Gu Qingshan sprinted through the jungle until he came upon a clearing, then carefully circled around it.
After running several dozen zhang, he found another clearing ahead.
Gu Qingshan stopped and took another detour.
After traveling a little farther, he pushed aside the dense branches—and found yet another bare clearing before him.
As far as the eye could see, clearings like these were everywhere.
Gu Qingshan let out a breath and gritted his teeth as he leaped to higher ground.
He raised his Military Bow and shot an arrow at the earth.
The arrow sank deep into the ground, leaving only its fletching exposed.
Before long, a human face as large as a sports field appeared in the clearing.
The face spat out the arrow and looked at Gu Qingshan, asking in a low, slow voice, "How... did you... know I was... here?"
Gu Qingshan studied it and said, "The soil is too fresh."
"What... does fresh... mean?" The face looked confused.
This was a kind of earth-burrowing monster called an Earth Elemental Demon.
It was born with a certain degree of resistance to Five Elements Spell. Whenever it encountered a sword cultivator, it would simply burrow underground.
Earth Escape was a powerful divine ability, and very few living beings could master it.
Earth Elemental Demons were nearly invincible in battles against military formations, and for a time they gave the Human Race Cultivators a great deal of trouble.
It was only much later that the players discovered their fatal weakness: they weren't very bright.
They would believe anything anyone said, as long as it managed to pique an Earth Elemental Demon's interest.
So Gu Qingshan said, "You should bring some soil from where you came from. That way, it'll match the earthy yellow color of the dirt on your body."
He continued, "If you did that, I wouldn't be able to find you—no one would."
The face in the ground said, "No one would find me? Really...?"
"Really...?"
"Really...?"
"Really...?"
"Really...?"
Countless identical voices rang out.
Gu Qingshan forced himself to stay calm and looked out from his perch on the tree branch.
Countless enormous human faces emerged from the ground, their expressions tinged with excitement as they stared at Gu Qingshan in unison.
The faces were packed so tightly that they nearly covered the entire mountain.
—The Earth Element Demon Legion, the backbone of the monsters' forces.
Though the Faceless Giants were powerful, they were few in number. When it came to surrounding and killing the enemy, the Earth Elemental Demon battalions were the ones who had to be deployed.
"Of course it's true. No one would find you," Gu Qingshan said with a loud laugh, looking around. "If you don't believe me, bring the soil here and see for yourselves. I'll wait."
The faces looked eager to try. "All right. You... wait here."
As they spoke, the faces sank into the ground and quickly vanished.
"I'll... go too."
"I'll... go too."
"I'll... go too."
"I'll... go too."
One enormous human face after another disappeared into the earth and sped away.
The place these monsters came from was the Demon Army's main camp, a thousand li away. Even at the Earth Elemental Demons' speed, it would take them quite a while to return.
As soon as the Earth Elemental Demons had left, Gu Qingshan moved to make a quick getaway.
This was no joke. The entire Earth Element Demon Legion had mobilized. Such a huge commotion was bound to alert the Demon Army. They might well be intercepted along the way and ordered back to the front lines.
If they came back again, he'd really be finished.
Just as Gu Qingshan was about to make himself scarce, he heard a voice from nearby.
"Little friend, thank you for helping us out of a bind. May I ask your name?"
Gu Qingshan spun around. An old man was looking at him with a smile.
Keeping one hand on his Military Bow, Gu Qingshan replied swiftly, "I'm Gu Qingshan, a forward soldier of the Brave Cavalry Camp. May I ask who you are? Do you have an identity token?"
The old man tossed him an identity token. Gu Qingshan caught it and infused it with Spiritual Power.
The token immediately shone brightly. A flame rose from it, condensed into lines, and formed several large characters.
"General Dingyuan, Gongsun Zhi."
Gu Qingshan's heart sank.
General Dingyuan of the Human Race cultivator alliance, Supreme Elder of the Saint Dao Sect, and formation Great Grandmaster, Gongsun Zhi!
Why was it him?
He had clearly left the Military Camp and was already far from the place where Gongsun Zhi was surrounded. Why had he still run into him?
He tossed over his own identity token and let the other man inspect it as well.
Both of them felt a little more at ease.
Unable to resist, Gu Qingshan asked, "So you're General Gongsun. Why are you here alone?"
Gongsun Zhi sighed, took out a small formation plate, placed both hands on it, and shouted, "Six Harmonies Escape Array, open!"
The scene before Gu Qingshan's eyes shifted. Everything around him seemed to recede in an instant. When he looked again, he found himself standing in front of a Taoist temple.
Beyond the temple, all four directions—north, south, east, and west—were blank. He could make out neither distance nor direction.
A formation had concealed a Taoist temple right here in these mountains!
Gu Qingshan followed Gongsun Zhi into the temple, where he saw someone in golden armor and a snow-white cloak seated on a Prayer Mat in the middle of the hall.
The armor wasn't bulky. Instead, it was delicate and fitted, accentuating her tall, graceful figure.
She kept her head lowered, only lifting it slightly when Gongsun Zhi brought Gu Qingshan inside. Upon seeing that the newcomer hadn't even reached the Foundation Establishment Realm, she lowered her head again.
When she looked up, Gu Qingshan saw that she wore a silver mask that completely concealed her face.
"Little friend Qingshan, thanks to you driving off the Earth Element Demon Legion, we would otherwise have been trapped here."
"Him? He drove off the Earth Element Demon Legion?" a pleasant female voice asked.
The Golden Armor woman sounded surprised. Her silver mask revealed nothing of her expression.
"That's right," Gongsun Zhi said. "The Earth Elemental Demons have awakened the Five Elements Earth and can control soil, which greatly interfered with my formation. He's tricked them all into leaving."
"Tricked them?"
The Golden Armor woman was even more confused.
Gongsun Zhi explained what had happened.
Only then did the Golden Armor woman look straight at Gu Qingshan. "How did you know that monster's weakness?"
Gu Qingshan had already prepared an explanation. He replied calmly, "I served in the Vanguard Camp and dealt with monsters every day. I liked studying their traits, so I learned a little."
"The Vanguard Camp? That makes sense," the Golden Armor woman murmured. "As far as I know, the Demon Army's main force scattered the Vanguard Camp, nearly wiping it out. You may be the only survivor."
Gu Qingshan let a look of grief and anger cross his face at just the right moment.
Gongsun Zhi's eyes lit up. "Then do you know anything about other monsters?"
This was the Human Race army's first clash with the monsters, and they still had no idea what the monsters were capable of. As a result, they had suffered heavy losses.
Many units had been wiped out without a single message getting back to the rear. The army still had no way to gauge the monsters' strength.
If a soldier who had survived the Vanguard Camp could explain the traits of the various monsters, it would greatly benefit the war effort.
"I know a little," Gu Qingshan said with confidence.
The Spiritual Power around the two of them was as vast and inscrutable as the sea. Gu Qingshan couldn't tell how they would treat him, so he decided to reveal just enough to show his value.
Sure enough, Gongsun Zhi and the Golden Armor woman exchanged a look and nodded.
Before you continue