Chapter 1167 - 124: Gains and Losses

When Wen Yu and Bai walked out of the secret chamber, they entered the main hall where Ye Nan was, greeted by Ye Nan’s astonished eyes—primarily directed at the black crystal on Wen Yu’s head.

Though his appearance hadn’t changed at all, just the presence of the crystal distinguished his race—Wen Yu now, indeed, was a demon spawn... or maybe a hybrid between a demon spawn and a human? Simply put, a mongrel?

A self-deprecating term that nonetheless conveyed Wen Yu’s inner bitterness; if not absolutely necessary, Wen Yu truly didn’t wish to take this step.

"Did it succeed?"

Wen Yu merely nodded silently—the sensation wasn’t quite favorable. Even though Wen Yu had mentally prepared himself, there was still a slight sense of betrayal, the most significant being the omnipresent familiarity of the Demon Realm, which felt even more soothing and harmonious than Earth ever did to Wen Yu.

Thus, the stance issues that once troubled Wen Yu seemed to have become more complicated, fortunately, the life-and-death calamity had already been resolved, and temporarily staying in the Demon Realm, Wen Yu did not need to confront the Dominator’s threat directly.

The goal achieved, it’s truly a case of gain and loss...

...

Within the entire hall, there were only three: Wen Yu, Bai, and Ye Nan. Ye Nan’s Avengers had long departed, likely to deal with the leftover issues of the Second City in the Wilderness Border Area.

Bai had Wen Yu eliminate the Second City Master not without reason; perhaps they hindered Leoja’s territorial expansion. But these matters were inconsequential; regarding this, Wen Yu allowed Bai some of his own little schemes—everyone was merely using each other.

Once Wen Yu gradually adapted to the existence of the black crystal on his forehead, Bai then taught Wen Yu some small tricks—specifically, how to hide the black crystal within the forehead.

Simple in theory, hardly worth mentioning, merely controlling muscle and bone contractions to conceal the black crystal, coupled with the fact that the black crystal itself emitted no additional aura or energy fluctuations. As long as the crystal’s exterior was covered, everything remained unchanged.

Wen Yu experimented simply and quickly mastered the little trick; when Wen Yu hid the crystal within his skull, looking in the mirror, Wen Yu now appeared exactly as he did a few hours before, except a faintly obscure aura emanated from his body.

That was an aura belonging to the Demon Tribe.

However, regarding aura, Wen Yu possessed the Heaven-covering Robe, so there was no worry about revealing flaws, especially since Wen Yu was not purely a Demon Fiend—the Universe of Immortals and Heroes’ Origin Energy still existed, as Wen Yu still belonged to the Universe of Immortals and Heroes’ divine beast species. Earth’s Origin Energy also continued to exist, so Wen Yu counted as an Earthling, while the later addition of the Demon Realm’s Origin Energy changed Wen Yu’s identity nature. However, it didn’t cause much impact—Origin Energy is merely a power, and power does not differentiate between good, evil, or stance.

Thus, the self-skill issue that had once worried Wen Yu regarding Revenge of the World (Species-specific Esoteric Level, Passive Skill) remained unaffected by the change to Wen Yu, and even the World Heart Shards from the Universe of Immortals and Heroes within his body retained their original state.

They were just tools and skills...

...

"Yet there are adverse effects, such as the treasure land and Exchange Stone Pillar..."

Bai, seeing Wen Yu sitting there motionless contemplating his own problems, nonetheless shared some of his own experiences with Wen Yu.

"As part of the Demon Tribe, even if only a hybrid, the treasure land and Exchange Stone Pillar could never be open to you. But these two things don’t greatly affect you, the Exchange Stone Pillar doesn’t produce anything worthwhile. The treasure land is a bit regrettable, but I guess you wouldn’t want to delve into the treasure land after offending the Dominator?"

Regardless of whether he had become part of the Demon Tribe or not, from the moment Wen Yu eliminated Lin Sai, things like treasure land have been off-limits—such places are but the core controlled areas by the Dominator. Any treasure land that could produce useful tools surely had a Treasure Land Protector stationed; Wen Yu would have to be out of his mind to venture further into these areas.

So, these losses, indeed, hardly count as losses.

"As for the issue of advancement, it is even simpler; you only need to actively absorb an equivalent magic crystal, and you will automatically advance to the next level. But be cautious, after advancing, you won’t be able to return to Earth or the tiered battle ground."

Unexpectedly convenient—isn’t it?—Level Lock, such a thing, indeed served as a type of restraint for the current Wen Yu.

However, whether to advance or not is pending; overall, it could be delayed or immediate, depending on future situations Wen Yu faces.

"There’s also the matter of sequence; your Sequence Number 1 had already been removed the moment you merged with the Demon Realm’s Core shard."

"As expected."

Wen Yu simply nodded. This news had just been reported to Wen Yu by Mountain Kui. The military, even Tang Haofei’s sequence ranking, mysteriously rose by one rank. Tang Haofei had become Sequence Number 1 again; Old Tang even traveled thousands of miles to the main city of the tiered battle ground to inquire about Wen Yu’s whereabouts from Mountain Kui, who had bluffed past him. Although Wen Yu couldn’t pinpoint the coordinates of the soul puppet far off on Earth, the Soul Connection still existed, just like before when Wen Yu could communicate with Little White while on Earth. The Soul Puppet served as Wen Yu’s fallback and spy left on Earth.

As for the matter of Sequence Number 1 title, it’s an outright advantage.

The sequence name surely bore some sort of conspiracy, and Bai had previously mentioned being able to help Wen Yu solve the sequence issue—this is how he resolved it... Well, now, any nonsense about sequences no longer relates to Wen Yu at all.

"And about the tiered battleground issue."

Wen Yu posed this issue, but upon reflection, smiled self-deprecatingly. The tiered battleground’s level divisions for the Demon Tribe might affect Wen Yu somewhat but not significantly—perhaps Wen Yu would never return to the main city of the tiered battle ground, yet finding a continent to reside on wouldn’t pose an issue, especially considering Number One remained his seventh soul pet, with a newly born Level 12 world will supporting him; the alleged battleground segmentations should not affect Wen Yu.

Moreover, Wen Yu does indeed possess the "Human" attribute, much like Bai. Wen Yu couldn’t tell when Bai completed the racial conversion, yet Bai never mentioned tiered battleground issues. It seems these restrictions shouldn’t affect "hybrids" at all.

"And concerning skills and tools, this part is actually quite easy; skill scrolls can be used by the Demon Tribe as well. Most tools can also be utilized, so these things remain unchanged from before. It’s just your faction in the tiered battleground... I feel the Dominator might target your soul puppet, as well as Number One... By the way, you haven’t deployed Number One, have you?"

Wen Yu remained silent. He had used Number One, but Golden Armor claimed to be able to handle the situation for Wen Yu. Whether Golden Armor could truly handle it, Wen Yu reserved his opinion. Although Number One is nominally his seventh soul, once contracted, the Soul Realm space was shattered, meaning Wen Yu couldn’t take Number One along with him.

The same goes for the Soul Puppet. Should the Dominator wish to purge Wen Yu’s forces left in the tiered battleground, the Soul Puppet would surely suffer unimaginable losses, and in this regard, Wen Yu couldn’t intervene—these were essential losses in implementing the plan, for which Wen Yu was mentally prepared beforehand. Mountain Kui, Corpse Puppet, are among the main forces Wen Yu may preserve; for the rest, they can be re-created.

Both issues pivot entirely on the Dominator’s attitude and murderous intent towards himself... But on a side note, the Dominator’s current perception of himself... Well, it’s probably about wishing to kill him without delay.