I bear witness to immortality in the human world.

Chapter 128 First Exploration of the Border
After finishing his meal, Wu Ming returned to his own tent to tidy up before heading to the main tent in the central camp.

The central tent was empty except for two figures. One was Yan Chuyu, who was kneeling on one side of the tent and looking at maps and intelligence. The other was wearing a fifth-rank official's robe and had a dignified expression. He was none other than Yan Yuntian, the head of the Demon Suppression Division!

Wu Ming arrived at the tent and, not daring to be negligent, respectfully bowed to Yan Yuntian.

"Wu Ming, Inspector of the Cautious Punishment Division, pays respects to the Chief of the Demon Suppression Division."

"Get up."

Yan Yuntian held a dossier in his hand, looked up at Wu Ming, and said, "I won't say anything more. You should have a general understanding of the situation at the border by now. Lord Liu sent you here to deal with the chaos at the border, and also to give you some experience."

"With your strength, you don't need to team up with others. Chuyu is short of a teammate, so you can temporarily team up with her. Chuyu is familiar with the situation at the border, so you can ask her for advice if you have any questions."

Upon hearing Yan Yuntian's words, Wu Ming immediately lowered his head and responded.

"As ordered."

At this moment, Yan Chuyu, who was holding the scroll, finally put it down and stood up. She glanced at Wu Ming, then picked up her sword and said, "Let's go. There's no time to lose. Let's set off now. You're not weak, and I won't take advantage of you. We'll split the spoils from our exploration and demon-slaying on the border half and half."

"Row."

Wu Ming didn't have much of an opinion, mainly because it was indeed his first time at the border, and this was his first trip to familiarize himself with the situation.

Now,

Wu Ming then left the camp with Yan Chuyu.

Yan Yuntian glanced at the two departing figures, then looked back at the intelligence file in his hand. To him, Wu Ming was Liu Muyuan's disciple and could be considered trustworthy. He felt at ease knowing that Wu Ming was traveling with Yan Chuyu.

……

Wu Ming carried a long spear on his back, while Yan Chuyu carried a horizontal sword on her side. After leaving the camp, the two headed out of the camp and towards a rolling hill to the north of the camp. Basically, once they crossed the hills, they would be in the true border area of ​​Jingye City. The border stronghold was not responsible for the defense of the 'Yuancheng' area, but rather for controlling the border area.

Amidst rolling hills.

Wu Ming and Yan Chuyu's figures flashed by quickly.

"...Our mission is not difficult. We just need to deal with a three-transformation demon. You don't have much experience, and it's not easy to search for a three-transformation demon in these mountains. You'll just come with me this time and learn how to do things."

Yan Chuyu led Wu Ming deeper into the hills and said to him.

The daily task of the border stronghold is basically to enter the border area and deal with at least one three-transformation demon.

The entire Jingye City territory is divided into three lines of defense: the border strongholds, the distant city camps, and the city guards. Although none of these three lines of defense can be so tight as to control the entire area and prevent monsters from crossing, the tiered selection by these three lines of defense greatly reduces the number of monsters that can cross over and reach the area near the city.

Of the three lines of defense, the border stronghold is the most dangerous, but it is also where more young experts are willing to come because it is closer to the wilderness, where all kinds of rare treasures are produced from time to time, and the resources are far richer than those in the rear.

"Alright, then I'll trouble Miss Chuyu to give me her guidance."

Wu Ming responded, but didn't step forward. He followed behind Yan Chuyu, observing the environment as they went deeper into the area.

The two quickly ventured nearly a hundred miles into the border region, but throughout the process, apart from occasionally encountering some ordinary wild animals, they did not find any trace of monsters. Clearly, searching for monsters in the desolate wilderness was not so easy.

In fact, Wu Ming did detect some scattered demonic energy through his soul perception, but the demonic energy was not dense enough, at most only one level. He naturally had no interest in demons of this level.

Time flies, and half a day has passed.

suddenly.

Yan Chuyu seemed to sense something and stopped in front of a bush.

"Shhh."

She gestured for Wu Ming to be quiet, then carefully stepped forward, parted the bushes, and saw a clump of still-dry feces, purplish-black in color, twisted into a ball.

After observing it for a while, Yan Chuyu made a judgment and said in a low voice, "If I'm not mistaken, this should be the excrement of a pig demon. Judging from the color and smell, this pig demon should not have reached the third transformation level yet, and it is very likely that it is nearby. Let's climb the tree and investigate carefully to see if we can find it."

Wu Ming also looked at the pile of excrement. He couldn't tell what it was, but with a sweep of his soul, he memorized its shape and details. This ability to distinguish the specific type and level of a demon through its traces requires a lot of information and experience, which can only be accumulated slowly over many years of activity in the mountains and forests.

"There's no need to be so cautious with a pig demon that can only transform twice at most."

Seeing Yan Chuyu leap up into the tree, Wu Ming followed suit and jumped to the treetop as well, asking her a question.

Yan Chuyu rolled her eyes at Wu Ming and said, "A three-transformation demon is not so easy to find. Unless you want to get close to the desolate region, you may not run into one for ten days or half a month. Look at us, we have nothing on us except weapons. Are we going to run around in these mountains on an empty stomach for ten days or half a month?"

