by Dragon King
“Damn! They sound powerful, but there are just too many of them! They couldn’t be that powerful!” Hao Ren thought.
“The top-ten demon kings rule the ten most powerful forces, and it’s said that each of them has the strength equivalent to or greater than that of that Soul Formation Realm, and they could never die or be killed,” Zhao Hongyu said.
“More powerful than the Soul Formation Realm…” Hao Ren immediately corrected his previous impression.
He had witnessed the great power of the old Grandma and experienced the strength of the old man living in the Kunlun Mountain. Now, he wondered about the power of the ten strongest demon kings in the Demon Sea…
“Of course, we got the information from some small demon kings. In the territory of our East Ocean Dragon Palace, there are dozens of demon kings. They have small forces, and they were squeezed out of the Demon Sea. They had nowhere to go and sought shelter in our East Ocean Dragon Clan,” Zhao Hongyu said slowly.
While they were talking, huge waves suddenly rose from the peaceful ocean.
Hundreds of East Ocean soldiers with long spears stepped on the waves and stabbed toward the surface of the sea.
Suddenly, a dozen or so of black monsters like brutal bulls charged up, and they shot black light toward the soldiers of East Ocean.
Bang! Bang… The hundreds of soldiers fought the dozen or so monsters fiercely and couldn’t gain the upper hand.
One soldier wearing white armor was stabbed by the hard horn of a brutal bull, and blood instantly splashed out. Meanwhile, these monsters ran wild on the sea surface and scattered the formation of the East Ocean soldiers.
They had been fighting at the bottom of the sea, which gave the illusion of peace on the sea surface. As the battle escalated, they rushed out of the sea!
With a wave of his right hand, Hao Ren shot out dozens of sword energies toward the brutal bulls.
The brutal bulls turned to Hao Ren with a red light flashing in their eyes. If Hao Ren had been a mortal instead of a Gen-level cultivator, he would be terrified.
Dang! Dang… Sword energies hit the hard horns of the brutal bulls, and some of them were bounced off.
Also, some sword energies pierced their bodies but couldn’t cut them into pieces, making them even fiercer.
They all rushed toward Hao Ren.
Hao Ren was surprised that his Gen-level sword energies which were equivalent to that of the top-tier Core Formation Realm couldn’t kill these demon beasts.
“Three Talents Heaven Earth! Initiate!”
The 320 sword energies suddenly formed three loops and connected, crashing toward the brutal bulls.
With the five-elemental sword energies connecting, the sword arrays’ powers significantly increased. With an explosion of five-colored light, the arrays cut down all the brutal black bulls.
Splash! Splash… The corpses of the brutal bulls dropped into the ocean.
“Thank you, Dragon Queen, for saving us!” Hundreds of soldiers yelled toward the direction of the River-Mountain Qian-Kun Painting.
“It wasn’t me.” Zhao Hongyu waved her hand. “It’s East Ocean’s Commanding General who saved you!”
Hearing her words, the soldiers all looked at Hao Ren in surprise.
They had been guarding the boundary of the East Ocean and had little information from back home. They didn’t get to attend the dinner banquet during the Dragon God Festival but knew from sources back home that Third Lord was no longer the Commanding General, and the person who took his place was the young Fuma who was also very powerful.
Seeing Hao Ren and hearing the words from Zhao Hongyu, they knew that this young man who helped them was indeed the new Commanding General of East Ocean!
“I have an elixir pill. Take it this moment.” After taking out a Detox Pill from his necklace, Hao Ren handed it to the soldier whose belly had been stabbed open by a demon beast.
The soldier was a tough guy who was still alive despite the big wound in his belly.
Pale-faced, this soldier thought he couldn’t make it, but the Commanding General handed an elixir pill to him.
Although he didn’t know how to make elixir pills, he smelled the intense nature essence from the elixir pill and knew it was not a low-leveled one.
In fact, this elixir pill was a level 4 elixir pill made by Xie Yujia, and it was something the sects on Fifth Heaven would fight for.
“Take it immediately,” Hao Ren urged him when he saw the hesitation on the soldier’s face.
