Heaven's Devourer

Perhaps because the Yan Huang Heaven Raising Staff was smelted by the Imperial General, its colors matched the Yan Huang Immortal Armor completely. They made a compatible set together.

Wu Yu donned the black and gold battle armor and black sabatons. As he wielded the heavy Yan Huang Heaven Raising Staff, his eyes were as fiery as the sun, and even his breath was now dense with qi. When one locked eyes with him, they would certainly feel an overbearing amount of pressure.

This applied even to those of a much higher cultivation level.

No one expected someone in the world of cultivators to have corporeal strength that reached such heights. Such strength was even able to be directly converted to battle ability.

"Alright, all of you can leave now. I want to hole up in the Yan Palace." General Gu stood up with his hands behind his back. In a flash, he vanished into the depths of the Yan Palace.

The crowd of centurions made some small talk with Wu Yu, but they made sure not to bother him too much. After all, there would still be many chances for them to meet Wu Yu in Yan Huang Imperial City in the future.

Jiang Xuechuan sized Wu Yu up. After becoming a Yan Huang Immortal Soldier, his disposition and sense of power had both changed. He praised Wu Yu for a bit before saying, "You can follow me now. I'll arrange a campground for you. From now on, that'll be your very own camp."

Every centurion had a large plot of campground in the inner city assigned to them.

After leaving the Yan Palace, Wu Yu followed after Jiang Xuechuan as they walked around the inner city.

The inner city was vast as well, and there was a boundless amount of Ancient Spiritual Qi in the air. As they walked around, there were many passersby who noticed Jiang Xuechuan and hurriedly bowed. Wu Yu had become a centurion now, so naturally he drew some attention and respect as well.

Since Jiang Xuechuan was a chiliarch, there was a plot of land known as the Xuechuan Domain. This area was entirely his, and the campgrounds of the centurions under his command were naturally all located within here as well.

With Jiang Xuechuan's swift pace of advance, they arrived at the Xuechuan domain in no time. This was a plot of land in the inner city where palaces were densely built together. There was an intense battle aura emanating from within them. 

"We've arrived.

"I just happen to have two empty campgrounds available. Pick whichever one you like and give it a name so that your brothers under you have some sense of attachment to the place." Jiang Xuechuan brought him before the two campgrounds.

The so-called campground was, in fact, a group of palaces. Within the campground, there were other places, such as training rooms and so forth. There was enough space for a few hundred people to live here. This was considered the home of the Yan Huang Immortal Soldiers as well. As long as they were not in the middle of any missions, they had the right to spend their day-to-day time here cultivating within the campground.

Wu Yu randomly picked one and named it Heaven's Equal Camp. He was already accustomed to using the two words “heaven's equal” now.

"To be at the same level as heaven. Such ambition!" Jiang Xuechuan sincerely lamented.

The various facilities within the Heaven's Equal Camp were all very comprehensive. In the books that General Gu had given him, there were specific details that told him how to familiarize himself with Yan Huang Imperial City. Wu Yu only had to read these books to understand.

Now that he was a centurion, he had to learn how a centurion managed his troops, what resources were available, and how to live in the inner city. These details were all described in detail, so it was not an urgent matter for now.

"You've just arrived, yet you're already a centurion. I'd better help recruit 100 or so immortal soldiers as a start. After all, there will always be a continuous supply of newcomers who have just joined the Yan Huang Immortal Army. They won't even be assigned to their campgrounds yet, so by recruiting them, you'll be giving them a chance to enter the inner city.”

Even after becoming a Yan Huang Immortal Soldier, one would not necessarily be able to enter the inner city. The ones who could enter the inner city all had a centurion commanding them. They were also the ones who had a higher chance of eventually becoming centurions themselves.

As such, Jiang Xuechuan brought Wu Yu to a base located in the outer city even before Wu Yu had familiarized himself with his campground. Over there were 1,000 or so Yan Huang Immortal Soldiers who had yet to be incorporated into the army's establishment.

Jiang Xuechuan and Wu Yu landed in the middle of an enormous plaza, shocking everyone around them as they did so.

