'The last step,' thought Wang Wei as he watched Tie Gang becoming the victor. His facial expression remained the same–a charming smile that hid his true intentions or hypocrisy.
His lack of movement or change was only superficial. Ever since the start of the battle of general, he had two purposes–keep watching his opponent to prevent interference and use his power to secretly prevent Di Tian's intuition or danger sense from activating.
And such an act was not easy to pull off while under his nose and when they were of similar power or level. As such, Wang Wei had to be extra careful not to be discovered.
Luckily, his attempts have been successful.
He kept observing Di Tian, ensuring the latter would not destroy the entire board.
'He appeared as calm as me,' thought Wang Wei. 'He is not someone who will give up easily, so he must be preparing something. His attention has been focused on his Shadow, so he must be the key to his plan.'
Wang Wei thought about the information he knew from the Oracle Mirror but could not think of anything specifically. The mirror did not give him all of DI Tian's information, leaving many loopholes in his information gathering.
Furthermore, there were too many possibilities based on what he knew about Di Tian.
'No need to let my mind drift. I will respond based on the situation.'
After making a decision, Wang Wei used his Divine Sense to contact Li Jun:
'Are you alright?"
'I'm fine.'
'If you're not okay with the plan, it's not too late to change things,' said Wang Wei.
'No, it's definitely too late,' replied Li Jun. 'At least, to ensure success and prevent unforeseen variables, it's too late.'
'There is no need to worry about unforeseen variables. I–'
'This is not the time to be soft,' cut Li Jun. 'Wait, it's not like you to hesitate at the last minute.'
'I feel icky,' explained Wang Wei.
'What does that mean?'
'It's like my intuition wishes to warn me, but it's being blocked. So, I feel icky, I feel like something is not correct.'
'Is something bad going to happen? Maybe. But you should have expected this when dealing with such an old monster.'
One of the difficult aspects of dealing with Di Tian is his long life and experience. At any point, he could devise some unknown method he learned and acquired from his long life.
And unlike people like Heaven-Devouring Emperor and Feng Heng, Di Tian has the battle prowess to make these methods potent threats.
'We were prepared for the danger of this plan,' continued Li Jun. 'So, the best we can do is be extra cautious and prepare for the worst-case scenario.'
'You're right. Be prepared and contact the others–Wang Ju is almost finished.'
Western Quadrant:
Di Tian watched Gluttony's fate with indifferent eyes.
'It's been confirmed–Wang Wei has a connection with the devil race.'
During the Cleanup, he stopped him from capturing their leader–Wrath. And according to him, it was purely to prevent his opponent from becoming more powerful.
Based on their interactions, Di Tian suspected they had some sort of deal or connection, but Wang Wei denied it. He questioned his motive, but when it comes to Wang Wei, nothing is as simple as it seems.
So, Di Tian was never entirely sure. However, after seeing how he dealt with Gluttony, he confirmed the latter had some connection with Wrath, and Gluttony might play a key to everything.
'It's inconsequential. As long as I win, I can read his memories and know what he was planning with the devil race. If it's beneficial to me, I might continue it,' concluded Di Tian before focusing on the final battle; that's the only he cares for.
'Come on; you only need to have her corpse, and I can use the [Parasite Pyramid Art],' thought Di Tian with squinted eyes.
The [Parasite Pyramid Art] is an Emperor Scripture created by the Devil Ancestor during the Acquire-Innate War before the Null Era since he was the first devil cultivator to prove the Dao.
The creator–the Heavenly Demon Emperor–was a talentless human living in an era full of Heaven-Defying geniuses. And even his high understanding did not matter very much given how many genius were in that era.
Yet, he rose and became one of the most feared Pseudo Eternals of that era. The Heavenly Demon Emperor created his technique to make up for his lack of talent.
He would place parasites inside talented individuals' bodies and have them cultivated for him. Once the time was right, he would take their cultivation progress through the parasites; the entire scripture's philosophy involved the idea that I would use Heaven and Earth to make up for my deficiency.
