As the Puppet Carriage carrying Song Ciwan drove into the Grand General’s Mansion, Grand General Guo was seated imposingly on a high platform above the training grounds, looking down on two squads of soldiers locked in a fierce battle.

The Grand General’s Mansion received Song Ciwan with great courtesy. The Puppet Carriage stopped directly on the wide path bordering the training grounds. When its door opened, the Commander of Grand General Guo’s Personal Guard was standing right at the opening.

The moment the door opened, Commander Liu chuckled. “Xing Lan Fairy, you’ve arrived! Please, step out this way. Your deeds are known throughout the Great Zhou, and the Grand General has been looking forward to this for a long time!”

Song Ciwan stepped lightly from the carriage and gave a faint smile.

‘The Ten Thousand Spirits Celestial Pride List was updated only a short while ago. How could the Grand General have been looking forward to this for a long time?’

‘Grand General Guo’s sense of time must be very different from everyone else’s.’

Song Ciwan smiled without speaking. Before her stood Commander Liu, a man with a portly figure, a round and jolly face, and thick earlobes that hung down to his shoulders. It was truly a disarmingly simple and honest appearance.

With such a portly appearance, if he shaved his head and donned a monk’s robe, he could pass for a Maitreya Buddha in a temple. Who would have guessed that he was actually the Commander of the Personal Guard for a Grand General at Demon Suppression Pass?

As for Grand General Guo seated high above, he was tall and powerfully built, with a full, bristling beard. Just by sitting there, he exuded the imposing aura of a coiled dragon and a crouching tiger.

He laughed heartily, his voice booming like a great bell, as he beckoned to Song Ciwan. “Xing Lan, you’re here! Quick, quick, come on up to the platform! My boys here are holding a martial drill today. You’re a top-tier Celestial Pride, just the person to give them a few pointers and show them where they fall short.”

Guided by Commander Liu, Song Ciwan ascended the high platform beside the training grounds, with Wen Tingyu following closely behind her.

On the high platform, besides Grand General Guo’s main seat, several other chairs had been placed.

Grand General Guo invited Song Ciwan to sit to his left, and Wen Tingyu sat on her other side. Commander Liu, with a chuckle, settled into the seat on Grand General Guo’s right, his round belly jutting out.

The contest on the training grounds below did not pause in the slightest for Song Ciwan’s arrival.

In the time it took for the group to walk up and sit down, the battle between the two squads below had reached a fever pitch.

Both squads were led by an Innate Third Transformation Martial Artist, and all the soldiers were Innate Second Transformation Martial Artists.

They were very different from the martial artists of the martial arts world whom Song Ciwan had seen in the Nine Provinces. When those martial artists fought, even when they were on the same side, their coordination was loose; the outcome relied mainly on individual martial prowess.

But these soldiers on the training grounds formed tight, precise formations centered on their respective leaders. As the formations shifted, they resembled a long dragon emerging from the water, a fierce tiger rearing its head, a hunting falcon circling above, or a lion pouncing on a pearl…

The Qi Blood of every Martial Artist on both sides surged, rising like plumes of signal smoke.

Amidst the shifting formations, they clashed in close combat. Some of the Gang Qi emanating from their blades and spears struck the ground, carving grayish-white scratches into the training ground’s dark-blue floor tiles.

—And one shouldn’t assume their Gang Qi was weak just because it only left light scratches on the floor.

Song Ciwan could clearly tell that these Martial Artists were all powerhouses within their respective realms. The only reason their stray Gang Qi couldn’t cause widespread damage was because the floor of the training ground was made of a special material.

As the battle below reached a fever pitch, the squad in blue seemed to be overwhelmed by the squad in red, pushed to their breaking point.

Suddenly, the Martial Artists of the blue-robed squad changed their formation. Dozens of them arranged themselves on the training ground into the shape of a giant bow.

Their leader, the Innate Third Transformation Martial Artist, took the position of the arrowhead. The faint hum of a bowstring reverberated through the air.

VMMMM—!

Following the sound, the blue-robed Innate Third Transformation Martial Artist shot forward like an arrow, thundering toward the opposing formation.

As this arrow was loosed, the Vitality in the air began to gather frantically.

An incredibly sharp and piercing intent clung to the arrow formed by the man’s body. The clouds hung low in the sky, and for a moment, even the blazing midday sun seemed to shy away behind them.

Fast. Impossibly fast!

The moment the arrow moved, it was like a sudden clap of thunder.

In the end, the opposing red-robed squad didn’t even have time to switch to a defensive formation. Their leader roared, “Wang Xun, you’re really playing for keeps, you son of a… Damn it!”

The red-robed leader coiled his body into the shape of a bell as his teammates hastily joined hands and shoulders, channeling their power to him as one.

At last, when the blue-robed arrow struck, the red-robed leader’s body was sent flying back several dozen yards in an instant.

BANG!

If the training ground hadn’t been so massive, he would have been knocked completely out of it.

The red-robed leader landed with a huge hole torn in his chest, blood gushing out.

The other red-robed soldiers were also hit by the impact. Their auras were connected to their leader’s, and now they too collapsed to the ground one by one.

Even though no physical arrow had appeared, their chests were also torn open, spilling blood. The scene was ghastly.

“Excellent!”

Suddenly, a thunderous cheer erupted from the other side of the training ground.

It came from the other soldiers of the Wind Fury Camp, who were arrayed in the outer perimeter to watch. Judging by the dense ranks, there were at least two or three thousand people present.

The sound of two to three thousand people either exhaling sharply or clapping and cheering for a moment diluted the brutal atmosphere on the training ground.

It was as if the two squads on the field had not just engaged in a spectacular and perilous life-and-death battle, but had merely put on an illusory performance.

But in truth, this was no performance!

On the high platform, Wen Tingyu exhaled softly. Her eyes sparkled as she commented, “Grand General, the victorious blue-robed leader was your personal guard, Wang Xun, correct? His mastery of the Seven-star Arrow Cover Array is truly impressive. Are you planning to give him a field command?”

The lowest cultivation level among Guo Wanjun’s personal guards was Innate Third Transformation.

If one were to be given a field command, they would at least become a Hundred-man Captain of an elite unit.

Most commanders of thousand-man units, such as Wen Tingyu and Yu Wenxu, had also served as Guo Wanjun’s personal guards. First serving as a guard, then being sent out for field experience, and finally getting promoted upon reaching the Fourth Transformation—it was a progressive path of advancement.

Grand General Guo laughed. “Indeed, he’s to be sent out. What’s the point of having him stick by my side forever? The only proper path is to go out, slay demons, and achieve great things. The demon scourge has been growing more rampant lately, and we need more patrol squads on both the left and right flanks of Demon Suppression Pass.”

As he spoke the last sentence, his tone grew slightly heavier.

Wen Tingyu nodded, but seemed unable to bear it. “But General,” she said, “they’re all our own men. It was just a spar. Wasn’t Wang Xun’s attack a little too vicious?”

Grand General Guo, still seated imposingly, merely tilted his head and pointed a finger at Wen Tingyu. “You think that was too vicious?”

Chuckling, he then turned to Song Ciwan. “Xing Lan, do you also think the bout was too vicious? That Wang Xun was too ruthless?”

As they spoke, two Medical Cultivators who had been waiting outside the training ground ran onto the field.

One of them immediately began treating the most heavily injured red-robed leader, while the other started administering treatment to the rest of the wounded red-robed soldiers.

They still followed the procedure of treating the most severe injuries first. The two Medical Cultivators moved quickly, their actions urgent yet orderly.

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