"Your Excellency, please depart from our borders!"
"Even if devastating disasters rage and catastrophic Demon troubles arise from every corner of this soil..."
"Our Great Yu Dynasty will be fiercely guarded by the flesh and blades of the people of Great Yu!"
"There is absolutely zero need for us to rely on the false protection of some illusory deity!"
Ash Ink spoke indifferently, his voice cutting through the tension like a chilled blade.
Si Miaoyin agreed profoundly in her heart. This Lord Ash Ink might usually seem completely lazy and prone to slacking off at every given opportunity... but the moment he was brought face-to-face with major national security affairs, his attitude became immaculately clear, his stance turned cast-iron, and his spirit never wavered by a single fraction.
Back when the terrifying Demon Sovereigns of the Myriad Demon Nation had descended upon the Great Yu Royal Capital in a multi-pronged assault, many local Martial Artists had begun to waver and retreat, completely broken by the sheer disparity in baseline power. It was Ash Ink who had resolutely stepped forward into the breach, speaking passionately and leading by example, single-handedly reigniting the dying fighting spirit of the empire's defenders!
Venerable Nilun slowly shook his shaved head, his pitch-black eyes fixed on the man before him. "A mere thirty or so ordinary Origin Realm Martial Artists... is fundamentally not enough to alter the calculations of the universe."
Thump—
This short sentence caused Ash Ink's pupils to violently contract. Not only because of the sheer, unbridled contempt for the Origin Realm laced within the monk's tone, but because this outsider knew the core military secrets of Great Yu so flawlessly!
One had to understand that the specific intelligence regarding "Great Yu now possessing over thirty genuine Origin Realm Martial Artists" was currently classified under the absolute highest tier of national security secrecy. Ash Ink could personally guarantee that even the neighboring espionage networks of Tianxuan and Qingluan had, at most, vague guesses, remaining completely blind to the exact metrics!
Yet, he hadn't expected such a top-tier state secret to be spoken so casually by a strange monk of entirely unknown origin. If there wasn't a high-level traitor leaking data from within the inner ministries, it meant this monk's true cultivation tier was far beyond anything Ash Ink's imagination could parse!
Ash Ink narrowed his eyes to dangerous slivers. "Who exactly are you, Your Excellency?"
"Have I not already spoken the words? You may simply call me Venerable Nilun."
Venerable Nilun let out a dry, deeply unsettling smile, turning his gaze back toward the towering monument. "The mortals of this land should dedicate their souls to the worship of true, primordial deities—not throw their faith away on an insignificant little figure like this."
An insignificant little figure... Si Miaoyin's brow furrowed tightly, the ambient temperature around her frame turning completely ice-cold.
"We shall meet again very soon."
Venerable Nilun's tone remained perfectly flat. The exact microsecond the meaningful sentence left his lips, his physical body abruptly dissolved, completely dissipating into nothingness right before their wide-open eyes.
Si Miaoyin's posture stiffened instantly as she locked her gaze onto the vacant stone where Venerable Nilun had been standing a heartbeat prior. There wasn't even the faintest ripple of True Essence lingering in the air!
She glanced sideways at Ash Ink, only to find that his expression had turned exceptionally grim. As an established Origin Realm Martial Artist, his sensory perception allowed him to grasp a far more terrifying reality than Si Miaoyin could comprehend.
What Venerable Nilun had utilized to vanish wasn't True Essence or any advanced martial footwork... it was an entirely more advanced, logic-defying frequency of world energy! What this implied for the safety of the dynasty was self-evident.
"I must report to the Royal Court Martial Academy immediately!" Ash Ink roared. His body shot into the sky like an arrow, heading straight for the academy grounds. Si Miaoyin didn't waste a breath, unleashing her movement arts to follow closely in his wake.
[Successfully slain an Origin Realm Seventh Layer Leopard Demon, obtaining 70,000 Demon Value Points.]
[Successfully slain an Origin Realm Eighth Layer Deer Demon, obtaining 80,000 Demon Value Points.]
[Successfully slain an Origin Realm Sixth Layer Alligator Demon, obtaining 60,000 Demon Value Points.]
The vast, sweeping landscape beneath Li Xuanxiao's feet receded at a frantic, blurring velocity. While traversing the borderlands, he casually swept his gaze over the terrain, executing a few lucky rogue demons that happened to cross his trajectory.
