Discovering the Truth

Ninth Battalion.

Cooks' Camp.

Liao Zipeng and Second Lieutenant Lu were drinking when a cook hurried into the tent and saluted everyone.

"How is it?" Liao Zipeng asked, raising an eyebrow.

"Reporting to Lieutenant, Ding Chen and his men have held off the demon army!" the cook replied truthfully, a look of disbelief on his face.

"Held them off?" Liao Zipeng was also slightly stunned.

He had received news that a demon detachment of five hundred, led by a Great Demon, was attacking.

Putting aside the Great Demon, an army of five hundred demons could have annihilated Ding Chen's hundred men without leaving a trace. How had they managed to hold them off?

"Does Ding Chen have that much skill?" Liao Zipeng frowned, looking at the cook.

The cook's eyes flickered. "Reporting, sir, I was too far away to see clearly. I only saw a horde of demons fleeing from a distance. I don't know the specific casualties."

Liao Zipeng's brow furrowed. Sending Ding Chen's hundred men to Black Wind Valley was a trap. Knowing they couldn't stop the demon army, it didn't matter.

Even if the demons broke through Black Wind Valley, they wouldn't reach the Ninth Battalion before being intercepted by the forward troops, the Demon Slayer Soldiers.

He hadn't expected Ding Chen to actually hold them off.

But there was a Great Demon.

How had Ding Chen, at the Blood Moving Realm, managed it?

"Keep scouting!"

Liao Zipeng waved his hand, and the cook bowed and retreated.

Outside Black Wind Valley, in a forest.

Chen Xian dismounted and summoned his panel to upgrade his Ox Demon Golden Flame Technique.

[After one hundred months of diligent training, your Ox Demon Golden Flame Technique has reached Great Accomplishment.]

[After five hundred months of day and night arduous training, your Ox Demon Golden Flame Technique has reached Perfection.]

[Experience: 12791 points]

It took 8100 experience points to cultivate the Ox Demon Golden Flame Technique to the Perfection realm.

Over six hundred years of time! Even with a 6:1 ratio, it would have taken a hundred years to reach this level by cultivating on his own.

This talent was too exaggerated!

Chen Xian felt scenes flashing through his mind, the changes in his Jade Sea and physical body, and a bitterness welled up in his heart.

This was just the beginning stage of cultivation. Wouldn't the experience points required for later stages be even greater?

How many demons would he have to kill to achieve immortality?

Chen Xian took a shallow breath. Fortunately, there was no shortage of anything before Demon-Slaying Pass, except for demons.

He would grind slowly. One day, he would surely become a martial arts powerhouse.

He glanced at his cultivation realm and lifespan, neither of which had changed.

Chen Xian continued to upgrade his Ox Demon Golden Flame Technique. The technique's realm was still Perfection.

However, his cultivation realm began to increase rapidly.

It cost 2000 experience points to reach Jade Sea Great Accomplishment.

[Realm: Jade Sea Great Accomplishment]

[Lifespan: Two hundred forty-six years]

[Experience: 10791 points]

Looking at the panel's prompts, accompanied by the flashes of light in his mind, time seemed to pass like a white steed.

With a roar, a phantom of an ox demon reappeared behind him. The five-meter-tall phantom became much more solid, its color a blackish-red with golden patterns.

It was similar to Chen Xian's Ox Demon Body Refinement.

His Jade Sea not only tripled in size, but his vital energy also increased tenfold. It automatically surged out of his body, rolling out more than seven meters, breaking trees and shattering stones.

"So strong!"

Chen Xian was filled with shock. This feeling, in his previous life, was something he had only seen in movies and TV shows. He never imagined such power could exist in this world.

He clenched his fist, vital energy surging.

"Twenty cauldrons!"

Chen Xian murmured. He was only making a rough estimate of his strength.

Facing the Great Demon-level ox demon again, he was confident he could kill it with a single punch.

Afterward, Chen Xian looked at the remaining ten thousand-plus experience points and did not continue upgrading.

