Appointed with the Demon-Slaying Token, the General Star Destiny Takes Hold

When they returned from the execution ground, the smell of blood had yet to fade from the Anping Demon-Suppression Office. But a solemn air had already settled over the compound.

Zhang Cheng moved like thunder and wind, giving no one a chance to catch their breath or confer in private.

Without pausing, he ordered the Assembly Drum sounded and summoned every member of the office to the Main Hall.

After the Three-Bath River wild god case, the Demon-Suppression Office had undergone a purge that cut to the bone.

The Second Squad had been nearly wiped out, and many clerks with ties to the Lu Household had been thrown into prison.

Yet as great waves washed away the sand, others had risen to prominence amid the blood and fire.

More than two hundred people stood in dark ranks before the Main Hall. The existing squads of Demon-Suppressing Guards were fully armed, their battle flags snapping in the breeze.

Chu Bai stood at the front of the crowd, composed as ever.

Today Zhang Cheng wore an exceptionally formal dark-gold official robe, with an ivory-white jade belt at his waist and black leather boots on his feet.

From the top of the steps, he looked down at them. The pressure of a Foundation Establishment Realm cultivator spread slowly like a tide, silencing the entire assembly.

"The recent Three-Bath River case exposed grave disorder within our office. Collusion between humans and demons, guards stealing what they were meant to protect—even the sacrifice of children—went on beneath our noses for years! This is a disgrace to the Anping Demon-Suppression Office, and a disgrace to me, Zhang Cheng!"

His voice rang like a great bronze bell through the open courtyard.

"With approval from the Qingzhou Demon-Suppression Office, the Anping Demon-Suppression Office will abolish its former three-squad