Chapter 74: Follow Me!

Before Wang Ping even finished speaking, Yan Weichuan decisively wheeled his horse around.

"Run!"

With their commanding general fleeing, the military formation collapsed without a fight. Yet Yan Weichuan cared nothing for that right now; he only wanted to put as much distance between himself and Wang Ping as possible.

After all, he could not die here. Having latched onto the National Academy and secured the help of extraordinary persons, a life of wealth and glory lay right before his eyes. How could he just die now? As for the Tabai Camp, if it was lost, it was lost. Once he soared to high office, he could simply recruit another batch.

At that thought, he rode even more frantically.

To his despair, no matter how fast he fled, the abyss ahead seemed endless. Everywhere he looked was pitch-black darkness.

'Fine. Even if I can't escape this place, as long as I can get away from that extraordinary person...'

In the very next second, Yan Weichuan's desperate hope was ruthlessly shattered.

"Hmph, trying to escape?"

The massive wave of sound rolled through the air. Yan Weichuan looked back in horror, only to see Wang Ping still standing a short distance away. His frantic flight had been no better than running in place!

In fact, that was exactly what had happened.

Although the Six Desires Heavenly Demon Flag contained its own space, it was far from vast; it could barely hold the Tabai Camp, covering roughly the area of a village.

However, Wang Ping had absolute control over this space. This was why Yan Weichuan could not escape—every time he covered enough distance to approach the flag's spatial limits, Wang Ping would extract that stretch of space and splice it right back in front of him.

The result was the current spectacle.

He was not just running in place; he was literally running in place. And since Yan Weichuan was so willing to exhaust his stamina, Wang Ping was naturally happy to watch.

"Why! Why is this happening!?"

"Keep running!"

Yan Weichuan roared at the top of his lungs, driven to a dead end. The military formation originally surrounding him was rapidly dwindling as the demons gnawed away at it.

Soon, he covered that distance once again.

Wang Ping repeated the same trick, immediately cutting the space the general had just crossed and pasting it right in front of him, fully prepared to sit back and watch him waste his strength.

But right at that moment.

"Neigh!"

Accompanied by the horse's shrill cry, and while the vast majority of the Tabai Camp's soldiers were still fleeing forward, Yan Weichuan suddenly whipped his mount around to face Wang Ping.

Turning around with him were the dozens of personal guards who had surrounded and protected him from the start. These men were his true die-hard loyalists, willing to brave life and death. The dozens of them rapidly lined up, forming a simple arrowhead formation, and launched a sudden counter-charge at Wang Ping!

"Kill...!"

At that exact moment, all the panic and confusion vanished from Yan Weichuan's face. They were replaced by a fierce, death-defying brutality. This was his true face!

As a camp commander, staying calm at all times was a fundamental necessity.

Perhaps his previous flight truly showed him wavering, but his basic instincts still allowed him to quickly recognize a potentially fatal tactical opportunity.

'The space is shifting!'

Yan Weichuan had noticed Wang Ping's trick.

'The space behind me is being swapped to the front. If that's true, it means there will be an instant where the distance between that extraordinary person and me shrinks to the absolute minimum!'

This was his window to strike.

Therefore, he had pretended not to notice, waiting for an opportunity. He did not suddenly act until now, launching a counter-charge the exact instant Wang Ping cut the space.

To avoid being discovered beforehand, he could not issue a military order in advance. Thus, the only ones who followed him without a moment's hesitation were his die-hard personal guards, a mere few dozen men... But even so, they were enough to form a small military formation and deliver a fatal blow!

"Boom!"

In the next second, leading his dozens of guards, Yan Weichuan shot forward like an arrow released from a bowstring. Enduring the bites and tears of hundreds and thousands of demons, he threw his life on the line and crashed toward Wang Ping!

'As long as I kill this extraordinary person, we can seize a chance at survival!'

Yan Weichuan desperately drove the Myriad Blade Spirit Chariot to empower the military formation. He fiercely tore through the dark clouds formed by the swarm of demons and saw Wang Ping's figure right in front of him.

Breathe in. Draw the saber.

"Clang—!"

With a clear, ringing hum from the blade, an invisible force seemingly sketched out a tall white horse. Its hooves struck like thunder as it galloped along the edge of the blade, drawing a white line through the air.

