Chapter 126

"Do you know why His Majesty arranged the position of Deputy Vanguard General for you?" the head of the Liu family said with a serious expression.

"It should be to let me guard against the Prince of Zhennan's son, Xu Zifeng. Once this kid gains military merit and has a certain prestige in the North, he likely won't obey orders to return to the Imperial Capital." Liu Hao also answered seriously.

"That's right, so what you need to do is find a way to steal his credit and then seize the right to speak in the vanguard troops; only then can you live up to His Majesty's cultivation of you."

"But Father, stealing credit like this easily causes chaos in the vanguard troops, and everyone won't be convinced."

"Rest assured, I'm not asking you to cause trouble. Under normal circumstances, you must prioritize the big picture. When the Northern Expedition is about to end, you do as I say; the old General Guo would even be happy for you to steal it."

According to the head of the Liu family, when the war first starts, Liu Hao needs to cooperate with Xu Zifeng in battle; if he causes them to lose because he's stealing credit, then the trouble will be huge.

Moreover, Xu Zifeng's combat ability is second to none in the Tian Ce Dynasty, and he also had a very good performance in the battles against the Southern countries. Liu Hao has always lived in the Imperial Capital, so he is definitely not as good as him in this regard.

The head of the Liu family told Liu Hao to recognize his own abilities and learn from Xu Zifeng when necessary.

Then, in the stage when the battle is about to end—that is, when victory is already stable—Liu Hao can go to Guo Guo Po Yun and report Xu Zifeng for all sorts of things; even if it's baseless, he must accuse him of planning to rely on military power.

This way, Guo Guo Po Yun will find a way to strip Xu Zifeng of his military power.

Guo Guo Po Yun won't care whether Xu Zifeng really intends to rely on military power; what he wants is for someone to report Xu Zifeng.

Then Xu Zifeng will be escorted to the Imperial Capital; this is the head of the Liu family's plan, and Liu Hao indicated that he understood.

It seemed like a foolproof plan, but the two of them still underestimated the power of the Son of Destiny.

Recently, not only have Xu Zifeng, Liu Hao, and others made breakthrough progress, but Wu Qi has also achieved certain success.

At No. 7 Changqing Street, Wu Qi returned to the residence with a happy face.

"Aunt, the task that the Vice Minister of the Ministry of War assigned to me last time was perfectly completed by me, and then he actually promoted me to work in the grain and forage department. That's a good job; maybe I can even go to the front lines. I really have to thank Liu Hao; he finally did me a big favor!"

Seeing Wu Qi's smug expression, Wu Nanzhi didn't intend to tell him the truth.

Liu Hao does have some background and ability, but he is still far from being able to make people with real power in the Ministry of War give him face.

Wu Nanzhi knew this must be Li Chen helping; she had just spoken to Li Chen, and Wu Qi was made permanent and transferred to a very critical department—isn't that just delivering the credit to Wu Qi's mouth?

Wu Nanzhi's heart is bitter; this was all exchanged for by your aunt being naked in the woods!

But she couldn't say that; she could only encourage Wu Qi to work hard and strive to obtain a certain official position. As long as he could enter the center of power, the Wu family would not only not replace him but would build around him as the core.

And Liu Hao didn't understand for a long time afterward why he had so much military merit, yet his promotion wasn't as fast as Wu Qi's.

It was just because he really didn't have the chance to introduce his cousin to Li Chen.

Xiao Ming is an exception; he climbed up step by step relying on his own heaven-defying case-solving ability.

Early the next morning, Wu Qi went to work at the Ministry of War; today he was full of confidence.

Not long after he left, Li Chen came to his house.

There haven't been many court affairs these past few days, so Li Chen went to help Li Sining get the materials for her breakthrough first, and then went to the Tianyan Shen Zong.

By the time he returns, the North will likely have already started fighting.

If necessary, he could also go to the North to check the war situation.

According to a normal pace, it takes two days to get to the mission location, Luoxing Mountain; with the Holy Tiger, it would likely take less than a day.

As soon as Li Chen arrived here, he saw that Wu Nanzhi had already made preparations for the trip.

"How is it? Has the Holy Tiger been listening to you lately?"

"It can respond to me now, but I don't understand tiger language, and I don't know what it's saying."

The two of them chatted as they arrived outside the Imperial Capital.

This was Wu Nanzhi's first time actively summoning the Holy Tiger; after she took off her clothes, she handed them to Li Chen.

