"My lord, Tutian went out and was shot down by the people from Beihua Prefecture with a strange weapon."

The Little Cat Demon rushed into Han Min’s tent.

The Tutian it mentioned was a Demon born from a Crow Spirit and a human. Every morning, its figure could be seen flying out over the city walls.

But this time, Tutian had barely flown out of the Demon Stronghold before he was killed by a group of people wielding weapons they had never seen before.

Han Min frowned, a bad feeling rising in her heart.

She immediately rose and went to the top of the Demon Stronghold’s wall. When she got a clear look at the strange wooden staves in the hands of the people below, her eyes blazed with fury.

Firearms...

She certainly remembered these strange weapons, because she had suffered a considerable loss at their hands before.

The Crow Spirit Demon, Tutian, was shot down by the firearms and fell at the foot of the wall, writhing in agony.

A familiar young man walked up to Tutian, drew the long saber from his back, and lopped off Tutian’s head with a single strike.

"Surrender and come out of the city, and you will not be killed!"

Bai Yuan’s resonant shout was heard clearly throughout the entire Demon Stronghold.

Instantly, monstrous cries rose from all corners of the Demon Stronghold.

That human was simply too arrogant!

These Demons were all wild and untamable. How could they tolerate such humiliation? They immediately clamored to charge out of the city and kill that arrogant human.

Han Min glanced at the Demons in the stronghold, her expression icy.

A wave of disgust rose in her heart.

’Fools...’

If she hadn’t built this Demon Stronghold, most of these Demons would have long been wiped out by the Beihua Prefecture Magistrate’s Office. They would never have grown to their current strength.

Although these Demons from the Northern Plains had inherited human intelligence, the wild nature of monsters still dominated their instincts. Otherwise, they wouldn’t have been locked in a stalemate with Xuan Yang in the Northern Territory for so long.

’Demons truly are foolish creatures.’

As the former Soul Chasing Tower Lord, she hated brainless idiots more than anything.

These Demons only knew how to fight and kill; they were hopelessly stupid.

...

The Demons of the stronghold all thought this siege was no different from the previous encirclements organized by Beihua Prefecture. They believed that, in the end, they would drive the humans off Master Ridge.

But gradually, they discovered the difference.

This time, the humans had become incredibly cunning. They used a weapon never seen before to seal off the only road down the mountain, and even avian monsters couldn’t escape being shot down.

What was even more hateful was that human man. It was as if he had a special fetish—he personally slaughtered every single monster that left the city.

The Demons in the stronghold gradually realized that the humans were clearly trying to besiege them to death within the city!

"I told you this place was a cage built of stone!"

"Let’s charge out and tear those detestable humans to pieces!"

"Kill!"

...

Furious roars echoed through the Demon Stronghold, but Han Min remained silent, coldly watching everything unfold in the city.

She had been the one to establish this Demon Stronghold with an iron fist. At the time, many Demons were defiant, but after witnessing the stronghold’s power, the voices of opposition dwindled.

Now that the stronghold had become a cage, the dissenters naturally resurfaced.

’Fools!’

For the first time, Han Min felt an unprecedented rage.

If not for her status, she would have been tempted to slaughter this city full of trash herself.

"Anyone who tries to leave the city will be killed!"

Han Min spoke slowly. Her voice wasn’t loud, yet it silenced all the arguments.

A wolf-headed man was about to speak when a dagger, sharp to the extreme, slit his throat.

"Guh..."

The wolf-headed man stared unwillingly at Han Min, whose face was a mask of frost.

The once-raucous Demon Stronghold fell instantly silent.

Han Min said, "This is the fate of those who oppose me."

’I’ve been too good to these Demons,’ she thought. ’So good that they’ve forgotten I came from the Soul-Chasing Tower—that I am its Lord.’

Slaughter was her true nature.

She knew exactly what a siege meant. It was a contest of wills.

Only the most ruthless would survive to the end.

Most of the time, a besieged city would eventually become a place more terrifying than Purgatory. It seemed the term "two-legged sheep" had first been coined in a city that was under siege for ten years.

...

「Longgang Prefecture.」

"A siege?"

Li Ming stared in astonishment at the battle report in his hands.

Bai Yuan and Li Huan had besieged that Demon Stronghold in Beihua Prefecture for a whole month straight, and they showed no signs of giving up.

He didn’t even have to think about it; this was definitely the idea of that new Demon-slaying Guard General of Ling Province.

Longgang bordered Beihua, so he naturally knew of the Demon Stronghold’s existence in Beihua Prefecture.

He knew that if the Demon Stronghold had appeared in his own territory, he would have been just as powerless.

That’s why he had been watching to see how Li Huan and Bai Yuan would break the stalemate.

The corners of his mouth turned up slightly. ’This new General is rather interesting. I’d like to see how this troublesome siege of his ends.’

"Continue scouting."

He waved a hand at the subordinate before him.

If Bai Yuan really could break the Demon Stronghold, he would try to befriend him again, even though he had been rejected once before.

He firmly believed he could offer anything Li Huan could.

...

「Three months into the siege.」

The Demons’ patience was even worse than Bai Yuan had expected. During this time, more and more of them tried to force their way out of the city.

Bai Yuan, of course, mercilessly turned those Demons into enhancement points.

He was thoroughly enjoying this life where he could just step outside and slay Demons.

Li Huan asked, "Younger Brother Bai, how much longer do you think it will take to breach this Demon Stronghold?"

After three months of siege, he was also starting to lose his resolve. To be precise, his wallet was more than half empty.

