Silver Wolf General Long Cheng's words echoed throughout the entire battlefield. Not only were they supported by his mental attack, but they were also amplified by several Spirit Warriors who had positioned themselves at key places. Although they weren't actually forming a battle formation, they were making sure that the words reached everyone equally. In fact, Lu Xiaoya immediately noticed a pattern. Those words were not meant for all demons.
Lu Xiaoya's knowledge of religion wasn't very deep. However, she recognized that sentence. To be more precise, she recognized keywords. For example, she knew who the Weaver of Souls was. Only barely, but she did. After all, he was more or less the equivalent of Demon God Da Mo for the demons of the Desolate Sepulcher, the slaves. Most demons in the continent, the current Empyrean Asura Theocracy, had not even heard of him. To be fair, from what she knew, he had been a lieutenant of Demon God Da Mo, who had sided with Emperor Nuwa against the other demons.
Lu Xiaoya wasn't sure how accurate this statement was, and she knew nothing else about the Weaver of Souls. That being said, hearing a human wield his name added credence to those stories.
Unfortunately, Lu Xiaoya could only guess as to the meaning of the 'muddy Blood'. The word 'Blood' was also very strange as it hadn't been pronounced in Nuhua, nor in Moshenhua, but in Antique Sixian. Like most demons, she was able to understand the word, but it felt old and esoteric. It didn't just refer to one's blood and had a deeper meaning.
While most demons were just confused by this sentence, the slaves were all completely stunned. This sentence had an extremely ancient meaning. This was the sentence spoken only by the High Mother of the Sisters of the Abyss during one specific cleansing ritual. The muddy Blood could refer to many things. In fact, the slaves themselves took it in very different ways.
Some slaves felt ashamed as they had preferred to serve as slaves rather than die in horrible agony because of the Slavery Brand. Others felt it was an encouragement to break their chains and purify themselves in the blood of their current masters. A few even saw a vision of the Weaver of Souls blessing them and forgiving them their weakness for submitting to his enemy, Demon God Da Mo.
Although the sentence had a serious impact on the slaves, this wasn't even the main point. As soon as Silver Wolf General Long Cheng spoke, his words traveled throughout the battlefield. With his 'The Moon in the Eye', it entered the sea of consciousness of all slaves and most demons. For demons, it didn't do anything at all. Even though the words were used as a mental attack to penetrate their minds, it wasn't actually an attack.
When it came to the slaves, however, the effects were different. The Slavery Brand used on every slave was the one invented by the late City Lord Sihe. Moreover, most of those slaves had already been positioned close to the border. In other words, they had been there when Cao Yun had come back home. The young man had flown through a few settlements farther from the border before crossing back into the Hongchen Kingdom. At that time, he had sown the seeds for today. Although Cao Yun had not imagined using it in such a manner, he had decided to improvise.
When word reached the Imperial City, Cao Yun altered his plan. He had to act now in order to save the Hongchen Kingdom. As such, he made sure that Silver Wolf General Long Cheng knew how to activate the seals he had placed in most of the slaves near the border. At the same time, Cao Yun had already given his knowledge of City Lord Sihe's Slavery Brand to the Huang family. So they had had time to prepare for this moment, without alerting anyone.
In an instant, thousands upon thousands of Slavery Brands simply dissolved. There was no negative effect on the demons. Even they couldn't believe it. They were finally free. No one could use the Slavery Brand to torture them to death. That being said, it didn't change the fact that the Empyrean Asura Theocracy would kill or torture them to death if they revolted. As such, some slaves were still afraid. They could be slaughtered with or without seals. But Long Cheng's words had also activated Cao Yun's seal.
Most of the slaves felt the intense presence of the Weaver of Souls. They felt shame. They had to buy their dignity back. Besides, they also realized that they were currently in human territory. They weren't in the Empyrean Asura Theocracy. Without seals, the Empyrean Asura actually needed to get to them in order to torment them to death. In other words, they had a path toward defection, finally. But the humans could also kill them. The demon slaves felt trapped between two enemies.
