“Indeed, although each demon general is exceptionally talented and their combat power far surpasses that of humans of the same level, it still takes hundreds of years to become one, which is far too long. You know, a hundred years is enough time for mortals to reproduce five generations,” Guo Jia nodded.
Soon, a quarter of an hour had passed. At this moment, both the demon soldiers and the Lu family's private troops had suffered considerable losses.
The murderous aura and resentment of the crowd, along with the surrounding demonic and spiritual energy, slowly mixed together to produce a visible, dark gray malevolent aura.
Seeing this malevolent energy, Lin Yang subconsciously absorbed a portion of it. After a little refining, it transformed into a warm current, and a feeling of fullness filled his body.
However, at the same time, a faint killing intent also emerged. It can only be said that fortune and misfortune are intertwined. One wrong move, and one's mind can be clouded, leading to serious trouble.
"Hmm, this malevolent energy is really effective. No wonder, throughout history, most people who have followed the path of body refinement have been military generals," Lin Yang muttered to himself.
It's important to understand that while the path of body refinement is said to have no requirements for aptitude—that with enough resources, even a pig can be transformed into Zhu Bajie—in reality, having enough resources is merely wishful thinking.
The resources consumed during the first stage of skin refining are enough to bankrupt a wealthy family in the countryside. How much silver would it cost to perfectly temper over two hundred muscles?
The second stage of tendon training requires a long period of consuming spirit rice, as well as various low-level natural treasures, in order to make further progress.
Even the simplest method of perfecting the tendon-strengthening technique requires tens of thousands of taels of silver. As for the more advanced secret methods, they are even more exorbitantly expensive.
Later, people accidentally discovered that the murderous aura on the battlefield had an unexpected and miraculous effect on those who cultivated their bodies.
This extremely turbid substance, which poses a fatal threat to cultivators of the primordial spirit, is the most precious thing for those who cultivate the body.
Just like the malevolent energy before him, Lin Yang had only refined a wisp of it, yet he already felt a slight improvement in his physical attributes. Keep in mind, this was merely a battlefield of ten thousand men.
Upon hearing this, Guo Jia said with a look of disgust, "Yes, under the enhancement of these baleful energies, the strength of the body refiner is even enhanced. However, the damage to the primordial spirit is too great. Moreover, the consequences are endless. My lord must be very careful when refining."
As he spoke, Guo Jia picked up his feather fan and gently fanned himself a few times. Then, a pale blue barrier appeared. Countless streams of malevolent energy were automatically deflected upon approaching this barrier.
At the same time, as time passed, the minds of the private soldiers and demon soldiers on the field were also affected to varying degrees.
Many of those who underwent embryo removal had bloodshot eyes and were extremely agitated. For many others, the emotional intensity even seemed to lessen the pain.
Many monsters, despite their immense power, were brutally killed by fearless wandering knights. Some were even bitten to death.
Of course, after going berserk, many humans were also eaten on the spot by the demon soldiers after they died.
Perhaps at the beginning, the wandering knights were after money and profit, but now they are truly fighting for their race.
"How infuriating! Fengxiao, don't stop me!" Lin Yang said angrily as he looked at Guo Jia, who had taken a step forward and stood directly in front of him.
To be honest, Lin Yang couldn't help but feel sorry for the humans who were either too weak or too unlucky and were being devoured by the demon soldiers.
Despite constantly telling himself to hold back, that great men don't concern themselves with trifles, and that these wandering knights and the Lu family's private army were nothing more than cannon fodder, he figured as long as their deaths effectively exhausted these demon soldiers, he could just give them some compensation later.
But at this moment, Lin Yang still wanted to take action directly. This had nothing to do with morality or integrity; it was simply human nature.
Regardless of one's character or strength, it is normal for a human being to feel moved when witnessing their fellow human beings being devoured alive by monsters.
Therefore, Guo Jia could understand Lin Yang's anger. However, understanding was one thing, and not intervening was another.
