Chapter 265. Madness-Inducing Poisonous Fragrance (1)

The light disappeared, and darkness came in.

The Central Plains darkened quickly as the sun set.

The front lines of the Great War of Good and Demonic entered a lull.

"Blessed Existence. Why are you stopping when we're in such good spirits?"

The Heavenly Demon looked at the battle situation with regret.

"Are you really asking me that? As the Cult Leader, don't you know this fact well? It's because of those beast-like bastards."

Blessed Existence frowned and gestured with his chin. The fierce battle had stopped, but the Demon Cult was still in the throes of madness.

In the midst of their forces, scenes of cultists trying to calm their fellow cultists still running wild under the influence of their demonic madness were frequent.

"From a commander's perspective, you demon cultists are the worst. While it's common to go insane in the midst of a war, no one goes as insane as you bastards."

The Demon Cult's demonic madness, to put it simply, maximized a person's ferocity, sexual desire, and appetite. The problem was that if one stayed under its thrall for an extended period of time, it would quickly become uncontrollable.

"Humans have something called the adrenal glands, which are located on the top of the kidneys. When faced with a crisis, it secretes a substance to enhance one's physical abilities. This is the identity of that so-called 'demonic art' of yours."

"

Oho.

So you've figured out the principle without even having to train in the demonic arts."

"In return for enhancing one's physical abilities, it causes problems to arise in various parts of the body. Basically, as qi is consumed, one's blood pressure will rise, and the brain will eventually get affected by it, causing the mind to go crazy.

"The problem is that if one stays in the state of demonic madness for a long time, the issues in one's mind will only increase over time. Thus, unlike normal warriors, demonic cultists needed regular rest. Otherwise, one will become uncontrollable."

Blessed Existence disliked the Demon Cult. In their eyes, they were too inefficient.

It was only once a cultist reached the Extreme Demon or the Unfettered Demon Stage that they would become controllable and listen at any time.

The problem was that reaching that level required many different conditions, such as innate talent and mental strength.

In return for incredible strength, the temptation of demonic madness and nature was so strong that it was almost impossible for cultists to overcome the barrier between realms.

"There's a phrase in the third chapter of The Art of War, Strategic Attack."

Zhī bǐ zhī jǐ (知彼知己)

bǎi zhàn bù dài (百戰不殆)

Bù zhī bǐ ér zhī jǐ (不知彼而知己)

yī shèng yī fù (一勝一負)

Bù zhī bǐ bù zhī jǐ (不知彼不知己)

měi zhàn bì dài (每戰必殆)

"It reads, 'If you know the enemy and know yourself, you need not fear the result of a hundred battles. If you know yourself but not the enemy, for every victory, you will suffer a defeat. If you know neither the enemy nor yourself, every battle is certain to be fatal.'"

Blessed Existence exhaled and added, "While it's natural to know one's enemy, should I also know myself well? Even if I don't have any connection to demonic arts, I still need to know everything about you cultists to develop a strategy."

"You truly are a desirable talent. What a pity, really, what a pity."

The Heavenly Demon looked at Blessed Existence with a truly regretful gaze.

"However, Blessed Existence. Contrary to what you may think, there's nothing absolute about humans. As the possibilities are endless, they may not always move like puppets according to your wishes."

"I understand that, too. I've said it many times before, but that's why you demon cultists are the worst. Even animals have habits that can be inferred, but you bastards don't even have that."

"

Hahaha.

Yes, of course. I don't know what to do when you praise us like so, Blessed Existence."

"If things had happened the way they were supposed to, I was going to let you cultists run wild without any intervention," Blessed Existence spoke without any hesitation, even though he was in front of the Heavenly Demon.

The Heavenly Demon slapped his knee and laughed.

"Lord Blessed Existence."

They felt a presence from behind.

"Who are you?" Blessed Existence answered without even looking away.

"I'm a soldier from the Vast Gate Division."

"Speak."

"I've received word from the Pure Faith Division that the assassination of the Domination God Monarch has failed."

"..."

Blessed Existence's expression didn't change much. He wasn't trying his best not to show any change in his emotions, but the outcome was simply within his expectations.

He's more unusual than I thought.

For some reason, the Domination God Monarch was running nonstop from Jiangnan to Jiangbei. He calculated his consumption of qi and deployed assassins, but to think that it failed miserably.

