Heaven's Devourer

The mission this time was rather complicated.

The enforcer introduced it to him and explained, "The rough idea is that atop a mountain along the shores of the East Sea, there exists a sect known as the Inner Sea Dao Sect. This sect dominates an area of around 500 kilometers and is considered a fourth tier sect. The sect leaders of this are all around the fourth tier of the Violet Kingdom of the Inner Sea Realm. This is considered to be quite a decent level along the shore of the East Sea. There are approximately five or so cultivators who are at the Violet Kingdom of the Inner Sea Realm.

"This Inner Sea Dao Sect is located near the East Sea, so they have spent countless years battling with ghostly cultivators. Such constant battles have resulted in rather tyrannical personalities among the sect members, and their battle skills are decent enough to not lose out to these ghostly cultivators. The sect protects about 10 or so ordinary immortal kingdoms, and is considered to be a sect of great achievement and virtue. The defensive spirit designs on the mountains are quite formidable as well, so normal ghostly cultivators can't attack through them easily."

This was the background of this mission. The mission here had come about because the Inner Sea Dao Sect had requested Yan Huang Imperial City’s help.  

Wu Yu saw that this mission was likely to result in an intense conflict, so the rewards for it were the highest among all as well. This was what drove him to choose it.

Furthermore, to get to this Inner Sea Dao Sect, Wu Yu would pass by the Dong Yue Wu Kingdom without much of a detour along the way. It would not be too inconvenient for him to go back there for once.

This mission was one that was rather far out, and Yan Huang Imperial City had been great at conducting its matters surreptitiously as well. As such, Wu Yu was not too worried about the Lunar Flower Sword Sage finding out where he was. Even if she were to find out, she would  have to go to him from Shushan, and this would take quite some time.

The enforcer continued to provide more details. "The focus of this mission is that a year ago, the Inner Sea Dao Sect discovered a vein of blue spirit ore at the bottom of the East Sea. This is an underwater ore vein that consists completely of four-spiritual mark ores. There is a large amount, and the value of these are high too. To a sect at the level of the Inner Sea Dao Sect, this is a big treasure that would be enough to allow their sect flourish and prosper. In light of this, the sect kept things quiet and started to quickly excavate these ores."

Wu Yu could not immediately tell, but even though this blue spirit ore was not as great as the blue jade ores last time, it was indeed an extremely valuable asset to the Inner Sea Dao Sect.

"Despite their efforts, news still managed to get out. Along the East Sea shore, a majority of the proper sects aren't comparable to the Inner Sea Dao Sect, but the news eventually spread to the ghostly cultivators on the many islands of the East Sea. Due to this, since three months ago, there have been numerous ghostly cultivators attacking their excavation sites. This has resulted in the Inner Sea Dao Sect suffering disastrous casualties. After all, this is the bottom of the East Sea, and not their immortal mountain. They did not have their defensive spirit designs to aid them, so it was truly difficult for them to fight at close-quarters with the relentless hordes of ghostly cultivators. Ultimately, they decided to seek aid from Yan Huang Imperial City. They are willing to exchange one-fifth of the total amount of blue spirit ore for the resources of eight camps from Yan Huang Imperial City. Our Yan Huang Imperial City always prioritizes missions that deal with ghostly cultivators, so on the day the mission was announced, there were already eight camps that went forth. Due to the fact that it will take about half a year for the blue spirit ore to be completely excavated, these eight centurions are also in charge of defending these blue spirit ore veins for half a year."

The Yan Huang Immortal Army was very particular about following the rules in this aspect as well. Even though the Yan Huang Immortal soldiers sent there would be enough to overcome the full strength of the Inner Sea Dao Sect, they were only meant to carry out their mission and take what was promised to them. They would not snatch away anything else that belonged to the Inner Sea Dao Sect. The truth was that the proper sects of the divine continent were actually watching out for one another. Furthermore, Yan Huang Imperial City was so prominent that it did not really hold the Inner Sea Dao Sect's valuables with much regard. If any Yan Huang Immortal Soldier acted on their own accord, they would be subject to Yan Huang Imperial City's punishment as well.

In other words, there were others who had already accepted this mission when it was announced three months ago.

