However, they ultimately failed to find any trace of Long Haochen and his seven companions. Following this, the demon race initiated a large-scale operation, the likes of which hadn’t been seen in a century.

Traveling at full speed, with ample food and water supplies, they avoided demon cities as much as possible, sticking to remote wilderness paths. Using a map and the sun as their guides, they traveled day and night towards the northeast direction, aiming for Andu Province.

As Yue Ye had previously explained, the demon defenses were laxer the further east one went, but the population increased accordingly. This was because the eastern coast was one of the demon race’s lifelines. Without the abundant food provided by coastal fishing, the demon race would likely have been unable to resist launching a full-scale attack on the Temple Alliance long ago.

Their journey had been relatively smooth so far. When encountering demons, they successfully passed by disguising themselves as Moon Demon Clan members. Spending most of their time traveling through the wilderness further accelerated their progress. For safety reasons, however, they did not use their own spiritual wings.

After a full fifteen days, they finally entered Andu Province. As the Gloomy Swamp was located in the northern part of Andu Province, they still had to continue north.

Despite their smooth progress, Long Haochen’s mood remained heavy, as Cai’er showed no signs of improvement.

She had become even more silent than when she first awoke, even somewhat dazed. She simply followed Long Haochen silently each day. She would look at new and interesting things, and Long Haochen often saw a helpless look in her eyes. Every time that happened, his heart ached beyond words. However, he didn’t dare to show too much concern, as Cai’er would recoil in fear if he showed too much affection. Thankfully, she hadn’t shown any signs of attacking him.

Cai’er didn’t seem to trust anyone, only showing slight affection towards Long Haochen. Furthermore, she periodically suffered from headaches, during which her face would become abnormally pale. However, her spiritual energy fluctuations would become extremely strong.

Long Haochen had tested Cai’er’s spiritual energy several times and discovered that although she hadn’t been consciously cultivating, her spiritual energy was increasing rapidly. Her total spiritual energy had already exceeded 8,500, heading straight for the 10,000 mark. At this rate, she would probably reach the bottleneck for advancing from the sixth to the seventh rank in less than half a year.

Long Haochen was helpless regarding her current condition, and could only take good care of her and let her recover on her own. However, her current state made him feel that recovery was a distant prospect.

Looking at the desolate land, Long Haochen stopped and frowned. No wonder the Alliance was constantly catching up to the demon race, and the gap between their strengths was rapidly narrowing. One could see many things just by looking at the home front.

The demon race’s biggest weakness was their lack of production, which led to several serious problems, primarily food, shelter, and transportation. These seemingly simple and basic things were major issues plaguing the demon race. Just solving the food problem alone was a huge headache for the Demon God Emperor, this super powerhouse.

The eastern part of the continent was fertile, but Long Haochen saw vast stretches of cogongrass growing on the plains. If this fertile land were cultivated, it would surely be tens of thousands of hectares of good farmland! He wondered how many people it could feed.

Although there were no exact statistics, the Temple Alliance estimated that the food produced annually within the Temple Alliance’s territory, which accounted for a quarter of the continent, was at least ten times that of the demon race. However, the human population was only a third of the demon race’s population. This was a major reason why the demon race frequently used war to reduce their population. The rapid breeding speed of low-level demons meant that the food problem they faced was indeed very difficult.

“Captain, how far are we from the swamp?” Han Yu asked, coming to Long Haochen’s side.

Long Haochen said, “About four hundred more li. If all goes well, we’ll arrive in a day. However, we should go to this place first.” As he spoke, he opened the map in his hand and pointed to a small dot on it.

“This is?” Han Yu looked up at Long Haochen in surprise, “A demon city?”

Long Haochen nodded, saying, “This is a small town, it doesn’t even have a name. Everyone has been rushing, and they’re a little tired. We’re likely to face a demon god next, so we need to adjust ourselves to our best condition. To do a good job, one must first sharpen one’s tools, and we can’t rush things. Anyway, it’s not like the Snake Demon God will find what he’s looking for in the Gloomy Swamp in just a day or two. It wouldn’t be too late to enter the swamp after we rest in this small town for a day.”

Hearing Long Haochen, everyone nodded subconsciously. They were extremely impressed with their young but incredibly excellent captain. This was the prestige that Long Haochen had constantly built up with his own abilities.

“Let’s make a slight change.” A light flashed in Long Haochen’s eyes, and then three lights shone from his body in succession.

First, a golden light, as Ya Ting appeared before everyone. Next were two familiar figures, the tall Holy Guard Number Twelve, the red skeleton, and the Holy Guard Number One, the blue skeleton who was about the same size as a human.

