Chapter 15: Advancement

Standing before the many disciples of the martial academy were several experts of Grandmaster rank.

Among them was Rong Wuchen, the newly advanced Grandmaster from the academy’s Bright Sun Tower.

A blood-soaked man in armor stood among the Grandmasters. Pointing to a specially crafted enormous map, he said, “The Demon King has been defeated. Though these surviving demon beasts are numerous, their strength is limited, and few dare attack human cities directly. Judging from their movements, most of them have already hidden themselves in Mount Perched Cloud. Your task is to set out from Empty Boat Town and advance westward step by step, pushing toward Mount Perched Cloud and slaughtering the demon beasts along the way!”

“Of course, do not advance recklessly, and do not allow yourselves to become separated. There are still powerful demon leaders among these beasts—some above the seventh rank. If they stake everything on a counterattack, none of us could withstand them alone. Is that understood?”

The disciples answered in unison, “Understood!”

“Good! Move out!”

At the same time, the dozens of frontier cities and strongholds had also gathered the warriors from across the entire commandery. They began advancing inward, encircling and exterminating the demon beasts that had invaded the territory of the Great Qian Empire within a broad perimeter around Mount Perched Cloud.

There were demon beasts in the wilderness of Great Qian as well, but their numbers were limited and they posed no real threat.

The beasts from the Western Wasteland were entirely different. Their invasion was organized and deliberate, making them far more dangerous. Naturally, they had to be wiped out completely.

…

During those days, Chen Fan witnessed far too many injuries and deaths, far too much bloodshed.

All his anguish had transformed into murderous hatred toward the demon beasts.

The demon beasts were now hiding in the wilderness without the Demon King to command them, leaving the initiative entirely in human hands.

Following their assigned routes, Chen Fan and the other martial academy disciples advanced step by step, slowly pushing forward while slaughtering every demon beast they encountered.

Different disciples were responsible for advancing in different directions. Although Chen Fan had not taken part in the Myriad Forms Void Realm examination again, causing his ranking there to fall rather than rise, he had already become one of the strongest figures below the seventh realm. His speed in killing demon beasts was astonishing.

They were still on the outer perimeter, where most of the demon beasts possessed only third- or fourth-rank strength.

Chen Fan also maintained a clear understanding of his own abilities. He knew that powerful individuals existed among the demon beasts and refused to advance recklessly even by half a step.

He never ventured deep into the battle line. Once he had completed his own assignment, he slowly cleared out any stragglers near the perimeter or went to aid disciples in other areas.

Whenever the disciples had advanced a certain distance as a whole, they established a small stronghold. After resting and regrouping, they continued onward.

Five or six such strongholds had been established within the area radiating out from Empty Boat Town.

The strongest warrior at the stronghold where Chen Fan was stationed was his senior fellow disciple Rong Wuchen, who had broken through to the Grandmaster realm at Clear Radiance Pool only a few months earlier.

Before his breakthrough, he had already been one of the foremost prodigies of Moonlight Tower. Though he had only recently become a Grandmaster, he was already capable of dealing with demon beasts of the same rank.

He was not as formidable as Lin Tiandu, whom Chen Fan had encountered before, but his strength was still extremely powerful.

At the same time, the major cities and towns along the frontier were carrying out the same operation.

As time passed, the demon-hunting forces from the various strongholds gradually reached the foot of Mount Perched Cloud.

On the plains below the mountain, Chen Fan had just finished clearing the demon beasts along his own battle line.

He was pondering a newly created area-of-effect sword technique when he suddenly saw a plume of blue smoke rise into the sky on the northern horizon.

“A distress signal!”

The warriors hunting the demon beasts carried signal flares that could be launched with true essence. They came in four colors.

Blue signified a request for aid and represented the lowest degree of danger.

Yellow was a warning, indicating that sixth-rank demon beasts had appeared and that a certain level of danger was present.

Red meant that demon beasts above the seventh rank had appeared, or that the situation was extremely dangerous.

There was also green, which signified that the danger had been resolved and no one needed to come.

Over the past several days, Chen Fan had seen distress signals more than once. He had encountered blue and yellow signals several times, but had yet to see a red one.

Therefore, he did not think much of the blue signal and immediately set off.