The enforcer continued, "Unfortunately, there was originally an excessive number of ghostly cultivators in the East Sea already, and these ghostly cultivators felt that the ore vein belonged to them because it was underwater. Due to this, the number of ghostly cultivators who came forth with the intent to pillage and massacre far exceeded the expectations of the Inner Sea Dao Sect's, and ours as well. This has resulted in the Yan Huang Immortal Army suffering substantial losses as well. Furthermore, it would be hard for our army to defend against the upcoming wave of ghostly cultivators, but there's still three months to go before we reach the end of our agreement. It will take three more months for the Inner Sea Dao Sect to completely excavate the area, so the Inner Sea Dao Sect is willing to exchange another one-fifth of their blue spirit ore haul for another eight of our Yan Huang Imperial City camps. In total, there will be 16 camps of ours defending the ore vein. Once they complete the excavation, our mission will end as well. The Inner Sea Dao Sect will then have their defensive spirit design to protect their riches and themselves. They'll then be able to use the valuables they obtain to become stronger, but that's more of a matter for them to settle themselves...

"Yan Huang Imperial City has done the necessary calculations regarding these blue spirit ores. After taking a small cut, the rest of it will be converted to merits. The eight new camps that are to be added to this mission will receive their reward after the mission has been fulfilled. The centurions will each obtain 150,000 merits, whereas the soldiers will obtain 3,000 merits each. Although this mission is one of considerable risk, the rewards are very large as well. After all, while fighting with ghostly cultivators, most of it will be hand-to-hand mortal combat, so there could be additional rewards to be earned as well," the enforcer explained.

The key thing that Wu Yu wanted to obtain through this mission was not the 150,000 merits or 150 Inner Sea Essence Pills. What he really wanted was the chance to fight against ghostly cultivators - this was a chance for plunder as well!

He still recalled what was written on the stone plaque back at the Heavenly Sword Sect: "Martial cultivation is plunder. Only the strongest rule!"

Martial cultivation is plunder!

What did plunder mean here?

It meant slaying others to loot their treasure!

Of course, only those who were meant to be killed should be slain, and only treasures that were meant to be looted should be looted.

The Ghostly Dao that these ghostly cultivators practiced was not only intolerable between heaven and earth, it was intolerable in the mortal realm as well.

A mission like this certainly required much manpower. All the areas surrounding the ore veins had to be placed on high alert, so many Yan Huang Immortal Soldiers had to be dispatched. This mission was similar to the one Wu Yu had carried out back at Yin Yang Mountain. However, the one at Yin Yang Mountain was more of a training exercise for Nangong Wei and the rest; this time, it was a merciless face-to-face fight to death instead!

"Wu Yu, do you intend to accept this mission?" the enforcer asked.

Most aspects of this mission fulfilled Wu Yu's demands. The only thing that made him hesitate was the fact that it required him to mobilize his entire camp. He was worried that this mission would be too dangerous and cause the deaths of many of the young members of his Heaven's Equal Camp as a result.

However, something in the back of his mind told him that no one was willing to be a flower in a greenhouse. Just like Wu Tianyu had said, everyone wanted to become immortal after all. Just because they had become soldiers subordinate to him, it did not mean that he had to curb their opportunities for progress.

In regard to a matter like this, he finally made his decision. He wrote out the details for the mission on a Message Talisman and sent it back to the Heaven's Equal Camp. He then quietly awaiting their reply. The truth was that not the entire camp had to go on this mission. After all, there were always others who were preoccupied with other matters. The Heaven's Equal Camp was considered to be a camp with fewer members than usual as well. There were camps that had over 200 people in total, but it would already be considered decent if they just assembled around 100 members for this. 

In light of this, Wu Yu decided to allow everyone to decide for themselves if they wanted to go or not. It was fine for them to directly tell him their decisions, as their lives were entirely within their hands. To a significant portion of them that were at around the fifth or sixth tier of Jindan Dao, a sum of 3,000 merits was already considered quite a hefty amount. Moreover, the mission would only take three months.

Surprisingly, the message talisman came back with a response really quickly. On it was written: "A total of 93 people are willing to go forth!"  

