lerbook Chapter 150: Meeting at the Demon Extermination Bureau Headquarters
Chapter 150: Meeting at the Demon Extermination Bureau Headquarters
The headquarters of the Demon Extermination Bureau in the capital city of the Great Wei Dynasty.
On the open-air pavilion, a barely perceptible layer of vital energy enveloped the surrounding space. As the light fell, a middle-aged figure descended and sat down.
More than thirty chairs were arranged around the room, and more than twenty of them were already occupied. Directly opposite, Dao Yuanzi stood with his hands behind his back, gazing at the bustling scene of the capital.
After the middle-aged man was seated, Dao Yuanzi turned around, calculating the time, and a sigh appeared on his aged face: "Is this all that came? Well, that's fine."
As soon as he spoke, the expressions of the others turned slightly serious. They were all Marrow-Entry Realm martial artists from the Demon Extermination Division, each with their own duties. Dao Yuanzi had specifically summoned them here today, so there must be something important to announce. As for those who didn't come, either they were busy with urgent matters or they had already perished in a mission.
"Director, have you summoned us here today because there's trouble on the demon side?" someone asked. The speaker was an unusually robust old man with red hair and pale reddish skin.
He is Hong Ri, the chief commander of the Demon Extermination Division.
Everyone else looked at Dao Yuanzi with curiosity. In the last row of seats sat a group of relatively young martial artists at the Marrow Transformation Realm, all of whom were the pride of the Great Wei Dynasty, and Chu Hanwei was among them.
"Alas, I called you here today because there's something I can't decide on." Dao Yuanzi didn't mince words and spoke directly. He waved his hand, and blue qi and blood emanated from his palm, condensing into a huge map in the air.
This map is extremely detailed, stretching from the capital of the Great Wei Dynasty to the depths of the cold and wild Northern Plains, with clear markings along the way and the progress of the Demon Extermination Bureau's exploration team.
As everyone was puzzled, their expressions quickly changed again. A white route suddenly appeared on the map formed from blood and qi, running through the Northern Plains Mountains and reaching the edge of the map.
There, the words "Valley of Fallen Souls" are marked.
"Director! Is this a map to leave the old Wei-Zhao territory? We really found it?!" Hong Ri excitedly stood up from his chair. He was a staunch advocate of evacuation. After learning the truth about the old Wei-Zhao territory when he was young, he had always wanted to leave this place and go to the outside world.
After joining the Demon Extermination Bureau, he never stopped sending exploration teams to all directions. He personally went to the Western Poison Forest, the sea, and the Northern Plains, but gained almost nothing. He only stopped the expedition after being seriously injured during an exploration a few years ago, and only restarted the exploration when the demon chaos broke out, but still made no progress.
He suggested to Dao Yuanzi more than once to increase the exploration efforts, but Dao Yuanzi was a staunch advocate of staying put. Especially after the demon chaos, his desire to explore diminished significantly, and he focused all his energy on exterminating the demons.
Hong Riben thought that the reason for summoning everyone today was that there was something strange happening on the demon side, but he did not expect that Dao Yuanzi would take out a map to leave!
The others were also unable to remain calm, their faces showing either excitement or confusion. This group of people, whose average age was over 100, actually started making a ruckus on the spot.
"It's that map from before!" In the last row, Mo Tianhe exclaimed in surprise, staring at the map. He looked at Chu Hanwei, who was one seat away, and asked, "Junior Sister Chu, did Master send people to explore this place?"
Chu Han shook his head slightly, his expression unreadable: "It should be." Ever since he obtained that map last time, because the map was too detailed and demons were rampaging in the southern border, Dao Yuanzi had assigned people to explore it. He didn't expect to get results so quickly.
"quiet!"
A visible sound wave swept through the crowd, and the noise stopped instantly.
