Chapter 141: Luantian Valley

Chen Mo sat in the cultivation chamber, holding a rather large piece of Ganoderma.

The Blood Garment Ganoderma, so named because it resembles a wide, loose robe and can enhance a Martial Artist's Qi and Blood.

The taste of the Ganoderma was not very good, so Chen Mo added some soy sauce to neutralize the flavor.

But it must be said, the Qi and Blood power contained within the Blood Garment Ganoderma was quite abundant.

After consuming the Blood Garment Ganoderma, Chen Mo took out the Spirit Deer Flower; this flower is the companion plant of the Blood Spirit Deer, and after being harvested, it must be processed through a special method.

Using it is quite simple: chew it dry, or swallow it with water.

One hundred Spirit Deer Flowers, while sounding like a lot, is actually not much.

Having absorbed all the rewards except for the Three Treasures Profound Origin Pill, the Qi and Blood accumulation in Chen Mo's Transformation Pearl reached about sixty percent.

If nothing goes wrong, this trip to Luantian Valley to suppress the Demonic Path should be enough to gather the Blood Qi needed for the next stage.

The reason is simple: as the old lair of many Demonic Path followers, their accumulation there must be quite considerable.

Even if he can only take a portion of the spoils, it will be more than enough for his own use.

Chen Mo took out another Three Treasures Profound Origin Pill, swallowed it, and began to cultivate.

Upon entering the throat, the medicinal pill divided into three masses of power, each enhancing essence, Qi, and spirit respectively.

This enhancement is akin to gentle nourishment and repair, moistening things silently, and constantly harmonizing the balance of the Five Elements and Yin and Yang within Chen Mo's body.

For a Martial Artist to return from Post-Heaven to Innate, they must achieve balance in their own Yin and Yang and stability in their Five Elements.

This does not just include the physical body; Inner Qi and spiritual sense must all reach this stage.

Chen Mo cannot yet manage this, but the Three Treasures Profound Origin Pill can help him constantly approach this goal.

As for when he can break through, he still cannot be certain.

Chen Mo's aptitude is excellent; whether in Inner Qi or physical aptitude, he is absolutely top-tier among the younger generation.

Even so, it is not that easy to break through to the Innate Realm.

After a night of cultivation ended, Chen Mo set off the next day; he did not travel with others but went alone, as this was faster.

Operating the Tenglong Nine Turns, Chen Mo locked onto his direction and headed toward Luantian Valley in Anzhou.

Anzhou is considered a large province in Great Gan, with a warm and pleasant climate; most areas in the province do not grow wheat but rice, with three harvests a year.

Strictly speaking, Luantian Valley is not entirely within Anzhou, but at the junction of Anzhou, Anqing, and Huai.

It is just that Anzhou has the largest population and the most food, and since people who are well-fed are more inclined toward the Martial Dao, it is prosperous; therefore, the daily defense against Luantian Valley is primarily the responsibility of the Anzhou troops.

Chen Mo traveled day and night without stopping, occasionally stopping in large cities during the day to understand the local situation and prevent himself from getting lost.

It must be said that the living conditions of the people in Anzhou are slightly better than in other provinces, as the produce is abundant.

Chen Mo adjusted his direction along the way and reached the vicinity of Luantian Valley in just three days.

There were no more neat plains in the surroundings, only towering mountains.

Traveling to this point, there were few living people in the vast mountains; apart from the Imperial Court's army already camped here, there were no other signs of life.

However, the living things in the mountains were very lush, with countless birds and small beasts inhabiting the towering ancient trees that were nearly a hundred feet tall.

And throughout the entire forest, there were even more countless beasts and birds.

The mountains stood towering and connected, and the place enclosed by these mountains was Luantian Valley.

The area of Luantian Valley is very vast; even if not a thousand miles in radius, it must be seven or eight hundred miles.

The terrain and environment within are unique, and no one knows how it was formed.

But only one thing is certain: it is extremely dangerous inside.

Chen Mo could see from afar that everything there was chaotic and disordered, even exceeding the scope of what ordinary people can understand.

Even though a big sun hung in the sky, inside Luantian Valley, some places were brightly lit by the sun, while others were pitch black.

There were even places suffering from drought, while others were experiencing torrential rain.

If it were merely a strange and fickle climate, that would be one thing.

The most critical point is that Mirage Sea descends there from time to time; even from a distance, Chen Mo saw a stream of Grey Mist suddenly flowing through a part of the area inside Luantian Valley.

Let alone ordinary people, even a Martial Artist with Chen Mo's level of cultivation might not be safe if they went in.

This was just the scene seen from the outside; the situation inside would likely be even worse.

Chen Mo observed the situation inside Luantian Valley from afar and began to look for the main military camp.

This was not difficult; the main military camp was very conspicuous.

