Chapter 728: Change in the War
Da Hu and Ma Bing looked at one another. Their eyes trembled and they both hesitantly reached out their hands to grasp hold of the other.
With no words, Ma Bing threw herself into Da Hu’s arms, and silent tears of joy streamed down her cheeks.
She had never expected that she would be able to touch Da Hu the way she was now. Although she was an Immortal of Creation and was able to make a body for Da Hu, this body would have been completely terrible quality compared to Da Hu’s own personal strength. If he actually used such a body, he would become much weaker than he was now, and neither had been willing to accept this.
Now it was possible for him to not only become stronger but also have his own body. This was like a dream come true. The Western Tiger and Da Hu were silent for a long time, just feeling one another’s embrace.
A gentle smile was present on Da Hu’s mouth, and his eyes were glued to Ma Bing. He gently caressed her back as his heart swelled with emotions. He had engraved the gratitude towards Hui Yue within his heart.
“What do you want in return for this great favor?” he asked as he looked straight at Hui Yue. Da Hu did not believe there was such a thing as a free lunch in this world, and the only reason that Hui Yue had shown him such friendliness and given him such an opportunity was because he wanted something from him. However, the moment the words escaped his lips, Lan Feng smacked him on the back of his head.
“You idiot!” he called out, and Da Hu, who had not felt actual pain in three millennia was shocked to feel the throbbing sensation in his head.
“Hui Yue is my brother!” Lan Feng said with a self-righteous voice, “since he is my brother, he is also your brother. To help your brother is something that is obvious!”
“We came all the way here to the western region to find you and help you regain your body. However, we are also aware that now three thousand years have gone by. We are not the same as we were back in the Divine Beast World. We have found our own place in life, and some might have new desires.”
“To know that we have a sister-in-law as sweet as this Miss Ma is already a blessing. We are filled with hostility towards An He, but you might be grateful towards him for having given you the opportunity to meet her.”
Lan Feng was honest when he spoke, “I know it is not to the point where you will defend An He against your brothers, but you might not want to draw weapons against him either.”
“Since this is the case, then I will not ask for you to help us fight against An He. This is a personal vendetta and only those who really feel hate towards An He should join us.”
The room lapsed into silence, and no one spoke, but Da Hu did indeed feel torn. He wished to help his brothers in this war against An He since this was also the man who had caused atrocities in the world he loved, his homeworld, and caused his father’s legacy to be destroyed for countless years.
On the other hand, Da Hu had not been caught within the tiger pendant for a long time. He had not felt the sadness, despair, or loneliness of having a soul locked inside a hairpin or a figurine for all this time.
Instead, he had been together with Ma Bing. His soul had strengthened a lot, and he had broken through to become a God ranked cultivator. He had spent his time together with her, and the two of them had grown fond of one another. They had depended on one another.
Although it was a disaster that Da Hu and his three sworn brothers had been spread across the galaxy in small figures of some sort, he had been better off than at least Lan Feng and Little Dragon.
It was true that he did not feel that An He was his mortal enemy, nor did he feel too much hostility towards An He, but he was not friendly towards him either.
Since this was the case, then that meant that Da Hu should not be kind to An He. Instead, he should go against him. Reaching this conclusion Da Hu nodded his head decisively.
“I am not as strong as my brother Lan Feng, but I am not weak either. During these three thousand years when I shared a body with Ma Bing, I have reached the rank of Immortal of Creation. I can be of assistance to you when facing the Blood Demons.”
Ma Bing seemed surprised to hear what Da Hu said, but she knew him well, and she was able to understand exactly what the thoughts behind his actions were, and she approved of his reasons.
Hui Yue nodded his head, happy to welcome one more person into their group. Although he was careful about whom he could trust, he did not doubt Da Hu at all. Da Hu was Lan Feng’s sworn brother; he would not betray him.
At the same time, the Western Tiger, Ma Bing, was his beloved. She could also be trusted.
“Well, we should head back to the Gate of Retribution,” Hui Yue said casually after some time. “They will be facing a big threat. Later on, all the demons will gather there to wipe them out and without us, they are likely to be overwhelmed by the Blood Demons.”
“We can still kill the Blood Demons we find on the way back, but to continue roaming the western region might not be the best idea if we want to win the war. Losing a battle is acceptable, but losing the war is not.”
