“Let’s go.” With the afterglow of the setting sun, Long Haochen discerned the direction, flapped his spiritual wings, and led his companions to fly north at high speed. The group of seven, plus the four great holy guards, created eleven intense beams of light in the air, instantly disappearing into the horizon two kilometers away.

When they initially accepted the sixteen hunting missions, Long Haochen prepared to fight the demons for a long time, intending to spend at least a year completing these tasks. He wasn’t even sure they could complete them all.

But today, a few months later, they had not only completed all the missions, but also destroyed a demon god pillar, and gained even more benefits.

Of course, their efforts over these past months had also been immense. They had hovered on the brink of life and death several times, and Long Haochen and Cai’er had almost died at the hands of the demons. Ultimately, this led to Cai’er’s amnesia.

These few months felt like years to them, and everyone seemed to have grown a lot as a result.

Long Haochen led his companions to fly north for a specific purpose. By going north, out of Andu Province, they could stay as far away from the main demon forces as possible. The demon’s central provinces were in the south. If the Demon God Emperor or other demon powerhouses sensed Andu Mali’s death or the destruction of the demon god pillar, they would definitely send powerful experts from the south to investigate. Retreating to the south or directly to the west could mean running into strong enemies. The best way to avoid the enemy was to go straight north.

Before entering the Dark Swamp, Long Haochen had already planned their escape route: first straight north, then west from the cold northern lands. Their destination was the Exorcist Pass, which was in the northern part of the Temple Alliance, so it wasn’t too much of a detour. And this way was safer.

Of course, they couldn’t fly in the air for long, both because it consumed too much spiritual energy and because of the demons’ aerial surveillance. However, they were currently in the innermost regions of the demon territory, almost on the eastern coast, so monitoring was relatively relaxed, especially above the Dark Swamp. There wouldn’t be any surveillance there.

Flying at full speed, Long Haochen’s sixth-tier companions began to struggle after half an hour. Fortunately, they had already left the Dark Swamp.

It was late at night when they landed on the ground, but Long Haochen didn’t allow his companions much rest. After only replenishing their spiritual energy and even taking some spiritual energy recovery pills made by Lin Xin, everyone set off again, speeding north.

After returning to the ground, Long Haochen also recalled the four great holy guards. Everyone put on their Moon Demon clan attire again, traveling day and night.

The defenses in the eastern part of the demon territory were indeed lax. Han Yu released his Evil Eye, constantly using Probe and Eye of Truth to scout ahead. The group avoided demon settlements as much as possible, and their journey was relatively smooth.

After traveling north for about five days, as the temperature grew colder, the 64th Grade Commander Demon Hunt Squad approached the northernmost territory of the demons. It was then that Long Haochen changed direction and headed west.

For the next half month, everything went surprisingly smoothly. Even when passing through two provinces that should have had dense demon populations, they didn’t encounter any trouble. They didn’t even see any large-scale demon armies.

Night fell, and the group sat around a campfire, warming up dry rations.

Long Haochen sat there with a slight frown, seemingly pondering something.

Sima Xian chuckled and said, “Boss, what’s wrong? We’re returning so smoothly, what’s bothering you? According to the map, we should reach the point where the demon territory and our Temple Alliance meet around noon tomorrow. Once we pass the demon border defenses, we’ll be back in our own territory at Exorcist Pass.”

Long Haochen shook his head and said, “Don’t you think it’s a little strange? Although we’ve been taking back roads, it seems a little too easy. The demon population is enormous, but we haven’t even encountered a decent demon army. That’s just too abnormal. We’ve practically crossed several large northern provinces of the demon territory. And the closer we get to the border, the more food transport convoys we encounter. Even though the demons have stationed a large army at the border, these transport convoys seem too frequent.”

Han Yu, whose thinking was closest to Long Haochen, immediately reacted, saying, “Squad Leader, are you saying that the demons might be planning a large-scale operation against the Alliance?”

Long Haochen nodded. “It’s very possible. Although I don’t know the total amount of food the demons are moving, the frequency suggests that the scale of the demon army being mobilized is quite large, perhaps even larger than the Demon Hunt Squad trial assessment we experienced at Exorcist Pass.”