The white line stretched across the void. The blade's edge and its hum used this line as a boundary, forming a stark divide. The hum stayed exactly where it was, while the blade left it far behind, breaking past the limits of sound itself, blasting through layers of turbulent air currents to strike just three inches from Wang Ping's brow!

'I won!'

At this very moment, watching the edge of his blade less than a hair's breadth from Wang Ping's forehead, that thought uncontrollably sprouted in Yan Weichuan's mind.

And this thought—

"Is simply foolish beyond belief."

Boom!

The limit of sound was likewise instantly shattered. Air currents exploded outward like crashing ocean waves as Wang Ping's palm cleaved through them, passing through a silent world.

Seeing this, Yan Weichuan could not help but think, 'As fast as me?'

A split second later, he realized that was merely an illusion.

Because Wang Ping was faster than him!

"Clang!"

With a ringing clash of metal, Wang Ping's palm arrived first despite moving later. He lightly rested it on the blade coming straight for his brow, then squeezed his fingers hard.

"Boom!"

The second explosive blast came from Yan Weichuan's saber.

The instant Wang Ping pinched the blade, all of its kinetic energy was locked dead. It could not advance an inch further, yet Yan Weichuan's self-sacrificing charge could not possibly be stopped in its tracks.

As a result, all of that kinetic energy poured into Yan Weichuan's saber. This Famous Treasure weapon—refined countless times and the very symbol of the Tabai Camp's military might—cracked inch by inch before shattering into pieces. Meanwhile, Yan Weichuan himself could not halt his momentum and continued crashing right toward Wang Ping.

"No! No!!!"

At this moment, Yan Weichuan could only widen his eyes as he watched Wang Ping slowly raise his other hand, while he uncontrollably hurtled right into that palm!

"Spare my life..."

Before his words could finish, Wang Ping's palm had already pushed out flat in front of him. The palm pulsed, tugging at his heart, as a vast wave of Divine Intent poured out completely.

Under the influence of that Divine Intent, time seemed to slow down infinitely. Thus, Yan Weichuan could clearly see that pale hand slowly approaching and pressing onto his forehead. The white horse of Divine Intent—manifested by the Tabai Camp's military might—also began to crumble bit by bit under the strike of this palm.

All his words were stuck in his throat.

Because his head was gone again.

Having lost his head once again, Yan Weichuan's body also began to distort. Faint wails echoed from the paper figure, and a soul entirely steeped in resentful malice floated out.

"You killed me? You killed me again! I'm not done with you...!?"

The voice stopped abruptly.

Right after killing Yan Weichuan with a palm strike, Wang Ping closed his fingers, snatching Yan Weichuan's soul right into his hand like he was pinching a little chick.

A soul body should have been difficult for worldly forces to touch.

Yet, falling into Wang Ping's hands right now, Yan Weichuan only felt as if he had been tossed into a large wok to be pan-fried and deep-fried. His consciousness rapidly scattered amidst the agonizing pain.

This instantly sobered his malice-ridden mind considerably.

"No, wait..."

"Bang!"

Wang Ping circulated the Soul Pursuing spell and squeezed hard with his fingers. Yan Weichuan's soul was instantly annihilated, leaving only a wisp of green smoke that quietly drifted away.

At the same time, the entirely collapsed Tabai Camp was swept clean by the demons. In the end, only that Myriad Blade Spirit Chariot drifted down and was caught in Wang Ping's hand. It was a pity that it did not even count as a Dharma artifact; it could only be used to bully Mortals. But that was fine—he loved bullying Mortals.

"It did take a little bit of effort out of me."

Wang Ping closed his eyes and sensed it. He found that the Six Desires Heavenly Demon Flag had expended roughly half a tenth of its power. Tracing it back to its source, that power was none other than Daoist Nun You's magical energy.

'This body of mine is a Dharma artifact, after all.'

'As an artifact spirit, it doesn't matter what I normally do inside the flag's space. But to interfere with the outside world, I must have the support of the artifact master's magical energy.'

'The reason I can interfere with the outside world right now is mainly because Daoist Nun You, who sent me in, injected a sufficient amount of magical energy into the artifact beforehand. But this magical energy is limited. Once it runs out, I will lose my ability to affect the outside world. When that time comes, my only option will be to restart.'

Thinking up to this point, Wang Ping's heart chilled slightly.

'It seems I'll have to find a way to be more frugal with it.'

