Volume 1, Chapter 351 – Important Figure

Central Heaven Domain, Tiancang Prefecture.

A figure came to a halt in midair.

Shi Lan lifted her eyes and looked toward the extreme south. That heaven-spanning aura had already completely vanished without a trace.

In the end, she had still faded away…

The thoughts rising in Shi Lan’s heart made her feel somewhat sorrowful. She had not spent long with Linglong, yet for some reason, she had sensed something unusual from her.

The words Linglong had spoken then once again echoed in her ears.

“We will meet again…”

“In the past, or in the future…”

Past and future already touched upon time and space. Shi Lan did not understand what Linglong had meant, but perhaps…

Tianbai, in his true form reduced to less than a foot in height, crouched on Shi Lan’s shoulder. His eyes turned slightly, and he keenly sensed her low spirits. Unable to resist, he gently rubbed against her cheek.

Shi Lan came back to herself, patted Tianbai’s head, suppressed some of the thoughts in her heart, and headed toward the nearest city within the range of her divine sense.

Her foremost priority now was to figure out exactly where she was and see whether she could find her family. After that, she needed to look for Wu Lingkong’s whereabouts.

It had already been quite some time since they had parted in Xianwu City.

Now that her cultivation had stepped into the Spirit Transformation Realm, Shi Lan’s understanding of spatial laws had deepened even further. With a single step, she was already dozens of miles away, as if she were using the legendary great divine ability of shrinking the earth to an inch.

While hurrying on her way, Shi Lan pulled up the system panel and examined the changes in herself. Sometimes, when the state of her body changed, the system might understand it even more clearly than she did.

[Host: Shi Lan]

[Cultivation: Martial Path: mid-stage Myriad Phenomena Realm; Immortal Path: early-stage Spirit Transformation Realm]

[Physique: Innate Spiritual Body, Divine Phoenix Body, True Martial Undying Body (First Layer)]

[Techniques: Yuqing Creation Art (Fourth Layer), Vajra Divine Fist (Major Mastery), Jade Tempering Art (Perfection), Heaven Extremity Seal (Minor Mastery), Spirit-Burning Art (Incomplete), Tiancang Spirit Profound Scripture (Fifth Layer)]

[Divine Abilities: Heaven’s Eye Qi-Sight (Three Stars), Black Domain (Seven Stars), Howl at the Moon (Five Stars), Divine Phoenix Wings (Six Stars)]

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[Strength Evaluation: just beginning to grasp the basics]

[Reputation: 7,964,856 (famed through the three realms)]

[World Coordinates: minor worlds 700, mid worlds 90, great worlds 13.]

[Current World Owned: minor world x1]

[Current Space-Time Coordinates: Lingyang Starfield, Lingyang Realm, Taishi Calendar Year 48928]

[Current Remaining Energy: 2.94 units of nine-star energy.]

Shi Lan’s current strength was already worlds apart from what it had once been, and the system’s evaluation of her power had changed yet again. Her reputation was still steadily increasing. At the same time, she could sense that the spirit body she had left standing at the Tianyan Sect outpost on Yunyan Star had already gathered a considerable amount of incense and aspiration power.

The most obvious change was that among her techniques there was now an additional Tiancang Spirit Profound Scripture. If nothing unexpected had happened, it was undoubtedly the nameless immortal scripture in her mind.

Within a few breaths, a city that was not especially large had already come into view.

“Guyun City…”

Shi Lan sensed it for a moment, and suddenly joy appeared on her face. She no longer suppressed the fluctuations of her aura and headed straight for the center of the city.

A magnificent hall over a hundred zhang tall stood in the central district of the city. In front of the hall stood a stone stele more than ten zhang high. There were no words carved on it, yet with a single glance, layer upon layer of illusory names appeared upon its surface.

Battle Merit Hall. Heroic Spirit Stele…

The reason Shi Lan was pleased was that through this place, she might be able to use the Demon-Suppressing Army’s network directly and trace Shi Tianlu’s whereabouts through the Demon-Suppressing Token.

Within the Demon-Suppressing Army, looking for someone here did not require battle merit or any other price. This was also a form of consideration from the Imperial Court.

After entering the Battle Merit Hall, she hurriedly glanced over the empty first floor, then went straight to the second.

There were not many people on the second floor. Aside from a few scattered martial artists, there were only several soldiers in armor patrolling the area.

Shi Lan walked up to a counter and took out her pale golden Demon-Suppressing Token, handing it over.

“I want to find someone.”

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Behind the wooden counter stood a man and a woman, chatting idly. The man was a little over thirty. The woman looked no more than sixteen, and the way her eyes moved gave her a clever, lively air.

