Wherever the crimson Light Blade passed, Demon Soldiers were decapitated and their limbs severed.
Zhou Henn lopped off the Tiger Demon’s head, drew his Cone Sword, and plunged it straight into the creature’s heart. With a twist and a pull, he kicked off the demon’s shoulder and charged toward the nearest Sixth-Grade Wolf Demon.
The Sixth-Grade Wolf Demon was scared out of its wits. Its body quivered, and it split into more than ten translucent pups that scattered in all directions.
Zhou Henn’s True Essence surged, and his eyes glinted. He shot toward one of the pups. In a flash, he instantly teleported beside the small wolf demon. A single strike, a soft THUD, and the wolf’s head hit the ground, leaving its corpse behind.
The remaining pups dispersed.
The Fourth-Grade Zhou Henn was like a demon-slaying assassin, carving a path into the Demon Race’s army. Regardless of their Grade Level, none could withstand a single blow from him. One strike to sever a head, one thrust to pierce a heart—there was never a need for a third move.
"A scimitar and a Cone Sword... it’s Madman Zhou! Madman Zhou has returned to the Great River!" a Seventh-Grade Monkey Demon shrieked heart-wrenchingly in the demonic tongue, then turned tail and fled.
The graded demons all scattered and fled. As for the No-Grade Demon Soldiers, some followed suit and ran, some steeled themselves and continued to charge, while others stood dazed, unsure whether to run or fight.
When the cavalry met the Demon Soldiers, the Martial Cultivators’ long lances glinted coldly, piercing one Demon Soldier and General after another.
The two Puppet Cultivators in the group summoned ghastly white skeletons, which wielded sabers and shields and hacked down any approaching demons.
The Daoist Cultivators either chanted Spells, deployed Talismans, or commanded Flying Swords.
The Literature Cultivators, meanwhile, recited Battle Poems. Each poem they cast left behind a rainbow-hued streak of a different color, indicating the Grade Level of the poem.
Li Qingxian held a Thunder Talisman between two fingers. Whenever a Demon Soldier got close, he would wave his hand, and a thunderbolt as thick as an arm would strike it.
Amid flashes of lightning and roars of thunder, one Demon Soldier and General after another fell.
Any demon below Eighth Grade was instantly turned to charcoal.
Even Seventh-Grade demons were left with fist-sized, charred holes in their bodies, their flesh mangled.
Lü Biao and the others stared at Li Qingxian in disbelief. ’Is he using Thunder Talismans of this power like they’re free? Even disciples from the major Daoist Sects don’t use them so extravagantly.’
The Dappled Horse stuck close to Li Qingxian. Any Demon Soldier that dared approach, regardless of its Grade, was met with a stomp of its hooves that inevitably shattered its bones and tore its body apart.
Xiong Zhenghao, while frantically hacking at the mangled and retreating Fifth-Grade Tiger Demon, roared, "The whole squad to the south gate! Don’t get greedy for glory and push too far!"
On the battlefield, the cavalry unit broke through the demon ranks, charging straight ahead to rendezvous with the welcoming party and burst through the south gate.
The remaining several thousand Demon Soldiers, their courage shattered by the sight of the tiger-blood-soaked Xiong Zhenghao and the ghost-like Zhou Henn, fled desperately toward the eastern and western camps.
The demons fled, but Zhou Henn didn’t pursue them. He quietly watched Xiong Zhenghao battle the Tiger Demon.
After a good while, the blood-soaked Xiong Zhenghao finally landed an axe blow on the head of the Tiger Demon of the same grade, killing his foe.
"So slow," Zhou Henn said.
One after the other, the two men dragged the Tiger Demon’s corpse toward Beichen City, leaving two trails of dust in their wake.
「Inside the south gate.」
The cavalry unit regrouped and, together with the city soldiers, headed along Beichen Dao toward the North City Wall.
A dusty and disheveled Songg Baige also got on a horse and rode up beside Li Qingxian. Swaying back and forth in his saddle, he said with a grin, "Well, well, if it isn’t the scholar among street loiterers. Made it to Ninth Grade, have we?"
Li Qingxian glanced at the Golden Threadless Mandarin Duck patch on his uniform, which was filthy, tattered, and stained with blood. He laughed and retorted, "Well, well, if it isn’t the street loiterer among scholars. Which dead man did you strip that Seventh-Grade Official’s Uniform off of?"
Songg Baige froze. "How did you know?"
"It really belonged to someone else?" Li Qingxian was stunned too.
Songg Baige said helplessly, "I was promoted to Seventh Grade during a battle a few days ago. My father gave me an important ad hoc assignment, but there weren’t any new Official Uniforms in the city, so I had to use an old one."