The Heaven's Equal Camp had exactly 100 members, and only seven of these were not coming along. The number of participants was certainly extremely high. When Wu Yu reported this and expressed his intentions to carry out the mission, even the enforcer was surprised. He glanced at Wu Yu and said, "It's not obvious to others, but you're really proficient in appealing to the Heaven's Equal Camp even though it's just been formed. You've actually achieved a 93% participation rate. Among the other seven camps, the highest participation rate is only at 74%."

Wu Yu could not help but be amazed as well, so he asked, "There are eight teams in total, so does that mean that the other seven have been confirmed?"

The enforcer laughed and replied, "Such a mission may be dangerous, but the rewards are the highest of all as well. As soon as an opportunity like this appears, it usually gets snatched away quickly. If you had arrived just a quarter hour later than you did, you probably wouldn't have been able to take it. Alright, this mission is quite an urgent one. Once the stipulated number of people have gathered, it'll begin immediately. For now, you should hurry back to the Heaven's Equal Camp and gather your troops to head out. I'll inform the other seven teams, and you'll all gather at the passageway leading out of the city. Go as quickly as possible!"

Indeed, time was dangerously tight on this mission. 

Moreover, the original eight teams from Yan Huang Imperial City were currently dealing with the ghostly cultivators. They were in an extremely dangerous mission, so the troops going forth this time were also helping their own kind.

After Wu Yu gained an understanding of the situation, he quickly left the Yi Palace and returned to the Heaven's Equal Camp in no time at all. At this time, all the people who were willing to go had already donned their Yan Huang Immortal Armor and were waiting in rank and file for Wu Yu to arrive.

"Commander Wu!" Upon witnessing Wu Yu's return, the crowd became hot-blooded and cheered in unison.

They had arranged themselves in proper rank and file, and certainly resembled a proper army.

Wu Yu felt like he was reliving a scene back at Dong Yue Wu where he led troops into battle. He immediately started to get fired up and roared to the crowd, "Heaven's Equal Camp, heed my command: follow me as we set out!"

The crowd of close to 100 was vast and mighty as it headed toward the passageway leading out of the city. Along the way, they drew the attention of many others as well.  

"Do you all understand the mission's details?" Wu Yu asked.

"We do!" the crowd replied.

Wu Yu looked at the expressions of his soldiers, a majority of which were around the same age as him. He saw the excited and nervous expressions that they held as they were about to carry out an important mission for the first time…

"From here on out, everyone is to strictly obey my orders! No one is to act on their own accord, or they will suffer severe punishment! And my goal for now is for everyone to return safely three months from now along with great riches!"

"Yes!"

Individuals and armies were different things altogether. As a part of an army, one had to obey and carry out orders strictly. This was how an entire team would be able to coagulate under a single driving force.

"Heaven's Equal Camp!"

"Heaven's Equal Camp!"

With a resolve that was equal to the heavens, they would be able to cultivate dao and become immortals!

Along the way to the passageway, Wu Yu looked up the details of the other camps. There were seven of them in total, and they included the Broken Soldier Camp, Blue Smoke Camp, Deep Pine Camp, Green Willow Camp, and others. 

There was an overall commander for this mission whose job was to lead all eight camps. This was the Broken Soldier Camp's commander, Huangfu Pojun. Among the eight centurions, he was the only one at the fourth tier of the Violet Kingdom of the Inner Sea.

Most of the others were centurions that were at the third tier of the Violet Kingdom of the Inner Sea.

Only two of them were at the second tier of the Violet Kingdom of the Inner Sea.

Wu Yu's current abilities were able to match up to someone who was at the third tier of the Violet Kingdom of the Inner Sea, so he was not considered weak even among these eight teams.

He gained a better understanding of this Huangfu Pojun. On a mission like this, there would always be an overall commander in charge. In this mission, this overall commander's say was equal to that of four other people. In other words, it was as though this team led by eight commanders had 11 commanders leading instead. As long as six or more commanders made a strategic decision, everyone had to carry it out.

Another way of putting this was that as long as two out of the seven commanders besides the overall commander agreed with his strategy, a formal order would be issued.

The authority behind this overall commander's words was large indeed. Essentially, he was a level above Wu Yu and the others.

Of course, these overall commanders were directly assigned by Yan Huang Imperial City, so they were usually full of experience. Furthermore, they would actually only earn 150,000 merits as well. This made things quite fair.

They arrived at the passageway out of the city very quickly.