The newcomer was none other than Wang Xing'an.
He was the Deputy Commander of Xuanwu Fortress and the supervisor of the armory.
Although Shen Mo was now powerful enough not to need personal protection, Wang Xing'an had still requested permission from Zhang Longxiang to stay by Shen Mo's side.
Wherever Shen Mo went, he followed.
For the past few years, almost all important matters had been reported to Shen Mo by Wang Xing'an.
"Something's happened?" Shen Mo raised an eyebrow.
Wang Xing'an nodded. "Something has indeed happened. Some Demon Suppression Guards discovered that a nearby demon settlement has vanished."
"And it disappeared without a trace, overnight."
Shen Mo frowned.
A demon settlement vanished?
Wang Xing'an lowered his voice. "I suspect the demons sacrificed these settlements to revive a limb of the Demon Emperor."
"Remember last time, when they tried to revive the Demon Emperor's left hand, didn't they plunder countless lives?"
"Among those sacrificed were even humans, monsters, and flood dragon clans under the fortress's protection."
Shen Mo nodded slightly.
Back at the ancient altar, he'd seen many corpses around the blood pool.
Some of them were even demons.
In order to revive the Immortal Demon Emperor's limbs, the Great Demon Lords would do anything.
In their eyes, low-blooded lesser demons weren't even considered real demons.
At best, they were just beasts that reeked of demonic energy.
Since they were beasts, what was the harm in slaughtering them and using their blood to revive the Immortal Demon Emperor's limbs?
"This is important."
"If we follow the clues, we might be able to find the demon altar."
Shen Mo nodded slightly.
Wang Xing'an grinned. "This is a major contribution, right? Is it enough to trade for a jar of Fiery Brew?"
Shen Mo couldn't help but laugh. "Alright, go claim a jar."
There was a Demon Suppression Guard in the outpost skilled in brewing. His Fiery Brew wasn't much inferior to the official Fiery Brew one could exchange for in the Heavenly Dao Treasury.
The taste was almost identical.
If you weren't too particular, it was perfectly drinkable.
That was the imitation Fiery Brew Wang Xing'an was talking about.
Shen Mo asked casually, "By the way, how's that blade I gave you?"
Among Ye Yan's opportunities was a rusty long saber and a few star spirit stones.
That rusty saber was called Seven Stars, originally a lower-grade heaven-tier spiritual weapon.
After being tainted by demonic energy, it gradually dulled and was abandoned by its previous owner.
Now it was at most a top-grade earth-tier weapon.
It had to be used frequently to slay demons so that its rust could slowly be cleansed.
Shen Mo didn't use sabers and couldn't be bothered to cleanse it with demon blood, so he simply gave it to Wang Xing'an.
Hearing this, Wang Xing'an immediately drew the saber at his waist and praised, "This Seven Stars Saber is perfect for me!"
"I've slain quite a few demons with it lately—look, some of the rust is already gone."
Wang Xing'an chuckled. "I never thought Old Wang here would ever wield a heaven-tier spiritual weapon!"
"Even rusty, it's still a heaven-tier weapon!"
Seeing Wang Xing'an's excitement, Shen Mo also smiled.
For ordinary Demon Suppression Guards, a top-grade earth-tier spiritual weapon was usually the best they could hope to touch.
As for heaven-tier weapons, those were only seen in dreams.
Even when Wang Xing'an had once been a commander, the battle merits he accumulated were never enough to exchange for a heaven-tier weapon.
And even if they were, he would rather trade for cultivation methods, martial techniques, or spiritual pills than a weapon.
All those were more useful than a spiritual weapon.
But now, he had gotten his hands on a heaven-tier treasure blade—naturally, he cherished it dearly.
"As long as you like it," Shen Mo said with a small smile.
His gaze swept past Wang Xing'an, and he suddenly noticed a Demon Suppression Guard deliberately trying to avoid him.
He smiled slightly. "Commander Ye, come here."
Ye Yan cursed inwardly but forced a smile as he quickly walked over.
He had just returned from a mission and was about to rest, but ran into Shen Mo on the way—he instinctively wanted to avoid him out of fear.
Who could have known Shen Mo would spot him at a glance?
