“No, wait…”
Jiang Yi thought about it and found a huge problem. His Divine Sound Heaven Skill could presently be only released via a zither. Once he started playing the zither—besides Qi Qingchen, probably the entire Fire Phoenix Army would suffer from its effects as well. If that happened, who was going to go and kill the Netherworld Realm beings? If the Netherworld Realm beings were not affected and only the Fire Phoenix Army was, it would be disastrous.
“I’d better slowly experiment this; I need to find a way such that the zither playing would not affect my own people. I’ll dig deeper when we return!”
Jiang Yi sighed silently. These things could not be rushed. However, he grew slightly excited now. As long as he could perfectly release this mystical ability, he would easily be able to get battle merits from now on. Even if the Fire Phoenix Army had just a few of them now, they could easily face a million-strong Netherworld Realm huge army.
As the situation was more or less stabilized, Jiang Yi also didn’t bother anymore as he started to think about the Divine Sound Heaven Skill. If he wanted to use it against the enemy, he first had to overcome a huge problem: how to prevent it from affecting his own people.
“Sound is formless; it can be spread in all directions. How can I channel it in a certain direction?”
Jiang Yi could not think of a way no matter how hard he tried. He actually entered the State of the Union of Heaven and Man and used his whole heart to focus on this. Poison Spirit hurriedly brought Jiang Yi along as Qi Qingchen looked over and was lost for words. Although the cleansing operation was about to come to an end, to go into seclusion in the battlefield; that was a little too ballsy, right?
Two hours later, the cleansing operation was finally over. Qi Qingchen brought everyone to make yet another round in the valley. After finding no more signs of Netherworld Realm beings and any Netherworld Realm formations, Qi Qingchen gave the order to return to the Demon-Buster Valley.
The journey back was always easier than the starting one; the way back also always seemed a little nearer. This mission had been splendidly completed. Most importantly… not one person had died. Although some were severely wounded—one person’s limbs were torn into pieces, it wasn’t hard for these formidable martial artists to regrow their limbs. As long as they didn’t die, everything else could be managed.
This huge battle had raised the Fire Phoenix Army’s morale to the highest. Qi Qingchen leading the charge and formidable battle prowess, coupled with Jiang Yi’s unique mystical ability, had made all Fire Phoenix Army soldiers feel very good about this battle.
Furthermore, if Qi Qingchen really did not want a share of the battle merits, the amount distributed to each of them was going to be considerable. Although the individual amount of battle merits was not considered that much for formidable martial artists such as these soldiers, this was after all only the reward from one single mission. If they continued this for long; the amount of battle merits would be significant, right?
Battle merits meant everything in the Demon-Buster Valley. The more battle merits one had, the more resources he could gain. Battle merits could be exchanged for divine artifacts, used to learn mystical abilities and secret arts, as well as to enter the Primitive Mystic Realm, Dao Heaven Mystic Realm, and Primordial Mystic Realm. This was a virtuous cycle: everyone grew stronger and stronger; after a few years, many would probably reach the Titled Battle God level.
Everyone could now visualize a path forward shining with golden light. They felt as if following Qi Qingchen and Jiang Yi would mean boundless opportunities for them. The Fire Phoenix Army’s cohesiveness would also be raised without a limit. A-hundred-odd men happily flew back; they shaved four hours off their traveling time and returned to the altar.
Jiang Yi had remained in seclusion along the way, trying to think of a way to direct the Divine Sound Heaven Skill; he had not woken up even when the group had reached the altar. Poison Spirit had no choice but to send a voice transmission to him to wake him up. If not, Jiang Yi would be rudely and violently awoken by the teleportation later on.
“Eh… we are back? That’s fast!”
Jiang Yi groggily woke up as everyone around laughed at him. However, the laughter this time was rather jovial as everyone’s impression of him had changed. They also took him, the Inspector-General, seriously now. While they didn’t adore and worship him, at least they were convinced of his strength and capabilities.
“Go!”
Qi Qingchen waved as the Teleportation Formation lit up. After a couple of hours of teleporting, the army reached back the Demon-Buster Valley.
“Uh…”
Many spies from all the various big factions were present in the Demon-Buster Valley’s city plaza. When the Fire Phoenix Army was teleported back, many divine senses swept forward; and countless faces were filled with shock and astonishment. The Fire Phoenix Army had left and returned with the exact same number of people.
