Chapter 162: Chapter 67: Marching Marshal

Even a cornered beast will fight back.

Yang Jing knew this well, so he chose not to press them too hard. He didn’t want to force all the Demon Cultivators of the Northern Domain to unite and fight him to the death; worse, Demon Cultivators from the Four Demon Sects might even cross the border to join the fray.

After taking stock of his spoils, Yang Jing left no trace and quietly returned to the Northern Army Governor’s Mansion.

News of him sweeping through the Liao Kingdom and wiping out the demon hordes had long since reached the Northern Army Governor’s Mansion. This was particularly true regarding Venerable Niu Li, a Late Stage Foundation Establishment cultivator whose reputation surpassed even that of the Cold Spring Three Demons.

The Great Strength Bull Demon Scripture he practiced was a Demon Sect Body Refining Technique. Those who mastered it would be covered in Demon Scales, their hides becoming thick and tough, granting them boundless strength.

Cultivators from the Northern Army Governor’s Mansion had suffered greatly at his hands in the past.

However, Venerable Niu Li knew when to advance and when to retreat. Fearing he would attract a Golden Core Expert from the Northern Army Governor’s Mansion, he never dealt a killing blow; otherwise, his victims would never have survived.

Therefore, the Northern Army Governor’s Mansion was intimately familiar with Venerable Niu Li’s Power. The news that Yang Jing had slain him was thus all the more shocking.

Disciples from the Five Elements True Spirit Sect had already sent messages to fellow disciples they knew back in the Sect, gathering information on Yang Jing.

Refining Sword into Gang. Master of the Five Elements Thunder Technique. And he had only reached Foundation Establishment less than two years ago.

The Cultivators of the Northern Army Governor’s Mansion now regarded him as a genius the likes of whom appeared only once every few centuries.

“Junior Brother Yang, you’ve really made a tremendous name for yourself this time. You’ve swept the demonic presence from the Liao Kingdom clean!”

Minister Wu Siming said with great enthusiasm.

He felt a pang of shame, remembering how he’d initially suspected Yang Jing was just some well-connected freeloader.

East of the Xi Kingdom, the easternmost of the Northern Domain Seven Kingdoms, lies a peninsula. Along with the sprawling archipelago in the West Sea, it is under the direct administration of the Northern Army Governor.

This peninsula acts as a bridge for the Six Sects to the Central Continent, making its strategic importance far greater than that of the Seven Kingdoms.

Most of the Northern Army Governor’s Mansion’s forces were tied down by the Four Demon Sects from the Outer Realm. The rest were stationed on the peninsula to prevent the Flying Boats of the Four Demon Sects from threatening the shipping lanes.

With the Four Demon Sects launching frequent raids and the Northern Army Governor’s Mansion’s forces stretched thin, they simply didn’t have the capacity to deal with the scattered Demon Cultivators within the Seven Kingdoms, as much as they wanted to.

Successive Demon Patrol Envoys had been little more than figureheads, and the situation in the Seven Kingdoms deteriorated by the day. It had become a constant weight on Wu Siming’s mind.

He simply never imagined that Yang Jing would burst onto the scene and deal such a crushing blow to the Demon Cultivators’ ever-growing arrogance.

“Senior Brother Wu, you flatter me. What I’ve done is merely a temporary fix. This Demon Cultivator plague is far too great for me to eliminate on my own.”

Yang Jing replied with a respectful clasp of his hands.

’Be bold in action, humble in person.’

“Senior Brother Yang, you must be here to exchange your Merit Points. I’ve already notified the Array Department; we’re prepared no matter how many heads you produce.”

Seeing that Yang Jing remained as humble as ever despite his incredible new fame, Wu Siming couldn’t help but admire him all the more.

Yang Jing opened his Storage Bag, dumping out a pile of severed heads. He then reached back inside and retrieved an Ice Silk Bag, from which he took out the frozen heads of eight Foundation Establishment Demon Cultivators.

Even though he had been prepared for it, Wu Siming’s heart still leaped in his chest when he saw those eight heads.

’This Junior Brother Yang is truly ferocious,’ he thought. ’He kills Foundation Establishment Demon Cultivators as easily as slaughtering chickens. Even if they were just rogue demons with no proper lineage, it’s still an astonishing feat.’

Wu Siming picked up the head of an old man.

The head’s skin was covered in hard, black scales. Its features were coarse, with protruding tusks, and its stiff, white hair felt like steel needles to the touch.

