Spirit Qi Rain, the Demon Suppressing Division Arrives

The moment the memories of the cultivation technique fully merged with his body.

Boom!

An even more majestic aura burst forth from Lin Changqing.

The Heavenly Saint Profound Art began circulating on its own, and the spirit qi between heaven and earth rushed toward him like it had gone mad.

Purple Gold light shone from within his body once more.

Even more dazzling than before!

The air around him twisted faintly, and fine cracks spread across the ground.

The soldiers who had just risen on the city wall had their legs turn weak again under this pressure.

Thud.

Someone dropped straight to his knees.

This time, it was not gratitude, but the instinctive reverence of a low-ranking martial artist facing a higher existence, a reaction his body could not control!

Like a rabbit seeing a fierce tiger, not even daring to breathe too loudly.

"Is this... a Martial Saint?"

The general gripped his saber hilt tightly, cold sweat dripping down his forehead drop by drop.

He could feel that before this man, his Fourth Rank cultivation was like paper mache. With a single thought, the other party could reduce him to ashes.

Fortunately, Saint Venerable had no such intention.

A few breaths later, that pressure withdrew.

Lin Changqing slowly opened his eyes and clenched his fist.

Both were at the Martial Saint Peak, but after comprehending and cultivating the Heavenly Saint Profound Art, his strength had increased by at least Thirty Percent!

Do not underestimate those Thirty Percent.

At the Martial Saint level, even the slightest difference was the distance between heaven and earth.

"Not bad."

Lin Changqing nodded in satisfaction.

Then he looked at the battered soldiers on the city wall.

Almost every one of them was wounded.

Some had lost an arm, some had gaping tears across their chests, and several lay on the ground with weak breaths, liable to stop breathing at any moment.

They had all been wounded by Demons while defending the city just now.

Lin Changqing raised his right hand and gave it a gentle wave.

In the next instant, countless fine points of light fell from the sky.

Golden Light Rain descended from above, scattering over every soldier on the city wall.

"Wh-what is this?"

A soldier held out his hand and watched the points of light settle in his palm.

Then his eyes abruptly widened.

The wound on his arm, so deep that bone showed through, was healing at a visible rate.

Fresh flesh grew back, and the skin closed without leaving even a scar.

"My wound! My wound is healed!"

He cried out in disbelief.

Startled cries rose one after another all around him.

"My leg! The wound on my leg is gone too!"

"A miracle! This is a miracle!"

A soldier who had had half an arm bitten off by a Demon had been clutching his severed limb, waiting for death.

When the Light Rain fell over the stump, the wound began to grow hot and itch. Then, before his very eyes, his severed arm slowly grew back.

Bone, blood vessels, muscle, skin.

A brand-new arm, exactly the same as the one he had originally possessed.

He tried clenching his fist, and all five fingers moved freely.

"My hand... my hand grew back!"

His voice trembled, and tears fell straight down his face.

To a martial artist, losing an arm meant becoming crippled. Now, Saint Venerable had given him a second life!

At the farthest corner of the city wall, a young soldier whose chest had been pierced through by a Demon's claw lay on the ground.

His breathing had already stopped.

Everyone beside him had thought he was dead.

Light Rain fell upon him, golden radiance seeping into his wound.

One breath.

Two breaths.

Three breaths.

He suddenly coughed violently and shot upright.

He gulped down great breaths of air.

"I... I'm not dead?"

He touched his chest in confusion.

The wound had completely healed, without even the faintest trace left behind.

His heart beat powerfully inside his chest.

He clearly remembered a Demon piercing straight through his chest with one claw.

The surrounding soldiers were all dumbstruck.

He had gone from gravely wounded and near death to full of life in only three breaths!

This was no longer medicine. To them, it was simply a miracle!

The Light Rain did not stop at the city wall, continuing to drift into the city.

The city's residents all raised their heads, watching the golden Light Rain descend.

A lame old man stood by the street as the Light Rain fell over him.

He suddenly realized that his leg no longer hurt.

He tried taking two steps and found himself striding as swiftly as the wind.

"My leg! My lame leg is healed!" He wept with joy.

The entire city of Qingshi County was being washed clean by this golden Light Rain.

