123: 123: I wish I could tie you to my legs (please subscribe)

The land outside the pass, once a thousand miles of beautiful scenery, later suffered from the rampant Devil Cult, with bones littering the wilderness and no chickens crowing for a thousand miles.

Now, the cries of returning home echo across this scarred land, between the mountains, gradually reviving this deathly silent world.

On the Nu River, a hundred boats raced, and amidst the dense sails, the chants of returning home resounded, moving against the current towards the distance.

Along the mountain paths, people flowed like weaving threads, with bamboo staffs and straw sandals; the common folk listened to the chants from the distant river, sang clear mountain songs, and joined the long procession, eagerly embarking on the journey home.

As dusk gradually fell, the sun set between the mountains.

Two thousand li away, in Qingshan County, dozens of li away in the mountains, roaring sounds erupted.

Several streaks of light shone brilliantly in the night, roaring towards the sky.

There was originally a blood-red pillar of light, but it had shrunk from about ten feet to only a foot in width.

That passage was rapidly closing, and Lian Nishang, Fang Qingzhu, Gongsun Yang, including Chen Yuan's Contracted Demons, all used every ounce of their strength to try and prevent the passage from disappearing.

However, their attacks were like a mantis trying to stop a chariot, completely ineffective; after a few breaths, the passage completely vanished, and the pillar of light anomaly in the sky hummed once before disappearing without a trace.

Lian Nishang looked at Fang Qingzhu and Gongsun Yang, her voice slightly urgent,

"My elder brother hasn't come out yet!"

Beside her, a rain of pink petals spun back from the air and merged into Fang Qingzhu's body.

The female looked at the empty sky, then at the two huge, ferocious, mountain-like Heavenly Gate Devil corpses beside her; the pressure emanating from them made her light purple pupils flicker, and she said:

"With Senior Chen's Divine Ability, even if that place is dangerous, he should be able to escape. Perhaps he was delayed by something and couldn't make it back in time."

Her words were, of course, meant to comfort.

In fact, seeing Chen Yuan kill two Heavenly Gate Devils from that place in a short time, she could guess that the place the passage led to was probably fraught with danger.

After all, Heavenly Gate Devils are rarely encountered outside, let alone Chen Yuan consecutively slaying two from inside.

Hopefully, Senior Chen won't have any trouble, Fang Qingzhu frowned, thinking to herself.

However, the Storyteller Gongsun Yang, who stood on the other side, fighting alongside a group of Contracted Demons, had a somewhat strange expression in his eyes. Seeing the two females anxious, he couldn't help but step forward and cup his hands.

"Ladies, I have something I don't know if I should say."

"Actually, you two don't need to worry. I can sense that the Lord is fine, and... how should I put it? I'll just be direct: the Lord's Qi is actually getting stronger and stronger."

Gongsun Yang and Chen Yuan had a connection through a copy of the pacification of demons, which allowed him to vaguely sense some obscure Qi through his spiritual body.

Upon hearing this, Lian Nishang, who had met this person before, knew Gongsun Yang's background.

"Mister Gongsun, what do you mean?"

Gongsun Yang stroked his beard, just about to explain the reason.

Then, from the direction of Qingshan County, a cry came from afar.

"Folks!"

"By the command of Baidi City's General!"

"The Devil Cult… has been eliminated."

"Return home!"

"Return home!"

This voice echoed through the night sky, seemingly using some Divine Ability, growing clearer and clearer.

The several people, hearing the content of the shouts, showed unusual expressions.

Lian Nishang's eyes flashed rapidly, and her body moved first, rushing towards Qingshan County.

Soon after, several people leaped dozens of li and appeared on the city wall of Qingshan County, unable to help but look up at the sky above the county town.

There, a silver Ao Tian Falcon, three to four zhang in size, glittered with brilliant silver light, with a Black Armored Soldier standing on it, robust in build and with a sharp Qi.

This person was a Patrolling Mountain Commandant from Baidi City, who had set out from Fu Gate in the early morning, traveling thousands of li, rushing all the way, and relaying orders loudly. When he passed through Qingshan County, he couldn't help but stop.

The Patrolling Mountain Commandant stood on the Ao Tian Falcon, looking down at the city below, his eyes shining with a hint of awe. Was this the place where the Ninth Mountain Zhonglang General began his rise?

Everywhere he had passed, there was desolation, and large and small county towns had almost become ghost towns. Only this Qingshan County was full of vitality.

At this moment, hearing the commotion, people surged out from all corners of the county town, from thousands of households, appearing in the streets and alleys, and a cacophony of noise erupted.

