Chapter 478 - 239: Where Did This Guy Run Off to Again?

Chapter 478: Chapter 239: Where Did This Guy Run Off to Again?

After this, it was unlikely he would see a Fallen Angel again.

’Time to continue condensing the Power of Rules.’

Pei Ze composed himself and began to create more of the Power of Rules.

As expected, with the increase in his strength, the amount of the Power of Rules he could withstand also grew.

This time, Pei Ze spent a little over two months and managed to condense eight drops of the Power of Rules.

After restoring his supply of the Power of Rules, he immediately left the Thunder Elemental Plane and returned to the Abyss.

Pei Ze learned from an Inferior Demon attendant at his inn that the war that had broken out last time was still raging. He couldn’t help but feel a sense of awe.

It wasn’t uncommon for a war to last over two months, but one like the Blood War, with its constant slaughter day and night, endless bloodshed every moment, and ceaseless death every second, was truly one of a kind.

The previous continuous battle of seven days and eight nights had already astonished Pei Ze. Now, the slaughter had gone on for over two months without a pause.

And according to the Inferior Demon, the record for the longest continuous engagement in the Blood War was two years.

Leaving the inn, Pei Ze flew toward the battlefield. Upon arrival, he threw himself back into the slaughter without a moment’s hesitation.

The man with black markings and the short, stout Wizard soon spotted Pei Ze again.

The two exchanged a look, their eyes filled with a mutual sense of exasperation.

’How is this guy so elusive? He’s always disappearing on a whim.’

The pair made up their minds. This time, they had to corner Pei Ze and not let him vanish again.

After the previous great battle between the Fallen Angel and the Death Knight, and between Brad and the Demon General, the Blood War had devolved into a less intense, but more protracted, meat-grinder conflict.

High-level combatants like Fallen Angels or Death Knights were no longer seen on the battlefield. Instead, the number of Mid-Low Tier Evil Demons swelled, all mixed together in a ceaseless, chaotic melee.

Pei Ze had anticipated this, so he wasn’t disappointed. He simply turned his attention to other devils.

He fought for over two more months.

Including the previous period, this session of the Blood War had now lasted a full five months without a single day’s rest. The demon and devil armies had committed nearly ten million troops in total to the brutal slaughter on the Wanyuan Plain.

Countless Evil Demons fell, only to be replaced by innumerable Timid Demons and Inferior Demons spontaneously spawning from the plane. These newcomers became cannon fodder in the ensuing battles. A rare few, the lucky ones, grew strong enough through slaughter to advance, becoming higher-tier demons... only to continue serving as cannon fodder.

As time passed, the demons’ numerical superiority and home-field advantage grew increasingly apparent, forcing the devils into a steady retreat.

The demons not only conquered the thirteen walls and captured the Bronze Fortress, reclaiming their lost territory, but also successfully crossed the Blood Rift. The flames of war now burned on the blood-soaked soil of Avernus, the first layer of Hell.

After repelling another of the devils’ attacks, the demons drove a group of Dwarf slaves forward from their rear lines. They began constructing fortifications, preparing to establish a forward fortress just as the devils had done before.

The brutal war came to a brief halt.

Pei Ze summoned the Eye of Omniscience. His soul fusion had already surpassed fifty percent.

Unsurprisingly, the higher the fusion percentage, the slower the rate of increase.

Even so, Pei Ze estimated he could certainly reach one hundred percent soul fusion in two to three years at most.

And it was foreseeable that the Blood War would not end for several years to come.

Just as he walked into the Pallid Bone, Pei Ze heard a voice from behind.

"Please, wait a moment."

Pei Ze turned. The ones who had called out to him were a masked man whose exposed neck and hands were covered in black markings, and another masked man who was short and stout.

Pei Ze recognized them instantly. They were two of the Wizards who had been frequently sizing him up on the battlefield.

According to the feedback from his Eye of Omniscience, both were Level 4 Wizards.

"Apologies for taking up a moment of your time, sir."

The stout Wizard placed a hand over his chest in a slight bow.

"My name is Gold Stone, and this is my companion, Ghostly Shadow."

’Those are obviously aliases.’

When Gold Stone finished, he noticed Pei Ze had no intention of introducing himself. The situation grew a little awkward, but he maintained his smile. "Sir, you came to the Abyss alone, correct? I was wondering if you might be interested in joining us. That way, we could watch each other’s backs on the battlefield."

