On the training grounds, the clouds scattered, and the sun’s fervent rays once again spilled down.

Song Ciwan sat on the high platform, watching the spectacular martial arts contest. Her heart was both stirred and deep in thought.

Grand General Guo asked if she, too, found the recent contest overly fierce. Song Ciwan paused for a moment before saying:

“If I may ask, Grand General Guo, during the contest between the two teams, when the blue-robed squad formed the final Seven-star Arrow Cover Array, I saw their power converge. It seemed that for an instant, the leader’s Attack Power leaped past his own level, reaching above the mid-stage Innate Fourth Transformation. Is that what happened?”

Guo Wanjun nodded, a hint of proud ostentation in his expression. “That’s right. With the Seven-star Arrow Cover Array, supported by thirty or more at the Innate Second Transformation and with an Innate Third Transformation as the Array’s core, the combat power of the person in the main position can be elevated by a whole level. Xing Lan, what do you think of this Array?”

Song Ciwan’s voice was full of admiration. “Incredible!”

While she made killing enemies above her level seem commonplace, one had to understand that her combat power was among the absolute top tier of the countless billions of beings in the entire Nine Provinces World, including those in the Nine Celestial Demon Countries.

Song Ciwan wasn’t being modest; she knew just how vast the gap between major levels truly was.

Under normal circumstances, ten cultivators at the Innate Third Transformation, even if they banded together, couldn’t possibly defeat a single one at the Innate Fourth Transformation.

Yet now, with this Array formation, a single Innate Third Transformation cultivator leading several dozen at the Innate Second Transformation could, to some extent, match the Attack Power of an Innate Fourth Transformation. The might of this military Array was practically a nation-guarding Divine Artifact!

Song Ciwan immediately extrapolated. “Grand General Guo, if an Innate Fourth Transformation cultivator were the Array’s core, supported by several dozen at the Innate Third Transformation, could they then fight a Martial Arts Grandmaster at the True Self Realm of Innate Fifth Transformation?”

A True Self Realm Martial Arts Grandmaster was roughly equivalent to a Returning Void Celestial Immortal among Cultivators!

Grandmasters and Celestial Immortals were few and far between. Even with the full might of the nation, their numbers were limited. The same was true for the Demon Race; the number of Demon Venerables who could rival a Celestial Immortal was also finite!

If this military Array could truly allow someone at the Fourth Transformation to fight someone at the Fifth Transformation, to fight a Demon Venerable, the implications would be immense.

Guo Wanjun answered with a few resonant, forceful words: “Indeed, we can!”

As he spoke those words, Guo Wanjun clearly saw the eyes of the white-robed young woman beside him, who carried the air of a goddess, suddenly shift.

It was as if a layer of starlight now shone within her pitch-black pupils.

The Grand General couldn’t help but smile to himself. ‘She’s young, after all. Though she acts cold and aloof, she still has a passion that hasn’t yet cooled.’

Guo Wanjun felt a sense of gratification, but then he sighed. “The art of combined military Arrays is our army’s greatest advantage, and the Human Race has never lacked for top-tier experts. But since the Four Great Demon Passes were established, the Human Race has only ever been able to defend and hold the line. We’ve rarely been able to launch a counter-offensive against the Demon Race. Xing Lan, do you know why?”

Song Ciwan answered honestly, “I do not know. I ask for Grand General Guo’s guidance.”

Guo Wanjun said, “Because the Demon Race has a number of old demons and Ancient Demons with incredibly long lifespans. Some of them have even lived for over ten thousand years!”

As he said this, he raised his hand and slammed it down on the armrest of his chair.

He didn’t appear to use much force, but as his palm landed, the surrounding air suddenly erupted with ripples visible to the naked eye.

Those were ripples from space itself being torn apart!

Faced with such terrifying power, any ordinary expert nearby would have been killed instantly on contact.

The roundish Commander Liu, chair and all, instantly shot back ten zhang.

