Unable to refute him, Yang Guang looked at Qi Yuan and asked, "By now... we should have enough demon essence blood, right? Shouldn't we pull out of Mount Shuyao for now?"
"Not enough. Far from enough."
Qi Yuan shook his head.
"How could this little bit of demon essence blood ever be enough to defeat my mortal enemy? While demon essence blood is plentiful here, I need to work hard!"
Yang Guang was left utterly speechless.
An Qiao remained quiet as well before finally asking, "Does Mr. Qi intend to wage guerrilla warfare here to harvest demon essence blood?"
"You could say that," Qi Yuan nodded.
Naturally, he wasn't planning on guerrilla tactics—he intended to sweep straight through.
"This..." An Qiao hesitated before saying, "Perhaps we should leave first. Otherwise, staying here will only make us... drag you down, Mr. Qi!"
An Qiao was telling the truth.
With her late Qi-Blood Realm strength, crossing paths with a Jade-Blood Realm great demon meant instant death.
If Qi Yuan fought a guerrilla campaign, her presence would only hinder his efficiency.
"What you say makes a lot of sense," Qi Yuan agreed. Sweeping his gaze over the three people present, he looked toward Yang Guang. "Can you kill another hundred Jade-Blood Realm great demons?"
A... a hundred?
Yang Guang's expression turned uglier than if he were crying.
A hundred Jade-Blood Realm great demons would gorge him to death just trying to fight them.
"I... can't."
"It seems your kidney deficiency is still too severe. Go back with An Qiao and the others," Qi Yuan said, his face brimming with disgust.
*Family, who can relate? I hired a bodyguard who looked tall and burly, only to find out he has a kidney deficiency.*
"*Cough, cough...*" Yang Guang was at a loss for words.
An Qiao looked at Qi Yuan and said earnestly, "Mr. Qi, please prioritize your own safety. If things look impossible, please leave as quickly as you can!"
Right then, however, an unexpected, youthful voice rang out: "Mr. Qi, slaying demons on Mount Shuyao means you will also lack someone to care for you. I, Huo Mushi, am willing to remain here and attend to your daily needs!"
Huo Mushi's youthful face was set with resolute determination; it was clear he had wrestled with the decision for a long time before speaking.
Beside him, An Qiao and Yang Guang looked at Huo Mushi in surprise, taken aback by his courage.
Qi Yuan, on the other hand, appeared quite calm. "I have very high standards for meals—three dishes and a soup. Can you manage that?"
"..." Yang Guang.
"I can!" Huo Mushi's face flushed with excitement.
Seeing this, An Qiao said nothing more.
Originally, she had wanted to warn Huo Mushi that staying behind on Mount Shuyao meant he would very likely die.
At the same time, she could not understand why Qi Yuan would take on such a burden.
Of course, she truly could never fathom the way Qi Yuan's mind worked.
At times, even Qi Yuan himself could not make sense of his own thoughts.
A quarter of an hour later.
The figures of An Qiao and Yang Guang faded away.
Inside the mountain cave, only Qi Yuan and Huo Mushi remained.
Looking out into the pitch-black night, it would be a lie to say Huo Mushi felt no fear.
Even so, he hugged his blade tightly and stood guard at the entrance of the cave.
Ever since the southward migration had occurred, the surrounding cities had fallen into a miserable plight.
The young, able-bodied men of Zhenyang City had almost all perished in battle.
Now, guarding the city walls were one-third child soldiers and one-third gray-haired elders.
The elderly had no peaceful retirement, and the children would never grow up.
Such was the present reality of Zhenyang City.
Yet compared to the other cities that had fallen into demon domains, Zhenyang City was still relatively fortunate.
Unlike local demon hordes who swarmed over any city they spotted, slaughtering every inhabitant, destroying households, and turning human corpses into dried rations...
The chieftain of Mount Shuyao seemed to possess a bit more "vision."
Rumor had it that on the advice of his strategist, he had besieged Zhenyang City and raised the people within like livestock.
