"Save a few people?"
Commander Gai frowned slightly and asked, "Who is it? Important people?"
"Ordinary commoners, a family of four," Li Hai said frankly.
"Hah, I thought it was someone important. Turns out it's just a few barbarians."
Commander Gai waved his hand and said, "How about this, Lieutenant Li, you can go to Great Xia yourself. I'll take care of saving a few commoners for you."
"No, no, no, you can't solve it."
Li Hai smiled, "Because the people I'm going to save are in the Yellow Springs Domain, in that abyss formed by the mutation of Yupan Mountain."
Upon hearing this, Commander Gai immediately looked astonished: "It's that place."
"I've read through the materials from the Niujiao Town outpost," Li Hai slowly said.
"It states that the Yellow Springs Domain rarely appears, but once it does, there's a certain possibility that it will birth an Yin Soldier-level ghost, a level beyond the Reality Ghost-level.
And the only ones capable of contending with ghosts of that level within the Yellow Springs Domain are Void-Reality Grandmasters and Fourth Realm Sorcerers.
But unfortunately, at this time, in this place—it seems there's only one Grandmaster here, and that's me."
In the days following the destruction of the Wolf's Nest, Li Hai had gone through almost all the materials obtained from the Niujiao Town outpost.
So now, he had a relatively comprehensive understanding and knowledge of the Ghost Dao, Martial Dao, Sorcerer Dao, including Spirit Monsters, and so on.
For example, the statement that Yin Soldier-level ghosts are equivalent to Martial Dao Grandmasters and Fourth Realm Sorcerers was something Li Hai learned from those materials.
"I know that the Shilong Mountain area is not important to the Great Jing Dynasty or the Demon Slayer Division," Li Hai said calmly.
"So I guess Big Sister Gong and the others, including Commander Gai, are probably only responsible for monitoring the Yellow Springs Domain in the Zhou Family Fortress area and guarding against potential ghost tide outbreaks or expansion of its range.
And I also guess that the Zhan Mo Si Headquarters probably won't dispatch precious Grandmaster-level Martial Artists or Fourth Realm Sorcerers to travel thousands of miles to this godforsaken place just to eradicate and clear out the Zhou Family Fortress's Yellow Springs Domain, right?"
"You're right," Commander Gai slowly nodded.
"Indeed, that's the case. Hmm, Lieutenant Li, actually, I don't quite agree with your earlier idea—that an Yin Soldier-level ghost might be born within that Yellow Springs Domain."
"Oh?" Li Hai raised an eyebrow, "How so?"
"It's like this," Commander Gai explained in a deep voice, "You might have seen related materials, but I have to tell you that those materials are incomplete.
In fact, even if the Yin Qi concentration in the Yellow Springs Domain far exceeds that of a Demonic Qi area, without sufficiently profound Evil Essence, it cannot birth an Yin Soldier-level ghost."
"Then, what constitutes sufficiently profound Evil Essence?" Li Hai asked.
"The so-called Evil Essence, in terms of theory, cannot be explained in a word or two. I'll just give a simple explanation," Commander Gai slowly explained.
"To put it plainly, if there's an ancient battlefield where two armies fought a brutal, fierce battle within this Yellow Springs Domain, or if there's a bloody area where racial massacres occurred, or if there's a large imperial royal tomb complex that has existed for a thousand years, or if there's the ruins of an ancient sect that was suddenly destroyed by natural or man-made disasters, or if there's the remains of at least a Grandmaster-level Vicious Beast, then this Yellow Springs Domain is considered to have profound Evil Essence and has a very high chance of birthing an Yin Soldier-level ghost."
"Heh heh heh~" Li Hai chuckled softly.
"Then it's quite a coincidence. The Evil Essence you mentioned, the Zhou Family Fortress Yellow Springs Domain—it just so happens to have two."
"Two?!" Commander Gai's expression eased, and he immediately pressed, "Which two?"
"Precisely the last two you mentioned," Li Hai said.
