"You really did it!" Guan Yu rushed over with a pep to his step, rapidly shifting between the closed-eyed Wei Wuyin to the decapitated corpse of the Legion Commander, an illustrious Earthly Saint.
Accompanying him was the mysterious woman, her facial features still blurred, yet her focus was quite apparent to the casual onlooker. She was unblinkingly inspecting Wei Wuyin, keenly with clear interest.
Like the others, she was of the thought that Wei Wuyin's victory was not attributed to his own personal abilities but to his background in the forms of treasures, tools, and pre-planned tactics of extraordinary experts. It was hard to grasp the idea that Wei Wuyin's actions were a product of solely his own power and means. In fact, it was downright impossible.
The four Soul Idols that had all reached thirteen rings were already otherworldly, absolutely mind-blowingly difficult to comprehend. If it was all due to Wei Wuyin himself, then that meant he had four different Astral Souls, all of which had been cultivated to that state somehow, and he wasn't an expert at the Realm World Phase, but a cultivator at the Sixth Stage of the Astral Core Realm, the Gravity Emission Phase, at the highest and the Soul Idol Phase at the lowest.
It was impossible for that to be correct. If one considered his feats alongside just his presence in the Nexus Battlefield, then one would find it increasingly difficult to accept it as truth. Regardless of all this, the mysterious woman's opinion of Wei Wuyin had changed significantly.
"WOOOO!"
Guan Yu turned to see a figure leap excitedly about like a rabbit in the far-off distance, hollering out elated exclamations. The joy and excitement were incredibly infectious, and he could resonate with such intense feelings. He had just learned his death was all but decided, but Wei Wuyin had offered him a lifeline, so he felt as if he was thoroughly saved from the icy pond of death. How could he not understand those exhilarating feelings?
The woman turned to look too. She shook her head, but it was rather half-heartedly, and even her body language betrayed her own internal excitement. While Wei Wuyin had given her ten thousand War Souls, this was merely enough for her to escape. She had made several friends during her time here, so she was naturally happy that they could escape too.
Guan Yu's eyes brightened; he turned to Wei Wuyin excitedly with an idea flickering within his eyes: "Why not try to befriend some of these Ascended? They'll surely be excited to speak to their savior. Perhaps promise certain things." As if his idea was extraordinary, he praised himself with a series of claps.
The woman was startled for a moment, but then she realized this was indeed a good idea. She added, "They'll certainly not refuse." While those were her words, she kept staring at Wei Wuyin and appraising him. Besides a layer of exhaustion covering his facial expression, he was relatively unharmed. One wouldn't think he had fought an arduous battle against 10,000 Ascended beings.
Wei Wuyin sighed softly. If he was just described as exhausted, it'd be the understatement of the millennium. "How many?"
"Hm?" Guan Yu reacted to Wei Wuyin.
"Not you; how many Ascended are here?" Wei Wuyin asked the woman. She was a long-time resident, long enough to seek out sensual pleasures from a complete stranger as her first time. Indicative of her unnaturally extended stay and willingness to move past this life without regrets. She might've been intent on taking her life even.
The woman was taken aback, but then she thought for a moment and calculated a few things in her mind, lifting her fingers and lifting them up and down as if recalling certain details to add or subtract certain individuals. After a short moment, she answered: "About one hundred and twenty-four Ascended, including myself. Give or take a few."
Wei Wuyin fell silent and contemplative. Then he followed up with another question: "How many are members of the human race?"
Guan Yu unhesitatingly intervened in this question with confusion, "Human race? We all are. There are no other races besides humans here." His confusion was rightfully so because he hadn't expected Wei Wuyin to be ignorant of this. Even the Spirits of War were in the image of humans.
This was the Nexus Battlefield for the human race after all.
It was Wei Wuyin's turn to be surprised. He was with titans, and while Guan Yu was human, even that sadistic woman, he just considered it a consequence of probability, not a fact of absence.
This was an issue.
The woman felt that something was wrong, feeling that Wei Wuyin wasn't very excited at this discovery or opportunity before him. She directly asked: "What is it?"
Wei Wuyin just wanted to sit down and rest. Yet he could not find a suitable location to rest his weary body, only able to deal with this troublesome matter. "The celebration is a little too early. I'm unsure, but I don't think those who did nothing to fight will earn qualifications to observe the Obelisk of War, let alone escape."
"..." Guan Yu.
"...!" The woman.
Their reactions were different, but one thing was similar between them—they were stunned! While Wei Wuyin couldn't verify this detail, they immediately realized that this was almost likely the case. After all, these so-called Soldiers of War and Commanders of War had done shit all in the battle against 10,000. No, they did do something…
They watched with excitement, awe, and hope in their hearts! Praying that someone else risked their lives to secure freedom for them!