"Baidi City?"

"I didn't hear clearly, what 'return home'? Can we go back?"

"It seems I heard that the Devil Cult has been dealt with. Look, there's a huge eagle in the sky, with someone on it."

The common folk all looked up at the sky.

And the Patrolling Mountain Commandant above cleared his throat, his eyes blazing, and loudly proclaimed:

"Fellow villagers!"

"By the order of Baidi City's Zhonglang General!"

"The Devil Cult launched a major assault on Baidi City last night. Ninth Mountain Zhonglang General Chen Yuan slaughtered the Devil Cult until blood flowed like a river. The Devil Cult has been eradicated. Those who fled to this county can now return home."

As these words fell, the entire Qingshan County instantly erupted into a frenzy.

Cheers shook the heavens, threatening to overturn the entire night sky.

The Devil Cult had been eradicated.

Many people could return home.

The suppression and suffering of so many days finally found complete release.

The common folk cheered happily in the streets, embraced, wept tears of joy, and ran to spread the news.

For a time, the entire county town was immersed in a sea of cheers.

In the sky, the Patrolling Mountain Commandant, looking at the scene below, couldn't help but smile. How wonderful!

However, he didn't have much time to linger; he had to quickly deliver this news to the next place.

Thinking this, the silver giant falcon beneath his feet let out an eagle cry and flew towards the east.

But soon, it was stopped by a figure in red.

"Is that Commandant Wang!"

The person on the silver giant falcon saw Lian Nishang on the city wall, looking somewhat surprised, and then motioned for the giant falcon to descend.

"Lian Nishang, I didn't expect to see you here. Oh, that's right, I almost forgot, it's written in the book. You've broken through to Body Profound?"

The Patrolling Mountain Commandant leaped from the silver falcon, his armor clanking heavily, and landed near Lian Nishang, speaking as if chatting about daily life.

However, Lian Nishang's eyes were full of scrutiny. She didn't dwell on the few strange words from this Senior from the Sky Patrol Division. She cupped her hands towards the other party and asked quickly:

"Little sister just heard Commandant Wang say that the Devil Cult attacked last night, and Ninth Mountain Zhonglang General Chen Yuan took action to eradicate the Devil Cult. This Zhonglang General Chen Yuan..."

Upon hearing this, the other party became serious.

"No need to guess, it's the one you're thinking of. It's truly moving to speak of him. The first time I heard the name of this Zhonglang General was just a few days ago, in a book called the pacification of demons. At that time, this Zhonglang General was still a Patrolling Mountain Commandant of this county. I never imagined that just yesterday, when the Heavenly Gate Devils attacked and General Xiang was struggling alone, this Lord suddenly appeared and turned the tide..."

The Patrolling Mountain Commandant recounted the battle of the previous night to Lian Nishang, the thrilling and convoluted twists and turns unfolding before them.

Lian Nishang and Gongsun Yang and Fang Qingzhu behind her listened to the narration, their pupils slightly widened, their expressions fluctuating.

They had been worried about Chen Yuan, who hadn't come out, but somehow, he had gone alone to Baidi City, two thousand li away, consecutively slaying the Devil Cult's Four Symbols and turning the tide.

Dramatic, absurd, and an unstoppable surge of emotion!

After the Patrolling Mountain Commandant finished speaking, his expression was clear.

"I couldn't help myself and told you so much. This is a blessing for Fu Gate. Soon, the land outside the pass will return to clarity. I still need to take this news to other places, so I won't say more. Farewell!"

Saying this, without waiting for Lian Nishang's reply, he leaped onto the large silver falcon.

With a piercing cry, the large silver falcon flew into the night sky, instantly transforming into a silver streak of light, rushing into the distance.

Soon, that clear cry echoed again in the night sky.

On the city wall,

Lian Nishang bowed towards the distance.

At this moment, a sound of annoyance, like slapping a thigh, rang out.

"Oh, what a pity, what a pity! I wish I could have been tied to the Lord's leg to witness this great battle with my own eyes. I could have written tens of thousands of words! Why do I always miss out?"

Gongsun Yang was the most agitated. Hearing the Commandant's words, he regretted not being there at the scene. If he had been, the pacification of demons wouldn't just have a second or third volume; he would have been like an old man acting like a young lunatic, writing hundreds of volumes.

He always missed out on the fresh stuff!

After he finished speaking, two gazes fell upon him.

Lian Nishang's face was a bit cold.

"What's wrong?" Gongsun Yang felt strange.

