Attaining Immortality, Starting From Slaying Demons

The moonlight was like gauze.

A broad-shouldered figure stood atop the roof tiles, silently watching over a hundred demon horses neatly galloping out of Qingzhou City.

"There really are people willing to follow him out of the city,"

Jiang Chengyun withdrew his gaze and looked at A'Qian, who was sitting beside him with bare feet.

Both of them were demon catchers, and naturally, the message that had just rang out from the bell had also reached them.

The grandmother was summoned back to serve as the acting commanding general. With such a big commotion tonight, it was impossible for her to completely disregard it,

A'Qian stretched lazily, her voice tinged with weariness, "Having been outside for so long, I've indeed overlooked this bunch from the aristocratic sects."

Jiang Chengyun fell silent for a moment, "You secretly followed the Howling Moon Demon King for hundreds of years; how could you care about all that?"

No matter how strong a Solidifying Pill expert is, it also depends on who you compare them to.

No matter how the realms are subdivided, what with Solidifying Pill nurturing and shattering pill to transform into divinity, in the end, it's all part of the Condensation Elixir Realm.

In front of a Demon King equivalent to a Primordial Wuji Grandmaster, they are as weak as infants.

But it's necessary for Qingzhou to monitor its movements all the time, and the general also needs to garrison the main city, so this kind of task can only be handed over to the three Golden Bell demon catchers.

"The old Howling Moon Demon King has confronted the general for so many years, with the boundaries set by the Qingzhou Twelve Districts; they've always avoided encroaching on each other's territory."

"What worries me is that young Demonic Beast. Its growth rate is alarmingly fast and its wild ambitions are undisguised. When the time comes for it to declare itself king... It already calls itself the Little Demon King now, arrogant and cunning. So many attempts to ambush it have ended in failure. Once it fully matures, if two Demon Kings gather in Qingzhou at that time, Qingzhou will be in danger."

"The general has asked for reinforcements three times and has returned without success each time. It seems that the situation in other places isn't much better than in Qingzhou."

Constantly pursuing the traces of the Demon King in the shadows, A'Qian would always try to release her suppressed emotions whenever she returned to the mundane world, crying when she wanted to cry, laughing when she wanted to laugh, as if she were a truly innocent child.

But at this moment, her face was filled with solemnity.

Jiang Chengyun frowned slightly, consoling her, "It has its Little Demon King, but we in Qingzhou also have Jiang Qiulan. It is still uncertain who will win or lose between them."

Hearing that name, a rare sign of respect flashed in A'Qian's eyes, "Jiang Qiulan, uh... She actually just came back once, saw Lin Baiwei's letter, flipped through the documents brought back from Baiyun County, casually gave me two tasks, and without resting for a moment, she rushed off to Linjiang Prefecture."

The twelve Demon-suppression Great Generals all take shortcuts, cultivating Incense Willpower just for garrisoning, not for attacking.

The only exception was the one who went to replace the dead general of Yushan Prefecture, walking the path of a true Primordial Wuji Grandmaster.

A state's populace cannot nurture two Martial Immortals.

The general gathers the willpower of Qingzhou to become a Martial Immortal, known for his unpredictable methods.

But he has a frail body, so someone must stand before him and block one or possibly two Demon Kings.

After late autumn comes the cold winter.

The one who stands in winter and tries to stem the tide,

From the moment the general took her as a disciple and renamed her, she was destined to become that lone figure, repelling the hordes of demons from the Twelve Prefectures of Qingzhou.

"..."

Jiang Chengyun put away the admiration in his eyes and looked back towards the city gate, "Do I take action directly?"

"They're doing things for Qingzhou, can you not always think about stealing achievements from the newcomer? There are only those two rules, can you follow them a bit more?" A'Qian spoke lightly.

"Heh, stick to the rules,"

Jiang Chengyun, with an unfazed expression, raised an eyebrow in defense, "By what rules? The Demon-suppression Bureau's rules? What's that to me. If we're talking about the rules among demon catchers, first, he hasn't sent a message asking for help, and second, he hasn't reported the situation, clearly intending to handle it himself. As a fellow Silver Bell Demon Catcher, how could I interfere with his prey?"

He turned his head, looking puzzled on his honest face, "I just don't know... Grandma, does he have the strength for it?"

By the tacit understanding among demon catchers.

Unless one willingly gives up part of their catch to request support, or feels unable to continue and is willing to step aside, others may not interfere.

Whether life is more important or the catch is, this is something to be judged in advance.

