Chapter 97

As they approached the forest, Pingluanshan's face turned pale.

Jiang Feng, who was observant and alert, immediately noticed something was wrong with Pingluanshan. He turned back and whispered, "What, are you scared?"

Pingluanshan wiped his face and shouted, "How could I be scared!" Then, he grimaced and added, "The problem is that the demonic aura is too foul-smelling, it's really disgusting..."

Suddenly, a voice echoed in Jiang Feng's mind: "Some people are particularly sensitive to demonic aura, and their reactions are intense. There are usually three methods to deal with such people..."

This was Ye Xiao's voice. Jiang Feng had brought the rabbit this time. When Pingluanshan saw it, his expression was strange, and he almost burst out laughing, but Huasu nodded matter-of-factly, "Yes, it's good to bring it along." This one sentence suppressed Pingluanshan's laughter.

After hearing Ye Xiao's words, Jiang Feng extended his hand and said, "Give me your hand."

Pingluanshan's face was pale from the demonic aura, and he looked like he was about to vomit. Jiang Feng pulled his hand, and suddenly a golden light fell, making Pingluanshan exclaim, "Ouch!"

In a moment, Jiang Feng pricked each of Pingluanshan's ten fingertips, and as fresh red blood droplets appeared, a pale golden Ming force rushed in.

Before long, Pingluanshan's complexion returned to normal.

Tengzhi asked in surprise, "Not smelly anymore?"

Pingluanshan sniffed and said, "It's still smelly, but it's not as disgusting."

Hongcheng suddenly laughed and said, "I never thought you, Old Ping, would be as delicate as a young lady."

The honest man's teasing was particularly hurtful, and Pingluanshan was taken aback, immediately jumping up and saying, "Old Hong, you're the one who's like a young lady!"

Jiang Feng and Tengzhi both laughed. Now they were not far from the forest, and their voices immediately drew the attention of several city defense soldiers, who looked puzzled and dissatisfied.

A man shouted sternly, "Who is making a commotion here!"

Jiang Feng immediately composed himself and stepped forward, saying loudly, "We are martial cultivators, responding to Lord Hao Xing's order to report to Captain Wei!"

The man turned around, revealing a face as handsome as a young nobleman. However, half of his face was stained with dark blood, making him look somewhat fierce.

He was clad in silver armor, holding a long sword. With a single swing, he beheaded a demon. He shouted, "We don't need inexperienced brats here!"

Pingluanshan was about to speak, but Jiang Feng stopped him and said calmly, "Lord Hao has given his permission. Please, Captain Wei, assign us our tasks."

The young captain surnamed Wei snorted and pointed with his sword, "There's an opening there, go and hold it!"

The four of them looked in that direction and their expressions changed. The place Captain Wei pointed to was outside the forest, about a hundred meters from the city defense forces. There were no demons there, making it a very safe area.

Clearly, Captain Wei meant, "Stay back and don't cause trouble!"

Pingluanshan called out, "We don't—"

Before he could finish, Jiang Feng pressed his shoulder and said, "We will follow Captain Wei's orders!"

Saying this, he indeed led the three of them to that open area!

Pingluanshan was extremely anxious and called out, "Old Jiang, he's clearly just brushing us off, you should protest!"

Jiang Feng said, "Have you forgotten what Teacher Hua said before we came?"

The first rule Huasu gave was to obey the orders of their superiors. As long as the superior didn't order them to die, they had to follow the orders. Now, Captain Wei was their superior, and his order was not to send them to their deaths but to have them stand by, which fully met Huasu's requirements, so they had to obey!

Pingluanshan pursed his lips and said nothing more, following Jiang Feng to the open area. The four of them formed a defensive formation and watched their surroundings vigilantly.

Captain Wei, while fighting the demons, kept an eye on them from a distance. He could see their expressions clearly, and he noticed Pingluanshan's dissatisfaction. He had already thought about how to scold them next.

To his surprise, the youngest, most youthful-looking boy said a few words, and the other boy suppressed his anger, and the four of them obediently followed his orders to the designated location!

Moreover, the formation they set up...

Captain Wei's eyes showed deep thought, but he said nothing. He turned to his subordinates and continued to maintain the current defensive line.

Ten minutes, twenty minutes, thirty minutes...

Time slowly passed, and Captain Wei did not give them any new assignments.

Pingluanshan became restless again, but this time he didn't speak. After looking at Jiang Feng's expression, he suppressed his impatience.

Jiang Feng was observing the surroundings.

He switched to his Ming force vision and looked into the depths of the forest.

The demon lair was still some distance away, but he could already see the thin black mist. Under the mist, the Ming force in the trees and people appeared somewhat dim.

