Chapter 81: Analyzing the Situation

"System, do you mean I can still join the Demon Spirit faction?"

Looking at the faction quest provided by the system.

Li Xiang felt a little surprised.

He really liked the system's humanized approach.

These prompts, which provided a drink when he was thirsty and a pillow when he was sleepy, always gave him a great deal of information and help.

But what he was even more curious about was:

The system actually suggested that he could join the Demon Spirit faction while maintaining his human identity?

That was just absurd, damn it.

Was this the legendary "traitor to humanity" route?

Li Xiang suddenly felt as if he had opened the door to a new world.

"System, can you elaborate on the victory conditions for the Demon Spirit faction?"

【The Demon Spirit faction requirements are as follows:】

【1. Slay the Demon Slaying Division Garrison Commander Lu Jianxing, slay the Azure Cloud Study Qi Le, and slay the East City Deputy General Zheng Yuan.】

【2. Assist the Demon Spirit in allowing its split soul to infect all humans in the city.】

【3. Destroy the Mysterious Grade Demon Suppression Bell and completely sever its connection with the Great Liang's Humanity.】

【Note: Helping the Demon Spirit demonize Lu Jianxing, Qi Le, and Zheng Yuan can grant additional quest completion progress and increase rewards.】

"Emmmm..."

"It really is a deranged quest."

"But besides Lu Jianxing and Qi Le, is there actually another person who can pose a threat to the Demon Spirit?"

"East City Deputy General Zheng Yuan."

Looking at the quest requirements provided by the system, Li Xiang obtained some clues.

The good news was that the East City Garrison's Deputy General, Zheng Yuan, had not yet been controlled by the Demon Spirit; he was their ally and a force that could be won over.

There was also the Mysterious Grade Demon Suppression Bell in the city, which could pose a threat to the Demon Spirit.

The bad news was that the garrison commanders of the other three city gates, as well as their main commander, had likely already been completely demonized and controlled.

It seemed the state of Chiyang County was not optimistic.

When they entered the city, many people had likely already been controlled and infected by the Demon Spirit.

Especially with the large influx of disaster victims—cold, hungry, and exhausted—they were even more susceptible to being possessed by the Demon Spirit, nourishing its power.

"System, what are the victory conditions for the Chiyang County side?"

Looking at the prompts provided by the system, Li Xiang analyzed a lot of useful information.

He wanted to take another look at the victory conditions for the Chiyang County faction to see what other information he could glean.

【The Chiyang County faction requirements are as follows:】

【1. Slay the South City Deputy General (Demon) Wang Yan, slay the West City Deputy General (Demon) Ya Ze, slay the North City Main Commander (Demon) Wei Ziwen, and slay the Demon Spirit's main host: Magistrate (Demon) Wei Ziwu.】

【2. Protect the Yongchang Tower in the city center, reactivate the Demon Suppression Bell, and curb the spread of the Demon Spirit infection.】

【3. Slay all Demon Servants and use Haoran Qi to purify humans who have not been fully demonized.】

【4. Slay/suppress the Demon Spirit itself.】

【Note: The Demon Spirit will selectively convert some people into Demon Servants. Prolonged infection will automatically convert them into Demon Servants. Slaying the Demon Spirit will simultaneously kill all servants.

Note: Demon Servants are fully infected entities and are irreversible. Even removing the Demon Spirit's split soul cannot change their racial transformation. If the split soul dies, the Demon Servant automatically dies. At the same time, because of the racial change, Demon Servants will gain some improvement in strength.】

【Warning: If the Demon Spirit completely assimilates all humans in the city, it will grow to the next stage, and its strength will increase significantly!】

【Warning: The Demon Suppression Bell can curb the Demon Spirit's actions. Once destroyed, the Demon Spirit's infection speed will increase significantly!

If reactivated, it can cause significant suppression of the Demon Spirit's strength.】

Looking at the quest requirements for Chiyang County, Li Xiang frowned.

"Sure enough, the situation in Chiyang County is quite grim."

"The main commander and two deputy generals have already been completely demonized, and the magistrate has been possessed by the Demon Spirit's main body, sitting in the center and beginning to infect all the humans in the city."