"Ancient sect ruins and Vicious Beast remains."
Immediately, he succinctly recounted his experiences in the underground Cave of Yupan Mountain, especially the information regarding the Hunting Deer Pavilion ruins and the damaged Dragon egg.
"An ancient sect of the Xuan Dynasty completely wiped out by an earthquake, a Dragon egg that seems to be damaged but there's no proof..."
After listening to Li Hai's account, Commander Gai's face became solemn.
Not only him, but all the Demon Slayer Commandants in the tent also had solemn expressions, even showing worry.
"Lieutenant Li, you're right."
After a moment of silence, Commander Gai sighed heavily, "The possibility of the Zhou Family Fortress birthing an Yin Soldier-level ghost is indeed very high, and I've even roughly guessed what kind of Yin Soldier-level ghost it will be."
"Oh? Commander Gai is truly knowledgeable and talented," Li Hai chuckled softly.
"Then I'd like to hear the details."
"An ancient sect ruin that has experienced natural disasters and existed for at least a thousand years, plus a Dragon egg that also existed for a thousand years and was also destroyed by natural disaster—"
Commander Gai said in a deep voice, "These two harsh conditions coexisting in one Yellow Springs Domain, such examples have only appeared twice in Great Jing's thousand-year history, and the Yin Soldier-level ghosts that appeared both times—were the same kind: Chiqiu Chonglong."
"Chiqiu Chonglong?" Li Hai's thick eyebrows slightly furrowed.
"This name carries a sinister aura. It seems it won't be easy to deal with."
"Yes," Commander Gai nodded.
"This type of ghost has appeared twice in Great Jing's history, 750 years ago and 430 years ago respectively. Each appearance caused heavy losses and devastation to the local area, and each time, several Martial Dao Grandmasters or Fourth Realm Sorcerers had to join forces to barely suppress and resolve the Chonglong, and everyone was injured afterward."
As Commander Gai said this, Gong Shuo Hong and the others in the tent who had been listening to their conversation were immediately filled with shock and awe.
Good heavens, it takes several Martial Dao Grandmasters to go into battle together, and they still end up injured just to barely deal with this ghost? What kind of Chonglong is this? It's too vicious!
However, although they were terrified, Li Hai didn't mind it. Instead, a surge of Battle Intent was ignited within him.
"Whoa~ It's quite fierce," Li Hai grinned.
"Then I'm even more excited."
"You—sigh~"
Looking at Li Hai, who was full of Battle Intent, Commander Gai shook his head and sighed, "Lieutenant Li, I said these things to persuade you to think twice, but you, on the other hand, are even more excited."
"No need to say more. I'm going to meet that Chiqiu Chonglong now." With that, Li Hai stood up straight, lifted his foot, and walked towards the outside of the tent.
Unexpectedly, Commander Gai also stood up at this moment and loudly declared, "Wait a moment!"
"Hmm?" Li Hai turned to look at him, "What is it?"
"Lieutenant Li, please reconsider what I just said."
Commander Gai sincerely advised, "Although you are a Martial Dao Grandmaster, that Chonglong is not something a single Grandmaster can deal with. You still have an extremely promising future; there's no need to—take such a risk for a few ordinary commoners."
Commander Gai's words were indeed a bit cold, but they were also very sincere and reasonable. So, honest people in the tent like Gong Shuo Hong and Zeng Ying, although they frowned slightly, only sighed in silence.
Yes, they were just a few barbarians from the Shilong Mountain area. Save them if you can, but if you can't, there's no need to put yourself in danger.
But just as everyone's emotions were complicated, Li Hai said:
"Commander Gai, for you, a few commoners indeed don't matter to the overall situation, but—"
He lifted the tent flap, stepped halfway out, turned back to look at Commander Gai and the others, and smiled softly:
"I've gone to heaven and earth for even smaller reasons before, so this time—I can do it again."
With that, he stepped out of the tent, leaving Commander Gai, Gong Shuo Hong, and the others in shocked contemplation.
