Chapter 325 - 200: Li Tingkui

Chapter 325: Chapter 200: Li Tingkui

the Commander-in-Chief said casually.

Li Tingkui?

Su Mu looked at him. The name sounded familiar. After thinking for a moment, he suddenly remembered.

He had indeed heard that name before.

The Commander-in-Chief of the Xiangzhou Taiping Bureau, Li Tingkui!

Luo Anning had told him that Li Tingkui had stormed the Jiangzuo Wenren Family alone with a single spear, teaching them a harsh lesson.

’He really is as fierce as they say.’

’That great sun behind him just now, was that a phenomenon?’

A look of envy appeared on Su Mu’s face.

He had achieved the Great Success Realm in four different intents, but he was still a ways off from Realm Perfection. A phenomenon was even further out of reach.

’I can’t believe a phenomenon is this powerful!’

’Maybe I shouldn’t be in a rush to advance my realm. I should focus on raising my intents to Perfection first and see if I can comprehend a phenomenon,’ Su Mu thought to himself.

Li Tingkui was likely only at the Core Formation Realm. Yet, because he had mastered a phenomenon, he had severely injured a Tier Five Demon—a creature comparable to a human Nascent Soul Martial Artist—with a single spear strike.

’That’s equivalent to defeating an opponent of a higher tier.’

The power of a phenomenon was far greater than that of an intent.

Su Mu himself had mastered four Great Success Realm intents, and he could currently defeat a Tier Three Demon, which was a tier above him. However, he knew that the higher one’s cultivation, the more difficult it became to fight across tiers.

Once he reached the True Essence Realm, he might not be able to defeat a Tier Four Demon, even with Great Success Realm intents. It would be practically impossible.

The higher the cultivation, the wider the gap between tiers.

Defeating a Tier Five Demon while at the Core Formation Realm was something even a Perfected intent couldn’t accomplish. Only a phenomenon could unleash such power.

"I’ll be taking this Tier Five Demon. You don’t have a problem with that, do you?"

Just as Su Mu was lost in thought, he heard Li Tingkui speak to Yang Changfeng.

"If I’m not mistaken, Su Mu was the one who killed this Tier Five Demon. Have you no shame, snatching the spoils from a junior?"

Yang Changfeng scoffed.

"Kid, what do you say?"

Li Tingkui grinned, looking at Su Mu.

"Sir, you must be joking. I know my own limits."

Su Mu said with a wry smile, "You killed it, Sir. It had nothing to do with me."

"Smart kid."

Li Tingkui slapped Su Mu’s shoulder with his large hand, hard enough to make it ache.

"Sirs, the Demon Court’s General is dead. Shouldn’t we press our advantage and wipe out the Demon Court?" Su Mu suddenly suggested.

Li Tingkui and Yang Changfeng exchanged a look.

Then, Li Tingkui burst out laughing.

"Good kid! You’ve got the same spirit I had when I was young!"

"Spirit, my ass. You’re just a warmongering madman."

Yang Changfeng retorted irritably. "The Marquis banished you all the way to Xiangzhou, and you still came running to Hujue Pass to join the fun!"

"If I hadn’t come, could you have handled it?"

Li Tingkui said smugly, "I’m telling you, Xiaoyangzi, after all these years, you really haven’t improved at all. You can’t even handle a single Tier Five Demon."

"What are you so smug about? A year ago, you couldn’t beat a Tier Five Demon either! You just got damn lucky and suddenly comprehended a phenomenon!"

Yang Changfeng said dismissively, his tone so sour you could taste it from a hundred yards away.

Su Mu looked around nervously. ’Is a quarrel between two Commanders-in-Chief something I should be listening to?’

"Still better than you," Li Tingkui said.

’Esteemed Commanders-in-Chief, acting like children.’

"Kid, your idea about wiping out the Demon Court is a good one."

Li Tingkui turned to Su Mu and said, "Unfortunately, we can’t.

If you had a Core Formation Realm cultivation and had comprehended a phenomenon like me, then the two of us could go in and stir up some trouble.

Even then, we couldn’t wipe out the Demon Court. At best, we could teach them a lesson."

Su Mu blinked, a little confused.

"Do you know how many Generals the Demon Court has?"

Yang Changfeng sighed and explained, "Right now, we’ve confirmed that the Demon Court has a total of twelve Generals.

Just because one General died doesn’t mean the Demon Court’s soldiers are without a commander.

The Demon Court has eleven more just like that one.

Besides, we still can’t be sure how powerful the Master of the Demon Court is.

What we do know is that its strength is no less than that of our Marquis."

Yang Changfeng’s expression was grave.

Su Mu was slightly startled.

He also caught the implication in Yang Changfeng’s words.

’No less than the Marquis... that means it might even be stronger than the Marquis.’

He suddenly recalled that the Taiping Bureau had lost two Marquises in the past. Perhaps their deaths were related to this Master of the Demon Court.

