Vanguard for a King

Zhu Jianhao's eyes dimmed, losing focus, and with a thud, he collapsed backward onto the ground. Under the cover of night, battle cries shook the heavens deep within the vast plain, yet on this battlefield outside Huai'an Town, a brief silence fell. Qin Ming stood motionless in the center like a mountain, exuding a presence so oppressive that none of the demons could breathe. Tong, who had been cleaved in half at the waist, glared with eyes nearly tearing at the corners. Cultivating a purely immortal path, his breath was not yet entirely extinguished, and his dim spiritual light of consciousness was about to surge forth. A dazzling arc of saber light flashed, the gleam in his eyes vanished, and he perished completely. Qin Ming's white robes were soaked in red. He stood before the front lines with the serene majesty of an immovable mountain and a deep pool, the mutton-fat jade iron saber in his hand dripping blood. The demon camp fell dead silent, feeling utterly suffocated. Renowned demon sword immortals like Tong and Zhu Jianhao had joined forces, only to be slain. If word of this reached the demon race, it would inevitably send shockwaves through their ranks. One side's hero was another's mortal enemy! Undoubtedly, in the eyes of the demon race, everything that had just occurred was tragic and heroic. Their young paragons had given their all, yet remained no match for him. In a mere instant, four heavenly demon seeds had fallen in battle. Some demons roared, gripping their weapons tightly, while several young demons, their eyes bloodshot, charged straight forward. Yet the battlefield was merciless, never bending to anyone's grief or fury. Amid wet squelches, blood sprayed continuously as the youth in white swung his jade iron saber, demon heads sent flying one after another. "Kill!" Behind him, the people of Yezhou felt their blood surge. From different perspectives, with demons invading, Qin Ming's feat of turning the tide and slaying the enemy's demon sword immortals made him a hero. Luo Jingxiao, along with the awakened single-tusked white elephant and other experts, led troops back onto the battlefield, cutting a bloody swath toward the demons. Qin Ming went all out, bathed in demon blood, sweeping across the ranks with the force of an unstoppable army. He slew demon after demon, clearing a vast swathe of the battlefield. Even if the demon race feared no death, in a hopeless fight, their fighting spirit would ultimately be ground away. The demons in this sector were seized with helplessness. Any demon who clashed with the youth in white, no matter how many joined the siege, could achieve nothing and merely threw their lives away. All around Qin Ming, corpses littered the ground. Wave after wave of demons swarmed him, only to fall dead at his feet until their bodies formed a tall mound. The demon camp collapsed. In their hearts, the legendary "upright demon ape king" was now fully personified, bearing the very image of Qin Ming. "Flee!" The demons broke into a full rout. Facing an invincible adversary, no amount of stubborn pride could save them; they could hold on no longer. "Kill!" The people of Huai'an Town had suffered long under the demons, losing several immortal seeds and divine seeds. How could they not burn with sorrow and indignation? Naturally, they pressed their advantage in hot pursuit. The demons fled in disarray, leaving corpse after corpse strewn across the plain amidst devastating losses. Only when the battle cries faded completely did quiet return to the area. Supporting one another, many returned from the horizon with profound satisfaction. The stalemates across several towns—including Huai'an Town and Taihe Town—were thoroughly shattered, and the demons across this expanse had been completely routed. Qin Ming prepared to refine the wondrous blood of the four heavenly demon seeds, which, together with the golden tiger bone, translucent rhino horn, and other treasures he had previously accumulated, constituted an immense harvest. He took a brief respite here to convert these precious medicines into true strength as quickly as possible. Qin Ming said, "Everyone, Tong and the porcupine both reverted to their true forms and even plucked out their own feathers and quills. Don't let them go to waste—they are exceptional tonics." Beings capable of producing wondrous blood naturally possessed extraordinary flesh. Earlier on his journey, Qin Ming had left far too much behind because he simply couldn't carry it all; now, giving away these spoils of battle served as an easy gesture of goodwill. Instantly, many people's eyes ignited with excitement. The corpses of heavenly demon seeds were practically equivalent to precious medicines. "Many thanks for your reinforcement, Brother Qin. Otherwise, once those two newly arrived demon sword immortals made their move, our line would have surely collapsed." Many stepped forward, offering heartfelt thanks. "Brother Qin essentially saved all our lives," an elder remarked. A young man came forward and solemnly pledged, "Brother Qin, I hail from the Wu Family of the outer yang land. Though not a top-tier clan, if you ever need anything in the future, send word to me and I will assist you to the best of my ability." "Brother Qin, I am from the esoteric sect..." Many stepped forward to leave their names, brimming with