Jiang Yuan led three thousand Black Profound Army soldiers across the wilderness.
North of the Xuan Shang Empire lay a stretch of wasteland, and farther north was a verdant grassland.
Hanshan Plain was a flatland within this wasteland.
Jiang Yuan rode at the head of the formation. Looking over the troops around him, he had never expected that he would one day lead an army.
Though he was only a temporary commander and had no real talent for commanding troops.
Still, having an army at his back inevitably stirred a heroic spirit in one's heart.
Jiang Yuan looked into the distance, his eyes narrowing slightly. The vision enhanced by his talent allowed him to easily make out the scene far away.
What was that?
A vivid color had suddenly appeared upon the desolate wilderness.
It was nothing else but the eye-catching color of blood.
The three Hua Jin Martial Artists beside him had also noticed the anomaly. Their expressions remained unchanged, but their eyes were filled with gravity.
As they drew closer, they discovered scattered severed limbs and chunks of flesh on the ground, blurred masses of blood and meat strewn across the earth.
It looked as though people had exploded one after another, their flesh blasted everywhere to create such a sight.
But how could a living person possibly explode for no reason at all?
"My lord, these are the uniforms of Golden Court soldiers."
The scout came forward to report. Jiang Yuan and the three Hua Jin Martial Artists all fell silent after hearing this, revealing nothing of their thoughts.
At that moment, alarm bells suddenly rang in Jiang Yuan's heart.
Though it was somewhat indistinct, Jiang Yuan could still faintly sense danger coming from ahead.
This was the slight danger-warning function attached to [River Spirit's Blessing].
Jiang Yuan's heart jolted. Sure enough, this mission would not be so simple. What else was waiting ahead?
The air around them was permeated everywhere with the stench of blood, as though it had twisted the very environment.
A gust of wind swept over him, and Jiang Yuan inexplicably shuddered all over.
But this was a life simulation. Jiang Yuan could start over.
He had countless chances, while everyone else had only one.
Even if he failed this time, there would still be a next time.
Jiang Yuan continued forward with a calm heart.
The three men remained half a step behind Jiang Yuan. This was to establish Jiang Yuan's authority within the army, allowing his General Star to be fully brought into play.
The three watched Jiang Yuan at all times. Seeing that he showed not the slightest panic in the face of such a bizarre scene, their appraisal of him quietly rose once more.
The farther forward they went, the heavier the bloody stench became, so heavy that even the battle-hardened veterans of the Black Profound Army frowned.
The warning in Jiang Yuan's heart grew increasingly urgent.
At a certain moment, Jiang Yuan suddenly raised his brows and stared ahead with a grave expression.
Bang—
Ahead, a mass of flesh and blood suddenly fell from the sky, then formed into a humanoid monster stitched together from countless severed limbs and mangled bodies.
The monster had the outline of a short, stout humanoid with an enormous belly, yet it stood five meters tall.
The creature was composed of countless masses of exposed flesh. As it walked toward Jiang Yuan, every step dragged off chunks of meat, which continued to writhe as though alive after falling to the ground.
The armored soldiers stared at the monster, shock suddenly appearing on their faces.
Someone could not help crying out, "What is that thing?!"
This strictly disciplined army actually fell into a brief commotion. Though it was quickly suppressed, Jiang Yuan could not help frowning.
He now knew that the Black Profound Army was one of the Xuan Shang Empire's elite forces, yet did this army not know of the existence of anomalies?
That reaction... only those seeing an anomaly for the first time would react like that.
This was also Jiang Yuan's first time encountering an anomaly in a life simulation. He did not know whether killing it would earn him any Points.
He was not afraid. It was simply that he did not possess his original body now.
His current self was not a Heavenly Gifted Martial Artist at all and had no means of directly dealing with anomalies.
Ordinary Qi and Blood Martial Artists had always been no more than lambs awaiting slaughter when facing anomalies.
As for Hua Jin Martial Artists, Jiang Yuan did not know what methods martial artists of that level possessed when confronting anomalies.
What Jiang Yuan did not know was that the three men were equally startled upon seeing the monster.
Master Wu even cried out, "What the hell is this thing?"
"A monster created by Golden Court? Or some special Exotic Beast?"
"This thing..."
Seeing Jiang Yuan's gaze, the three men thought he was seeking instructions from them and all frowned slightly.
"I'll go test this ghostly thing first." Master Wang was the first to speak. His movement technique was the strongest among the three, making him the most suitable person for probing it.
Only then did Jiang Yuan confirm that these three men simply did not know of the existence of anomalies!
How could that be? In the real world, even someone in the Qi and Blood realm from a major faction was qualified to know of anomalies.
Even Qi and Blood Rogue Cultivators who traveled the world could learn some information about anomalies.
Yet here, these three Hua Jin Martial Artists were special experts of the Xuan Shang Empire and held rather high status, but they actually knew nothing of anomalies?
If it was not because these three had never encountered anomalies before, then this world simply had no anomalies at all!
The anomaly before them might be among the first batch of anomalies to appear before the eyes of the world.
Jiang Yuan's heart skipped a beat. He had not expected this world's cultivation system to be identical to that of the real world, yet without anomalies running rampant.
Then where had the anomaly before him come from?
Perhaps uncovering the reason for this anomaly's appearance would also allow him to deduce the original reason anomalies had first appeared in the real world.
A complicated look flashed through Jiang Yuan's eyes.
What kind of world was this, then? Was it merely a simulated virtual world, another world, or perhaps a parallel world of the real world?
Countless thoughts raced through Jiang Yuan's mind. At this moment, Master Wang had already begun fighting the anomaly.
Jiang Yuan carefully observed the anomaly. If it had to be classified, it could be categorized as a demon.
Yet this demon showed little reaction to Master Wang's attacks.
Master Wang released his Internal Force, stirring up a storm. The long blade in his hand swept forward, carrying the storm with it.
When it struck the demon, a huge mass of flesh was instantly sent flying.
But the demon's flesh quickly regenerated.
Master Wang's face instead turned pale. He could feel some kind of power from that ghostly thing constantly corroding his Internal Force.
What was going on?!
Seeing Master Wang fall into a disadvantage, the other two immediately moved to aid him without another word.
Jiang Yuan heard Master Cai's voice beside him.
"Army, form ranks and prepare to repel the enemy!"
Jiang Yuan was troubled upon hearing that. How was he supposed to know anything about forming ranks?
He had never studied military strategy or battle formations. Even when he had gone to war, it had only been as an ordinary soldier. Yet because of the General Star, Jiang Yuan had temporarily become the commander of this Black Profound Army, though he possessed none of an ordinary commander's abilities. Wait! The General Star. He still had the General Star's abilities available to him—perhaps they could be of some help?
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