
As for why she made the rules so complicated and limited the number to thirty, it was naturally for a reason. Ding Yun genuinely couldn't create more Demon Lords, even with a conceptual River God. Energy is conserved in this world. Forcibly raising a Demon Lord or Demon Emperor to the Demon Lord realm inevitably consumes energy. The energy of the entire Demon Realm is limited. Based on Ding Yun's understanding of the Demon Realm's origin, the current amount of origin in the Demon Realm could only allow her to create thirty-three more Demon Lords. Any more would cause the Demon Realm to be unable to maintain its existing area, begin to collapse and shrink, or even downgrade. Thirty-three Demon Lords were the limit, and Ding Yun couldn't calculate based on the absolute limit; she had to leave some room. Moreover, even so, Ding Yun couldn't promote thirty Demon Lords at once, because in addition to consuming her magic power and origin, becoming a Demon Lord also required consuming luck. The reason she chose to help Wan Fa Demon Emperor break through to the Demon Lord realm first was mainly because her current amount of luck was only enough to raise an existence at the peak of the Demon Emperor realm, like Wan Fa Demon Emperor, to the Demon Lord realm. If she chose Blood River Demon Emperor, her luck would not be enough, given that Ding Yun only occupied one to two percent of the Demon Realm's territory. Therefore, those thirty spots were initially just a grand promise. The actual promotion would have to wait until Ding Yun and Wan Fa Demon Emperor joined forces to conquer more territory and obtain more luck, and then proceed with the promotions one by one in stages. Ding Yun estimated that by the time she controlled two-thirds of the Demon Realm, the luck she obtained would be enough to promote all thirty demons to Demon Lords. With her and Wan Fa Demon Emperor, there would be a total of thirty-two Demon Lords, which would be more than enough to easily suppress the Demon Realm. Even if the nine Demon Lords leading the troops outside returned alive, they would be helpless.