And she instructed: "This time you cannot throw my clothes aside again! Otherwise, I'm not going!"

After Li Chen indicated that it was no problem, Wu Nanzhi summoned the Holy Tiger.

In an instant, a behemoth appeared in the woods.

The Holy Tiger knew it was to serve as Li Chen's mount this time; to avoid another beating, after coming out, it went directly to Li Chen's side and lay down.

After Li Chen mounted, the Holy Tiger began to move and let out a howl.

Wu Nanzhi, inside the Holy Tiger, felt that the Holy Tiger seemed to be expressing something, but she didn't understand the Holy Tiger.

But Li Chen knew that the Holy Tiger was asking him whether to speed up or walk slowly.

Because when the Holy Tiger roared, it had accelerated and then slowed down; this was a hint.

"You can be appropriately fast."

After receiving Li Chen's order, the Holy Tiger's four limbs exerted force suddenly, like an arrow released from a bow, galloping toward Luoxing Mountain.

As the Holy Tiger ran, wherever it passed, the grass and trees swayed, dust flew, and a golden storm formed, sweeping past.

By the time dusk was approaching, Li Chen finally arrived near Luoxing Mountain, as prompted by the system.

After de-transforming, Wu Nanzhi came over directly to get her clothes.

It seemed she had been seen by Li Chen so much that she didn't bother to cover up at all, and there was no one near where the Holy Tiger stopped.

"So hungry, can we go find something to eat first?" Just after putting on her clothes, Wu Nanzhi's stomach growled.

Because her cultivation wasn't very high, she could only cope with the Holy Tiger's consumption by replenishing food.

"Fine, I checked the map when I came; there is a small town nearby, and a few villages. Let's go to the small town to eat something first."

Even if it was just a small mission, Li Chen still did his homework symbolically.

Otherwise, it would be like the first time he did a mission, having to run a few times to complete it.

There is a small mountain range nearby; Li Chen didn't know which one was Luoxing Mountain, and it was very difficult to find a Demon Spirit here.

According to Li Chen's understanding of the system, if the system judged that he had arrived here at the late stage of the Meridian Realm, it would likely leave some clues nearby for him to search, so there was no need to search all over the mountains and plains.

The previous missions were considered relatively simple; Li Chen was very curious about what his final mission would be.

According to the system's difficulty, once Li Sining was promoted to the Sage Realm, his missions wouldn't be easy either.

Just as Li Chen and Wu Nanzhi were on their way to the small town, ever since the two of them stepped into this area, the surrounding air suddenly became heavy and turbid, as if shrouded by an invisible haze.

A sinister black aura rose quietly from the dense forest by the roadside, accompanied by bursts of nauseating stench of corpses.

It seemed to be warning people who came here that dangerous things were about to happen.

Wu Nanzhi seemed to be observing carefully; as someone from Tiger Crouching City, she could judge that there might be evil things here.

Li Chen didn't care and was just considering what to eat later.

As they went deeper step by step, the surrounding scene became increasingly eerie.

There were many new grave mounds on both sides of the road, as if many people had died nearby.

Just then, a burst of intense fighting sounds came from not far away, breaking the surrounding silence.

Li Chen and Wu Nanzhi looked toward the sound and saw that not far away in the forest, a corpse ghost with rotting, pale skin was entangled with two hunters.

The corpse ghost's eyes were blood-red, and it let out bursts of roars from its mouth; every time it swung its claws, it carried a sharp, fierce wind, making one's hair stand on end.

One of the hunters had already been scratched, blood staining his clothes, and black aura was rising from the wound. While dodging the corpse ghost's attack, he kept applying medicine from his body to the wound, which could avoid being hurt by the corpse aura.

Looking at his appearance, he was prepared.

And the other hunter, in order to cover his companion, kept waving the long knife in his hand, hacking at the corpse ghost's vital points.

But the corpse ghost seemed to have copper skin and iron bones; the knife was almost dulled, yet it still couldn't break its defense.

"Do you need my help?" Li Chen's voice sounded at this moment.

Li Chen had to know what they were doing first to determine whether to help.

In case he ruined the other side's good deed after taking action, that would be thankless work.

His appearance brought hope to the two hunters.

"Buddy, come help out! Let's coordinate! This monster has copper skin and iron bones; find a way to stick this talisman paper on its forehead, and you can freeze it, or you come and attract it, and I'll stick it," one hunter shouted urgently, throwing out a yellow talisman.