"Young'uns, come out. Wu Yu is going to pick 100 followers who will do battle with him!" 

The moment Jiang Xuechuan finished talking, the entire base started to erupt in an uproar. There were even some Yan Huang Immortal Soldiers that did not leave too often that hurried back. Without any instructions at all, they organized themselves neatly into tidy rows. With excited and anxious gazes, they all looked over to Wu Yu, the legendary young genius!

It was indeed true that once he entered the inner city, he immediately became a centurion!

The most imperative desire for many of the Yan Huang Immortal Soldiers present here was also to become a soldier under an exceptional genius like this. At this time, they were not integrated into the army's establishment just yet, so they could only be charged with dealing with some insignificant characters here and there. Their rewards were very little as well, so Wu Yu's appearance was undoubtedly an opportunity for many of them to change their fates.

"You're all assembled."

Wu Yu felt like he had returned to the field of battle when he saw the anxious and solemn faces on these cultivators that were around his age. Some of them were even older than him as well. Wu Yu was serious as well. Since he was going to be the one picking them out, he wanted to pick the ones that he felt had the most potential and were the most suitable for him. As such, he did not pick any of them randomly, and personally chose from among all these people. He gave everyone a fair shot.

He mixed in with the crowd and nodded when he saw someone that he was satisfied with.

Among the thousand here, there were many young Yan Huang Immortal Soldiers with enormous potential and cards up their sleeves. Wu Yu was quite perceptive, and ultimately, the hundred he picked were essentially the most outstanding ones among the crowd of thousands.

"Our respects to Commander Wu!"

After Wu Yu had recruited 100 or so of them, they all had excited looks in their eyes. Once one of them took the lead to half-kneel in respect, the rest hurriedly followed suit, uniformly singing words of praise to Wu Yu as they did so.

"Let's enter the inner city." Wu Yu led them and followed Jiang Xuechuan to head back to the inner city. The hundred of them were naturally extremely moved. Their gazes toward Wu Yu now had even more reverence than before.

As the hundred or so Yan Huang Immortal Soldiers grandiosely made their way over, news of Wu Yu becoming a centurion spread quickly throughout the entire city. Once this news reached Zhang Tiande, he heaved a sigh of relief. He felt like it was now extremely unlikely for him to suffer losses from his “investment.”

After they returned to the Heaven's Equal Camp, the soldiers independently checked in to their designated places. They had read the manual before, so they understood the inner city even more than Wu Yu himself.

"Your current goal is to upgrade yourself. It'll be fine for you to let these people go about their own cultivation, learn from each other, and carry out their own tasks. You can spend most of your time minding your own matters. Right now, no one else dares to incur the wrath of Yan Huang Imperial City, so it's extremely rare for there to be actual enforcement missions that we have to bring troops along to execute. I've been quite idle for dozens of years now. Even when I occasionally do go out, it's only to earn some cash for myself," Jiang Xuechuan explained.

It turned out that taking in these troops into his team was actually just a formality. Wu Yu did not really have to lead them in cultivation.

The fact was that as this troop of 100 people interacted with each other and cooperated with one another, they could form a bond that had practically the same effect as a dao companion. After all, just by virtue of successfully coming to this place, they had all become brothers-in-arms.

After Jiang Xuechuan reminded him to do so, Wu Yu picked out 10 of the strongest among his 100 men. These 100 even included some who were already at the Violet Kingdom of the Inner Sea Realm. They just did not have the title of centurion yet.

One would have a higher chance of becoming a centurion only after reaching at least the second tier of the Violet Kingdom of the Inner Sea. When the time was right, they could give it a shot.

The 10 of them were named the decarchs of Wu Yu's troops. They were each in charge of leading 10 men and were able to form small parties to carry out missions together to earn merits. Wu Yu regarded their friendship as truly important. If everyone in his troops were of one heart and mind, they would definitely be able to demonstrate 200 percent of their strength in battle.

Once things had settled down, Jiang Xuechuan handed a core-tail talisman over to Wu Yu and said, "There are some minor administrative matters that I'm sure you'll be able to settle on your own. If you come across a problem that you can't solve, just contact me, Jiang Xuechuan. That won't be a problem at all."

