Chapter 1676: Killing the Commander
Translator: StarveCleric Editor: StarveCleric
The Commander was so traumatized that he looked as if he had lost his soul.
It was with high expectations that he led his army into the Subterranean Gallery, intending to push his forces into the Master Teacher Continent. If he succeeded, his name would ripple throughout the Otherworldly Demonic Tribe, and his standing would swiftly rise through the ranks. But before he could even launch a proper invasion, he was already violated by a brick and a spear…
Moreover, the demonic saber which he had specially brought out of his clan for this special occasion actually submitted to the other party…
Where in the world did the prideful att.i.tude you have shown me earlier go to?
Why in the name of the heavens are you groveling on the ground right now?
I see! This fellow submits to those who possess purer killing intent than it does. The killing intent I am able to emanate through my Heaven’s Path zhenqi is at least comparable to Vicious, so it’s no wonder why it submitted to me so quickly… Zhang Xuan nodded in realization.
While the Commander was likely to be an Otherworldly Demon Emperor as well, judging from the Qingtian Emperor’s standards, his killing intent still came nowhere on par with his Heaven’s Path zhenqi.
With a light tap of his finger, he flicked a droplet of blood over to fuse with the demonic saber.
Soon after, he felt a will surging into his mind.
Infernal Blacksaber!
That was the name of the demonic saber lying before him.
Just like what the Dragonbone Divine Spear had said, the Infernal Blacksaber was indeed a Half-Ancient Sage artifact. However, that was not all that was to it…
It was actually an upgradable artifact!
The upgradable artifacts of the Otherworldly Demonic Tribe were fundamentally different from that of mankind.
The Golden Origin Cauldron was one of the rare upgradable artifacts in the world, but in order to raise its tier, it had to be reforged with other precious ores. On the other hand, the upgradable artifacts of the Otherworldly Demonic Tribe only demanded sufficient fresh blood or souls for their tier to be raised.
In other words, he didn’t have to reforge the Inferno Blacksaber and risk messing it up. All he had to do was to slay more experts in order for it to grow stronger!
It was precisely due to this nature of it that the demonic saber emanated such an intense malevolent aura.
“In other words, this means that you can be upgraded into an Ancient Sage artifact?” Upon learning of this matter, Zhang Xuan asked the Infernal Blacksaber with excitement gleaming in his eyes.
One must know that Ancient Sage artifacts wielded the prowess to slay Ancient Sages! If the Infernal Blacksaber could be upgraded, he would really have no fear for cultivators beneath Ancient Sage!
“I can be upgraded, but I’ll need to devour the fresh blood of an Ancient Sage for it…” the Infernal Blacksaber replied courteously.
“You’ll require the fresh blood of an Ancient Sage in order to be upgraded? Forget it…” Zhang Xuan’s lips twitched upon hearing those words.
This was ridiculous! If he was strong enough to hunt down an Ancient Sage and feed the Infernal Blacksaber the latter’s blood, what need would he have for it?
“If you really aren’t able to find any Ancient Sages, I can also be upgraded through devouring the blood and souls of Sempiternal realm or Half-Ancient Sage cultivators. However, the process would be much slower…” As if seeing through the thoughts of its master, the Infernal Blacksaber quickly added.
“The blood of Sempiternal realm cultivators works for you too? What about that fellow over there?” Zhang Xuan asked as he pointed a finger at the Commander.
“Even though his fighting prowess is subpar, he’s still a core member of the Otherworldly Demon royalty. If I could consume him, I should be able to advance my cultivation to the forefront of Half-Ancient Sage artifacts!” the Infernal Blacksaber replied with a nod.
“Good, I’ll leave him to you then!” Zhang Xuan replied
In the first place, he didn’t harbor the slightest sliver of goodwill for the Otherworldly Demonic Tribe. Furthermore, the other party was even planning on a.s.sa.s.sinating his parents, and that was something he couldn’t accept.
“Thank you, master!” Hearing those words, the Infernal Blacksaber rushed over delightfully and sunk its blade into the Commander’s flesh.
It didn’t take long for the Commander to be reduced to a withered corpse, his soul and blood sapped dry.
After being nourished with the Commander’s blood and soul, the Infernal Blacksaber looked even more demonic than before. Its strength had advanced considerably, to the level where even the Golden Origin Cauldron would take a detour just to avoid it.
“Not bad!” Zhang Xuan nodded in satisfaction.
At this rate, it shouldn’t be long before he successfully upgraded the Infernal Blacksaber into an Ancient Sage artifact. That would truly be a huge boost to his fighting prowess!
“Alright, you should return to my storage ring for the time being!”
Having settled the matter here, Zhang Xuan kept the three artifacts back into his storage ring before heaving a sigh of relief.
