Chapter 711: Gate of Retribution
As soon as Cai Jie arrived and they finished their conversation, Hui Yue and his friends prepared to leave the sect.
They had planned to wait a few days until they left, but they found that the patriarch was leaving the same evening. Therefore when they heard that he was going to leave, they decided to leave at the same time so that no one noticed them slipping out, as everyone would be watching the patriarch.
The patriarch was an elusive figure in the Celestial Sword Sect. He was rarely seen by the average sect member, yet recently they had seen him at the wedding, and now they were going to be able to see him again.
This was truly a rare opportunity, and thus the majority of the sect decided to get a glimpse of their reclusive patriarch. This made it easy for Hui Yue and the others to slip out in the opposite direction.
It was not necessary for them to sneak out of the sect as they were, after all, looked up to by many, but if they had left normally then they would have been stopped and asked many questions by various people. If they were to actually answer these questions honestly, then it was likely that the Blood Demons would already be prepared for them by the time they arrived, and that was something they could not afford to let happen.
Since this was the case, it was easier just to vanish unseen from the sect, and return at a later date when they had accomplished their objective of foiling the Blood Demons’ plan.
“Where are we going first?” Huli asked curiously. Although Hui Yue had made the decision long ago, he had not told the others. But now that they were on the way, he saw no reason to withhold any more information.
“We are heading to the western area of the galaxy first,” he said with a smile on his face as he looked into the sky above. “Zhong Fai came into contact with someone who called herself the Western Tiger. She is sharing a body with the third brother of Lan Feng and Little Dragon,” he continued to explain.
“The entire galaxy is filled with skirmishes right now, so our first destination doesn’t matter as much. Since she is there, we might as well have a good chat with her. If possible, I would like to separate the woman and tiger from one another so that the tiger can freely choose to follow and do what he wants. Considering that he is a brother of Lan Feng and Little Dragon we should at least seek him out.”
The others nodded their heads, especially Wan Qiao and the beast Gods showed some emotions hearing his name. Unlike Hui Yue and the others, they had known this tiger when he was young.
Since they had set their destination, no one asked any questions instead they all ascended into the heavens above and exited the world. They entered into the vast space where Hui Yue flipped his hand, and a shuttle appeared.
This was the shuttle which Deng Wu and he had painstakingly prepared for their trip, and they all boarded it after which it shot off into the distance at a speed unlike any other.
The shuttle was of the best quality of shuttles one could buy, and they had nothing to worry about on their journey.
Bandit groups observed their entourage but they often chose not to attack after seeing the sheer amount of Gods that were on the deck of the shuttle, and after seeing that the shuttle was filled with inscriptions from head to toe, most bandit groups gave up as soon as they saw the shuttle.
A few less experienced groups did try their luck at attacking, but without anyone needing to do anything all of the groups were defeated by the inscriptions that Deng Wu had inscribed into the shuttle’s sides.
Apart from a few bandit attacks, nothing caused them to slow down on their journey. They did not enter any worlds, nor were there any of the skirmishes that caused problems for them. All in all, the galaxy was eerily silent making Hui Yue feel uncomfortable.
It was not only him who was unhappy with the sudden silence from all around, Pei Ziqi was grumbling away feeling that it was a missed opportunity every time they saw a world where there were signs of fighting, but she understood that they were headed for the western area first. Afterwards, they would enter almost every world and kill to their heart’s content; they would bring carnage to the galaxy.
They traveled for a full four months before they reached the western end of the galaxy. During this time they had all been busy cultivating. Most of them had already comprehended a major dao, and now had issues comprehending more, but since this was the case, they just tried to increase their Ancestral Worldpower pools instead.
Hui Yue also did everything he could to increase his Ancestral Worldpower pool. He had managed to gain a lot of Ancestral Worldpower during his time in the Archaic World, and he had gained a lot when he became an Immortal of Creation. Every time he comprehended a new major dao he would gain Ancestral Worldpower. But despite his growth, the fact remained that he was rather young compared to other Gods, and his Ancestral Worldpower pool was truly lacking.
Unfortunately, the Ancestral Worldpower in the surrounding air was thin compared to when they were in the Archaic World. It was for this reason that Hui Yue had created a pill which helped draw in the Ancestral Worldpower from the surroundings and allowed for it to be more easily refined and consumed.
