Chapter 472: The Junior Dragon Head Ji Hong, Ranked First on the Heavenly List—How Is This Possible?

East of the Reed River Valley, nestled between two unnamed small hills, lay a secluded, deep ravine.

The valley normally had no wind; this ravine, only meters wide from north to south and hidden deep within the hills’ crevice, had no wind at all—airflow drifted slowly down the eastern slope, leaving the entire ravine utterly silent, perfectly still.

“No-Wind Valley—this is the place you previously planned to launch your uprising?”

Xia Hong landed from the sky and, seeing dozens of empty iron-wheeled carts inside the valley, immediately guessed its purpose.

“My lord is astute—you saw it at a glance. The weapons and battle armor for this uprising were all purchased in bulk from the black market by the Frost Ash Society’s Yanling Headquarters; we began transporting them here as early as September, and afterward…”

Jiang Xinfan laid out everything—from the initial planning, through preparation, coordination with branch leaders, to final decisions and execution—and even gave a rough accounting of the Frost Ash Society’s finances.

“Yanling Headquarters—you and Ji Hong are both members there. Have you met the headquarters master? What about the Six Dragon Heads of the main hall?”

“My lord, permit me to explain—this is precisely what makes the Frost Ash Society so formidable…”

Jiang Xinfan did not directly answer Xia Hong’s question but first sighed, then replied: “I arrived in Chen Cang only in mid-March this year. In May, with Ji Hong’s help, I joined the Frost Ash Society. My membership is too recent—it’s understandable I haven’t met the headquarters master or the Dragon Heads.”

“But Ji Hong is different. He claims he joined three years ago, back before last year, and in November of the year before last, he achieved a remarkable feat during the Blood Miasma Plain trial in Chen Cang. Last year, the Four Dragon Heads jointly recommended him as the Junior Dragon Head. Yet even now, he hasn’t met more than a handful of people from Yanling Headquarters, let alone the headquarters master.”

Could someone who built power under Chen Cang’s very nose be ordinary?

Xia Hong showed no surprise at this answer, but quickly seized the key detail in Jiang Xinfan’s words, raising an eyebrow with curiosity: “What remarkable feat did Ji Hong accomplish?”

“My lord has been trapped in the Blood Miasma Plain for nearly two years—no wonder you didn’t know. In November of the year before last, the Guiyi launched a counterattack, inflicting heavy losses on Chen Cang and Cai Qiu…”

Jiang Xinfan recounted the entire 37-day counterattack by the Guiyi in the Blood Miasma Plain to Xia Hong, from start to finish.

Though Xia Hong had left the Blood Miasma Plain over two months ago, he had spent all that time healing in Qingwu Village; Zhang Qinggu, a slave of 6-Zong strength from a slave-village, would never have heard such news.

Nearly a hundred thousand soldiers from Cai Qiu’s army perished, including thirty thousand elite Silver-Scale Troops; forty-one Xianyang-level experts died.

Chen Cang, the primary target of the Guiyi ’s counterattack, suffered even worse: over a hundred thousand soldiers died, and fifty-one Xianyang-level experts were killed.

Worse still, the miasma surged back, forcefully advancing six kilometers northward—regions painstakingly cleared by the two frontier commands were once again shrouded in crimson miasma, rendering all efforts of the past two years useless.

Upon hearing of the devastating losses inflicted on Chen Cang and Cai Qiu by the Guiyi ’s counterattack, Xia Hong’s heart surged with turmoil; after a moment of silent thought, his expression turned both joyful and astonished.

The joy was obvious—the catastrophic losses to the two frontier commands were perfect for Da Xia and for him; the astonishment came from the terrifying power of the Blood Miasma Plain’s Guiyi .

Yet he did not interrupt Jiang Xinfan, continuing to listen.

“The losses weren’t limited to that—the Guiyi of the Blood Miasma Plain, while summoning beast hordes to attack the armies, also sent an Ice Dao Guiyi to secretly infiltrate the trial zone and trigger an ice disaster, directly or indirectly killing over sixteen hundred young scions from the two frontier commands, nearly wiping out their next generation of geniuses…”

Xia Hong paused, a shadow crossing his eyes, but it vanished quickly as he continued listening.

“Initially, the death toll among the trial participants wasn’t this high—Cai Qiu lost over eight hundred, Chen Cang fewer than five hundred, totaling around thirteen hundred. But of the Chen Cang survivors, only a hundred sixty returned; over three hundred trial participants simply vanished, their deaths unconfirmed.”

“Yet strangely, Chen Cang dispatched numerous Xianyang-level experts to search the trial zone—but found nothing. It wasn’t until last May, when the Frost Ash Society revealed the fate of those three hundred, that everyone finally understood what had happened.”

“Ji Hong participated in Chen Cang’s trial. Those three hundred Chen Cang scions were all killed by him. That’s why the Frost Ash Society made him Junior Dragon Head, correct?”

Jiang Xinfan was now somewhat numb to Xia Hong’s speed; he showed no surprise, only nodded, then added a look of awe: “I only arrived in Chen Cang in March this year. To be honest, my lord, when I first heard this, I was stunned.”

“Ji Hong was brought to Chen Cang in the ninth year of Da Xia by Chen Yiqing. Before I came to infiltrate, the Deputy Minister told me Ji Hong’s strength was barely under 10-Zong when he left Da Xia.”

“In barely over a year, he single-handedly killed over three hundred Chen Cang trial scions. When I first arrived, I even suspected he’d been possessed by a Guiyi —I tested him thoroughly before finally confirming he was genuine and daring to make contact.”

“Later, I learned the full story—how he managed to lure and kill so many Chen Cang geniuses…”

Jiang Xinfan paused, his expression turning strange, then continued: “Though his own strength played a role, the real reason was the Ice Dao Guiyi …”

At the time, Ji Hong was 42-Zong strength; with his Sacred Mark and martial arts enhancement, his peak strength reached 71-Zong—enough to rank among the top hundred geniuses of the two frontier commands, but not enough to kill over three hundred so easily.

The key was the freezing domain created by the Ice Dao Guiyi , which threw most Chen Cang scions into panic, leaving only a tiny fraction with any defense.

But Ji Hong was different—he held the Yellow Candle and was utterly immune to the cold. Combined with the fact that most Chen Cang scions never suspected him, he simply killed the weak outright and lured the strong into traps; in time, he killed three or four hundred.

“Chen Cang initially refused to believe it, thinking it a trick by the Frost Ash Society. But later, in a collapsed cave within the trial zone, they discovered the charred remains of those three hundred scions. Enraged, they issued a nationwide manhunt across the four frontier commands. Ji Hong’s reputation as Junior Dragon Head in Mo’ao River is now nearly as great as yours, my lord.”

He had 42-Zong strength two years ago!

Xia Hong’s eyes brightened slightly; he ignored Jiang Xinfan’s final remark and asked with interest: “What is Ji Hong’s current strength?”

Jiang Xinfan’s face lit with admiration as he replied: “His base strength is now 58-Zong—he could attempt breaking into Xianyang level already. But this kid hates Chen Cang so deeply, and his ambition is so great, he insists on reaching 60-Zong before attempting the breakthrough. I can’t talk him out of it.”

Hates Chen Cang…

Xia Hong immediately thought of Ji Jiang and let out a quiet sigh.