Vermillion Bird Camp

The newly risen sun in the east pierced the darkness.

Yet, it couldn't dispel the thick scent of blood lingering in the air.

After a night of fierce fighting, apart from Chen Xian who had been slaughtering demons madly, the Head Chef Army had suffered over fifty percent casualties, and the Cook Soldiers had also incurred heavy losses. Even Ding Chen, Wang Yan, Qin Fei, and Xue Qishan were all severely injured.

The Demon Slayer Soldiers to the north and east of the Blood River Forest had also suffered severe casualties. The Black Tiger King, leading the Demon Army, had successfully occupied the Blood River Forest.

Major Generals like Pei Menglong led the Demon Slayer Soldiers to set up camp thirty miles north of the Blood River Forest, preparing to defend for another day.

Black Wind Valley.

Chen Xian was tending to Ding Chen and the others. Out of one hundred and seven people, only thirty-nine were still alive; the rest had all fallen in battle.

Over thirteen hundred members of the Head Chef Army had died. Corpses were laid out everywhere. Liu Dingchun, who had been arrogant and irritable at first, was now squatting on the ground, exhausted, like a dead pig, lacking the strength to even curse at anyone.

He had been a Major General in the Head Chef Army for three years without seeing combat.

It had nearly cost him his life.

"Chen Xian, you damn bastard, how did you let so many demons through?"

After a short rest, Liu Dingchun sat up straight and roared.

Chen Xian ignored him. In last night's situation, with five thousand demons charging, how could one hundred and eight people possibly hold them back?

"You dog, you almost got me killed!" Liu Dingchun grumbled.

However, at that moment, angry roars of demons echoed from the north of the Blood River Forest.

Liu Dingchun and everyone else instantly became extremely tense. If another wave of attacks came, they would all die here.

"Quick, get up, prepare for battle!" Liu Dingchun struggled to stand up and roared.

But less than half of the Head Chef Army could still stand.

The Cook Soldiers around Chen Xian were collectively unable to get up.

Just as everyone was extremely nervous, a figure shot up into the sky from the direction of the camp, charging over like lightning.

Chen Xian focused his gaze. It was a middle-aged man wearing dark gold armor, holding a dark gold spear, who charged into the Blood River Forest.

"It's General Sun!" Liu Dingchun exclaimed with great joy upon recognizing him.

General Sun was the strongest in the Ninth Battalion.

Moments later, over ten thousand Demon Slayer Soldiers arrived, divided into three directions.

Three thousand of them passed through Black Wind Valley, and everyone was stunned when they got a clear look.

Because the three thousand Demon Slayer Soldiers who arrived were all women, and their leading Major General was also a woman, who appeared to be around twenty years old.

She wore silver armor and was exceptionally heroic.

The female Major General cast a cold glance at Liu Dingchun with her almond-shaped eyes and said, "Head Chef Army, return to camp."

As her words fell, she led the three thousand female soldiers towards the Blood River Forest.

"There are female soldiers too?" Chen Xian was slightly surprised.

Ding Chen nodded. "It's the Vermillion Bird Battalion of the Third Battalion; they are all female soldiers."

The Ninth Army of the Demon Slayers was divided into ten battalions, with ten thousand men per battalion.

Chen Xian nodded in surprise, having thought that all the soldiers at the Demon-Slaying Pass were men.

Soon, the female Major General and the three thousand female soldiers disappeared into the distance, their momentum powerful.

"Return to camp!"

Liu Dingchun shouted loudly and then mounted his horse.

Seeing that Chen Xian and the others hadn't moved, he snorted, "I'll settle the score with you later!"

Mu Feng, leading his own troops, glanced at Chen Xian and Ding Chen before following them out of Black Wind Valley.

After everyone left.

Chen Xian and the others also began to regroup, carrying the bodies of their fallen comrades back to the camp.

Ninth Battalion.

When the Demon Slayer Soldiers guarding the entrance saw that there were still some Cook Soldiers alive, they were all incredibly surprised.

The fighting in the Blood River Forest had been brutal over the past two days, with over half of the Ninth Battalion's Demon Slayer Soldiers dying. Yet, thirty to forty of those three hundred Cook Soldiers were still alive?

Back at the Cook Soldier camp.

Chen Xian told Ding Chen and the others to recuperate for half a day. He himself was also extremely depleted. He sat cross-legged in his tent and summoned his status panel.

[Martial Arts: Ox Demon Body Refinement Technique (Mastered), Vajra Dragon Elephant Art (Uninitiated)...]

