Beast King Lie had practically buried his body into the ground, yet he still could not escape the Dark Beast King's gaze, which was filled with a hatred as deep as the ocean. Aside from trembling in terror, he was powerless.
Both he and the Dark Beast King knew their decision to stake everything on one throw had been the right one. Wei Huan was already this strong; the next time they met, he would only be more formidable, and they would lose the chance to resist forever. Their only regret was that they had clearly struck too late. They were no longer a match for the current Wei Huan. If only they could have killed him before this—at their last encounter—it would have been enough.
Countless regrets turned into vicious insects in their minds, gnawing at their hearts. Had the mighty Dark Beast race truly reached its end?
...
[Obtained 70,200 Points]
[Obtained...]
Only 298 Dark Beast royals remained.
After the last of the nearby Dark Beast royals was slain, not a single one dared to approach Wei Huan again. Even some of the royal Primordial Spirits that had intended to swarm and trap him stopped in their tracks. Then, as if receiving a simultaneous notification, they vanished one by one, shedding their colossal forms and disappearing from sight.
Mu Zhong said, "Not good, they're trying to flee!"
Xu Qingqiang let out a strange cry. "Flee? Do they think this is their house? Coming and going as they please!"
Captain Xue roared, "Grandson! Have the guts to fight your grandpa one-on-one!"
Some of the more aggressive captains were on the verge of driving their vehicles in pursuit, but they were halted by Commander Dong.
"Make them stop!"
Commander Dong, who had been focused on the tactical situation from the start, spoke up just in time. "Do not let pride in victory or frustration in defeat sway you. Do not lose your composure."
Mu Zhong's gaze cleared instantly. Before replying to Commander Dong, he hurriedly ordered those captains who were about to lose control to fall back. However, he also issued a new set of orders: "Harass them, do not let them retreat easily. Stay alert to your surroundings, do not overextend. Do not attempt the impossible!"
"Yes!"
Though they were reined in, the crew members remained incredibly excited. This battle was more than just a victory—it was a rout! They had killed a total of 29 Dark Beast royals! Just having that number surface in their minds made their blood boil; they felt like stripping to the waist and charging the royals themselves.
While the order to merely "harass" was different from what they had imagined, they knew it was the greatest contribution they could make. With the Boss there, as long as they could successfully pin one down, one more Dark Beast royal would die. At this moment, no one was thinking about personal glory or ancestral honor; they were simply venting years of suppressed hatred. They only wanted the Dark Beast royals dead.
The vehicles chased the retreating royals. Xu Qingqiang contacted Captain Xue and Chui Ge, forming their three-man squad once again. With their combined combat power and their Level 6 vehicles, they could comfortably pin down and kill at least two more royals.
On his end, Wei Huan ordered Dot Mom to ensnare one, while Yake launched five more Forbidden Spell scrolls at a cluster of three royals, repeating their previous tactic. A white orb of light erupted, churning the seawater and creating a massive suction force that shook the entire field of vision.
The battlefield was chaotic for a time, but the outcome was clear. It was a heart-pounding sight. After this battle, it was certain that countless Challengers would return to the Challenge World with renewed resolve.
Wei Huan found a way to finish off the trapped royals. By the time he managed to free his hands, the royal Dot Mom had been harassing simply abandoned its Primordial Spirit, reverted to its original form, and vanished into thin air, leaving no trace.
A pity.
Fortunately, Xu Qingqiang acted in time, coordinating with other vehicles to kill the two remaining royals separately. Wei Huan's undead army arrived just in time to claim the final two "kills."
From that point on, within a hundred-mile radius, not a single Dark Beast royal remained. The Dark Beast territories that had so confidently surrounded him—intending to bury him—turned to ash and vanished like a mirage after the Dark Beast King accepted the massive penalties for withdrawal.
In the blink of an eye, the Dark Beast royals had mostly fled, impossible to intercept.
In the first three hours of the opening war, Wei Huan had killed a total of 34 Dark Beast royals and harvested over three million points. Now, only 293 royals remained in the entire Dark Beast race.
Furthermore, in those final moments, the once-invincible and arrogant royals had fled from Wei Huan's side in a literal rout. It had been less than half an hour since they first appeared to surround him. This sweeping victory proved once again the terrifying power of humanity's strongest! In the struggle against the Dark Beasts, humanity had finally achieved a complete reversal.
"Hahaha! They're running!"
"Yes, look at them run! What a pathetic sight!"
"I'm dying of laughter, I've got tears in my eyes, hahaha!"
At this moment, countless people were wiping away tears, using laughter and crying to flush out the unease and oppression. For eight years, the sky had finally brightened!
"This is just the beginning. 293 royals left—blood debts must be paid in blood!"
"My daughter in heaven must be smiling."
