Guo Luo's hands were trembling slightly as she looked at the kneeling Little Gray and the others, Yun Yantian was also incomparably excited but Yao Jun's parents had never met Little Gray and the others so they were unable to recognize them at first glance. Guo Luo hastily took a step forward and helped Little Gray stand up, her eyes expectantly drifting around the area.

"Little Gray, is it really you?! You've grown so much since we last met, I was barely able to recognize you. Since you and the others are here, does that mean that Jun'er is also here?"

Guo Luo took this chance to also inspect the others that Little Gray had brought with him, but she was only able to guess at the identities of Sirius, Little Thunder, and Ba-Shei, the rest were unknown to her. But the one she was looking forward to seeing the most, Yao Jun, was not present along with the rest. Little Gray opened his mouth to respond, but the loud shout of Da Wu quickly reminded them about who they had forgotten.

"Oy, Fuckfaces, you'd better not have forgotten about me!"

The blue-haired and black-eyed woman from the World Tree clan was only a few meters away from Yao Jun's parents when she shouted out, aiming to take some captives so that she had some bargaining chips. But Da Wu had underestimated exactly who it was that she was currently facing.

Ba-Shei's eyes flickered with a black light that caused Da Wu's shadow to rise up from underneath her, acting like sowing thread as it pierced through her legs and raised her into the air, rapidly making its way up her body. She had been so caught off guard that she never even got the chance to put up any defense, she was barely able to muster up a few final words before the end.

"No... Mistress Xian Yi...."

The threads of darkness pierced through all of Da Wu's body and then dragged her back down to the ground, where she was quickly swallowed by the darkness and vanished. Little Gray acted like nothing had happened, gesturing towards Ba-Shei and the others with a smile.

"I'm afraid that the Lord isn't with us right now. I tried to send him a message just now, but I felt it get cut off before it finished, a very powerful sealing array must have been set up around the planet. But worry not, I'm sure that the Lord Will rush here as fast as possible. In the meanwhile, let me introduce you to our new friends that you likely don't recognize. This is Zhuyin and Zhuanxu, I'm certain that the Lord told you about them last you were together. These four you have yet to meet though, she is Du Xiao, he is Siwang, he is Yong Bo, and she is Xuhuan Huo."

Siwang and the others lowered their heads at Guo Luo and then stood up, giving Yun Yantian and Yao Jun's parents a polite bow. Du Xiao and the rest had never met these people, but their importance to Yao Jun had already been drilled into their minds by Little Thunder and Ba-Shei. Little Gray swept his gaze around the surroundings after introducing everyone to Guo Luo, his eyes narrowing slightly when he saw the number of enemies heading their way. He nodded at the others and then gestured for Guo Luo to take a few steps back.

"I would love for us to talk some more, but it seems like we do not have that luxury right now. Please move back a little and let us handle the rest. If we let anything happen to any of you, or our Lord's daughter, I fear that we might never be able to face him again."

Little Gray actually wanted to just take Guo Luo and the others and flee from this planet, but he found that the strange runes that now covered the sky completely cut off his control over space at a certain point. He could teleport right up to the runes, but it was impossible to move past them. With that being the case, they could only temporarily defend Guo Luo while trying to come up with a solution. Guo Luo and Yun Yantian met each other's gaze for a second before both of them shook their heads.

"I refuse, I will not stand idly by and watch while you all battle, I am strong enough to be of help, strong enough to stand at Jun's side. You should focus your protection on his parents, I think they need it the most right here."

Little Gray looked at Guo Luo with a somewhat surprised gaze, he had expected her to just say yes and step back. But looking at her strong and determined gaze it was clear to him that she was no longer the same woman she had been in the past. He gave her a graceful bow and then nodded at Little Thunder.

"Certainly, forgive me for insulting you like that. Lei Wang, I entrust the Lord's parents to you."

Little Thunder gave a resolute nod of his head and then walked over to Yao Jun's parents, giving them a bow in greeting before taking up a defensive position at their sides. He saw that some of the other people that remained in the area moved closer, hoping to take advantage of Little Thunder's presence to become a bit safer. But as none of them moved too close, he simply ignored them and focused on his task.

With Little Thunder taking the defensive duty, Little Gray and the others were free to face the incoming enemies almost without worry. With so many Earthly Deities suddenly appearing here, as well as the fact that the array suddenly rose at the same time, the World Tree clan thought it was part of the Merged Heaven Clan's plot and quickly responded in kind, sending over several Earthly Deities.

Guo Luo and the others charged forward for a bit along with the other squads of soldiers that had moved forward to replace those that died in the previous attack of Da Wu. They were aiming to put some distance between them and Yao Jun's parents, it would be bad if the battles took place too close to them and there ended up being too many wayward attacks coming their way.

Little Thunder stood tall at their side, his eyes vigilantly keeping an eye on the surroundings and making sure that no one got too close. Yao He and Yao Xun moved their gazes back and forth between the Little Thunder and the battles that were breaking out ahead of them, Yao He eventually speaking up.

