Mountain Patrol Military Officer
Chapter 190 - 172: I Shall Teach You a Divine Skill (Request for Monthly Tickets)

Chapter 190: Chapter 172: I Shall Teach You a Divine Skill (Request for Monthly Tickets)

Elsewhere, scores of miles outside the east city of Jiang’an County, the night was ink-black.

The mountains stretched on like slumbering beasts upon the earth. In a forest amidst these ranges, intertwining branches loomed threateningly in the darkness, an occasional startled bird taking flight, the flapping of its wings resounding distinctly in the still of the night, but fading as quickly as it came.

Moonlight, sinister and piercing, filtered through a mottled canopy of trees. On the leaves, specks and droplets of crimson blood, some dried, others sliding down, hanging from the edge of leaves, dripping slowly to the ground.

Within the woods lay two ferocious and shattered corpses, scattered throughout the forest, exuding a pungent stench of blood.

From these pieces of flesh, a ghastly appearance could be pieced together.

Humanoid, with green skin, black veins, and elongated ears.

At this moment, the rustling of leaves resounded from all around the forest, as if something was rapidly approaching.

Soon, amidst the forest mottled by the forbidding moonlight, various shadows emerged.

Strange, deformed figures and massive beasts – leopards, wolves, wild boars... Demonic energy coalesced, clearly a group of demons, about a hundred in number.

Yet upon gathering here, these demons prostrated themselves on the ground, trembling as if in the presence of some creature they feared, an aura that lingered in this place.

"Have you found the one who murdered our kin?"

Just then, a voice as grating as bone scraping sounded.

Immediately after, from the shadows where moonlight couldn’t reach, three sinister silhouettes appeared.

Their appearances matched the two dead bodies: humanoid, with green skin, clad in black bone armor. On their smooth skulls, raised and uneven bone scars, deep-set black eye sockets with green eyes, and mouths bearing sharp, elongated fangs; their appearance was daunting and horrifying.

Night Foxes!

Born from wet birth and eggs, dwelling in the Huyan Mountain within the Ten Thousand Mountains.

This clan, in infancy, resembled foxes with white fur and human faces; as adults, upon shedding their fur, they would take on this entirely different appearance.

These types of demons, unlike ordinary members of the Devil Race, possessed a bloodline inheritance and intelligence equal to humans. They were not like beasts transforming into demons, needing to undergo endless calamities in order to cultivate achievements. These clans were born powerful; otherwise, they wouldn’t have been sealed by the Great Divine Ability Users of the Human Clan in the desolate and cold lands of the Ten Thousand Mountains thousands of years ago.

And in the Ten Thousand Mountains, many demons were like this.

At this moment, in the surrounding forests, several figures of distinctive appearance, bearing the aura of Profound Qi, were demons that had transformed into human shape.

They were demons from several mountaintops near the outskirts of the east city of Jiang’an County. As various clans from the Ten Thousand Mountains broke through and ravaged this place, not only did they conquer Human Clan cities, but these lower-ranking demons nearby were also swept up and subjugated by the powerful clans, following them to join the northern campaign as the vanguard.

"Great Lord of the Fox Clan, both my underlings and I have searched tens of miles and still haven’t... found them."

A demon, in its original form a pangolin, bowed its head, voice trembling.

Clearly terrified!

These "Greats" coming from the Ten Thousand Mountains didn’t see them as kin. With awakened intelligence, the pangolin could clearly discern the arrogance, cruelty, and disdain in the "Greats’" eyes, as they looked upon them as if they were uncivilized beasts, killing them at will.

But as it finished speaking,

"Boom"

An explosive sound filled the air.

Following that, the pangolin demon let out a sudden, agonized scream as it was violently hurled backward, smashing through trees, finally slamming fiercely into the trunk of a large banyan tree some ten zhang (approximately 33 meters) away.

"Ding"

The sound of metallic resonance followed.

A white jade-like bone spear, the length of one zhang and eight chi (approximately 5.6 meters), had pierced straight through the pangolin’s body, pinning it against the tree trunk.

In an instant, the demon’s life was twisted away, and within the span of a breath, the human figure dispersed, revealing a two zhang (approximately 6.6 meters) sized pangolin with red scales.

Witnessing this scene, the surrounding little demons trembled with fear, pressing their bodies even lower to the ground.

........

The next day, in Guang’an Prefecture, the sky was bright.

At the Prefecture compound, in the northern annex, doors were pushed open as Chen Yuan, dressed in regular clothing, stepped out.

"General!"

The armored soldiers guarding the door immediately straightened up and saluted.

Chen Yuan nodded and stepped out. Outside, where the tents stood, shouts roared to the heavens and the ground shook with the pounding of horse hooves.

A dust-covered open space, spanning about ten acres, bustled with activity.

On the field, which was partitioned into several areas, there were Armored Soldiers riding horses, practicing pair combat, others engaged in Martial Arts sparring, and still others practicing the Mountain-cutting Banner Array...

Chen Yuan arrived at the training ground, and Liu Qing along with three other Colonels rode swiftly to meet him, then they dismounted in a flying leap.

