Chapter 642 - 8: Reunion

Chapter 642: Chapter 8: Reunion

In the great war on the Western Continent, the Six Sects Alliance Army had been in constant retreat until they finally held their ground at the Miao River, halting the rout. But amidst the continuous battles, many prominent figures had also emerged from the Six Great Sects.

Shao Zhongguang was one such figure. The Blood Spirit Scripture he cultivated was bizarre and immensely powerful, and particularly effective against Demons, who possessed robust vitality and often fought with their physical bodies. Even so, most other disciples of his generation from the Six Sects were no match for him.

Long before the Demon Court initiated the great war, he had already begun to make a name for himself in the battles between the Eastern Army Governor’s Mansion and the Sea Demons. Once the war truly began, he distinguished himself even further, his talent impossible to conceal.

Relying on the uncanny nature of his Blood Escape, Shao Zhongguang scouted the Demon Court army’s movements on several occasions, providing crucial intelligence for the main force of the Six Sects Alliance Army to retreat.

Afterward, he repeatedly engaged in Magical Combat with the Demon Court’s Yao Nian Army—a force specializing in military espionage and deploying scouts. He slew powerful enemies on the battlefield and seized the opportunity, exchanging his military merits for a Golden Core Pill. With it, he successfully achieved Core Formation in a single attempt.

After achieving the Golden Core Realm, the terrifying power of the Blood Spirit Scripture was fully revealed. Among those of the same Realm, Golden Core Demon Kings were almost completely unable to match him. As for ordinary Little Demons, he only needed to release a single ray of blood-red light to instantly cause their Essence Blood to burst from their bodies and merge into the glow.

His speed at slaughtering Demons far surpassed that of an ordinary Cultivator.

Moreover, it wasn’t just Shao Zhongguang; other Cultivators from the Five Elements True Spirit Sect who practiced the Blood Spirit Scripture also began to shine.

Aside from a few Cultivators who died prematurely, all the other practitioners of the Blood Spirit Scripture rapidly improved their Cultivation amidst the great war.

Although none of them achieved the Golden Core Realm like Shao Zhongguang, nearly sixty percent successfully reached Foundation Establishment.

Such immense power garnered great interest from the Five Elements True Spirit Sect and the other Five Sects. With the Western Continent in turmoil, the Five Elements True Spirit Sect directly shared its collected copies of the Blood Spirit Scripture with the other Five Sects.

However, the Blood Spirit Scripture was unlike other Cultivation Techniques. To practice it, one had to first disperse their original Cultivation. Then, in conjunction with a secret medicine, they had to peel off their own skin, carve it with Talismanic Script, and reattach it before they could even begin to cultivate.

This process was extremely perilous. The required Talismanic Script, in particular, allowed no room for error. The slightest mistake would mean all previous efforts were wasted, their Cultivation would be dispersed for nothing, and they could even suffer severe injury or death from being unable to reattach their skin.

The Six Sects temporarily assigned over a dozen Artifact Refiners, all capable of Refining Tier Three Magical Treasures, to carve the Talismanic Script onto the human skin.

Even so, the success rate was only sixty percent.

But this was a long-term solution that couldn’t solve an immediate problem. These Cultivators had only just begun practicing the Blood Spirit Scripture. Even with their Sects providing all sorts of Spirit Medicine to boost their Cultivation and capturing various Demons for them to Refine Essence Blood from, it was still difficult for them to become a fighting force in time.

Shao Zhongguang transformed into a nearly invisible, dim ray of blood-red light, flitting past the chain of fortresses that stretched along the riverbank.

Nascent Soul Cultivators, as the true power-holders of a Sect, would naturally not be assigned grunt work like gathering intelligence. After Shao Zhongguang reached the Golden Core Realm, he didn’t have more free time; on the contrary, he became even busier, and his missions grew ever more dangerous.

His current mission was to scout the supply routes of the Demon Court’s army.

Unlike Cultivators, Demons could not achieve complete Fasting just by breathing in Muddy Qi—not even Great Demons. The amount of blood-food the Demon Court’s army consumed daily was therefore staggering.

If they could cut off the Demon Court army’s supply routes, they would undoubtedly weaken its combat strength significantly.