Long Haochen took out several cloaks from his arms and handed them to them, indicating they should put them on. These cloaks were obviously specially made for them. Soon, Ya Ting, Holy Guard Eleven, and Holy Guard Twelve were all hidden in the cloaks. As long as they kept their heads slightly lowered, no one would be able to see their faces.

Lin Xin said in surprise, “Boss, when did you make these cloaks?”

Long Haochen smiled slightly, saying, “It was during the time we were resting at the Hunter Squad’s headquarters in Daya City. I asked the people at the headquarters to make these cloaks specifically. Now’s the time for them to come in handy.”

Everyone exchanged glances. Soon, Han Yu was the first to understand. “Haha, now there are ten of us. Let’s see how those demons can tell.”

They had encountered a few small-scale battles along the way for a simple reason: although they were dressed as Moon Demon Clan members, there were seven of them. After encountering demons, some of them insisted on checking their attributes, and they had to briefly fight and kill them.

Long Haochen had Ya Ting, Holy Guard Number Eleven, and Holy Guard Number Twelve join the team as well, making it exactly ten people. This was the same as the number in a Demon Hunt Squad. Combined with their Moon Demon Clan identity, it would be easy to mistake them for a Demon Hunt Squad.

Holy Guard Number One’s three-meter tall stature was nothing. There were quite a few demons with that height.

“Let’s go.”

The group set off again, and the formation also changed. Long Haochen was still at the front, with Cai’er following behind him. Wang Yuanyuan and Sima Xian were on either side, while Han Yu, Chen Ying’er, Lin Xin, and Holy Guard Number Eleven, plus Ya Ting, were in the center of the team. Holy Guard Number Twelve brought up the rear. This greatly increased the number of people in the center of the team. This formation was far stronger in terms of magical strikes than the original Demon Hunt Squad. Holy Guard Number Eleven alone was enough to match the strength of two seventh-rank mages.

It was because of their existence that Long Haochen had the confidence to challenge a demon god.

Soon, they arrived at the small town indicated on Long Haochen’s map. It had to be said that the detailed map Yue Ye gave Long Haochen played a huge role.

As soon as they entered the city, they were stopped. A team of demon soldiers guarding the town blocked their path. Andu Province was the territory of the Snake Demon Clan, so these soldiers were naturally members of the Snake Demon Clan.

The Snake Demons looked a little peculiar. They had no legs, their upper bodies were similar to humans, but slimmer, and their lower bodies were large tails that moved directly on the ground. Don’t underestimate these legless guys, they were good at moving in all kinds of terrain, and they were extremely fast even in the water. This was why the Snake Demon Clan was assigned to Andu Province, which was located on the eastern coast.

This small team of Snake Demons had as many as ten members. The leader was a very burly Snake Demon, with a thick tail that was more than four meters long dragging behind him. His upper body and the front end of his raised tail were more than two meters high. He held a three-pronged sky-supporting fork in his hand. The other Snake Demons behind him were a little smaller than him.

“Who are you? Take off your cloaks.” The burly Snake Demon shouted loudly, his piercing green eyes with three pupils each radiating a fierce light. The sharp point of the three-pronged sky-supporting fork was aimed directly at Long Haochen and the others.

Long Haochen raised his head, took off the hood, and said coldly, “Demon Hunt Squad on official business, are you looking to die?”

Seeing Long Haochen’s purple eyes, the Snake Demon was startled. Long Haochen’s handsome appearance and purple eyes had already told him a lot. However, this Snake Demon seemed very cautious, and lowered his tone a little, but said in a deep voice, “Please show your proof of identity. Demon Hunt Squads have Demon Hunt Squad tokens. The Central Province has issued an order that some human demon hunters are impersonating Moon Demon Clan members and infiltrating our demon race.”

“Bastard.” Long Haochen shouted angrily and waved his hand slightly.

Suddenly, a terrifying pressure rose sharply from behind him. A rich dark aura mixed with overwhelming power exploded, and the huge pressure almost instantly caused the ten Snake Demons in front of him to be horrified and retreat in panic.

A cold voice sounded behind Long Haochen, “Do you need any more proof? Do you want me to transform and show you what a Heaven Defying Demon Dragon is? You dare to stop my Long Group’s Demon Hunt Squad?”

Feeling the terrifying pressure from the Heaven Defying Demon Dragon, the Snake Demons dared not say anything more. They hurriedly retreated to the side and fell to the ground, trembling and unable to speak.

What kind of existence was the Heaven Defying Demon Dragon Clan? Any Heaven Defying Demon Dragon Clan powerhouse was a terrifying existence that they had to worship. If these rulers of the Central Province, or even the rulers of the entire demon race, were angered, it was likely to involve their entire clan.

The power dissipated, and the cold female voice said lightly, “Is Andu Malier still in the Gloomy Swamp?”

(To be continued)

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