One more catty, one more attribute point

Feeling the continuous stabbing pain in his left arm, Babek frowned deeply, raising his head to gaze at the figure on the distant city wall. The sun was setting in the west, positioned right behind Su Heng's head. It looked just like the "halo" symbolizing the Buddha's supreme mana in temple murals.

With Su Heng's arrival, the originally chaotic battlefield suddenly quieted down.

The roaring of the blazing fire, the screams of mortals falling injured to the ground, and the thunderous noise of collapsing buildings... all the sounds one could hear were peeling away; every image was fading to dullness. Under the blood-red sunset, it felt as if only Su Heng and Babek were left in the entire world.

With a fierce shake of his hand, Babek's left arm regenerated and healed as it exploded with black fire amidst a "bang."

Crack!

He took a step forward, and the ground beneath cratered and fractured.

"It seems you're the one Wang Xindong relies on." Babek lifted his head, his dark golden pupils flaming with burning fire, fearlessly staring at Su Heng, "No wonder the Sky Demon Alliance no longer exists with a powerhouse like you in Baihua County."

"Next, I—pfft!"

Before Babek could finish his words, Su Heng pointed a finger again.

The intense energy left a shadow in the sunset, turning into a black line like a sniper bullet fired, striking Babek's heart with precision. Blood seeped from his mouth and nose, and he slowly bent his head down to clearly see a pit the size of a head in his right chest.

Unexpectedly, despite such a severe injury,

Babek didn't show too much pain or weakness, standing firmly in his place.

Even though a Demon King's vitality is formidable, it's impossible to appear so nonchalant with a pierced heart vital spot.

Su Heng's face also showed an interested expression, comparing to ordinary Demon Kings like Tuo Long the Great and Black Sha Bodhisattva, the aura from Babek felt familiar. After some thought, he finally understood where this feeling came from.

"I didn't expect there to be such techniques among demons," Su Heng said slowly as he stood up from the city wall, looking down at Babek from his high position.

"Among human martial artists, one can step into the Heavenly Deceit Realm through worshipping Buddha."

Su Heng said with disdain, "The power within you is not only weak but also doesn't seem to fully come from yourself."

"Weak?" A surge of fury flashed across Babek's face, "You know nothing of the Sovereign's power."

Roar!

He breathed in deeply, finally unleashing his full strength.

Bloodlines interwove in his eyes, erupting outward, quickly spreading throughout his entire body.

Babek's muscles twitched like a restless pack of wolves, violently fluctuating. His body hair grew swiftly, and a large amount of black fog burst forth from him. With a sudden upward howl, Babek transformed into a six-meter-tall lion with a body over ten meters long.

His massive and robust body packed the street full, his tail, full of metallic spikes, swayed carelessly, collapsing the neighboring earthen wall buildings, stirring up thick smoke.

Such a colossal beast left clear indentations in the ground with every step it took forward.

The entire city boiled in panic as countless people fled in all directions.

Even the disciples dressed in white trembled, having joined the Demon Suppression Bureau for only a few months; they had never seen such a terrifying sight.

Ferocious teeth sneered from Babek's black lips, a terrifying gale issuing from his throat.

"Dare to strike at the king—," Babek's eyes crimson with fury, he growled lowly, "I will tear you to pieces."

"Heh heh."

Su Heng's shoulder twitched as he couldn't help but burst into laughter.

"Not much skill, but quite the temper," he said, and before his words had finished echoing, the entire stretch of the city wall beneath his feet had already collapsed thunderously.

Amidst the booming sound like muffled thunder, Su Heng leapt high into the air, his black cloak fluttering against the wind, blocking out the setting sun. Then, with a flick of his toes, he skimmed over the distance like a swallow gliding over the surface of a lake, crossing a kilometer to land a light palm strike precisely at the center of Babek's crown.

Boom!

Within the billowing dust and smoke, Babek's headless giant body slowly fell.

The blast wave scattered, blowing the dust away.

