My profession panel inspires loyalty.

[If there are soul treasures or rare materials with soul attributes, that would be even better.]

But all of this requires a significant amount of time to sustain.

The old general sighed as he looked at the swordsman, but didn't voice this, fearing it might discourage the swordsman's resolve.

[That same month, Sword Master declared that his days were numbered, and given that he was merely a lowly level 96 professional, he would not be going to the front lines to participate in the battle.]

Compared to combat, he was more interested in the Red Heart Society's expanding martial arts research department and battle formation research department.

[Considering Elder Jian's immense contributions, Lin Xue created a special title for him within the Red Heart Society—Honorary Head.]

She had been considering this matter for a long time.

Her relationship with Deng Qi can be considered a rather special case.

What they all have in common is the position they once held.

She wasn't sure if her thinking was correct, but it was something worth pondering.

Even if there's only a one in ten thousand chance, it's worth a try; there's no harm in trying.

Therefore, the honorary title of "Head of Honor" came into being.

Sword Elder did not refuse this offer.

After all, this is a recognition of my achievements over the years by the Chixin Society, so why should I refuse?

In May of the 160th year of the Extraordinary Calendar, Lin Xue held a memorial service at the Red Heart Society.

[After that, she began to evaluate the Red Heart Battle Group and all its members who had died in the past, one by one.]

As long as the achievements are significant, an honorary title can be bestowed upon them.

Wang Meng, Zhao Feng, Xiahou Chuan, Guan Wu, and many others who made significant contributions were awarded this title.

In September of the 160th year of the Extraordinary Calendar, Sword Elder demonstrated his sword techniques in the Cultivation Techniques Research Department and pointed out flaws in some new cultivation techniques.

During this time, he gradually accepted his own death.

So he wanted to read as many books as possible before he died, to refine his murderous heart.

But he doesn't want to read some boring books.

After going through it all, he still found the various martial arts techniques stored within the Red Heart Society to be the most interesting.

Under these circumstances, his understanding of the technique deepened even further.

When Lin Xue received the relevant information from the Cultivation Techniques Research Department and suggested that Elder Jian be appointed as the head of the department, her eyes flickered.

[Sword Elder possesses such talent in the field of martial arts research?]

This is unexpected!

In December of the 160th year of the Extraordinary Calendar, under the guidance of Elder Jian, the Red Heart Society's Martial Arts Research Department produced a martial arts technique capable of changing the course of history.

This is a terrifying technique that allows one to generate malevolent energy through combat, and then use this energy to refine their soul, increase its strength, and comprehensively enhance their combat power.

[Upon reaching the pinnacle of cultivation, one can even condense a demonic core within their body, constantly refining the strength of their soul.]

According to the calculations of Crimson Heart II, this technique is of great help to professionals, whether in refining divinely bestowed crystals or honing battle qi or magical power.

Ultimately, at the request of the entire Red Heart Technique Research Department, Elder Jian gave this technique a name.

[Method for Condensing Malevolent Energy!]

[Refine your soul through battle.]

In peacetime, this skill might not be as effective.

[But since its founding, the Red Heart Society has been engaged in battle almost constantly.]

[After the Abyss's projected will descended and the Abyss began its invasion, the battles among the Red Heart Society members became even more frequent.]

Therefore, this is yet another groundbreaking achievement in martial arts techniques!

[However, compared to the excitement of the Red Heart Society's higher-ups and the Sword Elder's感慨 (gǎnkǎi, deep feelings), the researchers who developed this technique were somewhat unenthusiastic.]

[Because they suddenly realized that if they had revealed this technique to the world sooner, the Red Heart Society would certainly have possessed even greater combat power.]

[So, you, the founder of the Red Heart Society, are... exempt from dying?]

[In March of the 161st year of the Extraordinary Calendar, inspired by Sword Elder's killing move, the Crimson Heart Battle Formation Research Department enhanced the Western White Tiger phantom within the Four Symbols Phantom of the Battle Formation.]

The white tiger phantom that materializes within the new battle formation emits a sword cry with each attack, causing sword energy to surge around it.

Even the White Tiger's roar, claw strikes, and other attacks can generate sword intent damage in the unseen realm.