Wei Wuyin continued, "I've only kept sixteen Spirits of War. If one needs to contribute, I'd imagine killing one of these Spirits of War is a minimum requirement. That said…" He lifted his hand; traces of Grand Earth Intent surged through his fingers as wisps of brown-colored light and then seeped into the ground. A faint rumble occurred, and then a head popped out from the ground, half-conscious with their energies entirely devoured by the raw poison mixture.
This Spirit of War had been one of the unlucky few who exerted their powers and activated their latent poison. Wei Wuyin had skillfully selected them and dropped them into the earth through abruptly manifested holes. They were still alive and incredibly weak.
This particular Spirit of War was roughly equivalent to a Mystic Star Phase cultivator, the first stage of the Mystic Ascendant Realm, if one considered the Battlefield's standards.
"Go on," Wei Wuyin gestured to Guan Yu. This was his only way to allow Guan Yu to gain contributions, and he wasn't totally confident if it'll work. Guan Yu's eyes brightened instantly, and he didn't hesitate. He brought his bident forth and lifted it above the protruding head, and with a ferocious grunt, thrusted the sharp two-pronged blade into the skull of the Ascended.
A blood-splashing, bone-slicing sound occurred. Suddenly, Guan Yu felt his palm heat up, and the Mark of War miraculously manifested. Elation suffused his eyes. He felt as if he was a part of something greater. Did this mean he gained qualifications to observe the Obelisk of War upon victory?
Wei Wuyin couldn't see it, but he felt as if his own Mark of Annihilation had suddenly reacted.
The woman saw all this, and her body language noticeably changed so drastically that one could almost read her thoughts. "Sixteen? Only sixteen?"
"Only fifteen," Wei Wuyin corrected. The idea of gaining favor from all of the Ascended present would be impossible to pull off with his limited sacrifices. Additionally, he hadn't cared about or considered this before. Not because he wasn't willing to do so, but because he didn't feel the need to. He was still a minor figure in the Grand Cyclic Stellar Region, a mere mortal, and establishing relations with these Ascended that may or may not be a part of the wide, expansive, and diverse territory of the Azure-Prime Galactic Zone was too far-sighted and unnecessary.
Furthermore, he didn't want to deal with all the issues that came with selecting. He was about to just slaughter the rest of the Spirits of War to eliminate any potential conflict. However, he was halted by the voice of the woman.
"Can you leave the choice of those fifteen to me?" Her question was direct, and some might even consider it rude of her, yet she asked it regardless.
Wei Wuyin 'stared' at her in silence.
Then, she said something that shook both Guan Yu and Wei Wuyin. "Isn't it just this little? After all, I'm yours. So what is this small request?"
"Mine?"
"Yes, yours." The woman clarified without hesitation, causing Guan Yu's eyes to widen. He wanted to speak, but the woman sent a gaze in his direction and those words that wished to come forth were choked in its cradle, never to be told to the world.
The woman added determinedly, "I've decided; I promise myself to you. As long as you ascend, you can seek me out, and I'll be yours. Even in death, I'll not look at another male as a partner. I can swear an oath of this to the heavens if you want."
Wei Wuyin rubbed his chin thoughtfully, giving her a 'look' and faintly smiling. "What if I have no intention of marrying you?"
"...Then, as long as you accept me and have the ability to remain unmarried after, then I'll be your concubine. If not that, then I'll be your maid. Or you can throw me away after using me, it's up to you." The woman was straightforward with her words, incredibly calm with every shocking syllable spoken.
Wei Wuyin was startled by how calm she was speaking about this topic, but he wasn't ignorant enough to not notice the ensnaring layers in her sentence. He had to have the means and ability to remain unmarried after, which was an interesting and insidious detail. If her backing was too strong, he'd suffer a forced marriage. Furthermore, his life could be at risk if her family, clan, or force was extremely protective of her.
He also had to ascend successfully, so there's that. Such an arbitrary condition after almost giving herself entirely to him earlier.
Wei Wuyin turned to Guan Yu and asked: "Is she beautiful?"
Guan Yu was startled. Without the slightest hesitation, he answered with vigorous nods: "Yes, absolutely!" He seemed to say these words earnestly, and since they were all human, even if Guan Yu's tastes were strange, this didn't mean it should be too far off from normal aesthetically pleasing standards.
"Sure." He didn't ask why she was willing to do this, just accepted her conviction and decision wholeheartedly. As for the difficulties that might manifest later? He'll deal with it as they come. If she thought he would refuse her due to this challenge, she didn't know who he was. He truly wished to see when his potential and status were fully realized whether her words would remain true. Be a maid?
While he had thoughts of having Mei Yang as one when he was younger, still considering it, he had no issues with having another, and a Demi-Mortal Lord cultivator to boot. That would be quite exciting.
Just when Wei Wuyin was about to speak about his thoughts concerning the Spirits of War, he felt a rush of wind, and then a soft pair of lips pressed against his own!
