The warriors within Fa Hua and Lan Ge’s sight carried long spears shaped somewhat like serpent lances. Each was roughly three and a half meters long. It was long enough to dominate mid-range combat, yet still manageable in close quarters.
“Axi!”
The golden-horned female warrior suddenly let out a sharp cry.
Boom. Boom.
All the warriors stepped forward two paces in perfect unison and came to a thunderous halt.
At the sight of this, clear approval surfaced on Fa Hua’s face. Having come from the Kingdom of Order, he instinctively admired formations like this. Disciplined. Unified. Precise.
“Mu Xiji!”
Boom. Boom.
The entire unit pivoted to the right as one, now facing the direction of the Tiansheng Mountain Range.
“They’re extremely humanoid,” Lan Ge murmured. “What race do you think they are?”
Fa Hua ignored the question and counted silently instead.
Four hundred ninety-seven… four hundred ninety-eight… four hundred ninety-nine… five hundred.
“There are five hundred of them,” he said calmly.
Lan Ge stared at him. “Do you have some kind of compulsion? Why are you counting heads?”
Fa Hua glanced sideways at him. He didn’t answer right away, but the look in his eyes was no different from how one might regard a fool.
“Numbers determine a unit’s combat effectiveness,” he said at last. “As for their race, whatever they are, they’re obviously not unicorns.”
“Obviously,” Lan Ge said. “They’re two-horned unicorns.”
Fa Hua nodded solemnly, as though verifying something he had long suspected.
“I am genuinely concerned about your intelligence.”
“I—”
“Quiet.” Fa Hua raised a hand.
Lan Ge felt the words jam in his chest. For a brief moment, he looked irritated. Then, unexpectedly, he started laughing.
The laughter was slow. Deliberate. A little sinister.
Fa Hua had fully expected him to snap back. Instead, Lan Ge actually fell silent. That alone was unsettling.
Fa Hua turned to look at him and found Lan Ge smiling to himself, clearly pleased about something.
For no clear reason, a chill crept up Fa Hua’s spine.
“You’re not actually losing your mind, are you?” Fa Hua asked, puzzled.
“No,” Lan Ge replied lazily. “Why would I be? I just figured something out. That’s all. It put me in a good mood.”
Fa Hua nodded. “You really are good at consoling yourself. I wonder if everyone with a poor brain works like this.”
“Mock me all you want,” Lan Ge said, lifting his chin. “Do you know what I just realized?”
“I don’t want to know.”
Lan Ge ignored him and slung an arm around Fa Hua’s shoulder. “Then I’m telling you anyway. We should share happiness, shouldn’t we? I realized that being mocked by you every day, and sulking about it all the time, is definitely shortening my lifespan. One of these days, you might anger me to death. I’d die young.”
He paused, then continued cheerfully. “And if I die, it seems you won’t live either. So really, every time you mock me, you’re mocking yourself.”
Fa Hua looked at him, clearly surprised, and fell silent for a moment.
“Don’t be afraid,” Lan Ge said smugly. “Go on. Keep mocking me.”
Fa Hua let out a sigh and lowered his head, looking somewhat dispirited.
“Really scared?” Lan Ge patted his shoulder. “Don’t worry. It’s fine. If you’re actually concerned, just treat your brother a little better. I’ll be magnanimous and forgive you.”
Fa Hua sighed inwardly, then spoke quietly. “Actually, I’ve always been quite happy when I’m with you.”
Lan Ge burst out laughing. “That’s right. Say things like that. If I’m in a good mood, I’ll live a few extra days.”
Fa Hua continued evenly. “The reason I’m happy is simple. When I’m with you, I always feel a sense of intellectual superiority. As the saying goes, red flowers need green leaves to set them off. In the Law Domain, I never thought I was particularly smart. After meeting you, I realized I’d been like a frog at the bottom of a well.”
He looked straight at Lan Ge. “It turns out there are people in this world whose intelligence is truly concerning. Because of that, I feel fortunate. Genuinely happy. From the bottom of my heart, thank you.”
Lan Ge froze.
Then his face darkened with rage. “Fa DuiDui, are you trying to get yourself killed?”
Fa Hua calmly took Lan Ge’s arm off his shoulder and, as if nothing had happened, put his own arm around Lan Ge instead.
“Relax. I don’t discriminate,” Fa Hua said. “Let me help you analyze that brilliant thought you just had. First, I need to remind you of something. Before entering the Demon Domain, we went to the Green Sea of Life. We also visited Sky Jade Island.”
He spoke steadily, almost like a lecturer.
“Sky Jade Island is saturated with dense life aura. We cultivated there for one year. Under the effect of the Peerless Pearl, that was equivalent to three years of cultivation. As a result, the Life Energy in our bodies far exceeds that of ordinary humans. Dying naturally is not an easy thing for us.”
Lan Ge blinked.
Annoyingly, it actually made sense.