Fang Qingzhu's light purple eyes looked in the opposite direction and softly said:

"Old sir only thinks about his own affairs. Didn't you hear the Commandant say that Senior Chen was injured from the bloody battle with the Devil Cult members?"

"Perhaps we only saw Senior Chen's Divine Ability, but actually, Senior Chen is quite miserable."

Was Chen Yuan miserable?

Yes, he was "miserable"!

A thousand li away, inside a volcano cave dozens of li east of Fengkang County.

Inside, various golden lights shimmered, and Spiritual Qi permeated the air.

Gold was everywhere, piled up into a small mountain, and there were dozens of boxes of various sizes, glittering with treasure light, containing various unknown earth treasures and spiritual materials.

At this moment, a figure moved among these boxes, picking out several items that had Restrictions placed on them.

A small white jade bottle, about a foot in size.

A piece of black metal, the size of a palm.

And a green lotus seed picked from the corner of a box.

Chen Yuan used his Dharma Eye's golden light to break the Restrictions on these items.

He first opened the white jade bottle.

Instantly, a tiger's roar came from inside, and a blood cloud quickly emerged from the bottle's mouth, rapidly condensing into a blood tiger about ten feet long, with a fierce Evil Qi. As soon as it appeared, it pounced towards Chen Yuan.

"Hmph."

Chen Yuan directly grabbed at the thing with his hand, and the blood tiger instantly shattered, turning into an egg-sized, blood-red, crystalline blood mass. Faint tiger roars emanated from within, and Devilish Qi surged.

Chen Yuan levitated it into his hand and examined it.

This was the Vermilion Bird's treasure vault, and the Devilish Qi emanating from this demon essence blood was much purer than the Vermilion Bird's.

Chen Yuan guessed that this should be the demon essence blood of a true Vermilion Bird!

Just right, his Mountain Lord Transformation was incomplete; he hadn't condensed demon essence blood at that time.

This was useful to him, so he put it away.

Next, he levitated the black metal.

A very familiar heavy feeling.

It was a piece of Geng Metal used for refining Dao soldiers!

He had also found two pieces of different sizes in the other two treasure vaults, only their colors were different.

Chen Yuan thought to himself, it seems he needs to brush up on relevant knowledge in the future; his understanding of Heavenly Treasures and Earthly Treasures was almost blank.

Fortunately, he had his Dharma Eye, which could identify treasure light.

Thinking this, he looked at the last green lotus seed.

The contradiction was that this lotus seed had a separate Restriction on it, clearly highly valued by the Vermilion Bird during its lifetime, but for some reason, it was casually thrown in a box without any container.

He examined it with his Dharma Eye's golden light.

He found that the green skin on the outside of the lotus seed actually blocked the golden light, preventing him from seeing inside.

Heh, this piqued Chen Yuan's interest.

He tried a few more times, but still had no success. Burning it with fire and cutting it with Sword Qi were also useless.

No wonder the Vermilion Bird had placed a Restriction on it and then casually tossed it aside; it seemed even it didn't know the use of this item.

It was a treasure nonetheless!

Chen Yuan was not in a hurry and put it away.

After doing all this, Chen Yuan looked at the glittering golden cave, feeling a bit troubled.

There was so much gold, silver, and medicinal materials here; he naturally had to find a way to move them, as well as those in the other two vaults.

As for the Vermilion Bird and Black Tortoise, after revealing the locations of their treasure vaults, their Soul Flying Away and Spirit Scattering.

However, Chen Yuan did not keep his word and burned them to death with true fire. The two Human Devils cursed and raged at Chen Yuan before their deaths.

But did he need to explain these things to them?

Thinking this, Chen Yuan first exited the cave, then turned back, swept it with his Dharma Eye, and resealed it.

Then he flew up and silently returned to the Sky Patrol Division's station in Baidi City, and went back to his room.

At this time, the Sky Patrol Division's station was still empty.

Chen Yuan lay on the bed and closed his eyes.

Although he no longer needed sleep at this Realm, he hadn't rested for a long time.

The night was deep, and he didn't know when spring had slipped away; outside, cicadas were chirping.

After a while, Chen Yuan opened his eyes, and a cold glint flashed within them.

When he closed his eyes, he couldn't sleep no matter what, and he couldn't help but review the past events in his mind.

He was about to leave.

He couldn't leave old debts.

The Vermilion Bird had escaped; he had interrogated the three Human Devils but hadn't gotten any useful information.

Who else was there?

Thanks to "Li Xuanmeng" for the 5000 points of reward.