In a sense, the white tiger phantom of the new battle formation could actually be called the sword tiger phantom.

However, because it doesn't match the other three mythical beast phantoms, people still refer to it as the White Tiger phantom.

[However, according to calculations by Red Heart II, the destructive power of the new battle formation has increased by more than a quarter.]

[In response, version 4.1 of the Crimson Heart Battle Formation has been released!]

First came the Cultivation Techniques Research Department, then the Battle Formation Research Department.

Sword Master's erudition in these two fields astonished everyone.

Lin Xue immediately summoned Elder Jian, asking if he could continue his efforts and help the Cultivation Techniques Research Department and the Battle Formation Research Department achieve even better results.

The old swordsman shook his head slightly, indicating that his lifespan was nearing its end and he was powerless to continue.

In August of the 161st year of the Extraordinary Calendar, Sword Elder, wielding his longsword, arrived at the front lines and led three Demon-Sealing Battle Groups, risking their lives to slay an incredibly powerful Abyss Lord.

After this battle, Sword Elder turned back to look at the headquarters of the Crimson Heart Society, smiled, and passed away peacefully.

In January of the 162nd year of the Extraordinary Calendar, the Crimson Heart Battle Formation Research Institute drew inspiration from the combined attack techniques of the Sword Elder's swordplay, creating a new technique related to combined attack resonance.

They transferred the combined attack resonance technique to the core of Crimson Heart Battle Formation 4.1, laying a solid foundation for the fusion of Crimson Heart Battle Formation.

From this point onward, two powerful battle groups using the same Red Heart Battle Formation core can fuse their power and unleash it through the mutual guidance of their battle formation cores.

There may be some losses during this process.

[Compared to a single-player battle within a battle group, the intervention of the combined attack resonance technique significantly increases the explosive power of the Crimson Heart Battle Formation.]

The Crimson Heart Battle Formation Research Institute has named this new battle formation Crimson Heart Battle Formation version 4.2.

In April of the 162nd year of the Extraordinary Calendar, the War of the Abyss Lords officially began.

Encouraged by everyone's gaze, the Lava Demon resolutely signed up for this life-or-death competition.

[To date, the number of minions under the Lava Demon's command has exceeded one hundred million.]

This is the most elite unit—the kind that obeys commands, is orderly, loyal, and won't easily rebel just because another lord provides some supplies.

According to Deng Qi's estimation, based on this army of one hundred million servants, as long as the Lava Demons can win all the battles in the Abyss War, they will inevitably possess an extremely large army once they enter the truly fierce lord-level battlefield.

[One billion is just the minimum!]

At that time, the abyssal will that the Lava Demon possesses will surely surpass that of other lords.

[Possessing overwhelming power over other super-powerful abyss lords, having won at the starting line, the lava demons can maintain their formidable advantage as long as they're not foolish.]

Therefore, this war, instigated by the will of the abyss to select the supreme lords, is a matter of certain death for other powerful abyssal lords, and a matter of nine out of ten chances of survival for the supreme prodigies of various races!

However, against the Lava Demon, the win rate is basically 50/50.

After listening to Deng Qi's analysis, the Lava Demon was filled with boundless pride!

Including my vassal army, I have a 50% chance of securing the position of Supreme Lord.

If we include the entire Red Heart Society's power, wouldn't I have 98%?

It's perfectly stable!

Chapter 158 Surrounding and Killing a Lone Lava Demon in Front of the Red Heart Society (6k)

In March of the 162nd year of the Extraordinary Calendar, the Lava Demon Servant Army unleashed an extremely terrifying battlefield dominance after entering the war zone related to the Abyss Lord War.

They were born into the Red Heart Society, and every rank-and-file soldier in their auxiliary army received care and training from the Red Heart Society. Their strength, abilities, talents, secret techniques, and even the refinement of their bodies and souls far surpassed those of other demons.

Putting everything else aside, the ability to remain rational and make calm judgments based on one's own situation on the battlefield is enough to surpass 90% of the lord's servant army.

Even the most promising talents nurtured by various demon clans possess abundant resources, and legendary treasures are plentiful in their hands.