The details of the Fire Phoenix Army’s mission this time had spread long ago: a hundred Netherworld Generals and two hundred thousand Netherworld Envoys to exterminate. The Fire Phoenix Army only had a-hundred-odd men. Although all were Demon-Killing Battle God-equivalent while Qi Qingchen was a King-Ranked formidable martial artist, wasn’t it a little too exaggerated that not a single person had died?
“Return to camp and rest and recuperate. Tomorrow, we will continue with our next mission. During this downtime, everyone is allowed to move about freely. However, no one is to cause trouble!”
Qi Qingchen gestured, gave her order, and flew back to her own castle. The Fire Phoenix Army disbanded happily. Some went back to their base camp to recuperate while others went to the drinking establishments to celebrate. Even some went to the brothels for some entertainment to rejoice their victory. The Demon-Buster Valley had everything; it was like its own kingdom.
“Young Mistress Ling’er, please go and collect our battle merits. Qi Yue and Qi Xia, please follow along. When you guys return to the base camp, remember to distribute the battle merits. I will return to rest first.”
Jiang Yi motioned, ignored many stares that were narrowed at him, and brought Poison Spirit back to his own castle. Di Ling’er then went to the General Pavilion with Qi Yue and Qi Xia. Collecting battle merits was part of their job, and these matters had to be settled by them.
Returning to his little castle, Jiang Yi coincidentally met Mo Huaisang, who was getting ready to head out. Mo Huaisang had put on makeup and was dressed very nicely. She was probably on her way to some banquet. Seeing Jiang Yi return, Mo Huaisang instinctively was taken aback. She forced a smile and said, “Jiang Yi, didn’t you head out on a mission? Why are you back so quickly?”
“We have finished the extermination!”
Jiang Yi replied politely. He asked casually, “Young Mistress Huaisang is heading out? Shall I ask Poison Spirit to escort you?”
“There is no need!”
Mo Huaisang said slightly awkwardly, “Young Master Long is hosting a banquet in a while; he will be sending someone to fetch me. Jiang Yi… do you want to go as well? Young Master Long is Long Tianwang’s grandson. If your relationship with the Demon-Buster Army deteriorates further, it might not be beneficial for you…”
“Hahaha!”
Jiang Yi lifted his head and laughed as he said mockingly, “It is already very bad; my relationship with them can never be mended. Young Mistress Huaisang, please enjoy yourself! You do not have to bother with me.”
Mo Huaisang lowered her head as she was struggling internally. She was very clear what Jiang Yi meant. If she walked out this door, she would probably become even more distant from Jiang Yi from now on; there would not be any chance for them to become close in the future.
Stomp! Stomp! Stomp!
A war chariot was approaching from the outside; it was evident that her ride had arrived. Mo Huaisang gritted her teeth, raised her head, forced a smile, and headed outside resolutely. Jiang Yi watched as she left, a slight smile on the corner of his mouth. However… this smile was slightly cold.
“Sigh!”
After Mo Huaisang left, Jiang Yi sighed, shook his head slightly as he entered his own room.
At the door of his room, Jiang Yi suddenly thought of something. He turned and asked Poison Spirit, “Poison Spirit, do you have a way such that a sound can be channeled in a certain direction? For example, I only want my flute to be heard by the people in front of me but not by those to my sides and behind me.”
“This…”
Poison Spirit blinked, paused for a moment, and shook his head. He replied, “This belongs to the divine sonar nomology; I am not familiar with these. However… the Demon-Buster Valley has a Mystical Abilities Pavilion that has millions of books in it. When Young Lord gets the battle merits from this previous battle, you could probably use them to exchange for a few books to read.”
“That’s true!”
Jiang Yi’s eyes lit up. He did not think of this before. Although there were indeed very few people who realized divine sonar nomology, it didn’t mean that no one had before. There should be some secret manuals left behind, perhaps even specific in response to what he wanted.
After spending two over hours in the castle, Di Ling’er returned and reported that the battle merits had all been distributed. Di Ling’er gave Jiang Yi a unique insignia; this was the Demon-Buster Army’s battle merits insignia; it could be used to record one’s battle merits.
Jiang Yi had previously used this when he was in the Demon-Killing Pavilion. Jiang Yi casually refined it and checked it as his eyes suddenly narrowed. He exclaimed, “Fifty thousand? How could there be so many?”
