Chapitre 116: Chapter 252: Enjoying the Opera, Suppressing Demons
"Liangzhou?"
The waiter didn't show any impatience upon hearing Li Hao's question; instead, his eyes lit up, and he smiled, "Are you from Liangzhou, sir? Then you must have seen that young General Haotian, right?"
"Hmm?"
Li Hao was taken aback, "You know about him too?"
"Of course, who wouldn't know about him!" The waiter laughed, "Our Youzhou is not far from Liangzhou. The news of the turmoil in Liangzhou a few months ago, when those damn demons surrounded and attacked the city, has spread throughout the states. I heard that the old master of the Xia family's Divine General Mansion in our Youzhou even went to reinforce them."
As he spoke, he looked at Li Hao with a curious and expectant expression, "I heard that during that catastrophe, the demons came out in full force. Countless demons swept through, and even the Demon Kings were flying in the sky. It was so dark that the sky and the earth lost their colors, like a swarm of locusts passing by, leaving not a blade of grass. Liangzhou was almost fallen, but then a young General Haotian appeared out of thin air and suppressed those demons. By the end, even his battle flag was enough to intimidate countless demons. Is that all true?"
"..."
Li Hao hadn't expected the news from Liangzhou to have spread this far, even to a small town waiter in Youzhou.
But then again, it was probably normal. After all, several months had passed, and the news would have reached far and wide by now, no matter how slow it traveled.
"More or less," Li Hao asked, "What's the situation in Liangzhou now? Have the demons retreated? Is there still war?"
"It's been peaceful for a while now. Which demon would dare to go to Liangzhou? I heard that the royal family sent troops to clear out the remnants and restore order. Not only demons, but even a stray dog would need a permit to enter the city nowadays. They've tightened security there recently." The waiter shared what he had heard.
Li Hao secretly breathed a sigh of relief. It seemed that the Candlelight God couple was the one holding down the fort in Liangzhou back then, and the true might of Dragon Gate and Holy Palace had not been gathered there.
And now, the greatest Demon King who had attacked Liangzhou initially stood behind him and had submitted to him.
Thinking of this, Li Hao didn't say more. He changed into the plain clothes prepared by the waiter, glanced at the night outside, and since it was still early, there was a festive atmosphere in the town with the sound of gongs and drums.
Li Hao was in a good mood and said to Xiyan, "Let me take you out for a walk."
"Okay!"
Upon hearing this, Xiyan immediately became lively. Xiao Chi rubbed against Li Hao's wrist, and at the same time, she curiously transmitted her voice, "Are you the young General Haotian that the man mentioned earlier?"
"Mhm."
"Is 'young general' a title? I don't think I've heard of such a title in Great Desolation Heaven."
Xiyan had been in the Great Desolation Heaven and only got her information from those who went to snatch the Dao Rhyme Blood Fruits. Thus, she only had a vague understanding of the Great Desolation Heaven and knew nothing about the humans of the Great Yu Divine Dynasty.
Li Hao smiled and patiently explained to her through a transmitted voice while taking her and the Candlelight God out.
As for Yin Furen, she remained in Li Hao's spatial world.
Earlier, when healing Yin Furen, he had injected a large amount of the power of heaven and earth into her. After briefly merging with the Candlelight God, she seemed to have touched the threshold of the Dao realm and was now in seclusion.
In the night, Li Hao strolled through the rustic small town.
Although the town was dilapidated, the aroma of firewood and home-cooked meals filled the air, exuding a warm and lively atmosphere.
Stone pavements, old wooden posts, and a small river flowing through thousands of households—the town exuded a quaint charm.
There were lanterns hanging along the way, seemingly celebrating some festival.
Following the sound of gongs and drums, Li Hao arrived at the center of the town, where there was a stage, and many people were standing outside, listening to the opera.
There were tables and chairs in the front row, where some of the town's prominent figures, such as merchants and gentry, sat cracking sunflower seeds, drinking tea, and enjoying the show.
Xiyan was like a curious kitten, asking Li Hao all sorts of questions, intrigued by everything around her.
The Candlelight God was like Li Hao's shadow, quiet and always by his side. Although his expression was cold, he, too, observed their surroundings, his eyes reflecting the vibrant scenes of human life.
Children played outside the stage, fighting with paper birds, while the elders clapped and praised the opera from time to time.
Li Hao walked forward, handed over a silver ingot, and sat down at a tea table to quietly enjoy the performance.
During the brief rests in Great Desolation Heaven, one could only look at the stars and moon and hum a tune to pass the time. So, this moment of relaxation in the small town was especially enjoyable.
However, not long after, Li Hao's expression changed slightly, but he didn't get up. He casually picked up some sunflower seeds from the table and lightly cracked a few, tossing the shells onto the ground.
