Just as Wang Xiaoqiang was planning to arrange the formation, Zuo Qinglian returned with the remnants of his defeated soldiers to the demon army's main base in the Snow Territory—Snow Lotus Mountain.

At the peak of Snow Lotus Mountain stands a millennium-old Ironwood tree, as thick as a thousand men could embrace, exceptionally huge. It is the largest tree in the Snow Territory, standing atop Snow Lotus Mountain like a gigantic pillar piercing the heavens.

This Ironwood had weathered millennia of storms and snow but remained standing, unexpectedly becoming the treehouse of the Great Demon King.

The millennium-old Ironwood was excavated by the demon army and transformed into multiple rooms, becoming the Great Demon King's palace—Tree Palace.

The layout inside the Tree Palace was orderly, with a spacious Gathering of Righteousness Hall, sleeping quarters, a dining hall, and areas specifically designated for cultivation...

At this moment...

The Great Demon King sat solemnly on his throne in the rear hall of the treehouse's Gathering of Righteousness Hall, flanked by twenty demon kings.

Zuo Qinglian stood in the middle, having just recounted the defeat and death of Li'an.

Upon hearing this news, all the demon kings sighed in sympathy, while the Great Demon King's expression remained calm, though his eyes narrowed, and a cold glint and murderous intent flickered in his slender eyes. In frustration, he slapped the table and asked angrily:

"Has anyone ever heard of this human clan's marshal?"

"No!"

All the demon kings answered in unison.

An elder demon king said, "Great King, the scout must have found something, right?"

The Great Demon King turned to ask the attendants on either side, "Has the scout returned?"

"No, not a single piece of news!" said one attendant.

Hearing this, the Great Demon King paced in front of the throne, a pure demonic aura swirling around him, very mysteriously.

Suddenly, the Great Demon King halted and swiftly turned to look at the kings below, saying, "All kings, listen to my command, attack in full force! Strike the human army aggressively."

"Yes!!" Twenty demon kings and Zuo Qinglian responded in unison.

...

Cheng Jin commanded the arrangement of the Ring Spirit Formation, with the assistance of elite disciples from the Five Spirit Sect, making Wang Xiaoqiang the hands-off overseer, though these days were quite boring for him,

On this day, he entrusted Sai Ya to Jiang Yingxue for supervision. Sai Ya had a weak cultivation base, so Jiang Yingxue was entirely capable of managing her.

After giving these instructions, Wang Xiaoqiang quietly released his first avatar to stay at the base for oversight. His true self, accompanied by Sai Jun, left the base.

In military campaigns, commanders sit in the central tent, strategizing and planning from afar, never leaving their army.

This sentence means that during military campaigns, as a commander, one must strategize and preside over the army, not leaving them; otherwise, the army would become leaderless and fall into chaos.

Although Wang Xiaoqiang had no experience commanding troops, he also knew it was inappropriate to leave at this time. However, for him, cultivation had always taken precedence.

Killing demon cultivators, waging wars... all these were illusions. For someone from a lower plane... Earth, surviving in this perilous Immortal Realm was the real principle.

And the only dependency for survival was... power!

Currently, his cultivation encountered a bottleneck; his physical body could no longer withstand the impact of the violent Spiritual Power. To improve his Qi Refining Cultivation, he must seek a breakthrough in his Body Refining Boundary. For body refining, he had to find Spirit Mines.

Spirit Mines contained dense Spiritual Energy with a metal attribute, very useful for him in refining his Vajra Body.

Therefore, although it was inappropriate to leave the army at this time, he had no choice but to leave.

Even though his avatar might be recognized by the soldiers, it was better than nothing. Moreover, at this time, all soldiers were busy with the Ring Spirit Formation, having no time to notice whether he was the true self or the avatar.

Wang Xiaoqiang quietly left with Sai Jun, who knew about Spirit Mines and had some understanding of their locations,

Taking Sai Jun along served two purposes: one, to supervise him, and two, to have him assist in finding Spirit Mines.

The Snow Territory is vast, equivalent in size to an empire, with Spirit Mines buried thousands of feet underground, making them very difficult to detect with Divine Sense. Without someone familiar leading the way, it's nearly impossible to find them.

Wang Xiaoqiang thought Sai Jun would help him locate Spirit Mines, but unexpectedly, Sai Jun was actually informing the demon army, intending to lure them into ambushing Wang Xiaoqiang.

In fact, as they delved into the Snow Territory, the entire demon army, nearly sixty thousand strong, had already mobilized, led by twenty-one demon kings, with the intent to crush the human army,

That night, Wang Xiaoqiang and Sai Jun dug a treehouse to rest inside, planning to rest for the night and continue searching for Spirit Mines the following day.

Unexpectedly, when Wang Xiaoqiang let his Patterned Beast keep watch and had just fallen asleep, Sai Jun seized the opportunity, slipped out of the treehouse, and released a signal talisman into the sky,

As an Information Scout, he often carried such signal talismans.

The signal talisman soared into the sky like fireworks, exploding in the night sky, resplendent and eye-catching, incredibly conspicuous.

Though the Patterned Beast was tasked with ensuring Wang Xiaoqiang's safety while he slept, with all its intelligence, it couldn't have foreseen Sai Jun's betrayal.

However, after Sai Jun left the treehouse, the Patterned Beast still roared loudly.

Wang Xiaoqiang awoke at the Patterned Beast's call, noticed Sai Jun's absence in the treehouse, and immediately felt a jolt, instantly releasing his Divine Sense to search, only to see Sai Jun fleeing rapidly in the distance.

Upon seeing this, Wang Xiaoqiang's face darkened, stepping out of the treehouse with his Divine Sense locking onto the now out-of-sight Sai Jun. He sneered coldly, a thought flashed, and the Demon Droplet flew out of the Sumeru Ring, spinning swiftly as it bolted toward the fleeing Sai Jun.

Though captured by Wang Xiaoqiang, Sai Jun had no intention of submitting to him. He knew that as a demon cultivator, even if he surrendered, he could never truly integrate into the human cultivators and would still face certain death. So he was constantly seeking a chance to escape.

Now was a great opportunity,

His plan was to first release a signal talisman to summon the demon army within a thousand-mile radius to converge, surround, and eliminate Wang Xiaoqiang, then accompany the demon army to rescue his sister, Sai Ya.

A beautiful thought, but too naïve, and very foolish!!

The Demon Droplet, swift as lightning, reached Sai Jun in a blink, and just as he sensed it and turned in shock, the Demon Droplet pierced into his back, boring into his heart, spinning rapidly and turning his heart into pulp.

As Wang Xiaoqiang flew over, Sai Jun had already fallen to the ground, not yet dead. He glared viciously at Wang Xiaoqiang, blood frothing from his mouth, gritting his teeth, he said, "Human boy, you won't escape. Here will soon be surrounded by my demon army, you won't fly away!"

A flash of fury crossed Wang Xiaoqiang's face as he glared at him and said, "I told you, people who act against their own interests will be punished by heaven and earth. You disregarded your own life and your sister's life, betraying me. People like you are the most despicable. You think bringing the Demon Sect army here can kill me? ... You're wrong. Do you see any cultivation base on me?"

With a thought, Wang Xiaoqiang released over a hundred million Spiritual Springs from his body, instantly transforming from a Fifth Soldier Realm of the Immortal Sage cultivator into an ordinary mortal. (To be continued. If you like this work, you are welcome to vote, and give monthly tickets at Qidian (qidian.com). Your support is my biggest motivation. Mobile users, please read it on m.qidian.com)

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