282: It doesn't seem like he was being sarcastic; he was serious!

As things reached this point, all the Demonic Evils present could no longer remain calm.

Their faces were full of horror, and their bodies trembled uncontrollably!

Thump! Thump! Thump!

Like falling dominoes, the remaining Demonic Evils knelt on the ground one after another, prostrating themselves.

They pressed their foreheads firmly into the cold, viscous pools of blood, their posture humble to the extreme.

There was no trace of the usual ferocity and arrogance of the Abyssal Demon.

"Have mercy, Great One! Have mercy!"

"We are willing to submit! We are willing to serve you as our master! Please, give us a way to live!"

"It was all the Skeleton Monarch who forced us! We never wanted to be your enemy!"

Tears and snot flowed down their faces as they cried out hoarsely, kowtowing desperately.

Their foreheads hit the ground with dull thuds, becoming a bloody mess in an instant.

Even the two Peak seventh-rank Demon Commanders—the Shadow Demon Commander and the Bone Staff Demon Commander—

No longer cared about dignity or loyalty. They dropped to their knees, kowtowing repeatedly, their faces filled with fear and pleading.

The Shadow Demon Commander's voice trembled, his words incoherent:

"Your Excellency... no, Great One! Your Divine Ability is peerless. We ants were blind and offended your Divine Might. We deserve ten thousand deaths!"

"We only beg for you to spare our lives! From now on, we are willing to serve you like dogs and horses, to go through fire and water, and to die ten thousand deaths without hesitation!"

The Bone Staff Demon Commander even offered up the bone staff in his hands, which symbolized his authority, with both hands. The ghostly fire in his eye sockets flickered as if about to go out:

"Great One! This staff is forged from Abyssal Cold Bone and contains a wisp of the Monarch's aura. I am willing to offer it to you, just to stay alive!"

"I hope you can stay your hand and spare our lowly lives. We will never dare to be your enemy again!"

Their postures were humble and their words sincere, a far cry from their previous high-and-mighty selves who viewed humans as mere grass.

To stay alive, loyalty, honor, and dignity could all be discarded.

However, Chen Nian merely looked down at them from above, a curl of extreme contempt on his lips, his gaze as cold as ten-thousand-year-old ice:

"Weren't you quite tough just now, wanting to form a Formation to block me and welcome that Monarch of yours?"

"How is it that as soon as the Formation shattered, your bones turned soft so quickly?"

"How did the Abyss raise such trash like you?"

His words were like cold knives, ruthlessly scraping away the last shred of the Demonic Evils' dignity.

The Shadow Demon Commander and the Bone Staff Demon Commander turned pale and their lips quivered, yet they didn't dare to utter a single word of rebuttal.

They only buried their heads lower, their bodies shaking like sieves.

However, Chen Nian did not crush them as they had expected.

His gaze swept over the center of the altar, landing on the red-glowing eye of the monarch.

A hint of thought flashed in his eyes, and then he spoke indifferently:

"I won't kill you for now."

"Continue completing the ritual."

As soon as these words were spoken, all the Demonic Evils were stunned, thinking they had misheard.

They raised their heads one after another, their eyes filled with confusion and disbelief.

"Continue... the ritual?" the Shadow Demon Commander repeated subconsciously, his mind a blank.

"Yes." Chen Nian nodded slightly, his gaze fixed on the eye of the monarch at the core of the altar.

"You are currently establishing a connection with the Abyss to guide the descent of that Skeleton Monarch's consciousness, right?"

"Continue the ritual and finish it."

Hearing this, all the Demonic Evils were completely bewildered.

They looked at each other, wondering if they were hallucinating due to extreme fear.

This god of death actually wanted them to continue the ritual to summon the Monarch?

Wasn't that seeking death?

Or was he being sarcastic?

Was he testing their loyalty?

At this thought, the Demonic Evils felt as if they had fallen into an ice cellar and began to wail again.

"Great One! We truly know our mistake! Please don't kill us!"

"We will destroy our cultivation right now and never help the wicked again! Please let us go!"

Looking at this group of terrified Demonic Evils whose understanding was completely off-track,

Chen Nian shook his head helplessly, a hint of impatience appearing on his face.

Were these guys' brains soaked and ruined by Abyssal Evil Energy? To have such a rich imagination?

"Shut up!"

He barked angrily, carrying an invisible pressure that instantly made all the wailing and pleading stop!

The Demonic Evils were like ducks being held by the neck, looking at Chen Nian in terror.

Chen Nian's eyes were slightly cold, and his tone carried an unquestionable threat:

"I will say it one last time."

"Continue the ritual and complete it."

"My patience is limited."

"If the ritual has not resumed within three breaths..."

As his voice fell, a bone-chilling killing intent enveloped every Demonic Evil like something tangible!

The Demonic Evils trembled, instantly feeling as if they had fallen into an ice cave!

They finally realized that this god of death was serious!

He wasn't being sarcastic, nor was he testing them; he really wanted them to complete this ritual!

"Yes! Yes! Great One! We will continue! We'll continue right away!" the Shadow Demon Commander was the first to react.

He scrambled to the edge of the altar, desperately mobilizing the remaining Evil Energy in his body to inject it into the altar!

The Bone Staff Demon Commander also hurriedly scrambled up, waving his bone staff: "Quick! Everyone, inject Evil Energy! Activate the altar! Hurry!"

Although they completely failed to understand Chen Nian's intentions, under the threat of death, how could the Demonic Evils dare to hesitate for a second?

They endured their injuries and fear, scrambling back to their respective positions.

In a flurry, they mobilized the remaining Evil Energy in their bodies and injected it back into the altar's Formation patterns.

As the Evil Energy was reinjected, the altar runes that had dimmed due to the interruption began to light up one by one again.

The dark red light flickered like breathing.

The pulsing of the eye of the monarch crystal core in the center also gradually recovered, becoming more powerful and more rapid.

Buzz, buzz, buzz—!

The altar emitted a low hum, and space began to distort and vibrate.

Thick, blood-like Abyssal Evil Energy was drawn even more frantically from deep within the earth veins.

It gathered and swirled above the altar, gradually forming a dark red energy vortex.

In the center of the vortex, countless distorted runes could be seen flowing, emitting a heart-palpitating aura of evil and antiquity.

Chen Nian stood quietly to the side, calmly watching all of this, a hint of satisfaction flashing in his eyes.

These fellows from the Abyss were always hiding their heads and showing their tails, their movements secretive; it was very troublesome to find their trail.

Now that he had finally taken down a stronghold and happened to catch them performing a guidance ritual, it was the perfect opportunity to reverse-track and lock onto the coordinates of the Abyss.

He couldn't let it go to waste.

Finally, with the continuous infusion of Evil Energy, the ritual entered its final stage.

The dark red vortex above the altar continued to expand and solidify, its rotation speed getting faster and faster.

A tiny, constantly wriggling black rift was torn open in the space at the center.

The eye of the monarch crystal core suddenly erupted with a blinding blood-red light!

Boom—!!!

A dull roar, seemingly from the depths of the endless Void Realm, suddenly came from the rift!

In the next moment, the rift suddenly expanded!

A huge, cold, illusory eye, seemingly stitched together from countless skeletons and burning with pale green Soul fire, slowly emerged from the rift!

The eye looked down, filled with endless majesty, antiquity, and indifference.

Like a high-and-mighty god examining the ants of the mortal world.

The remaining Demonic Evils felt this familiar pressure that made their Souls tremble and instinctively wanted to bow down.

However, catching a glimpse of the calm Chen Nian nearby, they forced themselves to hold back, only able to lower their heads as their bodies shook even more violently.