Bengtie: My death fueled their madness.

After breakfast, there was a knock on the door.

"Please come in."

A figure also dressed in Cloud Cavalry armor entered from outside and then bowed to Qi Zhimu.

"Your subordinate Mianxue greets Lord Zhimu."

"You don't need to go through these formalities with me in private."

Qi Zhimu waved his hand casually, looked at Mianxue for a moment, and sighed softly in his heart.

After the battle of Cangcheng, she changed a lot.

"How is Qinghan doing now?"

"The Dan Ding Division said... she probably won't be able to go to the front lines anymore..."

Qi Zhimu remained silent.

During the search for and evacuation of the survivors of Cangcheng, Qinghan, in an attempt to save two trapped children, had her legs devoured by the flesh and blood of Luo Hou, leaving her with no choice but to amputate her limbs to survive.

Its flesh and blood possess characteristics similar to a plague, capable of rapidly eroding, dissolving, and assimilating the bodies of immortal beings.

In short, he survived, but was left with long-term health problems.

"My younger sister's newly grown legs are not as flexible as before, and she sometimes moves a beat too slow... It's hard for her to fight on the ever-changing battlefield."

"Lord Siding said that if we persist with rehabilitation, there might be a possibility of recovery, but it's best not to have too high expectations."

When talking about her only relative, Mianxue's mood inevitably became low.

Qi Zhimu remained silent for a moment, then said, "If I return from this expedition, I will examine Qinghan."

"Does the adult know medicine?"

"Um."

"Then Mianxue thanks Lord Zhimu in advance!"

"We're all from Cangcheng, no need for further words... I'll leave her to you."

Qi Zhimu gestured to Jingliu, who was somewhat reserved beside him, and then picked up the helmet from the table and put it on.

"Please rest assured, my lord." Mianxue solemnly agreed, then turned her gaze to Jingliu: "Miss Jingliu, let's go, I will take you to the Cloud Cavalry Training Camp."

"Master, I wish you a triumphant return!" Jing Liu's crimson eyes reflected Qi Zhimu's figure.

Qi Zhimu nodded slightly, but did not make any promises.

The three boarded different starships and headed in different directions.

Jing Liu sat in the cabin, staring intently through the porthole at the starship carrying Qi Zhimu, until it turned into a black dot and disappeared completely, without ever looking away.

Those scenes deeply etched in my memory surged up once again.

The demonic star dyed the sky crimson, and flesh and blood devoured the earth and countless others, bringing wails and desolation.

But now she's less afraid of that ominous star and more afraid of losing it...

Now she has nothing left but her master...

The master was not gentle; he was so strict during training that he was almost inhuman.

But she understood that it was all so that she could survive and become stronger.

I will absolutely keep my promise.

But Master didn't make any promises just now.

He didn't even say "I will definitely come back"...

That's right. The word "must" is too heavy; perhaps even a general wouldn't be able to say it easily.

That was too much for her to ask for.

After switching to the military route and letting the automatic cruise control take over the driving, Mianxue noticed Jingliu's low spirits.

"Too few people survived in Cangcheng... Everyone lost their homes."

"Whether it is Lord Zhimu or us Cloud Cavalry, we all harbor an inextinguishable fire of hatred in our hearts."

"By being tempered by this flame, I will not allow myself to die easily before I have hunted down all the monstrous creatures."

"I believe in Lord Zhimu, and I believe in your master, Lady Jingliu."

Jingliu was silent for a while, then finally asked in a low voice the question she had always been afraid to ask:

"Senior Mianxue, how many people from Cangcheng survived in the end?"

"..."

Mianxue remained silent for a long time.

The starship pierced through the clouds, and the howling wind whistled through the portholes.

After a long pause, she spoke.

"Nearly 20 million, of whom nearly 40% have shown symptoms of demonic possession, and the number is still rising and has not slowed down. Every day, a large number of people fall into demonic possession."

"The youngest person is only 426 years old..."

It should be noted that even the retired Cloud Riders, whose speed is even faster than that of the Demon Yin, only gradually increase their risks after they reach the age of five hundred.

But the 426-year-old survivor was just an ordinary person.

"Where is the Cloud Cavalry?" Jingliu continued to ask.

"Less than a million Cloud Cavalry of Cangcheng survived, and to date, 43 have completely fallen into the demonic realm... and the Cloud Cavalry's elite guards..."

At this point, Mianxue couldn't help but take a deep breath.

"Only ten members of the Valiant Guard survived. Of those still serving, only your master, Lord Qi Zhimu, and Lord Mo Tingquan remain. The rest have all fallen into demonic possession."

The fall of Cangcheng was not only an unprecedented blow to everyone, but perhaps also the last of its kind.

Too many people are unable to recover from the fear of that day, and the intense mental stimulation they experience is the most direct factor that triggers the premature arrival of the demonic forces.

Among the surviving guards, Mo Tingquan, who was less than 400 years old, showed no signs of impending doom.

And Qi Zhimu...

After a period of observation, he was confirmed to be at no risk of falling into demonic possession.

At his age, he could have retired from the military and chosen to spend the rest of his life on another ship.

But everyone knows that this is absolutely impossible.

Many of the Cloud Riders who survived that catastrophe never considered retreating until their demise.

The fire of hatred for the abundant evil can only be extinguished by constantly watering it with blood until the evil is killed in battle or completely destroyed.

Upon hearing this, Jingliu's crimson pupils were clouded with shadows.

Despite her young age, she understood just how cruel those numbers were.

"How can we completely kill Fengrao...?" she seemed to be asking Mianxue, but also seemed to be asking herself.

"I don't know..." Mianxue smiled bitterly.

To completely destroy abundance?

For millennia, the Emperor Bow Master has relentlessly hunted down the God of Abundance, yet those life-stealing creatures continue to breed and spread throughout the universe.

No one can answer this question.

"The hunting arrow, despite its best efforts, could only sever that crimson star, sever that fleeting moment..."

"The investigation revealed that the crimson star was the ancient dead star Rahu, which was suddenly brought to life by abundant power."

"No one can be sure whether he really died in an instant..."

"If that immortal abomination were to return in a few hundred years, who knows if it would bring an even more terrifying living star."

"What we can do before that day comes..."

"—Only by embarking on a journey, endlessly hunting down abundant creatures, is that right?" Jingliu suddenly interrupted her.

"Yes." Mianxue nodded.

The star raft soared through the sky, passed through the boundary gate, and arrived at the cave heaven where non-military star rafts were prohibited from passing.

We've arrived at the Cloud Rider Training Camp.

A faint, chilling aura permeated the air, brought by the retired Cloud Riders who had fought valiantly on the battlefield, faced countless life-or-death situations, and slain countless monstrous creatures.

They stayed in the military camp to train young men, constantly replenishing the Yunqi with fresh blood.

Feeling this atmosphere, Jingliu looked up at the sky through the star raft, and everything in his sight turned crimson, turning into a familiar nightmare.

Facing her nightmares, she made a vow.

—If that star ever returns, she will surely cut it down.

Her parents had already been devoured by Rahu, and she couldn't bear to see her master suffer the same fate...

Absolutely not!