"Followers of the Weaver of Souls, followers of the Wheel Sutra of Buddha Cangjing, reject the evil Impostor Da Mo. Emperor Nuwa's descendants, the allies of the Weaver of Souls, won't persecute you. Break your chains, renounce the butcher. Impostor Da Mo just sacrificed millions of demons through his puppet. Empyrean Asura is weak and perfidious. More demon blood will be spilled under his tyrannical rule. Humans and demons have no reason to slaughter each other.
"Weaver of Souls preached for unity against the tyrant. The Wheel Sutra preaches simplicity and austerity in order to understand the Way. Violence and destruction are far removed from anything taught by Buddha Cangjing."
Despite the chaos of battle, it felt as if time was suspended. Long Cheng's words reached everyone on the battlefield. Of course, the true followers of Empyrean Asura and Demon God Da Mo were horrified by such blasphemy. However, they had just witnessed the weakness of their god as the Staircase to Hell had collapsed. As much as they wanted to blame it all on Empyrean Asura to spare their god, he was the one who had been chosen by Demon God Da Mo. Of course, they weren't aware that he was actually Demon God Da Mo's soul in another body.
Silver Wolf Marshal Shanyin Guan realized how dangerous those words were, because they were absolutely true. Silver Wolf Marshal Shanyin Guan himself literally wanted to heed those words and fight Empyrean Asura. However, he knew that there was no hope. Unfortunately, he couldn't lie to himself anymore. This very day, he had seen that there was hope. Mankind had actually pushed back against Empyrean Asura's attack. An attack he had prepared for decades. Maybe there was hope. But Silver Wolf Marshal Shanyin Guan couldn't believe it.
First of all, if he were mistaken, he wouldn't be the only one to pay the price, his entire Langyin Region would pay for his error. On the other hand, there was something much more personal. Everything he had done for Empyrean Asura would haunt him. Now, he could tell himself that he had no other choice, that he was simply protecting his people. However, if there was a chance to overthrow the tyrant, or worse, if they did overthrow him, then this would expose the truth. Silver Wolf Marshal Shanyin Guan would have to contend with the fact that his atrocities had not been justified. Even now, he was wrestling with those facts.
Among his Six Fangs Generals, doubt was also spreading. Even Mo Qingsong had some doubts. He always trusted his marshal, but he was wondering if Shanyin Guan was not mistaken. Although he was loyal to a fault, Mo Qingsong wasn't a religious zealot. Shanyin Guan was only a man, he could make mistakes. Although his heart was in the right place, it didn't mean that all his actions were good or justified. Maybe being loyal also meant being able to show his superior that he was mistaken...
For a moment, Silver Wolf Marshal Shanyin Guan hesitated. He didn't know if he should attack Silver Wolf General Long Cheng to silence him. But it was too late. While he hesitated, chaos erupted on the battlefield.
Slaves were all under the Accomplished Demon realm. As such, they were only among the ground forces. Even after so many slaves sacrificed against the defensive array formations, as cannon fodder, more than eighty thousand slaves remained. Many were injured and exhausted. Unfortunately for the other demons, Long Cheng's words had galvanized them. The presence of the Weaver of Souls within them also made them much more determined.
Suddenly, most of the slaves turned on the other demons. Like everyone else, they knew who the real followers of Demon God Da Mo were just by the way they were treated. Most female slaves had been abused by other soldiers. Male slaves were also enraged as they hadn't been able to stop any of it, but they were often witnesses. The demon slaves had been treated like animals, and now they had the opportunity to fight back. They didn't hold back at all.
It was an absolute bloodbath. Battle formations collapsed all over the place as former slaves slaughtered their former tormentors. Of course, some demons who were opposed to Demon God Da Mo, and even to slavery, were also caught up in the slaughters and killed as well, but they were a minority.