His cultivation realm had advanced too quickly, making him prone to suspicion.

If there wasn't significant danger, he should save his experience points and improve slowly.

He returned to the entrance of Black Wind Valley.

Ding Chen and the other twenty-eight people looked much better. While the demon army hadn't arrived yet, he was ordering people to roast demonic beast meat for lunch.

Chen Xian glanced into the valley. Among the forty-four wounded, seven or eight had recovered enough to move around, while over thirty were still in critical condition, groaning on the ground.

Qin Fei, Luo Ying, and Xue Qishan were leading people in giving water to the wounded.

Chen Xian withdrew his gaze and rode his horse to Ding Chen, saying, "Brother Ding, I'll go ahead and stand guard!"

Ding Chen replied, "Wang Yan is ahead. You stay here and replenish your strength!"

They had only been guarding for half a day. Before nightfall, there might still be a demon army attack.

Counting the seven or eight people who could move in the valley, there were less than forty who could still fight.

If another demon squad attacked, Except for Chen Xian, they would all likely die here.

Chen Xian dismounted and walked alongside Ding Chen. He asked, "Brother Ding, did you offend someone in the camp?"

He had wanted to ask this since Ding Chen was beaten that time.

Wanting to save Ding Chen some face, he hadn't asked until now.

But at this point, he had to ask.

Chen Xian didn't know that Ding Chen's beating that time was because of him.

That day, Ding Chen went to find the young general of the Head Chef Army to ask for cultivation techniques for the Surging Origin Realm. He ran into Li Sheng and therefore didn't meet the young general.

Others didn't know his identity, but Li Sheng, Wang Pei, and Mu Feng did.

The Li family was a Duke's mansion, one of the powerful noble families supporting the Sixth Prince Ning Hong in the court.

Relying on the Sixth Prince's backing, Li Sheng completely disregarded him, the Ninth Prince. After a few taunts, he had the Head Chef Army beat him.

Let alone in the military camp, even if he were beaten in the imperial palace, Emperor Ning wouldn't have the time to deal with it.

That day, if Mu Feng hadn't subtly intervened, Ding Chen wouldn't have just been bruised and swollen; he would have likely been bedridden for half a month.

Seeing Chen Xian staring at him, Ding Chen's expression turned grim. He recounted going to the Head Chef Army to find the young general for cultivation techniques and the conflict with Li Sheng.

Soon, Ding Chen finished explaining the events but did not mention his royal identity.

"Li Sheng?"

Chen Xian murmured the name expressionlessly. That night, while clearing the battlefield, they were attacked by twelve wolf demons, and Ding Chen had angrily shouted Li Sheng's name.

At the time, they hadn't understood. So that's what happened.

"Brother Ding, why didn't you say so earlier?"

Chen Xian clenched his fist tightly. He hadn't expected Ding Chen to be beaten by Li Sheng because of him.

Ding Chen waved his hand. "Let's not talk about it. If you encounter Li Sheng and Wang Pei in the future, you must be careful. Their identities are not simple, and you can't afford to offend them."

He didn't mention Mu Feng because Mu Feng wasn't an overbearing person.

He also didn't have a bad reputation in the capital.

Coming to the Ninth Demon Suppression Army and associating with Li Sheng and Wang Pei was probably because they already knew each other, and the circle at Demon-Slaying Pass was too small.

Chen Xian didn't speak, but he noted Li Sheng and Wang Pei in his mind.

The fact that they were being targeted was inseparable from those two.

If he had the chance, he would definitely settle the score with them.

After eating the wolf meat, Chen Xian rode forward to relieve Wang Yan.

Five hundred meters ahead of Black Wind Valley, in a forest, the field of vision was wide open.

Chen Xian stood on his horse, gazing into the distance.

He saw the demon army's side. The sky was black, vaguely resembling a black face devouring heaven and earth. The swirling black cloud vortex was like a giant mouth.

The black fiendish tornadoes swirling between heaven and earth were like fangs, incredibly ferocious.

"Is there a demon dynasty over there?" Chen Xian murmured.