That way, whenever they craved meat, they simply sent demon soldiers to snatch people away.
To them, the dried human meat of Zhenyang City was an endless supply.
It was not like other demon domains that drained the pond to catch all the fish.
When other demon domains ran short of human population and human meat delicacies, Mount Shuyao even captured residents from Zhenyang City to sell to them in exchange for resources.
In a manner of speaking, Zhenyang City was Mount Shuyao's livestock ranch and treasury.
Hugging his blade, Huo Mushi occasionally glanced back into the cave.
From deep inside came the bizarre sound of Qi Yuan pretending to be a robot.
Many thoughts drifted through Huo Mushi's mind.
*If only I could continually swallow demon essence blood too... how wonderful that would be.*
Of course, he only dared to imagine it.
Right then, a noise suddenly sounded from within the cave. Qi Yuan stood up and walked out. Looking at Huo Mushi, a tinge of regret surfaced in his eyes. "What a pity. You don't know how to play the suona. Otherwise..."
Qi Yuan recalled his times in the Canglan Realm and the Mortal Heart Realm.
Whenever he set out on a campaign, a suona legion was sure to accompany him.
Once the suona sounded, not a single bone remained.
"Huh?" Huo Mushi blanked for a moment, then quickly said, "The suona my lord speaks of... this humble one knows how to play it!
"My grandfather handled funeral ceremonies."
Qi Yuan's eyes lit up.
"It seems the guiding hand of fate is what kept you here."
With a wave of Qi Yuan's hand, a suona materialized out of nowhere.
Naturally, Qi Yuan had not been carrying a suona on him; he had conjured it into being through magical arts.
"I assign you a mission. Whenever I slay demons, stand by my side and blow the suona... understand?"
"Ah... yes!" Huo Mushi was startled, then hastily nodded in agreement.
...
Three days later.
Within the demon encampment on Mount Shuyao.
A spark of fury burned in the eyes of Peacock, who was clad in a purple robe. "Are you all utterly useless? A single human... not captured after three whole days, while nearly a hundred demon soldiers have been killed or wounded?!"
Peacock's eyes blazed with wrath.
Nearly a hundred demon soldiers had fallen.
To the demon encampment, this was an extraordinarily heavy loss.
Every time they attacked Zhenyang City, they suffered only a handful of casualties, or even zero losses.
Yet now, a lone human had caused nearly a hundred demon soldiers to perish. This was undeniably the greatest loss Mount Shuyao had ever sustained.
"That scoundrel possesses formidable strength... he is likely second only to the Twelve Generals!" one demon reported with bowed head, dread flickering in his eyes.
Within Mount Shuyao, there was one chieftain, Three Great Generals, and the Twelve Generals.
The Twelve Generals were all in the late Jade-Blood Realm, and none of them were ordinary late Jade-Blood cultivators either.
"Hmph." The peacock demoness let out a cold snort.
She was one of the Great Generals, a terrifying demon at the Demon Hero level.
"Within three days, I want to see his corpse!" she declared, her tone chillingly stern.
Just then, a tall, well-built man dressed as a scholar in white walked over, his voice bright and hearty.
"Why must the Great General be so enraged? The terrain of Mount Shuyao is complex; tracking down a human cultivator in the late Jade-Blood Realm is indeed difficult."
This white-robed scholar was none other than Mount Shuyao's strategist.
Seeing him arrive, a thread of tenderness surfaced in Peacock's eyes.
"It's merely that these demon soldiers are lazy and cowardly. Otherwise, wouldn't sending a few demon generals make capturing him effortless?"
"That person's strength is ordinary; the difficulty lies solely in finding him.
"Dispatching large numbers of demon soldiers to search for the sake of one man is truly unwise," the strategist remarked.
Peacock nodded.
Right now, the chieftain was forging a demon artifact.
Most of the demon soldiers needed to remain stationed at the encampment to guard against any unforeseen mishaps.