The Demonic Path inside Luantian Valley had clearly gone into hiding as well; it was obvious they all knew that if they went out to fight head-on, they could not be the Imperial Court's opponents.

They simply hunkered down, waiting for an opportunity to see if they could escape.

Moreover, even if surrounded, they could still send out experts to find opportunities to infiltrate out.

Furthermore, even if they were wiped out, as long as Luantian Valley—a place the Imperial Court's army could not set foot in—remained, it could still continuously gather Demonic Path scoundrels.

Chen Mo could roughly guess the current Emperor's thoughts: it was nothing more than wanting to carry out a fierce suppression to gain at least ten or twenty years of stability.

Then, taking advantage of this time, they would not need to put too much power on the Great Li border and could focus on solving the Alien Races.

In fact, the number of Imperial Court experts is not small; within the entire Great Gan territory, the number of Post-Heaven Martial Artists should be over seven hundred.

But about two hundred of them are advanced in age; most of them are hidden within their own forces, steadily teaching their juniors and enjoying their old age.

It is impossible for them to come out and fight with all their might again; although their strength remains at its peak, every fight consumes their physical essence and shortens their lifespan.

In addition, there are about eighty or ninety people who are unwilling to take orders from the Imperial Court, or rather, unwilling to work for the Imperial Court.

Some of these people hold nominal official positions but have no real power, and it is difficult for the Imperial Court to mobilize them.

Besides these people, a considerable portion of Post-Heaven experts are guarding against the Alien Races and North Li.

The Demonic Path is merely a minor skin disease and cannot become a climate; these two are the true great troubles for Great Gan.

Now that peace has been negotiated with North Li, the Imperial Court can finally draw out power to solve the Alien Races.

Chen Mo flew to the main military camp; he did not conceal his movements and had already been noticed by many people.

"Foster father." Chen Mo walked into the tent, where Sun Shouren was, and bowed.

Sun Shouren was very happy to see him, smiling as he walked to his side and patted his shoulder firmly.

"Back in the Capital, I lamented that you would surpass me in no time, but I truly didn't expect it to be this fast!" His tone was filled with deep emotion.

Sun Shouren knew Chen Mo would surpass him, but he really hadn't expected it to be this fast.

In just a few short months, Chen Mo had already become the commander-in-chief of an army, while he himself was taking orders under him.

"For this encirclement and suppression of the Demonic Path, I must rely heavily on your strength, foster father; otherwise, how could this child accomplish such a task?" Chen Mo said with a laugh.

He was the one appointed as commander-in-chief for this encirclement, but he figured the Emperor also knew that Chen Mo's command ability was not strong, so he sent his foster father, Sun Shouren, to help Chen Mo command and arrange the grand army.

The reason for letting Chen Mo be the commander-in-chief was that his strength was sufficient and his official rank was high enough that no one would be unconvinced.

"I have already discussed this with Old Lu and the others previously, and the garrison commanders of the nearby prefectures are also arriving one after another with their Personal Soldiers.

Encirclement of this place is not a problem, but if those Demonic Path scoundrels do not run out, we have no way to enter the valley to suppress them." Sun Shouren pondered briefly and recounted the situation he had investigated clearly.

"There is no rush for this matter for now; experts will arrive on their own, and I will go to liaise with them later." Chen Mo nodded lightly.

As early as when he first arrived near the main military tent, he had discovered Innate Experts appearing in the surroundings.

The other party sensed his arrival and thus took the initiative to reveal their aura; even separated by over ten miles, Chen Mo still perceived it clearly.

To truly purge the Demonic Path scoundrels within Luantian Valley, one still had to rely on these experts.

All the Imperial Court army could do was surround this place, and once any Demonic Path scoundrel fled out, they would quickly be beheaded.

As for how to force them out, that was by no means an easy or simple matter.

"Good, then I will first call the others to pay their respects to you, the commander-in-chief." Sun Shouren nodded.

In truth, there was no need for him to call them; upon learning the news of Chen Mo's arrival, Lu Chuan and the others had already arrived at the main military tent one after another.

"We pay our respects to the commander-in-chief." Under the lead of Sun Shouren, the crowd bowed one after another.

"Everyone, please rise. For this encirclement of the Demonic Path scoundrels, I hope you will all work together with one heart to resolve the worries and difficulties for the Imperial Court."

Chen Mo took the initiative to walk forward, reaching out to help Sun Shouren and Lu Chuan up.

He was the commander-in-chief of an army, and even though Sun Shouren was his foster father, according to the rules, he had to pay respects to him at this time.

Luantian Valley had only three exits in total; as long as the army blocked these three exits, if any Demonic Path scoundrels launched a surprise attack from within, they could simply block them step by step.

This matter was not difficult to say, but not easy to do; the most difficult part of mobilizing and stationing an army was logistics.

As the old saying goes, the Emperor does not send out hungry soldiers.