Hui Yue had to be ruthless. It was true that if he continued to roam the galaxy he would be able to save some worlds that would otherwise be doomed, but if he continued roaming the world and the Blood Demons attacked the Gate of Retribution when he wasn’t there to support them, then the humans in the western region would really be dealt a severe blow to their ability to survive.
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The Gate of Retribution was a place for mercenaries and major families of the western region. All of them were of utmost importance for this area to continue flourishing. But for this very same reason, they had a harder time countering the assault of the demons because there was no one family or sect with longlasting background and a lot of money and resources.
The Gate of Retribution was created by mercenaries for mercenaries. It did not take a big fee for posting missions and the money it did make went to widows and orphans of the mercenaries that had not returned from missions.
They did not have a responsibility towards the entire world, nor did they have branch families all over the world, they just stayed within the capital. Thus the arrays and formations to protect the world were lacking.
“The smaller worlds have started to evacuate,” The branch family leader informed Hui Yue as they exited the room. He voiced their wish to return to the world of the Gate of Retribution.
“They are giving up on their worlds and migrating to the bigger worlds where they can be protected by the families and sects. Many of the weaker experts are even willing to live a life of servitude towards the stronger families and sects as long as they are saved.”
“Serfdom is reemerging all over the western region,” the family branch leader said with a sigh. “Countless experts are giving up everything for the sake of survival.”
He and the other branches of the Ling family were fortunate. They belonged to the bigger worlds in the region, the worlds that had protective barriers to block the demons and plenty of experts to fight for their safety, but not everyone was as lucky as them.
The war continued, and the Blood Demons were like an endless stream of ants that arrived in the western region, but they slowly changed their tactics. Their frontal assault had been a failure and instead, the Blood Demons now split up into groups. These groups traveled independently on the many different worlds and would kill any expert they came across.
The major families, including the Ling family, the sects, and the Gate of Retribution ended up providing great benefits and rewards to everyone who hunted down Blood Demons.
One Blood Demon at the Primordial Immortal rank was worth ten contribution points. One Blood Demon at the Immortal of Creation rank that had not comprehended a major dao was a hundred contribution points. One who had comprehended a major dao was two hundred contribution points while ones who had comprehended two major daos were three hundred, and so on until one reached the five major daos, where one would gain six hundred points.
These points could freely be exchanged for materials, pills, Worldpower Stones or Ancestral Worldpower skills.
This change occurred in the two months it took Hui Yue and his friends to return to the Gate of Retribution.
At the start, they had hurried all they could in their attempt to defend the city, but now the war had changed.
Soon other groups of skilled cultivators become very well known as well. Of course, Hui Yue and his friends were still known as the liberators. Their group was without a doubt the biggest group amongst all the allied humans and beasts, and their strength was also the highest, but other groups also started to become famous.
One of these groups were known as the slayers. The slayers were ruthless mercenaries who had lost friends or family in the war against the Blood Demons. They were seven experts, and together they slew Blood Demons after Blood Demons.
Many even thought that the slayers were stronger than the liberators.
It was not only the human side that had managed to produce outstanding geniuses. The Blood Demons had groups which consisted of supreme experts that had comprehended three or more daos, and these experts swept clean all opposition.
There was the group of Endless Despair, the group of Crawling Nightmare and the group of Blood Ritualists.
The reason they had been given these names were because when one faced Endless Despair, no matter how they tried to flee, they would be caught and killed.
When facing the Crawling Nightmare, their souls would be ripped clear of their bodies and shattered, and this left no wounds on the bodies afterwards.
And finally, the Blood Ritualists were a group of Blood Demons that made strange rituals with the blood of their target.
Anyone who met these three groups would end up dead.
On the way back, Hui Yue and his friends had slain quite a large number of Blood Demons, but because they never went to claim the contribution points, no one really knew how much they had earned.
The reason they did not care for the rewards was obvious. After killing time and time again, they had already gained so much wealth that they did not need more. Even if they did need more what they needed was not something that could be gained from contribution points.
Although these families were big and famous within the western region, they were nothing compared to the major sects and families that Hui Yue was a part of. If he truly needed resources, then he would go to Diyu and the Celestial Sword Sect first.