West Jiangnan Circuit.
Luling Commandery.
The mountains and rivers here were rugged, and the forests dense.
In the past, it had been a desolate land where miasma ran rampant and poisonous insects swarmed.
Now,
it was shrouded in a visible haze of black qi.
The sun never shone through.
Amid the towering mountains,
the once-deserted wilderness was now filled with banners that blotted out the sky and spears standing in ranks.
As far as the eye could see,
the camps stretched for ten miles, their watch drums and patrols in strict order.
Countless tents, like mushrooms across the earth, spread densely over the land, stretching all the way to the horizon.
The cold wind howled.
Besides the Demon Suppression Bureau's elite in dark robes with red patterns,
there were also great numbers of hardened soldiers in iron armor, holding long halberds, their expressions solemn as they braced for battle.
Normally,
the Demon Suppression Bureau was solely responsible for slaying demons and exorcising evil, yet it rarely mingled with an army like this.
After all,
most soldiers had only average cultivation and trained in formations.
Against human armies that likewise fought in formation, they were naturally invincible.
But when facing demons that moved like the wind and wielded uncanny methods,
these cumbersome formations became sitting ducks.
Unless they had no other choice,
why would the court order soldiers who were ill-suited to fighting demons to travel a thousand miles here to die?
There was only one explanation.
The demons were so troublesome...
their numbers and strength had grown to the point...
that even the Demon Suppression Bureau could no longer handle them alone.
Even if they had to build a defensive line with their own flesh and blood,
they had to prevent the demon calamity from spreading another inch.
Inside the