Because of this, everyone was eating them like they were candy. They were doing their best to increase their strength, if just a little.
“We are here!” Pei Ziqi exclaimed one day, and Hui Yue, who had been in his room cultivating, went to the deck of the shuttle.
The deck was filled with all his friends and family, and all of them were looking ahead. Hui Yue went next to Zhong Fai and saw that he had a focused expression on his face.
“We are indeed close,” he said with a nod of his head before Hui Yue said anything. He then pointed at a world that was a bit aways from them, a world it would take them a few days to reach, “That is where the Gate of Retribution is.”
“I would really suggest that we go there. I don’t know if they are currently caught up in skirmishes as well, but I doubt it,” he said honestly. “They have no enemies in the entire western region, but they do have quite a lot of power and influence over the area. If the Blood Demons really are taking on all the local lords, then they are probably not safe from their attacks.”
Hui Yue contemplated for some time and then concluded. “We will go there first. If they are caught up in a fight, we will help them end it. If they are not, we will get information. Either way, we lose nothing from going there,” he said seriously after thinking it through, and the others nodded their heads in agreement.
“The Western Tiger is a famous person around here so we can’t just go around asking about her,” he continued. “If we seem as if we are too interested in her, they might become hostile. Therefore, our best option is to casually ask around. If anyone shows too much interest or questions our purpose, just say we want to know about the competition.”
“We might as well consider ourselves a mercenary group while we are here. If we use the mercenary group as a cover, we will have a good reason to move around, even more so if we can get the Blood Demons as our targets.”
“At the start, they will not consider us an enemy but someone who is solely hunting them because of the bounties that have been placed on their heads. That will help us stay here in the western region until we find the Western Tiger.”
Everyone nodded their heads. No one had any objections, but they could not help but think what if no one had placed bounties on the Blood Demon’s heads? What if the Blood Demons were much more ferocious than he had planned?
There were many what-ifs, but in the end, none of them were voiced. This was only a temporary plan. If worst came to worst then, Hui Yue would just change their plan on the fly, and so far he had always managed to bring them safely out of any situation. They had no problems trusting him with their lives.
The next few days no one was really focused on cultivating. Everyone was busy finding the right clothes to make them look like mercenaries rather than young lords and ladies, and in the end, Hui Yue had to enter the Divine Beast World to find the right outfits for them.
Finishing outfits everyone was feeling giddy. They had been traveling for months for this, and now it was finally time for them to take action.
As they reached the world, Hui Yue removed the shuttle and hid it in the Universe Box before they descended through the protective barrier around the world.
As they descended, they smelt blood. The scent of blood was thick in the air, and everywhere they looked they saw corpses.
They had arrived just outside a major city, and all they saw were dead experts. There were demons and other races alike, but while there were quite a few spirits and humans, beasts and elves, the majority of the dead were demons.
Hui Yue was silent for a time and shook his head, “Looks like we were too late to join the fun,” he said with a slightly unnatural voice as he looked around. He noticed that the scale of the battle which had taken place here was not small. There were at least three hundred thousand demons that had laid down their lives on this large plain in front of the city.
The city that was in the distance was surrounded by a massive wall that was so tall that it shrouded the entire city behind it. There was only one gate, and it was closed.
“Last time I was here, the gate was open. The Gate of Retribution is right inside,” Zhong Fai said to Hui Yue, and the young man nodded his head. “Well let’s get to the city and see what is happening,” he said as he flew towards the city, his friends and family in tow.
“Halt!” someone yelled out, and Hui Yue, who was here with friendly intentions, instantly stopped in his tracks. He lifted his hand signaling for the others to stop as well.
“We have no ulterior motives,” he called out. “We are a group of mercenaries that have just arrived in this Western Region. We knew about the Gate of Retribution and figured it would be a good place to build ourselves a reputation.”
“Do you have any demons in your group?” the voice which had called ‘halt’ once more called out, and Hui Yue shook his head. “There are no demons in our group, however, we do have quite a few beasts.”
“Beasts are of no concern to us,” he said with disdain in his voice. “Come to the gate; we will let you in.”