In the next second, with a shift of his thoughts, he separated from the flag's space and returned to the outside of Longxing County City. His spiritual sense peered into the distance at two figures.

Shenhou and Xugou.

Because he had previously absorbed the Tabai Camp, the abnormal weather phenomenon vanished, allowing these two imperial family consecrates to safely enter Longxing County City.

'Mm, I'll let them take the vanguard.'

'They're imperial consecrates after all. For them to dare charge into the county city at a time like this, they must still have some hidden cards unplayed. It's the perfect chance to have them save me a little effort.'

'In doing so, they can fully exploit their value as human livestock...'

Thinking of this, Wang Ping's expression grew a little strange. It truly was a case of those who touch vermilion become red, those who touch ink become black. The damned habits of the Immortal Gate had corrupted him too.

However, he quickly got over it.

'Unlike the Immortal Gate, I'm a good person. How could we be the same?'

Thus, he firmed his resolve once more and watched with perfect peace of mind as Shenhou and Xugou disappeared deep into Longxing County. Then, he turned to look in another direction.

Over there, Wu Xintai was walking up with an anxious look on his face.

He recognized Wang Ping at a glance, but he simply could not merge this Earthly Immortal standing in mid-air with the Gold-Bearing Brocade Guard in his memory.

Therefore, he opened his mouth a few times before finally managing to squeeze out, "Greetings, Milord..."

"Rise."

Wang Ping waved his hand, then shifted his gaze past Wu Xintai to look at the half-wounded soldiers of the Xuanjia Camp, as well as the crowd they were protecting behind them.

The vast majority of them were the black-headed commoners who had previously squatted outside the city due to the famine. Every single one was sallow and emaciated. Some of the elderly were even too weak to stand and could only lie on the ground, quietly awaiting death. Besides them, he also spotted the figures of Liu Ye and Madam Su.

Earlier, the Xuanjia Camp had been plunged into a deadly crisis.

Only because Liu Ye stepped forward to speak out and Madam Su ran about everywhere helping to tend to the wounded and the elderly were the restless black-headed commoners barely kept from breaking down.

Liu Ye was just recovering from a serious illness, so his complexion was still a bit pale.

As for Madam Su, she completely lacked the exquisite beauty she had when they first met. Instead, she looked somewhat disheveled, and her gentle, watery eyes were stained with bloodshot lines.

However...

"Madam, you look even more beautiful."

Wang Ping mouthed the words while transmitting them via his spiritual sense. Hearing this, tears instantly welled up in Madam Su's beautiful eyes, though she quickly and stubbornly wiped them away.

Withdrawing his gaze, Wang Ping looked at the black-headed commoners again.

The next second, the demons he had previously absorbed into the Six Desires Heavenly Demon Flag swarmed out. They landed on the ground and reined in their vicious appearances, instead revealing the faces they had in life.

"Is that... Third Uncle?"

"Dad! It's Daddy!"

"Mom, how are you... are you still alive?"

"Son... how can this be!"

"Eldest Uncle is here too!"

In an instant, the black-headed commoners—who had previously been terrified and cowering away from the demons—erupted into an earth-shattering clamor and surged toward the gathering demons.

Demons did not retain any memories of their past lives. Their former selves—the parents, relatives, and children of the black-headed commoners—had long seen their souls dissipate along with their memories. What was being shown right now was, to put it nicely, a theatrical play. To put it bluntly, it was actually just using demons to beguile Mortals, carrying no meaning other than offering comfort.

But so what?

If doing this could grant a little comfort to the living, why not do it?

Not to mention, the famine still existed.

Wang Ping turned around and looked at Longxing County City in the distance. If left unchecked, even if he saved these black-headed commoners this time, they would still die in the end.

To prevent that, he had to find enough food.

Where was there food?

There was food in the county city. All the grain that the imperial court had bled from the countryside during the autumn tax collection was stored entirely in its granaries.

Then that made things easy.

With a wave of his large hand, Wang Ping firmly grasped the Six Desires Heavenly Demon Flag as it fluttered in the wind. All the demons rose in tandem, turning to look at Longxing County City.

And following them, the gazes of the black-headed commoners shifted as well.

Finally, the eyes of the black-headed commoners fell upon Wang Ping. They listened as this dashing, heroic young man raised the war banner and spoke to them with resounding power, "Follow me!"