"Honorary Lieutenant General?" Teng Qingshan was surprised.
"That's right!" Wang Hai said with a smile. "Actually, given your contributions, Qingshan, you more than deserve the rank of full general. But since you haven't officially joined the Military, this is the highest rank we can grant you. It'll also make it easier for you to lead the Special Operations Team. I hope you won't refuse."
Looking at Wang Hai's earnest, hopeful gaze, his weary yet resolute face, and the white hairs at his temples, Teng Qingshan found that he simply couldn't bring himself to refuse.
"All right, Chief, I accept. But there's no need for the Special Operations Team. They can't keep up with my speed, and these days, even fighter jets can't operate over long distances. Bringing them along would only hold me back. However, I can offer guidance to any Martial Artists in the Military with a talent for cultivation."
"That works, too. I nearly forgot that you're strong enough to stand against a million soldiers alone, Qingshan. At this stage, there's really no need for you to bring anyone else along." Wang Hai laughed and slapped his forehead. "It's just that we're in extraordinary times, so we'll have to keep the ceremony brief."
"Those are minor details." Teng Qingshan smiled. "There's no time to waste. I'll go clear out all the threatening Monsters within a hundred kilometers. Chief, have the troops build outposts behind me at their own pace and advance steadily."
"All right. We're counting on you, Qingshan."
After leaving the command center,
Teng Qingshan rode the Samsara Spear and began clearing the Monsters around Yangzhou City.
There were simply too many Monsters, and they kept roaming between different areas. Completely clearing them out and leaving not a single one behind was impossible.
At least, it was impossible for now.
So Teng Qingshan flew low as usual. Whenever he spotted a group of Monsters, he swooped down and unleashed a storm of Flying Daggers.
These Monsters were no stronger than Beast Generals, so they had no chance of resisting.
However, the area he had to patrol was vast, so even with Teng Qingshan's speed, the work progressed slowly.
While Teng Qingshan was clearing out the Monster hordes,
the surrounding provinces were also preparing to evacuate.
Moving hundreds of millions of people was no small matter.
Every aspect had to be carefully prepared.
And that was without even considering the threat of Monsters along the way.
More than ten days later,
thanks to his high mobility as a Spiritual Telekinetic, Teng Qingshan had cleared the entire area within a hundred kilometers of Yangzhou City.
He had wiped out every large Monster horde that had gained a foothold. Any lone Monsters he encountered also met their end.
Aside from a few scattered Monsters that wandered into the area, it was now basically free of threats.
But the area was so vast that Teng Qingshan would still need to patrol it regularly in the days ahead.
Throughout this intense campaign to clear out the Monsters,
Teng Qingshan had never neglected his cultivation.
In particular, his daily, intensive use of Flying Daggers to slaughter Monster hordes
had made his control over Telekinesis more precise and deepened his understanding of it.
At the same time, he could channel more and more Domain Energy into his Flying Daggers.
He had even developed some unique techniques for controlling objects, though they still needed a lot of refinement.
What truly delighted Teng Qingshan was that, during the intense hunt for Monsters, the mysterious Nine Provinces Cauldron in his mind seemed to have changed!
Night fell.
On the third floor of the Xingyi Sect headquarters by White Horse Lake,
Teng Qingshan sat before the floor-to-ceiling window and cultivated as usual.
After completing his routine Source Energy and Telekinesis training,
he gathered all his focus and entered the depths of his consciousness.
The fiery-red sphere in the center of his Consciousness Sea had now shrunk to a small core. The rest had all been broken down into Telekinesis.
He estimated that the sphere wouldn't be fully absorbed until his physical strength reached the limits of a High-level War God.
He delved deeper into his consciousness.
In the deepest part of his Consciousness Sea,
the Nine Provinces Cauldron, concealed within the mist of Telekinesis, seemed to have changed as it drifted up and down.
"Hm?"
These past few days, Teng Qingshan had been completely absorbed in clearing out the Monsters. Other than passively receiving the intermittent visions of the future sent by the Little Cauldron, he had spent all his time cultivating.
After clearing out the last Iron-Haired Boar horde that morning, the Little Cauldron in his mind had suddenly stirred.
At the time, Teng Qingshan had been busy collecting Monster materials, so he hadn't examined it right away.
Now that he finally had a moment to spare, he hurried to investigate.
As he focused his mind on the Little Cauldron,
Teng Qingshan finally noticed what had changed.
The Little Cauldron, which had previously been completely illusory, had become a little more solid!
Whoosh!
Just then,
the Little Cauldron sent him another burst of information.
A moment later,
Teng Qingshan opened his eyes.
"So when I kill Monsters, the Little Cauldron automatically absorbs their souls. After absorbing the soul energy of more than a hundred thousand Monsters in total, it's finally begun to gradually solidify instead of remaining completely illusory."
Feeling the change in the Little Cauldron, Teng Qingshan was filled with joy.
This Little Cauldron had been with him since his first life. It had protected his consciousness during both of his transmigrations, essentially saving his life twice.
Naturally, Teng Qingshan felt deeply attached to it.
When he had transmigrated to this world, the Little Cauldron had been struck by a mysterious crimson light and had changed from a physical object into something completely intangible.
At first, Teng Qingshan had worried about it for a long time.
Only after the Little Cauldron began sending him visions of the future and revealing even more wondrous abilities had Teng Qingshan gradually stopped worrying.
Now,
the Little Cauldron had actually begun to materialize.
That made Teng Qingshan even happier.
The information it had sent him just now had told him that it needed more soul energy—and stronger soul energy.
The Monsters Teng Qingshan had hunted so far had numbered well over a hundred thousand, which was an astonishing total.
But the vast majority had been Beast Soldiers or weaker fodder. He had killed fewer than a hundred Warlord Level Monsters...
Fortunately, the sheer number had been enough to bring about a qualitative change in the Little Cauldron and let it take this crucial first step.
According to the information the Little Cauldron had sent, it had now completed less than one ten-millionth of its materialization... The soul energy it needed to fully materialize was practically endless. Of course, it wasn't truly endless; it was simply an absurd amount compared to what Teng Qingshan could provide at present.
Teng Qingshan suddenly felt a little fortunate that he had come here.
In this place,
the universe was vast and boundless.
It was home to countless species and uncountable numbers of powerful beings.
Even if the Little Cauldron needed an absurd amount of soul energy, once he grew stronger, the soul energy from killing a single powerful being would far exceed the combined energy from all the Monsters he had killed so far.
So there was still hope of making the Little Cauldron fully materialize.
"I wonder what mysterious abilities the Little Cauldron will have once it absorbs enough soul energy and fully manifests."
Teng Qingshan suddenly felt incredibly excited.
Even in its current state, the Little Cauldron could already foresee some of the future.
It could also conceal itself in his consciousness while in an illusory state.
Both abilities were beyond Teng Qingshan's current understanding.
Once the Little Cauldron could fully materialize, it would surely have even more wondrous abilities.
That could only be a good thing.
"Perhaps one day, I'll have to unleash endless slaughter..."
Teng Qingshan thought to himself.
The Little Cauldron needed an immense amount of soul energy.
Without actively killing, how could he obtain any?
"If that's the case, then I'll start by clearing the Monsters off Earth!"
All living beings made of flesh and blood had souls.
Hunting these Monsters would naturally allow him to absorb their soul energy.
Although each Monster yielded very little,
even the tiniest bit added up.
As long as he killed enough, the energy would accumulate to a considerable amount.
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