Chapter 1461: Ling Feng

Xiyu City was a county city on the border of Jiangyong Imperial City.

Adjacent to Jiangyong Imperial City was Dalan Imperial City.

These two imperial cities belonged to different powers: Jiangyong Imperial City was under the Human Emperor's domain, while Dalan Imperial City was under the Demon Emperor's domain.

The two imperial cities were mortal enemies, locked in constant warfare with countless casualties.

At this moment, in a dense forest outside Xiyu City, a small squad of human martial artists was patrolling.

Although these martial artists were Divine Path experts, they were well-trained, wore standard uniforms, and moved in coordinated formation, unlike ordinary martial artists who were lax.

"Captain, the centurion is too biased. Why is our squad always assigned to patrol such desolate places?"

"Exactly! How are we supposed to earn military merits like this?"

"Captain, are we just going to swallow this insult?"

...

During the patrol, a group of soldiers at the Cave Abyss realm kept complaining.

Their complaints were directed at an officer at the early Heaven Gazing stage.

"Shut up! We are soldiers, not undisciplined cultivators! Wherever the commander orders us to go, we go. Why all the nonsense?" the officer snapped.

Sure enough, as soon as he got angry, the others immediately wilted.

After a while, a soldier spoke up again: "Captain, we feel it's unfair for you! In terms of strength and seniority, you're better than Liu Changkong. Why does he always take the credit? Just because he's the centurion's brother-in-law?"

The officer's face turned cold. "Let those words die between us! If you spout nonsense again and slander your superiors, you'll face military discipline!"

The soldier stuck out his tongue and dared not speak further.

"Hmm? Someone's there!"

The officer suddenly sensed danger and immediately signaled for everyone to be alert.

These men, who had long lived on the edge of life and death, were highly sensitive to danger.

They could detect even the slightest disturbance ahead.

The squad members moved with perfect coordination, instantly turning into several afterimages as they converged on the target.

"Whoosh, whoosh, whoosh..."

The group landed in a clearing and stared in astonishment at the scene before them.

A young man, seemingly in his twenties, was roasting a rabbit.

A whiff of aroma drifted over, making several of them involuntarily drool.

The young man showed no surprise at their sudden appearance; instead, he smiled and said, "Gentlemen, you seem to be on patrol. Hard at work—care for a taste?"

Seeing that the young man was human, the officer relaxed his tense nerves.

The young man's cultivation was not low—already at the early Heaven Gazing stage—but the officer looked down on him.

In his eyes, this young man was surely the son of some prominent family from the inner city, ignorant of the world and out to gain experience.

This fellow actually treated this place like his own backyard, roasting a rabbit here—he clearly had no idea how to spell 'death.'

"Do you know where this is?" the officer said coldly, unimpressed.

The young man tore off a piece of rabbit meat, took a bite, and laughed. "To be honest, I don't know where this is."

The officer frowned, clearly displeased with the young man.

Such a frivolous fellow deserved to die here.

"Boom!"

The officer raised his hand and struck, blasting the roasting rack to pieces.

"Hmph! Beyond that mountain is demon territory, and you dare to roast rabbit here? You really don't know how to spell 'death'! If you want to live, get the hell out of here right now!" the officer snorted.

Although the young man was at the same cultivation level, the officer didn't take him seriously at all.

These soldiers, who fought demons year-round and lived on the edge of death, were far stronger than ordinary martial artists of the same realm.

This young man was clearly an inexperienced rich kid who, if surrounded by a few Cave Abyss realm demons on the battlefield, would probably be ground down to death.

The officer already disliked the young man; such reckless behavior could easily attract enemies. He expected the young man to get angry, giving him an excuse to teach him a lesson.

But instead of getting angry, the young man grinned. "You say the demon territory is over there? Great! This forest is too vast—I got lost and thought I was heading the wrong way. I didn't expect to stumble onto the right path. By the way, which army are you from? Are you still recruiting?"

"Haha... A guy like you wouldn't last ten breaths on the battlefield, and you want to join us?"

"Don't think that just because you're at early Heaven Gazing, the dozen of us here couldn't take you down. Believe it?"

"Kid, go back where you came from. A hothouse flower like you doesn't belong here!"

...

The young man's words immediately drew a burst of laughter from the squad.

The officer, however, looked at him with some surprise. "What's your name? Why do you want to join the army?"

The young man smiled. "My name is Ye Yuan! I heard that demon strongmen are committing all kinds of atrocities, ravaging Jiangyong Imperial City. I want to contribute to humanity."

This young man was none other than Ye Yuan, who had traveled thousands of miles to reach Jiangyong Imperial City!

Three years had passed since Ye Yuan fled from Wumeng Royal City.

And Jiangyong Imperial City was Ye Yuan's destination.

Ye Yuan wanted to avenge Qin Xiao, so he needed to quickly improve his strength.

And the best way to improve strength was, naturally, through battle.

Thus, on Wuchen's advice, Ye Yuan came to the junction of the Human and Demon Emperors' domains—Jiangyong Imperial City.

And Dalan Imperial City was under the command of the Nine Entropy Heavenly Emperor!

Ye Yuan also came here hoping to investigate information about the Immortal Forest Heavenly Lord and the culprit who had sent Kano into the Immortal Forest World.

Once in this area, Ye Yuan naturally dared not fly on his sword and draw attention.

If he attracted demon experts, he wouldn't even know how he died.

So he got lost in the dense forest.

Unexpectedly, he ran into this patrol squad.

The officer patted Ye Yuan on the shoulder. "Not bad, kid—you've got guts! But you need strength too! Don't think that just because we're at the same level, I can't take you down in one move."

Ye Yuan couldn't be bothered to argue and smiled. "Heh, I can tell you're strong, big brother! But you've got to give me a chance to gain experience, right?"

This wasn't flattery; he could sense that the officer had powerful blood energy and condensed divine essence, likely far stronger than his peers.

The officer thought for a moment and found Ye Yuan's words reasonable. He nodded. "Alright, come back to the camp with us. But I'll warn you: joining the army requires an assessment. Whether you pass is up to you."

Ye Yuan smiled. "Of course!"

The officer nodded. "My name is Ling Feng. You can call me Captain Ling."

Just as they were speaking, Ling Feng's expression changed. Over a hundred figures burst out of the dense forest, completely surrounding their squad!