"My lord, as the saying goes, a son of a thousand pieces of gold will not sit under a dangerous roof. Now, my lord, you are no longer alone. You are the Duke of Wu, and at least at this moment, the fate of these five thousand veterans is in your hands. If you are angry, if you want to take action, just issue the order." Looking at Lin Yang's excited appearance, Guo Jia felt both relieved and helpless.
His lord was still immature. Logically speaking, a mature lord should remain calm and composed even in the face of a collapsing mountain. But for some reason, looking at the very humane Lin Yang, Guo Jia felt a surge of joy.
The Lin Yang before me, though not ruthless enough, not vicious enough, and of average intelligence, and not particularly shameless, at least has humanity and is willing to trust me. Isn't that enough?
As soon as he finished speaking, Taishi Ci stepped forward and came to Lin Yang's left, saying, "If my lord is indignant, why not let Ziyi take action directly?"
At the same time, the Lu family also reacted. Dozens of women dressed in gorgeous robes and ceremonial garments stepped out.
These women were mostly very beautiful, and their clothes all had a very eye-catching logo. The logo was very simple: a wave.
At the same time, each woman held a whisk in her left hand and a magic sword in her right. Their every move exuded an aura of iron-bloodedness.
"A priestess with a sword?" Lin Yang asked in surprise. The "sword" here doesn't literally mean they wield swords, but rather refers to combat.
"Huh? A priestess with a sword? That's a nice name, but their true identity should be that of the priests trained by the sect established by the Lu family," Guo Jia said with slight surprise.
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Chapter Sixteen: Ultimate Micro-Management, Lin Yang's Cheat Code
Looking at the extremely bloody battlefield before her, Lu Yusheng couldn't help but frown. As the legitimate daughter of Lu Ji, the head of the Lu family, and also the chief priestess of the Sea God Sect, she already possessed the strength of the late second-tier realm. However, seeing this scene of flowing blood and scattered limbs still made her feel somewhat nauseous.
(A priest's strength, like that of a cleric, is related to the gods. Theoretically, as long as one is favored by the gods, one's strength can rise again and again. Therefore, it is quite normal for someone so young to be at the late stage of the second tier.)
"By the sea god."
"Those who believe in Poseidon..."
Accompanied by shouts, dazzling red lights emanated from the magic sword and the floating dust, spreading outwards in all directions.
Many warriors who had just died, whose souls had not yet been tainted by the evil aura, were directly led into the divine kingdom of the sea god. Even those whose souls had already been tainted by the evil aura were instantly restored to normal under the divine light.
It must be said that this move greatly boosted morale. Afterwards, under the divine light, the Lu family's private army was even more spirited, full of fighting spirit, and fearless.
Seeing this, Lin Yang felt a chill run down his spine.
"My God... isn't this just a Western berserker? Western beliefs combined with Eastern military strategy, it sounds so cool," Lin Yang muttered to himself. For some reason, he felt a sense of temporal distortion.
"Fengxiao, you analyze this. Where do you think we should enter from? Just to clarify, this time there are only five hundred people. After all, Zhongshan Jun's main force hasn't appeared yet," Lin Yang said.
Upon hearing this, Guo Jia shook the feather fan in his hand and then analyzed, "Well, although the time was short, we can still see some general information. Although we didn't achieve the goal of exhausting their energy, we still know their strengths and weaknesses."
"The ten thousand demon soldiers that have appeared so far are divided into ten races. They correspond to the ten lesser demon kings under Zhongshan Jun. The strength of these ten lesser demon kings is basically at the third level. However, it is clear that they do not have profound cultivation techniques or good magic weapons, so their strength is just average."
"Among them, the wolf demon is the strongest, appearing to be at the peak of the third tier. He also has the most followers, a full two thousand. However, they seem to be just going through the motions and haven't really put in any real effort. Since the start of the battle, there have been very few casualties."
"The dog demons are of average strength, probably at the mid-stage of the third tier. However, they are the most loyal, or rather, the most willing to fight to the death. At the beginning, there were only a thousand dog demons, and now more than two hundred have been killed or wounded, which is relatively heavy. However, they still fight to the death and refuse to retreat."