One of the clones, transformed from his true form, led the other clones to mimic the patrol patterns of the demon soldiers.
Before long, Zhang Tianchen led his team of "counterfeits" to cross paths with a genuine squad of demons.
"Why have you barged into our sector?" the leader of that squad asked curiously.
"The fog is too thick, and we lost our way," Zhang Tianchen replied, feigning regret.
Seeing that Zhang Tianchen looked unfamiliar, the demon soldier captain inwardly heightened his vigilance and asked, "Which squad are you from? Why haven't I seen you before?"
"We are..."
Before Zhang Tianchen could finish, thousands of clones suddenly struck.
Thousands of Demon Race soldiers were slain by Zhang Tianchen's clones before they could even react, and the demon soldier captain himself was beheaded by Zhang Tianchen.
Next, Zhang Tianchen produced the Heaven-Creating Cauldron and pulled all those thousands of Demon Race soldiers into it.
Following that, Zhang Tianchen used the same method to wipe out several more demon squads.
However, the Demon Race was not without defenses. Shortly after discovering Zhang Tianchen's tactics, Mo Xuan dispatched thirty thousand demon soldiers into the mountains to conduct searches, and established a series of passwords for the soldiers.
Completely unaware of this, Zhang Tianchen continued to attack the demon soldiers using his previous methods.
"Password!"
When they encountered another demon squad, the demon soldier captain demanded the password before Zhang Tianchen could even get close. This caught Zhang Tianchen off guard, leaving him unable to reply.
"This fellow is an impostor! Capture him!"
Seeing that Zhang Tianchen could not give the password, the demon soldier captain immediately deduced that he was a fake, quickly sent out a signal, and led his troop in a charge.
Not wishing to engage in a direct confrontation, Zhang Tianchen dismissed his clones and escaped using the Earth-Fleeing Golden Light technique.
After his old method failed, Zhang Tianchen devised a new plan.
Once he had pinpointed the positions of Demon Squad A and Demon Squad B, Zhang Tianchen had a portion of his clones transform into their appearances.
He arranged it thus: the clones disguised as Squad A would encounter the genuine Squad B, while the clones disguised as Squad B would encounter the genuine Squad A. Then, he had them deliberately expose their identities to draw both squads into pursuing them.
As the two squads were led toward the same location, right at the crucial moment before they engaged in combat, Zhang Tianchen used the thick fog as cover to recall his clones and vanish without a trace.
Upon meeting, Squad A and Squad B each believed the other to be the impostor, and fighting immediately broke out.
In addition, other Demon Race warriors who rushed to help in response to the signal were also drawn into the fray amidst the confusion secretly guided by Zhang Tianchen.
When they realized something was amiss and rushed to the scene, more than half of the Demon Race forces had already perished in mutual infighting. Combined with the ones Zhang Tianchen had personally eliminated earlier, the army of one hundred thousand demons had been reduced to fewer than fifty thousand.
"Useless trash! A bunch of fools who can't even tell their own kind apart!"
Seething with rage, Mo Xuan unleashed a furious tirade at his subordinate warriors.
After a long while, as his anger subsided slightly, Mo Xuan accepted a question from one of his demon soldier commanders: "General, this person is proficient in disguise and transformation techniques and is exceptionally cunning. How should our army deal with him?"
"Evacuate this area. Since he is hiding in the mountains and refuse to come out, we will find a way to lure him out."
With a distorted expression, Mo Xuan issued the order to withdraw from the forest and pull back the wounded soldiers.
Yet he failed to notice a flash of mocking derision pass across the face of a certain demon warrior.
This demon soldier was actually an incarnation of Zhang Tianchen, who had blended into the demon army while they were fighting amongst themselves. When the demon army retreated from the mountains and regrouped according to Mo Xuan's orders, many of the soldiers were either bearing injuries or had exhausted their spiritual energy.