’I don’t know enough about this Wizard yet,’ Gold Stone thought. He decided against stating his true intentions rashly. Instead, he planned to spend some time with the man and gather enough intelligence before trying to recruit him.

He was even prepared to play the card of Lord Pan Mo if Pei Ze seemed unimpressed by the two of them.

An olive branch from a Sixth-level Wizard should be enough to tempt this mysterious stranger.

In the next moment, however, the smile on Gold Stone’s face froze.

"Not interested," Pei Ze said flatly.

Before either of them could respond, he turned and strolled unhurriedly up to the second floor.

"You...!"

Anger flashed in Ghostly Shadow’s eyes. His body tensed, but before he could move, Gold Stone placed a hand on his shoulder, holding him back.

He turned his head to meet his companion’s warning gaze.

"Calm down and focus your mind. Be careful not to worsen your Spirit pollution."

Ghostly Shadow snapped back to his senses. He took a deep breath, and the anger and killing intent in his eyes receded like the tide, his expression returning to normal.

"Thanks," Ghostly Shadow said to his companion, a flicker of fear in his eyes at what had almost happened.

That mysterious Wizard was a powerhouse capable of fighting a Great Demon head-on without losing ground. Ordinarily, Ghostly Shadow would be filled with nothing but respect for such a person; he would never have dreamed of getting angry, let alone attacking him.

For a moment there, the overwhelming rage and bloodlust welling up from deep within had nearly clouded his judgment.

Gold Stone patted his shoulder and said in a low voice, "Your Spirit pollution is showing signs of worsening. It would be best if you sat out of the Blood War for the next few months. Find a safe place, go into seclusion, and use some Purifying Divine Water to get it under control."

Ghostly Shadow nodded, readily accepting the advice. He glanced toward the second floor, his brow furrowed. "What do we do about him?"

Gold Stone hesitated for a moment before shaking his head.

"Let’s drop it for now. Perhaps he just doesn’t think much of us. We’ll wait for Lord Pan Mo to return and report this to him. Let him decide what to do."

’Lord Pan Mo will definitely be interested in a Wizard who can use the Power of Rules and whose strength is comparable to a Sixth-Level Great Demon.’

Ghostly Shadow looked hesitant, but unable to think of a better solution, he had no choice but to agree with Gold Stone’s suggestion.

...

「A room on the second floor.」

Pei Ze sat cross-legged on the bed, his expression serene. He hadn’t given the brief encounter a second thought.

He could tell their invitation wasn’t as simple as just wanting to team up; they definitely had ulterior motives.

But he didn’t care, nor did he intend to find out what they were.

His only goal right now was to increase his strength. Everything else would have to wait.

"Wuyu."

Pei Ze said softly.

The black bracelet on his wrist instantly dissolved into a black mist that drifted to his shoulder, where it coalesced back into the form of a crow.

"Caw." Wuyu gently nuzzled his cheek.

Pei Ze smiled, stroking the little creature’s cold feathers.

At the same time, deep within his Sea of Consciousness, a sliver broke away from a drop of the Power of Rules. It traveled down his finger and into Wuyu’s body, circulated rapidly, and instantly cleansed the evil aura clinging to the little creature’s soul.

During the recent battles, Pei Ze had let Wuyu try killing some devils.

The results were just as he had suspected: the rules of the Blood War also applied to his familiar.

After killing over a hundred devils, Wuyu’s power had increased by an imperceptible amount. The price, however, was the same: Spirit pollution.

Fortunately, the Power of Rules was effective on Wuyu as well.

"This way, you can also gain strength through the Blood War. You can evolve to the Sixth Level without needing the Death God’s Blood."

Pei Ze stroked Wuyu’s feathers, a glint in his eyes.

Compared to traveling all over to collect evolutionary materials—especially the exceedingly rare Death God’s Blood—the Blood War was undoubtedly a much more direct and effective method.

The only problem was that Wuyu lacked Pei Ze’s immense power. To evolve through the Blood War would take at least a decade, if not more.

But on second thought, the time it would take to collect all the necessary materials would likely be just as long, if not longer.

After a moment of thought, Pei Ze quickly came to a decision.

"After I break through to the Sixth Level, if we still haven’t found the Death God’s Blood, I’ll let you participate in the Blood War."

"Caw," Wuyu chirped softly, affectionately pecking him on the cheek.