Now, the total reserve of Demon Value Points accumulated within his interface had climbed even further, reaching a comfortable 329.82 million.
"I'm almost at the boundary..." Li Xuanxiao murmured softly to himself. His silhouette had just cleared the airspace above the desolate, ruined expanses of the former Myriad Demon Nation.
Back when he had first departed from the borders of Great Yu as an ordinary Origin Realm cultivator, it had taken him over half a month of arduous, continuous travel just to reach this specific geographic coordinate. But now, returning with the absolute, crushing cultivation tier of a Seventh Layer Void Realm powerhouse, his speed had multiplied exponentially! It was a tenfold—even a hundredfold—leap in kinetic performance!
A journey that once demanded half a month of his life was directly compressed into the span of a few brief hours.
Li Xuanxiao focused his mind, establishing an instantaneous spiritual link with the flocculent medium planted in his subordinate's consciousness. "Southern Demon, report the current status of the board. How much runtime is left before the general offensive timeline agreed upon by you and that rogue monk?"
The Southern Demon's frantic voice soon vibrated through the link: "My Lord! Three days from now is the absolute synchronized timeline authorized for the general offensive!"
"But I am currently encountering severe structural resistance trying to suppress the feral Yao Beasts under my direct command. That monk's psychological manipulation and inciting methods are incredibly sophisticated. I fear that when the countdown hits zero, a significant number of radical beasts under my banner will be unable to resist breaking the ten-year covenant to launch an invasion against Great Yu!"
Li Xuanxiao let out a cold, detached snort. "Do not strain yourself over it. Let whoever wishes to break the covenant march forward."
"Of those who dare to cross that border line, not a single target will escape structural liquidation!"
The Southern Demon was briefly bewildered by the transmission. The Lord was supposedly deep within the core regions of the Central Continent, so how could he display such an absolute, unshakeable certainty regarding a domestic border crisis?
But it was a clever, sharp-witted demon after all; after processing the data for a microsecond, a sudden realization hit its mind. "My Lord... you... you have already returned to Great Yu?!"
Li Xuanxiao nodded out of habit, then remembering the beast couldn't perceive his physical movements across the link, he spoke flatly: "Indeed. I have come back to look over my old grounds."
The Southern Demon's tone instantly flipped from nervous anxiety to an explosion of pure excitement and absolute joy. "Welcome back, My Exalted Lord! Now that your presence has descended upon this soil once more, every single problem confronting our clans will be resolved in a single frame!"
So much unyielding confidence in my output?
The corners of Li Xuanxiao's mouth curled into a faint, amused smile. "Naturally. A powerhouse as reliable as this father is truly a rare drop in this world."
"Southern Demon, keep your positioning steady. This time, you'll be in for another massive boost to your status."
The Southern Demon was briefly stunned by the statement, but quickly grasping the underlying promise of a massive resource reward, it trembled with intense joy. "Thank you, My Lord! This servant shall execute your will flawlessly!"
Li Xuanxiao withdrew his divine sense from the connection. A highly familiar, nostalgic outline had already materialized across the horizon before his eyes—the outer boundary of the Great Yu Dynasty was finally presenting itself to his gaze.
Taking a deep, clean breath of the native air, he truly felt the profound weight of returning home in absolute glory.
His sharp gaze swept over the numerous mortal cities thriving below; they were noticeably more vibrant, bustling, and populous than they had been during his departure. Due to the absolute absence of demon harassment along the regional borders, highly stable, secure trade routes had been successfully mapped between the various provincial capitals. The common folk happily exchanged what they produced for what they required, causing commercial prosperity to reach an unprecedented peak.
Even though less than a single calendar year had passed, the overall quality of life for the secular population had undergone a massive upgrade. Without the constant, suffocating anxiety of a sudden demon raid breaking over their roofs, the Martial Artists of the local Demon Slaying Division—whose personal survival rates were now vastly improved—had been thoroughly liberated from raw defensive duties.
Except for leaving a necessary, rotating vanguard on guard to prevent any unforeseen anomalies... a significant volume of official Martial Artists could now reallocate their energy toward domestic infrastructure. For example: maintaining impeccable social order within the market sectors and ensuring the absolute safety of the mercantile trade caravans.
