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Chapter 348: Chapter 345 Hunting Ground
This descending figure was none other than Gu Jinlai, piloting the Cheng Ying Mecha.
Upon learning of a demon nest nearby, he immediately activated the new radar on the Mystic Bird Fighting Machine to scan the area again.
Indeed, the Demon Demon King who had been hiding underground and evaded the earlier scans could no longer escape detection.
Realizing the Demon God Guards who discovered this demon nest could be in danger, he had long since donned the Cheng Ying Mecha and was ready to rush to the aid of the place where the Demon Demon King appeared. He activated the Eternal Furnace at the first opportunity, ascending to Yunxiao and breaking through the airwaves at top speed to come to this location.
He managed to slay the beast with a single sword strike before the Demon Demon King could wreak havoc with its overwhelming demonic power.
"A Demon Demon King with a Perfect Undying Demon Body, whose Demon Body is more inclined towards defense... Conventional methods are ineffective against it; only a full-force sword attack will do. Unfortunately, I can’t perfectly control the power output of the Eternal Furnace. A full-force strike leaves no chance to preserve the carcass of this Demon Demon King," lamented Gu Jinlai as he performed a sword flourish before sheathing his weapon.
He felt a twinge of regret.
How many War Generals could be trained with the Essence Blood of just one Demon Demon King, especially one with a Perfect Undying Demon Body?
Even promoting an ordinary War General to an Intermediate War General or an Intermediate to a High-level War General wouldn’t be difficult.
Though High-level Generals among the Demon God Warriors still couldn’t compare to Primordial Spirit True Monarchs, ever since they gained the "Recovery" trait, their vitality became exceedingly strong, almost as troublesome as the Demon Ape Commander in the Yunqi Mountain Range back in the day.
Add to that the increasing quantity of "Thunder" machine guns and Short Range Defense Cannons, harassing those Divinity Transformation Realm cultivators who have long-range attacks but can’t fly proves to be very effective.
"Palace... I pay my respects to the Palace Master," a voice full of excitement sounded beside Gu Jinlai.
He glanced over.
A War General.
This moment, including the crowd of Demon God Guards behind him, everyone looked at him with fervent eyes brimming with admiration.
These Demon God Guards had seen Gu Jinlai before.
After all, they occasionally needed Gu Jinlai to remove the demonic nature from them; recognizing him was not strange.
It’s just that Gu Jinlai did not recognize them, that’s all.
However...
Gu Jinlai caught a glimpse of Leng Tianfeng and seemed to realize something, "How goes your training with the Great Sun Demon God Body Refining Method?"
"It has reached Small Achievement... still some distance from Great Achievement," Leng Tianfeng said with some remorse.
As expected.
Gu Jinlai was somewhat surprised.
Apart from the Gu family’s direct descendants, was there really another who achieved such prowess in the Great Sun Demon God Body Refining Technique?
You must understand that the current Great Sun Demon God Body Refining Method, enhanced by Gu Jinlai, now possesses the "Recovery" trait, making it more powerful while also significantly increasing the difficulty of cultivation.
The Gu Family’s direct descendants receive his guidance from time to time, so it’s not surprising that they could reach Small Achievement in the Great Sun Demon God Body Refining Method. But for this man, not a direct descendant of the Gu Family, to attain this degree of expertise in the method...
After a brief moment, Gu Jinlai examined the man and seemed to recognize him.
As a Heavenly Monarch, his memory far exceeded that of an average person, and he quickly recalled something, "Is your name Leng Tianfeng?"
Hearing the Palace Master, a figure who stood at the pinnacle of Tian Nan and handled myriad affairs daily, actually remembered his name caused Leng Tianfeng’s Divine Sense to tremble. He suddenly felt that all the hardships of joining the Demon God Guards and the arduous training were worth it: "Yes."