"We are smiling, too."
Tears of relief fell. Even the soldiers still in the Challenge World wept when they heard the bulletin from the front lines: "The Dark Beast royalty are no match for Colonel Wei; they are in total retreat."
Those who haven't experienced it can never truly know how dark these eight years since the arrival of the Challenge World have been. A heavy oppression had shrouded their hearts day and night; they couldn't sleep, and they lived without seeing a tomorrow. Every day they spent on the battlefield was a struggle for hope while living in despair. For a long time, nearly every soldier had prepared to be buried in a horse shroud, their belongings interred in the Western Hills. Seeking life through death was not a grand resolution or romantic sacrifice; it was simply something someone had to do.
Now, the human race had won. And they were still alive.
Victory was like a torrential rain, crashing down amidst the fighting army groups. After a thorough cleansing, the soldiers of the army radiated a new, revitalized spirit!
The army accelerated its pace of city-sieging, but one group slowed down. Captain Fang, leading a thousand vehicles, had been rushing non-stop to reinforce Wei Huan. All along the way, he had heard emergency reports of Wei Huan being trapped and besieged. His wheels were practically throwing sparks from the speed, only for the news of victory to arrive so suddenly.
Captain Fang's vehicle slowed. He laughed and asked his intelligence officer, "Won? Gosh, I was so worried I didn't even dare go to the bathroom."
Saying this, Captain Fang stood up and stretched. A roguish smile hung on his square, honest face. "I said it before—would Wei Huan dare to charge forward like that without a plan? Nobody's tired of living, right?"
Leaving the commander's room, his adjutant met him. Captain Fang waved and laughed. "Organize the fleet Wei Huan left outside. Push inward from the exterior; watch out for enemy deception." He paused, then said without looking back, "Oh, me? I'm going to take a crap."
In the time it took Captain Fang to use the restroom, the thousand vehicles Wei Huan had brought out merged with his fleet, forming a massive army of two thousand vehicles and over 200,000 people, continuing their advance.
His adjutant had already connected with Xiong Yi, the temporary leader of those thousand vehicles. Captain Fang took one look at Xiong Yi's face—which was happy, yet unable to hide a hint of gloom—and laughed while shaking his head.
"There's a reason you guys couldn't get in on the glory. Who are the people on Commander Wei's car? They are the elite of the elite, and on that car, they're fed such high-tier resources. They've already explored the Level 6 world; is their perspective something we can even compare to?"
Captain Fang consoled him, "Even if your thousand cars had followed him, it would be good enough if you didn't hold him back. Don't think about anything more than that."
Xiong Yi was clearly familiar with Captain Fang. He gave a bitter smile, but then his expression brightened. "You really don't know how to comfort people. Besides, what would I be thinking? Just being able to follow Commander Wei on a circuit like this will give me stories to tell until I'm old. Unlike you—you did nothing. What are you going to talk to your grandson about when you're old? How you spent the day driving? And you have the nerve to lecture me."
Captain Fang pointed a finger at him, his eyes carrying a mock threat. However, after the two stared at each other for a few seconds, they both burst out laughing. The tense atmosphere vanished, and the joy in their eyes could not be suppressed.
It didn't matter if they didn't get the credit; it didn't matter if they were "rejected" and left behind. The key point was that humanity had won!
Only 293 Dark Beast royals left! Hahaha!
From now on, let's see how that pack of stray dogs acts tough on the Great Battlefield!
"Could it be that after only three hours, our opening war is already over?"
"Why not? Might makes right."
"Blue Star is going to expand again. When the Challenge World hands out rewards based on merit, most of the resources will probably land in our Daxia."
"As long as a country participated, they'll get something. We eat the meat, they drink the soup, hahaha."
"Oh man, we're going to be buried in supplies this time..."
The two were already bragging and imagining the future, showing none of the demeanor of the "former strongest human" or army generals. They were simply giddy with joy!
The adjutant looked at the beaming Captain Fang once more and left with a smile. No one was jealous of Wei Huan's strength, no one was angry that their title of "strongest" had been taken, and the idea of throwing a fit because they weren't brought along due to insufficient ability was sheer nonsense.
These men were simply, purely happy... 'the sky I once held up finally has a more excellent junior to take over.' That was the greatest pride of their generation.
Perhaps, in their old age, their greatest boast wouldn't just be that they fought alongside Wei Huan, or that they repelled the Dark Beasts and slaughtered royals—but that they found every possible way to send resources to the most basic roads to cultivate a new generation of Challengers. Those more excellent young people who avoided the detours, who achieved a leap in their first step, and took a massive stride forward.
They had finally grown up!
...
