Chapter 540: Setting Off; Battle on the Defensive Line of the Two Races

"Demon Commander potential? It's alright, I suppose."

When Jiang Lingxian returned home excitedly to announce the results of the Evil Spirit Festival talent test, he was met with the worshipful gaze of his cute little sister, unable to extricate himself from the praise of "Brother is so amazing" repeated over and over; however, Xiao Han's subsequent evaluation left Jiang Lingxian stunned.

"In this small place, this is the best result one can achieve."

Alright?

This was a Demon Commander! Even the City Lord, who covered the sky with one hand in Qiling City, had only barely stepped into the Demon General level, and in front of a Demon Commander, he was merely an ant that could be wiped out with a wave of a hand. Previously, his greatest dream had been nothing more than becoming a Demon General. However, Jiang Lingxian thought about it again; with the senior's unfathomable strength, it was understandable that he would look down on the Demon Commander realm, but even now, he dared not imagine a realm beyond that of a Demon Commander.

Xiao Han naturally knew that Jiang Lingxian lacked confidence at the moment, so he said no more; facts would speak for themselves in the future.

After the Demon Commander potential incident, Jiang Lingxian attracted quite a bit of attention in the city. Even the City Lord Mansion sent people to invite him over, and the City Lord, who had always viewed the Evil Spirit Clan as pigs and dogs, showed goodwill and gifted him some Medicinal Pills to assist in his cultivation.

Jiang Lingxian's leisurely life did not last many days before it was broken by a messenger who came to deliver a message.

"Commander-level candidate Jiang Lingxian, assemble at the City Lord Mansion drill ground tomorrow at noon, no delays!"

After the messenger stiffly finished delivering the message, he vanished from before Jiang Lingxian's eyes. The latter was currently holding a Scroll in both hands, on which the content just conveyed by the messenger was written.

"It seems the real Evil Spirit Festival is about to arrive!"

Xiao Han revealed his form beside Jiang Lingxian, his tone finally becoming a bit more serious.

"Kid, you better think this through. Inside the Evil Spirit Secret Realm, even I find it inconvenient to intervene. If you die in there, that's the end of it."

According to the intelligence Xiao Han had tortured out of the Qiling City Lord's mind, the Evil Spirit Secret Realm was the true venue for the Evil Spirit Festival selection, jointly constructed by a group of major clans of the Outer Realm Evil Clan. It was similar to the Spirit Road of the Five Great Academies in the Da Qian World. Inside, one could not use any secret treasures or Medicinal Pills, and Evil Qi was forbidden. It was a test of pure natural ability. Inside, life and death were irrelevant; there was only endless devouring and slaughter, screening for those with the best talent and luck within the Evil Spirit Clan, much like raising a gu.

It was precisely because of the unique nature of the Evil Spirit Secret Realm that Xiao Han did not believe he could bypass the realm's surveillance to quietly ensure Jiang Lingxian's safety inside. Once he made a move and alerted the true powerhouses of the Evil Clan, he might be able to escape using the Great Hidden Divine Art, but Jiang Lingxian and his sister would definitely be in grave danger.

As for letting Jiang Lingxian rely on himself to survive within the Evil Spirit Secret Realm...

Commander-level candidate—this was Jiang Lingxian's talent grade.

According to the distribution of the Evil Spirit Festival candidate grades, the talent of candidates in the Evil Spirit Secret Realm from low to high was: Soldier, Warrior, General, Commander, King, Emperor, and the Imperial level, which almost only appeared in the Evil Spirit Imperial Clan. A Commander-level talent could be considered standing out from the crowd in Qiling City, but looking at the entire Evil Spirit Clan, it was merely upper-middle tier. Even if Jiang Lingxian could occupy a certain advantage due to his physical strength as a body refiner, it was indeed difficult to have an optimistic expectation of him laughing last in the crisis-ridden secret realm.

Regarding this situation, which relied mostly on luck, Xiao Han had always held the worst-case scenario in mind.

However, to Xiao Han's advice, Jiang Lingxian only patted the little head of his sister, who was clutching his sleeve, gave a reassuring response to her worried gaze, and said without hesitation:

"Please look after Xiao Yu for a while, Senior. Three years later, I will definitely return."

Noting Jiang Lingxian's firm gaze, Xiao Han felt gratified while also sighing involuntarily, saying:

"Since that is the case, I will say no more. During the time you are away, I will take good care of the girl. Also...

Stretch out your hand."

Jiang Lingxian reached out in confusion, his palm facing upward.

Xiao Han flicked his sleeve slightly, and a Hexagonal Ice Crystal slowly merged into Jiang Lingxian's palm. The latter felt only a chill and nothing else unusual. Staring in surprise at the scene before him, Xiao Han did not offer an explanation, but instead spoke like a riddle-maker:

"Leave yourself a backup plan; I hope you won't need it."

Afterward, he hesitated slightly and added:

"If you really do use it, pay attention to your surroundings and adapt to the situation."

Jiang Lingxian left with determination for the future, while Xiao Han lowered his head and smiled at the little girl:

"You've been my Disciple for quite a long time, it's time you learned some true sect heritage."

Hearing this, Jiang Lingyu's eyes lit up in an instant.

"Really? Teacher!"

