The most secure job in Dajin

Chapter 396, Ten Years

The shocking revelation from the Vermilion Bird Army roster alerted Hua Changxi to a major upheaval within the Vermilion Bird Army, causing her considerable distress.

But now, she can't leave this chaotic chicken-shaped space at all. In addition, the two super hidden dangers, Chu Junshan and Zhu Yan, have not been resolved yet, which makes her even more annoyed.

Hua Changxi tried to calm herself down, her gaze turning to the other end of the space, where Chu Junshan and Zhu Yan were healing and recovering.

'Take care of these two first, then figure out a way to get out.'

Hua Changxi made a quick decision and immediately began to execute it, unleashing the 'Law of Heaven and Earth' supernatural power.

After her nearly thousand-foot-tall Dharma form manifested, she began to stride toward Chu Junshan and Zhu Yan, swinging her fire axe to slash at the spatial barrier as she went.

"Bang, bang, bang~"

The boundary wall trembled violently from the chopping of the fire axe; the chaotic space inside also trembled from the movement of Hua Changxi's Dharma form.

Zhu Yan and Chu Junshan felt the vibration in the space, and their expressions became extremely solemn.

Chu Junshan sneered, "We haven't even gone to seek revenge on Hua Changxi yet, but Hua Changxi has already taken the initiative to attack us." As he spoke, he turned to look at Zhu Yan, whose expression was inscrutable.

"There is no way out for either of us."

Just as Hua Changxi was traversing the chaotic space of the chicken egg, preparing to deal with Chu Junshan and Zhu Yan, the situation in Nanxiang County outside was changing rapidly and undercurrents were surging.

The appearance of the Wutong Forest has attracted too many cultivators.

Even though the existence of the spatial rift keeps most people out of the Wutong Forest, countless fearless people still venture deep into the forest every day, risking being cut to death by the spatial rift, hoping to try their luck.

Even though no one came out alive, it did not dampen the enthusiasm of the crowd.

Although the sycamore grove attracted the attention of most people, wars still broke out in some other, less-noticed areas.

Of course, there was no large-scale unrest on the surface, but in secret, cultivators were dying and being injured every day, and the number was not small.

Among them, the Zhuque Army, which was responsible for maintaining order in Nanxiang County, suffered the most severe hostility.

The reason is simple: none of the factions want to see the Vermilion Bird Army grow too fast.

The Vermilion Bird Army is the most legitimate army to govern Nanxiang City. Once the overall strength of the Vermilion Bird Army is improved, and with the Vermilion Bird Army guarding and protecting it, it will be no easy task for any party to seek resources and territory in Nanxiang City.

Of the top ten powers in the Central Continent, the five holy lands have long been monopolized by top-tier noble families, making it difficult for other forces to get involved. Currently, the only ones they can obtain are Xuanyuan City and Sixiang City.

With the Five Generals of Xuanyuan stationed in Xuanyuan City, no force dared to act recklessly.

That leaves only Four Symbols City as an option.

Of the four cities, the Southern Elephant City shows the most obvious signs of recovery.

As a result, all the cultivators turned their attention to this place, and most of them were determined to obtain cultivation resources and seize a piece of land of their own.

Although the cultivators will not openly confront the Vermilion Bird Army, they will all choose to secretly kill them.

Preventing the Vermilion Bird Army from growing stronger has become an unspoken understanding among cultivators from all sides.

The covert assassination is a conspiracy by various parties to deal with the Vermilion Bird Army; they also have overt strategies to deal with the Vermilion Bird Army.

The reason given was that "the Vermilion Bird Army is the most regular garrison force in Nanxiang County," and that the Vermilion Bird Army was required to do everything in its power to resist the Phoenix Clan of demons.

The Wutong Forest is one of the many blessed lands in Nanxiang City. Now that the Phoenix Clan wants to take it over, the Vermilion Bird Army will resist without any outside instigation.

Therefore, after the appearance of the Wutong Forest, the Vermilion Bird Army often clashed with the Phoenix Clan in order to drive away the demons of the Phoenix Clan.

In addition, after all the attention was diverted to the Wutong Forest, Prince Shou, who was eager to seize the Ghost Fire Well, began to secretly reach out to the Vermilion Bird Army again.