"To have achieved the rank of War General and cultivated the Great Sun Demon God Body Refining Method to Small Achievement shows that you possess considerable talent. Go and find Gu Qingmei. In the days to come, follow him and guard my surroundings. When I am free to expound on the Great Sun Demon God Body Refining Method, you can listen in," said Gu Jinlai.
Leng Tianfeng’s eyes widened in excitement, his body trembling slightly.
He took a deep breath to calm himself down and then responded with a deep bow, "Thank you, Palace Master! I will not disappoint you!"
"Practice well," Gu Jinlai encouraged. Just then, information came through the Thousand-Mile Light and Shadow Mirror connected to the Cheng Ying Mecha. He couldn’t stay any longer. He simply said, "Tian Nan is indeed in need of people. I believe your future achievements will not be limited to that of a mid-ranking officer."
With those words...
He leaped up. Accompanied by the flicker of blue light on the Cheng Ying Mecha’s thruster, he accelerated fiercely. With white airwaves spreading outward, he broke through the sound barrier, trailing sparks and thunder, and soon disappeared into the sky.
"A warrior would die for a confidant who understands him!"
Leng Tianfeng watched the fading figure of Gu Jinlai, filled with envy but even more so with resolution, "When everyone distrusted me and wanted to put me to death, it was thanks to your trust, Palace Master, that I was able to clear my name..."
This was the reason he had joined the Demon God Guards and diligently practiced cultivation—despite not being a direct descendant or even a side branch of the Gu Family, he had managed to become a War General.
At this moment, the surrounding Demon God Guards expressed their envy and stepped forward to extend their congratulations, "Congratulations, Captain..."
"The Captain is so amazing to be noticed by the Palace Master!"
"The squad led by Gu Qingmei is in charge of the Palace Master’s safety! From now on, the Captain will be a guard among guards, constantly seeing the Palace Master and receiving his teachings—a tremendous opportunity indeed."
The members of the squad said excitedly.
Leng Tianfeng nodded vigorously, responding to each one.
He had never imagined he’d have such an opportunity.
...
"Compared with the people of the Gu family, the entire Tian Nan territory undoubtedly has many more outstanding talents. Now that Lingxiao City has transformed into Lingxiao Palace, although the Gu family is the largest force within it, they cannot be the only force. Perhaps it’s time for the Demon God Guards to recruit more non-Gu family members and entrust them with important tasks."
Gu Jinlai contemplated in his heart.
He also kept an eye on the movements of other teams through the Thousand-Mile Light and Shadow Mirror.
There were hundreds of teams like Leng Tianfeng’s scattered throughout Mu State, combing through the land like a fine-toothed comb and dealing with the devils within its borders.
After clearing out the devils in a given area, elite teams would quickly establish fortresses or construct defensive lines atop the ruins of former cities, ensuring not only their logistics but also their control over these regions.
Should these areas face danger or identify the presence of a Demon Demon King-level devil, the local teams would immediately request aid through the Thousand-mile Light and Shadow Mirror.
This plea for help, screened by Heavenly Masters like Zhang Yukan for severity, would then be presented to Gu Jinlai, allowing him to selectively address some of the more challenging situations.
In other words, he was like the sharpest sword in the countersurge against Mu State, responsible for the most perilous parts.
Of course, even the might of a Demon Demon King would struggle to escape destruction when faced with the full force of his Eternal Furnace energy.
So, for him, equipped with the Cheng Ying Mecha, the so-called danger effectively didn’t exist.
"From a Primordial Spirit True Monarch to Devas, there already exists a vast gulf, and as one’s Cultivation Realm progresses, this gap widens further—Devas, Saints, Earthly True Immortals, and then... those who have lived for a thousand years and obtained the Immortal Dao Fruit of a True Immortal."
Gu Jinlai now serves as the best example of this.
A Demon Demon King is an existence that rivals that of Devas.
Yet such a powerful life form could not block even a single strike from him.
This fact alone demonstrates the overwhelming superiority of a Saint over the Devas.
At this stage, the likelihood of successfully turning the tide with only a group of three to five, or even eight to ten, uniting to form a Battle Formation had all but vanished.