Still, he had roughly expected it.

In the first place, Absolute Masters were monsters beyond human limitations.

It was impossible to calculate anything about them perfectly.

Just what the hell is he doing?

Blessed Existence frowned while holding onto his empty sleeve, which was fluttering in the wind. At first, he thought that the Domination God Monarch was going to gather followers, form his own faction, and take over the position of the Evil Valley Master.

If that had been the case, the Dark Heavens Association would have welcomed it.

It had become difficult for them to investigate the Evil Valley since the Four Gates Rebellion, so he was planning on planting new spies.

Opportunely enough, a new faction was emerging.

Thus, he had deliberately taken action in advance to send spies mixed into the Domination God Monarch's followers. Moreover, he had deliberately spread the location of the Empyrean Overlord as well.

The problem was that things had happened exactly opposite to his expectations. The Domination God Monarch gathered followers only to give them to the Evil Valley Master.

Still, thanks to this, many spies managed to enter the Evil Valley, making his goal half-successful. However, as the other half was a massive failure, it felt strange.

If one reaches that level, they're bound to get greedy. That's the same even for the Absolute Masters of the Seven Empyrean Overlords.

The Sound God was the same. He had found out their hidden desires and grievances, dug into them, and convinced them to join the Dark Heavens Association.

However, the Domination God Monarch had none of it. He couldn't even figure out what the man was thinking. The lack of information was making him extremely irritated.

More than anything, where he's headed right now...

The most unstable element of the Great War of Good and Demonic wasn't the Tactician Phoenix, nor was it the Empyrean Overlord of the Wudang Sect, the Martial Alliance Leader, or even the Shaolin Temple Abbot.

It was the Absolute Master of a completely different faction.

The Domination God Monarch of the Evil Faction.

***

Zhou Xuchuan ran without resting, but he couldn't forgo resting. If he were a god, it would be different. Despite being a Coruscant Realm Master, his fleshly body was still human, so he had to sleep, eat, and rest.

While eating was easily handled with some grain pills, he had to keep his body's condition stable by sleeping. He also had to relax his tired muscles.

Moreover, he also had to restore his exhausted qi reserves. Using a lightness technique for a long period of time consumed more qi than he had expected.

He was more careful, making sure not to rest just about anywhere.

The places he rested were mainly divided into two types of places—either a place with few people or a village with many people. The former was for safety, and the latter was due to the ease of information acquisition.

He mainly used the Gold Will Merchants, the Valley of Phantoms, and the Xia Wu Sect. Information was important in war, so he had to check in from time to time.

Fortunately, news spread rather quickly. Real-time transmission was still impossible, but it was possible to get information within half a day. Thanks to the wealth of the Gold Will Merchants, they could send both homing pigeons and messenger falcons at the same time.

"The Demon Cult are making preparations?" Zhou Xuchuan was puzzled upon hearing the latest update. "The Demon Cult would never do sensible things in war."

It sounded strange, but it was a normal assumption.

The Demon Cult's tactics were attack, defense, escape, and retreat.

If they had to add rest or free time, it would normally fall within the confines of "escape," as usually, they would escape from the front lines to satisfy their demonic nature.

It was difficult for them to move in sync on such a large scale, especially when they had to adjust their demonic nature on top of that. Funnily enough, the completely out-of-common sense and brainless appearance that they had shown so far had transformed into a

strategy.

There was something along those lines during the Era of War and Chaos. The Demon Cult had broken through without even forming a formation. However, since they came in so openly, it was assumed to be a trap.

Thus, the Righteous Faction planned a different tactic without even considering that the Demon Cult had simply attacked them directly. Unfortunately, their brainless charge was real, and the Righteous Faction ended up suffering a loss.

It was similar to what happened in the first clash of the Great War of Good and Demonic, which happened a while ago.

It went beyond the concept of common sense, strategy, and tactics.

Since one couldn't read where the Demon Cult would go, it was impossible to read their intentions. When beasts unafraid of death and answered only to their instincts ended up gaining power, they would always become

this

terrifying.

They were the essence of chaos.

There's someone else.

Zhou Xuchuan's pondering didn't last long.

The Dark Heavens Association! So it's them! More specifically, it must be Blessed Existence!

Zhou Xuchuan gnashed his teeth.

