Chapter 14: First Encounter with the God of Demons, Lü

In mid-August, the leaves were still lush, and outside the capital city, two rows of willows along the moat swayed gracefully in the breeze.

More than twenty knights and several carriages had arrived from afar, though no one knew when. Instead of quietly lining up on the main road, they bypassed to the front of the procession, preparing to enter the city.

August was indeed the liveliest time in the capital, but it was also when the city’s security was at its strictest.

Talented young men from the Great Azure region all hurried to the capital during this period, and at the same time, spies from various countries were most active.

The armored soldiers guarding the city gates immediately approached upon seeing Wang Yu’s group.

The carriages bore the insignia of the Eastern Garrison General’s Mansion, and since everyone in this small unit was armed, with bows and crossbows strapped to their horses, the gate guards, unless foolish, knew exactly how to respond.

“Greetings, young master. May we see your identification documents for verification?” Though the guards appeared imposing before others, they were cautious and deferential when dealing with those they dared not offend.

After checking the documents, Wang Yu did not linger and proceeded directly into the city.

Originally, Wang Yu had thought that if an assassination attempt failed, the attackers might come again, so they had been on high alert throughout their journey to avoid any careless mistakes.

However, it turned out that Wang Yu had overthought it. Up to this point, aside from that one assassination attempt, nothing untoward had happened—not even encounters with bandits or highway robbers.

Just as Wang Yu entered the capital and was about to take a good look at this foremost city of Great Azure, the dense and congested crowd ahead suddenly stirred. People in the middle of the street instinctively parted to make way. A silent cavalry unit rode swiftly toward the city gate.

At the front was a general clad in dark armor. His sharp eyebrows slanted like flying swords, his features chiseled and angular. Tall and lean yet not coarse, he resembled a night eagle—aloof, cold, and imposing, radiating an overwhelming strength that seemed to look down on the world.

The cavalry seemed eager to leave the city. Although Wang Yu’s group was coming toward them, they did not stop. Both units tacitly passed, one moving to the left, the other to the right, without hindrance.

As they passed each other, the general seemed to sense something and glanced toward Wang Yu’s side—not at Wang Yu himself, but at Ling Donglai beside him.

At the same moment, Ling Donglai’s eyes met the general’s gaze. Two overwhelming auras surged forth briefly and vanished, unnoticed by the crowd.

“Formidable!” Even Ling Donglai couldn’t help but exclaim softly.

Wang Yu did not hear this, but it did not stop him from recognizing the power of that man. As their groups crossed paths, Wang Yu’s system had already scanned the man’s attributes.

“To meet such a person immediately upon entering the city!”

Wang Yu now worried whether this encounter was mere coincidence or part of a carefully orchestrated plan.

Since the earlier assassination attempt, Wang Yu felt increasingly paranoid, as if danger lurked behind every bush.

If Chu Xizhao was hailed as the Great Azure’s First Military God, then Lü Shenmo was the First War God.

Fifteen years ago, when the Western Great Martial Empire invaded with a million troops, the Western Garrison General Zhao Changfeng was defeated three times. The Cang Emperor was furious and ordered the Great Azure Military God Chu Xizhao to lead 500,000 elite troops to join the western forces to meet the enemy.

However, en route, Chu Xizhao commanded most of the army to march normally, drawing the enemy’s attention, while he personally led 100,000 light cavalry on a thousand-mile raid, decisively defeating the enemy in a single battle.

In that battle, Lü Shenmo, barely in his twenties, served as one of Chu Xizhao’s vanguard generals. It was said that he slew twelve enemy generals amidst the chaos, including a divine general. The Western Great Martial Empire’s commander, Sima Changfeng, was chased by Lü Shenmo for a hundred miles, too fearful to look back.

Over the next fifteen years, Lü Shenmo’s strength grew relentlessly until he was hailed as the fiercest warrior of the Great Azure Dynasty.

He also ranked third on the Dragon-Tiger Heroes List, also known as the Martial Generals Ranking. Compiled by renowned scholars and the secretive Heavenly Machine Pavilion of the martial world, it recorded 108 of the era’s fiercest warriors, ranked by their battle achievements.

The Tianqi Continent, though somewhat different from ancient China in Wang Yu’s previous life, bore many similarities. Wang Yu was astonished when recalling memories of the various schools of thought.

According to his system’s analysis, this Great Azure War God’s power was terrifyingly formidable.

“Lü Shenmo, Command 91, Strength 109, Intelligence 82, Politics 62, Charisma 97.”

A base strength of 109—this was the first time Wang Yu had seen such a high figure. Despite being called Great Azure’s fiercest warrior, Lü Shenmo ranked only third on the Dragon-Tiger Heroes List, meaning there were still two possibly stronger warriors above him.

“Such a formidable expert in the Eastern Garrison!” Lü Shenmo muttered in surprise as he spurred his horse forward. This also heightened his wariness of the deep foundations held by the noble families.

To others, Ling Donglai might have seemed an ordinary man, but Lü Shenmo, who was only one step away from reaching the peak of a divine general, could clearly sense the power contained within Ling Donglai’s body.

Like Chu Xizhao, Lü Shenmo rose from humble origins. The difference was that Chu Xizhao was a typical academy scholar and had unexpectedly befriended the previous Cang Emperor, which launched his legendary career.

Lü Shenmo, on the other hand, had started as an ordinary soldier, carving his way forward one battle at a time. His breakthrough came as Chu Xizhao’s vanguard general in that crucial battle.

It was because of his performance in that battle that Lü Shenmo truly caught the emperor’s attention and earned imperial favor, which paved the way for his subsequent glorious rise.

Lü Shenmo understood himself as a blade—a weapon wielded by the emperor, used to check the power of the noble clans.

Over centuries of Great Azure Dynasty’s development, the influence of noble families had grown stronger, and every emperor naturally sought ways to balance this power—ensuring it could neither harm the throne nor operate independently, but instead serve the emperor’s interests.

Promoting talents like Chu Xizhao and Lü Shenmo, both from common origins, was one such method.

Even the Great Azure Academy aimed to cultivate common-born talents, one of its most important missions.