Demon Slaying, Gaining 60 Years of Cultivation From the Start

The next day, Gu Chen found Xue Ling and Lin Zhan to tell them that he would be leaving for a while.

Neither of them would disagree, and given Gu Chen's current strength and status, what he wanted to do, no one could stop him anyway.

Nowadays, DaHuang Mansion was immersed in chaos. Although the governor of Yan State had dispatched people to deal with the matter, the barbarians and warriors from the two demon sects were extremely cunning, and the efforts to quell the unrest were not going well.

Moreover, over at Yulong City, the forces from Holy Shadows Sect and the Black Sky Sect were watching like hungry tigers, while on the rivers and lakes, the attitudes of top powers like the Da Guangming Sect and the White Tiger Clan were unclear. All of these were matters that the Jing Tian Department needed to pay attention to.

As for Yongxue City, there wouldn't likely be much upheaval in the short term, as Gu Chen had already discovered that the barbarian tribes and the two major demon sects were clearly waiting for something.

They might be waiting for the two innate realm leaders from the Holy Shadows Sect and the Black Sky Sect to emerge from seclusion, or possibly for something else. Gu Chen didn't ponder too much over it.

Because, the pressing matter at the moment, was still strength.

Without sufficient strength, anything else was in vain.

After saying goodbye to the two of them, Gu Chen also left Yongxue City. DaHuang Mansion could really be described as utterly desolate now.

Vast expanses of land were nothing but barren mountains, and human travel was exceedingly rare; all the common people had either heeded the court's order to relocate or had perished at the hands of the barbarians and the demonic cults.

Gu Chen spent some time searching within the territory of DaHuang Mansion, and finally, on this day, he discovered the trail of the barbarian soldiers.

He saw the remaining footprints of fierce beasts on the ground, and in the whole of Da Xia, only the barbarians were the most skilled in employing fierce beasts.

They lived in the Hundred Thousand Mountains all year round, dealing with various poisonous insects and fierce beasts, so naturally, over the years, they had developed a method to tame these creatures.

During the attack on Yongxue City by the barbarians, for example, the creatures ridden by the barbarian soldiers weren't horses, but strong beasts like tigers and leopards.

So, in close combat, the barbarians would still have a certain advantage. However, the soldiers of Da Xia, or to be precise, the Xuan Iron Army, made up for this gap with their superior equipment.

At this moment, in a small town not far away, the ground was saturated with flowing blood, the soil stained bright red, and the stench of blood was extremely pungent.

"Hahaha, kill!"

"Run? I'd like to see where you can run to!"

Here, there were more than a hundred barbarian soldiers. On the day the border was breached, a large number of barbarian soldiers took the opportunity to infiltrate DaHuang Mansion. These barbarian soldiers then divided and acted separately, causing chaos in various counties within DaHuang Mansion.

"Ah..."

"Please… don't kill me… spare me…"

"Don't… don't come any closer… Ah…"

"Please spare him… I beg you… don't kill my child…"

"You beasts, you will not die a good death!"

This small town had now turned into a purgatorial hell, cries and barbarians' indiscriminate killing shouts were ceaseless. The town's location was somewhat remote, and information rarely reached it, so by the time they received word and thought of evacuating, it was already too late.

These barbarian soldiers were also clever, they did not attack the larger cities of DaHuang Mansion but specifically targeted small towns to massacre. This barbarian squad was not weak in strength; leading them were three warriors at the peak of the Returning to True Stage.
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Such a force could easily take down some of the small cities within DaHuang Mansion.

Like Ning City, where Gu Chen performed his first mission, such small towns were not uncommon in DaHuang Mansion and the defensive force was not very strong. They couldn't withstand the invasion of warriors at the Returning to True Stage.

In this period, indeed, several small cities had been overrun by the barbarian soldiers who had spread out, and while the citizens of some towns managed to escape in time without being pursued, others ended up tragically.

"Hahaha, the women of the Central Plains really do have tender skin!"

A dozen barbarian soldiers laughed as they ripped off the clothes of a beautiful woman, while nearby, her husband, naked, was tied up not far away, forced to watch helplessly.

"Ah…"

The man screamed, almost as if he had gone insane, his eyes cracked from the strain, but it was in vain.

This scene was commonplace throughout the town.

"You beasts, the court will not let you off, Da Xia will avenge us, Marquis of Pingxi will slaughter all you damned barbarians!" said an old man, his heart burning with fury as he coughed up blood, shaking as he spoke.

"Old codger, go to hell!"

The barbarians had been enemies of the Human Clan since ancient times, and since the barbarians also carried half of the human bloodline, most barbarians were not unfamiliar with the language of the Central Plains. They could speak it, though somewhat awkwardly.

With a sickening sound, blood spurted as the old man's head flew skyward, blood splashing three feet high, his headless body collapsing to the ground.

At that moment, the three leaders of the barbarian squad, all at the peak of the Returning to True Stage, heard the old man's words and laughed, "Marquis of Pingxi? Hahahaha…"

The other two did the same; they all laughed uproariously, as if they had just heard the funniest joke on earth.

