Chapter 276

As Hua Hua Changxi walked out of the No. 2 Qihuang Pavilion, she happened to see a team of ten Holy Protection Guards passing by and couldn't help but walk up: "Squad Leader, please stay."

The organization of the Holy Protection Guards is very easy to remember.

Each sacred ground can recruit ten thousand Holy Protection Guards; therefore, the highest-ranking officer of the Holy Protection Guards is the Ten-Thousand-Man Commander, below whom are Thousand-Man Commanders, below whom are Hundred-Man Commanders, and below the Hundred-Man Commanders are the Squad Leaders, with each Squad Leader having nine guards under them.

Hearing someone call, the Squad Leader raised his hand to let the guards stop and looked at Hua Hua Changxi in surprise.

One must know that, except for the three Peak Masters who recruited them, almost no one would take the initiative to provoke them.

There was no other reason: they were soul cultivators, specializing in soul power.

Even the weakest first-tier soul cultivator, who could only condense a soul body, could project their divine sense and soul power, causing a certain degree of damage to the soul bodies of cultivators at the Infant Transformation stage and below.

And this batch of Holy Protection Guards had a minimum cultivation level of Soul Sea stage cultivators who had opened their soul seas; even those few Spirit Platform stage cultivators from the Guardian Families would not dare to easily confront them.

This was also why, as soon as they arrived at the Alchemy Saint Hall, they very smoothly took over the right to maintain order in the sacred ground, and even the royal family did not jump out to oppose it.

All ten Holy Protection Guards looked at the female cultivator walking over with curiosity, surprised by her boldness.

Before a cultivator opens their Spirit Platform and condenses their consciousness sea, their soul body is extremely fragile; even if they did nothing, the soul pressure they emitted would cause a certain amount of oppression to her soul body.

The Holy Protection Guards were surprised, and Hua Hua Changxi was also surprised.

She was surprised that these Holy Protection Guards were all soul cultivators who had lost their physical bodies, and also surprised by the strength of their power; from far away, she had felt the powerful soul power they radiated.

Although Hua Hua Changxi could project her divine sense, her soul body was certainly not as strong as the Holy Protection Guards', so she did not dare to clash head-on with them; she flipped her wrist and took out the Saint Pill she had obtained when the Alchemy Origin Peak appeared.

With the Saint Pill in hand, the soul pressure acting on Hua Hua Changxi dissipated instantly.

Finally, at a distance of about one meter from the Squad Leader, Hua Hua Changxi stopped her steps.

"Soldiers, I am Hua Hua Changxi, Peak Master of Alchemy Origin Peak."

Seeing Hua Hua Changxi standing in front of them without changing her expression, the ten Holy Protection Guards had originally been very confused, but after hearing her self-introduction and noticing the emerald-green Saint Pill in her hand, they understood instantly.

The curiosity on the faces of the ten Holy Protection Guards also turned into seriousness and caution.

There was no other reason: this was a Peak Master who could command the Holy Protection Guards!

"Peak Master Hua, we pay our respects."

The Squad Leader cupped his fists: "May I ask, Peak Master Hua, for what reason did you call us to a halt?"

Hua Hua Changxi smiled: "I do not understand the Nine Netherworlds, and I know even less about the nine passes that suppress the Demon Prison; therefore, I wanted to ask you all for some information."

"This..."

The Squad Leader's face showed hesitation, and his gaze turned toward the No. 2 Qihuang Pavilion.

Hua Hua Changxi looked back and discovered that Xia Zhen, Gu Xing, and their group were successively coming out of the No. 2 Qihuang Pavilion; seeing her standing in front of the Holy Protection Guards, their expressions were all somewhat shifting and uncertain.

Xia Zhen looked at Gu Xing, his tone urgent: "Daoist Gu, those are the Holy Protection Guards under your command."

The implication was to have Gu Xing stop the Holy Protection Guards from having contact with Hua Hua Changxi.

There was no help for it; Hua Hua Changxi held the most Holy Protection Tokens, and once she also recruited Holy Protection Guards, she would inevitably compete with them for control of the Medicine Department.

Gu Xing looked at Xia Zhen with a smile that was not a smile: "Daoist Xia, the Holy Protection Guards belong only to the sacred ground, not to individuals; at present, we are only managing them temporarily."

Xia Zhen felt a tightness in his chest; he had been muddled just now to actually let Gu Xing stop the Holy Protection Guards.

Of course, Gu Xing would not stop Hua Hua Changxi from having contact with the Holy Protection Guards; he would only look forward to Hua Hua Changxi learning more about the situation of the Jiuguan of the Nine Netherworlds so she could recruit more Holy Protection Guards sooner.

Xia Zhen did not speak again and quickly looked toward Hua Hua Changxi and the Holy Protection Guards.

Thinking of the conditions those Holy Protection Guards had proposed when he had previously sought to exchange for cultivation techniques for soul power and divine sense, Xia Zhen quickly became calm again.

No matter what Hua Hua Changxi wanted to do, the Holy Protection Guards would not easily agree.