"Therefore, to resolve this matter... I have a method, though it requires the Great General's consent," the strategist said, gazing at Peacock with a gentle expression.
"The strategist is indeed brilliant. Please, do tell!" Peacock urged at once.
"Allow me to speak instead!"
Right then, a burly man radiating a thick, dense aura stepped forward.
A strange, sinister smile sat on his face, making it clear at a glance that he was not someone to be trifled with.
"A human?" Seeing him approach, killing intent flashed in Peacock's eyes.
Had the strategist not been at her side, she likely would have struck him down already.
"Great General, I possess a dharma treasure capable of pinpointing the exact location of any human within a radius of a hundred li.
"I can lead the way and guide the demon generals to slay that man.
"However... I have one request!"
This burly man was none other than Zhou Yuan.
"What request?" Peacock asked.
"I want to see Flower Demon Manluo!" Zhou Yuan stated his objective. "After slaying Qi Yuan, I will also need an item from his person!"
That item was, of course, the token for the Genius Alliance.
As for Flower Demon Manluo, she was the key to completing his mission.
Peacock's pupils contracted slightly. She glanced at the strategist, and seeing his expression unchanged, a smile formed on her face. "Very well. I can grant you that condition."
The strategist cared a great deal about Flower Demon Manluo.
Since he did not object to the man meeting her, he clearly consented.
However, once he saw Flower Demon Manluo, any hope of leaving again... would be out of the question.
Such was Peacock's calculation.
And Zhou Yuan's thoughts were much the same.
Once he met Flower Demon Manluo and completed his mission, he could return to the stronghold. He had no fear of these demons playing petty tricks.
The strategist then turned to Zhou Yuan. "We shall trouble you, then."
Zhou Yuan smiled. "Rest assured. With my dharma treasure, he will have nowhere to hide!"
A pang of regret lingered in Zhou Yuan's heart.
It was a pity Yang Guang had not come along.
Otherwise, this time he could have borrowed the demons' might not only to slay Qi Yuan, but to butcher Yang Guang as well.
As Zhou Yuan spoke, a compass appeared in his hand from his blood-qi space.
Holding the compass, he dripped a bead of blood onto it.
Instantly, a burst of radiance flashed across the compass.
Peacock stared at the compass, greed flickering in her eyes.
If she obtained it, wouldn't it mean... no matter how deeply the rations hid, they could all be found?
Zhou Yuan chanted incantations under his breath, and the bloody glow upon the compass grew brighter and brighter.
All of a sudden, Zhou Yuan froze. The bloody glow vanished, and a look of disbelief swept over his face.
"There is someone... barely a li away from us!"
The compass indicated a person was within five hundred meters.
"And... he's rushing straight this way at high speed... he's almost here!"
Zhou Yuan was stunned.
Peacock and the strategist were equally dumbfounded.
This was an outpost of the demon encampment, guarded by a full three hundred demon soldiers and overseen by a Great General.
Who would dare march straight toward this place? Were they seeking death?
Yet before they could react, a voice like a crack of thunder resounded through the valley.
"No need to trouble yourselves searching for me. I've come... straight to you.
"Aren't I thoughtful? Aren't you touched?
"Since you're so touched, why not... gift me your demon essence blood?"
The moment the voice arrived, the man arrived as well.
A hundred meters away, a man clad in blood-red robes stood with a calm expression, holding a straight, slender wooden stick in his hand.
That wooden stick seemed drenched in blood, taking on an eerie hue.
"It's you, Qi Yuan!" Zhou Yuan's expression turned bizarre. He had never expected Qi Yuan to show up here.
Peacock's eyes flashed with shock and fury. "Who gave you the courage to dare come here?"
Even as she spoke, deep apprehension lurked in the depths of her eyes.
When things were abnormal, there had to be treachery.
"Liang Jingru gave it to me," Qi Yuan said, gripping the wooden stick with a relaxed expression.
"Who is she?" Peacock immediately swept her gaze across the surroundings, seemingly trying to locate this person.
