Having cultivated myself into an immortal, all I want to do is raise female disciples.

In his memory, it wasn't unusual for anyone at Yuntian Academy to create their own cultivation techniques, except for this Miss Ruoxue...

He quickly coughed twice to banish the impolite thought from his mind, and then tentatively asked, "What kind of boxing style did you create?"

Drunken Fist!

Fang Yan was taken aback: "Huh?"

Zhang Ruoxue smiled and shook the gourd in her hand, saying, "It's a fist technique that can only be used after drinking wine!"

Gu Xingzhuo glanced at the rather proud Zhang Ruoxue, opened his mouth, thought for a moment, but still didn't say anything.

He felt it was best not to tell Fang Yan that "Drunken Fist is just random, uncontrolled punching when drunk."

In fact, Zhang Ruoxue herself had no idea what kind of punches she threw while drunk...

During the Great Wilderness Heavenly Flame Trial, Zhang Ruoxue, completely intoxicated by alcohol, attacked wildly, completely bewildering the Great Wilderness Heavenly Flame clones used for the trial. Afterwards, when Zhang Ruoxue learned about this, she felt that she might have comprehended some kind of fist technique.

Then she drank more than a dozen jars of wine before challenging the Great Wilderness Heavenly Flame clone again, and she actually won...

After that, the girl became completely convinced that she could use mysterious boxing techniques when she was drunk.

—As expected of the silly Ruoxue.

"Drunken Fist... um..."

Fang Yan glanced at Zhang Ruoxue, his gaze then falling on the wine gourd.

Gu Xingzhuo noticed the curiosity in his eyes. Our fourth senior brother couldn't let Zhang Ruoxue's drunken rampage be exposed, so he immediately changed the subject—

"Um, General Fang... I'd like to ask, isn't Broken Wood City a strategic location? Even if Broken Wood City is moved, won't that place still be occupied by the Demon Dynasty?"

“Oh right.” Zhang Ruoxue also had a look of sudden realization: “Isn’t this the same as abandoning the city?”

"indeed."

As if anticipating their question, Fang Yan patiently explained, "The location of Broken Wood City is the interface between the three surrounding cities. The three roads extending from where we are standing now lead to three extremely important cities in the empire. Even if Broken Wood City is saved, these three roads will probably be difficult to defend."

“Originally, we wanted to borrow some reinforcements from those three cities to defend Broken Wood City, but now, the number of troops is obviously not the deciding factor.”

"So the result of our discussion... was to cut off the road directly."

Gu Xingzhuo revealed a knowing look: "In other words, they've abandoned the plan to get support from the three cities and have simply blocked all three roads, so that people from those three cities can't get through and people from this city can't get through either?"

“That’s right. Then all we need to do is complete the teleportation array and teleport the entire Broken Wood City to the rear.”

"Is there enough time?" Gu Xingzhuo frowned. "To completely block the road, we need more than just troops; we'll need to use formations and talismans... Is there enough time?"

At this point, Fang Yan also showed an uncertain expression: "In fact... if we don't take any countermeasures and abandon the city directly, the original plan for those three cities was to build a wall of arrays and talismans, establish a new imperial border, and abandon Broken Wood City directly."

"But time doesn't allow it. To get it done, it will take at least seven more days."

"That's why we need to send out the Guardian Army to resist the Demon Dynasty and buy time for the three cities... But now that the Four Blood Purgatory has appeared, we can't buy much time at all."

"So we need to act as bait to lure the Demon Dynasty into attacking Broken Wood City."

Now that things had come to this point, Zhang Ruoxue understood: "So... we have to hold out until that wall over those three cities is built, and then we can teleport away?"

"While we leave, we can also use the relics of Buddhist and Taoist saints to wipe out a large number of demonic cultivators, which can be considered as buying time for the construction of the wall. They will definitely be severely weakened by the sudden loss of a large number of demonic cultivators, and they probably won't attack for a while. By the time they recover, the wall will probably already be built solidly, and Broken Wood City can be completely protected."

After listening to Fang Yan's words, Gu Xingzhuo nodded, seemingly in agreement.

"If nothing unexpected happens, this is indeed a good one..."

Before he could finish speaking...

An unexpected event occurred.

Outside the courtyard, a cultivator wearing the waist badge of the Guardian Army suddenly rushed in, his face ashen and his expression flustered.

"General Fang, something terrible has happened! There's been an accident!"

"What's going on?" Fang Yan frowned, his expression turning serious. "The Demon Dynasty has attacked?"

"Yes...that's true. A large number of demonic dynasties, seemingly led by a certain demonic general, have attacked from the southwest!"

"So fast?"

Completely to Fang Yan's surprise, the speed at which the other party regrouped far exceeded his expectations.

Zhang Ruoxue and Gu Xingzhuo exchanged a glance, and Ruoxue looked at Gu Xingzhuo with some concern.

Because the Demon General... is very likely to be Gu Xingzhuo's childhood sweetheart and lover—Wang Xiaomo.

however--

"That's not the most important thing!"

The monk then hurriedly delivered even worse news.

"The biggest problem is..."

"Lieutenant Lü has taken most of the Guardian Army brothers and is heading towards the Demon Dynasty's territory! He says he wants to personally resolve this war in your stead!"

17. I'm here.

No one expected that at such a crucial moment, the general who had accompanied Fang Yan in battle for many years would suddenly make such a reckless move.

The towering city walls stood on the desolate land, and several figures stood atop the walls, which had been deliberately built to defend against the invasion of the Demon Dynasty, looking down at the barren, gray wasteland before them.

