I can push my cultivation progress to the end

"My surname is Gong, and my given name is Shuo Hong."

Gong Shuo Hong said in a calm voice, "I am a Silver Rank Commandant stationed at the Demon Subduing Division of Great Snow Peak in the Flood Dragon Mountains."

"Great Snow Peak? Is that the highest peak of the Flood Dragon Mountains, towering at eight thousand eight hundred and forty-eight zhang?"

Li Hai exclaimed, "Such a steep and extraordinary place actually has a Demon Subduing Division outpost. It's truly amazing… wait a minute."

He asked with a strange expression, "Great Snow Peak stands on the border of Great Jing, more than six thousand li away from this area of Zhoujia Fort. Commandant Gong, why would you run so far to this place?"

"Because these are the orders from headquarters."

Gong Shuo Hong smiled and said, "Hehe, from your words, I can tell that you probably don't know much about the distribution of the Demon Subduing Division outposts in the Flood Dragon Mountains area.

In fact, Great Snow Peak is the headquarters for all Demon Subduing Division outposts in the entire Flood Dragon Mountains region."

"Oh, I see. I really didn't know that."

Li Hai grinned, then said, "Then, Commandant Gong…"

"Brother Li, there's no need to be so formal."

Gong Shuo Hong said with a smile, "All of us Demon Subduing Commandants are one family, all brothers and sisters. I'm quite a bit older than you, so you can just call me Big Sister Gong."

"Big Sister Gong?" Li Hai said politely, "But you look like you're only in your twenties."

Then he smiled and said, "Big Sister Gong is a Silver Rank Commandant, but I'm just a mere Wood Rank. May I ask… does promotion require some kind of merit or achievement, such as slaying ghosts or something like that?"

"Don't worry, I think you'll be promoted very quickly."

Gong Shuo Hong said with a gentle smile, "The Demon Subduing Division never buries any talent. Ordinary people naturally need corresponding merits, such as slaying ghosts and evil spirits, but for a Thousand Army Realm martial artist as young as you, these rules probably don't apply."

Saying this, she looked at the tall and mighty Li Hai and said with some emotion:

"Alas~ An eighteen-year-old Thousand Army Realm martial artist. This has never happened before in Great Jing. Brother Li… your future will surely be limitless!"

Regarding Gong Shuo Hong's praise and her mistake in assuming that he was only at the Thousand Army Realm, Li Hai remained noncommittal and didn't explain much, only asking again:

"Big Sister Gong, did you come to this Yellow Springs Territory to investigate the situation here?"

"Not exactly."

Gong Shuo Hong explained, "I've already investigated everything that needed to be investigated in the past few days. Now, I'm just on routine patrol. I need to record the daily changes in this ghost territory and report them back up."

After speaking, she added, "But because you appeared, I don't need to patrol today. I… want to take you to see someone."

"Who?" Li Hai asked.

"Gai Fu, Commander Gai."

Gong Shuo Hong explained, "The entire Flood Dragon Mountains area, all the Demon Subduing Commandants, the Great Snow Peak headquarters, and all the Demon Subduing Division affairs are under his jurisdiction. He really wants to meet you."

"Okay, I can do that."

Li Hai didn't refuse, "I also want to meet this Commander Gai."

"Then… let's go."

Gong Shuo Hong smiled, then turned around to lead the way, "Follow me, I'll guide you."

"Huh?"

Li Hai asked in confusion, "So hasty? Are we going to Great Snow Peak now? This… Big Sister Gong, why don't you go patrol first? We can meet up later. I need to find some people in this Yellow Springs Territory, and after I find them, I'll go with you."

"Hahaha, Brother Li, you've misunderstood."

Gong Shuo Hong smiled and turned back around to explain, "We're not going to Great Snow Peak. Commander Gai isn't there right now either. He's already heading this way and should be arriving soon."

After speaking, she added again:

"After Lao Cha sent the message to headquarters, we decided to send personnel to investigate and deal with that suddenly appearing evil ground.

It was also a coincidence that as soon as the dispatched personnel arrived here, this place explosively manifested as the Yellow Springs Territory. Therefore, headquarters increased the number and intensity of personnel dispatched, and even Commander Gai came in person."

"Oh, I understand."

Li Hai suddenly understood, "That Commander Gai and the other Demon Subduing Commandants should be somewhere in this Yellow Springs Territory right now."

"No, it's outside this ghost territory, but not far away."

Gong Shuo Hong explained, "We've established a temporary stronghold there."

…

Twenty li away from the edge of the Zhoujia Fort Yellow Springs Territory, there stood a short mountain about a hundred zhang high.

Although it was called a mountain, its extremely flat and wide summit made it look more like a square stone platform from a distance.

Because this stone mountain had more rocks than soil and no grass grew, the Demon Subduing Division's temporary stronghold was established on the top of this peak.

Since it was temporary, this stronghold naturally didn't have any grand buildings. There were only large tents.

Therefore, after Li Hai followed Gong Shuo Hong out of the Yellow Springs Territory and rushed all the way to this Demon Subduing Division stronghold, he was welcomed into a spacious and tall giant tent that resembled a great hall.

However, although the tent was large, there weren't many people inside. Including Li Hai and Gong Shuo Hong, there were only five people.

But through Gong Shuo Hong's explanation, Li Hai learned that these few people, plus Gong, totaling four people, were already considered the high-level leaders of this Demon Subduing Division stronghold.

And like Gong, the other three were all Steel Tendons and Iron Bones Realm martial artists.

They were respectively called Zeng Ying, Pi Shangzhi, and Quan Xiangxun.

It was worth mentioning that among these three people, the Demon Subduing Commandant named Zeng Ying actually possessed a pair of… purely mechanical arms.

The overall structure of those metal arms was gorgeous and heavy, with fine scales covering the entire golden-red body, and the palms and fingers were sharp and pointed.

So, at first glance, it looked like a pair of dragon claws were inlaid on Zeng Ying's left and right shoulders.

When he first saw this person, Li Hai naturally assumed that the other party was only wearing two fully enclosed arm armor-type divine weapons.

But when Zeng Ying's personal interface was completely displayed in front of him, he realized that he was completely wrong.

His personal interface was—

Character Name: Zeng Ying

Level Rank: Orthodox Martial Arts → Steel Tendons and Iron Bones, Esoteric Arts → Soul Gathering and Spirit Focusing

Skills: 《Horizontal Iron Stone Body》 《Thirty-Six Styles Stele Breaking Palm》 《Nourishing Life and Calming Qi》 《Searching for Ghosts and Monsters》 《Yuan Breath Refining Yang Method》 《Heavenly Scorching Yang 引》 《Crimson Dragon Claw》

Entry Traits: 【Strengthen Soul Level 2】 【Brute Force Level 2】 【Inspiration Level 1】 【Absorb Yang Level 1】 【Concentrate Mind Level 2】 【Mana Level 1】 【Mechanical Level 2】

Strong Shards: None

Leaving aside these commonplace cultivation methods in Li Hai's eyes, what attracted his attention the most was Zeng Ying's last skill—the Crimson Dragon Claw.