With legs as sturdy as pillars, Su Heng firmly landed on the ground, took two steps forward, and came to where Wang Xindong was leaning against a corner of the wall, extending an arm.

Clap!

Their hands met, and Wang Xindong's muscles tensed as he forcefully stood up with great effort.

Neither of them spoke for a moment.

Wang Xindong noticed Su Heng looking down at his own arm and followed the Deputy Governor's gaze. The previously muscular arm had become slack. The aged skin sagged over the muscles, conveying a melancholic sense of a hero at the twilight of his life under the sunset.Nôv(el)B\\jnn

"It seems I truly am getting old," Wang Xindong suddenly sighed, but the sparkle in his eyes did not dim because of this.

This statement was neither an excuse nor a concession for him.

It was an acknowledgement of the objective reality.

And upon this foundation, a series of trials and improvements that would follow.

For someone like him, who had dedicated everything to the martial path, aging was a long and painful torment. The little that they had left was mercilessly and cruelly stripped away by time bit by bit. No matter how hard they tried, they couldn't recover even a little.

Was this really the case?

At least in Su Heng's eyes, not necessarily.

"Have you heard of the Dragon Guards?" Su Heng took a step forward, walking towards the outside of the city, with Wang Xindong closely following beside him, a step behind.

"I've heard of them," Wang Xindong said, "A few days ago, Zhou Guiyu led a team to Canglong Mountain to excavate the bodies of some Dragon Guards."

"I plan to recreate An Shelie's Dragon Guards."

"So..." Wang Xindong raised an eyebrow, knowing that Su Heng would not speak without reason, "You've already created them?"

"Hmm," Su Heng nodded.

"But it's still in the early verification stage, and the likelihood of failure is very high," Su Heng said, stopping his steps outside the collapsed city wall, speaking earnestly.

"What would be the consequences of failure?" Wang Xindong and Su Heng gazed at the same patch of sky.

What Su Heng saw were the lush green hills in the distance, and below them, the golden wheat fields like a tide.

And what Wang Xindong saw was a different picture altogether.

The distant wild geese, the dim celestial fire, and the blood-like setting sun.

"Will die," Su Heng said.

"Really?" Wang Xindong cracked a smile. "Then what's there to be afraid of?"

...

...

...

Wang Xindong agreed to the plan proposed by Su Heng.

Following that, after a temporary farewell, Su Heng went to talk briefly with the other candidates in the plan.

To his surprise, another Deputy Governor, Zhou Guiyu, after some consideration, chose to refuse. Su Heng learned that it was because the last integration with the demon corpse had cost Zhou Guiyu half his life, leaving a psychological shadow.

Furthermore, with his age no longer on the younger side, he no longer possessed the zest of his youth.

Thus, Zhou Guiyu was very apologetic.

Su Heng expressed his understanding and naturally would not insist.

The next choice for the candidates was Zhao Zongwu, who though not a Deputy Governor, was very strong. He was one of the few in the Demon Suppression Bureau who could confront the Demon King head-on. Old Master Zhao Zongwu was decisive in character; after a brief conversation with Su Heng and understanding the crux of the matter, he promptly agreed.

As for the remaining candidates—

Su Heng did not rush to create all the Dragon Guards at once but planned to proceed step by step.

On one hand, he could upgrade the first-generation version by adding more strengthening organs and optimizing the current effects; on the other hand, the development and adjustments of the female Dragon Guards could steadily progress based on the information he had collected so far.

This was a long-term task.

Moreover, Su Heng's main focus had to be on his own self-cultivation.

After all, Su Heng's plan to create the Dragon Guards was for protecting the residence, not for dominating the world.

Therefore, the number of Dragon Guards in the first batch was tentatively set at thirty-three. If all went well, Wang Xindong would become the Great Commander of this guard, with Old Master Zhao Zongwu as the Deputy Commander. As for the issue of loyalty, Su Heng wasn't too worried.

