My strength increases by one percent every day; I can destroy stars with my bare hands.

Li Xuancang, accompanied by his parents, his eldest sister's family, and a group of servants, gathered thirty-one of his elite trusted soldiers and set off for Anzhou City to assume his new post.

All thirty-one soldiers were veterans who had fought alongside him to the death; they were loyal and highly skilled.

This accompaniment serves not only as protection but also as a core backbone for future command of a thousand elite soldiers.

He needed support to quickly take control of the army before he could take up his post in Anzhou.

The group traveled slowly in their carriages, with Li Xuancang personally guarding his family members' carriages, dressed in casual clothes.

He was on guard all around; in chaotic times, there was never any peace on the road.

It was late autumn, and the leaves on both sides of the official road were falling and the grass and trees were withered and yellow.

After traveling for only a few days, they found corpses scattered everywhere on the surrounding roads.

A large portion of them were ordinary people who had left Xuanyang City, but they never found a place to settle down and died on the road.

After traveling for another ten days, the group had left the territory of Xuanyang County, and the landscape became increasingly desolate.

White bones are exposed to the sky, and for a thousand miles there is not a rooster's crow.

The fleeing people along the way ate even the grass roots on the road, leaving large, barren areas everywhere.

After traveling for a while, we gradually saw some refugees fleeing along the road.

These people were emaciated and had sallow complexions; if they ran out of food, they would not be able to survive.

"Old man, hand over the grain now."

"Hand over the food, or I'll kill you."

"You all better behave yourselves, or my swords won't discriminate."

"..."

On the road ahead, dozens of menacing-looking people were robbing civilians with knives.

The people were looted clean, and even their clothes were stolen.

"Big brother, look! There's a fat sheep!"

As Li Xuancang's group slowly approached, the bandits' eyes lit up, and they stared intently at the large and small packages of supplies on the vehicle, unable to look away.

"Brothers, get ready to make your move."

The bandit leader was overjoyed, his eyes filled with greed. He blocked their path and was about to attack Li Xuancang and his men.

As the carriage drew closer, the bandits were able to get a clearer picture of the procession.

When they saw dozens of elite soldiers dressed in armor, carrying weapons, and fully armed, they were terrified and trembled with fear.

"Bang!"

Some people collapsed to the ground, their bodies trembling and unresponsive.

"Yes, yes, it's war...warrior..."

When the crowd recognized Li Xuancang and his group, some people were so frightened that they lost control of their bladders and their souls nearly left their bodies.

Not long ago they were just ordinary people, but now they have become outlaws and can only bully ordinary people. They wouldn't dare to rob soldiers even if they had ten times the courage.

"Run!"

The bandit leader shouted and turned to flee, not daring to be greedy in the slightest.

"Sir, should we deal with them?"

Nangong Zhan approached Li Xuancang and respectfully asked for instructions.

With the help of the pills bestowed by Li Xuancang and the corpse of the tiger demon, all thirty-one people reached the Body Tempering Realm.

Nangong Zhan, Wang Xiaoniu, Yang Tiangang, and Su Hai were all at the late stage of the Body Tempering Realm, so dealing with these reckless bandits was effortless for them.

"Ignore it and keep going."

Li Xuancang did not want to cause any more trouble, so he wanted to get to Anzhou Prefecture as soon as possible, settle his family, and then go to the military camp to report back.

Upon seeing Li Xuancang and his group, the once spacious dirt road was quickly filled with a continuous stream of refugees.

As far as the eye could see, there were only ragged, emaciated refugees.

They helped the old and carried the young, their steps faltering, each face etched with despair and exhaustion, their cheeks smeared with dust and tears, even their wails sounding weak and feeble.

The densely packed people, as if seeing their only hope, struggled to kneel down on both sides of the road, forming a dark mass of kneeling people, kowtowing incessantly to Li Xuancang's troops.

"General, please have mercy and give us some food!"

"Help us, we haven't eaten in ages!"

"Please have pity on my child, he's going to starve to death if he doesn't eat!"

"..."

The sounds of pleas, sobs, and cries mingled together, making one's heart clench.

Their homes were burned down by barbarian demons, their food was looted, and they wandered from place to place, starving to death everywhere. By the time they got here, they were already exhausted.

The procession was forced to stop. Li Xuancang signaled his personal guards to protect his family, dismounted, and looked at the group of dying people in front of him with a deep frown.

These people, old and young, had long since perished in the war, leaving only the elderly, women, and children struggling on the brink of life and death.

Soon, several women carrying children and hunched-over old people struggled to crawl to Li Xuancang's feet.

"Bang, bang bang bang..."

They kept kowtowing, their foreheads bleeding profusely, their voices hoarse, as they uttered the most cruel yet most helpless request.

"General, please have mercy and buy my child! He's only five years old; he'll only die if he stays with me."

"As long as you take him in, give him a bite to eat, and let him live, we're willing to do anything for him, we don't want a single penny."

"General, please take him away. Even if he has to be a servant or a handyman, as long as he can live, we will be grateful for your great kindness for the rest of our lives."

"..."

The child in their arms was so thin he was just skin and bones, his face was sallow, and he was sobbing weakly with his eyes closed, too weak even to cry.

These parents are not heartlessly abandoning their children, but are truly desperate.

In chaotic times, if you can't even survive yourself and have to watch your own flesh and blood starve to death in your arms, it's better to give the child to this well-off army with soldiers and guards.

Even if it means becoming a slave or a maid, it's still a way to survive.

Before Li Xuancang could speak, more and more people gathered around with their children in their arms, kneeling down and begging for a chance to save their children's lives.

They didn't want money or food; their only wish was for their child to survive.

"Please, General, take in my child."

"We ask for nothing else, we just want him to live."

"General, your kindness and virtue are beyond measure. In our next life, my wife and I will serve you like cattle or horses, and repay you with our kindness and virtue."

"..."

The heart-wrenching cries of pleas echoed along the official road, and the world was filled with desolation.

Looking at the desperate faces and the dying children before him, Li Xuancang clenched his fists slightly, his heart churning with indescribable bitterness and anger.

War breaks out everywhere, demons roam freely, and it is always these unarmed, law-abiding people who suffer.

Even protecting their own children has become a luxury.

The soldiers behind him also fell silent, unable to bear the sight of the carnage before them.

Sitting in the carriage, the Li family members heard the pleas outside and their eyes reddened, but they knew they were powerless in this chaotic world and could only sigh inwardly.

The people kneeling on both sides of the road continued to kowtow and plead.

Li Xuancang's team was the only hope they could grasp in their desperate situation, the only hope that allowed the children to survive.