If one can't even make that judgment, it's better to hand over their bell sooner rather than later.

"Please, you're too polite, you are my grandma,"

A'Qian rolled her eyes and slowly stood up.

Hearing this, Jiang Chengyun knew he had displeased her, so he reluctantly turned away, "It doesn't matter, a Golden Bell can't command a Silver Bell, but an elder can always command their grandchild. I'll listen to your arrangements then."

A'Qian stretched and said, "Even though I just arrived in Qingzhou and am not good at acting as the general, this happened right under our noses. To avoid the general's blame, consider it a favor for me. I know you've been coveting my Golden Bell for a long time, but it won't make a difference over this one achievement."

She leaped down from the roof, leaving only her crisp words behind, "I'll make an exception this time; if he has truly misjudged the situation, it will be enough for him to learn his lesson."

"..."

Jiang Chengyun stood alone on the roof, slowly folding his hands behind his back.

The General could never blame Grandmother for such a thing, let alone the fact that demon catchers are not under the control of the Demon-Suppression Bureau, it's just an excuse.

Hesitation! Hesitation!

Exception! Exception!

Really, the older one gets, the less they differ from Chen Qiankun.

Still needs the sharpest sword in Qingzhou, to lead her own fresh blood and completely replace these old fossils!

Thinking of that cool and detached face, Jiang Chengyun's eyes filled once more with reverence, even fanaticism.

...

Qingzhou, Pingkang Mountain.

Over a hundred men in black robes fiercely pulled at the reins, their robust demon horses rearing up, truly a majestic sight.

Hong Lei dismounted and, together with the other two Personal Adjutant Generals, walked over to Shen Yi.

All those who came were elites, and the experience of the two Incamp Adjutant Generals was even more seasoned than his, both being at the latter stage of the Jade Liquid Boundary.

All hundred and twenty Colonels bore three stripes.

Even Hong Lei had not anticipated that, with little effort, they could assemble a cadre of nearly the strongest Personal Adjutant Generals of the entire Qingzhou.

This was not something that could be done with General Chen's reputation alone.
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No matter how renowned the old master was, he was ultimately stationed in Linjiang Prefecture and typically did not interfere with the affairs of Qingzhou City.

All of these men had volunteered to come forward.

A large part of the reason was due to Shen Yi himself.

The private rumors, coupled with the scene within the Vajra Gate, made his position as a Personal Adjutant General all the more convincing.

"Immediately seal off the mountain, no one is to leave."

The Adjutant General quickly gave the order, and though the Colonels came from different leaderships, they were well-organized, needing only a glance to have their routes assigned.

Shen Yi raised his eyes to look at the mountain in front of him.

Clouds wreathed around, with green pines and cypresses.

It did indeed appear to be a blessed and beautiful place.

His eyes brimmed with golden light as he performed the Viewing Qi spell, and soon the scene turned into a grey mist. Above, clusters of white aura and occasional flashes of gold were visible, yet there wasn't a trace of demonic miasma.

...

Shen Yi ceased the spell, feeling no confusion.

If the scene were truly overrun with evil spirits, the Vajra Gate wouldn't have been concealed until now.

Before long, only about thirty Incamp Colonels responsible for subduing demons and capturing monsters were left. They neatly made their way up the mountain.

The rugged mountain path was like flat ground to the group of martial men.

Suddenly, a simple grand hall was revealed before their eyes at the mountain's peak.

As they approached, they first heard the deep, continuous chanting.

"May I eradicate billions of misguided thoughts through my ordeal, not having to undergo monks' trials to obtain the Dharma Body."

"May I now attain enlightenment and become the Precious King, to likewise save the countless beings of the Ganges Sands Assembly."

In front of the doors, two personally trained novices holding prayer beads glanced at the many black robes surging up the mountain path, their thumbs pausing slightly...

Subconsciously turning, before they could take any action, they were already bound by two chains flying towards them, yanking them back with force.

"Stay put."

The two Incamp Adjutant Generals who made the move pressed them to the ground as Hong Lei strode forward and kicked open the doors of the hall with one foot!

Bang!

There wasn't the scene of violent restraint that Shen Yi had imagined.

The slightly dim grand hall was filled with swirling smoke, unguarded, with only a clay statue of a great Buddha nodding its head.

Countless faithful believers sat firmly on meditation cushions, looking old and haggard, yet their faces were filled with calm as the continuous chanting never ceased.

Occasionally, with a twitch of their noses, a hint of pleasure would rise in their cloudy eyes.

"Compassion… Compassion…"