“Why did I suddenly become a Heavenly Rank Commandant without a sound?” Li Hai asked, puzzled.
Hearing his question, the drone spoke again:
“Hello, Lieutenant Li, the information we have on you is as such. For more detailed information, you will need to inquire with the relevant personnel of the Demon Slayer Division.”
“Alright.”
Li Hai shrugged, “Do I need to return to the ground and walk slowly now, or can I continue to fly?”
The drone immediately replied:
“Hello, Lieutenant Li, you have an annual quota of one thousand five hundred kills. The specific time, place, and target will be at your discretion. Additionally—”
The person on the other end of the drone paused, then continued: “Additionally, the area you are currently in is not the true urban area of Rui Chuan City.
This is a functional testing and display area for the Giant God-Soldier City Construction Machine, a collaborative project between the Divine Armory and the City Construction Department.
This area has no water or electricity supply, and other than project supervisors, no one else resides here.
You need to travel approximately one thousand six hundred zhang further north to reach the true urban area of Rui Chuan City.”
“Giant God-Soldier? City Construction Machine?”
Li Hai was stunned, then looked around and said, “You mean to say that all these tall buildings and wide roads were created by a high-tech giant machine?”
“Lieutenant Li, I do not understand what you mean by high-tech?”
The drone calmly replied, “But this urban area was indeed created by a Giant God-Soldier.”
“Alright.”
Li Hai mused, “I think I understand… Hmm, well, goodbye then.”
After speaking, he flashed and left the top of the tall building, and the drone also gently hummed, flying off in another direction.
One thousand six hundred zhang passed in an instant.
After flying away from the vast Giant God-Soldier functional testing area, which was composed of rows of tall buildings and wide roads.
Li Hai entered an urban area that was slightly older and lower, but filled with the vibrant breath of humanity. He hovered high in the sky and casually scanned, discovering that the vast urban area did not even have a single Steel Grade Martial Artist, nor even a single Martial Artist at the Qi Circulation level.
There were only a few weak Martial Artists at the Qi Flow level, sparsely scattered throughout.
And the countless other people living there were all ordinary Mortals.
“It seems—”
Li Hai murmured, “Even within the Great Jing Dynasty, in places with such abundant and pure Heaven and Earth Essence Qi, the number and probability of Cultivators appearing are still scarce.
However, it might also be because this city is not in the heartland of Great Jing, leading to a relatively smaller number of powerful individuals.”
Though he said this, as the saying goes, 'one can judge the whole leopard by seeing a single spot.' In this border city, whose importance is certainly not low, the number of high-level Martial Artists is so small. If extrapolated to the entire Great Jing, this situation probably wouldn't be much better.
Besides this, Li Hai also noticed that the transportation methods used by the people here were incredibly diverse.
The most numerous and common were ox carts, horse carts, donkey carts, bicycles, and tricycles.
Mixed in with these vehicles were a few relatively primitive oil-fueled cars, and even more primitive steam-powered vehicles.
Yet, in the clear blue sky above these primitive vehicles, an old, severely paint-peeling, but extremely clean anti-gravity flying car would occasionally flash by.
There were even fewer people wearing simple flying armor, slowly gliding across the sky.
At the same time, Li Hai's mental perception also allowed him to “see” that within the various tall and short buildings and residences of this urban area, there was no trace of computers, televisions, mobile phones, fax machines, or similar items.
In the air, there were no traces of 3G, 4G, 5G, or wireless radio waves.
The people here relied on flying talismans written on yellow paper for communication.
Advancement and backwardness coexisted, technology and Xuanhuan intertwined—this scene, full of absurdity and magical realism, combined with the previous situations, immediately allowed Li Hai to discern the true face of the Great Jing Dynasty.
This Jing Dynasty was not some advanced modern industrial and technological civilization at all.
Its essence was still an ancient Xuanhuan civilization primarily based on Martial Dao and spell Cultivation.
It was merely that in the geological strata beneath this Yu Continent, too many relics and artifacts of prehistoric technological civilizations had accumulated.
At the same time, these prehistoric artifacts, after being excavated and enduring long years, could still be easily used by people.
This was what caused the Great Jing Dynasty, born on this land, to wear a false outer layer of technological civilization.
Its true nature had never changed.
And just as Li Hai was sighing to himself, a yellow paper talisman bird suddenly flew rapidly from the distant sky, heading straight for him.
“It's a flying talisman message, looking for me?”
Li Hai, with a thought, caught the talisman bird and brought it before his eyes. He then unfolded the talisman paper and focused his gaze, seeing written upon it:
“Hello, Lieutenant Li, please come quickly to the Yun Kang Province branch of the Demon Slayer Division. The Military Governor and the three Heavenly Rank Commandants of the Division are already waiting here.”
From this message, Li Hai learned that after the Demon Slayer Division received detailed information about him, the highest commander of the Demon Slayer Division—Military Governor Feng Heyue—along with the only three Heavenly Rank Commandants in the Division, had departed from Da Jing Zhong Jing (Great Jing, Central Capital) and rushed to the Yun Kang Province branch, all to meet Li Hai as soon as possible.
This message was to urge Li Hai to quickly go to the Yun Kang Province Demon Slayer Division branch without delay.
The message also thoughtfully included the branch address at the end. This address was located in the mountains outside Rui Chuan City, only three hundred li away from Li Hai's current location.
“Quite enthusiastic.”
Li Hai chuckled as he folded and put away the message, “But, there's also a bit of a test of authenticity, isn't there? Alright, I'll go now.”
With that, he suddenly flew to a higher altitude, his figure flashing into a phantom as he sped towards the distant sky.
Three hundred li from Rui Chuan City, a border city of Great Jing, in a vast garden built on a mountain peak, a group of people were strolling leisurely through the pavilions and corridors.
Leading the way was a short, slightly plump, white-haired, kind-faced old woman holding a Dragon-headed staff.
And she was the highest commander of the Dajing Demon Slayer Division—Demon Slayer Military Governor Feng Heyue.
Following closely behind were three tall, muscular men, but their temperaments were either cold, fiery, or strange, all different.
These three were the Demon Slayer Division's three Heavenly Rank Commandants—Meng Su, Ming Yingjie, and Luo Qianqiu.
Finally, trailing behind these four were dozens of Dragon Rank Demon Slayer Commandants whose aura strength was no different from that of Gai Fu, the Demon Slayer Division Commander of Shilong Mountain.