The moment they saw Shi Lan’s Demon-Suppressing Token, both of them turned serious and bowed with fists clasped.

“Greetings, General!”

The Demon-Suppressing Army had a strict hierarchy. A pale golden Demon-Suppressing Token belonged exclusively to upper third-rank Demon-Suppressing Generals. Figures of this level could command armies of several hundred thousand on the battlefield. Their authority was immense, and with the Imperial Court backing them, even ordinary Heaven-Man Realm mighty figures would not dare offend them lightly.

The young woman secretly glanced at Shi Lan several times, and her heart could not help pounding wildly. She had not been in the Battle Merit Hall for long, and the highest-ranking person she had ever seen was only a commander of ten thousand men.

People of that level were usually already middle-aged, and because they spent their lives at the frontier with blades at their throats, they tended to look more weathered than ordinary martial artists. Compared to them, Shi Lan looked absurdly young.

Both of them remained respectful, showing not the slightest hint of disrespect because of Shi Lan’s appearance. The battle merit within the Demon-Suppressing Army could not be faked.

“May I ask, General, whom you are looking for?”

After verifying Shi Lan’s identity information against the Demon-Suppressing Token, the man asked.

“My family.”

“Please wait a moment.”

The man nodded in understanding, respectfully returned the token with both hands, and turned to leave.

The young woman lowered her head slightly, looked once at Shi Lan, then glanced again at the Demon-Suppressing Token, a trace of admiration hidden in her eyes.

In less than the time it took to drink a cup of tea, the man returned and handed over a sealed letter.

“Your family’s current location is inside.”

“Thank you.”

Relief loosened Shi Lan’s heart, and she thanked him.

“It was nothing.”

The man shook his head slightly and smiled.

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“I wish you a swift reunion with your family.”

Beside him, the young woman seemed to think of something, and the light in her eyes dimmed somewhat as she drifted into a daze.

Shi Lan glanced at the girl, and suddenly her gaze focused. There was something faintly familiar about the girl’s brows and eyes, yet for a moment she could not remember why.

Thud, thud, thud…

Heavy footsteps sounded from the stairway. Shi Lan came back to herself and looked up. A youth of about eighteen had entered from the stairwell. He had thick brows, tiger-like eyes, broad shoulders, and a narrow waist, giving him a somewhat heroic bearing.

His cultivation was at the ninth stage of the Body Tempering Realm. For someone his age, that was not outstanding talent, but neither was it ordinary.

The youth’s appearance reminded Shi Lan of Shi Qinghu. Looking down at the sealed letter in her hand, she suddenly felt eager to return home.

She thought no more about it and immediately turned to leave.

…

“Brother!”

After Shi Lan left, the young woman’s face lit up with excitement. She called out to the youth who had just come in, ran out from behind the counter, and grabbed his arm, her expression full of delight.

“I just saw an important figure!”

“Oh? What important figure?” The youth rubbed her head, his eyes full of affection.

“That pretty elder sister just now. She’s a Demon-Suppressing General!”

The youth’s gaze shifted, and he turned to look at the staircase leading downward.

“That really is an important figure…”

“Brother, do you think our father should be a Centurion by now?” The girl’s thoughts jumped quickly, and she abruptly changed the subject.

Seeing the expectant look on her face, the youth’s expression stiffened slightly, and he said in a low voice,

“He probably is…”

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“I heard the fighting over there is already finished. When will he come back too…”

“Soon…” The youth’s expression grew even more awkward, revealing a trace of embarrassment.

“Ahem… all right, Xiaoxing, stop pestering your brother.”

The middle-aged man stepped forward, interrupting the two, and looked at the youth as he asked,

“What did you come here for today?”

The youth clenched his fists, looked at the middle-aged man, and said in a deep voice,

“Uncle Tian, today I have come of age.”

The middle-aged man’s expression turned a little dazed, and he murmured,

“Eighteen already…”

A moment later, he came back to himself, frowned, and asked,

“You’ve thought it through?”

“I want to join the Demon-Suppressing Army…”

The youth’s gaze was steady, without the slightest wavering.

The middle-aged man looked as if he wanted to say something, but in the end he only sighed.

“Wait here.”

The girl said nothing more, her eyes full of joy. In her heart, being able to join the Demon-Suppressing Army was a special kind of honor.

A moment later, a Demon-Suppressing Token was placed before the youth.

Without the slightest hesitation, the youth bit his fingertip and used a drop of blood to bind it.

Within the blank Demon-Suppressing Token, the three characters Huangfu Chi gradually appeared.