[Experience: 386110 points]

[Realm: Soaring Realm (Great Completion)]

[Lifespan: 280 years]

Chen Xian was very excited. He had killed over a thousand demons, two Demon Lords, and nine Demon Men last night, gaining 310,000 experience points.

With over 60,000 experience points from before, it accumulated to 380,000 points.

He consumed 110 experience points to upgrade the Ox Demon Body Refinement Technique, replenishing his depleted primal energy to its peak. In an instant, he felt energetic but mentally exhausted.

He closed his eyes to rest for an hour.

After lunch.

Chen Xian found Ding Chen and the others. Half of them were able to move.

The group buried the sixty-eight fallen Cook Soldiers at the foot of Wumeng Mountain and packed their belongings to send back to their respective hometowns.

Three days passed in the blink of an eye.

The number of personnel in the cook soldier camp, including Chen Xian, remained at forty, with no replacements.

During this time, Liu Dingchun had not sent anyone over.

Even the entire Ninth Battalion was incredibly quiet.

Ding Chen and the thirty-nine others had mostly recovered from their injuries and were practicing in the open space in front of the camp.

One day, cheers erupted from the front lines.

Chen Xian's ears twitched. After a moment, he said, "Those female soldiers are quite formidable. They actually drove the Demon Army back to the north bank of the Blood River Forest!"

Ding Chen put away his spear and said, "The Vermillion Bird Iron Cavalry of the Ninth Army's Third Battalion and the Black Dragon Iron Cavalry of the First Battalion are the two sharp swords of the Ninth Army. I heard their lowest strength is over two hundred condensed acupoints, and some Captains are even at the Soaring Realm."

Chen Xian was surprised, "That powerful?"

Ding Chen nodded, "The female Lieutenant General Tang Can from the Third Battalion is even more impressive. It's said she can knock General Sun flying with a single spear thrust."

Everyone was shocked.

At dawn, General Sun had made a move, and they had only caught a glimpse from afar, but he was definitely very strong.

To be able to knock General Sun flying with a single spear thrust, Tang Can was indeed terrifying!

"If that's the case, it's impossible for the Demon Army to cross the Demon-Slaying Pass!?" Chen Xian said.

Ding Chen pondered, "That... it's hard to say!"

When fighting demons, the generals were important, but so were the soldiers.

If the soldiers were to collapse, even the strongest general would eventually run out of strength and die tragically on the battlefield.

Unless they retreated, constantly retreating.

Then the Demon-Slaying Pass would fall.

Once the Demon-Slaying Pass fell, the prestige of the Great Ning Dynasty would crumble. It would be a minor issue to be mocked by all sides; the real problem would be others taking advantage of the chaos to attack the Great Ning Dynasty.

The next day.

Early in the morning, Chen Xian was summoned by Liu Dingchun.

He followed the Head Chef Army alone to the central military tent. Upon entering, he saw many people seated.

Liu Dingchun was at the very front.

On one side sat one person, and on the other side sat two people.

They also had people behind them.

Chen Xian immediately spotted Mu Feng. His gaze swept over the proud young Captain in front of Mu Feng, who was likely Li Sheng.

"This subordinate greets General Liu!"

"Kneel!"

Liu Dingchun shouted coldly.

Chen Xian raised his head slightly, his gaze fixed on Liu Dingchun. "As far as this subordinate knows, our Great Ning has no kneeling etiquette!"

Except for the enthronement ceremony of the Emperor, there was no kneeling etiquette at other times.

Even in the presence of the Emperor Ning, he did not need to kneel, let alone Liu Dingchun, who was merely a Major General of the Head Chef Army. What right did he have to make him kneel?

"Defying your superior, are you?"

Liu Dingchun suddenly stood up, his eyes filled with rage. "In the Head Chef Army camp, I am the greatest. Let alone making you kneel, if I told you to die, you would have to obey. That is loyalty and righteousness!"

"You unfaithful and unrighteous wretch! I made you the vanguard, giving you a chance to earn merit, but you led people to let the Demon Army through, killing over a thousand of my Head Chef Army soldiers. Damn it, do you know their identities?"

Those who could enter the Head Chef Army camp were all children of local powerful and influential families, or at the very least, from wealthy merchant families with money and power.

He and General Sun had taken money from people. Now that so many had died, how could they not incur the resentment of their families?

"General, drag this brat out and chop him!" a dark-faced Captain, filled with anger, stood up and pointed at Chen Xian, shouting.

"Chop him? Captain Zou, you want to chop my man?!" Li Sheng raised his eyebrows and spoke calmly.