The protagonist committed numerous evil deeds.

Chapter 212 Year (Pei Kuang)

More and more cultivators are emerging from the northern desert. They are arrogant and proud, and can be called heroes even if they haven't killed a single demon or saved a single person.

Pei Kuang practiced martial arts and swordsmanship with all his might, and went to fight those cultivators every day, thinking that he would defeat them one day.

A mortal who challenges a cultivator is ridiculed for overestimating his abilities, even if he later actually defeats the cultivator several times. People only think it's due to his luck, or that those cultivators were simply not talented enough.

Nowadays, whether you want to be an official or a general, you at least need to have spiritual roots. For a mortal like Pei Kuang who doesn't have spiritual roots to want to be a general, he must be dreaming.

Amidst everyone's laughter, Pei Kuang became increasingly obsessed with picking fights and provoking cultivators, turning himself into a complete hoodlum.

"The Northern Desert Iron Cavalry? Is that the suicide squad? How many of them are left?"

"I really don't know what they're thinking. Mortals should just wait for the protection of cultivators. Isn't subduing demons and monsters the job of cultivators?"

"Mortals kill demons? Do they even have that ability? Although we cultivators are not as powerful as we were hundreds of years ago, we are still far superior to them."

"An army of two hundred thousand! I heard they were supposed to disband, but they insisted on thinking they were strong enough and eagerly ran to the monster to their deaths."

"In the end, it's all because of the overconfident Pei family that so many people were killed."

"Keep your voice down, or Pei Kuang will come looking for you."

"Who would be afraid of that good-for-nothing? My loss last time was an accident."

Several teenagers chatted while practicing swordsmanship.

"Stop talking about such unlucky things. Have you heard? His Highness the Crown Prince is currently reorganizing the Feather Spirit Army. The requirement is that you must have spiritual roots, and those with good aptitude can directly become generals. The Feather Spirit Army is a great place. Not only can you receive formal cultivation instruction from the senior elders of the Xie family there, but you can also obtain many pills to increase your cultivation."

"We are all quite talented, so let's meet again in the Feather Spirit Army in the future."

"Ha ha ha ha……"

Before the laughter had even finished, a group of people barged in—a group of ordinary mortals, after all.

Hey! What are you doing?!

Pei Kuang was surrounded, holding a rusty knife and pointing it at them.

"What are you doing? Do I, the general, need a reason to hit someone?"

The group exchanged glances and then smiled contemptuously.

"Pei Kuang, who do you think you are, a general? Your family is now..."

Before he could finish speaking, Pei Kuang stepped forward and kicked the man to the ground with a force far beyond that of an ordinary mortal.

"Pei Kuang! Pei Kuang! Pei Kuang!"

"Boss, quickly teach these cultivators a lesson!"

The cultivators knew they couldn't fight this kid head-on; they had to use magic. The cultivators flew through the air, casting spells downwards, but the people below always managed to dodge them, and the cultivators would seize the opportunity to pull them down with grappling ropes.

With a knife pressed against their necks, the men fled in a sorry state.

Pei Kuang remained expressionless, while the mortals behind him cheered and rejoiced. Everyone knew that Pei Kuang was someone even ten cultivators couldn't match.

"We won again! We won again!"

"Boss, you have to buy us drinks today! You have to buy us drinks!"

Pei Kuang said smugly, "Alright! I'll treat you to dinner later, and tomorrow we'll go and meet these immortals who can't even ascend to heaven."

Pei Kuang picked up the immortal cultivation manual that the cultivator had left behind.

He chased away his followers who were surrounding him and went alone to the place where he used to practice swordsmanship and read. He carefully studied the immortal techniques practiced by cultivators and pondered how mortals should deal with them.

"I have many more of these books. Do you want them?"

Pei Kuang looked up at the sound, his brows furrowing. It was a child who looked to be under ten years old, but it was obvious at a glance that he was a cultivator. He ignored him and continued reading the book in his hands.

"This is just a spell that ordinary cultivators would use. If it were those demon-catching families in the capital, their spells could hit you almost instantly no matter how fast you run."

"No matter how strong your body becomes, you can't withstand many attacks. What you need are more weapons, elixirs, and armor suitable for mortals, as well as ancient books that record various demons."

Pei Kuang, annoyed by the noise, finally snapped and yelled, "Get out!"

Before his annoyed expression could fade, he heard a voice in his ear, "Pei Kuang, I am the Crown Prince."

Pei Kuang was momentarily at a loss for words, unsure what expression to make. Had this child gone mad? Could he be...?

"A hundred years ago, your Pei family swore an oath to be the eternal blade of my Shen family. Now, are you still willing?"

Pei Kuang's expression changed. Seeing the gold medal in the child's hand, he hesitated before kneeling down.

"I can provide you with the best weapons and elixirs that I just mentioned, as well as the highest treatment and pay for the soldiers. I can fulfill any request you may have, but you will have to find the people yourself."

"What the imperial court needs is an army that can fight demons."

Pei Kuang doubted whether he had woken up properly that morning, wondering why it felt so unreal, but he just couldn't believe it.

"Why? Don't you already have the Feathered Spirit Army?"

"General Pei, there are far too many mortals without spiritual roots. Mortals are human, and cultivators are human too; they are all the same."

Are they the same? They're all human, so why is there such a big difference? Pei Kuang thought to himself, but he knew that the person in front of him genuinely thought they were all the same.

That's enough.

"Your Majesty, I am willing to follow you. I, Pei Kuang, am willing to be your sword."

Shen Yingsi, this is the ruler of the world whom Pei Kuang has chosen. It will be hard to find another ruler in the world who truly treats all mortals equally.

He trusted him, followed him, and believed that he could protect the whole world.

However, after the battle against the Ghost King in Moon Half City, Pei Kuang began to have doubts about his prince, and he vaguely felt that something was wrong with his prince.

Then he heard about what His Highness had done at the Xie residence in Danli, things that were completely out of his league. His Highness had always seemed like an overly perfect monarch to him, but the Danli incident made him realize that His Highness was just a mortal.

Humans are inherently selfish and cannot always consider the interests of others.

After His Highness ascended the throne, the spiritual energy of the world subtly began to increase. Cultivators across the land were thrilled and went wild, and the Emperor proclaimed this to the world, igniting a wave of cultivation.

With the Feather Spirit Army busy cultivating, the Northern Desert Iron Cavalry naturally had to go to the battlefield more often.

Asagao died. Of the first batch of mortals he tricked one by one into going to the battlefield, only Asagao survived and stayed with him for more than ten years.

The person is now dead.

Pei Kuang had long been prepared; these people were all destined to die, either here or there. But she was the one who was killed. Those cultivators could not be trusted at all, and Shen Yingsi was, after all, a cultivator as well.

When Asagao died, Pei Kuang felt that he was about to die as well.

What could he do? They were just ordinary mortals, having strived for so many years, yet still only able to rely on the protection of cultivators. What could ordinary mortals possibly do? Could they truly fight against demons? Could an ordinary mortal break through a group of cultivators?

In the year following Chaoyan's death, the human race and demons continued their constant battles, with the Northern Desert Cavalry suffering repeated defeats. Liang Qi, somehow, managed to seal the entire Danli, preventing either humans or demons from entering, and also preventing those inside from ever leaving.

After a battle in which 20,000 soldiers were nearly wiped out by demons, the Feather Spirit Army arrived like gods descending to earth, riding their swords to turn the tide and win. Pei Kuang suddenly went mad.

That was three years after Asagao's death.