Black Dome Valley

Jiang Yuan gritted his teeth and imagined the feeling from before.

He recalled the knowledge about military stars that Master Cai had taught him earlier.

Gather Sha Qi, manifest the Army Soul...

Sha Qi, Sha Qi!

A cerulean halo appeared over Jiang Yuan's pupils. Then he saw that faint traces of Sha Qi were wafting from every soldier in the army behind him.

And the one with the most Sha Qi was himself.

Gather Sha Qi... Since he had gathered Sha Qi before, then he definitely possessed the talent for it.

Jiang Yuan closed his eyes. In that instant, it felt as though ten thousand years had passed.

Suddenly, he could sense wisps of airflow drifting through the surroundings.

Sha Qi!

Jiang Yuan abruptly opened his eyes and drew that Sha Qi toward himself.

But the result was poor.

Jiang Yuan suddenly thought of something. He charged to the front of the army and roared with all his strength.

"Entire army, form ranks! Follow this general into battle!"

The sound reached every ear. Everyone instinctively straightened up, only to see their young general already spurring his horse into a mad gallop.

Everyone instinctively followed him.

Although the Black Profound Army consisted of infantry, its soldiers were all experts of the Late Qi and Blood Stage. Running at full speed, they could still keep pace with Jiang Yuan.

Jiang Yuan knew nothing of military strategy. All he could do now was imitate the Overlord of Chu.

Rely on his own valor and momentum to forcibly raise the morale of the entire army.

The army was about a kilometer from that flesh-and-blood demon, but for an army, that was a very short distance.

Jiang Yuan galloped ahead on horseback while the soldiers behind him followed close at his heels.

Sha Qi began to boil. The boiling Sha Qi spread outward, then gathered around Jiang Yuan as he absorbed it.

Countless strands and threads of killing intent wound around Jiang Yuan, gradually weaving themselves into the phantom of a divine bird.

Jiang Yuan's face was cold and stern, his eyes filled with icy killing intent.

"Kill!"

Jiang Yuan rode alone at the very front of the army. At this moment, he was like a sharp blade, and every enemy standing before him would be crushed to pieces.

The Sha Qi from the army racing behind him in orderly formation began to gather upon Jiang Yuan.

At that moment, Jiang Yuan felt an immense power converging within him. It faintly pressed down upon his internal organs, but it was far lighter than last time. At the very least, this time he would not lose his ability to fight from the backlash of a single strike.

Jiang Yuan raised his spear high and charged forward with peerless momentum.

The three experts of the Transformative Force Stage all noticed the disturbance behind them.

Their expressions changed drastically.

Master Wang even cried out, "Don't come over! Your attacks are useless against this monster!"

The moment his words fell, a dragon's roar rang out. Yet strangely, at the same time as the dragon's roar, a clear bird cry also sounded.

Then a spear flashing with cold light stabbed toward the five-meter-tall monster.

The divine bird phantom clinging to Jiang Yuan also clawed forward.

The next second, the demon turned to ash without making a sound.

Like white paper meeting flame, it had not the slightest power to resist.

The three experts of the Transformative Force Stage were all stunned.

Jiang Yuan abruptly withdrew his spear, and the cold gleam on it faded.

He raised one hand and made a gesture to halt.

The army behind him obeyed orders as though they were one, instantly stopping its charge.

He could not help but smile wryly. Did gathering the Army Soul require such a spectacle every time?

Still, the Army Soul being able to harm those strange entities was the best possible outcome.

He had gained another means of dealing with strange entities.

While Jiang Yuan was pondering these matters, the three experts of the Transformative Force Stage stood dumbfounded.

It was not only because Jiang Yuan had cleanly defeated the demon that the three of them had wrestled with for so long without success, but also because of the astonishing speed of his progress on the path of military stars.

In such a short time, Jiang Yuan had been able to gather Sha Qi and manifest the Army Soul on his own. His talent might be even greater than the three of them had imagined.

Jiang Yuan himself did not think much of it. He turned his head to look at the three men.

The three exchanged glances without speaking. Master Cai reached out and touched the ring on his hand, and a booklet appeared. Master Cai handed it to Jiang Yuan.

Jiang Yuan's first reaction was not to read the booklet, but to stare curiously at the ring on Master Cai's hand.

What was this? A Space Ring?

This world had something this good?

The three offered no explanation for the rings on their hands. It seemed Space Rings were something everyone knew about.

Jiang Yuan said nothing more and looked at the booklet in his hand.

The booklet contained knowledge about War Stars, though it all seemed to be very basic. It was only a thin volume.

Jiang Yuan thanked Master Cai, then began studying the booklet in his hands.

This boy was terrifying indeed.

With such talent as a War Star, he would surely have a place among the top generals in the future—provided he did not fall before then.

Ah, what a pity. A seedling like this had to follow them on this mission.

The three had different thoughts, but all shared the same admiration for Jiang Yuan.

Then, the three took out small bottles, collected some scraps of blood and flesh from the ground, and recorded a number of things.

This monster had appeared before the public for the first time. It was highly likely to be some method employed by Golden Court in the north, so the three needed to document it carefully.

If not for the great formation currently enveloping the area, the three would have been unable to send any messages out at all. Otherwise, they would certainly have transmitted what they knew as quickly as possible.

A monster that even masters of the Transformation Force realm could not fight was simply too terrifying. Even ordinary armies might be unable to contend with it.

The only known method of countering it was the Sha Qi attacks of War Stars.

The three glanced at Jiang Yuan's focused expression, then silently turned to look into the distance again. This mission was even more important than they had imagined.

The farther they went, the heavier the stench of blood became.

Yet everyone pressed onward without hesitation.

Several more flesh monsters appeared along the way.

The three Transformation Force masters did not make a move. Instead, Jiang Yuan killed those monsters himself.

Meanwhile, the three masters stood to one side, using paper and pen to record every kind of data about the creatures.

After several rounds of testing his hand, Jiang Yuan's use of Sha Qi became increasingly proficient.

Now, Jiang Yuan did not even need the army to enter a charging formation to draw forth Sha Qi and manifest the Army Soul.

Only now did Jiang Yuan realize that his talent in the path of the War Star might be rather extraordinary.

According to the information in that little booklet, ordinary people should not have improved so quickly.

Jiang Yuan showed no complacency. Instead, he studied the path of the War Star with even greater seriousness.

He also learned what that phantom divine bird truly was.

It was the unified Army Soul of every army in the Xuan Shang Empire—the Black Bird.

However, it was said that different armies should have different Army Souls. Yet all Army Souls of the Xuan Shang Empire were uniformly Black Birds, which left Jiang Yuan somewhat puzzled.

Jiang Yuan did not dwell on it too much.

The army slowly advanced and soon approached Black Dome Valley.

A bloody stench countless times thicker than before rushed straight at them. It was even stronger than the reek of a slaughterhouse, making people wonder for a moment whether they had arrived in hell.

Jiang Yuan looked toward the distant gorge, and once he saw it clearly, an uncertain, startled expression appeared on his face for the first time.