enthusiasm. Some were genuinely grateful, while others had witnessed Qin Ming's terrifying display and knew that if he continued to grow unhindered, his future would be boundless. "Qin... Qin Ming, I apologize for before!" Luo Jingxiao, covered in wounds, stepped forward as well, sounding somewhat awkward speaking those words. Qin Ming nodded. "You did well too. Daring to come here alone to cross swords and reinforce this place makes you worthy of being called an immortal seed." "Qin Ming, thank you!" Zi Lin stood gracefully, her silken purple hair cascading down to her waist, even her irises a deep shade of purple. Holding a distinguished status among the Purple Lightning Beasts, she now supported her cousin forward to express her gratitude. Qin Ming smiled and nodded. "No need to be polite. We are old acquaintances after all. Even if there were some misunderstandings, we still fought side by side once." Her cousin, Zi Xiao, was quite surprised. "You two were already acquainted, and you even fought enemies together? Cousin, I never heard you mention this before. To think you kept it from us!" Zi Lin, who had been thanking him with a sincere smile, froze slightly. Thinking back to back then—it hadn't even been a year yet—she had indeed taken part in the battle, but... as a mount! She would rather die than ever bring up that dark history again. Yet Zi Xiao kept prying, forcing her to maintain a polite smile while clenching her delicate fingers until her knuckles turned pale. Only because he was her cousin did she endure it; had anyone else been so tactlessly inquisitive, she would have smashed them with her purple lightning hammer. Before long, Qin Ming's surroundings quieted down. No one disturbed him further, seeing that he was refining wondrous medicine to enhance his cultivation. Fighting his way here from two hundred li away, Qin Ming had pushed forward without pause. Then, slaying demon sword immortals in succession and pursuing the demon army had left him exhausted and severely drained. Yet such high-intensity marches and slaughter were precisely the best conditions for extracting and absorbing the essence of precious medicines. His entire body glowed as his cultivation advanced strand by strand, wisp by wisp, allowing him to perceive the steady elevation. He frowned slightly. As expected, blood medicines of this type, even if not from the same race, saw diminishing returns once too many were refined. However, a sheer abundance of quantity made up for it: he successfully broke into the second tier of the spirit field, and even reached its late stage. An ordinary genius would need at least ten years of arduous cultivation to reach this step, yet over the course of a single grand battle, Qin Ming had swiftly achieved it. Qin Ming knew this feat could not be replicated. How much medicine had he harvested? Twenty-two varieties already! And what were the sources of these precious medicines? Either heavenly demon seeds, direct descendants of sixth-realm ancestral masters, or wondrous demons born in exceedingly rare environments. Only in such large-scale bloody battles could one encounter so many. Furthermore, besides him, how many could possibly slay so many heavenly demon seeds? Under normal circumstances, the death of even one such extraordinary creature would cause an uproar. Qin Ming took a brief inventory of his spoils. There were very few secret manuals; though the foes he had slain were remarkable, they all knew they were entering a life-and-death battlefield, so hardly anyone carried authentic scriptures on their person. What he gained the most were healing medicines, so many that he felt he could never use them all in the third realm. Qin Ming lowered his head to wipe the blade. Even though it was forged from mutton-fat jade iron, numerous notches had appeared, along with a web of fine hairline cracks. "Such opportunities are rare; I must keep hunting!" He rose. Having resolved the crisis here, he bid farewell to everyone and once again vanished into the night across the vast plain. In the distance, the battle raged on. Both races had bottled up their grudges for over four hundred years; were they trying to expend all their elites in a single fight? Qin Ming's heart sank, for he knew that the ancestral master battlefield held the true key. The human side in Yezhou consisted entirely of "formidable ancestral masters," yet even now, a victor had not emerged? A haze settled over his heart. The outcome of this grand war was utterly unpredictable. He thought of the silver war beasts and similar entities; they were not traditional demons, yet had entered the fray. Without question, the demons had enlisted numerous helpers. This campaign was proving exceptionally arduous. Qin Ming advanced with saber raised. Crossing a sector of the battlefield, he caught wind of grim news: the "young sect master" of the Yuqing Sect had fallen. He ran into Lu Yuzhi, someone he had nearly followed to the Yuqing Sect back then. A top-tier variant person, she also held the complete heritage of the esoteric sect and cultivated at the Yuqing ancestral court, advancing along dual paths. She was also a direct lineage member of the millennia-old Lu Family. "I never imagined your cultivation would surpass mine now. Thank you for resolving my crisis," Lu Yuzhi said, a complex expression gracing her attractive