But the sunflower seed shells that fell to the ground suddenly flew up in the night, as if caught by a gentle breeze, whistling as they soared into the sky above the small town and then rushing toward the hills a dozen miles outside the town.
There, a group of demons was rushing through the night wind.
Staring at the endless lights of the small town ahead, as well as the lively gongs, drums, and laughter, cruel smiles appeared on their faces.
But just as the leading demon was about to speak, suddenly, a sunflower seed shell descended from the sky like a small black dot and swiftly passed through.
Puff, puff, puff!
Under the wrap of Li Hao's control over objects, the shells easily penetrated their bodies, and more than a dozen demons died on the spot without even realizing how they had perished.
"Good."
Hearing the climax of the performance, Li Hao joined the surrounding crowd in enthusiastic applause and cheers.
When the opera concluded and the audience dispersed, Li Hao, along with Xiyan and the Candlelight God, returned to the inn and slept soundly.
It had been quite some time since they had a peaceful rest since arriving in the Great Desolation Heaven.
The next day, as the sun rose, its rays illuminated the bodies of the demons outside the town. Someone, having spotted the corpses in the morning light, ran terrified into the town, screaming in fear, and rushed towards the Demon Suppression Office.
The dilapidated front gate of the office was ajar, and the two demon suppressors, still half-asleep and clad only in their undergarments, hurried out in a daze upon hearing the news. When they reached the hill and saw the demon corpses, they were stunned and left speechless.
The news of the demon bodies outside the town quickly spread, leaving the townspeople shocked and fearful. Meanwhile, Li Hao, as the morning sun rose, inquired about the direction to Liyang City with the innkeeper and set off with the Candlelight God.
Since he was already in the area, he might as well pay a visit. Liyang City was in trouble, and the Xia family was also a Divine General Mansion that had sent reinforcements to Liangzhou. Li Hao, being of the human race, couldn't just turn a blind eye and leave.
Following the official road ahead, they passed by two cities. When entering the cities, Li Hao quietly covered Xiyan with his Domain, while the Candlelight God concealed his presence with his own Domain. Although they lacked the demon pass tokens, they managed to evade the detection of the formation arrays above the cities.
The formation arrays could only detect Transcendent Realm demons; against Great Perfection Realm demons who had mastered Domains, they were ineffective.
Only the grand capitals of the larger states or the imperial city would possess special divine weapons that could sense even Harmony Realm demons.
However, such items were rare, and ordinary cities could only rely on formation arrays.
Those two cities were also heavily guarded, indicating that demon attacks had occurred there as well, although not as severe as in Liyang City.
As Li Hao passed by, he casually took care of the dozens of demons lurking within a hundred miles of the cities.
For him, it was but a moment's effort.
Liyang City.
A border city in the northwest of Youzhou, surrounded by towering mountains that served as a natural barrier. Thus, Liyang City became the greatest obstacle in the area.
It was also a crucial passageway in the northwest of Youzhou. The Xia family stationed heavy troops here year-round. Losing Liyang City would be equivalent to losing the northwest border of Youzhou, which would lead to the fall of more than a dozen other cities.
At the moment, dozens of miles outside the city, numerous corpses were piled up, including demons, Xia family soldiers, and broken battle flags that covered the dead.
In the city lord's mansion within the city, in the conference hall, three strategists and seven generals were gathered. Among them were several young minor generals of the Xia family, their faces flushed with suppressed anger.
"Those damn beasts! They've cut off our reinforcements and supplies, planning to starve us to death here!"
"Those demons are getting smarter, trying to take us down with minimal losses on their part!"
"Should we seek aid from the family? There are two Immortal Realm demons among those beasts, and we don't know if there are any more hiding. If not for the formation array, we would've fallen already. There's no point in holding out."
"Seek aid? The Gluttonous Valley demons are probably waiting for us to do just that. Once our family sends reinforcements, they might have already set up an ambush along the way, planning to cut them off and use us as bait!"
"Indeed, the situation in the family is not optimistic either. Half a month ago, the Valley Master of Gluttonous Valley wreaked havoc there. We don't know where he's hiding now."
"We are the ones defending Liyang City now. We can't rely on the family for everything. We need to solve this crisis ourselves. Otherwise, we could follow the example of that Li family's Duke of Punishment and War in Yanbei and spread the news, calling for reinforcements from various aristocratic families."
"The situation is different. Yanbei wasn't defended solely by those aristocratic families. They were only a small part of the aid."
"Small or not, it's still strength. We can at least get those families to contribute something. Usually, they only know how to make money, drink, and oppress the common folk. When demons attack, they just hide deeper, lacking any sense of responsibility. It's about time they did something!"
"That's difficult. We don't have the time to rally them now. I have a suggestion."
"What is it?"
Everyone looked at the middle-aged strategist who had spoken.