Sima Xian chuckled coldly, “Isn’t that a good opportunity for us to kill a lot? Since we’re here, we might as well kill a few more demon spawn on the battlefield. Speaking of which, war missions are the most fun. With plenty of logistical support and help from friendly forces on the battlefield, we can unleash our full combat power without any worries.”

The 64th Grade Commander Demon Hunt Squad was now a far cry from what it was when they first arrived at Exorcist Pass. They were much stronger now. As soon as Sima Xian said this, everyone felt eager to try.

Constantly experiencing the trials of life and death, iron and blood, they were maturing and their strength was increasing significantly. The battlefield was not only the best place to test their abilities, but also the place that could bring them the most rewards.

Long Haochen said, “Han Yu, from now on, keep using Eye of the Eagle and Eye of Truth with the Evil Eye without stopping. Everyone stay vigilant. We’re not only going to rest here tonight, but we’ll also continue to rest tomorrow. Everyone’s tired from traveling these past few days. Since Exorcist Pass might be attacked by the demons, we need to recover to our best condition first. Crossing the demon border won’t be easy.”

Indeed, since leaving the Dark Swamp, they had traveled non-stop. Although everyone could physically endure it, constantly traveling at full speed every day was mentally exhausting. Especially since they were in demon territory and had to remain highly vigilant at all times, everyone was very tired.

Eating the warmed-up dry rations, Long Haochen looked at Cai’er, who was sitting not far away, with gentle eyes, his heart filled with peace.

These days, Cai’er’s attitude towards him seemed to have improved. At least she wasn’t as wary as she was during the early days of her amnesia, and she was gradually getting familiar with her companions. What made Long Haochen most happy was that Cai’er had gradually mastered her abilities, regaining at least 80% of her original skills. Everything seemed to be developing in a good direction. Long Haochen believed that seeing her parents and relatives would help her recover her memory even more.

Since receiving the Sun Moon Divine Snail’s purification of his mind, Long Haochen’s heart seemed to have become much clearer. The negative things that had accumulated over the years of training had been completely washed away, and the purity of his heart as the Child of Light had been completely restored. Not only did he think more carefully, but he also matured and became more steadfast and calm.

Cai’er seemed to sense Long Haochen’s gaze and looked up at him. Their eyes met, and Cai’er’s lips curled into a captivating smile.

Long Haochen was stunned. He suddenly felt that Cai’er’s current state wasn’t bad. Although she had lost her memory, she had also lost the painful memories of her childhood. He just wondered when he could regain their former intimacy. He really wanted to hold her in his arms!

A night and a day of rest rejuvenated everyone in the 64th Grade Commander Demon Hunt Squad. Since entering demon territory, this was the first time they had time to rest like this, except for their time at the Great Yak City regimental headquarters.

As the sun set and gradually moved into the evening, Long Haochen led his companions to set off again, heading towards the border.

Under the reconnaissance of the Evil Eye, they proceeded as carefully as possible. In the distance, the demon camp was already in sight. When everyone looked at the demon camp from the distant hillside, they couldn’t help but gasp. Everyone’s faces turned ugly.

Compared to what they had seen before, the current demon camp had increased in size by at least three times. Most demons who could live in tents were mid-level or high-level, while low-level demons like the Double Blade Demons could only sleep in the wilderness.

The number of demons originally stationed at Exorcist Pass was already high, and increasing it threefold meant that the total number probably easily exceeded a million troops. Even if the demons could mobilize the entire population, a million-strong demon army was an incredibly terrifying number.

Moreover, the number wasn’t the most shocking thing. What surprised them the most was that they could clearly see eight different colored lights rising into the sky from the demon camp, faintly stabilizing the formation. Like eight Sea Stabilizing Needles, they supported the spine of the entire demon camp.

Demon God Pillars. Those were Demon God Pillars! Eight Demon God Pillars meant that eight Demon Gods were stationed here, and the two Demon God Pillars in the central army emitted particularly strong light, indicating that they weren’t ordinary Demon Gods, but powerful beings ranked highly.

What were the demons planning? Were they going to launch a full-scale attack on the Alliance? This thought arose in the minds of Long Haochen and the others at the same time.

Looking at the demon camp that stretched almost endlessly, Long Haochen fell into deep thought. The others didn’t say a word, all silently waiting for his decision. A million-strong demon army, with eight Demon Gods stationed there, wasn’t something you could just break through.

(To be continued)