face. Then she let out another sigh; from afar, she had witnessed the fourth-realm young sect master fall in battle. "Senior Sister Lu, you are heavily injured. You should leave the battlefield at once," Qin Ming said. "Mm!" Lu Yuzhi thanked him and departed with her companions. "What? The Sky Shaker of the Qingtian Sect has fallen?" When Qin Ming heard this news, he was thoroughly shaken. Only those who had mastered the Three Imperials force very early on received such special titles; the Sky Shaker of the Qingtian Sect and the Golden Body Nirvana practitioner of the Rulai Sect belonged to this category. Looking across the Newborn path, anyone bearing such a title was bound to be a sect's most outstanding disciple. Qin Ming drew a sharp breath. For even someone like that to fall, the battle was truly bloody to the extreme. Soon after, he encountered members of the Five Elements Palace. Naturally, he went all out to rescue them; out of regard for Jin Yuan's care toward him, he had to see these people through to safety. "This time, we ran into a young golden behemoth!" The Five Elements Palace disciples were in dire straits. Even joining hands with esoteric sect cultivators, their formation had been torn apart and scattered by the beast. Golden behemoths were far more terrifying than silver war beasts; once mature, they were guaranteed to reach the mid fifth realm—the grandmaster level. After escorting the Five Elements Palace cultivators out of danger, Qin Ming charged back in. Unfortunately, the youth whom the golden behemoth had transformed into was exceedingly cautious. After bursting forth with power in one spot, he promptly cloaked his presence and fled into the distance, clearly avoiding unnecessary risk. The demons and their allies were suffering heavy casualties as well; several old demons had gone mad, roaring in the distance. "Many thanks, Brother Qin. I am from the Tang Family of the Esoteric Sect's Immortal Hall." Along the way, Qin Ming lent a hand in passing, rescuing a group of Yezhou cultivators. This group wore sorrowful expressions. A divine seed from their Immortal Hall had fallen in battle—a formidable figure whom their Tang Family had heavily nurtured. "Tang Yutian..." Qin Ming fell into a brief daze. This divine seed, like Su Shiyun and Xue Yunzheng, had once received special favor and been permitted to harvest otherworldly spiritual substances from the celestial medicine fields. He departed. Soon after, he ran into cultivators from the Six Imperials ancestral court and rescued the two variants, Zhuo Ya and Cao Wuji. However, Zhuo Ya could not pull through; already at the end of her tether, her spiritual field had collapsed. Qin Ming had once undergone the trials of the Six Imperials ancestral court alongside them at the world's edge. Zhuo Ya was also Yu Zhuohan's cousin, yet now she had died right before his eyes. His face hardened. He had no idea how many familiar faces would vanish forever once this war ended. At first, it was casualties among acquaintances like Lu Zhenyi and Chen Bingyan, but later, even top immortal seeds like Su Shiyun had fallen. Every path across the western front was suffering horrific losses. Qin Ming's heart kept sinking. He grew worried for Li Qingyue, Wu Yaozu, and the others. He had thought they possessed enough strength to protect themselves, but now that seemed far from certain. Bloodstained yellow leaves drifted through the night sky. He felt a biting chill in this late autumn; death was everywhere, and some familiar faces might never be seen again. Shortly after, his pupils contracted. He spotted Chu Pianran, who had awakened from an ancient immortal sanctuary; her sword qi surged across the field as she cut down a fourth-realm old demon lurking in the demon ranks. Qin Ming was deeply stirred. This woman was indeed extraordinarily formidable. At the same time, he realized that old monsters from both camps were seeking to strangle the opposing side's seeds. An intense foreboding permeated the entire region. Qin Ming withdrew, swiftly changing out of his bloodstained white robe, and adopted a much lower profile. In the distance, disciples of a major esoteric sect faction—the Heavenly God Palace—roared in grief. Their strongest divine seed, who stood equal in fame to Cheng Sheng and Zhao Qingcheng, had fallen. Not long after, the demon camp descended into wild commotion. Several old demons flew into a frenzy; an absolute top-tier heavenly demon seed on their side had been slain. "A heavenly demon seed on par with the Jade Emperor was decapitated by a senior predecessor from our immortal path!" Such news spread among the Yezhou cultivators. Clearly, the immortal path was retaliating. Su Shiyun had been murdered by an old demon, and now the immortal path had successfully hunted down one of their prized jewels. "Brother, thank you for the rescue! I am from the Qian Family of Falling Moon City. You should conceal yourself quickly—old monsters are hunting down immortal seeds in secret!" Along the way, Qin Ming saved several more experts driven to the brink. One warned him that the atmosphere was turning increasingly perilous, cautioning him against standing out too much. Qin Ming nodded. He suspected that the ancestral master battlefield might be at an impasse, driving both factions into a frantic push to cull the other's future ancestral