Looking at the prompts provided by the system.

Li Xiang could roughly infer the situation in the city now.

Except for the commander in the East City who had not yet been controlled by the Demon Spirit, the other two deputy generals and the main commander of the city defense forces had been completely controlled by the Demon Spirit.

On his side, there were only Lu Jianxing, Qi Le, and Zheng Yuan, and they were not a fully unified force.

Three against three, his side did not have the advantage.

Especially since Lu Jianxing and Qi Le seemed to have gone to the magistrate to throw their lives away; the situation was even less optimistic.

Three-quarters of the entire city was already under the control of the Demon Spirit.

Now that daytime had arrived, as people moved about, the Demon Spirit's infection speed would expand further.

"I'm numb."

"System, do you have any cheats?"

"Can I just press a button for 999? Doing quests is so tiring."

No one answered.

The system once again ignored Li Xiang's request.

【Please choose your faction, or abandon the quest and flee Chiyang County.】

"Join the Chiyang County faction."

【Faction assigned. Relevant quest objectives have been marked on the map. Please pay attention to them.】

A familiar feeling.

Just like at the Demon Zen Monastery, the system marked the quest objectives on the map, making it easier for him to control the situation.

"Open the map."

The map of Chiyang County appeared before Li Xiang's eyes.

The county town was not very large, accommodating about ten thousand people.

Li Xiang saw that on the map, four black-red skulls were particularly eye-catching.

These were the four great generals under the Demon Spirit: the magistrate and the city defense generals.

Around these four skulls, there were many red dots following them, like forces guarding them.

Li Xiang guessed they might be the demonized city defense forces.

Looking at the map again, there were three blue heads and one deep blue building marked on it.

Those were Qi Le, Lu Jianxing, and the city defense general Zheng Yuan on Li Xiang's side.

That deep blue building was the Yongchang Tower, where the Demon Suppression Bell was kept.

At this moment, looking at the map, Li Xiang saw the movements of everyone.

Qi Le and Lu Jianxing were standing together.

They were wandering outside the government office, not knowing what they were doing.

The magistrate was motionless at the government office.

The main commander, Wei Ziwen, was near the Yongchang Tower, surrounded by a group of people, seemingly having designs on the Demon Suppression Bell.

It was just that Wei Ziwen seemed very wary, always keeping a certain distance from the Yongchang Tower and not getting too close.

However, Li Xiang saw that the icon for the Yongchang Tower was vibrating slightly, and the color of the icon had faded a little.

It seemed Wei Ziwen was trying to break through the Yongchang Tower.

Wang Yan was still staying honestly at the South City Gate, guarding it.

Only one deputy general was wandering around the city.

The icon had landed on a building in the East City and had stayed there for a long time.

Zheng Yuan was leading people and rushing toward that location.

The Demon Slaying Division was also in the East City, and the distance between the two was not very far.

"Hmm?"

"This place is..."

"Wenwu Building?"

The skull of the deputy general Ya Ze had landed on the Wenwu Building and had not moved at all; it was very strange, and he didn't know what he was doing.

The Yongchang Tower housed the Demon Suppression Bell.

Then what was this Wenwu Building for, that it was worth the Demon Spirit assigning a great general to go there?

This left Li Xiang somewhat confused.

Zheng Yuan was currently rushing over; if that Ya Ze fellow didn't leave, it would actually be a perfect time for him to take action, follow Zheng Yuan, and coordinate to slay him.

After all, since they were so close, slaying one of their deputy generals first would give them a slight numerical advantage.

Having made up his mind.

Li Xiang got up and asked an official runner not far away, wanting to first understand the situation at the Wenwu Building.

"What kind of place is the Wenwu Building?"

"Does it have any special meaning?"

Who knew that after the official runner heard these three words, his expression became very strange.

He looked Li Xiang up and down.

"Little sir."

"You..."

"It's not suitable for you to go there!"

"You are still in your growth phase; you need to pay attention to growing your body well."

Li Xiang: "?"

Give me a monthly ticket, brothers!

(End of chapter)