My stats are higher than yours!!

If we put him on the main battlefield, he could probably turn the tide of the battle all by himself.

Just like the heroes of yesteryear.

...

Two months passed in the blink of an eye. Bai Shuodong continued to learn from the old village chief. During this time, he focused on the earth element and comprehended the earth attribute among the mountains.

However, the normal speed of comprehension was too slow, and Bai Shuodong, who had already developed this habit, could not accept such a slow pace of cultivation.

And so...

He then relied on absolute power to "swim" in the land beneath the mountains, and then buried himself alive, comprehending the earth element in the simplest, most straightforward, and most direct way. Although it was slightly dangerous, the speed of comprehension was indeed fast.

...

On the other side

The atmosphere and order of the imperial city have changed a lot. Compared to the initial barbarity, the princes and nobles are no longer unruly.

It wasn't because they were afraid of something going wrong in the kingdom in the future, but because they were afraid of being reported, then being falsely accused and having their property confiscated.

The fighting on the front lines is fierce, and the imperial treasury can't keep up. But the war must continue. If we want money, we have to find a way to get it from these nobles.

If a noble's son is found bullying someone, the next day someone will test the talent of the bullied person. If the talent meets the standard, then the noble's son will be guilty of suppressing genius and maliciously weakening the kingdom's strength.

Then, their property was confiscated and they were fined.

While the nobles found this disgusting, they could accept it. After all, the knife didn't cut them, so it didn't hurt. Punishing those people would also prevent them from spending large sums of money on military expenses.

With the war raging on the front lines of the kingdom, military expenses are a must. If it weren't for those noble scions causing their families to be raided, they would be the ones paying the money, which the profit-driven nobles would be very unwilling to do.

Therefore, faced with such strict laws, they would choose to keep a close eye on their own children, let those unruly nobles have their homes confiscated, and then send the money to the front lines, so that they wouldn't have to pay.

But even so...

The situation on the kingdom's front lines is still dire...

...

Demon

Inside the Demon King's Palace

On the grand hall, a demon general with two horns on his head and wearing heavy armor knelt down and said, "Reporting to the Demon King, our fifth wave of people has also been intercepted and killed. The last thing the six-eyed demon warriors sent was a mental message."

"Release it."

At the very top of the Demon King's Palace, the Demon King, who appeared somewhat thin, began to speak.

"Yes."

The demon general tapped his head with one hand, then used a special method to retrieve fragments of memory and project them back into existence.

The six-eyed demon lay prostrate on the ground, his eyes filled with terror and despair, and cried out, "There are strong ones! Humans have top-tier experts who are no less powerful than heroes! Do not be reckless! Do not... Ahhh!"

The image disappeared; he was burned to death by flames.

"..."

The Demon King lowered his head and pondered.

He had long anticipated the existence of top-tier experts within humanity, but to his surprise, the opponent's strength was no less than that of a hero.

However, this guy with such great strength is unwilling to appear on the main battlefield.

That's really interesting...

Was it because of the hero's death?

The Demon King suddenly laughed, a mocking laugh. In his eyes, those high-ranking officials of the human kingdoms were nothing but a bunch of pigs. Halfway through the war, they actually poisoned their own heroes. It was utterly foolish.

Now, their kingdom has hidden powerhouses who are willing to protect the country, but they are unwilling to go to the main battlefield. At most, they will only clean up internal spies.

Could it be that he's afraid of being poisoned by the nobles?

Are they afraid of being poisoned and thus afraid to go to the battlefield?

This is absolutely hilarious!

"Humanity's top leadership is extremely corrupt, with serious embezzlement of military funds. They do not value top geniuses and even actively stifle them. We have the advantage in waging a protracted war against them."

The Demon King smiled and continued, "Continue to slowly advance and apply pressure on the main battlefield, without inflicting too many casualties. Although we demons are not good at farming and logistics, we are more united than them. If we fight a protracted war, those humans will eventually be unable to hold on."

“We need to use a dull knife to slowly cut the meat. If we cut too fast, the kingdom will soon be in danger of being destroyed, and that person will most likely make a move, which will be very disadvantageous for us.”

"But if we slowly chip away at his flesh, we'll give him time to consider his next move. We'll take it one step at a time, and by the time he's had enough time to think it over, the human forces will have been worn down. By then, even if he wants to make a move, it will probably be too late."

"Devil King Shengming!"

"Yes, I've seen many strong individuals like him before. They won't even think of helping until the kingdom is truly destroyed, but when that time comes, their patriotism will make them bravely move forward."

The Demon King sighed and finally said, "I admire the heroes of the human race, but this is a war between races. There is no despicable in war, only winners and losers."

Chapter Forty-Nine: Royal Transformation!

Inside the cabin in the dense forest

Bai Shuodong sat in a chair, looking at the old village chief who was staring at the crystal ball with a silly grin, and asked with one hand supporting his chin, "Do you know how to use a spell without chanting?"

"No chanting? Isn't it common knowledge that you need to chant to use magic? How can there be magic that doesn't require chanting?"

The old village chief asked in confusion.

"..."

Bai Shuodong remained silent.

It seems this old guy doesn't know, but that's normal. After all, he's just a village chief who's seen a lot during the trial, so it's normal for his knowledge to be limited.

The mages he encountered in reality rarely chanted like he did. Those guys usually started casting spells with 0 frames per second, and their spellcasting efficiency was extremely high, often releasing more powerful spells with less energy.

Knowledge is the foundation of the Law Master, and computing power is his weapon.

Chanting spells doesn't actually mean understanding the spell; it just means knowing that doing so will allow you to release a fixed template of magic, making it difficult to adjust the spell's structure and specific power.

"Well..."

Bai Shuodong closed his eyes and pondered.