Now that the lid was off, extreme violence erupted. Even the humans and Long Cheng were shocked. The former slaves seemed to hate the demons much more than the humans. Honestly, many humans imagined that this was what had happened when the humans had revolted. Seeing demons fighting for freedom and against slavery had a huge impact on all humans. They felt even more righteous than before. Some humans who hated all demons realized that their hate was misguided. The problem had always been and still was Demon God Da Mo.
Very quickly, humans began to support the slaves. Their coordination wasn't very good, but the chaos caused among the demons amply accounted for the lack of coordination.
In the air, the Accomplished Demons weren't sure what to do. The ground forces supporting them were in utter chaos. And they couldn't just randomly attack their own battalions. Lu Xiaoya herself wasn't able to formulate a battle plan. Confusion was everywhere. The slaves were mostly within the forces loyal to Demon God Da Mo. Thankfully, those loyal to Silver Wolf Marshal Shanyin Guan were not using slaves. As such, they were still strong, but they were still taken aback by the chaos. Many battle formations had collapsed. It would take time to set them up again. In the meantime, humans and former slaves were slaughtering throughout the battlefield.
After an initial period of shock, Lu Xiaoya finally saw a way. Many demons would be lost, but she coordinated the Six Fangs Generals and was already positioning their forces in order to fight back. Right now, they had to retreat a little and consolidate an area they could defend until they were able to go back on the offensive.
As she was formulating her plans, Lu Xiaoya asked Silver Wolf Marshal Shanyin Guan for help. This was the first time in this battle that she actually needed his help, as she wasn't enough to deal with the current situation. However, he didn't answer.
Silver Wolf Marshal Shanyin Guan was in doubt. He could see what Lu Xiaoya was doing. There was merit to her strategy, and yes, it could allow the demons to win. However, more than two-thirds of the demons loyal to Silver Wolf Marshal Shanyin Guan would die, and almost all other demons would be slaughtered too. Moreover, humans could have other surprises. Even if everything went according to Lu Xiaoya's predictions, victory would be too bitter.
Knowing full well the consequences of defeat, Silver Wolf Marshal Shanyin Guan made a terribly difficult decision.
"Retreat!"
One single word sealed the entire battle. Lu Xiaoya didn't even question her marshal. This decision was the right one. But she didn't have the authority to take it herself. If she had been in charge, she would have retreated, too. She was thankful that her marshal didn't try to win by any means. However, she was also afraid of the consequences with Empyrean Asura. Right now, they had to think about the present. Lu Xiaoya had to make sure that as many demons survived the retreat as possible.
As she was making plans for the retreat, she realized something else. If she thought about the future, it would be a blessing if fewer demons loyal to Demon God Da Mo actually survived this battle. Not only would this reduce their potential enemies, but it would also weaken Empyrean Asura. Empyrean Asura would have lost his Staircase to Hell and most of the men he had sent to the battlefield. In fact, they could mostly blame everything on Empyrean Asura. After all, their defeat was caused by the presence of too many slaves who had just been freed and hated him more than they feared him.
Almost a third of the army consisted of slaves. This really wasn't a good thing, everyone knew it. But Empyrean Asura didn't care, as he didn't want to risk too many of his men. In this battle, Lu Xiaoya was aware that Empyrean Asura was also hoping to weaken Silver Wolf Marshal Shanyin Guan by sending many of his men to their deaths. In reality, the opposite was happening.
Indeed, the humans and former slaves were mainly targeting Empyrean Asura's forces. Lu Xiaoya was aware that retreating would be easier if they just abandoned them. As such, Lu Xiaoya focused on saving the Silver Wolf Marshal's men and those loyal to him. Although she had received no explicit order, she went with it. In the end, Silver Wolf Marshal Shanyin Guan could shift the blame onto her, as he really wasn't aware of this decision. She was ready to accept any punishment as she was certain it was for the good of her marshal.
As she had imagined, the humans didn't chase Silver Wolf Marshal Shanyin Guan's forces beyond the border. On the other hand, many other groups of demons were surrounded. No demon was taken prisoner. Even if the humans wanted to, the former slaves were hell-bent on revenge.