Sure enough, the Squad Leader cupped his fists toward Hua Hua Changxi apologetically: "Peak Master Hua, we only take orders from Peak Master Gu and are only responsible for maintaining order in the sacred ground; we do not concern ourselves with anything else."

Hua Hua Changxi heard the Squad Leader's refusal, hesitated for a moment, and flipped her wrist; a Divine Wood leaf radiating a crystalline green glow appeared in her palm.

This Divine Wood leaf was one she had plucked from a branch of the Salary Wood.

Gu Xing, Meng Meng Qingyao, and Yan Yan Qianying, who had obtained Holy Protection Tokens, had all recruited Holy Protection Guards; even if she was not in a hurry to recruit people, she still wanted to clarify the situation of the nine passes first.

The Nine Netherworlds are dangerous, and the situation of the nine passes is complex; rather than going down blindly and running around in confusion, it would be better to ask the Holy Protection Guards.

However, the Holy Protection Guards she had originally imagined were not soul cultivators without physical bodies; one must know that the life force within the Divine Wood leaf only acts upon physical bodies.

She also did not know if soul cultivators who had lost their physical bodies still needed Divine Wood leaves?

"I wonder if paying with this Divine Wood leaf would allow me to learn some information about the Jiuguan of the Nine Netherworlds from the Squad Leader?"

The Squad Leader looked at the Divine Wood leaf, his eyes instantly becoming fiery, and his gaze could not help but look toward Gu Xing's side.

Regardless of anything else, they were recruited by Gu Xing, and according to the rules, they had to take orders from him.

Hua Hua Changxi followed his gaze and smiled: "I am only asking the Squad Leader to inquire about some things; Senior Gu will not mind."

Seeing that Gu Xing indeed had no intention of stopping them, the Squad Leader nodded: "I wonder what Peak Master Hua wants to inquire about?"

Seeing that he had agreed, Hua Hua Changxi's face showed joy: "Let's go to the No. 13 Qihuang Pavilion to talk." After saying this, she took the lead and walked toward the direction of the No. 13 Qihuang Pavilion.

Seeing this, the Squad Leader followed quickly; when they reached the No. 13 Pavilion, he let his subordinates continue patrolling, while he stepped into the pavilion.

"Squad Leader, please sit!"

Hua Hua Changxi waited for the Squad Leader to sit down, and without dawdling, she directly gave him the Divine Wood leaf before asking: "Please, Squad Leader, tell me about the nine passes that suppress the Demon Prison."

The Squad Leader took the Divine Wood leaf, his expression somewhat excited; after quickly putting the Divine Wood leaf away, he did not dawdle either.

"The nine passes are the nine checkpoints: Qian Gate, Kun Gate, Zhen Gate, Gen Gate, Li Gate, Kan Gate, Dui Gate, Xun Gate, and the Zhongmen Pass."

"Each pass is set up with a fortress, and each fortress has a permanent garrison of one hundred thousand Demon-Suppressing Guards, specifically to block the Demon and Ghost clans from invading the Demon Prison."

Hua Hua Changxi's face showed surprise: "One hundred thousand Demon-Suppressing Guards at each fortress? Does it require so many people to guard them?"

The Squad Leader shook his head: "It is not many; when the Demon clan launches a large-scale invasion of the Demon Prison, they will initiate a beast tide, and each beast tide involves at least several million demons, and at most tens of millions."

Hua Hua Changxi heard a piece of news she had never heard before: beast tide!

"When does the Demon clan generally launch a beast tide?"

The Squad Leader shook his head: "This subordinate does not know."

Hua Hua Changxi noted down the matter of the beast tide and began to ask about other things: "If I want to recruit Holy Protection Guards, can I recruit them from the nine fortresses at will?"

The Squad Leader: "Of course not; the nine passes, according to their stationed positions, guard the nearby array eyes."

"Like the Gen Gate pass and the Zhen Gate pass, they guard the array eyes below the Alchemy Saint Hall; therefore, the Alchemy Saint Hall can only recruit Holy Protection Guards from the Gen Gate pass and the Zhen Gate pass."

"And the Artifact Saint Palace can only recruit Holy Protection Guards from the Xun Gate pass and the Li Gate pass;"

"The Talisman Saint Pavilion can only recruit Holy Protection Guards from the Kun Gate pass and the Dui Gate pass;"

"The Array Saint Sect can only recruit Holy Protection Guards from the Qian Gate pass and the Kan Gate pass."

"The Central Sacred Ground only recruits Holy Protection Guards from the Zhongmen Pass pass."

"The Zhongmen Pass pass faces the Ghost Gate pass directly, and the Ghost Gate pass leads straight to the hinterland of the Nine Netherworlds; at the same time, the Zhongmen Pass pass also leads straight to the heart of the Demon Prison array."

"Among the nine checkpoints, the Zhongmen Pass pass is the most important checkpoint, and its defense mission is the most arduous, with a permanent garrison of as many as five hundred thousand Demon-Suppressing Guards."

"The nine major checkpoints, although independent of each other, also depend on each other; if a certain checkpoint is in trouble, the nearby checkpoints have the duty to support it. Therefore, there is also communication between the various checkpoints."