The next day, morning.
The martial arts training ground was located in a wide area to the east of the Demon Realm, roughly square in shape, with its widest point measuring over a thousand zhang. At the northernmost edge of the training ground stood a high stone platform, about ten zhang wide, fifteen zhang long, and over ten zhang high. The platform was surrounded by a half-person-high railing, with only two gaps at the steps on the east and west sides.
This high platform was a martial arts arena, a place for fighting and competing. At this moment, Li Gan and Li Molin were standing side by side on the platform, looking down at the more than two thousand demons who were making a lot of noise in the training ground. At that time, these two thousand demons had just put on their armor and were repeatedly examining the spears, gathering in groups of three or five to discuss among themselves.
Further away, outside the martial arts arena, a large group of demons gathered, whispering and watching the spectacle.
At this moment, Li Gan raised his hand and shouted, "Enough! All of you, stand properly for me!"
"yes!"
The two thousand people at the Demon Heart Realm on the training ground responded in unison, their powerful voices extremely loud and deafening.
Among these two thousand men were twenty centurions, each commanding one hundred men. Under the orders of the twenty centurions, the two thousand men quickly formed twenty neat square formations of one hundred men each. Their movements were swift, clearly demonstrating their high level of training.
Once the two thousand men were lined up, Li Gan shouted, "Today, with the emergence of the Xuan Tie Armor and Xuan Tie Spear, your army is officially formed. From this day forward, your army will be called the Xuan Jia Army! As an army, it must have generals. From today onward, the young master will be your demon general. You must all obey the young master's orders and must not disobey!"
As soon as Li Gan finished speaking, an uproar broke out in the martial arts arena. Some people couldn't hold back any longer and began to loudly express their dissatisfaction.
Ignoring the uproar, Li Gan raised a jade token high, showing it to the two thousand people in the training ground, and declared loudly: "This Xuanjia Token is the only credential for commanding the Xuanjia Army. You two thousand men, seeing the Xuanjia Token is like seeing the Demon Lord. You must not disobey the order. Anyone who disobeys will be killed!"
Having said that, Li Gan turned his hand to Li Molin, looked at the two thousand people below the platform, and said loudly, "Lin'er, this token is yours!"
As soon as Li Gan said this, the murmurs grew louder. A burly man said in a very loud and vigorous voice, "Your Excellency, we are not convinced! We will not obey the orders of a half-crippled man!"
"..."
After the burly man finished speaking, the commotion suddenly stopped, and everyone looked at him. Among the many gazes, some were filled with admiration, some with mockery, but most were filled with amusement at the spectacle.
The burly man spoke hastily, blurting out the words "half-crippled," but he immediately regretted it. For the past twenty years, everyone knew that Demon Lord Li Gan was most averse to those three words, even going so far as to ruthlessly kill many people for them, using his iron fist to intimidate the entire demon race and forbid anyone from calling Li Molin a half-crippled.
But the words were already out and couldn't be taken back. The big man looked up at Li Gan's suddenly darkened face and couldn't help but shrink back. After a moment, however, he decided to go all out, stiffened his neck and took a step forward, looking up at Li Molin without fear.
Li Gan slowly raised his right hand, ready to strike hard, but Li Molin suddenly stopped him, saying, "Father, let me handle this."
"Alright." Li Gan turned to look at Li Molin, put his hands behind his back, and said to a follower behind him in a calm tone, "Go and fetch a chair."
"Yes!" the man replied hastily, then turned and left.
Li Molin slowly stepped forward and stopped at the edge of the platform. He expressionlessly surveyed the two thousand demons, finally fixing his gaze on the burly man standing at the very front. He spoke in a deep voice, "I admire your courage. What's your name?"
The burly man stiffened his neck and answered loudly, "Yu Hengkang!"
Li Molin nodded and said in a deep voice, "Yu Hengkang, if you're not convinced, come up here. Let's have a contest. If you win, I'll give you the Xuan Tie Token immediately!"
"Really?" Yu Hengkang's expression was one of disbelief. He looked behind Li Molin and saw that Li had sent someone to move a wide chair to the corner of the platform. He leaned back in the chair with his eyes half-closed, as if he was not paying any attention to what was happening there.
Li Molin raised his right hand and displayed the token around, his face grim. He said loudly, "Not only Yu Hengkang, but all of you in the Xuanjia Army, whoever defeats me, I will give you the Xuanjia Token! But if none of you can defeat me, then you will obediently follow my orders!"
"good!"
"OK!"
"..."
Two thousand people were overjoyed and rushed to fly up to the high platform.
They shoved each other for a while, and Yu Hengkang flew to the high platform first, shouting, "Young Master, I apologize for the offense!"
A flash of light appeared in Li Molin's hand, and as the token vanished, the skull staff reappeared in his grasp. He turned to face Yu Hengkang and said in a deep voice, "Let's do it!"
Yu Hengkang took out his weapon, gripped a huge, jet-black cleaver tightly, raised it high, and ran quickly toward Li Molin with heavy steps, making a series of "thump thump thump thump" sounds.
Yu Hengkang was tall and burly, with extremely heavy steps. The cleaver in his hand was about half a zhang long, with a thick blade and a sharp edge. The veins on his hand gripping the hilt were bulging, as if he was using all his strength. This one strike could probably split a small mountain in two.
Li Molin didn't confront Yu Hengkang head-on. He nimbly dodged to the side, about to chant an incantation to summon several ghost faces with his skull staff. However, as soon as he activated the magic power within him, he suddenly felt a tightness in his chest. He paused, coughing twice.
Just then, Yu Hengkang's machete turned and slashed down, fiercely aiming to cut Li Molin in the waist.
"Bravo!" A cheer erupted from below the platform, loudly applauding Yu Hengkang.
Knowing he couldn't withstand Yu Hengkang's cleaver, Li Molin had no choice but to dodge again. As he dodged, he summoned more than a dozen ghost faces. As soon as the ghost faces took shape, they opened their huge mouths and charged towards Yu Hengkang with a snarling laugh.
Yu Hengkang swung his machete and easily scattered the dozen or so ghost faces as if swatting flies. Just as he was about to approach Li Molin again, more ghost faces suddenly swarmed in and surrounded him.
Yu Hengkang was extremely annoyed by the numerous ghost faces. He swung his machete repeatedly, angrily hacking each ghost face into wisps of black smoke that dissipated.
Li Molin smiled coldly, and with a flick of his right hand, he unleashed a sharp beam of light about a foot long from the skull staff. He tossed it away, and the skull staff flew out of his hand, spinning rapidly forward, arriving in front of Yu Hengkang in almost an instant.
The skull staff pierced straight through the numerous ghost faces, and in a flash, it rushed to Yu Hengkang and slashed him hard, leaving a deep wound from his right shoulder to his left rib. Blood seeped out and soon soaked through Yu Hengkang's clothes.
Yu Hengkang cried out in pain, instinctively slashing the cleaver in his hand at the flexible skull staff in his chest.
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com