Accompanying Shao Zhongguang on this mission were two Sword Cultivators from the Taixu Sword Sect and a Golden Core Cultivator from the Supreme Profound Upper Yang Sect who was proficient in Fire Escape.

However, while they managed to discover the Demon Court army’s supply routes, they were also discovered by the Yao Nian Army. The four of them all possessed high-level Tunneling Speed among Golden Core Cultivators, so they immediately chose to scatter and flee, hoping to maximize the chances of getting the intelligence back to the Six Sects.

Shao Zhongguang fled eastward. Along the way, he made a ruthless move, seizing an opportunity to completely drain a Golden Core Demon King from the Yao Nian Army. From the Demon King’s Storage Bag, he found a crucial piece of intelligence.

Hidden inside that Yao Nian Army Golden Core Demon King’s Storage Bag were three Jade Scrolls encrypted with a Secret Technique. These were special Jade Scrolls the Yao Nian Army used to transmit urgent military intelligence, and they could only be unlocked with a specific Secret Technique.

The Profound Pure Sect, one of the Six Sects, had already managed to crack parts of the Secret Technique through Soul Search and divination.

Shao Zhongguang used the Secret Technique to unlock two of the Jade Scrolls.

The spectacular success of the Blood Spirit Scripture’s practitioners had caused the Demon Court, which had long been monitoring it, to raise its level of concern. After their spies confirmed the Six Sects’ plan to cultivate more Blood Spirit Cultivators, they immediately prepared a response. They would use the Yao Nian Army as the main force, aided by spies and pro-surrender factions embedded within the Six Sects, to completely annihilate these new Cultivators before they had a chance to mature.

Shao Zhongguang was overjoyed when he read the contents of the Jade Scrolls.

After suffering one defeat after another, the morale of the Six Sects Alliance Army was severely shaken. What’s more, even before the war began, a considerable number of Cultivators had already defected to the Demon Court. Now, the Six Sects not only had to resist the Demon Court on the front lines but also guard against sabotage from these traitors and spies in the rear.

If he could turn their own plot against them, luring and killing a group of Yao Nian Army soldiers and traitors, the benefit to the overall war effort would be no less than that of destroying the Demon Court army’s supply lines.

Thinking of this, Shao Zhongguang ignored the consumption of his Magical Power and sped toward the Eastern Army Governor’s Mansion.

Upon receiving the intelligence Shao Zhongguang brought back, the Eastern Army Governor, Fang Congshu, did not delay in the slightest. He immediately dispatched the fastest small Tier Three Flying Boat to carry Shao Zhongguang to the Central Army Governor’s Mansion.

The burst speed of the small Tier Three Flying Boat might not match Shao Zhongguang’s, but for a long-distance journey, it was far superior.

Currently, the Western Continent was beset by enemies on all sides: Demon Cultivators to the north, the Demon Court to the west, and Sea Demons to the southeast. They were extremely reliant on the Central Army Governor’s Mansion to coordinate from the center, mobilizing troops and resources from the four regional Governor’s Mansions.

The power and responsibilities of the Central Army Governor’s Mansion, which had originally been a nominal post, expanded rapidly.

Gazing at the Central Army Governor’s Mansion in the distance, Shao Zhongguang used the Blood Spirit Scripture to alter his appearance. He put away the small Flying Boat, grasped the Eastern Army Governor’s Token in his hand, and flew toward the mansion.

It was wartime, so a crucial location like the Central Army Governor’s Mansion was, of course, heavily guarded.

Unauthorized personnel were absolutely forbidden from entering or exiting.

Just as Shao Zhongguang was about to enter the Central Army Governor’s Mansion, his path was suddenly blocked by two people.

Shao Zhongguang was on high alert and almost attacked them on the spot. However, after countless life-and-death battles, his Spiritual Sense had become extremely keen.

Though the two people before him only had the weak Magical Power of the Foundation Establishment Realm, they gave him a sense of extreme danger.

"May I ask why you two are blocking my way?"

As he spoke, Shao Zhongguang secretly circulated his Magical Power, readying himself.

"You are a practitioner of the Blood Spirit Scripture, aren’t you, Junior Brother?" one of the two said.

"Do you still remember the Pure Yang Apricot Tree, where the skin-carving took place?"

Shao Zhongguang’s pupils contracted violently. ’The pain of having my skin carved... how could I possibly forget?’