The road Captain Fang took with his fleet was a smooth plain; not a single territory could be seen within a hundred kilometers. The Dark Beast royalty had retreated across the board, leaving only the ordinary Dark Beast Lords who had been deployed on the perimeter. The royals had items that allowed them to abandon their territories and retreat, but ordinary Lords couldn't afford them.
Now that the preparation time had passed, these Lords were "nailed" in place along with their territories. Except for a tiny few who might escape, the rest would become points for humanity.
"Did the Dark Beast royals go back to their own plane?" Liu Chengzhi asked while delivering food to everyone.
During wartime, meals were handed out directly. Everyone was at their post and couldn't leave, so Liu Chengzhi delivered them one by one—grand meals that were delicious and added attributes. When Wei Huan's lunch was delivered, Liu Chengzhi stopped to chat.
Mu Zhong was also in Wei Huan's office. While laying out the meal boxes, he replied, "Hard to say. It's not time to relax yet. They've been dominant for a long time and have plenty of resources; a comeback is possible."
Liu Chengzhi nodded. "That's why we have to find ways to kill the royals. Those things are too hard to kill; if they escape and come back, they might be even stronger. Boss, after we finish here, are we still going to the Great Battlefield?"
Mu Zhong had finished setting the table. He asked Liu Chengzhi if he wanted to join them, but seeing him wave it off, he sat across from Wei Huan and continued, "The Great Battlefield can be fought slowly. Our most important task next is still in the Challenge World."
"That's true. Once our weapons and equipment catch up, even our regular Challenge Army can handle the Dark Beasts," Liu Chengzhi said excitedly.
"Wait until we're in the Level 8 world; then any random soldier could crush these royals. Maybe I'll be able to duel a royal one-on-one eventually."
Mu Zhong was amused. He glanced at Liu Chengzhi's belly, which was only growing fat, and said, "Good thought. It's possible."
Liu Chengzhi said a few more words and left happily.
Mu Zhong looked at the closed door and said to Wei Huan, "He guards the World Tree every day, and you even arranged for him to tend it. That effort is wasted; he's just tending his stomach."
Wei Huan smiled. "Everyone has their own way of living. He's quite happy."
"True enough. His cooking gets better every day; you have to truly love it to put that much thought into it," Mu Zhong said, taking a bite of tender fish.
"And the attributes it adds are higher than before. With Chengzhi's skills, he'd be a sought-after talent anywhere. If he doesn't like cultivation, so be it. He eats his own cooking every day; though he's only Sequence 3, his attributes have surpassed the Sequence 3 ceiling. I reckon it won't be long before he upgrades to Sequence 4."
Wei Huan stopped eating and looked intently at Mu Zhong. "Your Driver Sequence is about to advance too, isn't it?"
"Yes, soon. After this battle, it won't be long before we have Tier 4 Mechas."
"Tier 4 Mechas can be used in the Level 5 world, but they're still a bit lacking for the Level 6 world."
"It's already fast enough. If you hadn't helped me find the Life Fruit, I probably wouldn't have been able to advance to the Ancestral Soul yet, nor would I have time to cultivate the Driver Sequence. The Driver training ground is with me; everyone is anxiously waiting for higher-tier Mechas. If I'd known, I wouldn't have bound it; the pressure is a bit high."
"We've already won the battle, what more do you want?" Wei Huan raised his eyebrows in a protective manner.
Mu Zhong laughed. "Nothing, just chatting. I just feel like I haven't done well enough. You know me, I like to find faults in myself."
"That's a bad habit. You'll wrong yourself."
"No one can wrong me. Pursuing perfection is cruel in itself, but I will try to make peace with myself." Saying this, Mu Zhong gazed steadily at Wei Huan.
Wei Huan stopped eating, feeling a bit puzzled.
Mu Zhong said, "Today, you were super cool. I love you even more."
Wei Huan's eyebrows shot up. He picked up a piece of meat and fed it to Mu Zhong. Mu Zhong chewed and smiled.
Lunch was eaten leisurely. No one had expected this meal to go this way. Three days in advance, Wei Huan had been preparing for this fight. Last night, he didn't even enter the Job Temple, saving all his Underworld Power, knowing today would be a hard battle. As it turned out, having entered the battlefield at 6:00 AM, by 11:30, the group had nothing to do, slowly eating and chatting about the day's feats.
Wei Huan finished and set down his chopsticks with a burp, then asked Mu Zhong, "What do you plan to do next?"
Mu Zhong had finished long ago, his face clean and glowing with a smile. "That depends on what you think. We could wait for the opening war to end before leaving, or if there's a way to end the battle early, you'd definitely choose that, wouldn't you?"
"Is there a way to end it early?"
"No, at least not one that's appeared yet. Some say reaching the enemy camp might let you 'capture the flag'?"
"Likely not."
