A few days later, under He Yanjun's lead, more than a hundred War God Temple martial artists—including Chen Lin, Chen Yu, and Zhou Le—rode the mounts prepared by the War God Temple toward the fortress in the Two Realms Mountain Range outside Nanqing City to take part in the Demon Slayer Envoy assessment.
In less than half an hour, they arrived at Nanxing Fortress, located in the southeastern part of the Two Realms Mountain Range.
Before they had even reached the fortress entrance, Chen Lin saw a large number of young martial artists gathered nearby.
They came in all appearances and attire, standing in clusters of three or five, groups of seven or eight, yet they were clearly divided into three large camps.
Once the War God Temple martial artists, Chen Lin's group, had all arrived, a clear, ringing voice suddenly came from atop the fortress.
"Martial artists from all corners of the land, quiet down and listen to a few words from me. I am an elder of the Merchant Alliance. I believe all of you have heard more or less of the Merchant Alliance's reputation. You know that we are a power second only to the War God Temple and the Martial Arts Academy, the wealthiest merchant association in the Nine Provinces, and also the power with the greatest number of martial artists."
The martial artists from the various powers preparing for the assessment near the fortress gradually quieted down upon hearing this.
Chen Lin walked alongside Chen Yu, listening to the announcement from the city wall. Chen Yu chuckled. "A Lin, you know about the Merchant Alliance, right? They're the richest bunch in the Nine Provinces. Even major powers like the War God Temple and Martial Arts Academy can't compare to them."
"I know."
Chen Lin answered with a smile.
As time passed these days, he had thoroughly absorbed the memories of the original owner of this body.
The Merchant Alliance was nominally a merchant association, but in truth, it was a loose alliance formed by the powerful and aristocratic families behind the Eighty-One Cities of the Five Nations. Its purpose was to resist the pressure exerted by the two great powers and the royal families of the various nations.
"Our Merchant Alliance is the greatest merchant association in the Nine Provinces. Here, you can find many missions with enormous rewards and earn inexhaustible wealth. If you want to make money, coming to the Merchant Alliance to take missions is your best choice!"
"To pull something like this before the practical assessments of so many powers, it seems the Merchant Alliance has really spent a fortune this time," Chen Yu joked quietly.
"Probably. This Demon Slayer Envoy assessment is a practical assessment jointly organized by all Four Great Powers of Yan State. It's rare for the Four Great Powers to organize one together, so naturally the Merchant Alliance has to seize the chance to promote itself properly!" Chen Lin said with a smile.
Before the two could chat for long, they followed the flow of people in a vast procession through the fortress and arrived at a large military camp fifty kilometers away.
This military camp did not belong to Nanqing City, but to the joint army of Yan State's Four Great Powers.
Most of the soldiers within came from the Four Great Powers of Yan State. They were stationed outside the Two Realms Mountain Range fortress, resisting the demon beasts beyond it.
They were Yan State's first line of defense against demon beasts.
The entire camp covered an enormous area. Aside from all manner of gigantic bed crossbows around its perimeter, it was also filled with many large traps.
As Chen Lin passed near those large traps and saw the sharp spikes in the pits gleaming with cold light and reeking of blood, he knew those trap pits had certainly slain no small number of nearby demon beasts.
As Chen Lin's group entered the front of the camp, Chen Yu suddenly pointed into the distance. "A Lin, look. Don't those demon beasts look pretty cowardly?"
Chen Lin looked carefully. In the mountain ranges on both sides not far from the camp, demon beast figures occasionally flashed past. Some simply crouched on the cliff faces of the mountains, staring fixedly at the camp below, yet did not dare approach it by even half a step.
"Caw, caw~~"
Piercing cries rang in everyone's ears, and all of them instinctively looked up. A dense flock of enormous demon birds flew across the blue-tinged sky, drawing exclamations of amazement from the crowd.
"The Two Realms Mountain Range truly lives up to its reputation. Once outside the Two Realms Fortress, demon beasts are everywhere. I really wonder how our ancestors managed to carve out such a vast region for people to live in from the jaws of those vicious demon beasts?" Zhou Le rode over beside them, looking at the demon birds passing overhead with a face full of emotion.
He Yanjun, who had come near Chen Lin and the others, heard their discussion and could not help but speak. "The land we live on today is the result of generation after generation of sages tirelessly expanding it with blood and tears. The struggle between humans and demon beasts is a battle for survival. It has been filled with cruelty and bloodshed from the very beginning. That is also the fundamental reason why, no matter how much filth there is between the major powers of the Nine Provinces, they do not easily engage in large-scale conflict—because our enemy has never been within."
"Everyone~~"
As soon as He Yanjun finished speaking, a deep, resounding voice reached the ears of every martial artist taking part in the practical assessment with perfect clarity.
"First, welcome everyone to the Nanxing Demon Purge Army Camp. This time, the Demon Slayer Envoy assessment for a total of 780 people from the Four Great Powers will be held within our camp's jurisdiction."
"I hope everyone present can pass the assessment, and I also hope that all of you can survive it and become part of the force resisting demon beasts."
"You still have one hour to rest. Cherish this time, because it may very well be the final stretch of your lives."
After the voice ended, the crowd immediately erupted into commotion, and many people looked grim.
He Yanjun glanced at Chen Lin. Seeing that his expression had not changed in the slightest, he could not help but nod in satisfaction.
Chen Lin was the one he thought most highly of among these people, and also the member with the greatest potential in Nanqing City's War God Temple.
Just as He Yanjun was quietly pleased with Chen Lin's performance, a rough voice suddenly sounded behind him.
"Old He, does your War God Temple have any outstanding youngsters this year? Bring them out and let me have a look!"
"Huo Lixuan, judging by that expression, your Martial Arts Academy has some good seedlings this year, huh?" He Yanjun turned around with a smile.
"Of course! Our Martial Arts Academy has produced two good seedlings this year! Look—one is a Body Refining Genius, and the other is a Blade Wielding Genius. So? Jealous?" The Burly Man in Black, Huo Lixuan, wore a smug expression across his rugged face.
"Oh! Not bad. How old are they? What realm are they in?" He Yanjun asked with amusement as he looked at the two youths behind Huo Lixuan, who were obviously much older than Chen Lin.
"Our Martial Arts Academy's two geniuses are only twenty-one this year. Their futures are boundless!" Huo Lixuan said smugly.
"Oh, is that so? Sorry, but our War God Temple has produced an eighteen-year-old Martial Master this year, with a full thousand jin of strength." He Yanjun smiled calmly.
"What? A thousand jin of strength?" Huo Lixuan looked shocked.
"Let me introduce him to you. This is Chen Lin, one of the more outstanding young talents of our War God Temple this year." Seeing Huo Lixuan's astonished gaze, He Yanjun pointed at Chen Lin and introduced him.
As Huo Lixuan sized Chen Lin up from head to toe, the two young men beside him were also carefully examining Chen Lin.
As the most talented martial artists of the younger generation, they were both rather proud and high-spirited.
Before Huo Lixuan could say anything, the young martial artist beside him with somewhat shadowy eyes spoke to Chen Lin. "My name is Xu Tao. Chen Lin, are you interested in competing to see who kills more demon beasts in this practical selection?"
"Not interested," Chen Lin replied speechlessly.
"Don't tell me you lack confidence in your own strength and don't dare to compete?" The other ordinary-looking young man beside Huo Lixuan suddenly mocked.
"Heh." Chen Lin gave a hollow laugh that did not reach his eyes.
"You!" Seeing Chen Lin's contempt, the young man immediately became somewhat enraged.
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