New Yu Era, Year 1335, October 5th, Pengkang County

Hou Yucheng watched as the troops outside the city slowly disappeared from view, then turned to Zhou Xuan Kai and Ying Tianyu standing behind him and smiled, "Gentlemen, it's time for us to depart as well."

Having just captured Pengkang County at the end of October, Hou Yucheng was in a fairly good mood. After all, it was the last county city of the entire prefecture. Taking Pengkang meant he could rest for a while. As the commander of the Red Flame Army, he had been leading campaigns both east and west for the past two years, leaving him physically and mentally extremely tense and exhausted.

For the recapture of Pengkang, he brought an army of eight million, accompanied by the assistance of Zhou Xuan Kai, Ying Tianyu, and Dong Daokang, three Sub-Saints of Martial Dao. It took four months to cleanse Pengkang County of two Second-Rank Demons and nearly a hundred Third and Fourth-Rank demons, but the cost was heavy, with over a million soldiers lost.

Pengkang County, to the east, was similar to Xiapi County to the west, with a staggering number of demons entrenched there. The reason was simple: when reclaiming the three counties in Jianye Prefecture, a large number of demons fled to the two sides, making these counties the hardest to reclaim and resulting in the highest casualties.

In the end, it was reclaimed.

Compared to the three regions of Zhongzhou or Hexi, which the Hou Clan previously controlled, this single prefecture seemed insignificant. Yet, in reality, it was incredibly precious. According to the information brought back by Third Sister, currently, only the Great Jin, the New Moon Cult, and Bailu Academy have recaptured territories from demons exceeding one prefecture, while other Holy Lands are still revolving within a single prefecture, and it will likely take time to successfully reclaim even one.

Over the past two years, under the onslaught of a million demons, only eight powers in Shenzhou survived. These are the Great Jin Dynasty, the New Moon Cult, the Wuwei Royal Mansion, the Ziqing Holy Sect, the Haoran Holy Sect, Bailu Academy, the Wanjian Holy Sect, and the Hou Clan.

It may seem incredible, but that is the reality.

The number of demons emerging from the Ten Thousand Demons Cave was overwhelming. Many Earth-Level forces initially resisted but eventually succumbed as the demons, not being foolish, coordinated attacks when their numbers decreased. Even the strongest Earth-Level forces couldn't withstand them. Those with luck merged nearby with other Holy Lands and found a path to survival; the unlucky ones, without nearby Holy Lands, were ruined by demons early on.

As for Earth Level and lower-tier forces, their fate need not be elaborated.

Holy Lands managed to withstand mostly not because of Martial Dao Saints, but because the Holy Lands had their elite Sacred Army. Indeed, under the overwhelming demon assault, even Saints found it challenging to cope, but the elite Sacred Army's vital strength became crucial in these times.

With the Sacred Army's blood essence suppressing them, demons couldn't exert their full strength, and complemented by the Holy Army Code and top experts from each Holy Land, they could keep the demons at bay, protecting the regions.

Of course, the most effective against demons is not the Sacred Army's blood essence but Confucianism's Vast Righteous Qi. Great Confucians working with the Sacred Army deal the most severe damage to demons.

After the demon outbreak, Bailu Academy merged its Yang and Yan branches, releasing tremendous energy by uniting a million Confucian Scholars. Currently, under the leadership of Xun Mu and Meng Qu, the territory reclaimed by the academy is subtly more than that of the New Moon Cult, closely trailing the Great Jin Dynasty.

In terms of the land reclaimed by the eight great powers currently, the Hou Clan ranks fourth. Even comparing the Hou Clan's strength to other single powers, it wouldn't be at the bottom even if not fourth.

The status of a Holy Land is no longer merely an epithet for the Hou Clan.

This demonic chaos has truly elevated the Hou Clan to the status of a Holy Land.

With nearly twenty million elite Sacred Army, the only power exceeding the Hou Clan in military strength that Hou Yucheng could confirm is the Great Jin Dynasty; even the New Moon Cult falls short.

Currently, the Hou Clan's biggest shortcoming is still in top-tier experts. Here, top-tier experts don't include those in the Yinyang Boundary, Breakthrough Saint, or even Sub-Saint of Martial Dao, as the Hou Clan has no fewer than other Holy Lands.

What they lack are Saints!

Throughout the entire clan, to date, only Big Brother Hou Yuxiao is a Martial Dao Saint. Compared to other Holy Lands, which often have two or more Saints, the Hou Clan's foundation is evidently lacking.

Thinking of this, Hou Yucheng sighed slightly. He broke through to the Sub-Saint of Martial Dao last year. When he first broke through, he secluded himself in the Five Elements Heaven for over twenty years, wanting to break through to a Saint in one go. However, over time, he realized that becoming a Martial Dao Saint wasn't so easy. Plus, the demon cleansing in Jianye Prefecture wasn't complete, so he had to give up seclusion.

His obsession with becoming a Martial Dao Saint was largely driven by the desire to alleviate Big Brother Hou Yuxiao's burdens. Given his current age, including time in the Five Elements Heaven, he's only about two hundred years old, so he has plenty of time left to become a Saint.

A single Martial Dao Saint could raise the Hou Clan to the level of a Holy Land, but to progress further, it wouldn't be enough. Third Sister and Fourth Elder's aptitudes are not much different from his. If he's without hope of breaking through, those two are likely in the same situation.

Thus, the greatest hope still lies with Old Fifth.

"Old Fifth's aptitude is such that even Big Brother says he might not surpass him. He was the earliest to break through to Sub-Saint of Martial Dao. For the past two years, Big Brother kept him secluded in the Five Elements Heaven, clearly hoping for him to become a Saint soon. I heard he exited seclusion last month, so it should be about time..."