Calamity of Tomorrow

Zhou Bai and Qian Wangsun crossed over two more mountain peaks when suddenly, Qian Wangsun's expression changed slightly. He noticed a significant increase in the heat residue in his vision, "There's a huge amount of heat residue here, so much. The Heavenly Demons used weapons in this area."

He squatted down to search and, with the aid of his Primordial Spirit's power, quickly found numerous deep impressions on the ground, as if a tremendous force had heavily slammed into the soil.

"Looks like these are the traces left by the recoil of Heavenly Demon shots," Qian Wangsun concluded, turning his gaze in another direction, "They were firing that way. Was someone fighting them?"

Zhou Bai watched cluelessly as Qian Wangsun searched for clues to pinpoint the enemy's position.

What he had learned at Dao School mostly consisted of direct combat skills; he knew far too little about these investigative techniques. At this moment, he couldn't help but feel grateful for bringing Qian Wangsun along, otherwise, he'd be aimlessly wandering the battlefield like a headless fly.

After traversing for barely more than ten seconds, they came upon a vast expanse of scorched earth, strewn with huge bomb craters, melted ground, and ash scattered throughout the air.

"The target of the bombardment was this place?" Qian Wangsun frowned as his Primordial Spirit's power radiated in all directions.

Zhou Bai asked curiously, "What are you doing?"

"Before we came, I collected some commonly used alloy materials from human magical artifacts, then had Xia Li help me analyze their different reactions to the Divine Light Eyes."

As Qian Wangsun spoke, his irises already emitted a rainbow glow, and wherever his Primordial Spirit power passed, flecks of light twinkled into existence, "This way I can use the Divine Light Eyes on the battlefield to find these metals, and through them, track down human traces."

The Divine Light Eyes were a Daoist technique essential for the second realm of the Gong Tu, differing only in focus.

The Divine Light Eyes allowed one to adjust their visual system via spiritual force, seeing things imperceptible to the naked eye, such as heat, scent, and various types of invisible light.

Currently, through Qian Wangsun's eyes, fragments of magical artifacts and weapons lay scattered about, evidence of a human attack.

Following the trail of metal remnants, they soon arrived at the edge of another cliff.

Looking at the bloodstains and broken weapons on the ground, Qian Wangsun said, "This was probably the second battlefield." He ran his hand over the marks, "They put up a fierce resistance, but there were just too many Heavenly Demons."

Qian Wangsun looked down at a large pooling bloodstain and frowned, "Someone was seriously wounded... or possibly killed."

Approaching a cluster of footprints, he scanned them with his Primordial Spirit power, the irises of his eyes subtly shifting, "The ones who remained were corralled together. They've been taken away. Are the Heavenly Demons overcoming their impulse to kill?"

Zhou Bai said, "I fear not all Heavenly Demons are capable of that. But why they are abducting humans is beyond me; let's keep looking."

As they continued on, Qian Wangsun quickly realized that the traces of other Heavenly Demons were becoming increasingly rare, as if their planned routes deliberately avoided this path.

When Zhou Bai and Qian Wangsun reached the crest of a cliff, they were greeted by a vast basin below. Within the basin, a village could be seen, with smoke rising in curls from it, seemingly still inhabited by living people.

Qian Wangsun squinted slightly, clearly making out villagers working from over a kilometer away.

He was surprised by the scene, "A human village operates normally, living and thriving in the rear of the Heavenly Demons' front line?"

"Where are the Heavenly Demons?" Qian Wangsun scanned around, but found no sign of them, "They should have come here. Why can't we see them?"

His gaze remained fixed on the village. For some reason, this ordinary-looking village conveyed a chilling sensation to Qian Wangsun, an intuition of malevolence emanating from it.

"Zhou Bai, this village gives me a very, very bad feeling. It's best we don't go in."

Zhou Bai nodded, "Let's go back and report what we've seen here; we can continue our mission to fight the Heavenly Demons."

So for the next few hours, Zhou Bai, with Qian Wangsun's assistance, fought against the Heavenly Demons, reaping destiny's fortunes.

...

Meanwhile, in West Mountain City, a city overseen by the Jijian Pavilion.

The Vice Principal of West Mountain Daoist School, Wang Shouxuan, frowned continually as he read through the reports coming in.

Looking towards Ying Hui, he said, "The squad that Qian Wangsun and Zhou Bai were part of has lost contact. Only one person came back."

Ying Hui's eyes widened in shock, "What happened?"

Wang Shouxuan spoke slowly, "Their squad was ambushed by Heavenly Demons. Zhou Bai drew them off while Qian Wangsun went after him. Because the squad leader Qin Tian was unaware of Zhou Bai's identity, he made the decision to retreat based on the situation at hand and returned to deliver the news.

However, they encountered Heavenly Demons pursuing them on the way back, and all but one were captured."

"Captured? Like at the other attacked strongholds?" Ying Hui furrowed his brow, "It seems the Heavenly Demons are perfecting their techniques to suppress their killing impulse. Are they capturing humans in this all-out assault on the northwest front? What do they want with these people?"

Wang Shouxuan said, "Let's set aside these questions for now. The real issue is Zhou Bai. Should I personally make a trip?"

Ying Hui asked, "Had Zhou Bai and Qian Wangsun split from the rest of the squad before they were captured?"

Wang Shouxuan nodded.

Ying Hui replied, "Then it's fine."

Wang Shouxuan stood up firmly, "What do you mean it's fine? Zhou Bai is trapped in the Heavenly Demon Battlefield. We need to get him out quickly. Each minute we waste, if full-scale war breaks out, even a genius like him could get caught in the middle."

Ying Hui's gaze was calm but held a strong presence of confidence as he looked at Wang Shouxuan, "Don't worry, he'll be fine."

"But..." Wang Shouxuan began, but upon meeting Ying Hui's serious and confident eyes, he realized the other was entirely at ease with the prospect of Zhou Bai being safe.

At the same time, Wang Shouxuan could vaguely sense a hint of sorrow hidden deep within Ying Hui's gaze, one that seemed imperceptible to others.

...

As Zhou Bai and Qian Wangsun fought the Heavenly Demons, they noticed a distinct characteristic: the area within ten kilometers of the village seemed to have become a no-go zone for the Heavenly Demons.

Apart from those who kidnapped humans, other Heavenly Demons completely refrained from entering this ten-kilometer radius, even going out of their way to bypass it.