Having dealt with the Infernal Blacksaber and the Commander, it was unlikely that the remaining Otherworldly Demons would pose much of a threat to him anymore. Nevertheless, the power of the ma.s.s shouldn’t be underestimated. To be safe, he should still tread carefully.
If he could find a way to ma.s.sacre all of the Otherworldly Demons at once, that would be for the best.
Otherwise, even if their Commander had been killed, it was only a matter of time before a new commander took over and dispatch these Otherworldly Demons against them. If a battle were to break out, who knew how many offspring of the Zhang Clan would lose their lives?
Zhang Xuan stroked his lower jaw contemplatively.
Considering how there was a Sempiternal realm Commander in this Otherworldly Demon encampment, it was likely that there would be other Great Sage military officers as well too. It would be too naive to think that the Otherworldly Demon army would collapse by itself just because it had lost its Commander.
It was unlikely that he would face an opponent as powerful as the Commander within the encampment anymore, but he didn’t have the strength to eradicate a well-trained army on his own either, even with the a.s.sistance of his three artifacts!
He had to think things through and formulate a feasible plan before making his move.
The earlier battle with the Commander has caused quite a huge commotion, but fortunately, due to the mirrors and formations cast around the area, no one has realized the happenings over here yet. In other words, the soldiers are still oblivious of the demise of their Commander. I might be able to pull something off if I could successfully impersonate him… Zhang Xuan thought.
In order to hide the existence of the Infernal Blacksaber, the Commander had gone to great lengths to isolate this room, such that not even the slightest aura of shockwave would be able to escape from this room. It was ironic, but it was precisely due to the arrangements made by the Commander that no one realized that he had already been killed.
Since Zhang Xuan was able to disguise himself impeccably as General Auer, there was no reason why he couldn’t pa.s.s himself off as the Commander too.
He took off the helmet from the corpse and quickly wore it. At the same time, he began to s.h.i.+ft his muscles and bones, slowly morphing into the appearance of the Commander.
Let me check how many Great Sage cultivators are there in this encampment…
Leaving the stone platforms and mirrors behind, Zhang Xuan departed from the area and headed straight for the main tent located at the center of the base.
Since the Commander was at Sempiternal realm, it was unlikely that his Vice Commanders would be too weak. First and foremost, he would have to check how many Great Sage cultivators there were in this camp and deal with them promptly. Once all of the Great Sage cultivators were gone, the remaining soldiers wouldn’t be able to pose much of a threat to him anymore!
Having a.s.sumed the appearance of the Commander, there was no guard or soldier who dared to halt Zhang Xuan’s footsteps as he strutted through the camp with widened strides. Soon enough, he arrived at the main tent.
“Commander!”
The Otherworldly Demon soldiers guarding the main tent quickly clasped their fist and greeted him.
“Un!” Zhang Xuan nodded casually as he walked into the tent.
Within the tent, he saw seven figures seated all around with grim looks on their faces.
“Commander, you… have succeeded?” Upon seeing the return of the Commander, fervent joy spread across their faces.
It seemed like these figures were also aware that the Commander was planning to a.s.sa.s.sinate the Xingmeng Sword Saints, and they were waiting for the results here.
“I haven’t done it yet. There’s an urgent matter that we need to discuss, and I need you all to offer some constructive advice!” Zhang Xuan said authoritatively.
Due to the presence of seer artifacts, he dared not to use the Library of Heaven’s Path lightly. Otherwise, he could risk bringing the lightning tribulation upon the base before resolving the major threats.
He wasn’t too sure what was the situation concerning the Commander, but through his rich experience of disguising himself, as well as the prowess of Luo Ruoxin’s disguise amulet, the seven people in the room didn’t notice any anomaly.
“Commander, feel free to order us as you deem fit!”
The crowd quickly clasped their fists and replied.
“Un!” Zhang Xuan said as he nodded contemplatively. In truth, he had discreetly activated his Eye of Insight and was examining the crowd before him.
Just like what he had guessed, these seven fellows were all Great Sages. Two of them were at Intuitive Impulse realm, three were at Aureate Body realm, and the last two were at Introspective Convalescence realm.
It was fortunate he didn’t rush into making a move earlier, or else if these seven people were to collaborate against him, it would have truly been a tough battle.
Not to mention, with the sheer number of soldiers they had, if the Otherworldly Demon army were to form a collaborative formation, even Sempiternal realm cultivators would have trouble escaping!
Zhang Xuan pondered deeply for a moment before beckoning at one of the Intuitive Impulse realm Otherworldly Demon and said, “You, follow me for a moment. I need to delegate some tasks to you privately…”
“Yes, Commander!” Without the slightest hint of doubt, the Otherworldly Demon pointed out followed him out of the main tent.