72: Chapter 72 Pushed Out

The barrier gate rose.

Li Zhengyang was the first to step out, with his abyssal meteor dragon spear resting on his shoulder.

Behind him followed the main force, nearly eight hundred people.

Assistant Chen Feng kept a portion of the personnel and logistics staff behind, and everyone else followed Li Zhengyang.

Zhao Yi followed in the position to Li Zhengyang's left rear.

This position was originally reserved for the commander-in-chief, but now no one felt it was inappropriate for Li Zhengyang.

The team advanced northward in an arrowhead formation.

The speed was not slow, but it was significantly slower than when Li Zhengyang usually acted alone.

At the ten-kilometer mark.

The first wave of demonic beasts appeared.

Twelve Dark Rock Beasts were lying on a gravel slope.

They sensed a large group of human auras and stood up in unison, their rock armor gleaming with a cold light.

Zhao Yi was just about to order the formation.

Li Zhengyang had already disappeared.

He tapped his toes on the ground, and his entire body shot out like a bolt of lightning.

He gripped the abyssal meteor dragon spear tightly, its tip pointing forward.

Nine Heavens Thunder Control Spear, First Form.

Thunder Fall!

Qi and blood poured into the spear body following a brand-new energy conduction path.

It was a completely different method of exerting force compared to the Mountain-Splitting Spear Arts.

The qi and blood detonated at the tip of the spear.

Crack!

A clap of thunder exploded out of thin air at the spear tip.

Lightning burst from the tip, striking toward the Dark Rock Beasts along the direction of the spear's momentum.

Boom!

The rock armor of the first Dark Rock Beast was pierced directly by the thunder, blasting a large hole in its chest cavity.

It didn't even let out a wail; its body remained in a standing position, but its internal organs had been electrocuted into charcoal.

Li Zhengyang didn't stop.

He rotated the spear body, Second Form.

Silent Kill!

The qi and blood reversed half a circle in the meridians, and the killing intent condensed at the spear tip, silent and soundless.

This strike was just a light thrust forward by an inch.

The heads of three Dark Rock Beasts exploded simultaneously.

They didn't even know how they died.

The qi and blood fluctuations of Silent Kill were compressed to the extreme, and the transmission speed exceeded the upper limit of neural response.

The remaining Dark Rock Beasts turned and fled.

Li Zhengyang stomped his foot.

Thunder Fall.

Lightning descended from the sky, enveloping the fleeing pack of Dark Rock Beasts.

Electric arcs leaped among the herd, claiming a life with every jump.

Three seconds.

Twelve Dark Rock Beasts, completely wiped out.

The gravel slope was charred black, and the air was filled with a burnt smell.

Li Zhengyang retracted his spear and squatted down to extract the demonic cores.

The team behind him still maintained their pre-charge posture; not a single person had made a move.

Because from beginning to end, they didn't even have a chance to attack.

"That spear technique..."

Within the team, an elderly martial artist suddenly spoke.

He was the deputy captain of the Third Battalion, surnamed Meng. He had been in the Pojun Division for fifteen years and had seen countless martial arts techniques.

His voice was trembling.

"Nine Heavens Thunder Control Spear?"

The surrounding captains turned to look at him.

"Impossible." Lei Hu was the first to refute, "That spear technique has been listed in the mall as a remnant scroll for who knows how many years; everyone knows it's a trap. Practicing it leads to qi deviation; the last person who bought it is still lying in the medical center."

Old Meng shook his head, his voice sounding dry, "The power exertion path, the lightning accompaniment, the silent characteristic of Silent Kill... it all matches. These are not moves that can be performed with a remnant scroll."

"You mean..." Zhao Yi frowned.

"He completed the remnant scroll."

This statement landed, and the surroundings went silent instantly.

A piece of trash martial art that no one dared to touch was completed in his hands?

No one asked how he completed it.

Having been in the Pojun Division for a long time, everyone knew there were some things that shouldn't be asked.

The team continued to advance.

Twenty kilometers.

A flock of Grade 6 Wind-Wing Bats swooped down from low altitude.

Li Zhengyang raised his spear, and the lightning from Thunder Fall struck in a fan shape; all twenty-plus bats fell from the sky, their wings charred black.

Forty kilometers.

Three Grade 7 Rock-Armor Giant Bears blocked the road.