"How’s the battle situation?" Li Qingxian asked.
Songg Baige gave a carefree smile. "Eh, just a little squall. With my dad and Uncle Zhou here, nothing can go wrong. I heard things were pretty rough for you in the Divine Capital?"
’This guy really is one of a kind among scholars. He’s never been proper a day in his life,’ Li Qingxian thought. He sighed, raised his left wrist, and waggled it. "Yeah, it was pretty rough."
Songg Baige’s face immediately darkened. "Something this good happens and you don’t give your brother a heads-up? A Qiankun Ring! That’s a Qiankun Ring we’re talking about! I was practically drooling when Uncle Zhou told me. He said you snatched it from the Deceitful Mother, but I wouldn’t believe that if you beat me to death. So spill, how did you ambush Ye Han and knock him out?"
"Stop spouting nonsense. I, Li Qingxian, am known as the number one Sunshine Boy of the Twelve Northern Wards of the Divine Capital. Would I do something like that?"
Songg Baige stared, dumbfounded. "It’s only been half a year, and you’ve gotten even more shameless. Sunshine Boy? Let me find a place to go throw up."
"Brother Songg, are your esteemed father and mother in good health?" Li Qingxian asked with a perfectly straight face.
Songg Baige frowned slightly, sensing something was off. He looked up and saw a row of people on the North City Wall looking down at them.
The man in the lead wore green robes and had a fair complexion. He stood tall and elegant, his handsome, jade-like face seemingly glowing. He held a Cow Bone Fan in his hand—it was none other than the Beautiful Scholar, Zhou Chunfeng.
Standing beside Zhou Chunfeng was a slightly shorter and older man with a touch of gray at his temples. He had a high forehead, a broad face, and scholarly features, and he wore a faint smile. Though not as handsome as Zhou Chunfeng, his presence was no less impressive. It was Songg Yunjing.
However, the patch on his chest was a Magpie Training, for the Senior Eighth Grade.
Songg Baige said, "Hah, I knew it. Since we were kids, you’ve always been better at putting on an act in front of adults."
"That’s why I seem more like a scholar than you do," Li Qingxian said.
"Truly shameless! Search your heart and tell me, besides memorizing a few Fate Skill Rhymes and poems, have you ever mastered a single classic text in your entire life? I..."
"Your esteemed father is watching you," Li Qingxian said.
"Hah, who have I, Songg Baige, ever been afraid of?" Songg Baige said dismissively.
"Have you found me a sister-in-law yet?"
"I’m only in my early twenties, what do I need a wife for? If you’re so capable, why don’t you find me a sister-in-law?"
"You mean Sister Youfei? Uncle Zhou is already helping to set us up," Li Qingxian said.
Songg Baige looked completely baffled. He turned to Zhou Henn and said, "Uncle Zhou Henn, did Li Qingxian get his head kicked by a donkey? How else could he be so shameless! Fairy Qingcheng? Is she someone he can even dream of measuring up to? I wouldn’t even dare to think about it!"
"He’s just as shameless in front of Jiangg Youfei," Zhou Henn said.
Songg Baige looked at Li Qingxian skeptically and asked, "Search your heart and tell me, do you really think you’re worthy of Fairy Qingcheng!"
"We’re a match made in heaven," Li Qingxian said with complete composure.
"When it comes to being shameless, I am not your equal. Not by a long shot!" Songg Baige sighed. "But still, do you really know Fairy Qingcheng?"
"I am the Official Disciple she personally accepted into the Celestial Cloud Sect. She passed the Divine Sky General Outline to me, she led my Opening the Altar and Teaching the Method, she taught me about Sealing Inner Gods, and she taught me both the Visualization Spirit Platform and Thunder Skills," Li Qingxian said nonchalantly.
Songg Baige looked at Zhou Henn.
Zhou Henn gave a slight nod.
"That can’t be right..."
Songg Baige’s eyes went blank as he began to question his entire reality.
On the North City Wall, Songg Yunjing and Zhou Chunfeng stood side by side.
Songg Yunjing sighed. "When Gangfeng rushed to reinforce Cangmu Castle back then, it must have been a scene just like this, wasn’t it?"
Zhou Chunfeng smiled, touched his right hand to his upper lip, and gave a light cough as he looked down below. That year, he had been stationed at Cangmu Castle with the River Guard Army. They were surrounded on all four sides by the Demon Race, their ammunition and supplies exhausted, when reinforcements arrived from the south.
And within that reinforcing army—which he hadn’t needed to join—was Li Gangfeng, who had force-marched for three days and three nights to be there.
Just as full of spirit as the young men today.