After beheading the general, Zhang San looked at all the soldiers kneeling on the ground and immediately shouted, "Whoever can clearly explain what happened here will be the new general of this army!"

Although everyone didn't know who Zhang San was, seeing such a young man with such strong power, they reckoned he must be an important figure.

The deputy general promptly stepped forward, clasped his hands towards Zhang San, and shared all the recent occurrences with him.

Only then did Zhang San realize that outside the Capital Region Road, many places had strange occurrences after the Ghost Gate opened.

Some military forces in certain areas had completely obliterated these creations from the Outer Gods.

But in other areas, the military had been assimilated by these creations.

In this blood-and-tears-filled process, some people felt the strength of the Outer Gods, and some of the creations with a bit of intelligence shared methods on becoming followers of these gods.

The general recently slain by Zhang San was one who had acquired a method to become a follower of an Outer God.

Not only did he receive this method, but he also learned a way to transform ordinary people into lower creations of Outer Gods.

However, before he could succeed, he died in his first sortie.

He was discovered and beheaded by Zhang San right as he began his operation.

Realizing that the situation across the Great Sui was likely dire, Zhang San understood he couldn't intervene in places he hadn't seen.

But he should manage what he could see.

Thus, Zhang San appointed the deputy general as the new general, organizing everyone to take all edible and usable provisions from Phoenix Immortal Town and move to a nearby mountain.

"Rest assured, everyone, I recall there is a Tiger Demon on that mountain who is the Mountain God here. You can temporarily avoid the threats of the Outer Gods on this mountain and even reside here for a while."

Zhang San led the army to protect over fifty thousand civilians as they set off towards nearby Red Stone Mountain.

Zhang San recalled that the Tiger Demon was recommended by Hu, mentioning that this Tiger Demon's nature is quite good.

Soon, everyone arrived at the foot of Red Stone Mountain.

As they approached Red Stone Mountain, they began to sense something amiss.

The mountain paths were littered with the corpses of various creations from the Outer Gods.

"What happened here?"

At that moment, Zhang San felt a foreboding sense of unease.

He instructed the army to protect the fifty thousand civilians at the mountain's base, then dashed towards Red Stone Mountain himself.

Soon, Zhang San noticed a bloody Tiger Demon standing atop a heap of Outer God creations' corpses.

The massive Tiger Demon glared with its tiger eyes, but upon recognizing that humans had arrived, instead of creations, it offered a humane smile.

"Finally, someone has come?"

Simultaneously, a number of women and children emerged from behind the mountain of corpses left by the Outer God creations.

Thud—

With a realization that its mission was finally complete, the Tiger Demon rolled down the mountain of corpses.

Zhang San immediately went over and helped him up.

"Are you alright? Don't worry; I have top-grade pills that can surely..."

"No need."

The Tiger Demon weakly said to Zhang San, "I've... I've seen you, Deputy Chief Zhang. Hu introduced me to be the Mountain God here... I... cough cough..."

As the Tiger Demon coughed, blood spurted directly from its mouth.

"I never understood why you humans... why would you protect others... what were you thinking... Isn't life about preserving oneself and continuing one's lineage?"

"But... but this time... I, as a member of the Demon Clan... I felt... haha... cough cough cough... so this is what it feels like to protect others... so good."

"Thank you, Deputy Chief Zhang... for letting me experience a different kind of demon life..."

As the Tiger Demon's pupils dimmed, Zhang San realized it had passed away.

He immediately cast a technique to capture the Tiger Demon's soul.

After all, many areas had no City God. Although he couldn't directly appoint one, setting such a Mountain God's soul in some town to let it grow into a City God was feasible.

After burying the Tiger Demon, Zhang San led a group of over a thousand elderly and children down from the mountaintop to reunite with the main contingent.

Only then did everyone realize that this area was also attacked by Outer God creations, and it was only because of the Tiger Demon's presence that the elderly and children survived.

Those in the rear might be unaware, but those at the frontline do truly sacrifice a great deal.

There was no alternative since this place might be approached by Outer God creations again, so Zhang San had to continue leading everyone toward the Capital Region Road, believing it should still be relatively safe.

Soon, Zhang San arrived at a large town at the southernmost part of the Capital Region Road—Yong'an Town.

In Yong'an Town, Shen Bao was currently leading people to slay the incoming Outer God creations.

Upon seeing Zhang San leading people over, Shen Bao quickly came out to greet him.

"Brother San, why have you come?"

Zhang San did not expect Shen Bao would need to work on-site, signifying how dangerous the entire Capital Region Road had become.

"Shen Bao, are you in charge here now?"

"Of course! Those powers of Daxing City are all useless. Upon hearing the emergence of many Outer God creations, they all got scared and dared not leave their homes."

"Could your father allow you to come out and train?"

"Naturally, he wouldn't, so I snuck out and applied for this job. Now, I'm leading over a thousand soldiers, aided by some martial artists from your Town Martial Office."

Zhang San knew Second Master Shen wouldn't want his only son at risk.

Afterwards, Zhang San gathered some information on Yong'an Town's condition through Shen Bao.

The Outer God creations had indeed begun impacting the Capital Region Road.

But being the capital of Great Sui, it had ample military forces, and with the surrounding regions possessing considerable combat strength, they managed to fend off repeated attacks from the creations.

Zhang San instructed Shen Bao to settle five to six thousand people behind him in Yong'an Town.

Furthermore, he ordered the construction of a City God Temple, had people carve a giant stone statue in the image of the Tiger Demon, and placed the Tiger Demon's soul into it. Through a rune array, he facilitated the Tiger Demon's path to the Path of Life and Death, steadily transforming into the City God of Yong'an Town.

Zhang San could communicate with the Tiger Demon's soul.

However, the Tiger Demon hadn't practiced the Path of Life and Death before, needing time to become a true City God of Yong'an Town.

After resolving Yong'an Town's issues, Shen Bao remained to continue guarding it while Zhang San headed straight for Daxing City.

Yet before reaching Daxing City's gates, Zhang San witnessed a terrifying scene.

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