He realized that the demonic aura indeed affected the flow of Ming force. After prolonged battles, the soldiers' strength weakened, partly due to fatigue and partly due to the erosion by the demonic aura, making the flow of Ming force less smooth.

Captain Wei had twenty men under his command, and they were holding this area.

To maintain the defensive line for a long time, it was impossible to fight continuously, so rotation was necessary. He divided the twenty men into three shifts, with each shift fighting for an hour and then resting for half an hour.

Half an hour was not enough to dissipate the demonic aura in their bodies, so the longer the time, the lower their combat effectiveness.

Jiang Feng's heart sank.

As long as the demon lair existed, this would be an endless battle, and these soldiers would eventually be worn out!

However, the twelve demon lairs were completely connected, and it required twelve Heart Enlightenment Martial Ancestors to act simultaneously to close them all. Otherwise, leaving even one open would cause the remaining lairs to regenerate, making their efforts futile.

Now, the demons they were facing were all low-level demons, equivalent to low-level martial cultivators who had not yet entered the realm. The city defense soldiers were all at the Dawn Initial Stage or higher, so the battles were relatively easy...

As he was thinking, a cry suddenly came from the forest.

Jiang Feng's heart stirred, and he looked up sharply!

In his Ming force vision, he saw a gap in a certain area, in other words, a huge black shadow was rapidly breaking through the soldiers' defensive line and rushing out of the forest!

Soon, he saw it was a spider-like demon, with the upper body of a woman. She arched her back, and a white liquid spurted from her navel, spraying onto a soldier's shoulder, instantly forming a thread that stuck to him!

Then, the thread trembled, pulling the soldier back forcefully. The thread looked weak but was actually very strong, and the soldier was dragged down, struggling to be pulled towards the spider demon. A group of demons screeched and surrounded them.

Seeing the soldier about to be sacrificed, Captain Wei let out a long whistle and rushed over like a whirlwind, his long sword forming a silver glow. In a moment, he had killed the small demons like slicing melons, and he cut the spider demon's thread in two with one stroke.

The spider demon screeched, and Captain Wei threw the soldier out.

In an instant, he engaged the spider demon again, shouting, "He's injured, take him back!"

Jiang Feng called out, "Pingluanshan, go!"

Pingluanshan immediately responded, dashing over to catch the soldier and bring him back to the open area.

Jiang Feng kept his eyes on the direction of the spider demon and said solemnly, "In two hours, the battle will extend to this area, be prepared!"

The three of them didn't ask how Jiang Feng knew, and they nodded heavily, immediately standing up and taking a defensive stance.

Jiang Feng bent down to examine the soldier's injuries.

The soldier was young, about twenty years old. He was clenching his teeth tightly, shivering. His face was green, and a black aura was spreading, and sweat was pouring down his forehead.

His thigh had a large tear, and his shoulder still had half a strand of spider silk, with half of his body starting to turn black.

When Jiang Feng touched the soldier, he found that the spider silk contained a large amount of demonic aura, which had invaded through the wound, causing his internal Ming force to become chaotic.

His current discomfort was partly due to the wound and partly due to the influence of the demonic aura.

Jiang Feng forced himself to calm down, half-closing his eyes and concentrating.

His hand reached into his chest and gently stroked the fur of the night rabbit, but Ye Xiao remained silent.

Earlier, Ye Xiao had mentioned three methods to deal with Pingluanshan's sensitivity to demonic aura: direct stimulation with Ming force, medication, and a treasure item.

Direct stimulation with Ming force could only be applied to individuals, and Jiang Feng couldn't treat everyone one by one. For medication, Jiang Feng was not familiar with mixing medicines, and the key ingredients were not available here. That left the treasure item.

He had only recently learned to make treasure items. Could he complete such a task?

Jiang Feng sat cross-legged and took out the treasure manual left by Fang Liuxian, focusing on it.

Pingluanshan and the others exchanged glances and guarded him more closely.

At this time, new demons like the spider demon kept appearing in the forest. They were slightly weaker than soldier-level demons but were considered high-level mixed demons, much stronger than the small demons that had appeared earlier. As soon as they appeared, the city defense soldiers were put under pressure.

Captain Wei, after killing the spider demon, turned back. On the open ground, the other three young men were still vigilant, but the one in the middle was leisurely flipping through a scroll!

Although he knew he had left them there, seeing this scene still made him furious.

The soldiers were fighting for their lives against the demons, and you were on vacation here?!

He was about to scold them when Jiang Feng suddenly put away the scroll and looked up, saying, "They're coming!"

Suddenly, a gap appeared in the city defense soldiers, and a group of demons rushed out, heading straight for the four young men on the open ground!

This group of demons numbered over thirty, with the first five being of the spider demon level. They formed a line, a dark mass, with a thick demonic aura surrounding them, creating a powerful pressure even before they approached!