Li Zhengyang didn't even use the Nine Heavens Thunder Control Spear; relying purely on the physical armor penetration of the abyssal meteor dragon spear, he made three transparent holes with three strikes.

Sixty kilometers.

The density of demonic beasts along the way grew higher and higher, but not a single one could last more than two breaths in front of Li Zhengyang.

The team followed behind, basically just landing finishing blows, picking up scraps, and extracting demonic cores.

Lei Hu extracted them while running, his hands going numb.

"Am I a captain or logistics?"

"Shut up, each extra one is worth five hundred thousand." Zhou Han didn't even lift his head.

Zhao Yi followed at the very front, watching Li Zhengyang's back.

This twenty-year-old young man was carving out a bloody path in front of the Pojun Division's elite with an almost crushing demeanor.

He suddenly understood why Lei Qianjue wanted to bring this person in personally.

This was an investment.

An investment in the hope of an entire era.

...

At the same time.

Deep in the Northern Wilderness, three hundred kilometers away from the barrier.

Inside the underground palace.

Xue You sat at the highest point of the bone steps.

In the blood pool before him, a massive shadow was slowly emerging from the surface.

It was a dragon head.

Nether Dragon Venerable.

It was a genuine Martial Venerable demonic beast.

The Dark Gold Dragon Emperor was his clansman.

The dragon head poked out from the blood pool, its eyes lacking the arrogance of the Dark Gold Dragon Emperor.

Only cold killing intent.

"Lei Qianjue killed my clansman."

Nether Dragon Venerable spoke, its voice deep.

"I know." Xue You smiled, "That's why I'm seeking your cooperation."

"Your conditions."

"Simple."

Xue You stood up from the bone steps, his Half-Step Martial Venerable qi and blood surging, "I want the qi and blood of the human martial artists in the Pojun Division branch. With these, I can gather the resources to break through to Martial Venerable."

"As for the rest, do whatever you want with them."

Nether Dragon Venerable was silent for three seconds.

"What about Lei Qianjue?"

"He's not there."

Xue You's mouth curled up, "My informant confirmed it; that old thing went to the headquarters for a meeting. The strongest in the branch is only a Grade 7 Martial Emperor deputy."

The dragon head's vertical pupils finally showed fluctuations.

"When do we strike?"

"Now." Xue You clapped his hands.

The secret doors on both sides of the main hall opened simultaneously.

Dense swarms of demons poured out from the secret doors, far exceeding the number from the ambush in District C7.

Each one exuded the aura of a Martial Emperor.

Xue You's elite personal guards.

"What's even better."

Xue You walked to the side of the dragon head and lowered his voice.

"You had your pack of demonic beasts migrate, which perfectly deceived this group of human martial artists."

The dragon head tilted.

"They charged into the beast tide gathering area with the majority of their forces."

Xue You's smile grew wider and wider.

"With the beast tide holding them back in the front, the branch in the rear is empty. We will strike from the flank, take out their nest first, and then turn back to surround those who rushed out."

"Killing two birds with one stone."

Nether Dragon Venerable's vertical pupils lit up completely.

"If Lei Qianjue were there, he would never let his subordinates charge into the core area of the beast tide."

Xue You licked his lips, "Unfortunately, that old thing is not there. And that group of humans chose the stupidest strategy."

"Delivering themselves to our doorstep."

The dragon head slowly sank into the blood pool.

When it emerged again, its massive body was fully revealed.

The black dragon body coiled around most of the underground palace, cold light flowing over its scales.

Xue You flipped and leaped onto the dragon's back.

"Let's go."

The underground palace exploded with a roar.

A black dragon soared into the sky, with a figure exuding blood-red aura standing on its back.

Behind it, a large number of demons surged out of the ground like a tide, rushing madly toward the direction of the barrier.

...

Eighty kilometers away.

Li Zhengyang stopped his pace.

On the wilderness ahead, the dense auras of demonic beasts gathered into an ocean.

The brightest red dot on the thermal map was just twenty kilometers away.

"We're almost there."

He gripped the abyssal meteor dragon spear tightly, the thunder on the tip crackling.

Just at this moment, his tactical watch suddenly lit up.

An emergency communication came through, intermittent.

"...Rear... detected large-scale demons... approaching the Pojun Division branch..."

The signal cut off.

Li Zhengyang's pupils constricted suddenly.