Wei Huan said this, but in his heart, he knew there was probably no "capture the flag" option. In his previous life, during the opening ceremony of the Level 6 world, the situation was reversed. The Dark Beasts beat humanity so badly they abandoned the battlefield. Even in that period of deep depression, Wei Huan had never heard of the Dark Beasts winning and leaving early. The 30-day opening war usually had to be endured until the time ran out.
"Since there's nothing else to do," Mu Zhong said regardless, "we aren't comfortable leaving yet anyway. We don't know if the royals will come back. Since we have to stay here for so long, let's keep pushing forward. Maybe there 'is' a way to end the battle early."
Mu Zhong leaned forward, his eyes bright. "I bet there is a flag to capture; it's just that before now, neither side had the chance to enter the other's headquarters. What if we kill the Dark Beast King, or the King runs away? Would the battle end? Would the flag be captured?"
Wei Huan didn't know, feeling it was unlikely. But Mu Zhong was right—since they couldn't leave, they might as well keep pushing. What if he ran into a few more royals to kill? As for the Dark Beast King, he wanted to kill it, but by the time it came to that, all the royals would likely be dead and the King might still be impossible to slay.
"Fine, let's do that," Wei Huan nodded.
Mu Zhong smiled. "I knew you'd choose that."
Though they planned to push forward, Wei Huan was in no rush to depart. His undead army was on cooldown, and everyone was still celebrating the rare victory. Now was the time to let things settle; it wouldn't be too late to leave once everything was ready.
After lunch, Captain Fang left with his crew again. While this place felt like a leisure period after a great battle, other places were still at war. Wei Huan had achieved a great feat and was humanity's spiritual leader in every sense; it was fine for him to rest, but Captain Fang couldn't afford to waste time here.
They came in a grand procession and left in a flurry. In the end, only the original thousand vehicles Wei Huan had brought out remained by his side. Whether he chose to continue the offensive into the Dark Beast headquarters or stay and rest until the war ended, these thousand vehicles were assigned to his command. Since he intended to continue the operation, they had to stay.
During the rest period, Xiong Yi and the key officers of the fleet boarded Wei Huan's vehicle to attend a military meeting hosted by Mu Zhong, completing the deployment for the next stage. When Xiong Yi and his men heard they were going to strike the Dark Beast headquarters, they were beaming with joy, patting their chests and guaranteeing they would keep up and never hold them back.
The next day, Wei Huan still took his time, waiting until the undead army's debuffs were completely gone before announcing the departure. They didn't take any detours along the way, simply expanding the corridor as much as possible while heading straight for the deep rear of the Dark Beast Lords.
They drove for over three hundred kilometers before encountering another Dark Beast Lord. This showed how determined the Dark Beast King had been to kill him yesterday—it had likely deployed every royal it could. But as soon as contact was made, Wei Huan killed nearly thirty royals in less than half an hour, devastating the King's heart and forcing a retreat.
Now that the preparation period was over, it wasn't easy for the Dark Beast Lords to retreat. They had to choose to abandon their territories to leave. This meant that upon returning to the Dark Beast plane, aside from their Lord level, all their resources and troop types would be gone. To return to a Lord's Challenge World, they would need to rebuild a Level 5 city, barracks, re-recruit soldiers, and reinstall weapons. The only consolation was that Hero units only required resources to be re-recruited from the Hero Temple rather than being randomly drawn again.
However, even with Hero units remaining, the cost of rebuilding a territory from scratch was enormous. The Dark Beast race could easily afford to "re-roll" a few dozen royals, but with over a hundred royals needing to rebuild this time, the resource consumption had likely shaken the very foundation of the Dark Beast royalty.
Thus, Wei Huan was very pleased to see this hundreds-of-miles-long stretch devoid of territories. He hadn't killed all the royals—which was a shame—but such is war. The enemy has a brain too; they won't just stand there waiting to be killed. Especially in a war between two planar races, lives are the currency, resources are the fuel, and the future is the prize.
By killing 34 royals in one go, Wei Huan had already achieved a monumental feat. Looking at it now, the ideal scenario was that this blow also shook the foundation of the Dark Beast royalty—that would be a double achievement.
Wei Huan was satisfied with his gains, unaware that the outside world was already discussing promoting his military rank. The civilians felt that his rank of Colonel no longer matched the magnitude of his contributions. The officials were wondering: Is the title of "General" enough? Would that be doing Wei Huan a disservice?
Because of this, Daxia felt that giving him a title within their own country was absolutely insufficient. After much thought, they reached out to the four other Challenger powers and other nations to hold a meeting of the Challenger Alliance.
And so, on the afternoon of the departure—the second afternoon of the opening war—Commander Dong messaged Wei Huan privately.
Commander Dong asked: "Someone asked me to ask you: do you want to take over the 'mess' that is the Blue Star Alliance Challenge Legion?"