The next morning, Evan Chu put on an ordinary soldier’s uniform and disguised himself with a simple face change, blending in with the common ranks. Immersed among these soldiers, he felt once again the impact of war on their hearts—every one of them carried a mindset of facing death head-on, determined to give their all for the peace of the Immortal Realm.
The armies of the Immortal Realm and Demonic Realm were packed densely across the boundless grasslands. Suddenly, the sound of war drums thundered from the Demonic side, shaking the heavens and rousing the morale of their troops.
"Kill!" At the command, two million Demonic soldiers at the front surged toward the Immortal army. In an instant, the battlefield erupted with deafening roars, and dozens of powerful experts from both sides gathered overhead, watching over the clash.
These were the powerhouses commanding the battle. On the Immortal side stood the Emerald Immortal Empress Jade, Nolan Nangong, Jade Qin, Fairy Lynn, Yvonne Xuan, and others. The Demonic side was led by the Yin–Yang Demon Empress, Zane Zuo, and dozens of late-stage Demon Emperors and demigod-tier experts.
In most wars, it’s the soldiers who fight first; only at the very end do the commanding generals clash. That’s because these commanders are terrifyingly strong—one move from them could wipe out tens of thousands, even hundreds of thousands.
Both sides can’t afford such losses, so unless it’s absolutely necessary, the commanders won’t fight directly. If either side is heavily wounded, the consequences are dire. That’s why, in the early stages of a great battle, things are relatively safe—except for the immortal-beast war Evan Chu once led, which was a rare exception.
Back then, he subdued the immortal-beast army by sheer force, and most importantly, made the Golden Dragon King submit. But that trick wouldn’t work here—if the Demonic Realm sent just two demigod-tier experts, they could slaughter hundreds of thousands, even more, of Immortal soldiers. The war would instantly turn from a clash of armies to a genocidal massacre.
At this moment, Evan Chu drew the Frostbane Sword and charged into battle alongside the Immortal Realm’s ordinary soldiers. His true strength was overwhelming, but he couldn’t afford to reveal it fully, so he only used Tyrant Cleave—the first form of his sword art. Even so, a single Tyrant Cleave could still kill dozens of Demonic soldiers at once.
The appearance of the Demonic soldiers was an eye-opener for Evan Chu: minotaurs, pig-headed humanoids, monsters with three arms or four eyes—there was no end to the bizarre forms. And these Demonic monsters were generally much stronger than the Immortal soldiers. In this first clash, the Immortal troops were slaughtered without any chance to fight back.
Only the soldiers near Evan Chu were safe. With his protection, they grew bolder and fought harder, quickly carving out a bloody path straight into the heart of the Demonic army.
By this point, Evan Chu stopped holding back. Again and again, he unleashed Soul Rend, grievously wounding Demonic soldiers and letting Immortal soldiers finish them off. Everywhere he passed, rivers of blood flowed.
Seeing the blood-soaked battlefield, Evan thought of Shadow. If he let Shadow loose now, the Demonic army would be routed in moments. But he held back—he needed to draw the Demonic commander’s attention slowly, not all at once.
The immortal-beast army now revealed its true might, battling the Demonic soldiers with ferocious intensity. Many transformed into their beast forms, roaring and slaughtering, sending Immortal morale soaring.
These two million Demonic soldiers were nothing but cannon fodder—even if every last one died, the Yin–Yang Demon Empress wouldn’t bat an eye. But Evan’s standout performance did catch her attention.
“Who is that? Since the battle began, he’s killed nearly ten thousand of my Demonic soldiers. His attack isn’t all that strong, but his defense is terrifying—he hasn’t been injured at all,” said the Yin–Yang Demon Empress.
“He’s probably an Immortal ten-thousand-man commander—early Immortal Lord strength. It’s surprising he’s fought this far without injury. Should I go kill him?” Zane Zuo asked.
“No need to use a bull knife to kill a chicken. Just send a Demon Emperor. I want to see if this Immortal commander is any match for our Demonic ten-thousand-man commander,” replied the Yin–Yang Demon Empress.
“I’ll send a ten-thousand-man commander to kill him. In our two-million-strong Demonic army, there are only ten ten-thousand-man commanders. The Immortal Realm would never expect this. Once these two million cannon fodder die, our true main force will take the field. The Immortal army will collapse,” said Zane Zuo.
With that, Zane Zuo flashed into the rear ranks and spoke briefly to a three-meter-tall minotaur with twin horns, then left.
The minotaur instantly shot into the air, landing among the Demonic soldiers Evan had been slaughtering. Evan knew exactly why he was here and smiled inwardly: Looks like I’ve caught their attention. I’ll have to toy with this minotaur—if I kill him too fast, it’ll look suspicious.
Within a few breaths, the minotaur reached Evan. By now, there were no Demonic soldiers within several meters of Evan—either they’d been frightened off by his ferocity, or he’d already slain them.
“Kid, you’re strong—killed so many of my Demonic soldiers. You’re dead today!” the minotaur snarled at Evan.
Evan glanced at the three-meter-tall minotaur. The brute wielded a massive wolf-tooth mace, over five meters long and weighing thousands of pounds. Evan thought, The Demonic Realm’s people really are monsters—no point judging them by normal standards.
“Maybe this time Linfeng can attract the Yin–Yang Demon Empress’s attention. This minotaur must be a Demonic ten-thousand-man commander, sent because Evan killed too many Demonic soldiers. Hopefully he won’t kill the minotaur too quickly, or he’ll arouse suspicion,” Nolan Nangong said.
“Don’t worry, Linfeng’s better at this than anyone. If he wants to fool someone, they’ll never suspect a thing. I know him too well—let’s just enjoy the show! Looks like the first round is almost over; both sides have lost more than half their troops,” Yvonne Xuan said.
“Probably another hour to go. Let’s see how Linfeng deals with the minotaur!” Nolan Nangong laughed, and everyone turned to watch Evan on the battlefield.
Evan grinned and said, “Minotaur, you’re not just an ordinary soldier, are you? Did your Demonic commander send a real expert because I killed so many? If so, they should’ve sent someone stronger. You’re just a weakling—I’m bored fighting you.”
The minotaur was furious at Evan’s words. He swung his enormous wolf-tooth mace at Evan with tremendous force, shaking the space around them. Evan deliberately leaned forward and slashed out with a sword that had almost no power—he wanted to be knocked away and look weaker.