Tang Dynasty Demon Suppression Division

Mr. Mo smiled slightly, dismounted, and exchanged a hard punch with the other man: "Zhang Heizi, you're not dead yet?"

"You're still alive, how could I bear to leave first?" Captain Zhang laughed heartily, then looked at Liu Hongyan, his tone familiar, "Instructor Hongyan, you must be tired from your journey."

Liu Hongyan nodded slightly: "Captain Zhang, thank you for your trouble."

All the trainees watched this scene with curiosity, guessing that Mr. Mo and Captain Zhang must be acquaintances.

"These are all promising students from the academy this year. I brought them here to broaden their horizons and gain some experience," Mr. Mo casually pointed to the students behind him.

Captain Zhang's gaze swept over the group of young men and women with lightning speed, and he nodded with a smile: "Hmm, their spirits are quite good."

He waved his hand and said, "Follow me, let's go through customs."

Upon entering the barbican, a stone platform stands before the passageway leading to the main gate. On the platform is a strangely shaped metal object, resembling an armillary sphere, its surface covered with dense silver runes, and a fist-sized white crystal suspended in its center.

"Everyone, step forward one by one and place your hands on it," an official announced loudly. "This item can detect demons in disguise and is a necessary check for entering the pass."

"Listen carefully, everyone! You must not resist!"

It turned out to be a method for detecting demons in disguise. Li Yuan was initially taken aback, but upon reflection, he found it made perfect sense.

Demons are adept at transformation; if they were to disguise themselves as humans, wouldn't the pass fall without a fight?

The students lined up as instructed, each placing their hands in the designated spot. The crystal consistently emitted a stable white light, showing no abnormalities.

When it was Li Yuan's turn, the white light enveloped him, and the bronze palace deep within his sea of ​​consciousness, which had been silent for many days, rippled slightly before returning to calm.

The change was almost imperceptible, and a strange feeling swept through Li Yuan's heart.

These past few days, he had tried every possible method, but to no avail. Unexpectedly, things have started to move now.

After all trainees had completed their tests, the group passed through the final heavy iron gate and entered the pass.

Following behind Li Yuan, Wu Yu seemed quite interested in the detection method, muttering under her breath, "This thing is great! Why doesn't our academy get one? What if a demon sneaks in?"

He meant no harm, but Li Yuan's heart stirred. He recalled that when he enrolled, it seemed that only his identity documents were simply checked.

Yes, the Divine Martial Academy gathers the youngest geniuses of the Tang Dynasty. If demons were to infiltrate it, the consequences would be unimaginable.

Upon hearing this, Yu Ling'er couldn't help but chuckle. She turned her head, pursed her lips, and spoke with a hint of self-righteousness in her tone.

"Absolutely impossible."

"Why?" Wu Yu asked, puzzled.

Yu Ling'er smiled, "Do you remember the spirit-appraising stone we used to test our talents?"

Wu Yu nodded, but Li Yuan immediately had an answer.

Sure enough, Yu Ling'er continued, "It's not just about testing aptitude; it also has the miraculous effect of detecting demonic aura. If you press your palm on it and it's a demon, it will at least reveal its true form on the spot, or at worst, it will be burned by the spiritual light."

She smiled proudly, "So, anything that passes the Spirit Stone test can absolutely not be a demon in disguise. That's an ironclad rule!"

"I see." Wu Yu suddenly realized.

No wonder the academy is so confident in its entrance exam; I never imagined that the Spirit-Identifying Stone would have a dual effect.

Li Yuan felt much relieved. He had been worried about the bronze palace in his sea of ​​consciousness, fearing it might be related to some evil or heretical sect. Now that it had passed the test of the spirit-appraising stone, it seemed that he had been overthinking it.

But why does it trigger every time a demon is detected?

Is this the only way to activate this bronze palace?

He nodded thoughtfully and thanked Yu Ling'er.

Passing through the heavy gate, the truly majestic pass comes into view.

Unlike the purely military fortress he had imagined, the area inside the pass was well-planned, with wide streets lined with sturdy stone and wood barracks, warehouses, workshops, and even some simple taverns and shops, resembling a small border town.

The soldiers coming and going were all dressed in standard leather armor or light armor, their eyes fixed straight ahead, their steps hurried. Everyone noticed that those ordinary soldiers were all at the Body Tempering Realm, and not a single one had successfully guided their Qi.

Some students, seeing that they were all ordinary martial artists whose cultivation was clearly inferior to their own, couldn't help but reveal a sense of superiority in their eyes.

After all, they were all geniuses chosen from among thousands. Once they entered the Divine Martial Academy, they were destined to become high-ranking cultivators, on a completely different level from these ordinary soldiers.

They crossed the street and began to climb the city wall.

"Look, there seem to be a lot of words carved on that wall over there?" Wu Yu pointed to the distance and said curiously.

The crowd looked in the direction of the sound and saw that the dark blue city wall, which was dozens of feet long, was covered with tiny characters, starting from a height of more than one person and going up to the bottom of the crenellations.

The characters varied in size and depth, some strokes were neat and others were hasty. The slanting sunlight cast long shadows on the engravings of varying depths.

"What's that? A list of merits?" one student wondered curiously.

"That doesn't seem right, there aren't that many names..."

"Could they be the names of the generals who guarded the pass throughout history?"

"Let's go take a look!"

The trainees rushed over excitedly, and the instructors did not stop them, but simply followed silently behind.

Upon closer inspection, one discovers that the names are indeed countless, like a silent swarm of ants, covering a large portion of the wall as far as the eye can see.

Some names have become blurred with the passage of time, while others are relatively clear, as if they were only recently engraved.

"Wang Ergou", "Li Tiezhu", "Zhao Shanhe", "Chen Pingan"...

"Captain Sun", "Team Leader Zhou", "Instructor Liu"...

"Xuanzhenzi", "Huiming", "Liaochen"...

"Why are there so many?" Wu Yu murmured.

The students were all very curious and puzzled. These names seemed to have no connection, and there were no official titles engraved on them. They had no idea what they meant.

Li Yuan watched silently. Having been a soldier in his previous life, he almost immediately guessed the truth.

His gaze swept across the cold stone wall, and he seemed to see young faces. His heart sank.

"These are the names of the victims."

A deep voice rang out, and everyone turned around to see Shen Lian slowly walk to the wall, tilt his head back, staring intently at the densely packed names, his eyes bloodshot.

Then everyone remembered that Shen Lian came from Yumen Pass, a formidable pass that, like Shenwu Pass, guarded the northwestern gateway of the Tang Dynasty.

"Every pass has an unwritten rule that all those who sacrificed their lives, whether soldiers or laborers, would have their names engraved on this Wall of Heroes."

It was the names of all the soldiers who died in battle!

Everyone was struck dumb, frozen in place. The slight sense of superiority they had felt before was shattered by the seemingly endless stream of names before them, leaving only boundless shock.

How many bloody battles took place during the four hundred years of the Tang Dynasty? How many lives were lost, their blood spilled beneath these city walls for the sake of the lights of countless homes behind them, leaving only cold names on the walls in the end?

They might not even have left their names.

Wu Yu's face turned deathly pale, and she staggered back a step. Yu Ling'er couldn't help but cover her mouth, her eyes instantly turning red.

Even Chu Yunhe, who was usually lazy, restrained his usual nonchalance and became solemn.

Li Yuan stood quietly, looking at the wall. He seemed to see the martyrs' cemetery and the monument to the unknown heroes from his previous life.

The same silence, the same heaviness, the same monument forged with lives.

He slowly bent down and bowed deeply to the Wall of Heroes.