"Now, the only things that could possibly pose a threat to me are the Demon Demon Emperors. However, it’s unlikely that any Demon Demon Emperors are in Mu State. And as for Demon Demon Kings and Upper-level Demons, no matter their number, they are not even worth a sneer."
Gu Jinlai gave a slight smile.
Now, he somewhat regretted that the devils weren’t producing Qingguang anymore.
He had been hoping to complete the Void Projection Technique by gathering more than three hundred Qingguang.
But now...
Gu Jinlai diverted a thread of his Divine Sense to check on the condition of his Spirit World...
Even as he made his way here with the intention of inspecting the cities south of Tianhe and judging the wicked, Qingguang had barely reached eight.
After all, unless one was a Devil who slaughtered thousands and incurred the wrath of both heaven and humanity, achieving a Bright Red Karma wasn’t easy.
Even the slaughter of a thousand beings wouldn’t necessarily reach the blood-red level of Karma if they weren’t innocent victims. Instead, equating them to a Demon Sect disciple with blood on their hands might not achieve that degree of Karma either.
Like him, although he did kill often recently, the Karma on him, since being completely cleansed last time, was only...
"Eh?"
A surprised exclamation escaped from Gu Jinlai.
The miniature figure situated atop the Qing Lian in his consciousness was no longer surrounded by the white light that signified harmlessness from a recent cleansing; instead, it was emitting a purple light.
A pale purple light that signified merit towards heaven and earth.
Despite being a mere wisp of purple, the result still left Gu Jinlai feeling somewhat...
Complicated.
"Purple."
Gu Jinlai "looked" at the light surrounding the mini-figure in his consciousness and couldn’t help but feel sentimental.
When he first arrived in this world, he was branded with a bright red name that had him trembling in fear, cautious of a Refining God or even a Hugging Pill Master showing up out of nowhere to slap him to death.
It was the nadir of his life.
Under the rallying call of Zhengyi Dao, even first-order cultivators at the refining the organs or blood exchange level dared to join the hunting party against him.
He spent a long time hiding before he finally managed to survive.
But before he could settle down in Changjun City for long, he was driven to Starlight City and even faced humiliation from the Hundred Herbs Pavilion there. He had no choice but to offer the Xuan Steel formula to the Meteor Star Guard in exchange for their protection, landing him in Lingxiao City.
That was his most challenging period.
"If I’d had purple Karma back then, surely I wouldn’t have been so miserable, right?"
Gu Jinlai let out a sigh.
But it was exactly those tough times that allowed him to truly integrate into this world, to understand its harsh realities, and to rely on his own efforts. Starting from Lingxiao as his foundation, he gradually rose to dominance, ultimately unifying the land south of Tianhe and being crowned as the King of Tian Nan.
After a while, it seemed as if the Thousand-mile Light and Shadow Mirror received some kind of message.
He broke into a sudden smile.
The Eternal Furnace sprang into action.
"The sword’s edge comes from grinding, and the fragrance of plum blossoms comes from the cold."
Blue lights erupted from the propulsion engines behind the Cheng Ying Mecha, and his figure accelerated swiftly, tearing through the void in a roar for tens of thousands of meters.
Upon detecting the aura of an Upper-level Demon, the Cheng Ying Mecha adjusted its flight angle, and he, with a sword in one hand, plummeted like a meteor. The astonishing speed transformed into ferocious power in a heartbeat, severing the head of the Upper-level Demon as he passed.
"Boom!"
It was like a bullet smashing into a watermelon.
The upper half of the ten-meter-tall demon’s body was blasted to dust by a single sword strike.
He landed in a semi-crouch, momentum carrying him forward.
Then, under the frenzied and worshipful gaze of the Demon God Guards, the engines of the Cheng Ying Mecha spat out more light once again. Amidst the swirling dust and flames, they thrust him even higher into the clouds.
All of Mu State’s vast lands became his hunting ground.
