Chapter 4: Eagle Demon (Part 2)

Guo Shier glanced at her, slightly surprised, but kept his expression unchanged as he continued, “After finishing physical training at night, you’ll have ten days to absorb the blood talismans… By the way, how do you feel since switching to using blood talismans for training?” He deliberately changed the topic to avoid making Chen Hong too embarrassed.
Chen Bing said, “The effect is excellent. I’ve calculated carefully—it’s at least twice as effective as using ordinary talismans. Plus, after consuming a drop of the Great Earth Dragon’s essence blood, combined with the stimulation from the blood talismans, our bodies have become much stronger.”
Guo Shier nodded and said, “Our master once said that drop of essence blood can only be slowly absorbed over many years. Since you’re using blood talismans for training, you absorb it a bit faster. As for me, I still don’t know how long it will take to absorb it. Hehe, it’s the essence blood of a Great Earth Dragon, even a mutated one—I think its effects must be significant. Perhaps we won’t see the benefits until you advance to Talisman Warriors.”
Hong Shi couldn’t help but say, “I also feel that my body has become much stronger. We can now use some of the skills of Talisman Warriors.”
Guo Shier sighed, “Truly worthy of being crafted by our master. Hehe, I heard from our master that he plans to make new blood talismans using materials from the Great Earth Dragon—talismans of the Spirit Talisman level… You need to work harder. At least you need to advance to Talisman Warriors before I can use Spirit Talisman-level talismans for your training; otherwise, you won’t be able to handle it.”
Chen Hong also forgot her shyness and said, “Spirit Talisman-level talismans? I’ve heard from the elders that using such talismans for training can reduce the barriers to advancement, especially when moving from Talisman Warrior to Grand Talisman Warrior. These are the best high-level talismans. Shier, will the old man really give you such talismans?”
Huo Bao said, “Of course he will! Don’t you know how much the old man dotes on Shier?”
Chen Bing said, “Yes, Shier is really lucky. With the old man’s support, he faces no obstacles. Hehe, we’ve also benefited a lot from that.”
Huo Bao suddenly sighed and said, “It’s a pity we’re not good enough. Shier has already reached the level of a Spellcaster, while we still haven’t advanced to Talisman Warriors. We can’t help him, and I’m extremely anxious.”
Chen Hong nodded repeatedly and said, “Yes, yes, I’m anxious too…”
Hong Shi said with a bitter smile, “At least I can still boil water and cook, but I can’t do anything else.”

Guo Shier quickly said, “Why the rush? How old are you guys even? When the time comes, you’ll naturally be able to advance. Just keep up the training intensity and don’t slack off. It’s not hard to advance to a Symbol Warrior, let alone a Grand Symbol Warrior—I’m confident.”
The four of them looked at Guo Shier with strange expressions. Chen Bing sighed first, followed by Huo Bao, and then Chen Hong and Hong Shi both sighed at the same time. Guo Shier asked in confusion, “Hey, why are you all sighing? You all look so down!”
Huo Bao said, “Shier, you’re even younger than us…”
Guo Shier was instantly speechless. His tone had been similar to when he was an officer in his past life, somewhat like an elder speaking to a junior. Unfortunately, his current age and appearance made it seem strange.
The group fell quiet. Just then, faint sounds of fighting came from afar. Children have the sharpest ears, and since they were all professionals, they could hear clearly. Guo Shier exclaimed, “Did you hear that?”
Chen Hong stood up and said, “I heard it. It seems to be coming from that direction.”
Guo Shier also stood up and looked out from atop the green-stone platform. He saw a faint plume of dust rising in the sky, but it was too far away to see clearly.
“Everyone, on your horses!”
Qi Nanshan shouted loudly.
Guo Shier immediately urged his companions to mount their horses. There was no time to delay.
Qi Nanshan ordered, “Go!” Everyone spurred their horses down the mountain, racing toward the source of the dust.
Guo Shier was puzzled. He rode over to Luo Jie and asked, “Master, why are we going that way? Do we have to fight?”
Luo Jie replied, “That’s the camp where we’re going to rest. We must get there.”
Only then did Guo Shier understand that on the vast grasslands, they needed a camp to rest. Camping in the open field was extremely dangerous. As professionals, they weren’t afraid of wild animals, but their horses were not. They needed the protection of a camp. Losing their horses would mean spending a lot of time trying to leave the grasslands, which they couldn’t afford.
So they had to go and check. If the camp was attacked, they had to rush to rescue it—for their own sake. Qin Lang shouted, “Speed up, speed up!”
The warhorses galloped forward at full speed, their hooves creating a deafening noise. Even as they ran across the grasslands, they raised clouds of dust.

Riding a horse was tiring, but Guo Shier was fond of the feeling of galloping at full speed, especially among a large group of horses. That sense of speed always reminded him of his time in the army in his past life, as well as his comrades and friends who were no longer alive.