“Thank you, Commanding General!” The soldier looked at Hao Ren gratefully and swallowed the elixir pill.
The moment the elixir pill entered his stomach, the wound began to heal visibly.
Looking at the young and powerful Commanding General, this soldier suddenly burst into tears. “General Liu… General Liu… He…”
The surrounding soldiers all looked sad.
After looking around, Hao Ren saw no general among them and knew the demon beasts must have killed their general.
The guarding of the boundary between the East Ocean and the Demon Sea was the most dangerous task that was shared by the soldiers of East Ocean in turns. Despite all this, some of them would die in the conflicts each year.
The fierce demon beasts in the Demon Sea would launch sneak attacks on the patrolling East Ocean soldiers, and the soldiers couldn’t back off since their retreat would mean dozens of meters of expansion of the Demon Sea’s territory!
It was fortunate that the mighty demon beasts lived in the center of the Demon Sea while the demon beasts living near the boundary were comparatively low-leveled ones.
After a moment of consideration, Hao Ren took out a bottle of elixir pills.
“These are some Essence Replenishment Pills which are beneficial to both cultivations and wound healing. You guys use them according to your needs.”
He placed the porcelain bottle containing the elixir pills into the hand of the soldier who just got wounded, and it was meant for the whole team to share.
Essence Replenishment Pills… The soldiers looked at each other in shock
The people who excelled in cultivation would try to become an elder of the dragon clan, and the ones who were less talented but still stronger were at least generals.
However, the ordinary soldiers couldn’t get more powerful than Zhen-level due to their lack of talent, and they couldn’t get many resources.
That was why they only had heard about the Essence Replenishment Pills but never saw one before, not to mention taking them!
Hua! Hua… After a few seconds of pause, hundreds of soldiers all kneeled before Hao Ren and said “Thank you for giving us the pills, Commanding General! We swear we’ll protect East Ocean with our lives!” The uniform chant resonated in the area.
Not able to face such a great show of respect, Hao Ren immediately returned to Zhao Hongyu’s side and waved at them.
479 Top Ten Demon Kings
Under the gazes of the hundreds of East Ocean soldiers, Hao Ren and Zhao Hongyu headed back on the River-Mountain Qian-Kun Painting.
In fact, it would take them more than one day to circle around the East Ocean Dragon Clan’s territory even on the fast River-Mountain Qian-Kun Painting. By taking Hao Ren to the Immortal Spirit Island on the east boundary of East Ocean, Zhao Hongyu showed him the vast ocean area that was under their control.
After the human cultivators went on and above Fifth Heaven, the land fell to the hands of the dragon cultivators. But even without the newly gained land, the territory of the East Ocean Dragon Clan was still huge.
Even ancient emperors had no more territory than that!
“Can we build array formations around the Immortal Spirit Island?” Hao Ren asked Zhao Hongyu as they stood on the River-Mountain Qian-Kun Painting,
“It’s useless…” Zhao Hongyu shook her head. “The boundary between the Demon Sea and the East Ocean Dragon Clan is very long, and no array formation is big enough to engulf the whole area. Beside
s, even array formations can’t withstand the attacks of the demon beasts.”
After a moment of consideration, she continued, “In fact, the four ocean dragon palaces discussed such an idea as you just mentioned, but sealing up the entire Demon Sea will turn it into a super big prison, and it’s hard to predict the reactions of the top ten demon kings who pretty much control the Demon Sea.”
Hao Ren froze for a moment and knew that his solution was too simple
“The top ten demon kings in the Demon Sea are fighting each other and have no time to deal with the situation of the surrounding areas. But if the four ocean dragon palaces built an array formation around the Demon Sea and turned it into a prison… In fact, the area around the Demon Sea is a battlefield where we train the soldiers. Under the watch of the Dragon God Shrine, the dragon cultivators only battle each other but couldn’t really get that life-and-death experience, and the hundreds of years of peace on First Heaven has weakened the combat ability of the Dragon Tribe. However, as the core combat forces of the Dragon Tribe, the four ocean dragon palaces must maintain their fierce combat abilities, and the Demon Sea was a place that could let the generals and soldiers experience life-and-death situations,” Zhao Hongyu said calmly.
