Noon in the Mingqiu Desert. The sun blazed overhead.

Song Ciwan and her party spurred their horses onward, watching as Demon Suppression Pass drew ever closer.

Initially, Song Ciwan had been unwilling to share a horse. While the others rode, she had simply used the Shrinking Inches Strange Technique, keeping pace right behind them.

But after Cai An had been brought back from the dead at dawn and understood what had happened, he insisted on giving his horse to Song Ciwan, choosing to ride with one of the other West Wind Army soldiers instead.

Unable to refuse his earnestness, Song Ciwan had no choice but to accept his kind offer.

The Red Blood Horse was incredibly fast, cutting through the wind and sand unhindered. Along the rest of the journey, they encountered no more Demon Fiends blocking their path.

The Demon Fiends weren’t fools, either. Spotting the party of riders from afar, who would dare rush forward to their death?

Thus, the latter half of the journey back to Demon Suppression Pass was exceptionally smooth.

But while the road was smooth, the journey was anything but quiet.

Resurrection from the dead. Such a world-shaking event was incredibly rare, even in the Mythical Realm.

The men couldn’t put their complex excitement into words, and they didn’t dare pester Xing Lan Fairy, who was now like a goddess in their eyes. So, they could only direct all their excitement and curiosity toward the other party involved: Cai An.

At first, they just crowded around Cai An, bombarding him with questions.

“General Cai, how are you feeling? Any discomfort?”

Cai An replied, “None at all. I feel great. Thank you for your concern.”

“General Cai, are your Qi Veins clear? Have you lost any of your Power?”

Cai An answered, “My Qi Blood is normal, and there’s no damage.”

“General Cai, what about your five senses, your sixth sense? Is anything different?”

That question hit the mark. Cai An hesitated a moment before replying, “For some reason, my perception seems a bit sharper.”

His perception hadn’t dulled—it had actually gotten sharper!

This made everyone even more excited. “General Cai, sharper in what way? Can you sense the subtle energies of heaven and earth? Do you have any new sensitivity toward the human body?”

“General Cai…”

General Cai, General Cai…

The questions came one after another. Initially, it was mostly the Medical Cultivators asking. Though his head was buzzing, Cai An answered every question honestly.

Eventually, the Medical Cultivators were pushed aside as soldiers who knew him better crowded in. “Captain Cai, what’s it really like? Dying and coming back to life? Tell us all about it!”

Cai An was at his limit. ‘That’s it, I can’t hold back anymore.’

Cai An snapped, “Why don’t you try dying and coming back to life yourself?”

“Bah! Don’t say that!” a soldier retorted. “Captain Cai, that’s just mean! Do you have any idea what a stick of Returning to the Divine Incense costs? Do you know what General Yu had to trade for it? Can we even afford to die?”

“Exactly! Are our lives worth a stick of Returning to the Divine Incense? And even if we could afford it, we can’t just go around tiring out Xing Lan Fairy! Besides, that stuff is priceless—you can’t buy it even if you have the money! How many could there possibly be, huh? How many?”

Of course, Song Ciwan wasn’t about to tell them she still had nine sticks of Returning to the Divine Incense, and that if she ever encountered another Alien Gu, she could get even more…

Everyone just assumed the Returning to the Divine Incense was incredibly precious and figured she had, at most, two or three sticks.

Cai An was speechless.

Pairs of hands couldn’t resist reaching out, curiously patting Cai An down, some even reaching for his neck.

“Captain Cai, just let us have a feel! I just want to touch your neck and see what happened… Ouch!”

The quickest pair of hands was slapped away hard by Cai An, followed by yelps from the soldiers.

“Captain Cai…”

“Captain Cai…”

The group descended into a chaotic scrum, pushing the Medical Cultivators out of the way.

Bursts of laughter occasionally broke through the uproar—someone had actually managed to touch Cai An’s neck and was crowing in triumph.

Up ahead, Yu Wenxu shook his head and smiled.

He began telling Song Ciwan about Demon Suppression Pass, and she soon learned that although Medical Cultivators like herself had been conscripted into the West Wind Army, they actually had two paths to choose from.

The first option was to directly join a camp within the West Wind Army and receive a military rank. A Five-star Medical Cultivator would be assigned dedicated guards, whose Cultivation would be no lower than the Innate Fourth Transformation.

A Five-star Medical Cultivator could even form their own Personal Guard Team. The only catch was that, as a commissioned officer, they had to be ready for deployment at a moment’s notice.

The second option was to not join the West Wind Army directly. Instead, she could enter the Wind Fury Camp as a Demon Hunter.

In the Wind Fury Camp, she would be free to form a team or operate solo.

The Wind Fury Camp posted all sorts of demon-searching and demon-hunting missions daily. If she didn’t want to hunt, as a Medical Cultivator, Song Ciwan could also take up a post at the camp’s Willow Leaf Hall.

With her skills as a Five-star Medical Cultivator, earning Battle Merits would be a simple matter.

Of course, regardless of the path chosen, as long as a Medical Cultivator was willing to enter Demon Suppression Pass, the Magical Treasure reward promised on the official recruitment notice would be granted without fail.

A subtle confidence and pride colored Yu Wenxu’s tone. “Xing Lan, our West Wind Army never skimps on rewards. With your medical prowess, once you join our ranks, you’ll be given priority for any and all cultivation resources.”

A clearer picture of the vast Demon Suppression Pass began to form in Song Ciwan’s mind.

Just ahead, a magnificent pass loomed. They had arrived at Demon Suppression Pass!

Unlike the long lines of Cultivators at Demon Suppression City, there weren’t many people waiting to enter the pass here.

Yu Wenxu explained to Song Ciwan, “This is the South Gate. Demon Hunters generally don’t use it, and neither do the soldiers from our ten camps. It’s primarily a supply route.”

Song Ciwan nodded as the Red Blood Horse galloped on. The closer they drew, the more she could feel a piercing, killing aura—heavy and desolate—cascading down from the top of the towering walls.

The aura was intangible, yet it felt like a waterfall plunging from a great height, crashing down and washing over everyone who drew near.

Before one even entered the pass, it inspired a profound sense of awe.

‘Truly worthy of its title as the greatest pass in the world!’

Song Ciwan had assumed that once they entered, Yu Wenxu would first lead her to the Gale Camp to register her Identity Token.

Her original Five-star Medical Cultivator Token wasn’t useless; it just needed to be updated with new information upon entry before it could be used within Demon Suppression Pass.

But unexpectedly, just as their party approached the gate, the main entrance swung open on its own.

A contingent of soldiers emerged, escorting a lavish Puppet Carriage in a grand procession from the gate.

At their head was a valiant female general. She wore silver armor and a silver helmet with a red tassel, and she carried a long spear.

A red scarf at her collar danced in the wind. Her laughter reached them before she did.

“Wen Tingyu, Red Cavalry General under Grand General Guo of the Xun Wind Camp! By order of the Grand General, I am here to welcome the Tenth Celestial Pride, Xing Lan Fairy, upon her arrival at the pass!”

Her voice, crisp and clear, carried far across the open space before the vast and magnificent pass.

Cai An, Liu Mingzhong, and the others who were riding up were stunned into silence.

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