Chapter Eight: Leading the Troops Back to the Rescue

Wanxiang Plaza.

Thousands of disciples from the Martial Academy gathered in a dense crowd. The disciples of the Haori Pavilion stood on the high platform alongside the senior deans. However, most of the Haori Pavilion’s disciples were currently stationed abroad; only about ten remained at the academy, among them the newly ascended Grandmaster, Rong Wuchen.

Mao Wangchen stood in the center, looking out over the sea of disciples, his voice resounding with power:

"The situation is critical. At the frontier, General Fan Lin, leading a detachment of the Green Python Army and the reserve forces, is holding the border. By utilizing various siege weapons and puppet soldiers, they have managed to hold the line for now, but they are merely clinging on by a thread..."

"Every region is facing similar attacks from strange demons. While we have yet to lose any cities or suffer a total rout, we cannot spare any forces to reinforce the frontier at this moment!"

"I will spare you the pleasantries. With the situation reaching this point, our Martial Academy must serve as a model! I, along with several deans, will depart for the frontier to repel the demonic plague. It is up to you to pacify the strange demons rampaging within our commandery!"

The high-level officials of the Martial Academy immediately mobilized to support the frontier, while simultaneously gathering the disciples to assign the suppression of the strange demons as mandatory tasks. Disciples belonging to the Qinghe Commandery were sent home to defend their own regions, while those from the Guming Commandery, which had yet to suffer from the demonic plague, were distributed as reinforcements to various teams to assist in the slaughter.

This was a mandatory order issued by the Qingming Martial Academy—a death command. As disciples who had been nurtured by the academy, they were not meant to be cowards in times of crisis. Even if many disciples from the Guming Commandery were reluctant, they had no choice but to act.

"Yandu City..."

Chen Fan sighed softly, unable to suppress his anxiety. However, the White Cloud Dojo was formidable; his master was a Grandmaster of the eighth realm, and few in all of Yandu City could surpass him. Unless the city itself were to fall, the White Cloud Dojo should be one of the safest places in Yandu.

There was no time to lose. The disciples were divided into teams based on their strength and set off to engage the enemy. Thousands of disciples were split into nearly two hundred squads, scattering in all directions.

As a disciple of the Mingyue Pavilion, Chen Fan served as the leader of one such squad, guiding his fellow countrymen from the vicinity of Yandu City back home. His fellow disciples from the White Cloud Dojo, such as Zhang Fan and Chi Liuguang, were in his unit, while others like Yan Lincu were assigned to a different team. His second senior brother, Tao Xilan, shed his usual air of hesitation and led his own squad back to reinforce Yandu City.

Looking at his team, Chen Fan’s gaze was sharp.

"I won't waste words. The demonic plague is ravaging our homes; we must strike them down! As the temporary leader of this squad, I expect you to set aside your status and age—follow my commands completely."

Though he usually prioritized his own interests, he understood the gravity of the situation when faced with enemies of humanity like these demonic beasts.

"Understood!" everyone replied with firm expressions.

Despite his youth, Chen Fan was powerful, and as a disciple of the Mingyue Pavilion, he naturally commanded respect. The Strange Beast Pavilion was fully open, allowing disciples traveling to more distant locations to mount various beasts. For those heading even further, to the true Western Frontier, they could even ride eagle-vulture spirit beasts.

Chen Fan and his team selected their mounts and immediately departed the academy. Chen Fan’s squad traveled alongside four or five other squads heading to Yandu City, including the one led by Tao Xilan. Since the commandery capital was far from the western frontier, it had largely been spared from the demonic plague. The unrest caused by the strange demons was merely intended to hinder reinforcements from reaching the border; it was not enough to shake the foundations of Qinghe Commandery. Rarely did any strange demons manage to break into the cities to wreak havoc; most were eliminated as soon as they showed their faces.

Scarcely had the group left the capital and headed west when they encountered a wave of strange demons. These creatures were of average strength, mostly at the third or fourth realm, with only a few leaders reaching the fifth realm or higher. Although the academy disciples had all undergone the trials of the Wanxiang Void Realm, the gap between illusions and reality was stark, and few had ever witnessed such bloody slaughter. While many were high-spirited and excited, others turned pale, struggling to hold their ground.

These strange demons were less like humans and more akin to ape-demons, though their size was far smaller than true demonic beasts, and their physical strength and vitality were inferior. True demonic beasts were massive; even a fifth-realm ape-demon would stand nearly a zhang tall. In contrast, the strange demons, regardless of their strength, were uniform in size, close to humans and rarely exceeding two meters in height, though their aura and appearance were distinctly different.

"These creatures... they have no intellect, yet they move as if they have a premeditated plan..."

Across the Great Qian Dynasty, the wilderness was vast, yet the fact that so many strange demons could hide without being discovered suggested they were under the command of a unified will.

*Swoosh!*

With a sweep of his blade, Chen Fan—who had been silently cultivating for the past six months—unleashed power that had grown immeasurably. Sword energy surged, and the strange demons were reduced to scattered corpses.

Mixed among the demonic ranks were occasionally one or two true demonic beasts. They were much harder to deal with than the strange demons, but their numbers were few, and they usually remained at the core, appearing to command the lesser creatures.

Within the time it took to finish a cup of tea, Chen Fan and the other squads had wiped out the blocking demons. Their blood was up, yet no one had been injured. Chen Fan did not linger to clean up the aftermath or rest; instead, he lashed his mount and shouted, "Let's move!"

Tao Xilan, on the other side, led his own team in close pursuit. The mounts provided to the academy disciples were faster than any ordinary steed. As they drew closer to the west, the number of strange demons and rampaging beasts increased.

In areas where humans gathered, the outskirts were constantly harassed by monsters. Fortunately, the academy disciples were elites. Killing beasts of the same realm was easy for them, and along the way, Chen Fan’s squads had each already slain over a hundred demons without a single injury.

The disciples were the cream of the crop. While they could not form the specialized battle formations of the Green Python Army, each was a formidable warrior in their own right. Chen Fan’s "Three-Foot Sword," now perfected to the level of minute precision, displayed terrifying suppressive power. None of the beasts or demons they encountered could withstand a single strike from his blade. It was a pity that the monsters they met were generally too weak, rarely exceeding the sixth realm. Even when a sixth-realm beast appeared, it was quickly swarmed and killed by the group, leaving Chen Fan with no opportunity to fully showcase the strength he had cultivated.

After only two hours of travel, the squads arrived at the outskirts of Yandu City. As an ancient capital, Yandu featured towering walls, divided into inner and outer layers, with six or seven gates and highly sophisticated defensive works.

Chen Fan’s group approached from the east. Tao Xilan pulled his mount to a stop and gazed into the distance, his expression complex. "Ahead lies the East Wall of Yandu City."

Though he hadn't returned in years, his knowledge of the city far exceeded Chen Fan’s. Zhang Fan rode forward and said, "The East Wall has three gates in total..."

The squads split up, heading toward their respective gates. Chen Fan parted ways with his second senior brother and headed toward the second gate, hearing the sounds of battle from afar.

As they drew closer, the scent of tar filled the air. The city gates were tightly shut, and rows of ballistae stood atop the battlements. Before the gates, a group of iron-clad soldiers—a mix of ordinary martial artists and Green Python Army regulars—were locked in a brutal fight against the strange demons and beasts.

Arrows rained down from the walls, and the ballistae fired massive bolts into the fray. The ground was stained with blood, and the corpses of demons and beasts were piled high. Even so, the number of strange demons swarming the soldiers remained overwhelming.

Chen Fan swept his sword, carving a bloody path through the outskirts as he led his fellow disciples into the fray.