And on the horizon of that dead land, thick, black smoke rose visibly, drifting into the air and gathering into clumps of murky clouds—things formed from pure demonic energy.

If one were to use one's spiritual energy to look around, one could vaguely discern the number of attackers by observing the emanating demonic aura. It was precisely for this reason that the former guardian general of the nation displayed such a grim expression.

"Too many..."

Fang Yan's right palm, which was used to sense things, suddenly vanished. He took a deep breath, gritted his teeth, and stared at the horizon, which looked like a black silver needle, with a pained and ugly expression.

There, there are hundreds and thousands of twisted demons, and countless... demonic cultivators who crave blood essence and soul.

"The number is at least 20,000... It seems the Demon Dynasty has brought its main force here."

"Twenty thousand?!" Even Zhang Ruoxue was taken aback by this number: "How many troops do we have in Broken Wood City?"

Faced with this problem, Fang Yan turned his head and glanced at Zhang Ruoxue with almost despair.

He didn't seem very willing to answer, but he still decided to personally point out the vast difference between the two sides.

"Seven hundred..."

"Seven hundred?!"

Zhang Ruoxue almost fell off the city wall.

Let alone Zhang Ruoxue, even Gu Xingzhuo, who was always calm and expressionless, trembled slightly, his eyes flashing with a few glints, and he said, "With the strength of the Guardian Army... can they withstand it?"

Gu Xingzhuo knew that the Guardian Army was the most elite force in the entire Lantian Empire. Although the number of soldiers was not large, each one was a carefully selected battlefield god of war, whose cultivation and combat ability surpassed most cultivators.

On the battlefield, he would be capable of taking on at least ten opponents.

Fang Yan naturally understood what Gu Xingzhuo meant, but he did not place his hopes on his own Guardian Army. Instead, he sighed and said, "Of the seven hundred soldiers in Broken Wood City, five hundred are my Guardian Army. Broken Wood City had already been attacked by the Demon Dynasty, and there are very few soldiers available in the city. Even if the five hundred Guardian Army soldiers are combined, they may not be able to stop the twenty thousand Demon Dynasty troops."

"But if that brat Lü Chonghou hadn't taken away a thousand Guardian Soldiers..." Fang Yan clenched his fists tightly, his eyes blazing with fierce fire, his expression extremely gloomy: "Perhaps we wouldn't be in such a passive situation."

Yes.

That adjutant Lü was named Lü Chonghou.

He was Fang Yan's comrade-in-arms when he was still a soldier. They fought side by side on the battlefield and killed countless enemies. After being conferred titles, Fang Yan was given the rank of general because of his great general demeanor, while Lü Chonghou was appointed as Fang Yan's adjutant.

However, there was no time left for everyone.

A sudden, extremely cold wind, carrying a strong demonic aura, swept in.

The three of them held their breath and focused their attention on the approaching, dark waves in the distance.

At the very forefront of that wave, there was a figure wielding a two-meter-long, jet-black axe, leading the way with heavy, merciless steps, like a leader.

It was a figure that wasn't particularly imposing, but rather rather thin—with stunningly long hair, and eyes devoid of any emotion other than a chilling killing intent.

"A demon general..."

Fang Yan could sense the terrifying aura emanating from that frail body. Such a dense and terrifying demonic aura posed a significant threat to him, the guardian general of the nation.

“Wang Xiaomo…”

Upon realizing the identity of the demon general, Zhang Ruoxue murmured to herself, then looked worriedly at Gu Xingzhuo beside her. She found that the latter's face was now ashen, complex and hard to understand.

Perhaps sensing Zhang Ruoxue's gaze, Gu Xingzhuo knew he had no choice but to run away.

He remained silent for a long time before making a decision.

"General Fang."

His sudden call drew Fang Yan's attention to him as well.

"This invasion by the Demon Dynasty is certainly not accidental. As you said, it happened much faster than expected... I think the Demon Dynasty must have already known that the thousand Guardian Soldiers were not in the city, which is why they launched the attack so quickly."

"In other words... there is a traitor within the Guardian Army, that's undeniable, and it's even possible..."

That Lieutenant Lü might be...

"I know."

Fang Yan didn't let Gu Xingzhuo continue, perhaps because he didn't want to dwell on that thought or doubt his former comrade-in-arms.

He stared at Gu Xingzhuo with a grave expression and said, "Whether there is a traitor or not, the problem now is those thousand Guardian Soldiers... Judging from their marching speed, I'm afraid Lu Chonghou has already led the Guardian Soldiers deep into enemy territory."

"So no matter what, someone needs to bring the Guardian Army back."

Fang Yan pulled off the token from his waist—it was proof of his identity as the Protector General of the State.

He gazed at the token he had received from the King of the Lantian Empire, his eyes flashing with memories of the past. But he did not dwell on those memories; instead, he shook his head, his gaze shifting between Zhang Ruoxue and the other man.

"Who...is going?"

Faced with this question, Zhang Ruoxue was about to speak when she thought of someone named Wang Xiaomo.

Gu Xingzhuo's childhood sweetheart and lover is currently leading a 20,000-strong demon army to attack Broken Wood City, where they are located.

If Gu Xingzhuo accepts this token, he will no longer have to face his former lover... nor will he have to go through the love-hate relationship with his childhood sweetheart. This should be a good thing for Gu Xingzhuo.

Gu Xingzhuo was naturally aware of this, and under Zhang Ruoxue's watchful gaze, he accepted the token from Fang Yan's hand.

Then--

He handed the token to Zhang Ruoxue.