Volume 1, Chapter 96 – Direction

A flicker of spiritual light leapt from Shi Lan’s sleeve, instantly turning into a huge bow nearly as tall as a person.

Summoning the Divine Cloud Bow, Shi Lan did not stop circulating her Innate true qi, continuing to pour it into the bow.

The Divine Cloud Bow swelled again, finally becoming a massive bow nearly four zhang long, hanging in midair.

Wu Lingkong let out a breath of relief. With a bow-type magic artifact, things were much easier to handle.

Shi Lan stepped forward, Innate true qi surging out as she slowly drew the bowstring. A qi arrow nearly ten zhang long took shape bit by bit.

A vast wave of force swept out, blowing away several feet of snow all around and revealing a stone wall mottled with dark green moss.

Shi Lan’s gaze sharpened. She stared intently at the circling Wind-Snow Kites overhead, fingers tightening on the string as she pushed her Innate true qi to run even faster. She had no way of judging the exact strength of these avian beasts, so she had to go all out to be safe.

The qi arrow, originally close to ten zhang long, swelled again until it was over ten zhang.

When the bowstring was drawn to its limit, Shi Lan released.

Thrum!

The qi arrow, over ten zhang long, tore through the air with a ripping howl, wrapped in rolling waves of force that surged tens of zhang high into the sky!

“Scree!”

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The Wind-Snow Kites circling above reacted. The drifting snowflakes condensed into bolts of ice and shot head-on toward the qi arrow.

The ice bolts struck the arrow like snow falling into boiling water, instantly evaporating into white mist.

The arrow did not slow. It punched through the right wing of a Wind-Snow Kite, and the unleashed Innate true qi ripped half its body apart in an instant!

The corpse of the Wind-Snow Kite fell from the sky like a kite with its string cut, slamming into the mountainside and bursting into a spray of blood, which the howling wind and snow froze into shards of ice in the blink of an eye.

Shi Lan’s movements did not pause at all. She drew the bowstring again, condensed another qi arrow, and sent it screaming into the sky.

Crack!

The string snapped back with an explosive sound, qi waves surging up. Another Wind-Snow Kite dropped from the clouds with the arrow.

Before Shi Lan could loose a third shot, the remaining Wind-Snow Kites scattered a shower of ice bolts, then twisted their wings and vanished into the storm.

Shi Lan had no desire to chase them. She put away the Divine Cloud Bow, turned her head toward Wu Lingkong, and said, “Since flying demonic beasts are lingering nearby, there must be a beast horde in the area. Once the storm eases a bit, we should set out as soon as possible.”

Wu Lingkong nodded. “Alright.”

The two quickly returned to the cave and handed out the first-grade spiritual materials.

Martial artists ate astonishing amounts. Even though they had just had a round of roasted meat not long ago, that still hadn’t counted as a real feast for everyone.

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These spiritual materials tasted awful when eaten straight, so everyone took some more beast meat and cooked up some simple medicinal stews.

Shi Lan sat by the fire, spread out the map, and, after confirming where their group was, pointed at the map and said to Wu Lingkong:

“We should be within the territory of a sixth-grade power here, Rakshasa Manor. I came from a spot a bit over thirty thousand li to the northwest, and then ran into Wang Ning and the others near the Flying Star Sect’s garrison, about ten thousand li from here.”

Wu Lingkong studied the map, pondered for a while, then said, “I’ve been in this area for nearly two months, and at least a third of the region on this map has active demonic beasts, in no small numbers. And aside from you all, I haven’t run into any other Demon-Suppressing Army units.”

Shi Lan frowned slightly. That made the situation in this region sound anything but optimistic.

“We can’t keep heading west. If we run head-on into a beast horde led by a demonic beast in the Earth Fiend Realm, or even the Heavenly Astral Realm or higher, we won’t even leave corpses behind.”

As she spoke, Wu Lingkong’s eyes swept over the map, and her finger landed on the southeastern edge.

“We’re going here.”

Shi Lan looked at the small characters at the border of the map and slowly nodded.

“I’d heard of the Sacred Martial Immortal Sect back when I was in the Central Heaven Domain. A second-grade sect, with a Human Emperor sitting in town. It’s bound to be safe there. Let’s head for it.”

“But if the Demon-Suppressing Decree’s overseers catch us avoiding battle, won’t we be heavily punished?”

Wu Lingkong shook her head.

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“That’s not something to worry too much about. Military merit isn’t just for show.

“If the two of us lead this group in that direction, we’re bound to run into demonic beasts along the way, so it doesn’t really count as avoiding battle. And even if the road is smooth the whole way, as long as we help them rack up enough merit first, even if we break a few army regulations, the punishment won’t be too harsh.”

Shi Lan nodded, called Wang Ning and the others over, and asked for their opinions. Wu Lingkong also went to her own subordinates to hear what they thought.

In the end, the result was naturally unanimous. Compared to military merit, both Shi Lan and Wu Lingkong, as well as the rest of the Demon-Suppressing Army, all felt their own lives were more precious.

Besides, if they stayed here holding the line against the beasts, they would only end up being crushed under a beast tide, dying for nothing.

Looking at Shi Lan’s long skirt, Wu Lingkong frowned, then searched through the group for a while before coming back to her with a set of armor in her arms.

“You can’t move properly on horseback in a long dress. Armor will be much more practical.”

Shi Lan lowered her head to look at the White Crane Skirt she was wearing, then glanced at everyone else in their armor and had to admit she looked a bit out of place.

But the White Crane Skirt was still a magic artifact, with far better defense than armor—not to mention it also gave her an extra offensive edge. So she didn’t take it off. She just loosened her belt and cinched the skirt up, turning it into something like a short outfit that fit snugly to her body, then put the armor on over it.

Shi Lan had always just tied her hair up casually with a strip of cloth, letting it hang behind her. She’d never worn a hair crown. This time it was Wu Lingkong lending a hand that finally got her ponytail fixed properly.

When the wind and snow eased a little, Shi Lan and Wu Lingkong led everyone out, setting off on the road toward the Sacred Martial Immortal Sect.

……

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Less than two days after Shi Lan’s group left that mountain peak, they ran into a beast horde of a few hundred demonic beasts.

Shi Lan had originally been about to let Wang Ning and the others take the field, but Wu Lingkong stopped her.

And then Shi Lan got to see how this women’s camp of the Demon-Suppressing Army fought.

Relying on their flood-dragon horses being slightly faster than the beast horde, the not-quite thirty riders of this all-female unit spread out around the herd and harried them constantly with their iron bows.

In just under the time it took for a quarter-hour to pass, the few hundred demonic beasts had all lost the ability to fight. More than half were killed outright, and most of the rest lay on the ground, barely clinging to life.

“Have your people go up and take the merit.” Wu Lingkong waved a hand.

At her words, Wang Ning and the others’ faces darkened slightly. No one said a word. They just looked toward Shi Lan.

Shi Lan was silent for a while, then shook her head. “No need.”

In the end, Wu Lingkong was still a woman and could hardly grasp a man’s pride. If Shi Lan ordered Wang Ning and the others to claim this batch of merit, it would probably bother them for a long time.

Wu Lingkong froze for a moment, glanced at Wang Ning and the others, frowned, then waved her hand and had her own people finish off the remaining demonic beasts.