"Many thanks to Commander Jiang." Jiang Xuechuan was an upstanding and forthright man. He was indeed an elder that was hard to come by.

"There's no need to thank me. I only like to seek out talent. When the time comes, you still have to rely on yourself to attain it," Jiang Xuechuan said ruefully. 

After saying all this, Jiang Xuechuan prepared to make his leave. However, he remembered something else and told Wu Yu, "Everything regarding the inner city's specific facilities, as well as Yan Huang Imperial City's history, characters, and so forth, can be found in the books. You can just read them on your own. I won't go too much into it. There's a small thing to note though. You have to know that Yan Huang Imperial City acts as our natural harbor, but we can't stay here all the time. Even I spend most of my time outside the city, carrying out various missions in order to earn merits. Within Yan Huang Imperial City, other than the gambling method you used last time, there are not that many options for you to attain more riches."

Wu Yu understood what he was trying to say. He was implying that staying cooped up in this natural harbor for too long would not be good.

"However, it seems like the Lunar Flower Sword Sage has threatened you and proclaimed that the moment you leave, she'll do this and that to you. The fact is that this is merely a scare tactic to make you too afraid to leave Yan Huang Imperial City. If you don't do so, you won't be able to go to treacherous places outside of here fraught with actual risks to continue to cultivate your dao. If you're caught in a standstill, they'll have achieved their goals. Since that's the case, I still hope that you won't be afraid of them and bravely venture out in pursuit of progress. If you really end up being caught by them, that's just a matter of fate then."

If just a mere scare could cause Wu Yu to cower in fear in Yan Huang Imperial City for dozens of years, he would not be Wu Yu anymore.

However, Jiang Xuechuan was quite relaxed. He smiled and said, "Thankfully, our inner city has a passage that leads directly out of the city. Even a Shushan Sword Sage would not be able to control this exit of ours. If you leave quietly, they won't be able to find out even if they hibernate out there for days. Of course, they wouldn't spend all their time and energy here either. After all, they still have reputations to uphold. The only piece of advice I have for you is that if you choose to carry out missions outside of the city, you'd better keep a low profile. You shouldn't reveal your identity and location to others, or else the two of them may hear about you from rumors and come looking for you."

After all, the divine continent was a vast place. As long as they did not see him leaving, it would truly be a difficult task for them to find him in this boundless world.

Wu Yu understood now.

Jiang Xuechuan had given a lot to this as well. He had not only let Wu Yu know about the presence of such danger, but also advised him not to lose the courage to leave the city.

It went without saying that Wu Yu felt the same way.

He once again thanked Jiang Xuechuan.

Only after this did Jiang Xuechuan leave. There were still many days ahead, so there would always be more opportunities for them to chat with each other.

In the Heaven's Equal Camp, the 100 Yan Huang Immortal Soldiers all respected Wu Yu very much. After all, it was Wu Yu himself who had changed their lives. Wu Yu spent two days or so remembering everyone's names, individual characteristics, and traits of battle. He rearranged and reorganized them and also gave them quite some pointers on cultivation. He even gave them some immortal treasures and dao techniques that were now obsolete to him.

After all, he had been a general before. Deep in his heart, he truly wished that all of his soldiers would be able to demonstrate battle abilities that exceeded their own limits of strength.

"When it comes to an army troop, you have to constantly remember one thing. That is the strength of a group is stronger than the sum of its parts. Fate has brought us together here today, so we're now brothers and sisters connected by flesh and blood. For all battles from this day on, we'll protect one another and fight together side by side. We'll live and die as one! For the sake of our fates, we'll give it our all!"

Wu Yu and his 100 soldiers drank their fill of alcohol together!

As a bonfire burned in the middle of them all, the faces of these cultivators were all blazing with passion and hot-blooded vigor. Regardless of whether they were male or female, they all felt at ease in body and mind as they sat around and discussed the principles of dao. 

Some of them even started to duel under Wu Yu's guidance!

In just a few days, the natural-born leader, Commander Wu, had already become irreplaceable in their hearts and minds.

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