After hearing Zhao Hongyu’s explanation, Hao Ren froze for a moment and then realized that this set up was the best for East Ocean.
It may be a good idea to build array formations to solve the problem permanently with the least casualties, but the troops of East Ocean would gradually lose combat power without enough real battles.
If enemies invaded them one day, how could the troops of East Ocean defend against them?
He suddenly remembered that in Zhao Kuo’s Heavenly Tribulation, tens of thousands of soldiers withstood the heavenly lightning with such great courage. That could only be obtained from life-and-death experience.
“When Zhao Kuo was the Commanding General, he spent most of his time blocking the demon beasts’ attacks and suppressing rebellions. We don’t worry about the more powerful demon beasts, but some small demon kings would try to invade and occupy a portion of the territories of the East Ocean Dragon Clan each year with hundreds and sometimes thousands of demon beasts. Zhao Kuo’s job was to beat them hard and push them back to the Demon Sea.”
Then, Zhao Hongyu turned to look at Hao Ren. “One day, you will go into battles and kill enemies.”
Zhao Kuo who was a master at peak Qian-level, so he had the power to suppress the demon kings who lived at the edge of the Demon Sea and those who had surrendered to the East Ocean Dragon Clan. However, Hao Ren’s current strength…
“Recently, the Demon Sea has been quiet, and the area around it has seen no conflicts in the past five to six years, probably a result of internal fights in the Demon Sea.
“Due to the recent peace, the West Ocean Dragon Clan has the energy and military force to mess with us.” Zhao Hongyu looked angry.
After all, among the four ocean dragon palaces, the West Ocean Dragon Palace under Oldman Zeng’s control was the most aggressive one, and the moment the Demon Sea quieted down, he began to make moves against the East Ocean Dragon Palace.
Meanwhile, Hao Ren thought of something else.
“No matter if it is the Demon Sea or the West Ocean Dragon Clan, strength spoke the loudest on First Heaven.”
“Auntie, is the Kunlun Mountain equivalent to the Nine Dragon Palace on First Heaven?” Hao Ren asked.
“The Kunlun Mountain…” After some thinking, Zhao Hongyu answered, “The Kunlun Mountain is the holy land of the cultivation sects. When the human cultivators moved to Fifth Heaven, only the Kunlun Mountain was left on the First Heaven as the result of negotiations.”
Seeing the bafflement on Hao Ren’s face, she continued, “Strictly speaking, the dragon cultivators occupy the majority of the land and ocean, but there are some other forces around such as the Kunlun Mountain, the Demon Sea, and the Remote Immortal Mountain.
“As the birthplace of the human cultivation, the Kunlun Mountain has always been the forbidden area for the dragon cultivators and ordinary human cultivators. It’s said that only the Soul Formation Realm cultivators are qualified to enter Kunlun.
“The Demon Sea is the territory of the demon beasts, and many high-leveled demon beasts live in there. The demon beasts which can transform into human forms are also called demon cultivators, and the most powerful ones who occupy territories in the deep ocean are demon kings.
“The Remote Immortal Mountains are the immortal islands on the Demon Sea. Despite their origin from the Kunlun Mountain, the people on the islands are far away from the land, and they have almost no connection with the cultivation sects. As a result, they weren’t involved in the great war between the five-elemental dragon cultivators and human cultivation sects. They are on their own and referred to hermit cultivators.”
Soul Formation Realm cultivators, demon cultivators, and hermit cultivators…
After Zhao Hongyu’s explanation, Hao Ren had a clear understanding of their relationships.
According to this classification, Zhen Congming could be called a demon cultivator. However, he had just transformed into the human form, and his realm was between Kan-level and Li-level. Therefore, he was a very weak demon cultivator.
The demon beasts who reached level 10 needed to pass the Heavenly Tribulation before they could transform into humans. Then, they must pass another Heavenly Tribulation when they reached the equivalent of peak Qian-level or Nascent Soul Realm…
As the blessed creatures of the Heavenly Dao, the dragon cultivators were born with dragon cores to help them cultivate.