All the injured and sick were instantly healed, all the exhausted regained their vitality, and even the withered trees by the roadside sprouted tender new buds amid the Light Rain.

A few breaths later, the Light Rain gradually ceased.

Silence fell over the city wall.

Then.

"Thank you, Saint Venerable, for saving our lives!"

A soldier knelt, pressing his forehead to the ground.

"Thank you, Saint Venerable, for saving our lives!"

A second, a third, a tenth, a hundredth.

Every soldier on the city wall fell to their knees.

Right after that.

Tens of thousands of citizens within the city also knelt in unison.

"Thank you, Saint Venerable!"

"Long live Saint Venerable!"

"Saint Venerable is merciful and compassionate!"

Their shouts crashed like mountains calling and seas roaring, each wave louder than the last.

Tears hung on many faces.

This time, they were not trembling in reverence, but in gratitude from the depths of their hearts.

Lin Changqing stood on the city wall, his expression calm.

"Rise."

The same three words, but this time, everyone felt differently.

Before, it had been reverence. Now, they were utterly devoted.

The general stood amid the crowd, looking at Lin Changqing. He had fought for half his life and seen countless experts.

Yet he had never seen any expert willing to expend their own Spiritual Power to summon Spiritual Rain for ordinary soldiers and civilians.

Those lofty Ninth-Rank Martial Saints had eyes only for themselves. Who would care whether a few common soldiers lived or died?

But this Saint Venerable did.

"This Saint Venerable truly is different... no wonder he has such a strange habit of playing the pig to eat the tiger."

Just then.

Dust billowed in the distance as an army raced toward them.

Three large characters were emblazoned on its military banner: Demon Suppressing Division.

Lin Changqing's gaze settled upon the banner, and the original owner's memories surfaced on their own.

The Demon Suppressing Division.

Ever since Demons began wreaking havoc, the Great Yu Dynasty had established this institution specifically to suppress Demons. It was not under the authority of local government offices and answered directly to the Emperor.

It had branches across one hundred and twenty-six commanderies in the Fourteen Provinces, spread throughout the dynasty's territory.

The minimum requirement for joining the Demon Suppressing Division was to be a First-Rank Martial Artist.

The Garrison Commanders of every branch were experts of at least Sixth Rank.

They remained stationed year-round at the front lines where Demons appeared most frequently, fighting them in bloody battle. Wherever Demons appeared, the banners of the Demon Suppressing Division would be there.

In the original owner's memories, the Demon Suppressing Division was a wall of protection in the hearts of ordinary citizens...

Lin Changqing withdrew his thoughts and looked into the distance.

Zhou Zheng rode at the front on a swift horse and spotted Qingshi County from afar.

Then he froze.

Golden Light Rain enveloped the entire city as if a heavenly god had descended, while an overwhelming saintly pressure poured out from within.

Even from so far away, it made his heart tremble. It was stronger than what he had felt on the battlefield just now.

If before he had merely sensed a trace of lingering might from afar, now it was like facing a mountain head-on.

"Sure enough! It really is a Martial Saint!"

Zhou Zheng was so excited that even the hand gripping his reins trembled.

He turned and shouted to the soldiers behind him, "Faster! Move faster!"

"The crisis in Qingshi County has already been resolved! A Martial Saint took action! The one who killed that Sixth-tier Demon just now was this senior Martial Saint!"

The soldiers all shuddered upon hearing this.

A Martial Saint?!

A mighty expert of such cultivation was rarely seen!

Their eyes instantly lit up, and they lashed their horses more urgently.

"Hyah! Hyah! Hyah!"

The entire unit's speed rose another notch.

Zhou Zheng's thoughts churned like raging seas.

This Demon siege had clearly been a planned operation. The Demon army he had encountered alone numbered over ten thousand.

And at its head had been a Sixth-tier Demon.

Qingshi County had been surrounded even more tightly, so its situation should only have been worse.

But what about now?

The soldiers stood in neat rows upon the city wall, not a single wounded man in sight.

Outside the walls was spotlessly clean, without even one Demon corpse.

The more Zhou Zheng thought about it, the more excited he became, his heart pounding loudly in his chest.