The plains were flat, with relatively few trees to provide cover. Even without wasting true essence on Thunder Flash or Thunderstep, Chen Fan’s unified-realm movement technique carried him forward at an astonishing speed.

From a distance, he saw several demon beasts battling a few disciples. Among them were several towering wolf demons, each nearly ten feet tall. Their imposing and ferocious presence marked them as at least fifth-rank demon beasts.

Yet under the attacks of the academy disciples, they were already wounded, blood pouring from their bodies.

Chen Fan transformed into a streak of lightning and arrived in an instant. The black sword in his hand swept out horizontally.

The fifth-rank demon beasts that had been locked in fierce combat with the disciples were struck by his razor-sharp sword light. One after another, they fell dead.

Having killed so many demon beasts during these days, Chen Fan had gained a deeper understanding of them.

Generally speaking, a demon beast’s rank could be estimated from its size.

Take wolf demons, for example. Those that grew to around ten feet tall—slightly higher than a single-story building—were usually demon beasts of the sixth rank or above.

Bipedal beasts, such as bear demons and ape demons, were even taller, sometimes approaching twenty feet.

Demon beasts above the seventh rank were generally thirty or forty feet tall, if not more.

Of course, size could not serve as a definitive measure of a demon beast’s rank. There were countless special exceptions, and the difference in size between demon beasts of the same rank but different species could be terrifyingly large. Some particularly unusual demon beasts were very small.

Some even possessed special innate abilities that allowed them to alter their size.

Still, Chen Fan understood one thing clearly: a powerful demon beast was not necessarily large, but a large demon beast was certainly powerful.

Once the fifth-rank demon beasts were dead, the remaining lesser beasts were quickly divided up and dispatched by the others.

“Thank you, Junior Brother Chen Fan!”

The few disciples finally relaxed. Those who recognized Chen Fan immediately stepped forward to offer their thanks.

Chen Fan cupped his hands. “You are too kind.”

To Chen Fan, slaughtering demon beasts during these days was far easier than dealing with the threat of the aberrant demons several days earlier.

Back then, he had encountered quite a few creatures above the sixth rank and even faced a seventh-rank demon. Yet none of those situations had forced him to use a talisman treasure. Now, he moved with effortless confidence.

The few disciples were all seriously wounded. Chen Fan had already completed his assignment for the day, so he simply accompanied them and escorted them back to the stronghold.

Beyond the plains lay the banks of the Clear Spirit River. The roar of its swift waters could be heard from far away.

Not far from the riverbank stood a solitary, towering bronze statue.

The statue was at least a hundred feet tall. It depicted a man raising a sword in his hand and thrusting it straight into the heavens.

Majestic and imposing, it seemed to portray a famed and powerful warrior from Clear River Commandery.

Chen Fan stopped. His gaze swept over the bronze statue, lingering on it for a few moments before turning toward the distant sound of the surging river.

“We are so close to the Clear Spirit River. What do you think… could those demon beasts use the river to conceal themselves and circle around behind us?”

One of the disciples answered with a laugh, “You can set your mind at ease, Junior Brother Chen Fan. Most of the demon beasts from the Western Wasteland are hiding within the Mount Perched Cloud range. The land all the way downstream along the Clear Spirit River is flat. For the beasts to enter the river, they would first have to come down from the mountains—and at present, the foothills around Mount Perched Cloud are filled with human warriors. Any demon beast that dared come out would only be seeking death.”

“Besides, land-dwelling demon beasts are far weaker in water. The current also flows outward toward the Western Wasteland. If they entered the river… they would merely become targets for us.”

Chen Fan nodded slightly.

If even he could think of such a possibility, then the people at the top had surely considered it long ago and made the necessary arrangements.

However, once demon beasts reached the sixth rank, their intelligence was no lower than that of humans.

And demon beasts above the seventh rank possessed all kinds of unfathomable abilities.

Although exterminating the demon beasts had gone relatively smoothly over the past few days, Chen Fan still did not dare lower his guard in the slightest.

He had also noticed that the number of wounded warriors at the stronghold had been steadily increasing.

Chen Fan understood that they had already drawn close to Mount Perched Cloud, where large numbers of demon beasts were concealed. From this point onward, they would encounter more demon beasts—and stronger ones at that.

Moreover, the rainy season was about to begin. The difficulty of exterminating the demon beasts would increase sharply.