During the Immortal Demon War, everyone would acknowledge that the appearance of the Celestial Divine Sword brought a turning point to a battle situation that had already been driven to despair.

However, the most remarkable aspect of the Celestial Divine Sword is not its invincible blade, but its unbelievably keen sense, known as the Demon-Pointing Sword.

At that time, in the Immortal Demon Battlefield, the Demon Race held an absolute advantage. Half of this came from the strength of the Demon Race, and half from their strangeness. Whether in combat methods or modes of existence, the Demon Race exceeded human understanding and imagination.

On the battlefield, more than half of the cultivators killed by the Demon Race were taken down by claws from behind. At that time, what troubled the Myriad Immortals Alliance the most was not the strong front assault of the Demon Race, but their ability to vanish without a trace. Humans struggled to mobilize forces to gain a localized advantage, but always ended up striking air. And when human forces dispersed, the Demon Race seized the opportunity to defeat them individually.

Human forces were already at a disadvantage, and with constant ambushes, morale dropped drastically. Across the Jiuzhou realms, there seemed no hope of reversing the dire situation.

At this moment, the Celestial Divine Sword descended from the sky, wiping out the Shadow Demon Legion that excelled at rear ambushes in its first battle. Over five hundred Demon Beasts that lurked between light and shadow were slaughtered overnight by the Celestial Divine Sword.

Five hundred Demon Beasts were a drop in the ocean compared to the numbers in the entire Immortal Demon Battlefield, yet following the annihilation of the Shadow Demon Legion, the pressure on humanity’s frontlines swiftly diminished, with immediate effect. Particularly in terms of morale, which was instantly transformed from dejected to roused.

At the time, hope was a luxury for humans. Many had resigned themselves to perishing alongside their foes, as the overwhelming might of the Demon Race seemed indefensible, and the fall of Jiuzhou seemed inevitable. Rather than praying for unrealistic miracles, they deemed it better to die honorably and bring the Demon Race down with them. Human forces were weaker than the Demon Race’s, and defeating or even killing the Demons was tremendously challenging. However, if they aimed to perish together at the cost of their lives, success was still possible.

Yet even that seemed beyond humanity’s reach, as the unpredictable Demon Race could always launch surprise attacks when least expected, turning minimal effort into maximum outcome.

The saying "seeking life but unable to die" perfectly epitomized the wartime plight of humans.

Yet the Celestial Divine Sword’s overnight obliteration of the Shadow Demon Legion eliminated humanity’s rear concerns, with an immeasurable uplifting effect on morale.

Afterward, the Celestial Divine Sword continued its legend, using the Demon-Pointing Sword to detect opportunities keener than the Demon Race, becoming even more elusive than them, making ambushers the ones ambushed, abruptly reversing the battle situation. As the Demon Race became aware of the Celestial Divine Sword’s presence, it was already surrounded by a team of human elites centered on the Jiu Immortal Venerables, enough to contend on the frontlines.

——

In a certain sense, the Demon-Pointing Sword was even more essential than the Demon-slaying Blade.

Such a treasure, of course, was not obtained from nothing.

But crafted from the blood and essences of the Demon Race—those of the highest order.

The Demon Race of that era possessed two astonishing characteristics. First, their ghostlike mobility despite being invaders fighting on others’ turfs. They boldly divided forces on multiple fronts, even down to solitary actions, as if scattered like loose sand. Conversely, they could seamlessly coordinate on foreign grounds, as if linked by an invisible network.

Extensive dissections confirmed a fact: indeed, within the Demon Race, such a network existed, allowing mutual perception and connection without any Demon Dao mediums. This innate sensing ability resembled a tree’s root system, extending down each hierarchy. The Demon Emperor, paramount, could control life and death of lower demons at will, knowing all.

And the Demon-Pointing Sword leveraged this unique relationship. When Wang Jiu was still human, he repeatedly slew higher demons, using their corpses to create the Demon-Pointing Sword prototype. As the reaper of ever more Demon souls, the sword’s acuity escalated, until finally, the Celestial Divine Sword drank the Demon Emperor’s blood. Although the Sword World was ravaged by the Demon Emperor thereafter, the taste of Demon Emperor’s blood was indelibly etched in the Divine Sword.

The newly forged Demon-Pointing Sword now, though lacking in the full powers of the Jiuzhou Era, still retained a pure demonic aura. Its release instantly transformed Zhao Chenlu into a startled bird.

Wang Jiu’s dark form lingered, while Zhao Chenlu, standing by the ship’s rail, calmed his breath, his smile wry, "After rebirth, I’m still not used to your form. It’s truly awkward; you’ve slain more demons than anyone, yet impersonate them better than anyone..."

Originally a casual complaint, yet Wang Jiu suddenly explained.

"Precisely because of the many I killed, I can impersonate the Demon Race so well. The Demons glory in mutual slaughter. Before the Demon Emperor’s rise, excessive infighting almost led them to extinction multiple times. In their ranks, the more one kills, the higher the rank, the purer the power. Even when tribal demise loomed, demons indulged gleefully."