On the surface, the Phoenix Clan was there to resist, while various forces were secretly plotting against them. In addition, Prince Shou launched occasional sneak attacks, which led to the Vermilion Bird Army suffering heavy casualties.

"Has the Palace Master still not replied?"

In the Lingguang Hall, all the stewards and captains gathered together, each with a very solemn expression.

"It's been ten years. The Palace Master hasn't shown himself for ten years."

Yun You glanced at the worried crowd, thought for a moment, and said, "The Palace Master wouldn't not show up for no reason; she must have been delayed by something."

Duan Jishan continued, "We don't know when the Palace Master will appear. We'll have to solve the chaos in Nanxiang County ourselves."

Yang Zhaoye looked over and said, "Recently, more and more members of the Vermilion Bird Army have gone missing. Should we postpone sending people out to patrol?"

Duan Jishan shook his head: "No, there are too many cultivators lingering in Nanxiang County. If the Vermilion Bird Army doesn't step in to maintain order, they will cause a lot of trouble, and then the ordinary people will suffer again."

Yunyou: "The missing Vermilion Bird Army must be related to the mass graves in the southeast region. Those mass graves are suspected to be related to the Ghost Clan."

"The Ghost Clan's smuggling into the human world is a grave taboo. I think we can seek help from the Heavenly Department and the Xuanyuan Palace."

Yang Zhaoye immediately snorted coldly: "Seek help from the Heavenly Department and the Xuanyuan Mansion? I think we should forget about it."

"Over the years, various forces have been secretly targeting the Vermilion Bird Army, causing heavy casualties. I don't believe that the Heavenly Department and the Xuanyuan Mansion were completely unaware of this, but did they step in to stop it?"

Upon hearing this, Yun You fell silent.

After a moment, Duan Jishan looked at Yang Zhaoye and said, "How about this, I will take charge of dealing with the Phoenix Clan outside the Wutong Forest; you will take charge of inspecting Nanxiang County."

"Given the high frequency of Suzaku Army disappearances, from now on, each patrol team will consist of 5,000 people, and no one should be separated. We would rather patrol for a longer period of time than give the Ghost Clan another chance to launch a sneak attack."

Yun You then spoke up: "There are only a few dozen brand-new Vermilion Bird Tokens left. When going out on patrol in the future, each patrol team should carry at least three tokens." The Palace Master retrieved a total of five thousand Vermilion Bird Tokens. In the past ten years, due to the numerous attacks suffered by the Vermilion Bird Army, most of the distributed Vermilion Bird Tokens have become unusable.

Yang Zhaoye nodded helplessly: "That's all we can do for now."

Just then, Xie Hanzhang's mind-reading ability trembled. She picked it up and her face immediately darkened: "Three fire phoenixes are attacking villages and towns in the southeast region. Several villages have been devoured by them."

Upon hearing this, Yang Zhaoye immediately stood up and pointed to five centurions: "Gather the troops, we'll go and slaughter those three beasts right away."

"Wait a minute."

Xie Hanzhang stopped the person with a solemn expression: "The southeastern region is adjacent to the mass grave. The Phoenix Clan is eating people on a large scale there. I'm afraid there might be some kind of conspiracy."

Yang Zhaoye: "Even if there's a conspiracy, we have to go. We can't just let the Phoenix Clan's demon race devour all the people there."

Soon, the troops were assembled, and Yang Zhaoye led five thousand Vermilion Bird soldiers away from Lingguang Palace.

Just in case, Duan Jishan also led his commanders to the Wutong Forest to join the 20,000 Vermilion Bird Army stationed there, in order to prevent the Phoenix Clan from taking the opportunity to cause trouble.

When Yang Zhaoye led the Vermilion Bird Army to find the three fire phoenixes, the village they were in had already been engulfed in flames. On the threshing ground outside the village, the three fire phoenixes were picking and choosing to eat the villagers who were lying in pools of blood, screaming in agony.

"Kill these three bastards!"

Looking at the five thousand Vermilion Bird soldiers charging towards them, the three-headed fire phoenix revealed a mocking look in its eyes.