The horse group charged at full speed, and soon they saw dust rising in the distance and heard clear sounds of combat. Qi Nanshan shouted loudly, “Shier! Shier! Come here quickly!” Guo Shier rode forward, followed closely by Huo Bao and three others—his dedicated bodyguards. Despite their young age, they had to stick close to Guo Shier.

“Grandpa Nanshan, what’s the matter?” Guo Shier asked. Qi Nanshan replied, “You take command! Everyone will follow your orders, including your master and me!” Ever since Guo Shier showed leadership talent in the secret realm, he had gained the recognition of Luo Jie and Qi Nanshan, who believed his leadership skills were even better than theirs. That’s why Qi Nanshan suggested he lead the team. Luo Jie also said, “Shier, you take command!”

Qin Lang and Wu Qing, who were nearby, heard everything clearly. They stared at Qi Nanshan in disbelief. To let a child command everyone—were these two masters crazy? Their expressions changed, and their subordinates began to murmur. Luo Zhan shouted, “Shier, you take command! We’ll definitely follow your orders!” All the martial artists who followed Luo Jie had no objections. They had seen Guo Shier’s performance in the secret realm clearly—he was different from ordinary people and shouldn’t be treated as a child.

Guo Shier wasn’t modest either. He had been able to command a field regiment in his past life, a force of thousands. Surely he could handle a horse group of less than forty people? He said, “Alright! I’ll take command!”

“Everyone! Stop moving forward!” Qin Lang asked, “Why do we have to stop?” Guo Shier gave him a cold glance and said, “Why should I explain?” At that moment, he exuded an unparalleled aura—extreme confidence and calmness. Qin Lang instantly felt his breath catch. Terrified, he immediately ordered his subordinates to obey. Wu Qing was smarter and didn’t dare question him either; he also ordered his men to stop.

In fact, Guo Shier had doubts about the horse group’s movement from the start. So once he took command, he immediately stopped them from advancing. He said, “Uncle Qin Lang, take four people to scout ahead. I need to know what’s happening. Uncle Xiaofeng, take a few people to cover the rear. We’ll follow slowly.”

“Everyone, get your weapons ready. Leave a few people to guard the extra horses.”

Seeing that Qi Nanshan and Luo Jie had no objections, Qin Lang immediately led the four of them there quickly. Xiao Feng also followed with a few others. Guo Shier said loudly, “Uncle Xiao Feng, if a battle breaks out, don’t get entangled—return quickly!”
Xiao Feng replied loudly, “Yes!” He was clearly used to following Guo Shier’s commands.
Wu Qing watched coldly, shocked inwardly. Only then did he realize how much influence Guo Shier had within this group. He couldn’t understand how a child under ten could gain the recognition of these professional experts.
Soon, the sound of hurried horse hooves came from ahead. Guo Shier shouted, “Grandpa Nanshan, send reinforcements!” Then he added, “Master, get ready! Everyone, advance in battle groups!”
Qi Nanshan laughed loudly and spurred his horse forward.
Guo Shier rode over to Luo Jie and said, “Master, it’s time to act—there are many wild beasts coming!”
Luo Jie asked, “Strange? Where did so many wild beasts come from?”
At first, Wu Qing thought Guo Shier was overreacting, but moments later his expression changed as he shouted, “Get ready for battle! Get ready for battle!” He quickly released beast talismans, and more than a dozen wild beasts formed from beast souls appeared around him. Although beast sorcerers were powerful, they were very fragile.
“It’s a pack of mad lions! Mad lions!”
Guo Shier felt a slight tension in his heart. He knew what mad lions were. On the grasslands, mad lions were quite fierce beasts that usually roamed in groups, but rarely in numbers exceeding a hundred; usually, it was a dozen or a few dozen lions.
Guo Shier jumped up forcefully, stood on the horse’s back, and looked ahead. He was shocked to see that at least two hundred adult mad lions were chasing Qin Lang and the others. Qin Lang and his group fled desperately, barely escaping. Fortunately, with the support of Xiao Feng and the other talisman warriors, they might have been able to make it back otherwise.
Luo Jie asked, “Shier, how’s it going?”
Guo Shier replied, “It doesn’t look good, Master. I’m afraid we’ll have to flee again.”
Luo Jie said doubtfully, “A few hundred mad lions… we can handle them.”
Guo Shier shook his head and said, “We’ve already attracted over two hundred mad lions just at the outskirts. There must be even more wild beasts inside… I wonder who is being surrounded by these beasts and has managed to hold out this long. There must be a master-level person among them… Master, let’s just stay at the outskirts. If things get bad, we’ll retreat. There’s no need to fight to the death.”
Qi Nanshan suddenly leaped off his horse, not forgetting to say, “Take my horse away!”

Xiao Feng leaped off his warhorse and landed on Qi Nanshan’s warhorse. He sharply turned the horse’s head and spurred it backward. Qi Nanshan let out a roar, and as a bluish sword light flashed by, blood mist rose into the air.