"It may sound a bit strange of me to say this now, but are you really the followers of Little Jun? Little Jun had barely started cultivating last I saw him, so to hear that people as powerful as you are his followers, it just feels so surreal."

Yao Xun and Yao He knew very little about the various levels of power within the wider universe, they only knew that Yao Jun was apparently very strong. The last time they saw him was before he absorbed Little Gray, and he was quite a bit weaker than even them back then. So how could they not be more than just a little befuddled when they heard that not just one, but multiple people as strong as Little Gray were following him? Little Thunder turned and lowered his head slightly to look at them, a light smile playing on his lips as he responded with a nod of his head.

"We are indeed his followers. Of course, we weren't always this powerful, he has helped us move forward step by step so that we could reach this place. Do you remember that Lightning Tiger he showed to you before you left that small village? That's me."

Yao Xun and Yao He thought back for a bit before both their eyes opened wide, looking Little Thunder up and down. They did indeed remember the Lightning Tiger that Yao Jun had excitedly shown them back then when he first awakened his power. But connecting that young Demonic beast with the man exuding an overbearing pressure besides them was not something they were able to do right away.

Little Thunder wanted to speak a bit more, but he suddenly jerked his head around, his eyes narrowing dangerously. Two of the people that had moved closer earlier were now running full-speed at them, their eyes fully focused on Yao Jun's parents. Little Thunder's instincts were warning him, screaming at him that these people could not be allowed any closer to Yao Jun's parents.

He waved his arm at them and shot out two thick bolts of azure lightning, the air almost catching on fire from the heat. The two people touched the paper talismans on their chests and used them to drain the remaining energy from the surviving members of their squads, using the gathered might to push the lightning away and increase their speed.

Little Thunder frowned slightly when he saw them get even closer, the muscles on his body flexing as he gathered his might. He kicked off the ground and shot forward far faster than his large frame suggested he could move, practically turning into a bolt of lightning.

He arrived in front of the two people and pushed out his palms, choosing a brute force option to deal with the energy sharing array that they were using. But it seemed like they had been waiting for this chance all along, both of them tearing off the talismans on their chests at the same time and sending vicious glares at Little Thunder.

"For the Mistress!"

The talismans lit up with a bright light as the two people activated the self-destruct function in them, something most clans used to prevent their items from being stolen. The two people even fueled the talismans self destruct function even further by pouring their own energy into them. Little Thunder's arms pierced right through the unguarded bodies of the two people, but the talismans they were holding lit up with a bright light and exploded with a thunderous roar.

Little Thunder was thrown backward while the two people were torn apart by the explosion. His arms had been closest to the talismans so they were broken off at the elbow, the wounds cauterized immediately so that he didn't even get a second to bleed. His chest had sunk in significantly and his face was badly scorched, even his durable body unable to resist the force of the explosion.

He felt like cursing as he crashed into the ground and rolled through the dust for a bit, but a sudden chill down his spine caught all of his attention. He stuck his right leg into the ground to forcefully halt his rolling, his heel snapping as a result. He ignored any pain and rapidly raised his head, his gaze landing on a beam of light that was heading for Yao Jun's parents. The beam seemed to be made from pure light, but it acted more like darkness, sucking up everything that got close to it.

Yao He and Yao Xun knew that the situation was dangerous and did their best to raise their defenses, a wall of ice consisting of several layers popping up in front of them. Several invisible layers of vibrating space were lodged between each layer of ice, finishing the defensive formation.

But Little Thunder knew that the walls weren't enough to defend them, he could sense a dreadful energy contained within that beam of light. If his instincts were correct, those walls wouldn't even last a second before faltering under the attack, which he guessed was launched by a powerful Earthly Deity.

Little Thunder was a very simple person, if he knew the best solution to a problem then he would choose that solution, especially in a situation like this. He grit his teeth and forced all his energy into his legs, his veins exploding into a bloody mess as a result. He used all the gathered energy to kick off the ground and shoot forward at the greatest speed he could muster, producing several shockwaves as not even sound itself became able to keep up with him.

He arrived in front of the defensive walls just as the beam of light was about to hit them, blocking it with his own body. The light hit his chest and stuck to him, expanding into an orb of light that mimicked a black hole, sucking in everything using a horrifying amount of gravity.

Little Thunder's flesh, the earth around him, the Qi in the area, even the defensive walls of ice, all was sucked into the orb of light, the horrifying gravity stopping only half a meter in front of Yao Jun's parents.

Time felt like it slowed down for Little Gray as the orb of light tore away at his body, the skin and flesh on his chest the first to get sucked into it. He saw his organs get sucked into the orb of light, but he didn't regret his choice, not even as darkness swallowed his consciousness. They were the vanguard and the followers of the Demon God, they lived, and they died, all for the man they had chosen to believe in.