The leading fire phoenix of the Spirit Platform Realm pointed to a patch of ground emanating black energy and said, "This time we've attracted thousands of Vermilion Bird troops for you. You must help us send ten more fire phoenixes into the Wutong Forest."

The black mist surged, and a voice rang out: "Ten is not enough, one at most."

Fire Phoenix: "One is too few, at least three, otherwise..."

Black Qi: "Okay, three then."

Fire Phoenix: "Alright, enough nonsense. The Vermilion Bird Army is charging over. The three of us will attack head-on, while you take cover and make your move. Let's finish this quickly."

After saying that, the three fire phoenixes spread their wings and rushed towards Yang Zhaoye and his group.

"Formation!"

Knowing that there was a powerful demon at the Spirit Platform Realm, Yang Zhaoye dared not confront it head-on and immediately ordered the Vermilion Bird Army behind him to form a battle formation: "Everyone, do not separate."

They carried three Vermilion Bird Tokens, which could withstand nine attacks from the Spirit Platform Realm demon race. As long as they wore down the leading Spirit Platform Realm fire phoenix, the remaining two Nascent Soul Realm fire phoenixes would be no threat.

However, this time, the Fire Phoenix was much stronger than any they had encountered before.

After more than ten years of fighting with the Vermilion Bird Army, the Phoenix Clan had roughly figured out the attack range of the Vermilion Bird Order. The three-headed fire phoenix did not attack at close range, but instead hovered in the sky, scattering a sky full of fire with each flap of its wings.

Fireballs rained down on the Vermilion Bird Army.

Even though the Vermilion Bird Army outnumbered the others, they couldn't withstand the impact of the fireball.

The Fire Phoenix at the Spirit Platform Realm can also launch soul attacks; when it roars to the sky, the sound waves shake the mountains. When its wings are fully spread, its wingspan covers the entire battlefield.

The Vermilion Bird Army, whose cultivation was at or below the Core Formation Realm, simply couldn't withstand the attack. In a short time, they even struggled to maintain their formation.

"Hmph, what a load of crap, the Vermilion Bird Army. They don't even have a decent weapon. If it weren't for the Demon Saint's objection, the Phoenix Clan would have already attacked and occupied the Lingguang Palace."

"Aren't you going to make a move?!"

As soon as these words were spoken, a large amount of black gas seeped out from the ground, boiling and churning, and transformed into a black skull.

The skull opened its huge mouth, about to bite the Vermilion Bird Army.

"Boom~"

Just then, a deafening roar resounded, echoing in the ears of all living beings in Nanxiang County.

Immediately afterwards, a deep rumble came from the depths of the earth in Nanxiang County, as if a giant beast that had been sleeping for hundreds of millions of years was about to awaken.

The distant mountains began to tremble slightly, and rocks tumbled down.

Lingguang Palace, Wutong Forest, Xiangcheng in Nanxiang County, and all the villages and towns within Nanxiang County were captivated by the commotion.

The black skull and the three fire phoenixes were startled and completely forgot about the Vermilion Bird Army, staring blankly at the sky.

The void in the southwest of Nanxiang County began to distort and ripple, spewing out large amounts of blood-red gas.

In the area shrouded in blood-red gas, the human race clearly felt their bodies strengthened. The elderly, weak, sick, and disabled, who lacked qi and blood, felt an unprecedented sense of ease and vitality after absorbing the blood-red gas.

Meanwhile, the beasts in the mountains and forests, after absorbing the blood-red gas, were growing larger and larger. Some of the intelligent beasts roared to the sky, as if ancient memories in their bloodlines had been awakened, looking at the center of the anomaly with both fear and longing.

On the threshing ground outside the village, villagers whose flesh had been burned by the three fire phoenixes watched in horror as their wounds were repaired at a speed visible to the naked eye.

At the center of the densest crimson gas, a chaotic, black, egg-shaped space gradually expanded and slowly materialized in the air.

In the Chicken Space, there was no light, no sound, only boundless darkness.

In that desolate, gray depths, suddenly, a ball of light appeared and began to burn.

At first it was just a spark, then the flames suddenly burst forth, dispelling all the chaos and revealing a towering, fiery red figure holding a fire axe.

(End of this chapter)