However, the demon beasts could only cultivate on their own. They had to first obtain intelligence and pass the Heavenly Tribulation before cultivating again. It was much more difficult for them to reach peak Qian-level compared with dragon cultivators.
How mighty are the top ten demon kings who were dominating in the Demon Sea!
“Hehe, don’t worry. The demon beasts and demon kings in the Demon Sea have no interest in the land because of the nature essence intensity in the Demon Sea is much greater than the land. They must stay in the Demon Sea to progress faster.”
Zhao Hongyu said with a smile when she saw the surprised look on Hao Ren’s face.
Hao Ren smiled and thought about Little White who knew nothing but following the girls; it would probably be killed with a slap if it was tossed into the Demon Sea.
Zhao Hongyu turned her fingers slightly, and the River-Mountain Qian-Kun Painting lowered while a red energy sphere appeared automatically, allowing them to dive to the bottom of the ocean.
“Greetings to Dragon Queen!”
Uniformed chants sounded immediately.
Zhao Hongyu put away the River-Mountain Qian-Kun Painting and stood on a rock at the bottom of the ocean.
Hao Ren looked around and found that they were in front of a big military base where over 80 giant military tents were set up.
“This is the newly-appointed Commanding General, Hao Ren,” Zhao Hongyu glanced at Hao Ren by her side and said.
“Greetings to Commanding General!”
Tens of thousands of soldiers and dozens of generals kneeled on one knee and cupped their hands.
“Thanks for your hard work!” After a moment of consideration, Hao Ren yelled back.
Hua! Hua… The soldiers and generals stood up as one.
Compared with the soldiers who attended the banquet in the East Ocean Dragon Palace during the Dragon Boat Festival, these soldiers and generals stationed at the frontier looked sharper.
Each soldier was tightly dressed, and the weapons in their hands were very sharp while the archers kept the bows and arrows with them. Hao Ren looked at them in silent admiration.
As to the generals, some wore white armor, and some wore golden armor; each of them looked serious.
From the looks of it, Hao Ren knew that they didn’t just put on the armors hastily for this temporary occasion.
This base was one of the thousands of military bases around the territory of the East Ocean Dragon Clan. The moment Zhao Hongyu entered the sea, they all stood in lines to greet her, showing that they had been observing the situation above the sea surface all this time.
From this military camp alone, Hao Re could tell that the other thousands of the military bases were similar, and they must have strict military disciplines where all the soldiers and generals were doing their duty well.
Seeing this scene, Hao Ren couldn’t help but admire Zhao Kuo’s strict management of the troops.
“Let’s go,” Zhao Hongyu said.
The River-Mountain Qian-Kun Painting spread out again, carrying Hao Ren and Zhao Hongyu up to the surface of the ocean.
“Farewell, Dragon Queen! Farewell, Commanding General!”
Tens of thousands of soldiers and generals chanted altogether.
Zhao Hongyu turned the River-Mountain Qian-Kun Painting to its fastest speed, and it took them only half an hour to return to Coral Island.
One hour had passed, and the sun had set.
In the vague night scene of the Coral Island, the five-star hotel was brightly lit like a bright conch in the dark night.
Zhao Hongyu didn’t say anything else to Hao Ren since she believed Hao Ren understood what she wanted to tell him.
They took the elevator to the top floor of the hotel.
Yue Yang was drinking wine with the girls in the presidential suite, and she was in a good mood.
Little White moved around her feet, eager for a taste of the wine.
However, only a few licks later, it couldn’t stand still anymore.
“Hongyu, you are back?” Seeing Zhao Hongyu’s return, Yue Yang asked with a smile.
“Yes…” Zhao Hongyu smiled slightly. “Why didn’t you invite me to drink with you?”
“Auntie, cheers!” Lu Linlin immediately picked up one glass and placed it before Zhao Hongyu.
They were all a bit drunk, but they were in a good mood.
“Ren, have a good night,” Zhao Hongyu turned back and said to Hao Ren who stood at the entrance.
“Oh… Ok.” Looking at the red-faced girls, Hao Ren scratched his head and walked to his own suite in loneliness.