In the early stages of this technique, it could only take things like energy. Then, the Heavenly Demon Emperor evolved the art to take anything–including bloodline, physique, body refining progress, and even law comprehension.
At its peak, the Heavenly Demon Emperor had talented people under him to cultivate for him. At the same time, these people also had people that cultivated for them, forming a hierarchical pyramid, hence the name.
And, of course, many people feared him because of the horror of this parasite. Before proving the Dao, the Heavenly Demon Emperor was one of the most wanted individuals between both the Acquired and Innate sides of the war.
After all, these parasites were not detectable under normal circumstances. And no one wanted to be the next victim. Many geniuses became crippled, made, or died after having everything taken away from them.
After proving the Dao, the Heavenly Demon Emperor became an even more significant threat since his technique could still apply to Grand Dao Source comprehension.
The Acquired Side wanted to annihilate him–no matter the price. But the humans intervened and came up with a better solution: they would unleash the Heavenly Demon Emperor on the enemy.
So, an accord was signed. This devil joined their sides and promised only to release his art to the Innate Lifeforms. And the Heavenly Demon Emperor accepted such a deal, unleashing mayhem and terror.
Unfortunately, such an unparalleled talent suddenly disappeared, and Di Tian did not know what had happened to him exactly. He acquired the [Parasite Pyramid Art] after his reincarnation since the Heavenly Demon Emperor appeared after his death.
He searched for information, and Di Tian guessed the fate of such a legendary character–death. The Acquired Sides most likely betrayed him near the end of the war due to fear of his scripture and Parasite Dao.
Di Tian theorized that Heavenly Dao might also be involved in the latter's death. In his era, that thing had some level of consciousness or emotion, making it fear the possibility of the Heavenly Demon Emperor parasitizing it.
There is a high chance the latter did succeed, so Heavenly Dao planned his downside.
Di Tian greatly believed in this theory because the scripture he received was incomplete. And when he tried to make up for the flaws and complete this scripture, he received many limits and restraints from Heaven and Earth.
The final result is barely on par with the true power of this ingenious scripture.
Di Tian watched the battle with bated breath, waiting for the final outcome.
'As long as I get my hands on Wang Ju, I can plant the Parasite Seed. And through her connection with Wang Wei, I can steal some of his powers.'
His face or eyes did not reveal his emotions or thoughts; he was like an ancient well without any ripples for thousands of years.
'Even if I steal 1% of his strength, I will have an overwhelming advantage,' thought Di Tian. 'However, I need to act swiftly to prevent him from cutting the connection between them.'
With this plan, he can increase his strength while weakening the enemy. However, Di Tian still had some worries, mainly in the form of Heavenly Dao.
The current [Parasite Pyramid Art] is a shallow version of its former self–at least, according to Di Tian's analysis. Regardless, Heavenly Dao's fear of this technique might not vanish, forcing it to interfere when using it on Wang Wei.
'Logically speaking, unless an extreme case occurred, Heavenly Dao has no right to intervene in the battle–especially in such a late stage,' contemplated Di Tian. 'However, Wang Wei is a complete Son of Era–the first in history.
'His status might even involve True Heavenly Dao, so it's not of the realm of possibility for them to cheat for him.'
Di Tian knew his thoughts were too paranoid and extreme. After all, it was a program with rules and regulations that it must follow at all costs.
However, after suffering so long from Heavenly Dao's curse, he cannot help but look at it from the worse point of view possible.
That's the only way he can ensure nothing goes wrong–especially when he is so close to success.
'There is no point in hesitating since this might be my only chance at ensuring victory. So, I only need to be careful and prepare for the worst-case scenario.'
He was no longer his weak self, completely helpless before Heavenly Dao's power. With his current strength, he can severely damage Heaven and Earth if he plans carefully.
And with that fact alone, Heavenly Dao should also consider whether to play favorite.