On one hand, he had known Wang Xindong and Zhao Zongwu for more than just a day or two.

He was clear about both of their characters and dispositions and found them trustworthy.

On the other hand.

Because the core material for the Dragon Guard transformation surgery came from the Dragon Blood in Su Heng's body, like An Ran, these Dragon Guards inherently had a high degree of loyalty to Su Heng.

And so...

After completing the Dragon Guard transformation surgery for Wang Xindong and others,

Su Heng continued to cultivate the "Five Internal Organs Sealing God Technique," refining and sealing new divine forms, while recording and summarizing the changes occurring in them. The "genetic gland" of the first-generation Dragon Guards, each one needed to be handcrafted and installed by Su Heng indeed a time and effort-consuming task.

To create them on a large scale, they would require iterations in subsequent versions.

The implantation of the "genetic gland" was simple.

After all, even for ordinary people, implanting a demon corpse would still require opening up the body and installing it in a specific location, making both processes somewhat similar. The key issue lay in the manufacturing of the "genetic gland." If it were possible to install a "gland" in a Dragon Guard, allowing it to yield an additional "gland" during its growth process,

then one would give birth to two, two to three, and from three, countless more, leading to an endless creation of Dragon Guards!

Unfortunately—

This idea is wonderful, but it has not yet become a reality for the time being.

The Dragon Marrow in Su Heng's body has activity, but this activity is not infinite; the Dragon Blood he can create is limited. To turn this idea into reality, the key issue still lies in obtaining a complete Dragon Marrow.

With this thought in mind, Su Heng's curiosity about the "Dragon Abyss" deepened.

There's another point.

In his conversation with Wang Xindong, the latter mentioned that "Lion King Babek" seemed to have just returned from Hunxi Mountain.

Hunxi Mountain, located on the border of the Great Zhou Dynasty, is the essential path leading to the Dragon Abyss grasslands. Although Babek's strength was mediocre, he possessed a life force unusual compared to ordinary people, to the extent that even with a shattered heart, he could maintain considerable combat power.

It was just unclear whether this life force had certain connections with the Dragon Abyss.

For an entire month, Su Heng was busy non-stop.

Fortunately, the outcome was positive.

The Five Internal Organs Sealing God Technique was cultivated to the stage of significant achievement, and the remaining three divine forms were completely refined. Meanwhile, thirty-three Dragon Guards were created.

It must be praised that "Babek," who had made no significant contributions while alive,

But with his death, had indeed greatly helped Su Heng. The resources accumulated in the Demon Suppression Tower were almost exhausted, yet with Babek's head delivered, Su Heng's reserves of demon flesh and blood were instantly replenished.

As for the initial Dragon Guard transformation surgery, due to various reasons, the success rate was less than seventy percent.

Some did not survive, dying right on Su Heng's operating table. Fortunately, the two key figures, Wang Xindong and Zhao Zongwu, both survived and their strength improved significantly, possessing combat power at the Heavenly Deceit level.

Moreover, the Dragon Guard surgery enhanced their innate qualities, extended their lifespans, and restored their vigor and mental state to their peaks.

That, plus the Domineering Dragon Thirteen Forms secret technique Su Heng completed from the Cloud Heaven Secret Realm.

For the two of them, stepping into the Heavenly Deceit Realm was just a matter of time.

The only regret was,

If Li Daoxuan could have held on for six more months, perhaps it would have been a different story.

There was no time for sentiment, as the first test since the birth of the Dragon Guards soon arrived. In Jiangbei Province, the stagnant Skull Plain army had finally completed its reorganization and was preparing for a new round of expansion, with the warfront reaching the entire territory of Jiangzhou.

After both the Blood Demon General and Iron Demon General, high-level Heavenly Deceit experts, had failed in their attempts,

In the Anlong Organization's list,

The name Su Heng was blood-red as if it were bleeding.

This time, the operation would no longer be assassination or probing but a direct, relentless assault, determined not to rest until this thorn was removed!