Zhao Chenlu was momentarily stunned, then replied, "True, what luck for the demons to have the Great Demon God Emperor emerge and halt their endless civil wars..."

"It wasn’t just luck. While most demons believed the Demon Emperor’s appearance was coincidental, in truth, his emergence was inevitable, something I only realized after clashing with him."

With keen intuition, Zhao Chenlu surmised Wang Jiu’s next words.

"You’re implying the Great Demon God Emperor wasn’t born by chance, but was a product of the endless Demon infighting?"

"Yes, over hundreds of thousands, even millions of years of relentless internecine conflict, the Demon Race finally reached a limit, giving rise to an unprecedented monster."

Zhao Chenlu said, "After the Demon Emperor descended, he immediately established a sensory network among the Demon Race, as well as a strict hierarchical order to control internal strife...Of course, it is only fitting. Although it took countless ages to give birth to the first Demon Emperor, since there’s a first, there can be a second. The Demon Emperor will certainly not allow for any new challengers to appear, so the internal wars of the Demon Race must end here. From the subsequent developments, no new entity capable of competing with the Demon Emperor has been born, nor is it possible for one so powerful to emerge again. The Demon Emperor strictly forbids internecine killings among the Demon Race, and no one else is a match for him. What choice do they have other than to follow the rules and serve under the Demon Emperor?"

Upon saying this, a flash of insight crossed Zhao Chenlu’s mind.

After the Demon Emperor established order within the Demon Race, no entity could stain their hands with the blood of many demons. But outside the Demon Race?

This thought had occurred to her as early as the Jiuzhou Era, but it seemed too absurd.

Over countless years, the Demon Race conquered the Myriad Realms, destroying countless civilizations. During this period, there were of course Demon Race casualties, but whenever the tides of war turned unfavorable and their casualties mounted, someone would always rise to reverse the situation.

As long as the Demon Emperor was there, no one could drink deeply from the blood of the Demon Race. To this day, there has been only one exception.

The Celestial Divine Sword.

The number of demons that perished under the Celestial Divine Sword is beyond reckoning. The Demon Emperor did attempt to intervene several times, but the Celestial Divine Sword always cleverly avoided confrontation, until the tide of battle reversed to a certain extent. Humans could finally launch a full counteroffensive. By then, the Demon Emperor had to temporarily give up chasing the Jiu Immortal Venerables and the Celestial Divine Sword—his efficiency was simply too poor—and instead focus on other battlefields.

Thinking back now, the acuity of the Celestial Divine Sword at the time seemed rather strange. The Demon-Pointing Sword exploited the shared perception among the demons; however, this perception was, in fact, one-directional. A higher position could perceive a lower one, equals could mutually sense each other if they acknowledged one another, but a lower position could not perceive a higher one.

But at that time, the Celestial Divine Sword already managed to repeatedly evade the Demon Emperor’s assaults. Could it be that...

"I am not of a higher rank than the Demon Emperor, but I can restrain the edge of the Demon-Pointing Sword, severing the shared perception among demons, something the Demon Emperor, despite being the leader of all demons, was unable to spare resources for."

The pitch-black longsword quivered slightly, stirring the air and emitting a dull sound.

Hearing this sound, almost akin to a low demon’s lament, Zhao Chenlu smiled and said, "Indeed, it’s always more comfortable to be in the opposition than in power."

"The Demon Emperor commands all demons. With the demonic nature of ferocity and bloodlust, he must remain vigilant at all times; otherwise, during fierce battles, their bloodlust might surge, and the demons could descend into madness. On the contrary, I only need to activate the Demon-Pointing Sword when necessary... However, as you’ve seen, the use of the Demon-Pointing Sword has always had side effects."

Upon hearing the term ’side effects,’ Zhao Chenlu’s heart sank abruptly. She wanted to jokingly say a few words, but couldn’t force a smile on matters concerning the Demon Race.

"What side effects? Why have you never mentioned them before?"

Wang Jiu replied, "Because I never realized the existence of these side effects until now."

As he spoke, the color of the Celestial Divine Sword became even more somber. Originally pitch dark and dull, it now seemingly absorbed all surrounding light, exuding a frightening power.

At that moment, countless breathtaking conjectures flooded Zhao Chenlu’s mind.

At a time like this, she particularly loathed her ability to make connections. In the past, it had been a point of pride; given one clue, she could quickly associate and extrapolate the entire scenario. Her associative ability was almost on par with Shang Lanfei... But at this moment, she truly wished she were as naive as Shen Kaishan.

"Dear, at this point, don’t scare me... We went through so much hardship, sacrificed the vast majority of our companions to defeat the Demon Race. Don’t tell me all our previous efforts were in vain."

Wang Jiu was taken aback for a moment and said, "Of course, it wasn’t in vain. On the contrary, because we did too well, this side effect has emerged."

Before he finished speaking, the pitch-black longsword suddenly began to lose its color.

In the blink of an eye, the black turned snow-white, a pure white hue that left Zhao Chenlu momentarily dazzled.

"Dear, what on earth is happening?"

Wang Jiu said, "This is the side effect."

After a pause, Wang Jiu added, "I can no longer use the Demon-Pointing Sword."