A young man roared in rage, "You damned barbarians, your arrogance won't last long, Marquis of Pingxi will surely slaughter you all!"

The Marquis of Pingxi had been stationed on the frontier for many years, and his renown was widespread in Yan State—particularly in DaHuang Mansion, which neighbored the borders. Practically every citizen knew of the Marquis of Pingxi's existence.

In the hearts of these people, the Marquis of Pingxi's status was second only to the Emperor of Da Xia; his position highly respected. He had helped Da Xia protect its borders for many years, consistently staunch in his post amid the barren, frigid frontier. He was indeed worthy of admiration.

"Ignorant fools, still shrouded in darkness even now. Pity," one of the three barbarian warriors at the Returning to True Stage uttered, shaking their heads before giving the order, "Kill everyone here."

"Yes!"

A group of barbarian soldiers, faces twisted into cruel smiles, slowly advanced towards the unarmed and innocent civilians. They delighted in the sight of the Central Plains' people's despair and screams before death.

In the eyes of these barbarian soldiers, the people of the Central Plains were no different from livestock. They believed themselves to be descendants of gods and demons, superior to the Human Clan of the Central Plains.

Jiuzhou should be ruled by them, the scions of gods and demons.

Thud thud thud!

Countless spurts of blood splattered as one head after another rolled to the ground, amongst them the heads of children no older than a few years.

At this moment, Gu Chen had just arrived and witnessed the scene that filled him with a rage that nearly split his eyes.

"Die!"

With a thunderous shout, Gu Chen's face became the epitome of cold indifference. Although there were over a hundred barbarian soldiers, even the strongest among them was merely at the peak of the Returning to True Stage. For Gu Chen, disposing of them was effortless.

"A warrior of Da Xia?!"

The countenances of the three squad leaders of the barbarians, themselves at the peak of the Returning to True Stage, changed immediately upon setting eyes on Gu Chen. Without a second thought, they turned and fled.

The aura emanating from Gu Chen was terrifyingly immense; it made their legs go weak at the mere sight of him, extinguishing any courage to fight.

"Scum, die!"

Gu Chen flicked his fingers in the void, and instantly, three thick beams of sword energy burst forth, exploding the group of barbarian soldiers, including the three Returning to True Stage barbarian leaders, into pieces.

"Gu Chen, you're indeed here!"

Suddenly, a cold snort sounded, and a brawny figure appeared out of nowhere, his aura billowing. He threw a punch towards Gu Chen's back.

A martial arts grandmaster!

This grandmaster, who had previously battled Xue Ling at Cangfeng Villa, had similarly undergone three blood exchanges and marrow cleansings at the Transcendent Stage.

Meeting one's enemy could put fire in one's eyes. But Gu Chen was no longer the same as before. His physique was now comparable to that of a martial arts grandmaster who had undergone blood exchange four times. Unflinchingly, Gu Chen took the punch head-on. At the same time, his palm shot out like lightning, imprinting on the grandmaster of the Black Sky Sect.

"Puh!"

Both attacks struck simultaneously, yet Gu Chen remained unharmed, not even taking a single step back.

On the other hand, the grandmaster of the Black Sky Sect, having taken a punch from Gu Chen, spit out blood as his chest bone shattered and he coughed up blood ceaselessly.

"You!"

His face filled with shock; for some reason, he felt that Gu Chen's power had vastly improved since their last encounter.

In an instant, he attempted to retreat, but close combat was Gu Chen's forte. As he sought to pull back, Gu Chen was already faster, seizing his arm and giving a fierce tug.

"Ah..."

With a squelch, blood gushed from his shoulder as Gu Chen forcibly tore off his entire arm. Such pain was unbearable even for a grandmaster, who couldn't help but scream agonizingly.

But by sacrificing an arm, he managed to retreat and create distance between them and Gu Chen.

At that moment, tendrils of black air spread and flesh squirmed at the stump. Black air condensed, and soon, a new arm grew in its place.

"I will flay and debone you!"

The warrior of the Black Sky Sect twisted his face in rage, staring at Gu Chen with venom. He had not anticipated Gu Chen's strength to have increased so rapidly.

Swish swish swish!

Simultaneously, one figure after another emerged, all members of the Black Sky Sect. Some of them, too, had merged with demons as waves of blackening aura surged from within them.

Among this group, there were unbelievably two more grandmaster-level powerhouses!

Billows of black air spread, as if enough to eclipse the daylight, the dark aura emitted by these demonic warriors was dense. Soon, it shrouded the entire town, turning day into night.

The lucky civilians who had survived, now screamed in horror under this chilling atmosphere. Their bodies visibly withered at an alarming rate, swiftly turning into mummified corpses, meeting their end on this spot.

Upon witnessing this, Gu Chen's expression grew even colder. He looked at the demonic warriors encircling him and said coldly, "I've been waiting for you. Today, I shall use your power to aid my cultivation!"