As the strongest person the siblings had ever seen over the years, being taken as a Disciple by Xiao Han had always been the greatest stroke of luck in Jiang Lingyu's mind. Her experiences over the years had made her deeply realize the importance of strength. Unfortunately, before, she had almost exhausted all her efforts just to survive, making it impossible to step into the threshold of cultivation. After being taken as a Disciple, she had also been in a state of recuperation. Now, suddenly hearing the news, she was overjoyed and full of expectations for the future.

"Cultivation is very hard; can you persist?"

Xiao Han smiled, but looking down, he saw her little head nodding like a chick pecking at rice.

"Good! Since that's the case, then there's no time like the present; we'll start teaching you cultivation today." As his voice fell, Xiao Han waved his hand and set up a barrier around the room to conceal their aura.

"Now, let's first understand the precautions for cultivation..."

"First, if you want to cultivate, you must be familiar with the meridians in your body... then..."

Before explaining, Xiao Han had already investigated Jiang Lingyu's physical condition. He was glad that, aside from the Evil Spirit Clan's miraculous constitution being able to adapt to both Demonic Qi and Spirit Power, most of their characteristics were identical to the Human race of the Da Qian World, and the distribution of meridians in the body was almost the same; therefore, guiding her cultivation was not troublesome.

Xiao Han temporarily lived a semi-secluded life teaching his Disciple among the Outer Realm Evil Clan. On the other side, in the Da Qian World, at the outer defensive line between the Langya Heavenly Palace and the Outer Realm Evil Clan.

In a small battlefield, more than a dozen members of the Outer Realm Evil Clan stared with heavy expressions at the pair of young man and woman before them. The situation was very clear: this man and woman were naturally Disciples of the Langya Heavenly Palace, surrounded by these members of the Outer Realm Evil Clan, and it looked extremely critical.

However, one only needed to notice the dozen or so corpses of the Outer Realm Evil Clan lying helter-skelter around and the expressions of the survivors to understand who held the advantage.

At this moment, the Demon Commander leading the Outer Realm Evil Clan squad only felt that he must not have checked the almanac before going out; how could he be so unlucky as to run into the notorious killer duo of the Outer Realm Evil Clan on such a vast battlefield?

As young-generation powerhouses who had emerged after that earth-shattering battle, although the Outer Realm Evil Clan did not know the other party's names, they had a full understanding of the two's characteristics, which also allowed this Evil Clan squad to personally experience what a nightmare was.

A twenty-man team! All were powerhouses at the Demon Commander level, and there were five peak Demon Commanders in the team comparable to the Upper Earth Sovereign of the Da Qian World, plus him, a King-level comparable to a Great Perfection Earth Sovereign of the Da Qian World. Placed anywhere on the defensive line between the two races, they belonged to an absolutely elite team, yet they had run into these two killing stars. In just the time it takes for an incense stick to burn, they had lost a third of their numbers, and the rest were all wounded!

All of this was attributed to the two gods of slaughter opposite them.

One was a poison girl, who looked quiet and gentle, but her methods made even this group of Outer Realm Evil Clan members, who were accustomed to blood and slaughter, shudder. Her whole body was surrounded by gray-white poisonous gas, making her look even more evil than they, the genuine Outer Realm Evil Clan. Although she held no weapons, in the battle just now, all the Evil Clan members contaminated by her poisonous gas did not even last ten breaths before they were reduced to nothing, watching helplessly as they turned into a pool of blood and died in despair.

It was not that he had not tried to stop this clearing of the rabble; he had joined forces with several Demon Commanders to try, but the results were not very good.

The man beside her was no pushover either. The man held a long Ice Crystal sword, his body protected by ice armor; he could be described as both defensive and offensive, and he always played some life-for-life tactics, making every opponent who fought him face life-threatening situations and break out in a cold sweat. With his own strength, he dragged down their offensive, and there was even one unlucky guy with weaker strength who was pierced through by the man's ice sword.

The surviving Evil Clan King watched the two's movements with apprehension, his gaze sweeping rapidly over the long ice sword in the man's hand. For some reason, during the exchange, the domineering icy energy revealed in every move the other party made made him feel a bit like the Langya Palace Master, though it was slightly immature compared to the latter's ability to change the world, but even this weak power was an absolute crisis for them.

With the current state of the battle, if it really came to a fight to the death, their side, despite having more people, might not have a good ending. The Evil Clan King pondered their current unfavorable situation and, weighing his tone, said in a deep voice:

"The two of you, today we have made a miscalculation; we admit defeat."

"But we still have one King-level and more than ten Demon Commander-level powerhouses left; our main force remains. If we continue to fight to the end, the two of you are isolated and helpless; it is unknown who will be the victor."

"How about we cease hostilities and retreat, and fight another day, how about that?"

To demonstrate their strength and threat, the Evil Clan squad leader waved his hand, and the subordinates in the rear understood and raised the weapons in their hands. Their auras rose again, beginning to fluctuate; clearly, they were about to perform some secret techniques with great side effects. It was obvious that the combat power of the two opposite them had left a deep impression on them. If they could live, no one wanted to die, and now they could only pray that the other party also did not want a fight to the death; otherwise, they could only leave it to fate.

At this point, retreating from each other was the best choice; surely no one would refuse...

The Evil Clan King was thinking just that when his pupils suddenly shrank. He saw the man opposite him directly raise the long sword in his hand, the blade pointing to the sky. At the same time, endless gray-white mist surged around the terrifying poison girl, and voices so indifferent they made one's heart turn cold sounded almost simultaneously:

"Ice Killing Realm!"

"Heavenly Poison Domain!"