However, even if they acquire these resources, they won't use them to train the auxiliary army they consider cannon fodder.

What is a servant army?

[A group of lowly demons, ubiquitous in the abyss, whom no matter how much they are harvested, they can never be completely eradicated.]

They're nothing but ants, easily swayed by a few thousand low-level soul crystals, once they issue a summons.

Even if they have surplus resources, they will at most use them to nurture their own followers.

Even the strongest individual can be easily defeated by a large, well-organized army that can coordinate and utilize military formations.

[Especially when the computing power of Redheart II is still available, each soldier in the auxiliary army can use a certain number of contribution points to connect to the Demon Research Department through Redheart II's computing power and customize a set of combat arcane techniques that are most suitable for them.]

[In addition, there are the issues of teamwork, command and control, and joint combat capabilities that Deng Qi has been most concerned about in recent years. The Demon Research Department has even developed several related auxiliary drugs specifically for this purpose.]

It can be said that, at the same level and rank, the Lava Army not only possesses far superior individual strength compared to other auxiliary soldiers, but also completely overwhelms them in team combat.

Therefore, the Lava Demons gained an extremely strong advantage from the very beginning of the war, thanks to the powerful force of the Lava Army.

In this pivotal moment in the war that determined the future of all the powerful lords, the Lava Army demonstrated to the Abyss what the fury of the lowest ranks truly means!

Even the lowest-ranking and weakest lesser demons in the abyss, when nurtured and united, can still unleash awe-inspiring power.

The minions of ordinary, powerful abyss lords wouldn't even have the chance to provoke the lava army.

[Suppress all enemies once they are spotted!]

Faced with those incredibly powerful abyss lords begging for mercy, the Lava Demon, following the strategy devised by the Red Heart Society, changed its usual method of slaughtering them all.

Of course, He wouldn't just let them go like that.

[Either become a slave!]

Either die!

[Throw the soul into the Demon Research Department, so that those researchers with an extremely high desire to explore demon souls can have a good look at it.]

A powerful and ambitious demon lord, preferring death to servitude, will fight on the most brutal battlefields of the future, striving for the supreme lord's position.

However, aside from certain demon races, most demon lords do not possess such strong ambition.

They all shared the same belief: in this world, survival is the foundation of everything.

【died! 】

【Then everything will be gone!】

Meanwhile, the Red Heart Society's Demon Research Department conducted detailed research on the enslavement contracts of extremely powerful lords.

Ultimately, a enslavement contract was forged that would only apply during the Abyss Lord War.

[Although this contract differed from other slave contracts on the market, and even the demands of the surrendering lords were more stringent.]

But one thing in particular gave these lords a renewed sense of hope.

That is to say, this contract of enslavement only exists during the War of the Abyss Lords.

With the end of the Lords' War, this contract of enslavement naturally ends as well.

[After all, in the eyes of the Demon Research Department, as long as the Lava Demon can become the Supreme Lord, then this enslavement contract is dispensable.]

Furthermore, if the Lava Demon becomes the Supreme Lord, do these powerful lords who have submitted to the Lava Demon still intend to reject the Supreme Lord's protection?

The Lava Demons directly incorporated the servants and retinues of these lords into their Lava Army.

The immense psychological force generated by the massive lava army can transform any other absorbed allies into loyal members of the lava army in the shortest possible time.

[After all, the Lava Army has a transparent promotion system, a perfect contribution-based reward system, and senior officers even discuss combat techniques with rank-and-file soldiers. Furthermore, it has an extremely strict system for evaluating combat achievements.]

Even as the lowest-ranking soldiers, they could occasionally catch glimpses of lords like the Lava Demon, who stood at the pinnacle of the world!

As the number of newly recruited auxiliary troops increased, the original Lava Army's lower-ranking soldiers began to be promoted.

After all, regardless of the situation, once someone has made their fortune, the first people they promote are always their closest confidants or trusted associates.

Why let a traitor hold power when you can prevent your own trusted confidants from becoming powerful?

[In January of the 163rd year of the Extraordinary Calendar, a large number of newly joined auxiliary troops gradually learned of the existence of the Red Heart Society from the Lava Army commanders.]