In the void, Houtu heard what Gungun said to Ao Yue and immediately saw the light.
Exactly! If the Demon Race could hold the Ancestral Witches back individually and prevent them from deploying the Twelve Capitals Heavenly Godfiend Formation, then the Great Shamans under her command could also hold back a few Great Immortal Demon Gods, preventing them from deploying the Zhou Tian Star-Dipper Formation. With neither side able to use its formation, the Demon Race would not necessarily be stronger than the Witch Race.
Ao Yue had just claimed that they could not defeat Taiyi or Dijun, and that Xi He, the Ten Great Demon Sages, and he himself could hold back several of them. But!
Those were all the Quasi-Saints the Demon Race had.
What about her Witch Race?
The Great Shamans Hou Yi, Xingtian, Jiu Feng, and others were all Quasi-Saint powerhouses too.
How was their overall strength inferior to the Demon Race's?
A war between two races was not a duel between their leaders. So what if Taiyi was unrivaled in this age? So what if he had the Chaos Bell? Who was afraid of him?
"Hmph!" At that thought, Houtu flicked her sleeve, turned her head aside, and gave a disgruntled snort.
On Softbone Prairie.
"Well..." Ao Yue had never imagined that this adorable-looking fat bear, who did nothing but eat and sleep, would think of such a problem at once.
Could he admit that it had never even occurred to him?
If the Demon Race held back several Ancestral Witches, and the Witch Race held back several Great Immortal Demon Gods, leaving neither side able to deploy its killing formation, then... Ao Yue pondered it, then suddenly shuddered.
It was not that he thought the Demon Race would lose. Rather, he remembered the great war that had ended only a few tens of thousands of years ago. The Dragon, Phoenix, and Qilin Tribes had fought a heaven-shaking war for supremacy as the Protagonists of Heaven and Earth, engulfing the entire Primordial World. Yet that war had no victor. All three tribes had lost.
After the war, none of the three tribes had enough strength left to contend for supremacy. They no longer even qualified to compete, so how could there be a winner?
The Demon Race, the Witch Race...
Although Ao Yue still believed the Demon Race was stronger, there was no denying that the Witch Race could not be underestimated. If they could not use the Zhou Tian Star-Dipper Formation to crush their enemies in one stroke, and instead had to fight each other blow for blow, then...
Ao Yue could not help worrying that the two races might end up suffering the same fate as the Dragon, Phoenix, and Qilin Tribes.
At that thought, beads of sweat gradually formed on his forehead.
Was he... going to live through that tragedy again?
"Hmm! Brother, what's wrong? You look a little off. Have your injuries not healed yet?" Gungun noticed Ao Yue's unusual expression and asked, still holding an ice pop in its mouth.
"No, it's nothing." Ao Yue came back to his senses, took a deep breath, and shook his head at Gungun.
Then, his sword-like brows slightly furrowed, he continued trying to persuade it. "But regardless, the Demon Race truly is stronger than the Witch Race. Moreover, the Heavenly Court has the Chaos Bell to anchor its fortune, whereas the Witch Race has no treasure that can do so. His Majesty the Eastern Emperor genuinely appreciates you. He is even willing to bestow upon you the Jade Radiance Twofold-Unity Lamp, one of the Four Great Divine Lamps. Fellow Daoist Gungun, won't you reconsider?"
Hearing that question and seeing how determined Ao Yue was to recruit it into the Demon Race for Eastern Emperor Taiyi, Gungun had no choice but to unleash its ultimate move.
"Alas!" It took the ice pop out of its mouth and sighed. Raising its head, it gazed at the sky at a forty-five-degree angle, a humanlike look of reminiscence appearing on its face as it murmured, "I remember those days in the Iron-Eating Forest. I was still a tiny Iron-Eating Beast cub, merely a Golden Immortal, and all sorts of great demons bullied me constantly. It was Ancestral Witch Houtu who found me on a rainy night and brought me back to the Witch Race. She has raised me ever since. My becoming a Great Immortal was entirely thanks to her tireless instruction. The Witch Race is my home, and Her Ladyship the Ancestral Witch and all the Great Shamans are my family, so..."
As it spoke, Gungun squeezed out two tears and lowered its head so Ao Yue could see them. Then it wiped them away with its plump bear paw and continued in a slightly choked voice, "So even if the Demon Race is stronger,
"and His Majesty the Eastern Emperor has the discerning eye to recognize a worthy bear, I absolutely cannot betray Her Ladyship the Ancestral Witch. I, Gungun, would rather die fighting for the Witch Race than betray them to survive." Ao Yue: "!!!"
After hearing Gungun's words, seeing its tears and that utterly "sincere" expression, then seeing the resolve now on its face, Ao Yue was instantly stunned.
He truly had never expected this languid fat bear, who seemed to have few principles, to value affection and loyalty so deeply. Houtu had raised it, so it would rather die fighting for the Witch Race than seek refuge with the Demon Race to survive.
Was that... not just like him?
Ao Yue's eyes widened, and he suddenly felt the illusion that he had found a kindred spirit.
Taiyi had rescued him from Kunpeng, expended his own origin power to heal his wounds, and helped him fully integrate the Ancestral Dragon's magical power within him. Then he had used the Chaos Bell to summon the primordial stars and forge a divine weapon tailored to him-the Dragon God Heaven-Slaying Halberd!
To repay Taiyi's kindness, he had willingly offered to serve as his mount and thereafter styled himself the "Great Sun Heavenly Dragon" to correspond to the Great Sun Golden Crow.
Of course, Taiyi had never treated him as a mount. On the contrary, despite opposition from the ministers of every tribe, he had exercised his sole sovereign authority in the High Firmament Hall and issued an edict appointing him the Eastern Emperor's Protector. He had given him command of the Demon Race's strongest army, the "Six Heavens Guards," and formally established his status within the Demon Race as second only to the Demon Emperor, Demon Empress, and Eastern Emperor, above even the Ten Great Demon Sages.
Ao Yue had never forgotten any of Taiyi's kindness. If someone tried to persuade him to betray Taiyi, he would never agree either.
This...
Putting himself in Gungun's place, Ao Yue felt even more strongly that the bear before him was truly affectionate and loyal!
At that thought, Ao Yue closed his eyes and said nothing more.
Seeing that he remained silent, Gungun simply kept quiet too. It continued sitting there and put the ice pop back in its mouth. Once it finished the ice pop, it began eating the spirit fruits Ao Yue had brought.
In the void, Houtu was also deeply moved by Gungun's words.
She knew that apart from being a hundred-million tiny bits lazy, her Gungun was quite good in every other respect. But she had never imagined it valued affection and loy-
[I wonder whether my acting fooled this idiot. It should have worked, right?]
Gungun's thoughts reached Houtu's ears, and the moved expression on her face abruptly froze.
Wh-what was going on? Acting?
[Alas, isn't asking me to join the Demon Race the same as wanting me dead? Do you think I'm you? You can emerge from the War of the Witch and Demon Races unscathed. Eastern Emperor Taiyi will even keep you out of the final battle to protect you. But what about me? Who's going to protect me?]
[I, the great god Gungun, endured a thousand hardships and ten thousand perils, slept through countless days and nights, and ate countless spirit fruits before finally becoming a Great Immortal. I'm still counting on spending my future idling away in the Underworld. You want me to meet my doom in the tribulation? Not a chance!]
Houtu: "..."
Before you continue