Top-Tier Perception Starts From Basic Fist Techniques

Lu Changsheng was already marching on Shanan Prefecture at the front of eight hundred temple guards and eight blood descendant Divine Guards. Whenever there was trouble along the way, the guards would go through it the way a knife would go through melons and greens. It was much like a warm-up for the battle waiting at Shanan.

Before long, a huge city came into view ahead of them.

"Progenitor, that city ahead is Shanan," Chen Ping said.

"Oh? By the look of it, they've made no preparations. Had they not expected us to come to them? However, even though we caught them off guard, we weren't exactly launching a surprise attack, so they spotted us, anyway. Would you look at that? They've already shut the city gates."

Lu Changsheng looked it over from afar.

Shanan City had a moat, and the shut gates made it awkward for enemies to enter. However, it wasn't too much of a problem for the temple guard force. Every blood descendant Divine Guard stood at Third Growth, across the line of transcendence, so breaking a gate open was the simplest thing in the world to them.

"Progenitor, the gates are opening again. That looks like the garrison stationed inside Shanan. There must be around twenty thousand of them." Chen Ping's chest tightened as he spoke.

Twenty thousand men, and all of them were the finest troops Shanan Prefecture had. They were a proper army that had carried out missions in formation. It was true that the temple guard force had constitutions far beyond an ordinary soldier's, but there were very few of them.

It was eight hundred against twenty thousand—a comparison that looked lopsided from any angle.

However, Lu Changsheng had no fear.

"Temple guard force, all of you, charge!"

He was no gifted battlefield commander, but he did not need to be.

Eight hundred guards, and every one of them had an extraordinary constitution. Saying that each was worth ten men was truly selling them short. Each was worth at least a hundred, or even a thousand, so formations were an afterthought. They simply charged forward.

A Second Growth blood descendant's vitality was formidable as well. Serious wounds closed quickly, and killing them would take real effort from their enemies.

As the eight hundred men charged, they maintained no formation, but they had learned some basic techniques for themselves. They ran to a set distance and stopped, then every man put out his arms.

"Net of flesh and blood!"

Eight hundred guards flung out a part of their own flesh and blood at once. A dense rain of flesh and blood seemed to fall from the empty sky, pouring down over the twenty thousand men like a lid.

"Men with shields, cover!"

Rank after rank of infantrymen came forward and raised their shields. However, there was too much "rain" for that. Some of it got through, and the men that it touched screamed and went down, rolling on the ground in agony. Even their armor did nothing for them.

The flesh behaved as though it were alive, boring its own way into anyone. The ground was covered in it as well, and any horse or soldier that even brushed against a trace of it was converted into a blood descendant on the spot.

In the blink of an eye, the army of twenty thousand broke apart in confusion. Before the fighting had even begun, the ground was covered in fallen men.

Then, as the hours went by, something stranger happened. The fallen soldiers did not die. Instead, two to four hours later, they got back to their feet feeling as strong as tigers. They also seemed to feel a natural kinship with the blood descendants, so deserting to join the enemy was almost a matter of course.

The Temple of Flesh and Blood did not call it deserting to join the enemy, of course. The Temple called it “taking refuge.”

After four hours, the temple's side, which had initially numbered eight hundred temple guards, numbered close to twenty thousand. Almost all of the twenty thousand soldiers who had marched out to fight were converted to a blood descendant.

Up on the wall, the officials of Shanan Prefecture watched with their mouths open. What kind of battle was this? After one exchange, the allied troops deserted, bolstering the strength of the enemies? How was a man supposed to fight such a battle? It was a stifling and uncanny battle.

"How... can this be happening?"

"I've seen many things in this long life of mine. I've watched a greater demon fight a half-demon, but even demon sorcery isn't as ridiculous as this."

"Demon sorcery... this is worse than demon sorcery! The temple can turn ordinary men into blood descendants in no time at all. That's like a snowball rolling down a hill! What kind of power will the Temple of Flesh and Blood gain?"

"This is a greater threat than demons, greater than even the demon nation itself."

It took no more than a moment for most of them to see the horror of the situation. Against true demons, humanity had half-demons to hold the line and could just about keep it up. Against the Temple of Flesh and Blood, what was there? The mood on the wall turned very heavy.

Then, Squire Zhao said, "Gentlemen, it seems we must ask the Dark Demon Society to act."

That brought them back to their senses.

Right, of course! The Dark Demon Society!

They had almost forgotten that the society's people were in Shanan City.

The prefecture lord drew a deep breath. Beating the temple's army outside the walls with soldiers was a luxury he no longer had. The only way left was to rely on the society's demons.

"I'll have to trouble Squire Zhao to arrange it," the prefecture lord said slowly in agreement.

Squire Zhao clapped his hands, and a woman came walking slowly out of the crowd. She was slender and dressed in gauze, and the dress left a great deal uncovered. There was something bewitching about her.

"Introducing Miss Hongshuang," he said.

Squire Zhao's manner toward her was distinctly respectful. He knew perfectly well what she was. Miss Hongshuang was no woman at all! She was a true demon, and true demons ate people.

Miss Hongshuang walked slowly toward the prefecture lord, stopping right in front of him with a charming smile. "My lord, our experts will act on one condition. Once the temple's men outside the walls are defeated, those men will be handed over to the Dark Demon Society, every last one of them. How does that sound?"

Miss Hongshuang licked her lips as she said it, and something cold and bloodthirsty showed through.

The sight sent a chill down the prefecture lord's spine. True demons ate people. There were close to twenty thousand men outside the walls, whether they were traitors who joined the Temple of Flesh and Blood or not. He knew exactly what handing them over would mean for them.

Weighing the loss against the gain, he gritted his teeth. "Every man has the right to put traitors to death. Miss Hongshuang, drive them back, and the traitors are yours to dispose of."

"Good." The answer pleased Miss Hongshuang, and she smiled. "Watch, my lords. The Dark Demon Society will send out eighteen of our experts, and the twenty thousand traitors outside these walls will be defeated."

Miss Hongshuang seemed entirely confident.

It was merely eighteen experts against twenty thousand rebels, but the reason for her confidence was simple enough. The eighteen were not men; they were demons. Greater demons! Eighteen greater demons flattening a human army of twenty thousand was the easiest thing imaginable.

Swoosh! Swoosh! Swoosh!

Figure after figure of the eighteen demons sprang down off the city wall, landing outside Shanan City.

Among the temple's army, Lu Changsheng and the rest had seen the change on the wall.

"Someone's jumped down from the city?"

"There's... eighteen of them?"

"No, how could a man drop from a wall that high and take no injury? Not even a martial master with years behind him could do it... Unless they aren't human."

"Not human means demons, true demons!"

Chen Ping's eyes stayed fixed on the eighteen figures. On the eighteen true demons, rather.

Second Growth was a match for an ordinary true demon, and Third Growth was a match for a greater demon. Eight hundred temple guard forces were equivalent to the strength of eight hundred true demons. Eighteen true demons wanted to stand against that?

"Progenitor, I doubt those demons belong to the Demon God Ministry. My suspicion is that the Dark Demon Society has people inside Shanan City. Only the society, after years of working its way into the Jing Dynasty, could put this many true demons in one place at short notice." Chen Ping offered a warning.

"The Dark Demon Society..." Lu Changsheng nodded in understanding. He knew what sort of faction the society was, and the news did not surprise him much. Officials of the Jing Dynasty in league with the Society's true demons... Was that unexpected? Not in the slightest.

"Chen Ping, those eighteen are no ordinary demons. They're greater demons," Lu Changsheng said, smiling.