Wen Tingyu, beside Song Ciwan, also immediately slid away on her chair to the other side. Only Song Ciwan remained where she was, utterly motionless.

She had silently activated Upright Shadowless. The tearing ripples swept past her, yet she remained in another spatial plane, unreachable by the physical world. Even if it seemed countless layers of space were being ripped apart in the same spot, none of the tears could affect her.

Upright Shadowless seemed like a Space Divine Skill, but it wasn’t.

It was a Rule Daoist Technique!

Upright Shadowless gave Song Ciwan a powerful sense of composure. She continued to listen intently to Guo Wanjun.

Guo Wanjun’s voice grew into a snarl. “These old monsters usually slumber in their lairs, and they never make a move lightly. They aren’t afraid to sleep—the longer they sleep, the longer their Lifespan extends. Take the Nine-tailed Fox of Qingqiu, for example. Do you think it’s only ten thousand years old? And that old turtle from the Dragon Race has lived for at least thirty thousand years!”

He listed the Ancient Demons as if he were counting the stars in the sky.

“The Shangyang has been slumbering even longer. That old thing is a master of Divination and will never emerge unless the very survival of the Demon Race is at stake.

“And when it comes to wielding fire, the Bi Fang is the true old master. Who knows where it slumbers.

“The Golden Crow of Tang Valley may look majestic, but in truth, his age is likely not even a fraction of that Bi Fang’s!

“Beyond them, it’s said a Peacock is hidden among the Golden-winged Roc Race, and that beneath the Demon Saint Palace, a Ci Tie slumbers…”

The more he spoke, the more his anger rose, his face flushing. “As for the Merfolk of the Merfolk Abyss, they don’t admit to being demons, but they aren’t Human either. There are countless Heaven and Earth Alien Races. The Human Race may appear to have united the Nine Provinces, but when have these Nine Provinces ever truly known peace?”

Guo Wanjun’s powerful frame seemed to sag under a great weight. “The Human Race,” he said, “is more intelligent than any demon. We can learn skills, create tools, write the Scriptures of the Saints and Sages, spread the flame of civilization, and build dynasties! But… our lives are not long!”

Song Ciwan listened intently, moved by his words, and nodded in agreement.

Although she was in the state of Upright Shadowless, she appeared to be sitting in the physical world. She hadn’t moved an inch, nor was she invisible, yet the state she was in was infinitely more profound than simple invisibility.

Seeing her nod, Guo Wanjun turned to look at her and chuckled. “You’re young, with a high Cultivation. You wouldn’t understand the troubles we old-timers face as our years advance and our Qi Blood declines.”

After a Martial Artist reaches a certain age, it’s possible for their Qi Blood and combat power to begin to decline.

But as Song Ciwan observed Grand General Guo’s imposing figure, she noted that even his Soft Armor and plain clothes couldn’t hide the bulging contours of his muscles. That, combined with his formidable aura and the power of his casual strike moments ago—

‘And he calls that having his Qi Blood in decline?’ Song Ciwan truly couldn’t imagine what Grand General Guo would be like if it weren’t.

She smiled slightly. “Grand General Guo, you are in your prime. Such self-deprecation puts a junior like me to shame. I understand your meaning, Grand General. Are you saying that because the Demon Race is naturally long-lived while the Lifespan of the Human Race is lacking, we are always at a disadvantage?”

Guo Wanjun sighed like a great bear, his voice rumbling. “Precisely. Heaven does not grant us long life, so what can we mortals do? The Immortal Dynasty was established over seven hundred years ago, sheltering our corner of the world. Most people in the Mortal World today are of a new generation. How many still remember what it was like a thousand years ago, during the chaotic era of humans and demons, when humans were treated like pigs and dogs, like ants, like nothing more than food for slaughter?”

For seven hundred years, the Demon Saints have not set foot on human soil, which is the only reason this prosperous age of humanity exists!

Song Ciwan didn’t need to stretch her imagination to guess how tragic the human world must have been during those chaotic times.

She asked softly, “Then, Grand General, are we to fight, or not?”

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