Foreman Wang Relents

The Stone-Skinned Soul-Peering Demon, seeing its mental attack fail, swung its massive stone arm with a terrifying wind pressure that tore through the air, slamming down hard toward the flickering ghostly figure!

Boom!

The ground was smashed into a huge crater, debris flying everywhere!

But Lu Chen's figure had already appeared over ten zhang away at its side, moving so fast that only a faint afterimage remained.

His minor mastery of the Shadow Demon Trace Steps allowed him to navigate the seam between illusion array and reality with ease!

"Right here!"

After countless dodges and shifts, Lu Chen finally seized a fleeting opening!

He no longer circled but poured all his inner force into his legs, transforming into a black lightning bolt skimming the ground, instantly cutting into the Stone-Skinned Soul-Peering Demon's embrace!

The demon's massive body had become its greatest burden!

"Roar!"

The Stone-Skinned Soul-Peering Demon sensed danger. The dozens of eyeballs all over its body burst with dense black light, and a thick, viscous Yin-Sha Gang Qi erupted, forming an indestructible black shield!

But what met it was a blade flash—fast to the extreme, cold to the extreme!

Clang—!

The Hundred Refinements Saber left its sheath!

Lu Chen used no flashy techniques, only the simplest, most direct upward slash, meeting that Yin-Sha shield head-on.

The Demon Suppressing Saber Technique at the Perfection Realm!

Unique trait—Sha Breaking!

The moment the blade edge touched the shield, there was no earth-shattering roar, no dazzling radiance.

Just a crisp crack, like ice shattering.

That Yin-Sha shield, strong enough to block ordinary Profound Rank Martial Techniques, was sliced open with a smooth gash under the Hundred Refinements Saber's edge, as fragile as paper!

The blade's edge carried a power of annihilation aimed directly at the demon's Killing Intent essence, breaking through like a splitting bamboo!

For the first time, the dozens of eyeballs on the Stone-Skinned Soul-Peering Demon showed an expression of disbelief and terror!

But it was too late!

Lu Chen's figure had already slipped through the gap he'd cut, closing in!

His target was the two largest, most sinister eyeballs at the very center!

"Die!"

Murderous intent blazed in Lu Chen's eyes. He twisted his wrist, and the Hundred Refinements Saber traced an icy arc through the air, piercing upward from below with pinpoint precision through those two black eyeballs!

Squelch!

A dull sound.

Like the hottest knife cutting through butter.

The blade tip sank in to the hilt!

"Aaaa—!!!!!"

A shrill, silent scream, originating from the depths of its soul, erupted!

The Stone-Skinned Soul-Peering Demon's massive body stiffened. The dozens of eyeballs all over it burst like popped balloons in an instant, oozing foul black pus!

Its huge stone arms drooped powerlessly. Its entire body began to rapidly weather and crumble, finally crashing down with a boom into a heap of lifeless rubble and dust.

The illusion array that had shrouded the entire valley shattered in that moment of its death.

Sunlight spilled down again. The eerie wind howled once more. Everything returned to normal.

The terrifying illusions before Zhao Da Niu, Sun Monkey, and the others vanished instantly. They stared blankly at the rubble on the ground and at Lu Chen, who stood saber in hand, exuding a fierce killing aura, their minds completely empty.

[Host has slain a Ranked Demon-Skinned Soul-Peering Demon, gaining two hundred and twenty years of Demon Devil Lifespan!] [Detected host's direct kill of a high-rank demon. System analyzing demon traits...] [Congratulations, host! From the Stone-Skinned Soul-Peering Demon's original Killing Intent, you have comprehended a new trait—Eye of Delusion Breaking (Basic): Your eyes can now see through some low-rank illusions and disguises.]

Lu Chen slowly sheathed his saber.

He walked over to the pile of rubble, bent down, and picked up two eyeballs that had lost all their eerie glow, now like ordinary black obsidian.

[Obtained special material: Annihilation Demon Eyes.]

He turned around, looking at his five utterly dumbfounded subordinates. His voice was calm but carried an unshakable authority.

"Ghost Face Slope, patrol complete."

He paused, a meaningful curve tugging at the corner of his mouth.

"Go back and tell Steward Wang... the feng shui here is... not bad."

When Lu Chen and his group of six walked out of the deathly silent valley at Ghost Face Slope unscathed, the few Imperial Guards waiting at the mountain pass to receive them nearly had their eyes pop out of their sockets.

"Deputy... Deputy Commander Liu! They... they're out!" one Imperial Guard stammered into his Sound Transmission Jade Talisman, his voice filled with disbelief and shock.

The news hit like a boulder thrown into a calm lake, stirring up another massive wave throughout the Demon Suppression Division!

Ghost Face Slope!

That was a death trap where even ranked experts had gone in and never come back!

This so-called "Fortunate General," Lu Chen, had taken five greenhorn recruits, strolled through it, and come out without a scratch?!

This couldn't be explained by mere luck anymore! It was a miracle! Sorcery!

The moment Lu Chen led his squad through the gates of the Demon Suppression Division, they were met by hundreds of eyes—a tangled mix of awe, fear, curiosity, and fervor.

The Imperial Guard sweating through their drills on the training ground halted mid-motion; the clerks hurrying along the corridors froze in their tracks; even the sentries on the high watchtowers couldn't help leaning out to stare.

Every gaze locked onto the tall, composed black-clad youth.

"Is that Lu Chen?"

"Heavens, the Killing Intent on him... it's so faint! Almost like an ordinary person! How did he survive Ghost Face Slope?"

"I heard he awakened an ancient bloodline—can see through illusions, and no evil can touch him!"

"Bullshit! I heard he carries a rare treasure that can suppress fiends!"

The murmurs surged like a tide, but this time, there was no trace of scorn or contempt.

Lu Chen paid them no mind. He led his subordinates, who were already scared out of their wits, straight toward the Imperial Guard Camp's quarters.

Along the way, every Demon Suppression Officer they encountered—whether seasoned old Imperial Guards or arrogant noble scions—stepped aside without exception, bowed, and addressed him as Little Banner Lu.

This was the reverence that strength commanded.

Just as Lu Chen was about to step into his private courtyard, a figure he least wanted to see, yet had fully expected, appeared at the crossroads.

It was Foreman Wang.

He no longer carried himself with the swaggering arrogance of before. He stood alone, isolated, his Steward's robes looking a size too big on him. The man seemed to have withered.

He looked at Lu Chen, forcing a smile that was uglier than a grimace—a grin dripping with fawning and fear.

"L-Little Banner Lu... you... you're back."

Lu Chen stopped, gazing at him silently.

Foreman Wang squirmed under that stare, a fine sheen of cold sweat beading on his forehead. Trembling, he pulled a heavy money pouch from his bosom and held it out with both hands.

"Little Banner Lu, this is... a small token of my esteem. I was out of line before—I had eyes but failed to see Mount Tai, my mind clouded by greed! You're a man of great magnanimity, please don't bother with a maggot like me wallowing in the mud..."

He was nearly on his knees.

Around them, the Demon Suppression Officers watching from a distance all drew in sharp breaths.

The Steward of the Demon Suppression Division's Corpse Handling Room, a man of some standing, was groveling like this before a newly promoted Little Banner!