The Furnace Cracks

It was not until the Hour of the Pig.

Of the three thousand demons, only a little over three hundred escaped back across the Blood River after Chen Xian and the others slaughtered them.

Chen Xian alone had killed over a thousand demons.

The Demon Slayer Soldiers all looked at Chen Xian with fear. Even though Chen Xian had saved them, there was not the slightest trace of gratitude on their faces.

Chen Xian did not care. Carrying his spear, he returned to Black Wind Valley.

"Brother Wang, how are Brother Fei and the others?" he asked.

Ding Chen's expression was grave. "Their injuries have stabilized. Their lives are not in danger!"

Hearing that, Chen Xian relaxed slightly.

He stepped forward to inspect them carefully. Wang Yan's right waist had been pierced through by spear qi, but the wound was healing.

Qin Fei's left thigh had been pierced through as well, and his wound was also healing.

Luo Ying and Xue Qishan's injuries were somewhat lighter. They sat cross-legged, circulating their blood to heal their wounds.

The other Cook Soldiers with severe injuries were still unconscious, while those with lighter injuries were recuperating as well.

Chen Xian swept his gaze across the group. Of the 299 men, thirty-one had died. More than twenty of those still alive were seriously wounded, while over fifty had suffered light injuries.

Including himself, only 189 of them could still fight.

At that moment, Ding Chen asked, "What about Chen Quanwu?"

A glint flashed through Chen Xian's eyes. "He died a heroic death!"

Ding Chen said nothing more.

Before long, the surviving Demon Slayer Soldiers under Chen Quanwu's command carried Chen Quanwu's body and the corpses of the fallen soldiers to the outside of Black Wind Valley as well.

Ding Chen looked over and saw that more than seven hundred of the thousand mounted Demon Slayer Soldiers were still alive.

"Hmph!"

The lieutenant, Li Yongli, let out a cold snort from afar.

With Chen Quanwu dead, he temporarily took command of the men. Not far from Chen Xian and the others, he began reorganizing them, laying out Chen Quanwu's corpse and the other bodies one by one.

He then ordered men to head to the Seven Mile Peak battlefield to clear away the demon corpses.

Chen Xian also had the Cook Soldiers clean up the battlefield.

Around midnight.

A cold rain began to drift down from the blood-red night sky.

Several figures collided in fierce battle above Blood River Forest.

Chen Xian looked over from afar. The fighting there was still ongoing. The figures clashing in the sky were great demons such as the Black Tiger King, along with Pei Menglong, Zhong Lian, and the others. One of them was that female major general.

"Li Sheng, Zhong Lian!"

Killing intent flickered in Chen Xian's eyes.

When he had fought Zhong Lian earlier, Zhong Lian's strength had been around the late stage of the Skywalking Realm.

Perhaps it was because of his age. He had cultivated for a long time, his foundation was profound, and his combat experience was incomparably rich.

Although Chen Xian had injured Zhong Lian, it was still not enough to kill him.

Unless he raised the Vajra Dragon Elephant Art to the Dragon Elephant Realm, gaining the strength of over a thousand tripods and enough power to slap Zhong Lian to death with one palm.

He summoned the panel:

Experience: 644572 points

That wave of slaughter had earned him a bloody profit of 330,000 Experience Points.

His Experience Points were piling up more and more.

Chen Xian was not in a hurry. Whenever he had time, he would raise the Vajra Dragon Elephant Art a little, while also deducing the Ox Demon Body Refinement Technique to see whether he could continue pushing it forward with the panel and raise its grade.

If it could also reach the level of a high-grade cultivation technique, its power would naturally increase tenfold.

Only after midnight did the cold rain stop.

The battle above Blood River Forest also came to an end. Neither side could do anything to the other, and both withdrew their forces.

Chen Xian and the others endured the night in Black Wind Valley until dawn. They carved up demon flesh and roasted it to fill their bellies. After eating and drinking their fill, he ordered the Cook Soldiers to send the brothers who had died the previous night back to camp, where they would be registered before being taken to Wumeng Mountain for burial.

He then led Ding Chen and the others toward Seven Mile Peak.

"Chen Xian, what are you trying to do?" Li Yongli stood up from afar.

"Is that any of your business?" Chen Xian shot him a cold glance.

Li Yongli snorted. "Your Cook Soldier camp has entered the battlefield, so you must obey the front army's deployment. Commander Chen died, and I am temporarily in command here. You must follow my orders."

Chen Xian gave a cold laugh, shook his head, and continued forward.

Chen Quanwu was already dead, and I was supposed to obey your deployment? Who the hell did he think he was?