The other hunter also added: "Buddy, be careful, this monster's claws have corpse poison."

Li Chen laughed: "No need to be so complicated."

After speaking, he only needed a snap of his fingers, and brilliant light appeared in front of the corpse ghost without warning; the corpse ghost didn't even react and instantly vanished into ashes.

This scene left the two hunters dumbfounded, shocked to the point of being unable to speak. Huh? What the hell? It was gone with a snap of his fingers?

After they confirmed that the corpse ghost in front of them had been wiped out, they looked at Li Chen in disbelief, unable to speak a word.

In the dark of Luoxing Mountain, a pair of eyes slowly opened, full of bloodlust.

"Interesting, someone actually broke my corpse ghost?"

Saying this, he got up and left the place of cultivation, preparing to see which blind person dared to delay his cultivation!

If he caught this person, he would definitely refine them into a puppet!

Outside the small town, Wu Nanzhi stepped forward to ask the two hunters what had happened here, and they slowly told the story.

According to them, there is a mountain nearby called Luoxing Mountain, where there are many ghosts and monsters.

But they are all small demons and monsters, which hunters of their level can easily fight.

But for some reason, recently, there were always people walking into the mountain as if they had lost their minds; when they were hunting, they found corpse after corpse.

This is also the origin of the new graves nearby.

As small powerhouses here, they were sent by the town mayor to check what danger existed in Luoxing Mountain.

!

Who knew that not long after leaving the small town, they encountered a corpse ghost with copper skin and iron bones.

This corpse ghost's level was "very high"—it was indeed high for them—so they were entangled with the corpse ghost here.

One of them was accidentally scratched; thanks to being prepared, otherwise, he would have almost died here.

Then they met Li Chen, and the corpse ghost was directly killed in seconds by Li Chen.

Hearing this, Wu Nanzhi was somewhat eager to try; now she could summon the Holy Tiger, and she really wasn't afraid of any corpse ghost.

Li Chen also understood what had happened; there were demons and ghosts nearby, which was actually very normal, as this world was full of them everywhere.

Normally, these townspeople could handle them, but the problem was that a Demon Spirit had appeared. The Demon Spirit enhanced the demons and ghosts in an area, making them difficult to deal with, and the system wanted Li Chen to solve the problem here.

These two hunters were key informants; following them should lead to some clues.

Remember that the time given by the system this time was 90 days, which meant this was a relatively complex mission.

The Demon Spirit would possess a human body, hiding its identity, making it difficult for people to find.

Li Chen already understood the general situation, but he had his own way of thinking.

Just as Wu Nanzhi was asking some questions about the corpse ghost, Li Chen walked over and said lightly to one of the hunters: "Where is Luoxing Mountain? Point out a direction."

Hearing Li Chen say this, the hunter thought he wanted him to lead the way.

In his view, Li Chen was a powerful good person who would definitely be able to help this small town solve the trouble.

This was a rare thigh to hug!

He had also been to Luoxing Mountain and knew where that place was.

Pass through the grave area, then walk over two mountain peaks, cross a river, and you can see Luoxing Mountain.

So the hunter pointed in a direction and said: "Big Brother, the location of Luoxing Mountain is over there."

Li Chen continued to ask: "Are there any villages or people over there?"

The hunter replied: "No, it's very dangerous over there; it's impossible for anyone to be there."

Just when everyone thought Li Chen was going to lead a team to Luoxing Mountain to solve the ghost crisis.

The next second, they felt their pattern was too small.

Go to Luoxing Mountain?

Non-existent!

Since I already know where it is, why should I go?

Li Chen just pointed his finger at the position the hunter had just indicated.

Boom!

A burst of dazzling, heaven-shaking golden light erupted from Li Chen's fingertip.

Everything happened too suddenly; the powerful energy sent everyone nearby flying.

Wu Nanzhi and the two hunters nearby even rolled on the ground a few times, grabbing nearby tree trunks to barely avoid being blown away.

The trees around Li Chen had all collapsed, and some trees were even blown several hundred meters away before stopping.

The golden light shot straight for a thousand meters, instantly exploding with a heaven-collapsing and earth-shattering roar.

The firmament moved, and the mountains and rivers trembled!

Wherever the Heavenly Dao golden light reached, it turned into scorched earth, leaving a deep gully.

The explosion caused by this bombardment alone was enough to make the earth start to crack.

The powerful shockwave and the roar that echoed through the universe shocked the people of the entire small town nearby.