The soldiers Li Huan brought from Beihua Prefecture, plus Bai Yuan’s Firearms Team—all of them were Martial Artists, and they cost a massive amount of silver every day.

The monsters in the Demon Stronghold were suffering, but Li Huan wasn’t having an easy time either.

To put it bluntly, a siege was a two-base-versus-one-base strategy. It was a victory bought with silver, a competition of willpower between both sides.

Bai Yuan shook his head.

How could he know where the Demon Stronghold’s breaking point was?

But he wasn’t worried. He wasn’t the one footing the bill, and he was gaining a steady stream of enhancement points every day. He had no reason to dislike such a perfect monster-grinding spot.

Li Huan sighed softly, but then his eyes became resolute once more.

He had relied on more than just martial strength to stand out among the many heirs of the King of Qingzhou.

’If we’re going to fight, we’ll fight to the bitter end!’

Even if it bankrupted him, he would conquer this Demon Stronghold.

...

"My lord, the demons in the stronghold have started eating each other."

The Little Cat Demon looked at Han Min, its face full of panic.

It could still remember the greedy expressions on those Demons’ faces. If it weren’t one of Han Min’s subordinates, it would have likely ended up in the belly of some powerful demon long ago.

Han Min replied, "I know."

Demons possessed the advantages of both monsters and humans, so their ability to resist hunger far surpassed that of ordinary Martial Artists. Going two months without food or water wasn’t an issue.

But eventually, they still had to eat, or they would starve to death just the same.

The Demons of the Northern Plains lived a nomadic life, following water sources, and had no habit of storing grain. Therefore, besides the food Han Min had stockpiled, the Demon Stronghold had almost no surplus.

Now that the surplus was gone, it was only natural for the demons to start eating each other.

Demons had no morality to speak of; things like eating other demons were commonplace.

Seeing Han Min’s indifferent expression, the Little Cat Demon wanted to say more but hesitated.

In the end, considering the brutal methods of the human woman before it, it retreated from the tent.

After the Little Cat Demon left, Han Min was the only one left in the tent.

She sat quietly on a wooden chair. The tent wasn’t soundproof, and the chaotic sounds of fighting from within the stronghold were incessant.

"It’s about time."

A faint smile touched Han Min’s lips, but her eyes were filled with killing intent.

She had never moved to suppress the rebellion in the stronghold because she had no intention of defending it in the first place.

She had only established the Demon Stronghold as a convenient place to recuperate. If it fell, it fell. At worst, she could just hide deep in the mountains like the demons in several other prefectures.

Her real target was that young General with his strange methods.

She had, of course, long since heard of Bai Yuan’s achievements in Ling Province. If she could deliver Bai Yuan’s head to Kuaidong, the merit would be far greater than defending Beihua Prefecture.

Although her injuries had not yet fully healed, Bai Yuan didn’t know she was in the city. The tables had turned; she was the one lurking in the shadows now.

As an Assassin from the Soul-Chasing Tower, assassination was her specialty, and killing a stronger opponent from a weaker position was second nature to her.

Bai Yuan was largely to thank for her being demoted to Beihua Prefecture.

Three months was long enough for a person to let their guard down. Now was the perfect time to strike and kill Bai Yuan.

She changed into a form-fitting set of Night Clothes, revealing her perfect figure.

She hadn’t worn them in a long time, not since becoming the Soul Chasing Tower Lord, which showed just how seriously she was taking Bai Yuan.

The night deepened.

Han Min slipped out of the Demon Stronghold without a sound, leaving the tent empty.

She left behind only a city of chaos and bloodshed.

...

"It should be about time."

Li Huan and Bai Yuan stood at the edge of the mountain forest.

All the trees in front of the Demon Stronghold had been cleared, leaving a large, barren patch of land.

This was done, of course, to prevent any monsters fleeing the city from using the forest as cover. Now, the field of vision was wide open for a li in front of the stronghold. Any monster that emerged would be shot on sight.

These past few days, the sounds of fighting from within the Demon Stronghold were so loud that even people outside the city could hear them.

The Demons had grown increasingly volatile. The fall of the city was imminent.

Bai Yuan glanced at the Demon Stronghold, then turned and headed back to his own tent.

He sat cross-legged on his cot and looked at his panel.

[Name: Bai Yuan]

[Class: Demon Hunter, Sword Ghost, Boxer, Spirit Cooker, Skin Painter]

[Skills: Chaotic Blood Hidden Tiger Saber (Beginner), Toad Poison (Master), Ten Thousand Poison Hand (Master), Thousand Shadows Poison Technique (Legendary), Demon Find (Legendary), Demon Qi Lure (Legendary), Thousand Faces Technique (Legendary)...]

[Enhancement Points: 0]

’Fueling war with war is truly the fastest way to get stronger.’

He had killed many of the Demons who had escaped the stronghold during this time.

Upgrading his Thousand Shadows Poison Technique to the Legendary level would have originally taken some time, but his progress had been greatly accelerated.

With divine poison skills like Toad Poison and Ten Thousand Poison Hand, combined with a Legendary-level poison, the destructive power was unimaginable.

He had originally considered using his poison techniques to kill all the Demons in the city at once, but that would cause too much of a stir, and his reputation would be utterly ruined.

At his current level, a good reputation was still very useful.

’Using poison is fine, but not too many people can know about it.’

It was the same principle as those great figures who publicly forbade evil techniques while secretly cultivating them.

Once a person reached a certain level, they all pursued a good reputation.

It was nothing more than a desire to exchange a good reputation for even greater benefits.