“Second,” Fa Hua continued, “and more importantly, you underestimate yourself. You were born in the Blue Domain. By nature, you’re lively, active, free-spirited, and joyful. Your heart is bright and open.”
Lan Ge stared at him. “Are you praising me? Did I hear that correctly?”
Fa Hua nodded, utterly serious. “Yes. And all of that has given you a quality I can never hope to match.”
“What is it?” Lan Ge asked reflexively.
Fa Hua patted his shoulder again. “Thick skin. With skin that thick, being angered to death by me is basically impossible in this lifetime. You’ll always find a way to regulate your emotions.”
“Fa DuiDui—” Lan Ge ground his teeth. He looked ready to erupt.
“Look.” Fa Hua’s expression changed abruptly as he pointed forward.
Lan Ge’s attention snapped away at once.
Sure enough, the five hundred demon warriors had already begun moving again, striding straight toward the Tiansheng Mountain Range.
“They’re heading into the mountains on a mission,” Fa Hua said immediately. “This unit is exceptionally strong. Let’s follow them. With them clearing the way, it’ll be much safer for us.”
He moved out at once, leaving Lan Ge standing there in a daze.
“Wait, Fa DuiDui, wait!” Lan Ge hurried after him. “What about everything you just said to me?”
“I didn’t mock you,” Fa Hua replied without looking back. “I was praising you. Praising your growth. Praising you as the light of freedom.”
Lan Ge took a deep breath. His gaze grew dark and profound. “Fa DuiDui, you’ve changed. You’re talkative now. Has your mocking advanced? Fine. Just you wait.”
Fa Hua glanced back at him and thought calmly that Lan Ge’s entire speech could be summarized in two words.
We’ll see.
“You—”
Lan Ge lunged at him like a starving tiger, but stopped himself at the last moment. Hitting Fa Hua would be no different from hitting himself.
A wave of sorrow welled up in his heart. He couldn’t beat him, and he couldn’t out-argue him either.
Fa Hua usually looked like a silent gourd, but when it came to verbal sparring, his thinking was frighteningly precise. Truly worthy of someone from the City of Wisdom.
**
Some Time Later
The five hundred demon warriors continued accelerating, yet even at high speed their formation remained perfectly intact. Their discipline was extraordinary.
Fa Hua and Lan Ge followed at a distance of roughly one kilometer. With Lan Ge’s mastery over wind, they concealed their auras while matching the unit’s pace.
The Tiansheng Mountain Range was close. Before long, they saw the warriors reach the foot of the mountains.
What happened next left both of them staring in shock.
The warriors all moved in perfect synchrony. Holding their spears in their left hands, they reversed the weapons and placed them behind their backs. Then they charged straight toward the steepest peak.
“They’re not actually planning to climb that, are they…?” Lan Ge muttered.
He didn’t need an answer.
The frontmost warrior suddenly leapt, springing more than ten meters into the air. On the sheer cliff face, as if invisible footholds existed, he began ascending with nothing but his hands and feet.
The speed was breathtaking.
In just a few breaths, the lead warrior had already climbed more than ten meters.
At that moment, a faint golden radiance flared.
The golden-horned female warrior, previously positioned at the center, began her ascent. The difference in strength was immediately apparent. A streak of golden light raced along the cliff face, and in the blink of an eye she surged to the very front.
The silver-horned warriors followed closely behind her.
Soon, an arrowhead-shaped assault formation took shape directly on the cliff wall.
An elite force, Fa Hua thought with genuine admiration.
Individual strength, coordination, discipline. Everything was exceptional. This was clearly a unit honed through long-term training, and its power was anything but ordinary.
“I know what clan they belong to,” Lan Ge suddenly said.
Fa Hua looked at him.
“Two horns, climbing cliffs like they’re flying. Obviously the Goat Clan,” Lan Ge declared confidently.
Fa Hua glanced at the warriors on the cliff, then back at Lan Ge. “Yes. Louder. If you’re brave enough, shout the words Goat Clan at them.”
Lan Ge froze. “What’s wrong? Am I wrong?”
“Does the Blue Domain not teach demon knowledge in school?” Fa Hua asked coolly. “Or did you skip class?”
“How did you know?” Lan Ge blurted out before he could stop himself.
He had been mischievous since childhood and extraordinarily talented. Skipping class had been routine. His cultivation progressed quickly anyway, so few had ever criticized him.
“Learning is the foundation,” Fa Hua said. “So it turns out your stupidity isn’t innate. Congratulations.”
Lan Ge kicked at him, but Fa Hua dodged lightly. “Move again and I won’t tell you where you went wrong.”
“Then where am I wrong?” Lan Ge demanded.
“That demon clan regards the word ‘goat’ as an insult,” Fa Hua said flatly. “They have their own name.”
He looked at Lan Ge.
“They are called the Capricorn Clan. Understood?”