The strategist glanced around, his gaze lingering on the few young minor generals of the Xia family, and said in a low voice, "How about we change our battle flag?"
"Change the battle flag?"
"Yes. You all know what happened in Liangzhou, right? How about we send an elite group, change their armor, and hang the battle flag of that General Haotian from Liangzhou, pretending to be reinforcements from the interior?"
Upon hearing the middle-aged strategist's suggestion, everyone was taken aback for a moment. The city defenders of Liyang City, however, had their eyes lit up as they found the idea intriguing.
But the three young minor generals of the Xia family had unsightly expressions, with one deep in thought and another speaking up in anger:
"Impossible! This is Youzhou, our Xia family's territory! We're not dead yet, and you want to hang the battle flag of an outsider?
"This is just a temporary measure..." The middle-aged staff officer tried to persuade further.
"What if we hang that man's battle flag, and it fails to intimidate these demons?" Another person interrupted, asking a question. "That man has long since disappeared, and his battle flag has been studied by the demons for months. How much of a deterrent effect can it still have? Nowadays, everyone is trying to scare the demons with his flag, and the demons have seen through this. The flag's power of intimidation has greatly diminished."
"As generals, we cannot be like those foolish commoners, listening to those exaggerated legends and truly treating a teenager as a deity. No matter how strong he is, he's been missing for so long that his battle flag has lost its power."
"Exactly," the previous young major general agreed. "Don't pin your hopes on outsiders. Instead, let's think about how to lure out one of those three Immortal Demon Kings and try to use the formation token to send it into the formation array. We'll beat it while it's down."
Hearing this, the middle-aged staff officer sighed inwardly. He knew that these young members of the Xia family valued the family's honor too much, leading to their impulsive rejection without considering the potential benefits.
In fact, he believed that it might have had some effect, and if they were lucky, it could even break through the demons' defenses and bring them hope.
As they continued their discussion, a sudden tremor interrupted them.
Everyone in the conference hall was startled, and several generals rushed out.
They saw the formation array outside Liyang City glowing with golden runes, and in the sky above the city was a middle-aged figure swinging his scythe-like arm and striking the array.
"Stop!" One of the young Xia family major generals flew into the air and shouted angrily.
"I thought you guys were sleeping, so I came to wake you up." The middle-aged figure chuckled but didn't stop. Instead, he continued to attack the formation array a few more times. "Don't let your guard down. We might attack at any time."
His arrogant posture infuriated the young major general, turning his face red with anger. He knew that the demons were trying to keep them constantly on edge, not giving them a moment to relax.
While they could adjust and cope, the massive army within the city would inevitably be filled with anxiety and fear, lacking the physical and mental fortitude to withstand such pressure.
"You will pay a price for provoking my Xia family!" The young major general shouted in anger.
"Oh? What price?" The middle-aged figure scoffed. "I'm right here. Why don't you come out and show me?"
A few other generals flew over as well, urging the young major general to stay calm. Among them was an elderly general who exuded the aura of the Triple Immortal Realm.
Seeing this, the middle-aged figure immediately stopped and backed off several hundred meters, sneering, "I'll be back tomorrow."
With that, he turned to leave.
However, the elderly general took off after him, roaring, "This place is not one that you can come and go from as you please!"
He burst out of the formation array, unleashing his power as he gave chase.
The middle-aged figure quickly retreated, and the two pursued him for a distance. But, after a thousand meters or so, the old general had to stop, his face twisted with anger. He saw that ahead of them was a dense swarm of demons, and if they continued the pursuit, they would fall into an ambush.
"Hmph." The middle-aged figure didn't seem concerned that his ploy had failed. He chuckled and waved to the distant demon army, signaling their retreat.
Just then, on the official road in the distance, a figure approached on horseback.
The crisp sound of hoofbeats echoed as the rider drew nearer.
"Hmm?" The middle-aged figure raised an eyebrow as he noticed the rider but didn't pay it much attention. There had been many foolish young masters from the human clan's aristocratic families who had met their end on this road recently, seeking to slay demons and gain glory.
He turned and flew away, but after only a few hundred meters, he suddenly stopped.
This was because he sensed that the aura of the demon horde occupying both sides of the official road was rapidly diminishing.
He turned his head and witnessed a strange sight.
The young rider was approaching at a steady pace. As his horse's hooves fell, the demons waiting to ambush him and claim their prey withered like a field of dry wheat, collapsing in patches, their life force extinguished.
As the middle-aged figure turned to look, the young rider also lifted his head, their gazes locking.
In that instant, the middle-aged figure felt his heart clench tightly, and then an indescribable aura enveloped him.
Boom! His body exploded in mid-air.
État de l’alimentation hebdomadaire
-- Classement
Power Stone 
-- Power
stone