Great Wilderness Demon Lord

The next morning, Xiao Yunlan went to the main courtyard to see Liu Shi and requested to enter the third floor of the family library.

The Xiao Family Library is a five-story independent building with an ironwood frame and a roof covered with blue tiles. It houses various books accumulated by the Xiao family over hundreds of years.

The first layer mainly contains ordinary books such as classics, histories, philosophical works, geographical records, and miscellaneous notes; the second layer contains basic cultivation methods and common techniques; the third layer contains more rare secret transmissions, unique copies, and even some records involving taboos.

As for the fourth and fifth floors, it is said that one needs to possess the family head's token or a joint edict from the elders to enter, and non-core disciples are not allowed to peek.

After hearing his request, Madam Liu did not ask any further questions. She pondered for a moment and then took out a small sandalwood plaque with an ancient character "Xiao" engraved on it, and a faint spiritual light flowing around its edges.

"With this warrant, you may enter the third floor for inspection, but you may not take any books out of the attic, nor may you damage or copy them. You must return the warrant before sunset."

"Thank you, Mother." Xiao Yunlan accepted the still slightly warm wooden plaque.

The third floor of the library was indeed quite different from the lower two floors. The space felt much deeper, with rows of tall ebony bookshelves reaching all the way to the ceiling.

The windows were set high and covered with thin gauze, so the indoor light was always in a hazy, yellowish state. The air was filled with the complex smell of old paper, dried ink, and a faint scent of insect repellent herbs. It was so quiet that you could hear your own breathing.

Xiao Yunlan had a clear goal. He first followed the simple classification labels on the bookshelf to find the area containing geographical anecdotes and frontier records. He then browsed through "A Study of the Great Wilderness" and "Reconstruction Notes," gaining a clearer understanding of the land he was about to set foot on: high risk, high reward.

Then, he stopped in front of a row of bookshelves labeled "Miscellaneous Streams," "Ancient Methods," and "Odd Tracks."

The books here were clearly rarely visited, and were covered in a thick layer of dust. In the darkest corner, he found several old books stacked together.

The top book had a cover made of some kind of dark yellow, tough leather, with the title "Military Secrets of the Military: Fragments" written in bold ink on the cover. He carefully took it down, brushed off the dust, and gently opened it by the light of the oil lamp fixed next to the bookshelf.

The paper was brittle and the ink was dark and dull. The opening read: "The way of the military is different from the way of the Dao and the martial. Its key lies in the 'general' and its root lies in the 'masses'. The general commands the army with his own will, uses secret methods to build the 'military spirit', tempers the blood and spirit of the soldiers, and gradually refines them, so that ordinary soldiers can be transformed into 'soldier of the Dao'."

When the Daoist soldiers are formed, their array possesses a spiritual essence, greatly increasing their power; the blood, energy, and spirit of the Daoist soldiers can also nourish the generals' cultivation, thus "using war to sustain war, and using soldiers to hone oneself."

Further on, most of the specific methods are incomplete, with only scattered terms and vague diagrams remaining: "Qi and Blood Resonance Technique", "Military Force Formation Method", "Essentials of Daoist Soldier Selection", "Diagram of Battle Formation Spirit Guidance"... Clearly, the core essence has been lost.

On the last blank page, someone left a note in contemporary script, the handwriting messy yet powerful: "In this age of declining Qi, resources are dwindling daily. It is difficult enough to support one person in seeking immortality, let alone spend millions to train soldiers. The decline of this path is not due to the fault of war, but rather to the changing times. It is lamentable."

Xiao Yunlan traced the words with his fingertips. Xiao Chongshan put it bluntly: in an era of increasingly scarce resources, it is far more cost-effective to concentrate resources on cultivating high-level cultivators than to invest in a large "Dao Soldier" legion with limited individual combat power.

Military strategy emphasizes the collective and warfare, which naturally relegates it to the margins in the eyes of aristocratic families who pursue personal transcendence and the long-term continuation of their lineage.

But he is different.

The eight demonic forces within him, especially the demonic thoughts of unparalleled courage, extreme passion, and strategic wisdom, excel precisely in command, cohesion, and strategy—the core qualities needed by top military strategists and generals. Moreover, the Great Wilderness he was about to venture into, while fraught with immense risks, also concealed untapped potential resources.