There were only a handful of Martial Saints in the Great Yu Dynasty, and every one of them was either a lofty great figure or one of the Dynasty Ancestors.

Which one had come to Green Province this time? Could it be some reclusive senior who had never shown himself?

Or was it the legendary Great Yu Ancestor from the Capital City?

No, the Great Yu Ancestor was already advanced in years and was said to have been in secluded cultivation for many years.

Could it be the headmaster of the Grand Academy?

That could not be right either. The headmaster had recently led his disciples to the front lines to resist the Demons.

Zhou Zheng ran through every Martial Saint he could think of.

None of them fit.

As the distance closed, he finally saw the figure standing atop the city wall clearly.

Then his pupils suddenly contracted.

It was a young man with black hair and black eyes, a straight, upright bearing, and a set of... tattered armor?

Zhou Zheng nearly thought his eyes were deceiving him.

But it really was a suit of armor riddled with several holes.

And judging from its style, it was clearly the lowest-grade standard equipment of the City Guard Army.

Even squad leaders wore better armor than that.

Yet this young man dressed in rags was standing suspended in midair.

Holy might suffused his entire body, and the spiritual energy of heaven and earth resonated with it.

Purple Gold radiance flowed around him, as though a heavenly god had descended.

More importantly, a blue-green longsword hung at his waist. The lotus patterns on its sheath were ancient and mysterious—it was the very flying sword from before!

Zhou Zheng's heart jolted.

That was right.

The sword that had just slain a Sixth-tier Demon with one strike and swept away a demon army spanning hundreds of zhang was this very sword!

This young Martial Saint was the one who had acted!

Yet he was not any Martial Saint known to the Great Yu Dynasty.

Could he be... a reclusive Martial Saint?

Thoughts raced through Zhou Zheng's mind.

There truly were some reclusive Martial Saint experts on the Heavenly Martial Continent.

They paid no heed to worldly affairs, devoting themselves solely to pursuing the pinnacle of martial arts.

They only revealed themselves at certain special moments.

This young Martial Saint was very likely one of them!

He looked barely past twenty, but his true age was certainly far greater.

It was said that upon reaching the Martial Saint realm, not only would one's lifespan soar to several thousand years, but one could also slow aging and retain a youthful appearance.

This senior's true age... was likely even greater than his grandfather's!

A moment later.

The Demon Suppressing Division's troops arrived beneath Qingshi County's walls.

Zhou Zheng swung down from his horse in one clean, decisive motion.

He straightened his armor, then deeply bowed toward the figure atop the walls with his hands clasped in salute.

His voice was respectful to the utmost degree.

"Zhou Zheng, Garrison Commander of the Demon Suppressing Division's Cheng'an Prefecture branch in Green Province, pays respects to Senior!"

"Earlier, this subordinate encountered a demon army eight hundred li away. Had Senior not slain the Demon Chief with a single sword strike, the thousands of soldiers under my command would still have been trapped by the demon tide, unable to come to reinforce this place, with grievous casualties!"

"On behalf of all officers and soldiers of the Demon Suppressing Division's Qingzhou Branch, this subordinate kowtows in thanks for Senior's life-saving grace!"

As soon as he finished speaking, he dropped to one knee.

The Demon Suppressing Division soldiers behind him followed suit in unison, the clatter of armor ringing out in a wave.

"Thanks to Senior for saving our lives!"

Their voices were perfectly aligned, echoing beneath the city walls.

Lin Changqing looked down at the people from the Demon Suppressing Division, his expression calm.

Then he raised a hand slightly.

"Rise."

A gentle, invisible force lifted Zhou Zheng to his feet.

Zhou Zheng's heart jolted again.

Such an effortless method of lifting heavy things as though they were light—he was undoubtedly a Martial Saint!

After rising, Zhou Zheng could not help but glance once more at the Green Peak Sword hanging at Lin Changqing's waist.

The spirit patterns on its sheath glimmered with faint light. At a glance, it was clearly no ordinary item.

It truly was this sword.

Zhou Zheng became even more certain of his guess. This senior had to be a Martial Saint who had lived in seclusion for many years and had never shown himself in the mortal world!

He just happened to be within Green Province this time, encountered the demons besieging the city, and thus lent a helping hand!