CHAPTER 133 - CONVERTING MORE DEVOTEES

With its imposing physique, powerful muscles, six eyes, and six arms, the mutated Tigerman was a truly daunting opponent. It easily overcame the other Tigermen, subduing them with brute force. Before long, all the Tigermen who had attacked them lay sprawled on the ground, growling in agonizing pain.

The village chief alone remained untouched. The mutated Tigerman had not forgotten the chief’s past kindness in feeding it, and so, out of respect and gratitude, decided to leave him unharmed. The old village chief cast a fearful glance at the defeated Tigermen, a wave of regret washing over him for having so hastily denounced Han Wu as an Evil God.

This situation was, by all rights, a matter solely between my God and the captive; I should have simply allowed my God to handle the situation. Furthermore, I am already old and practically at death’s door—there was absolutely no logical reason for me to have risked my life in such a manner.

“Oh great God, I beg your forgiveness for my impudence. From this day forward, I promise to worship you without fail, every day and every week of my life,” it pleaded to Han Wu.

Han Wu paid no mind to the village chief’s frantic pleas, instead focusing on the thin strand of faith that he felt entering his body. With it, he had secured yet another new believer.

Han Wu chose to forgive the village chief, but in return, he gave a clear instruction: the chief was to inform every single Tigerman of Han Wu’s greatness and ideally convert everyone in the village into his believer. This was crucial, as Han Wu was virtually out of Divine Points at that point.

A sense of relief washed over the Tigerman village chief upon receiving Han Wu’s instructions; at least death was no longer an immediate concern. However, a lingering fear that Han Wu might renege on his word spurred it to action. It promptly sprinted back to the village, immediately beginning to recount tales of Han Wu’s formidable power. Its account was corroborated by the other Tigermen, who had personally experienced defeat by the mutated one.

The small village saw the emergence of several more individuals who now worshipped Han Wu. As for Han Wu himself, he led the mutated Tigerman away from the village and began traveling in the direction of the temple that the village chief had previously mentioned.

To the Tigermen, the temple was a sacred place, believed to be the very place their God manifested and the ancestral origin of all Tigermen. However, Han Wu was armed with the knowledge of the Divine Civilization and the experience of having his own divine realm. The temple was, in all likelihood, the very location where Hu Hai had concealed his Core.

It didn’t take long for Han Wu to realize the significant inconvenience of traveling alongside the mutated Tigerman. Their differing appearances—his humanoid form contrasting sharply with the Tigerman’s six eyes and six arms—meant they drew a considerable amount of unwanted attention everywhere they went. Faced with this obstacle, Han Wu was compelled to devise a different method for infiltrating the temple and destroying the Core.

With his loyal mutant Tigerman at his side, Han Wu continued to formulate plans as they traveled. They made wide detours around any villages they came across, carefully avoiding detection by other Tigermen to keep Hu Hai completely unaware of their activities. The thought of Hu Hai discovering his escape weighed heavily on his mind.

If Hu Hai were to discover their activities, Han Wu would instantly lose all hope of escaping, and it would be game over. This was, after all, Hu Hai’s divine realm, and as the undisputed God of this land, he was utterly unstoppable.

Despite Han Wu’s best attempts to steer clear of the Tigermen, he couldn’t escape detection entirely. While navigating a mountainous area, they were unexpectedly spotted by a band of Tigermen bandits.

The bandit leader, who was himself a Heroic life form, attempted to capture both Han Wu and the mutated Tigerman, intending to sell them to a circus for profit. Regrettably for the bandit leader, its power paled in comparison to that of Han Wu and the mutated Tigerman.

With ease, they overwhelmed the bandits, leaving their leader with several broken teeth. The humbled leader immediately groveled on the ground, desperately pleading for mercy and pledging to serve Han Wu as a slave, vowing never to defy him again.

As the bandit leader desperately pleaded for its life, Han Wu felt a thin strand of Faith connect to his body. Needing more followers, Han Wu reluctantly agreed to accept the leader as his subordinate.

Seeing that their leader had been spared, the other bandits also began to plead for mercy. With each plea, more strands of Faith streamed into Han Wu’s body. Seizing the opportunity, he decided to claim the place as his territory, transforming the entire bandit squad into his devoted followers.

Han Wu showcased his Gene Recombination ability, which only intensified their fervent worship. To them, strength was paramount; they would readily declare anyone their master if that person could enhance their power. For them, worshipping a new God and converting their faith was an insignificant price to pay for such a tangible gain.

Having spent two realm days empowering every bandit, Han Wu then gave them their mission: kidnap as many Tigermen as they could from the surrounding villages. The bandit leader, now significantly more powerful thanks to Han Wu’s skill, led his subordinates down the mountain, successfully capturing a large number of Tigermen from the villages.

Han Wu proceeded to showcase his abilities to the captured Tigermen, yet only a portion of them chose to convert and become his believers. Many of the captives maintained their fervent devotion to Hu Hai. Since he couldn’t afford to waste time on the stubborn ones, he used them as components to bolster the strength of his own Tigermen.

He carried out his plan, steadily accumulating a growing number of believers. Being in a humanoid form, he couldn’t approach the Tigermen’s temple, much less infiltrate it to locate Hu Hai’s Core. Fortunately, his Tigermen subordinates were perfectly suited for such an infiltration.

In this divine realm, where personal strength was paramount, the temple consistently sought out and recruited exceptionally powerful Tigermen. Han Wu devised a plan to have one of his subordinates infiltrate the temple, thereby saving himself a considerable amount of effort and trouble.

He selected several physically fit Tigermen and significantly increased their strength before instructing them to find a way to infiltrate the temple. His strategy was relentless: if one failed, he would send ten, and if ten couldn’t succeed, he would send a hundred more!

It took Han Wu a considerable amount of time, but at last, one of his Tigermen subordinates achieved the necessary strength to pass the temple’s trials and gain entry. With his subordinate inside, Han Wu began discreetly communicating with it, carefully directing its movements in the search for Hu Hai’s Core.

Despite a thorough search of the temple, the Tigerman found nothing that matched Han Wu’s description. Hearing this, Han Wu frowned.

The Core isn’t in the temple? Then where is it? Don’t tell me it’s buried deep underground!

With his plan still in motion, Han Wu deployed more Tigermen to comb the divine realm for the Core. This widespread search, however, didn’t go unnoticed and soon attracted the attention of a powerful Tigerman General, a highly renowned individual within the Tigermen Kingdom.

Determined to eradicate the poisonous tumour that was the bandit village, it rallied its own troops and began its advance towards the bandit stronghold.