Chapter 128 - 127 Yanmen Pass
Along the way, the demons he killed, the monsters he eliminated, the beast hides he cut, and the demon skulls he boiled, all exchanged for about 600 coins, ended up being spent on buying three horses, leaving almost nothing left.
No choice, Yanmen’s horses are expensive, especially in these wartime conditions. They’ve risen to 200 coins each, equivalent to the bounty for ten Golden Core heads!
Moreover, if Tie Dan hadn’t been holding the Demon Extermination Order like a warrant, the horse dealers probably wouldn’t have been willing to sell to him.
But expensive as they are, the horses are indeed quite good. These were the descendants of warhorses bred by the Great General of the Light Cavalry, who prepared for the Northern Expedition by using demon blood for hybrid breeding. They’re seven feet tall at the shoulder, can travel a thousand miles a day, cut through wind and chase the moon, with amazing endurance, and best of all, they’ve lost the wild nature of the Demon Clan. They understand human hearts, follow military orders, and charge through mountain formations.
Back then, the Immortal Palace prepared as many as four hundred thousand of such fine horses. They galloped along Yin Mountain and swept through, nearly completely suppressing the local horse breeds and dominating the northern ecological niche. They’re collectively known as the Light Cavalry now, considered a half-demon race created by the Immortal Palace.
Yes, the Immortal Palace is still the same Immortal Palace, always particularly impressive in such inexplicable ways...
In any case, having three horses for exchange is already sufficient. With the demon meat jerky prepared beforehand and some cumin seasoning, and with Tie Dan as a guide, the preparations for the journey beyond the pass are complete.
But the problem now is that there’s a Nascent Soul Demon blocking Yanmen Pass.
"As the weather warms, around this time of year, many alien tribes living outside the pass, who have submitted to the king’s way, were supposed to come for market trade, selling livestock, but they are nowhere to be seen. Initially, we thought they were coerced by Kan Country or slaughtered by rogue soldiers, but even the trade caravans leaving the villages have disappeared. Later, when we sent scouts on northward patrols, they discovered a Great Demon in the north had seized the mountain and blocked the road."
"There were no such large beasts near Yanmen before. This demon probably came from north of Yin Mountain, crossing over from the Returning Ruins extreme north. Previously, with Kan Country’s army garrisoned at the frontier, such monsters wouldn’t even make it past the Yin Mountain pass before being slaughtered by the army. But now..."