Dao Yuanzi dispersed the map of qi and blood in his hand, his aged and cloudy eyes revealing unfathomable emotions. He slowly said, "This map was obtained by chance by the Demon Extermination Bureau. After exploration and confirmation, it is currently the most promising route to leave the Sealed Demon Land. The way out may be hidden in the Valley of Desolation."
Fallen Valley?
The name of the place echoed in everyone's minds, their excitement gradually fading. Hong Ri spoke again, his tone tinged with accusation: "Chief, why did you order the exploration of Fallen Valley to be halted? This is the route out of the old Wei-Zhao territory! We've searched for three hundred years and finally made progress, why stop now?"
"That's right, Director! As long as we find a way out, we can leave the old lands of Wei and Zhao, break through to higher martial arts realms in the Great Domain of Ten Thousand Spirits, and greatly increase our lifespan!"
"That's right! The demonic chaos won't be a threat to us then!"
The crowd spoke in succession, and Dao Yuanzi looked at them, sighing inwardly. His other disciple was in charge of exploring this path. When the demons had shown unusual activity earlier, he had ordered his disciple to halt the exploration and return to the eastern border of the Southern Frontier to investigate. Now, the master and disciple were separated by death.
He paused, looking at the crowd whose minds were filled with thoughts of leaving the old lands of Wei and Zhao and escaping the chaos caused by demons. He swallowed back the truth he was about to reveal and instead said:
"The Valley of Desolation is extremely dangerous, and its vast area is estimated to be no smaller than the entire Great Wei. It would take at least a hundred years to find the correct escape route."
Upon hearing this, the noisy crowd fell silent once more. Hong Ri's face stiffened. He was already over three hundred years old, and due to the numerous wounds he had sustained from years of exploration, he only had forty or fifty years left to live. He simply couldn't live to see a hundred years from now.
"Director, if we invest more manpower, can we speed up the process?" he pressed on, unwilling to give up.
Dao Yuanzi firmly shook his head: "No."
Everyone was somewhat disappointed. The younger generation, such as Chu Hanwei, were alright, as they were still young and could live to see a hundred years from now.
"Gentlemen!"
Dao Yuanzi's voice suddenly rose, and from his aged body erupted a surge of blood energy nearly breaking through the limits of the Body Refinement Realm! The dissipating blood energy seemed to possess its own consciousness, slowly swirling around him. His expression was exceptionally solemn:
"The chaos of demons is drawing ever closer! If we want to find a way out, we must first slay the demons! The Great Wei has countless humans, and they do have life-extending elixirs!"
Only by fighting against demons and surviving can we find a way out of the Demon-Sealed Land!
To cooperate with demons is tantamount to seeking help from a tiger! Look at the warriors of the Southern Frontier and Eastern Border; they have long since turned to ashes!
Every word was imbued with vital energy, clearly reaching everyone's ears. The expressions of several people present subtly changed.
Mo Tianhe sneered. Seeing Chu Hanwei's puzzled expression, he explained in a low voice:
"In the past month, Master discovered that some high-ranking officials have been secretly contacting the Demon King, attempting to seek cooperation when they are unable to resist the demons."
Cooperation with demons is not without precedent; the warriors of the Southern Frontier are a prime example.
If Zhang Ping hadn't thwarted the demons' plan to establish their capital, the Eastern Territory would have become a pasture for demons to feed on, with corrupted martial artists feeding the demons with ordinary people in order to survive. Such behavior is utterly outrageous and infuriating!
Now, within the Great Wei Demon Extermination Bureau, some people, fearing they cannot defeat the demons and seeing no hope of leaving, secretly contact the demons out of fear of death.
Not many people knew about this, and Mo Tianhe only learned about it by chance from Dao Yuanzi.
If those people hadn't only made their first contact and hadn't yet made any substantial progress, and hadn't previously distinguished themselves on the battlefield, Dao Yuanzi would probably have eliminated these traitors the moment he received the news!
After a cold laugh, Mo Tianhe finally understood why his master, who always favored staying behind, would reveal the map to the public at this time.