The moment this thought arose, the deep blue aura representing the Demon of Wisdom within his dantian suddenly blazed brightly. A cold, efficient, and almost ruthless torrent of thought instantly took over part of his thinking.

The fragments of information before him—the tattered text, Xiao Chongshan's annotations, his own Eight Demonic Characteristics, the unknowns and risks of the Great Wilderness—were forcibly seized, dismantled, and reassembled by this force.

A clear, almost cold, thread unfolded and connected in his consciousness.

The core of military strategy lies in building a bond of "military spirit" that connects all people, thereby resonating with the collective will and transforming ordinary soldiers into soldiers of the highest order.

Among the eight demons bound within him, one possesses exceptional courage and the ability to command and conquer, is extremely passionate and can unite people's hearts, and is skilled in strategy and planning—these are precisely the qualities required to master this path.

However, the decline of this path is not due to the lack of effectiveness of its methods, but rather to the increasingly scarce spiritual resources available in the world, which are already strained to support cultivators. How can there be any surplus to cultivate soldiers and Taoist warriors who cost a fortune?

Looking around, the only chance to break the deadlock may lie in that vast land known as the "Great Wilderness"—where untamed spiritual veins and unknown resources should be buried.

Because of the Eight Demons, his desire to seek and acquire these resources is far more intense and enduring than that of ordinary people.

In this light, possessing such unique gifts, a spirit of seeking change in desperate situations, and a clear goal, I am the most likely and motivated person to retrace this desolate ancient path.

As the deduction was completed, the deep blue halo slowly dimmed, and a strong sense of mental exhaustion swept over him. However, almost seamlessly, another dark and eerie thought rippled from the depths of his dantian—the Demon of Deception felt "hunger".

Doubts, like vines growing in the shadows, quietly entwine around my mind: Is this fragment of "Secret Essentials of Military Strategy" simply an unintentional loss of time, or a deliberate placement, that it finds its home in this dusty corner?

The annotations by Senior Xiao Chongshan, with their elegant style and logical reasoning, seem meticulous and appropriate, but... is it precisely because they are too appropriate that they reveal a hint of deliberate intent that is hard to describe?

Xiao Yunlan closed his eyes and concentrated, forcibly suppressing the surging doubts. He understood that this was the inevitable backlash from over-reliance on the Demonic Strategist's deductions.

It wasn't until the old servant guarding the pavilion came to remind him of the closing time that he carefully put the tattered scroll back in its place and then silently left this forgotten corner.

Back at Tingzhu Pavilion, he couldn't wait to recall the contents of the incomplete military manual in his mind once more. When the few incomplete lines of the "Qi and Blood Resonance Technique" and its operational diagram appeared, the valiant and demonic Huo Biaoyao within his dantian suddenly resonated strongly.

A blurry yet awe-inspiring image struck his consciousness: on an endless battlefield, amidst billowing smoke, a general whose face was obscured but whose imposing presence was palpable held aloft a tattered banner.

With a roar, a faint crimson aura rose from the bodies of countless soldiers behind him. This aura flowed like rivers into the sea, converging on the general and enveloping him in a chilling dark red light. He seemed to become one with the entire army, radiating an overwhelming "military power" that could crush everything!

The scene flashed by so quickly that it was impossible to catch the details.

But the feeling of connecting, resonating with, and amplifying individual will with collective power was deeply imprinted in Xiao Yunlan's perception. He tried to guide the wisp of spiritual energy in his body along a specific, somewhat strange path, following the incomplete diagram in his memory.

No extraordinary phenomena occurred immediately, and the spiritual energy flowing in the meridians did not show a significant increase.

However, the valiant and powerful Huo Biaoyao conveyed a much clearer emotional fluctuation of "interest" and "approval," and the red aura even flickered slightly.

Xiao Yunlan made up his mind. Theory alone is insufficient, especially when it comes to highly practical methods like military strategy. Perhaps true understanding and mastery can only be gained through actual practice, and even through real command and combat.

He decided to go to the Xiao family's martial arts training ground tomorrow.