My Core is the Boss

Yang Guang had no way to refute Qi Yuan. "Well, you should have enough essence blood by now, right? Why don't we withdraw from Shuyao Mountain first?"

Qi Yuan shook his head. "This is far from enough. How am I supposed to defeat my great enemy with so little? Since there's so much demon essence blood here, I have to work hard!"

Yang Guang was completely speechless.

An Qiao also fell silent before finally asking, "Mr. Qi, do you plan to wage guerrilla warfare here to obtain demon essence blood?"

Qi Yuan nodded. "Something like that."

Naturally, he wasn't fighting guerrilla warfare. He was steamrolling through.

"Th-this..." An Qiao hesitated before saying, "Why don't we leave first? Staying here would only hold you back, Mr. Qi!"

An Qiao was speaking the truth. With her late-stage Qi Blood realm strength, encountering a Jade Blood demon would mean instant death. If Qi Yuan intended to fight guerrilla battles, her presence would likely reduce his efficiency.

"You make a lot of sense." Qi Yuan nodded and swept his gaze across the three, before asking Yang Guang, "Can you kill another hundred Jade Blood demons?"

Yang Guang’s expression was worse than crying. A... a hundred?

Now that would definitely kill him.

"I can't kill that many."

Qi Yuan said disdainfully, "Looks like your kidney deficiency is still too severe. Go back with An Qiao and the others."

He grumbled inwardly, Haa... I can’t believe this!

The bodyguard he hired seemed tall and sturdy, but it turned out he had kidney deficiency!

Yang Guang was beyond words. "Cough cough..."

An Qiao gazed at Qi Yuan seriously. "Mr. Qi, please prioritize your own safety. If things become impossible, please leave immediately!"

Unexpectedly, Huo Mushi said, "Since you're staying behind to slay demons, you also need someone to take care of you, Mr. Qi! I will stay with you and take care of your daily needs!"

His youthful voice was brimming with determination, as though he had struggled for a long time before saying these words. An Qiao and Yang Guang stared at him in surprise, seemingly shocked by his courage.

Qi Yuan remained calm. "I have high standards for meals. Three dishes and one soup. Can you do that?"

Yang Guang was rendered speechless.

Huo Mushi's face lit up with excitement. "Yes!"

An Qiao, who had originally intended to dissuade Huo Mushi, swallowed her words. At the same time, she didn't understand why Qi Yuan would bring along dead weight. Of course, she truly could not understand Qi Yuan's train of thought. Not even Qi Yuan himself could understand his own thoughts sometimes.

Fifteen minutes later, An Qiao and Yang Guang disappeared into the distance.

Inside the cave, only Qi Yuan and Huo Mushi remained. Looking at the pitch-black night, Huo Mushi would be lying if he said he wasn't afraid. Still, he tightly held his blade and guarded the cave entrance.

Ever since the southern migration incident, the surrounding cities had fallen into miserable conditions. Nearly all the young and able-bodied men of Zhenyang City had perished in battle.

Now, among those defending the city walls, one-third were child soldiers, and one-third were elderly soldiers with white hair. The elderly could no longer enjoy their later years, and the children had no chance to grow up.

Still, compared to other cities that had already become demon territories, Zhenyang was considered fortunate. Other demons would’ve swarmed the city, massacred entire populations, and turned human corpses into dried rations already.

However, the leader of Shuyao Mountain seemed to have more "vision." Rumor had it that, following the strategist's advice, he had surrounded Zhenyang City and treated the people inside like livestock. That way, they could simply send demon soldiers to seize people whenever they wanted meat.

As a result, unlike other demon territories that quickly depleted their human resources, Zhenyang City provided an endless supply of human jerky. When other demon territories lacked population and human snacks, they would even sell people from Zhenyang in exchange for resources. It could be said that Zhenyang City was Shuyao Mountain's ranch and treasure vault.

Huo Mushi hugged his blade and occasionally glanced into the cave. Inside came Qi Yuan's robotic voice as he pretended to be a system.

Many thoughts passed through Huo Mushi's mind. If only I could endlessly consume demon essence blood too...

Of course, it was merely a fantasy.

At that moment, sounds came from within the cave. Qi Yuan stood up and walked out. Looking at Huo Mushi, he revealed a regretful expression. "What a pity. If only you knew how to play the suona..."

Qi Yuan recalled the times in Canglan and the Mortal Heart World. Whenever he went into battle, there would always be a suona band following him. Once the suona sounded, not even bones would remain.

"Huh?" Huo Mushi froze briefly. "The suona you mentioned, sir... I can play it. My grandfather handled funerals."

Qi Yuan's eyes lit up. "It seems fate has guided you to stay here."

With a wave of his hand, a suona appeared. Naturally, Qi Yuan hadn't carried it with him. It had been created through magic.

"I'm assigning you a task. Whenever I kill demons, stand beside me and play the suona, understand?"

Huo Mushi froze for a moment, then nodded repeatedly. "A-alright!"

***

Three days later, at the demon camp of Shuyao Mountain

A peacock demoness, dressed in purple, was fuming. "Are they all useless?! They still haven't caught a single human after three days?! Nearly a hundred demon soldiers have died!"

Their camp had suffered a devastating loss. In the past, whenever they raided Zhenyang City, they suffered only a handful of casualties. Now, one human had singlehandedly killed so many demons. Never before had Shuyao Mountain suffered such losses.

A demon lowered his head, his gaze fearful. "H-he is extremely powerful... perhaps second only to the twelve generals."

Within Shuyao Mountain, there was one leader, three great generals, and twelve generals. The twelve generals were all at the late-stage Jade Blood realm, and they were not ordinary cultivators either.

The peacock demoness snorted coldly. "Hmph!"

She herself was one of the great generals. To be precise, a terrifying great demon at the Demon Hero realm.

She declared coldly, "In three days, I want to see his corpse!"

At this moment, a tall man dressed like a white-robed scholar walked in, his voice bright and clear. "Great General, there's no need for anger. Shuyao Mountain's terrain is complex. I can see why finding a late-stage Jade Blood Realm human cultivator would be difficult."

This white-robed scholar was the strategist.

A trace of affection appeared in the peacock demoness’ gaze. "Those demon soldiers are simply lazy and afraid of death. Otherwise, sending a few demon generals would easily capture him!"

"That man's strength is average. The difficult part is locating him. Mobilizing large numbers of demon soldiers for one person is unwise."

The peacock nodded. Since the leader was forging a demon artifact, most of the demon soldiers had to remain in the camp in case of unexpected developments.

The strategist said gently, "So, I have a method to solve this matter... Though it still requires your approval, Great General."

The peacock woman hurriedly said, "Strategist, you are wise! Please tell us your method!"

At that moment, a tall and sturdy man walked over, emanating a powerful aura. "I'll explain it myself."

A strange smile hung on his face. He clearly wasn't someone easy to deal with.

The peacock demoness’ gaze grew murderous. "A human?"

If not for the strategist standing nearby, she probably would have struck immediately.

"Great General, I have a treasure capable of detecting the precise location of humans within a hundred-li radius. I can lead the demon generals to that man and kill him, but I have one request!"