Seizing this opportunity, Zhang Tianchen quietly made his way to the center of the military camp and cast a series of hand seals directed at the night sky. A massive halo of light materialized, gradually spreading to cover the entire demon encampment.
"Activate the array!"
Zhang Tianchen activated the Immeasurable Gourd, releasing the Immeasurable Sword collection stored within, and guided these flying swords into the halo. Instantly, the symbols inside the halo lit up, radiating a brilliant glare down upon the camp below. In a flash, the scene within the camp seemed to transform into a brand-new world composed entirely of swords of various shapes and sizes.
Countless Immeasurable Swords and sword-qi projections closed in rapidly from all directions. Most of the demon soldiers did not even have time to react before falling under this sudden assault.
Mo Xuan leaped from within the camp, using his rock-solid body to deflect the Immeasurable Swords closing in on him. A demon commander barely managed to defend himself as he flew toward Mo Xuan seeking answers: "Lord General, what is the meaning of this?"
"This is an array set up by a Human cultivator. It is extremely dangerous. If we cannot find a solution quickly, we will all perish here," Mo Xuan said gravely, no longer daring to show any complacency toward the human cultivator he had previously underestimated.
"But how can we break this array?" the demon squad leader anxiously asked.
"Every array has a core. Once we find and destroy it, we can naturally break out of the array," Mo Xuan replied, though he himself did not immediately see a breakthrough. He then ordered all soldiers to gather together and jointly face the swirling sword array.
The demon captains acknowledged the command and sprang into action.
Hiding behind the sword array, Zhang Tianchen drove its power to ruthlessly sweep away the enemies trapped within. Seeing his soldiers die one after another, Mo Xuan roared and transformed into a black flood dragon, charging violently against the array barrier.
Unfortunately, Mo Xuan grossly underestimated the actual might of the Immeasurable Sword Array. With Zhang Tianchen's current strength, which approached the pinnacle of mighty beings, wielding a powerful sword array formed from thousands of swords, even a Quasi-Sage would find it difficult to withstand—let alone Mo Xuan, who was merely a standard Great Luo-realm entity. His fierce onslaught against the sword array proved ineffective, and he suffered severe injuries instead, spitting a mouthful of blood.
"Now, let you witness the true power of my Immeasurable Sword Array!"
Zhang Tianchen channeled his magic to make the swords converge into a single entity, forming a gigantic flying sword.
"Go!"
At his command, the colossal sword shot directly toward Mo Xuan. Mo Xuan swiftly summoned his treasure—a pitch-black longsword named the Black Dragon Sword. It was the ancestral divine treasure of their Black Dragon clan, possessing over thirty dao restrictions and holding the status of a top-tier natural magical treasure.
The Black Dragon Sword and the colossal Immeasurable Sword clashed violently in mid-air. Yet after only a few rounds, the Black Dragon Sword was defeated, sent flying as it was struck by the Immeasurable Sword.
Unstoppable as ever, the Immeasurable Sword lunged fiercely toward Mo Xuan.
Mo Xuan transformed back into a black flood dragon, opening his jaws wide to release a barrier of magical energy.
However, when the Immeasurable Sword slammed violently against the magical energy barrier, it shattered it in a mere fraction of a second, piercing straight into Mo Xuan's mouth and transfixing his body.
Mo Xuan then plummeted from the sky, his life snuffed out.
Those demon soldiers who had previously attempted to rescue Mo Xuan scattered in terror upon seeing this sight. Yet no matter how they fled, they could not escape the Immeasurable Sword Array deployed by Zhang Tianchen.
"Ah..."
The demon soldiers fell one by one under the Immeasurable Swords, crying out in grief before death claimed them.
Soon, the remaining demon soldiers all perished within the Immeasurable Sword Array.
Zhang Tianchen took out the Heaven-Creating Cauldron and gathered all the fallen demon soldiers into it.
The Black Dragon Sword left behind by Mo Xuan was also collected by Zhang Tianchen.
.........