No matter how troops are used, one must first ensure that once these people arrive at the location, food can be delivered continuously so they can eat their fill.

With the help of these two veteran generals of the battlefield, Sun Shouren and Lu Chuan, Chen Mo basically arranged the subsequent military affairs.

After finishing these, he walked out of the main military tent and used his light-body technique to ascend toward the high heavens.

"I say, Old Sun, where did you find this foster son? Do you have another one to find for me too?"

Lu Chuan looked at the disappearing Chen Mo, his tone carrying a hint of envy.

Comparing people makes one angry, and comparing goods makes one want to throw them away!

They are both foster sons, but look at how old Chen Mo is now, yet he can be the commander-in-chief of an army; his future prospects are surely immeasurable.

It can be said that by taking in such a foster son as Chen Mo, one's own family could bask in the glory for three or four generations.

And as for his own foster sons! The more Lu Chuan looked at them, the more he felt they were disappointing.

"Haha, who told you I have a good eye for people!" Sun Shouren patted his old friend's shoulder, laughing extremely happily.

Chen Mo brought him too much honor; it wasn't just Lu Chuan, many colleagues and friends had envied him before.

This really made Sun Shouren sigh that he truly had a discerning eye back then, spotting at a glance that Chen Mo would have a bright future.

…………

"Chen Mo pays respects to the two seniors." Chen Mo ascended all the way to the high heavens, and amidst the heavy clouds, he truly saw the two Innate Experts.

Not only that, these two were acquaintances, and he had met them once before.

"Little friend, please rise." Zhao Xuanxin said with a smile.

Chu Tianxiu was still in his red robes, silent and not saying a word; he did not have the habit of talking much in front of outsiders.

"May I ask the two seniors, the Imperial Court army is all prepared, I wonder when we can encircle and suppress the Demonic Path scoundrels?"

Chen Mo stood up and asked his question with a hint of confusion.

"Little friend, do you know the situation inside Luantian Valley? The vast majority of the region is not only chaotic and disorderly, but there are also many Ruins Realms present, which are inexplicably dangerous and difficult to estimate.

Only a small number of areas can be called relatively safe for people to walk in.

If we want to enter to suppress the Demonic Path, we need to wait a few more days for two Golden Core Dashiu from the Heaven Monitoring Bureau to arrive.

They will set up the Twelve Earthly Branch Array here to regulate the Heavenly Law within, making it slightly stable, so at least there won't be a Mirage Sea descending at any time.

At that time, we will enter Luantian Valley together with the other experts to suppress the Demonic Path; those Demonic Path scoundrels will surely try every possible way to escape from the various exits once they see us make a move.

The Imperial Court army will be responsible for blocking the various exits to prevent the Demonic Path scoundrels from escaping."

Zhao Xuanxin said a lot in one breath; this was the general plan of the Imperial Court.

Since the army could not fully enter, they could only force those Demonic Path scoundrels out.

In many past encirclements, this method was used.

As for whether these Demonic Path scoundrels would escape in advance, there was no need to worry.

As early as before, there were experts guarding outside Luantian Valley; if the Demonic Path scoundrels dared to escape, it would be even more convenient for those experts to kill them.

All the Demonic Path Martial Artists in the valley were actually waiting for the official encirclement by the Imperial Court.

By that time, when many experts entered the valley and only the Imperial Court army guarded the outside, they would flee out together; although dangerous, it was not a situation of certain death.

In fact, the more Chen Mo understood about Luantian Valley, the more he could guess that it was not that the Imperial Court did not have the ability to completely resolve this place.

They could send experts to rush in and sow salt on the ground, making this place barren so that not a single grain of food would grow.

People always have to eat, even Martial Artists have to eat.

In this way, apart from a small number of Post-Heaven Martial Artists and a few Innate Martial Artists, the remaining Demonic Path scoundrels no longer had any way to dwell in Luantian Valley for long.

However, the Imperial Court did not do this, but instead deliberately left this place.

Without a doubt, this is "surround three, leave one open."

The Imperial Court deliberately left this retreat, gathering the Demonic Path scoundrels within it to prevent them from causing greater chaos outside.

In this way, it would be easier to encircle and annihilate them in the future, as troops would only need to be deployed in this one location.

"This junior understands; I shall order men to go and prepare at once." Upon learning the specific situation, Chen Mo immediately bowed and said.

Several days later, experts from the Heaven Supervision Bureau arrived and set up the Twelve Yuan Chen Array.

Two days later, two Innate Experts from the Imperial Court personally led fifty Post-Heaven Martial Artists into the valley to encircle and annihilate the Demonic Path.

Chen Mo was the commander-in-chief of the central army, yet he did not command from the tent; instead, he took the lead, serving as the vanguard and personally guarding the east exit of the valley.

(End of this chapter)