Under the influence of these overlapping positive factors, the current Great Yu Dynasty had seemingly mutated into a peaceful, hidden paradise—a true Peach Blossom Spring isolated from the horrors of the wider continent. Relaxed, authentic smiles were painted across the faces of the passing commoners. If an outsider were to suddenly drop into this realm without context, it would be mathematically impossible for them to imagine that this was a human nation situated in a world plagued by the horrors of the Yao Beast race.
Li Xuanxiao chuckled softly. The geographic positioning of the three minor nations was truly remote, completely lacking any strategic presence on the maps of the grand sects. This massive environmental disadvantage that had historically isolated the three nations from the outside world had, in a beautiful stroke of irony, created a highly stable, insulated cradle for them. At the very least, there was zero need for them to worry like the fractured Yunqi Kingdom about being suddenly overrun by rampaging foreign Yao Beasts who would enslave the population.
Within minutes, Li Xuanxiao neared the airspace of the Great Yu Royal Capital. He smoothly suppressed his dual Luck, settling his boots onto the earth outside the main roads to maintain an exceptionally low profile.
It wasn't that he possessed some eccentric desire to play the hidden pig to devour a arrogant tiger; it was primarily driven by a deep sense of tactical regret regarding his last major encounter. He had let that Devil officer escape via self-destruction far too quickly, leaving too many critical lore gaps unaddressed.
For instance: what kind of entity was this so-called "God" they fanatically worshipped? Where were the precise coordinates of this "Divine Kingdom"? And besides the specific classes of "Preacher" and "Divine Envoy," what other specialized archetypes existed within the operational ranks of the Devil Race?
Although those lesser Origin Realm Yao Beasts had later provided him with some valuable foundational intelligence, their data certainly couldn't compare to the primary source code of the Devil Race itself. He had to learn from his past mechanical errors and ensure he captured the next Preacher alive at all costs! He would squeeze every single doubt dwelling within his heart out of that monk's mouth, once and for all!
Li Xuanxiao blended seamlessly into the dense flow of traveling merchants and mortal citizens, silently passing through the grand archway of the royal city gates.
As he walked past the checkpoint, an elite guard captain looked at Li Xuanxiao with a sudden flash of deep suspicion.
Firstly, Li Xuanxiao possessed an extraordinarily refined, majestic aura that couldn't be masked, and the three-patterned Dark Gold Martial Artist Robes he wore were spectacularly grand—he clearly wasn't some ordinary rogue cultivator. Secondly, the structural layout of Li Xuanxiao's face gave the guard an intensely familiar feeling, but for the life of him, his brain couldn't immediately map the data to a specific name.
The guard captain racked his brains, chasing the elusive memory. Suddenly, a violent flash of inspiration struck his mind like a lightning bolt, causing his entire facial expression to undergo a dramatic, horrified contortion.
"Mar... Martial God?!"
The guard captain almost instantly whipped his head back around to verify his scanning metrics, but Li Xuanxiao's silhouette had already dissolved into the bustling crowd, leaving absolutely zero trace behind.
Panicked, he immediately sprinted over to the secondary line of guards, his voice shaking as he barked: "Did any of you just see a young cultivator pass through? The one who looked exactly like the chiseled features of the grand Martial God statue?!"
The adjacent guard tilted his head in deep thought, humming. "Now that you mention it... those dark gold three-patterned robes were indeed incredibly eye-catching, so I took a few extra looks. Being reminded of the statue's features by your words... it really did bear an uncanny resemblance!"
"Don't speak such nonsense, you really shouldn't spread such wild claims!" Another veteran guard laughed loudly, shaking his head. "Are you two losing your minds from lack of sleep? If the supreme Martial God of our Great Yu Dynasty had truly returned from the legendary Central Continent, the royal court would have deployed gongs, drums, and thousands of ceremonial firecrackers across every square mile of this capital!"
"What kind of transcendent figure is the Martial God! Would an apex powerhouse of his caliber still need to line up at a pedestrian city gate like a common merchant?"
"I think you two have simply stared at the grand plaza statue for too many hours during your shifts and are starting to experience severe spiritual hallucinations!"
The two suspicious guards exchanged a long, quiet glance, a slight, bitter smile creeping onto their faces as they relaxed their postures. Thinking about the structural reality of the world, their companion's logic made perfect sense. How could such an absolute, legendary titan of the martial path be so incredibly low-key?