They had not gone far when a squad of iron cavalry came racing in from the northeast, around fifteen men in all.

Every one of them was wrapped in blood-red killing aura.

Chen Xian looked over calmly. The leader was Pei Gang.

"Chen Xian!"

Pei Gang rode over.

"Greetings, Commander Pei!" Chen Xian dismounted and bowed.

The others dismounted and followed suit.

Pei Gang said, "No need for formalities on the battlefield. Where is Chen Quanwu?"

Chen Xian said, "He died last night while fighting a Demon Lord!"

Pei Gang frowned. "He could not withstand a Demon Lord?"

Chen Quanwu had reached Minor Success in Jade Sea. Even if he could not withstand a Demon Lord, he should not have been killed, should he?

At that moment, Li Yongli rode over at full speed, appearing before Pei Gang. He dismounted and saluted.

"Commander Pei, it was all Chen Xian's fault! He stood by and watched him die, causing Commander Chen's death!" After saluting, Li Yongli immediately pointed the spearhead at Chen Xian.

Pei Gang frowned. "What do you mean?"

Li Yongli immediately recounted what had happened the previous night, but he did not mention that someone had come to assassinate Chen Xian and the others.

Chen Xian remained expressionless, but Ding Chen said coldly, "Go on. Why don't you tell the whole story?"

Pei Gang glanced at Ding Chen. "There is more?"

Ding Chen nodded and told him about Zhong Lian leading men to assassinate them.

As soon as Pei Gang heard this, he said, "You Cook Soldiers should stop spouting nonsense. Major General Zhong Lian was resisting the demons in the east all night, then later fought the Black Tiger King and the others. Why would he come here to assassinate you?"

"Besides, why would he want to assassinate you?"

Ding Chen naturally knew the reason, but saying it aloud would sound far too feeble, and Pei Gang might not believe him anyway.

He glanced at Li Yongli. "Commander Li and the others heard it too. Before Chen Quanwu died, he shouted Major General Zhong Lian's name and cried for help. Major General Zhong Lian stood by and watched him die."

Pei Gang froze slightly and could not help looking at Li Yongli. "Did that really happen?"

Li Yongli's eyes flickered rapidly. It had indeed happened, leaving him unsure how to answer for a moment.

"Commander Pei, a squad of iron cavalry did indeed come to help us kill the demons at the time. It was Chen Xian who charged at them, shouting Major General Zhong Lian's name. Our commander was being besieged by a Demon Lord and Demon Men. How could he have seen clearly? He only cried for help after hearing Chen Xian shout!"

Li Yongli spouted utter nonsense.

Hearing this, Ding Chen and the others ground their teeth in fury.

Pei Gang's face darkened. He had not believed Li Yongli, but neither had he believed Chen Xian.

"Since Chen Quanwu is dead, everyone at the southwest corner will obey Chen Xian's arrangements from now on!" he said in a deep voice. "This is General Pei's order. Any violators will be executed!"

After speaking, he looked at Chen Xian. "It is in your hands now. Hold out for another two days. The Eighth Battalion and Tenth Battalion will come to reinforce you!"

"Yes, Commander Pei!" Chen Xian nodded.

Pei Gang said nothing further and swiftly departed with his men.

Li Yongli stared at the retreating backs of Pei Gang and the others, his head buzzing. He could not understand why they had to listen to Chen Xian. He was merely a Cook Soldier lieutenant—what right did he have to command them?

"Lieutenant Li, receive your orders!" Chen Xian said indifferently.

Li Yongli came back to his senses and looked at Chen Xian. Only after a long while did he grit his teeth and say, "Lieutenant Chen, give your orders!"

"Lead the Demon Slayer Soldiers to guard Seven Mile Peak. This lieutenant will lead men to support you from the rear. Go at once!" Chen Xian said coldly.

"...Yes!"

Li Yongli clenched his fists, squeezing out the dissatisfied reply through gritted teeth.

Chen Xian did not care what expression he wore. If he refused to obey, Chen Xian would simply execute him.

Back in Black Wind Valley.

Chen Xian had everyone sit cross-legged to cultivate and raise their strength, while he himself used the panel to deduce the Ox Demon Body Refinement Technique.

Li Yongli could only grit his teeth and lead his men toward Seven Mile Peak.

After a thousand months of painstaking study, your subsequent Ox Demon Body Refinement Technique showed no progress.

After three thousand months of day-and-night deduction, your subsequent Ox Demon Body Refinement Technique failed twenty-one times, injuring your Jade Sea and internal organs twenty-one times.

Crack!

A cracking sound came from the Jade Sea Furnace.

Chen Xian's expression changed drastically.