The other demons also eyed their surroundings with deep wariness.
"Not a single cell of humor in you. It seems you need to become one with me so I can remodel you all," Qi Yuan said, taking a step forward.
The wind blew, snapping his blood-red robes.
Watching this scene, Huo Mushi was both thrilled and awestruck.
Over the past few days, he had followed Qi Yuan as he slaughtered demons.
Qi Yuan had been like an undefeated God of War, slaying gods if gods blocked his way and butchering Buddhas if Buddhas stood in his path.
The demon fiends whom the citizens of Zhenyang City feared like venomous scorpions were utterly fragile in Qi Yuan's hands.
Now that Qi Yuan had come directly to slaughter an outpost, Huo Mushi had followed without the slightest hesitation.
"A mere Jade-Blood cultivator dares to act so insolently! Monkey General, take him down!" Peacock roared.
A monkey demon stepped forward reluctantly from behind her.
This monkey demon was short of stature, but exceptionally thickset, powerful, and agile.
He was also one of Mount Shuyao's Twelve Generals.
Under normal circumstances, he naturally would not fear stepping into battle.
Yet now, Qi Yuan was launching an offensive on his own, single-handedly—it was thoroughly bizarre.
Nevertheless, he charged forward.
"Hand over your life!"
Along with the monkey demon's roar, his body ballooned in an instant, his skin shifting in color as he revealed green skin and fangs, looking profoundly terrifying.
"Is this fate?" Qi Yuan murmured, holding the wooden stick as he watched the monkey demon.
Then, his figure flashed.
Heaven-Cleaving Sword-Drawing Technique!
A mighty sword—no, rather, a stick—descended from the heavens.
This strike was too fast, brimming with too much sharpness.
A single stick delivered the aura of a peerless divine sword.
Against this single stick, the formidable monkey demon possessed no ability to resist whatsoever.
A single blow bludgeoned him to death.
With one strike, one of the Twelve Generals was slain, and five hundred drops of demon essence blood fell into his hands.
Qi Yuan smiled, his eyes twinkling. "Come at me all at once. I'm in a hurry."
Seeing this, Zhou Yuan's heart shook violently.
Qi Yuan's strength far exceeded his expectations.
Originally, he had thought he could overpower Qi Yuan.
Yet now it appeared the gap between them was immense.
In fact, he would surely lose within ten moves!
He felt immensely fortunate that he hadn't gone looking for Qi Yuan directly, but had chosen to cooperate with the demons instead.
Meanwhile, Peacock let out a sigh of relief. "So that is your reliance, is it?
"The strength of the peak Jade-Blood Realm is indeed formidable. Unfortunately... it still doesn't give you the right to run wild!"
Qi Yuan's strike had been terrifying, killing the monkey demon in an instant.
However, it had also exposed his own strength.
Peacock had seen through Qi Yuan's cultivation.
At Peacock's command, the three hundred demon soldiers of the outpost surged forward in unison.
These demon soldiers possessed bizarre and varied appearances, clad in various pieces of leather armor and gripping weapons. Banded together, they cut a rather intimidating figure.
If so many demon soldiers were led by Peacock to attack Zhenyang City, the city would be completely unable to hold.
Not far away, fear also crept into Huo Mushi's heart.
Yet clad in blood-red robes, Qi Yuan showed not the slightest trace of dread.
"A mere three hundred demon soldiers. Minor spectacle.
"Play the music!"
In his previous worlds, how many enemies had he slaughtered?
Their numbers were beyond count.
He had even faced three thousand formidable foes of his own caliber simultaneously.
What did a paltry three hundred demon soldiers amount to?
He peeled his lips back in a grin, the amusement in his eyes turning thoroughly chilling.
"Kill, kill! Everything in my sight... shall be destroyed!"
Gripping the wooden stick like a fiend-god, Qi Yuan charged straight into the demon horde.
And in that very instant, the shrill, sorrowful wail of the suona pierced the air.
Chapter 339