Many town residents lay on the ground in fear, shouting things like "Heaven, calm your anger."

In their view, this was Heaven showing its power!

Some cultivators in the small town were even more terrified beyond words; what level of energy was this?

After a while, Wu Nanzhi and the two hunters nearby recovered, all looking disheveled.

At this moment, they looked in the direction Li Chen had pointed.

A huge void appeared before their eyes, stretching for thousands of meters.

The earth split in two, and the rift was bottomless.

The two hunters looked at each other; they knew the man in front of them was strong, but now this intensity completely exceeded their cognition.

It was like villagers hunting in a novice village seeing a max-level big shot return.

A thousand meters away, that Luoxing Mountain full of ghosts and monsters, a terrifying and gloomy high mountain, was directly razed to the ground.

This made the two hunters' scalps tingle; according to the script, shouldn't you be exploring with us, and then the three of us experience many difficulties, finally finding the hiding place of the monster?

Finally, fighting wits and courage, solving the monster together, overcoming difficulties, and forging a deep friendship!

But how did you directly start a map cannon!

As for the person on Luoxing Mountain who had just gone out and been possessed by the Demon Spirit, I'm afraid they didn't even know how they died.

They weren't even qualified to see Li Chen; a light just appeared before their eyes, and they were gone!

And at this time, Li Chen had already seen the system prompt.

【Congratulations on completing the mission.】

That is to say, he really hit the right target.

At the very beginning, Li Chen thought the Demon Spirit was hiding in the town, which would require a lot of time, and the system had given a lot of time.

But after listening to the two hunters' explanation, Li Chen understood that the monster outbreak had just begun, and there was just an abnormality at Luoxing Mountain.

Then just directly bomb Luoxing Mountain.

System, you issue your mission; I have my Sage Realm way of fighting.

No matter how I understand it, completing the mission is what matters; I'm too lazy to search slowly.

If that Demon Spirit knew the mission the system gave Li Chen was to deal with him, he would definitely curse: What kind of trash system! What kind of heaven-defying opponent matching mechanism, letting a Sage Realm come to fight me? Do you want any face!?

Originally, the system arranged for Li Chen to eliminate the Demon Spirit, and the Demon Spirit's strength must be higher than Li Chen's "late-stage Meridian Realm"; this was a test of life and death, a tempering for advancement.

But Li Chen directly gave the Demon Spirit epic-level intensity, delivering a devastating blow.

By the time Li Chen left with Wu Nanzhi, the two hunters were still standing there like stones, unable to believe everything that had happened before their eyes.

In the restaurant of the small town, Wu Nanzhi, who was devouring eight plates of meat, said while eating: "We agreed to fight the Extraterritorial Heavenly Demon together, but you finished it yourself, humph!"

Because on the way here, Wu Nanzhi asked Li Chen what he was doing just now, and he said he sensed an Extraterritorial Heavenly Demon over there and killed it in seconds.

That's why Wu Nanzhi said that.

Having finally had a chance to see an "Extraterritorial Heavenly Demon" with her own eyes, only for it to be gone like this, she was indeed somewhat unwilling.

"Isn't this to finish work early? I'll take you next time if there's a chance." Li Chen replied, telling her to eat slowly and not choke.

Just like that, a mission that would have taken at least ten days to complete was already finished by Li Chen on the same day.

At the town mayor's house, the old mayor looked at the two crazy hunters and asked suspiciously: "You two have been talking for a long time, which means the movement just now wasn't Heaven showing its anger, but a handsome young man who could collapse the sky and crack the earth with a casual point? Do you two think I'm senile? If you two don't dare to go, I'll find others; don't find such excuses!"

The hunter who wasn't injured said urgently: "Mayor, you have to believe me; if I hadn't seen it with my own eyes, whoever told me this, I would think they were crazy!"

The other hunter also said: "Mayor, you've watched us grow up in the town since we were kids; don't you know how bold we are? And look at these injuries of mine; I've already fought the corpse ghost. There really was a young man passing by, the kind who looks super handsome; he snapped his fingers, and the corpse ghost was gone; he lifted his hand, and Luoxing Mountain collapsed!"

They explained for a long time, but the mayor didn't believe them, making them so anxious they had to drag the mayor out to see.

When the mayor took a group of people out to check and finally saw the mess before their eyes, wanting to find this young man who saved their town, this young man had already returned to the Imperial Capital.

(End of chapter)