The First Sage of Military Strategists

After a while, an astonishing aura suddenly erupted from Nian Wanxiu's body.

"rise!"

He quickly reached out and tapped his body repeatedly, producing a series of crackling sounds. Blood mist burst forth from his body, transforming into various ferocious and strange beasts.

Then, even more blood and energy burst forth from Nian Wanxiu's body, transforming into even more ferocious beasts. The number of these beasts increased rapidly, reaching a thousand in the blink of an eye.

"go!"

At this moment, he let out a low shout, and with a whoosh, thousands of ferocious beasts dispersed into twelve streams, each disappearing into the bodies of twelve people around him.

Shi Chen and the others all showed pain on their faces. The shadow of the ferocious beast entered their bodies and immediately turned into a thick blood mist, enveloping their entire bodies, and then suddenly stabbed into a certain acupoint.

Click!

Everyone clearly felt that acupoints in their bodies had been forcibly opened, and a surge of secret power flowed out, surging through their entire bodies.

This Thousand Spirits Sacrifice was actually Nian Wanxiu sacrificing his own blood and energy cultivation to forcibly open the acupoints of others. Such behavior violated the way of cultivation.

Shi Chen and the others felt a chill run down their spines when they saw this scene. To gain such power in this way must come with enormous risks and costs. However, since Nian Wanxiu didn't mention it, they had no way to ask and no other choice.

As time went by, Shi Chen and the others began to tremble slightly.

It hurts, it hurts so much, it's like my soul has been shattered, no, it's a million times more painful than that.

"what!"

Bang!
One of them let out a scream as his body exploded, turning into a cloud of blood mist that dissipated into the world.

"If you can't withstand it, you will die! The Thousand Spirits Sacrifice is indeed painful. Once your will collapses, the power poured into your body will become uncontrollable, causing devastating damage to your body and soul."

Upon hearing this, Shi Chen took a deep breath and gritted his teeth to persevere.

Bang!
Immediately afterwards, the second person's body also exploded, and blood splattered everywhere.

Shi Chen closed his eyes, calmed his mind and endured, trying his best to stay clear-headed.

It is unknown how much time has passed, but suddenly, the overwhelming pressure dissipated, and all the pain receded like a tide.

Shi Chen opened his eyes and slowly exhaled a breath of fresh air. He felt an astonishing power surging within his body, which opened up over a thousand acupoints in one breath.

As his physique transformed and his martial arts realm increased dramatically, the poisonous pills that had been spreading throughout his body were also cleared out.

“Now that you have the strength to fight head-on with a Narrative Transformation Realm cultivator, I need you to help me search for the whereabouts of the other Primordial Ancient Seals,” Nian Wanxiu said in a deep voice.

"Yes, my lord!"

Of the eight, two died, while the remaining six all experienced a significant increase in strength.

“Remember not to have any wicked thoughts. The Thousand Spirits Sacrifice will leave an indelible mark on your bodies. No matter where you flee to, I will be able to sense you. If anyone has any wicked thoughts, I can send you to your death with a single thought,” Nian Wanxiu said coldly.

Shi Chen and the others felt a chill run down their spines. They did indeed sense something was wrong. Although their strength had increased, it felt as if there were living things wriggling in their internal acupoints. This feeling was very strange.

“We will certainly be loyal to you, sir,” Xu Yan replied immediately.

"I doubt any of you would dare betray me." Nian Wanxiu sneered. "Disperse. Let's set off now. Whoever can find the Primordial Ancient Seal for me will be richly rewarded."

As he spoke, a thought flashed through his mind, and strands of magical energy pierced into the minds of the people around him. Immediately, a large amount of information appeared in their minds, which turned out to be a series of intelligence reports about the whereabouts of the Seven Primordial Ancient Seals.

“Some of this intelligence is true and some is false, and you need to verify it one by one!” Nian Wanxiu added.

"As ordered."

Shi Chen and the others soared into the air and vanished without a trace. "Beast King, the Primordial Ancient Seal of the Gluttonous Demon is now in Han Qing's hands. With your strength, snatching it from him would be a piece of cake," Lei Wanlong suddenly said.

Nian Wanxiu glanced at him: "What? You want me to kill Han Qing? Put away your thoughts. There are many who want to kill Han Qing. Why should I get involved? Besides, Han Qing was able to kill the Silver Emperor, so his strength must be considerable. I will not take action until I have figured out the upper limit of his strength."

Lei Wanlong, his true thoughts exposed, suddenly coughed and said, "Lord Nian is right."

He harbored resentment towards Han Qing and indeed wanted to use Nian Wanxiu to eliminate Han Qing. Unfortunately, Nian Wanxiu was extremely cautious, while Yin Huang was reckless in comparison.

...

Time flies.

In the blink of an eye, half a year had passed since Han Qing returned from Western Mang.

In the past six months, the world situation has been unusually calm, with no earth-shattering events occurring.

Inside the Yuelu Academy.

Han Qingmai walked along a winding path paved with bluestone slabs inside the academy, flanked by a quiet bamboo grove.

A small silver dragon, about an inch long, hovered around his fingertip, constantly flashing and changing position, sometimes appearing on his fingertip, sometimes on his left arm, and sometimes on his right shoulder.

This thunder dragon originated from the Nine Extreme Thunder Pool. After painstakingly integrating the power of the True Spirit of the Void into the Nine Extreme Thunder Pool, each of the thunder dragons within it gained the ability to traverse the void, further enhancing their combat strength.

However, in terms of martial arts realm, he still hasn't taken the final step to achieve the myriad apertures.

Han Qing believed that as long as he could achieve the Myriad Apertures, he would be invincible in this world, and all the powerful beings from the Upper Realm, the Emperor Yu, and the Heavenly Demons would be wiped out one by one.

Just as he was pondering this, a figure flew down from not far away; it was Qi Guanzi.

Compared to six months ago, Qi Guanzi's strength has greatly improved, his aura is more profound, and his martial arts and magic realms have both increased significantly.

Not only him, but many practitioners at Yuelu Academy have also taken a big step forward.

This is because Han Qing has passed on a large number of martial arts secrets he has learned to everyone, and he also spends a certain amount of time every day answering their questions.

Under Han Qing's careful guidance, as long as one's aptitude is not too poor, one's strength will be greatly improved.

"Dean, something has happened in Kyoto!" Qi Guanzi landed with a solemn expression.

"What is it?" Han Qing asked calmly.

“Three days ago, demonic energy enveloped the imperial city, completely isolating it from the outside world. Now, the demonic energy is expanding, and a large number of people are fleeing outside the city,” Qi Guanzi said.

"Demonic energy?" Han Qing frowned. "If demonic energy devours the capital, the Great Yu Dynasty will be completely finished. What are the Emperor of Yu and Han Yi planning?"

"My lord, could it be that the people from the upper realm have some kind of plan? They don't care about the life or death of the Great Yu," Qi Guanzi guessed.

Han Qing pondered for a moment: "No matter what, I have to go to the capital. This great change will inevitably cause great turmoil throughout the world. I want to see what kind of schemes Emperor Yu is up to."

“I think we should wait and see. I think it won’t be long before more detailed information comes out from the capital. If we go now, we might fall into a trap,” Qi Guanzi said in a low voice.

"It's alright, I have my own decision," Han Qing said. He then took flight and headed straight for the capital.

at this time.

Kyoto.

The once luxurious and prosperous imperial city has become another world—silent, cold, and shrouded in darkness.

Anyone below the level of a Martial Saint who dares to step inside will immediately be corrupted by demonic energy, their soul shattered, and their body transformed into a demonic corpse. (End of Chapter)