"General!"

"General!"

"....."

Chen Yuan waved his hand, his gaze fell on the dust rising from the training field, eyes narrowing slightly, "How long will it take for the newly recruited troops to form a preliminary fighting force?"

"Replying to the General, the current training mainly involves practicing army formation coordination, flag commands, as well as the Mountain-cutting Formation. The progress in other areas has been swift; it’s just that the Mountain-cutting Formation is a rather complex array. Given the varying Martial Arts qualities of each individual, adjusting and coordinating takes time to show initial results, and we might... run short of time." Liu Qing reported the current predicament and situation earnestly, fist cupped in hand.

"We indeed don’t have much time left. The Devil Race has already spread outside the Prefecture, and they could be at the city gates at any moment." As Chen Yuan said this, a glint flashed in his eyes, seemingly having thought of something; he then turned around,

"You three, as Commanding Military Officers, carry heavy responsibilities. I shall bestow upon you a certain Magic technique, in the hopes that you quickly master it to some extent. If you can truly learn this Magic technique, the combat strength of your troops can be greatly increased within a short period."

On hearing this, the three Commanding Military Officers were taken aback, a Magic technique capable of rapidly improving combat strength in a short time?

Recalling the Divine Skills they had witnessed the General practicing, each one more astonishing than the last, they dared not show too much emotion on their faces, but their hearts were secretly stirred and expectant.

"Follow me!"

Chen Yuan led the three to a quiet room behind the courtyard to transmit a Divine Skill to them.

This Divine Skill was one of the Seventy-two Demons, straightforward in name: Array.

This particular Divine Skill encompassed the quintessence of the Eight Diagrams and Five Elements, Qimen Dunjia, not confined to form or momentum. If one were to grasp its essence and attain this Divine Skill, they could use themselves or the surrounding landscape to deploy various arrays with myriad transformations.

For those who lead troops, if they could learn even a fraction of it, coupled with the myriad troops’ formations, it would enable a rapid enhancement of combat capability.

At present, for the majority of the Nineth Mountain, which consists of fresh blood, it’s not very realistic to expect these people to form combat strength through training, given the unknown timing of the impending war.

Teaching the Commanding Military Officers this Array Divine Skill could be a novel approach!

Half an hour later, Liu Qing and the other two officers emerged from the courtyard, their faces betraying a fleeting excitement. In their minds, profound and complex Qimen drills continuously evolved, infinitely esoteric.

The three deeply recognized the value of this Magic technique and Divine Skill. They exchanged a glance, then hurried back to their respective military camps, eager to further their understanding.

As for Chen Yuan, after transmitting the Divine Skill, he disappeared from the courtyard.

Minutes later, he appeared on the busy street outside, bustling with crowds, seemingly still unaware of the impending Devil Race assault.

Walking through the street, he occasionally heard snippets of news from street vendors or teahouses and taverns, mentioning a sudden relocation of a wealthy family, which seemed peculiar.

Chen Yuan suspected they had received word and fled for refuge, perhaps like what happened in Jingguan City a few days prior, where numerous affluent families found sanctuary. As for the common people, separated by thousands of miles with most having never left the Prefecture in their lives, they live in this small world, utterly unaware.

Chen Yuan thus walked aimlessly along the bustling streets of the Prefecture, letting his thoughts roam amidst the liveliness and contemplating strategies.

Then, he arrived at a lakeside in the city during the hot summer season, with the scorching sun overhead, willows lush and green along the shore, pleasure boats on the water, with young masters and servants clustering together, young ladies on boats laughing and playing.

Unbeknownst to him, a small flat boat approached Chen Yuan.

A gaunt old servant in a dark grey uniform with a black collar stood on the boat.

The old servant rowed the boat to shore, then approached the bow and, turning to Chen Yuan who had just lifted his gaze to him from his thoughts, performed a courteous bow. He extended both hands, offering an invitation with a bow:

"Apologies for the disturbance, young master. My young mistress on the boat has noticed the young master’s distinguished and handsome appearance, a true talent, and wishes to invite the young master to her birthday three days from now. Here’s the invitation!"

Chen Yuan looked slightly taken aback, then glanced towards the distant small boat, seeing that a two-deck vessel several dozen meters away closed a window with a snap, followed by the laughter of women echoing from within.

It seemed like a maid was teasing the mistress, who responded with a pinch in annoyance.

"Young master?"

The old servant called out again.

Chen Yuan didn’t expect such an amusing incident amidst his troubles. After contemplating for a moment, he smiled and accepted the invitation.

"Then please thank your young mistress for me."

The old servant flashed a toothy smile, then rowed away, chasing after the departing pleasure boat.

Chen Yuan quietly observed this scene, when suddenly, his ears twitched and he looked up to the sky,

Above the skies of Guang’an Prefecture, a small speck of light was rapidly moving toward the direction of the Sky Patrol Department.

Chen Yuan recognized it as a Sky Shrieking Falcon.

He walked a few steps along the shore and in the next instant, disappeared into the shadows beneath the willows.