In the camp of the Demon Race commander, Guiche.
Upon hearing that the one hundred thousand demon soldiers led by Mo Xuan had been utterly annihilated, Guiche flew into a rage.
"Useless! A pack of good-for-nothings! One hundred thousand men couldn't even handle a single human cultivator, and they ended up getting the whole army wiped out, completely disgracing our Demon Race."
Guiche bellowed, while the generals in the tent all lowered their heads in silence, not daring to provoke his wrath.
"Transmit the order immediately! I will personally lead a million-strong army to encircle and suppress this human cultivator."
Guiche decided to take the field himself to restore the reputation of the Demon Race.
"Great Sage, please calm your anger. The Wu Clan is currently launching an offensive against our territory, and our primary task right now is to gather sufficient human souls. It is not worth making such a fuss over a minor cultivator," a deputy general advised cautiously from the side.
"Hmph! If I do not hack this person's bones to pieces, how am I supposed to assert my authority in front of the other Demon Race leaders in the future?"
Guiche said coldly, well aware that this matter concerned not just the overall dignity of the Demon Race, but his own personal prestige as well; if he failed to save face, he feared he would become a laughingstock within the Demon Race.
Hearing this, no one in the tent dared to offer further advice.
........
After slaying Mo Xuan, Zhang Tianchen realized that the Demon Race would inevitably dispatch more troops to hunt him down. He therefore hid in a secluded location to prepare for his next move.
"Right now is the prime moment to refine the Nine-Turn Golden Pill."
This Nine-Turn Golden Pill had been crafted by Zhang Tianchen using main ingredients aged ten million years, supplemented by dozens of million-year medicinal herbs and over a hundred types of hundred-year-old adjuvants, following eight rounds of smelting.
Earlier, because he was too weak and his foundation unstable, he had never dared to consume it.
Through his recent period of continuous battles with the Demon Race, he had accumulated sufficient foundation.
Moreover, having expended a vast amount of magical energy during the recent annihilation of thousands of demon soldiers and the general Mo Xuan, taking the Nine-Turn Golden Pill at this moment would effectively accelerate its potency.
After setting up a defensive array, Zhang Tianchen swallowed the precious Nine-Turn Golden Pill.
The moment the Golden Pill entered his abdomen, it immediately transformed into an energy that was both immensely powerful and exceptionally pure.
Zhang Tianchen concentrated his mind, doing his utmost to digest this energy.
One hundred years later.
Zhang Tianchen finally fully refined that massive and pure surge of energy, raising his cultivation by a full ten yuanhui.
"The Nine-Turn Golden Pill is truly extraordinary; even the Huangzhong Li, reputed to be the foremost of the ten spiritual roots, might not surpass it."
Zhang Tianchen was thoroughly satisfied with the effects of the Nine-Turn Golden Pill. If the timing had not been inappropriate, he would have loved to take one or two more.
......
The ancestral land of the Human Race.
Suirenshi, Youchaoshi, and Ziyishi led their clansmen in a desperate fight against the Demon Race army.
The Three Sovereigns of the Human Race enjoyed Heavenly Dao merits and carried the destiny of the Human Race, with their cultivation having broken through to the Quasi-Sage realm; they could be considered formidable figures in the Primordial world. However, what they faced were three Quasi-Sages of the Demon Race and an army of one hundred million demons.
Although the three Demon Race Quasi-Sages were likewise at the early Quasi-Sage stage, they had steadily cultivated every step of the way to achieve fruition; the cultivation of the Human Race Three Sovereigns, on the other hand, stemmed largely from the bestowal of Heavenly Dao merits. When facing enemies slightly inferior in cultivation, they might rely on advantages to suppress them, but when clashing with opponents of the exact same realm, the gap was starkly revealed.
From the very start of the battle, the Human Race Three Sovereigns were at a disadvantage. Coupled with the enemy's overwhelming numerical superiority, the ancestral land of the Human Race had suffered near-total casualties.