CHAPTER 766: CHAPTER 689: ASCEND TO THE PEAK 88

The mark left on the enemy serves to remind the tribe that this person is my enemy. Thus, any Winged Tiger they encounter will sense this and kill the enemy who has harmed their kin. This is also why humans and magical beasts are unwilling to provoke the Winged Tiger clan, known for their short tempers and formidable martial power.

Of course, there are marks that identify enemies, naturally, there are also marks for other purposes. For instance, the mark on Tan Shuangshuang indicates that this human is a protector, and should not be harmed by the tribe when encountered.

Indeed, the mark’s use is not limited to this; being accepted as a protector by the aloof Winged Tigers is akin to being recognized as a friend by their tribe. Not only will they not harm you, but they will also reach out to help if you encounter danger.

It’s precisely because of this mark that Bai Sheng’s initial attitude toward Tan Shuangshuang was rather gentle, not driving Tan Shuangshuang away as soon as she approached the Winged Tigers.

After playing with the Winged Tigers for a while, Tan Shuangshuang and Tan Feiyu left. With the war situation tense and battle likely to break out at any moment, they were seizing every opportunity to cultivate in hopes of breaking through faster.

Soon, the demon clan’s assault began anew. On the battlefield, all the eager high-level demons found that the calamity who had left for only a couple of days had returned, even fiercer than before!

Tan Shuangshuang unleashed her full momentum, unstoppable on the battlefield. Wherever she passed, the ground was strewn with the corpses of demons, even high-level ones. The high-level demons were pursued by Tan Shuangshuang, the scourge, wishing they could grow four more legs to escape her.

After a fierce battle ended, everyone returned exhausted to the camp. As the top combat power, Tan Shuangshuang didn’t get to rest like the others; instead, she had to convene in the main tent with General Shang and the leaders of the Five Great Sects for a war council.

Tan Shuangshuang was exhausted, hungry, and sleepy, deeply longing for the days when she only had to fight. However, with responsibilities in every place, no matter how much she wished to collapse into her tent and sleep, she first had to go to the main tent.

Unexpectedly, there was good news this time. The expert requested by General Shang, skilled in interrogation, had arrived, and during everyone’s time at the battlefield, had already interrogated those captured, successfully extracting the desired information.

As expected, these people were indeed created by the demon clan. The beginning of the matter was an accident where a cultivator, capable of living in the demon territory, was caught by the demons. The reason he could survive there was due to an unexpected intrusion of a demon core into his spirit mansion.

Initially, this cultivator thought he was doomed, but after enduring pain for a day and night, he not only survived but also gained the ability to operate long-term in the Abyss. Although not suitable for human survival, the Abyss contained many precious minerals.

Benefiting from his newfound resistance to the Abyss, he secretly entered demon territory to steal these valuable ores, only to be discovered by the demons out of carelessness.

Once the demon clan caught him, they immediately thought of their long-studied but unsuccessful venture—creating half-demons who could live in both human and demon territories and breach human defenses. This was a perfect opportunity delivered to them.

These humans, though not offspring of demons, could be bound by master-servant contracts and lured by promises of profit, eliminating worries of people not selling their conscience for fame and fortune.

This indeed proved true as the demon clan captured many human cultivators, forcibly inserting demon cores into their spirit mansions, but not everyone successfully transformed.

Most perished during the process, with only a few surviving, and among those, only a smaller fraction were willing to be driven by profit, while most chose to perish alongside demons in a fight to the end.

Over a hundred years of plotting yielded only a few thousand half-demons who would accept demon clan orders and aid them in attacking their kin.

The most outstanding among them were the four half-demons at the Martial Sect level, who had mastered sword intent and whom Tan Shuangshuang had slain. The demon clan considered them trump cards and had been reluctant to deploy them.

Those four martial artists were sent directly after Tan Shuangshuang. Her departure from the battlefield couldn’t be concealed, and without needing much thought, the demon clan immediately knew where she was headed and dispatched their four trump cards.

Though Tan Shuangshuang was known for defeating foes a realm above herself, the demon clan assumed these four martial artists, being undefeated geniuses of the same realm, sword cultivators with sword intent, could jointly take on a Martial Venerate expert, making killing Tan Shuangshuang no issue.

What the demon clan didn’t expect was that Tan Shuangshuang’s combat prowess was so formidable that she effortlessly dispatched four martial artists who could contend with a Martial Venerate expert.

As for the leaked whereabouts of supplies, the situation wasn’t as complicated as everyone assumed. The simplest reason was a mark left by a demon clan Martial Venerate expert on the supplies.

The mark could be on a grain of rice or a piece of clothing, incredibly hidden, detectable only with a special magic artifact of the demon clan; otherwise, even demons themselves would not sense its presence.

The half-demons hired to intercept the supplies simply had to wield this artifact, allowing them to find the supplies regardless of where they were taken, with the marks so well-hidden that inspecting every grain of rice during collection was impossible, naturally obscuring detection of demon marks.

Upon learning this, the focus turned to devising ways to identify these half-demons. The only fortunate aspect now was knowledge of this conspiracy, and few half-demons were willing to accept demon manipulation.

With the truth uncovered, further strategies were left to Baiyue Country’s Emperor and ministers to devise, while those on the frontline focused on the vital task of driving the demon clan back into the Abyss, simply remaining vigilant to other matters.

The participants, being too exhausted, had somewhat foggy minds, and after a brief meeting where essential information was shared, the council ended without everyone returning to their tents, opting instead to meditate in the main tent to restore stamina and spiritual power.

Following a meditation session, everyone’s stamina and spiritual power were replenished. Despite being covered in blood and dust from the battlefield, looking quite bedraggled, they hurried back to their respective tents to wash up after meditating.

Another year flitted by, and the battle between the demon clan and humans neared its end. Recently, demon attacks grew weaker, battles concluded quicker, and fighting became easier.

Through a year of combat, Tan Shuangshuang finally broke through again, now achieving the Seventh Rank of Martial Arts.

Upon becoming a Martial Sect, Tan Shuangshuang’s combat power became akin to that of a Martial Venerate. Her Thousand Silk Entanglement could extend thousands of strands in an instant, with each attack covering a vast swath of the battlefield, inflicting heavy casualties among high-level demons.