Marquises were powerful, but they could still die.

"So, your courage is commendable, but don’t even think about it."

Li Tingkui said, patting Su Mu’s shoulder.

"If you want to wipe out the Demon Court, you need to grow stronger quickly. Break through to the Core Formation Realm sooner.

No, Core Formation isn’t enough. You need to reach Nascent Soul, or even higher."

Even someone as proud as Li Tingkui wore a solemn expression as he said this.

It was clear that the Demon Court was far more terrifying than Su Mu had imagined.

So terrifying that even after a major victory at Hujue Pass, neither Yang Changfeng nor Li Tingkui showed any signs of relaxing.

"So what if there are twelve Generals? We killed one, so sooner or later we can kill the other eleven," Su Mu said confidently.

"Wrong."

Yang Changfeng shook his head. "Not eleven, ten. Marquis Mingyi already killed one when he came out of seclusion."

Yang Changfeng’s expression was a little odd. The incident that had prompted the Marquis to come out of seclusion seemed to have something to do with Su Mu as well.

Although that had just been an excuse for the Taiping Bureau to make a move.

And today’s Demon Court General could also be said to have died because of Su Mu.

’Could it be that the Demon Court’s Generals have some kind of karmic clash with Su Mu?’

"Son of a bitch!"

Suddenly, Li Tingkui’s curse broke Yang Changfeng out of his reverie.

"What are you flipping out about now?" Yang Changfeng asked irritably.

"That makes three!"

Li Tingkui pointed at Su Mu’s collar and rolled his eyes. "I’m obviously way stronger than him—I could crush a hundred of him with one finger—so why do I only have one?"

Yang Changfeng’s gaze fell on Su Mu’s collar. Seeing the two cloud patterns there, he understood what Li Tingkui meant.

With the merit Su Mu had earned this time, he was guaranteed to get another cloud pattern.

One cloud pattern represented a special commendation. A Taiping Captain with three cloud patterns was something he hadn’t just never seen—he’d never even heard of such a thing.

It had never happened in the entire history of the Taiping Bureau!

Even Li Tingkui only had a single cloud pattern.

As for himself, Yang Changfeng...

Yang Changfeng silently rolled his eyes and chose not to speak.

"Wait a minute. Kid, aren’t you from the Wuling Taiping Bureau? What are you doing here at Hujue Pass? Are you like me, drawn to wherever there’s a war?"

Li Tingkui’s thoughts jumped as he looked at Su Mu and asked.

His question snapped Su Mu back to reality.

"Sirs, I have an urgent matter to report."

Su Mu said seriously, "Over two months ago, we eliminated a Demon Investigator from the Demon Court outside Wuling City. We recovered a map from that investigator.

The map detailed a route that cuts straight through the Daxing Mountains!

We followed that route through the Daxing Mountains and into the wildlands.

Along the way, we learned that the Demon Court and a traitor inside Hujue Pass were planning a coordinated attack, so we came to Hujue Pass from the wildlands."

Su Mu briefly recounted the sequence of events.

The expressions on Yang Changfeng and Li Tingkui’s faces immediately grew solemn.

As battle-hardened veterans, they instantly grasped the gravity of the situation.

The Daxing Mountains were supposed to be a natural barrier against the Demon Court.

If the Demon Court could cross the Daxing Mountains and march straight into the heartland of Da Xuan, the consequences would be unthinkable!

"Does the Demon Court know about that route now?"

Yang Changfeng, ever the meticulous thinker, asked immediately.

"The Demon Investigator had already sent the map back to the Demon Court, but they likely haven’t been able to confirm if the route is real. They sent another investigator to scout the path, which is when we ran into them."

Su Mu said, "Now that the investigator can’t return, the Demon Court will probably doubt the route’s authenticity."

"That’s good."

Yang Changfeng breathed a sigh of relief. This meant they had enough time to seal off that path.

"You said there was a traitor from the Demon Court in Hujue Pass?"

"The Inspector of the Hujue Pass Inspection Bureau, Shao Tongtian. His true identity is Sha Tongtian, a Sect Leader of the Pure Land Sect and the son of its leader, Sha Lian Ting," Su Mu said.

"The Pure Land Sect? Those damn pests again!"

Li Tingkui snorted coldly and cursed.

"This is bad!"

Yang Changfeng’s expression changed. "If Shao Tongtian is Sha Tongtian, then the Hujue Pass Inspection Bureau must be riddled with holes!

They’ll have access to countless secrets about Hujue Pass!

Old Li, you watch the area outside the pass. Prevent the Demon Court from launching a surprise counterattack. I need to get back immediately and secure everyone in the Inspection Bureau!"

"Don’t worry. As long as I’m here, not a single demon will get near Hujue Pass," Li Tingkui said confidently.

Yang Changfeng nodded and, without further hesitation, flickered away toward Hujue Pass.