With no choice, Ye Yan steeled himself and approached. "General Shen, did you need something?"
Shen Mo glanced at Ye Yan's status panel and smiled. "Old Wang, didn't you need a good hand to help find the altar's location? I think Commander Ye is just right for the job."
Wang Xing'an nodded. "Ye Yan, right? I've heard of you. You've got a great record and are highly valued by General Zhu Xuanji."
"A year ago, you helped the Azure Dragon 52nd Outpost resist a massive tide of peak seventh-rank demons. You fought for two days without retreating, holding out until General Shen arrived with reinforcements."
"Not bad, not bad."
"Are you willing to join me in searching for the exact location of the demon altar?"
After hearing this, Ye Yan's heart surged with stormy waves.
He was always one to weigh risks and rewards.
This kind of task—finding the precise location of the demon altar—was clearly both arduous and dangerous.
If he failed, he might even lose his life.
As for what Wang Xing'an mentioned, that so-called 'unyielding battle to the death' a year ago, it actually wasn't what he wanted.
With countless eyes watching him from behind, he was under so much scrutiny that he couldn't run even if he wanted to.
He had no choice but to grit his teeth and charge ahead.
Fortunately, he was blessed with three souls and had plenty of hidden cards, which was how he managed to hold out for two days until Shen Mo arrived.
Ye Yan was deeply suspicious inside.
Could Shen Mo be assigning him such a dangerous task just to get rid of him?
At this thought, his anxiety only grew.
Shen Mo noticed the look on Ye Yan's face and couldn't help but curve his lips in a smile.
Finding the demon altar required luck.
And not ordinary luck.
It demanded great fortune!
Ordinary people would never be able to find it.
Wang Xing'an's luck was, at best, just above average.
If he took a few Demon Suppression Guards to search, he'd be lucky to keep himself safe—there was no way he'd find the demon altar.
Even if Shen Mo spent time searching, he might not succeed.
Besides, Shen Mo didn't want to waste time on such things.
Clearly, that time was better spent cultivating.
But Ye Yan was different.
He'd fused with Lin Dongtian's fate.
His luck could only be described as heaven-defying.
With him joining the search party, they would definitely find the exact location of the demon altar.
And he was certain to make it back alive.
On this point, Shen Mo was very confident.
"General Shen, I'm afraid I can't handle such an important responsibility. Please choose someone else," Ye Yan said, swallowing hard and speaking quickly.
Shen Mo gave his shoulder a firm pat. "Commander Ye, I believe in you. Everyone believes in you."
"You have to believe in yourself, too!"
If you can't believe in yourself, at least believe in your fate!
Ye Yan lowered his voice. "But General Shen, I just got back from a mission and need to report to General Zhu."
"If General Zhu doesn't get my report, she'll surely worry."
Shen Mo narrowed his eyes.
He's using Zhu Xuanji as a shield against me.
Wang Xing'an, an old hand himself, could also hear the resistance in Ye Yan's words.
Shen Mo smiled. "Then contact Sister Xuan now and report the situation to her."
Ye Yan took a deep breath, pulled out a demon crystal sound transmission jade from his robes.
The deeper you went into the Demon Suppression Sea, the easier it was for regular sound transmission jades to fail.
Commanders and above were equipped with even more precious demon crystal sound transmission jades.
These sound transmission jades were made from a special kind of jade called demon crystal jade.
After being tempered by demonic energy, it was much harder to process, but its advantage was that it could transmit messages even through dense demonic energy.
Demon crystal jade was mostly found on the fifth and sixth levels.
In the past, it was hard to mine, so it couldn't be widely supplied.
But now, with the fifth level under control, demon crystal sound transmission jades had gradually become more common.
Now even centurions could use them.
After a brief wait, Zhu Xuanji's voice came from the other end of the sound transmission jade.
"Ye Yan, how did the mission go?"
Ye Yan gave his usual report and also mentioned the new task of searching for the demon altar.
With Shen Mo present, he didn't dare embellish, so he recounted everything honestly.
Finally, he said, "…General Zhu, General Shen has entrusted me with such an important task, but I'm worried I won't be able to manage it."
"What do you think?"
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