figures by targeting their seeds. Sure enough, before long, an old monster tore across his sector, projecting spiritual light of consciousness as if hunting someone down. Boom! In the distance, Jiang Ran cut down an exceptionally formidable fourth-realm great demon. In an instant, several old demons appeared, charging toward her. Yet on the human side, even more old fellows suddenly surged forth, directly surrounding and hunting them down. Qin Ming's pupils shrank. He murmured, "A chaotic free-for-all... Is everything about to unravel? It feels like neither side can sustain such losses." He grew increasingly cautious. In truth, seeds from both factions no longer dared to show themselves openly. A quarter of an hour later, a long wail echoed from the demon camp: a "phoenix scion" of exceptionally high standing from Fire Phoenix Mountain had been strangled and killed by an old fellow from humanity. Instantly, soaring flames engulfed that sector. A great grandmaster-tier heavenly phoenix emerged, beside itself with rage, bent on bloody vengeance. Rumble! Lightning flashed and thunder crashed. Many of its feathers were blasted away as two blood-drenched human great grandmasters moved to hunt it down—one an old monster of the ghost path, the other an expert from a perilous land. "It's over. The entire Plain of Divine Demise is about to turn into complete chaos," Qin Ming muttered, sensing catastrophe looming. There was no longer any safe ground. Moreover, at this very moment, his scalp suddenly tingled, and the hairs all over his body stood on end. A suffocating dread seized his heart as though doom were imminent. Had an old monster set its sights on him? Keeping his composure, Qin Ming blended into the crowd, unable to locate the source of the danger. In the end, danger truly manifested. Silent at first, it then erupted with earth-shattering fury as the dense clouds hanging over this battlefield blew apart in an instant, utterly obliterated. This strike was not aimed at a single person, but targeted the densely packed masses below. Qin Ming saw a silver spear flying from the direction of the demon camp, enveloped in dense demonic script. It expanded rapidly, shaking both heaven and earth in its flight. From Yezhou's side, a nine-colored sword appeared, cleaving through the pitch-black vault of heaven with boundless order patterns, as though transcending the shackles of time and space. "The gods... have appeared!" a grandmaster's voice trembled, speaking the truth. Qin Ming finally understood the source of his palpitations. The descent of gods was like a natural disaster; how could someone of his modest stature withstand it? No one knew whether the demon god had struck first or Yezhou's mighty being had initiated the assault; both strikes were aimed at wiping out the opposing camp's vast host of cultivators. The two weapons clashed in the night sky. The brilliance was so blinding that many could not look directly without their eyes bleeding; it was a titanic clash of divine-grade power. Qin Ming wondered if he would simply be erased on the spot. Regardless, he immediately took measures to protect himself, employing earth escape techniques to dive madly into the depths beneath the great plain. The aftershocks of the collision between the two weapons were catastrophic, sufficient to shock numerous mid- and low-tier cultivators nearby to death. At the crucial moment, both sides took action. Giant hands reached out from two different directions in the night sky, their surging divine radiance shielding the world from the blinding light and endless runes unleashed by the two weapons. Even so, many on the ground fell, gasping for air, having been so suppressed moments ago that they felt nearly smothered. Figures on the ancestral master battlefield intervened as well, offering up exotic treasures; someone even seemed intent on slaying a god! "Retreat!" An ancestral master spoke, ordering everyone on Yezhou's side to fall back. Across the divide, the demon god spoke in person, ordering their army to pull back. Qin Ming returned to the surface and, blending into the crowd, swiftly retreated to the rear, heading back toward the boundary line. He knew that the massive crisis had not been resolved; if anything, it might have escalated to its peak. With gods appearing, old monsters of that level were now being forced into the field. Whether both sides were preparing for a final blow or moving toward a truce with mutual withdrawal was impossible to tell. On the ancestral master battlefield, the clash of sixth-realm powerhouses had also halted. Bloody mist surged there, staining the heavens red—a crimson hue that lingered without dissipating, leaving the true casualties among the ancestral masters unknown. As some ancestral masters—such as Leng Mingkong, Helian Chengyun, and Qingtian—surfaced from the blood-red clouds, hearts sank. Many ancestral masters were missing! Had those individuals fallen in battle, or had they withdrawn after suffering severe wounds? If the former, the losses of this campaign were unimaginable. On the human side, white immortal mist churned, and a colossal figure revealed part of its outline, showing distinctly non-human traits—likely the form of an ancestral master who had attained godhood. At this moment, he spoke: "You are forced to act as the vanguard for a king, seeking to