The most eye-catching feature was the two curved ox horns growing from his head.

This wasn’t some deformity caused by practicing a low-level Demon Skill and absorbing Evil Qi. It was the physical manifestation of Venerable Niu Li having cultivated the Great Strength Bull Demon Scripture to an extremely profound level.

He was practically half-human, half-Ox Power Demon.

Wu Siming noticed that the wounds on all the heads had been treated to erase any traces. This was to prevent anyone from discerning the killer’s methods from the injuries.

Cultivators who frequently hunted Demon Cultivators for the Northern Army Governor’s Mansion would do so to prevent their identities from being traced through their methods.

He didn’t think much of it. ’With the blood of so many Demon Cultivators on his hands, it’s only right for Yang Jing to be cautious.’

“This Profound Cyan Old Demon was extremely cautious, a true recluse. I can’t believe he fell into your hands too, Junior Brother.”

Wu Siming exclaimed in admiration again. He quickly identified all the Demon Cultivators and calculated the corresponding Merit Points.

“A total of twenty-three thousand and fifty-one Merit Points.”

Even though he had braced himself, Wu Siming was still left speechless by the sheer number of Merit Points.

In less than two months, Yang Jing had earned more Merit Points than an ordinary disciple could hope to accumulate in a decade.

“Thank you, Senior Brother Wu.”

Gazing at the number of Merit Points now registered on his Jade Token, Yang Jing gave a satisfied clasp of his hands.

The Jade Token at Wu Siming’s waist flashed. He picked it up, took one look, and his eyes widened in surprise.

“Meng Sima is back from his patrol of the Northern Domain. He wants to see you.”

Yang Jing had already familiarized himself with the command structure of the Northern Army Governor’s Mansion. There was only one person known as Meng Sima: the Golden Core Cultivator, Meng Feixiong.

The full title for Sima was Marching Marshal. The position was second only to the Vice Governor of the Northern Army, making him the third-in-command of the entire Northern Army Governor’s Mansion. He held immense power and authority, far beyond that of an ordinary Golden Core Cultivator.

As for Meng Feixiong himself, he hailed from the Supreme Profound Upper Yang Sect. He was only two hundred and fifty years old, yet his Cultivation had already reached the Fifth Layer Golden Core. He was in his prime, with a great future ahead of him.

Yang Jing ordered his four disciples to return to their residence first, while he followed Wu Siming to meet Meng Sima.

At this moment, Meng Sima was on the deck of a Flying Boat. The vessel was massive, nearly two hundred feet longer than a Martial Power-class ship, reaching a staggering length of over five hundred feet. It hung in the air like a floating island, an awe-inspiring sight.

Yang Jing noticed a group of Cultivators bustling around the Flying Boat, repairing damage of all sizes left from a recent battle.

“This is a Pingyang-class Flying Boat,” Wu Siming said with considerable pride. “With a Golden Core Cultivator at the helm, it’s powerful enough to contend with a Nascent Soul Cultivator. Our Northern Army Governor’s Mansion wins more battles than we lose against the Demon Sect precisely because we have three of these ships as our flagships.”

Although the Demon Sect’s methods are strange, they are far inferior to the Six Great Sects when it comes to Artifact Refining and Array Formation. The flying boats they pour resources into refining are like little rowboats in front of a Pingyang-class ship—they can’t even take a single hit.

Contrary to what one might expect, Meng Feixiong had a rather gaunt and wiry frame. He was dressed in a simple Hemp Daoist Robe.

He paid little attention to his appearance, so despite being quite young for a Golden Core, he looked like an old man.

He made no effort to restrain his aura, and even from a great distance, Yang Jing could feel a pressure emanating from him as immense and imposing as a mountain.

“Meng Sima, this is Yang Jing. Venerable Niu Li died at his hands.”

Wu Siming introduced him with deference.

“I already know.” Meng Feixiong let out a gratified, booming laugh. “The Six Great Sects are like branches of the same tree. It warms my heart to see we have such worthy successors.”

With that, he produced a Jade Bottle.

“You practice the Grotto Dark Dharma Eye, do you not? It is a profound technique, considered an exceptional Eye Technique even among the Six Great Sects. This is a Thousand Years of Cyan. It will be a great boon to your Dharma Eye’s cultivation. Take it.”

Source: Webnovel.com, updated by NovelKeep