Oh. Thanks to Yan Chuyu's reminder, Wu Ming realized that the most important thing when exploring the border was indeed survival.

The main reason is that he has a large amount of food and meat stored in the Demon Subduing Realm, enough to last him for a year or two. In addition, he is used to acting alone, so he has never paid attention to the issue of survival. However, for ordinary martial artists like Yan Chuyu, who are active in the border region for a long time, survival is the most important thing.

A martial artist whose strength depends entirely on the accumulated blood energy, will find that even if they abstain from meat for two or three days, their blood energy will gradually weaken, affecting their performance.

The situation in the Demon Subduing Realm was naturally not to be exposed. Wu Ming couldn't very well say that he could produce enough rice and water to last a year at any time. So he followed Yan Chuyu and kept leaping from treetop to treetop, searching for traces of demons.

soon.

Yan Chuyu paused, gesturing for Wu Ming to stop. Wu Ming, who had already surveyed the situation below, stepped to Yan Chuyu's side, stopped, and looked down.

Below the treetop, there was an irregularly shaped cave. The cave was pitch black, but Wu Ming could not perceive it as deep. At the same time, a demonic aura permeated the cave. Wu Ming's soul perception clearly detected that a pig demon was lying in the cave, lazily resting.

This pig demon wasn't very big; it was much smaller than a normally raised pig, weighing only about a hundred pounds. But judging from its demonic aura, it was indeed a pig demon that had reached the second transformation level.

"Found it, I'll take care of it."

After glancing at the cave below, Yan Chuyu spoke a few words, then picked up her sword and leaped down, rushing directly into the cave.

Ow! ! !
A piercing scream suddenly rang out from inside the cave.

As Wu Ming leaped down from the tree, he saw Yan Chuyu carrying the boar demon's corpse out of the cave with one hand. She skillfully took out a special dagger from her body and dismembered the boar demon in a few quick movements, then started a fire on the spot.

Then, she walked into the forest and soon resumed her work, holding some unknown plants in her hand. She crushed them and sprinkled them on the pig demon's meat like seasoning, then put it on the fire to roast.

Seeing Yan Chuyu's skillful demeanor, Wu Ming shrugged and sat down beside her.

"Here."

Yan Chuyu processed the meat on the pig demon. After finishing, she swung her dagger and cut down several strange plants in the bushes next to her. She handed the dagger to Wu Ming and said, "If you can't find a water source, there's drinkable water in these things."

Wu Ming reached out and took a plant. It was a thick branch with very moist leaves. He squeezed it slightly, and water gushed out from the broken part. Yan Chuyu was already gulping it down.

After half a day, Wu Ming hadn't fought any monsters, but he had learned some survival skills in the wild from Yan Chuyu. He shook his head and chuckled to himself, then squeezed some water from the water plant in his hand and drank it.

After a while.

Yan Chuyu patted her slightly protruding belly, let out a soft burp, then got up and looked around at the surrounding area, saying, "We should be close to the Poison Valley. Let's take a stroll around the area later and see if we can get lucky and run into a Three-Transformation Great Demon. If not, we'll head northwest and cross the Poison Valley."

"it is good."

Wu Ming had no objection to Yan Chuyu's suggestion. He was quite good at searching for traces of demons in the city, but he was indeed less experienced than Yan Chuyu in searching for powerful demons in the wilderness.

After a short rest, the two set off again, heading north.

After traveling about ten miles...

Wu Ming frowned slightly and paused in his steps.

Although the surrounding air appeared unchanged, his soul perception was extremely keen, and he could feel that some toxins were entering his body with each breath. However, because he was a martial artist who had achieved blood clotting three times, his physique was strong and his blood energy was vigorous. These weak toxins could not have any effect on him. Basically, they were broken down and digested by his body as soon as they entered his body.

"You feel it?"

Yan Chuyu noticed Wu Ming's actions and looked over with slight surprise.

"Yes, the air here is starting to become toxic."

Wu Ming pondered for a moment before speaking.

Yan Chuyu said, "Your senses are quite sharp. We should still be five or six miles away from the Poison Valley. We don't need to worry about these minor toxins. With our bodies that have undergone three blood coagulations, we can easily withstand them. Just don't drink the water or eat the fruit around here. However, once we get into the Poison Valley, it won't be the same. Our bodies can only hold out for a quarter of an hour at most."

After all,

Yan Chuyu didn't stop and continued forward.

Wu Ming suppressed his discomfort and followed Yan Chuyu forward. After walking for a while, they finally arrived at the outside of the Poison Valley. Looking into the distance, they could see that the valley was filled with mist. Under the sunlight, the mist was colorful and gave people a feeling of extreme poison with just one glance.

Logically, such a place where highly poisonous substances gather should be a deathly still place, but in Wu Ming's perception, it was teeming with life. Not to mention the lush flowers and plants, even small beasts would occasionally emerge from among the branches and leaves. These were undoubtedly unique products that had adapted to the poisonous environment here, and were themselves extremely toxic.

(End of this chapter)