test Yujing's depth and reality? That is a consequence you cannot bear." With this single sentence, a chill ran down the spines of countless cultivators on both sides. On the human side, everyone's heart plummeted. Acting as vanguard for a king—did that mean the true mastermind was still hiding behind the scenes, having yet to show itself? If so, was there any hope of survival for Yezhou? Cultivators of all ranks among the demon race were in disbelief. Powerful as they were, could they truly be used by another civilization, driven forward to attack humanity? Such words nearly shattered the composure of several great demons who took immense pride in their splendid demon civilization; they found it impossible to accept. Immediately, many demons turned their gazes toward the sixth-realm old monsters, then toward the demon god cloaked in clouds and mist, seeking to confirm whether this was true. Yet the demon leadership fell into a brief silence. This silence spoke volumes. At last, the demon god spoke: "It can hardly be called being driven. It is merely ordinary cooperation. No matter how powerful a civilization may be, it cannot enslave our demon race." Surging with white immortal mist, Yezhou's divine being spoke: "Even they do not dare to come themselves, so why must your demon race wade into these muddy waters? This territory is not to be tested, and Yujing is not to be provoked!" He laid these secrets out in the open, allowing everyone to hear them with crystalline clarity. Qin Ming was thoroughly astonished, his heart anything but calm. Someone stood behind the terrifying demon race—truly chilling! Instantly, dissatisfaction rippled through many in the demon camp. Why should they obey the orders of another civilization? Their demon civilization was magnificent; were they to become a mere vassal? The demon god had no choice but to speak, and did so with remarkable candor: "To be frank, we truly have no desire to keep gnawing on this hard bone of Yezhou. But once the arrow is notched to the string, it must fly." "Your reason!" Yezhou's divine being demanded coldly. In truth, the demon army was even more desperate to know. They felt utterly aggrieved to learn that they had not initiated this invasion themselves, but were instead guided by another mysterious civilization. They felt deeply humiliated at having been turned into pawns. The demon god said, "Our demon race's long-lost supreme treasure and our paramount heavenly scripture have reappeared. Yet they have fallen into the hands of others. As they concern the very destiny of our race, we had no choice but to agree to a condition of theirs so we might reclaim them." Clearly, his words were primarily meant to pacify the demon army. "You should still withdraw," Yezhou's divine being said calmly. The demon god replied, "We cannot withdraw. We have given our word. Even if we cannot trample Yezhou, we must still do our utmost to try." Inside the white immortal mist, the colossal figure's powerful aura surged violently: "In that case, a final battle to the death cannot be avoided." "There is no other choice!" As the demon god spoke, he seized that divine weapon once more—the spear wreathed in countless demon characters. Among the ancestral masters, someone spoke out forcefully: "What is another battle? You are barely stronger than a lesser god. A demon god of the early seventh realm dares come run wild before us? You court death!" Leng Mingkong stepped forward, appearing as a youth in his twenties as he strode through the void. His armor was battered and bathed in demon blood, his aura immensely powerful, raining light steaming from his entire body as though intent on suppressing a god. "Lesser gods, crippled immortals—I shall slaughter you!" Helian Chengyun also stepped forward, looking like a youth. His scarlet armor clanked, and holding the Sun-Shooting Heavenly Bow, he possessed an indescribably ethereal, transcendent presence. "Sigh, cease the cursing. If you call them lesser gods and crippled immortals, what does that make us?" the colossal figure within the white mist said helplessly from Yezhou's side. "You are... Martial Granduncle Ye!" Leng Mingkong stared deep into the white mist, suddenly discerning the true identity of that colossal, non-human being. In fact, behind the white mist stood several other colossal figures, some seated in meditation, others standing quietly. "Past Rulai?" An ancestral master of the Newborn path looked on in shock, recognizing the identity of one of the figures. From within the white immortal mist, a former elder ancestral master spoke: "Alas, we have no face to look upon those who came after us. With our lifespans nearing their end, we chose to become crippled immortals, turning into rundown gods, bringing shame upon you all." "This... Martial Granduncle Ye, forgive me!" "Master!" A stir rippled through the ranks of ancestral masters. "Seniors, step back and let us slaughter the gods!" an ancestral master declared forcefully. "Years wither beauty, and time slays heroes." In the white immortal mist, the old ancestral master sighed deeply. He shook his head and checked those who had come after, saying, "Let us handle it. Even after attaining godhood, we do not have much lifespan left. Today... we shall slay our foes, march to our deaths, and complete the final leg of our journey through this life!"