Looking at the psionic energy released from his hand, he thought to himself: You can use elemental power by releasing psionic energy directly without chanting, but the output efficiency will be lower, and this method is relatively low-level.

If only there were a way to master advanced psionic techniques.

[Hint: Your grand ambition—to purify the kingdom's atmosphere—has been fulfilled.]

[Courage +5]

"?"

Bai Shuodong was confused.

How come another grand ambition has been fulfilled? Can this kingdom still save itself like this?

Then he turned to the old village chief and asked, "Old man, how's the situation on the front lines of the Kingdom of Heckler? I remember it was not very optimistic before, right?"

"The demons are still advancing slowly, seemingly not wanting too many casualties. The truly top-tier experts haven't joined the fray yet. Although the frontline soldiers are fighting fiercely, they can hold out for a while."

The old village chief paused for a moment, then continued with a smile, "It's likely that the Demon King thinks they don't need to attack with all their might, and that if they fight for a while longer, the humans in those castles will run out of food, equipment, and military funds."

"So how is it now?"

"Well, it's quite optimistic. Because we were beaten so badly by the demons before, those nobles and nobles killed all the corrupt guys. Now no one dares to lay a finger on us, and our logistics are barely keeping up... I heard that the money was all confiscated from their homes." The old village chief couldn't help but laugh as he spoke.

"Don't the demons consider just breaking through?"

Bai Shuodong asked in confusion.

Although he possesses great strength, he does not consider protecting the kingdom. Even if the kingdom were destroyed the next day, he would not take action, because if the kingdom were gone, his grand ambition would never be fulfilled.

"Among the demons who infiltrated earlier, one of them sent your information back, letting the Demon King know that there was a powerful figure among the human race. As a result, the Demon King did not dare to act rashly and wanted to take advantage of the corruption within the human race to kill him."

The old village chief sighed, his expression quite complex, and continued, "Actually, the Demon King's idea is correct, because there have been top-level experts who were tricked to death by nobles in the past, and even heroes have been tricked to death."

"...Difficult to bear."

"So from the demons' perspective, they don't actually need to be greedy and reckless. As long as they develop steadily, humans will make stupid mistakes and stab themselves twice."

...

In the Demon Palace

The Demon King frowned slightly as he listened to the battle report from below, and said, "The human resistance is stronger than I imagined. They are like a pack of stray dogs driven to the brink of despair."

"Their soldiers are still able to hold on, and it's definitely not just because of their will and signals. Their supplies must have kept up. Under normal circumstances, those human leaders who are good at fighting among themselves would not be so united. Something must have happened behind the scenes, or there must be something I don't know about."

"..."

The Demon King closed his eyes and fell into deep thought.

Soon after, he opened his eyes and said, "Those high-ranking members of the human race may not know about that powerful figure. So in their eyes, they don't have any trump cards to turn the tide at critical moments, so they dare not fight among themselves and must fight desperately against our demon race."

"Once this is clear, what we need to do is to find a way to let those high-ranking humans know about his existence, but at the same time not let them know, creating a time gap and information gap."

"Humans are foolish creatures. Once they know they have a trump card that can turn the tide at a critical moment, they neglect the supply of the front lines and instead focus their attention on the strong. But the strong are unwilling to go to the battlefield, and in the end, they only needlessly deplete human strength."

"Goodbye, Demon King!"

...

Royal Palace

"What? We humans actually have hidden experts. No wonder, no wonder the demons dared not launch a full-scale attack. If that's the case..." The king's face showed a relieved smile, and he felt the heavy burden on his body disappear instantly.

"I advise you not to be too happy too soon."

"The minister with the gold-rimmed glasses said."

What do you mean?

The king frowned.

“Your Majesty, we poisoned the hero a year ago. The kingdom has been ravaged like this, yet he didn't lift a finger, or even let us know. Do you think he wouldn't know about this? If he knew, would he still want to go to the battlefield? If we send someone, can we persuade him? Even if we take a step back, do you know his exact location?”

"..."

The four soul-searching questions immediately brought back the pressure the king had just relieved, and the atmosphere in the hall became heavy again.

Such a powerful figure would most likely not be willing to make a move.

Then, the minister with gold-rimmed glasses continued, "Our previous actions have already disheartened a considerable number of powerful individuals. Haven't we encountered numerous setbacks before? One act of poisoning a hero directly cut off the support of countless powerful individuals, because they didn't want to become the next hero."

"Then what should we do? Our strength is no match for the demons! Even if we fight a protracted war, we can't win! Without a top-level expert to keep us in check, we simply can't win!" The king slammed his chair and roared in a fit of rage.

"Who said there are no checks and balances?"

The man with the gold-rimmed glasses smiled, pushed up his glasses, and said, "As long as that powerful figure is still in the kingdom, those demons will be wary and won't be able to break through us in one fell swoop. This is our opportunity."

"opportunity?"

“That’s right, the only chance! Our previous actions could only delay our demise. Now we need to continue to clean up our internal affairs and let time and reality speak for themselves. Let those powerful figures see the changes our leadership has made, so that they will dare to take action and stand up to fight for the kingdom.”

He turned around, looking at the group of people behind him, and said, "Right now, we still have a large funding gap at the front lines, so in the process of purifying the atmosphere, we need someone to make a contribution. Everyone understands that, right?"

The change has begun.

Chapter 50 The Last Birthday Gift

Two months later

The Kingdom of Heckler's power was reduced by one-fifth, and a major internal upheaval occurred.

Bai Shuodong is cultivating.

...

Six months later

The territory of the Kingdom of Heckler has shrunk to half its original size, its overall national strength has declined significantly, but its resistance has increased, and the overall quality and atmosphere of the army have quietly changed.

Bai Shuodong is still cultivating.

...

One year later