It's good news and bad news at the same time. The Dark Heavens Association has reached a point where they had to join forces with the Demon Cult.

Even in his previous lifetime, the Dark Heavens Association hadn't tried to manipulate the Demon Cult and the Blood Cult the way they had done to the Righteous Faction or Evil Factions. They only planted as many spies as possible and urged them to go in certain directions through instigation.

It wasn't because they lacked the strength or capacity to do so. It was only because the Cults didn't fit Blessed Existence's personality, who calculated every action and moved by seizing weaknesses from behind or exploiting human nature.

The Blood Cult needed sacrifices and blood to consume, but the Demon Cult actually had no real reason for their invasion.

Their desire to invade the Central Plains wasn't all for the sake of some grand ambition or whatever—they simply wanted to revel in violence and conquer.

Anyone could try their best to control them, but there were a myriad of crazy lunatics among the cultists, and they would never do what the Association wanted them to do.

In other words, intricate manipulations were impossible, which was why the Dark Heavens Association had left them alone.

They were strong, so there hadn't been any need for them to try and move those unstable things.

In other words, the situation had gotten so bad for them that they had to help the Demon Cult and ask them for their aid.

The damage they've taken was so severe that they had to resort to extreme measures.

Zhou Xuchuan couldn't help but laugh when he imagined Blessed Existence being forced to head for the Demon Cult.

However, his joy lasted only for a moment. He couldn't laugh any further as he realized that the Dark Heavens Association needed help.

The Demon Cult's sole truth is strength. It shouldn't be difficult for the Dark Heavens Association to move them if they can subdue them—Wait, could it be that...

Zhou Xuchuan's head spun quickly. He thought of all the possibilities and arranged them. "The Demon Cult's command system is simple. Everyone on one side... and their Cult Leader. That means someone had defeated the..."

***

While the Demon Cult was working on dispelling the demonic madness within its ranks, the Martial Alliance was busy reorganizing its forces.

The Left and Right Armies joined the central main force, and the Beggar Gang, which had excellent mobility, was sent as a reconnaissance unit before coming back to rest.

A meeting for reorganization was held in the command barracks.

"One thousand, five hundred."

The Kunlun Sect Master, Exalted Shang Ming, revealed a stiff face.

"There are over a thousand dead and over five hundred injured. The central main force suffered a lot of damage."

"

Ugh.

"

Sighs were heard here and there.

"What is the condition of the injured?"

"The elders of the Benevolence Clinic are treating them," answered an old beggar from the Beggar Gang. His name was Gu Yeyin. There was a knot on his waist, indicating his status and rank within the Beggar Gang.

Gu Yeyin was one of their seven elders.

"By the way, I don't see the advisor anywhere," the Milky Way Sage muttered incredulously.

"He was swept away in the first clash, and he died. I'm lacking, but I'll be taking charge of the command and strategy," Zhuge Xiuluan answered instead.

She was young, but no one looked down on her.

Not only was she famous, but she had already proved her ability on the battlefield.

"Please explain the situation."

"It's been three days since the first clash. We retreated down from Qinghai Lake to the southeast, and we are now in the northern part of Sichuan. The Demon Cult is waiting half a day away..."

Zhuge Xiuluan looked at Gu Yeyin.

"The Demon Cult lost about two thousand cultists. I heard that the Four Great Guardians and the Vice-Cult Leader are all alive and well," Gu Yeyin answered. Reconnaissance and information were his job.[1]

"...Hmm, then it should be eight thousand, right?"

The Martial Alliance had six thousand five hundred troops, while the Demon Cult had eight thousand soldiers left.

Considering the fact that they were ambushed, the Martial Alliance was doing pretty well.

The Demon Cult hadn't retreated and had been maintaining their incredibly fast formation, gaining a considerable offense in exchange for abandoning all defense. It was advantageous for them at first, but they took an incredible amount of damage.

The fact that they had fewer experts than the Martial Alliance also played a part.

"We failed to prepare our supplies because we were in a hurry to retreat at the beginning, but fortunately, we've received a message from the Sichuan branch of the Gold Will Merchants. They're offering us support, so we shouldn't have to worry about that, at least."

"That little money bug. I've had this thought for a long time now, but his ability to bring us what we need when we need it... it is truly incredible."

1. There has not been any clarification on whether the Four Great Guardians who had died were replaced. ☜