Volume 1, Chapter 34 – Starpoint City

Although Shi Lan had only just stepped into the sixth stage of the Body Tempering Realm, the strength in her body already surpassed that of an ordinary martial artist at the seventh stage.

Shi Lan rubbed her arm. Feeling that same familiar softness, she couldn’t help feeling puzzled. Training with the Vajra Divine Fist might not turn her into some musclebound Amazon, but her muscles and bones should at least be a lot more solid.

Yet her body was the same as ever, not much different from before she started cultivating, aside from being far more flexible.

Shi Feng tossed a cleaned, ox-shaped demonic beast onto the ground, then handed the saber in his hand to Shi Lan.

A flash of excitement crossed Shi Lan’s eyes. She licked her lips, took the saber, and started processing the meat.

At first, all this work had been done by Shi Feng, but after eating his roasted meat twice, Shi Lan decided she’d be better off relying on herself.

Shi Feng’s strength might be impressive, but his roasting skills were honestly pretty mediocre—barely edible.

Just as she set the meat on the rack, a thunderous rumble like an earthquake rolled over from the distance.

“What is that…?”

Looking toward the far edge of the land where a black line had appeared, Shi Feng narrowed his eyes slightly.

That black line was racing toward the two of them at incredible speed. As the distance closed, Shi Lan finally saw its true form: riders in black armor and face masks, astride magnificent strange steeds that looked like flood dragons.

There were fewer than a hundred cavalrymen, yet the sound of their charge was like an army of thousands sweeping past.

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What drew Shi Lan’s gaze the most was the black banner with golden characters in the middle of the formation.

“Demon Suppression…”

Those two words seemed to carry a kind of magic, carving themselves deep into Shi Lan’s mind.

In just the time it took to drink a cup of tea, the cavalry thundered up to the two of them. They slowed slightly, gave Shi Lan and Shi Feng a brief look, then rode straight past without stopping.

“Why would the Demon Suppression Army be here…” Shi Feng murmured under his breath, a bad feeling rising in his heart.

This place was at least tens of thousands of li away from the battlefront Shi Tianlu had mentioned before. The Demon Suppression Army was always stationed at the very front lines suppressing demonic beasts. If they were this close, then hordes of demonic beasts couldn’t be far behind.

Could it be that these tens of thousands of li of territory had already…

“Shi Feng, you know those people?” Shi Lan asked when she heard him muttering.

Snapping back to himself, Shi Feng said, “Young master, let’s take a detour and head northeast.”

“Why? Because of that group just now?”

“This area is very dangerous.” Shi Feng briefly explained the origin of the Demon Suppression Army and what their presence here meant.

Shi Lan didn’t hesitate long. She nodded in agreement, choosing the better part of valor.

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After they changed direction and traveled for seven or eight days, the two of them gradually realized something was wrong. The farther northeast they went, the more often they ran into the Demon Suppression Army.

At first they saw a patrol only once every two days. Later, they were bumping into three or four patrols a day.

This abnormality left Shi Feng increasingly uneasy.

Finally, after running into the fifth group of Demon Suppression cavalry in a single day, Shi Feng could no longer suppress his doubts. He stopped this squad of several dozen riders and asked, “Sirs, may I ask what has happened up ahead? Why are there so many Demon Suppression Army patrols in this area?”

From these riders, Shi Feng learned a shocking piece of news.

After Yunshan Gorge had previously been attacked by a demon emperor and suffered heavy losses, Huyou Gorge, Yangxing Ridge, Xiquan Crossing, Tiandao Peak, and more than a dozen other fortresses had fallen one after another.

The demon race had launched a massive invasion. The Chengtian Domain was already engulfed in war. There was no longer any true front line—everyone was fighting their own desperate battles.

After learning this, Shi Lan and Shi Feng no longer dared to casually change direction. They could only grit their teeth and continue in the direction opposite the endless Demon Domain.

Three days later, they finally saw a city.

This city was much larger than Tenglong City. Its walls rose nearly twenty zhang high, bearing obvious signs of rushed recent construction where they’d been raised higher.

“Starpoint City…”

Shi Lan murmured the name under her breath as she led her horse toward the city gate.

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After a simple inspection by the gate guards, the two of them entered the city. Patrols of black-armored soldiers could be seen everywhere.

Shi Lan quickly estimated that Starpoint City was at least five to six times the size of Tenglong City.

There were very few pedestrians on the streets, and the few people they did see were all hurrying along.

After circling around for a bit, the two of them found an inn. After so long traveling in the wild, Shi Lan could hardly remember what a proper bed and a hot bath felt like.

She knocked on the counter, waking the dozing innkeeper behind it.

The innkeeper, a man in his sixties, lifted his eyelids, yawned, and said, “Honored guests, we’ve no food or drink left. If you’re looking for a room, feel free to go upstairs. Any empty room is yours, free of charge.”

“Shopkeeper, did something happen in Starpoint City? Can you tell us about it?” Shi Lan frowned slightly at his indifferent attitude.

“It’s all because of those demonic beasts,” the innkeeper sighed heavily.

“The Demon Suppression Army has fully taken over Starpoint City. All supplies are being centralized. The original residents have either fled as refugees or are being sent away in batches. I reckon it’ll be my turn soon enough.”

No wonder the city was so large, yet so empty of people.

“Now, there’s only this old bag of bones left in the inn. If you don’t mind, stay as long as you like. There’s a well in the back courtyard—draw your own water. If you’re looking for a place to eat, though, you’d best try somewhere else.”

Shi Lan thanked the innkeeper, carried her luggage upstairs, and picked an empty room.

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Shi Feng led the horses into the back courtyard of the inn, settled them, then headed out again to gather information.

Once she’d put her luggage away, Shi Lan went downstairs and asked the innkeeper to let her use the kitchen. She boiled several pots of water and finally enjoyed a long, hot bath. Out on the road, even a hot bath was a luxury.

Shi Feng finished asking around and soon returned to the inn.

“Young master, we should set out for the Sacred Martial Immortal Sect’s territory tomorrow.”

“Why the rush?”

“Starpoint City is too dangerous. Just the day before yesterday, Yellow Sand City, nine hundred li to the northwest, was overrun by a beast tide. The tide could reach here at any time.”

Shi Lan nodded at that. “We’ll do as you say. How far is it to the Sacred Martial Immortal Sect from here?”

“Roughly ninety thousand li.”

“Ninety thousand li?! How long are we supposed to walk for that?” Shi Lan was startled by the distance and did a quick count on her fingers. Wasn’t that like circling the earth more than once?

Shi Feng shook his head with a smile. “It won’t take that long. I can fly on my weapon and cover two thousand li a day. We can reach it in about a month and a half.”

Only then, with his reminder, did Shi Lan abruptly remember that Shi Feng could fly. He’d been walking behind her this whole time, and she had been so absorbed in cultivation that she’d almost forgotten that little detail.