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Chapter 1004 Progress of the Demon Soldiers
Before the decisive battle, a storm was brewing.

While Zhou You was secretly cultivating on his own side, things were bustling elsewhere.

As mentioned earlier, in order to clear himself of suspicion, Zhou You left the identity of the Heart Demon Ring in the capital after leaving the capital, and would occasionally appear to do things, causing turmoil in the capital and the eight prefectures of Zhili.

His demon soldiers and slaves rose to prominence and each one thrived.

Wulinbei, the lord of a city in the far west, is increasingly powerful. In addition to cultivating his own forces, he also wins over sects and forms alliances with local powerful families through marriage.

In addition, his own martial arts skills have not declined. He has steadily entered the mid-stage of the Strong Martial Realm and is only one step away from the seventh level.

The characteristic of demonic soldiers is that they progress extremely quickly; as long as they are willing to damage themselves, they can improve by leaps and bounds in a day.

With a city as his base, gathering resources became much easier, and the combined effect of these two advantages was quite remarkable.

Although others were surprised by his unusual behavior, they assumed that when the Martial Arts Stele was buried in Jingzhou, he was a son of a concubine and had kept a low profile in order to protect himself.

Now that the fish has entered the sea, it has finally revealed its true potential.

and also……

The demonic soldiers and slaves, scattered across the north and south of the country, maintain a dispersed pattern of never encountering each other.

However, they were more active in the eight directly governed states centered around the capital, which further confirms outside speculation that the true form of the Heart Demon Ring was hidden in the capital and had a public identity.

The maid was highly valued by Consort Mei, and her rank rose step by step until she became the chief palace maid by the favored concubine's side.

She was originally gentle, but after being corrupted by demons and undergoing trials, with the help of the little stable boy, she eventually developed a calm and unwavering mind, and a powerful ability to control her emotions without showing them.

At the same time, she possessed the demonic weapon skills of the Heart Demon Ring and the Life-Extending Technique, and Consort Mei also taught her the secret techniques of the Five Elders Manor.

Even Consort Mei praised her to her face, saying, "Wu'er, you've grown into a truly talented person!"

In response, the maid Wu'er sincerely thanked Consort Mei for her promotion.

She was a double agent, sent by Consort Mei to infiltrate the Demon Ring to gather information about the demon soldiers. However, the Demon Ring also saw through her identity and kept her around to monitor Consort Mei in return.

If it weren't for Yin Hen's secret protection, Wu'er would have already collapsed.

Based on her own experiences and after learning about the little stable boy's background, she realized that one cannot survive in this world without becoming a demon.

Yin Hen, the young stable boy, was the product of a nobleman's drunken mistake. Despite having noble blood, his father disowned him and abandoned him in the stable to fend for himself.

From childhood to adulthood, he was a complete slave, and he never even saw his birth mother.

His numb and indifferent heart was always filled with a hatred called 'patricide'. After meeting Wu'er, he felt the maternal love that he had lacked in his life from this older sister, and only then did he feel like a human being.

After becoming a demon soldier slave, Yin Hen formed two life goals: first, to destroy the Shang clan; second, to protect Wu'er.

However, fate played a cruel trick on us.

Yin Hen practiced his martial arts day and night, and just when he had achieved some success and was confident he could take revenge, the small merchant was wiped out...

Beneath the seemingly harmonious surface of the capital, undercurrents were always surging, with various powerful families engaging in fierce infighting and bloody power struggles.

The struggle between large and small merchants is like that between the two branches of the Zhou family, East and West. Although they share the same bloodline, their hatred for each other is more intense than that between strangers.

On the Zhou family's side, Zhou Nanwang led the main force of the Western Branch to manage Lihuo Prefecture, temporarily avoiding the possibility of conflict.

However, the stalemate between large and small merchants was broken by the appearance of one person.

It turns out that a genius suddenly appeared in the business world some time ago, named Shang Qilei.

This person was originally from a branch of a large merchant family. He came from a humble background and entered the main branch through his own efforts, but ultimately, due to his background, he could only become a personal guard for the direct descendants of the large merchant family.

This is also the fate of many collateral branches of prominent families.

However, since his lineage was different, he had accumulated knowledge and skills over many years and finally broke through to the Grandmaster realm two years ago. Once you become a Grandmaster, the situation changes completely. Even if you are from a collateral branch, you will enter the upper echelons of the family without any controversy.

After Shang Qilei became a senior executive of a large business, his first issue was to unify businesses of all sizes and to use an iron fist to acquire smaller businesses.

This led to the subsequent fierce war of merging and acquiring businesses.

Shang Qilei charged into battle, single-handedly defeating several small merchants and their followers, becoming the most dazzling figure in this battle.

Large businesses already have greater overall strength than small businesses; they just need an opportunity. Once they join Shangqilei, they will achieve tremendous success.

The small business owners were wiped out, and Yin Hen's cheap father was caught up in the great battle and killed. His death was extremely tragic, with his stone corpse scattered everywhere, unable to be pieced together into a complete set.

The top executives and heirs of the small business were also intentionally or unintentionally wiped out, leaving only the vast family business and female relatives.

Those who contributed the most to this battle have the greatest say in the distribution of spoils.

He suggested that small businesses, having been independent for many years and alienated from the community, should not be expected to integrate into the main group overnight.

Therefore, it would be better to promote one person to control the remaining forces of small businesses and make them the lackeys of large businesses.

Hmm, this person can't be of too high a status, and must be related to small business owners, preferably harboring hatred towards them...

What a coincidence!

When Yin Hen woke up, he was dragged out of the stable, thrown into a large wooden tub and washed clean and fragrant. He was then dressed in a magnificent robe, and a group of people knelt before him, calling him "Master of the Family".

The plot twists are just so bizarre and captivating.

The lowly stable boy not only escaped the calamity of his family's destruction, but instead became the biggest beneficiary, rising to become the new head of the small business. Even his deceased father's concubines expressed their willingness to offer themselves to him.

Yin Hen also received the clan name he was entitled to: Shang Juefei.

Therefore, during the gathering, he boasted to his maid Wu'er several times, asking himself if he now resembled a pampered old man.

Seeing his expression, the maid Wu'er didn't speak, but simply covered her mouth and smiled.

However, he did not recognize the name Shang Juefei, but only the name given to him by the Heart Demon Ring... Yin Hen.

“Master, I have met Shang Qilei. Although he showed no abnormalities, I always felt that he was one of our kind!”

During a chance encounter in a circular world, Yin Hen earnestly revealed this secret to Zhou You's third identity, the Heart Demon Ring.

He guessed that Shang Qilei was also one of the soldiers enslaved by the Heart Demon Ring.

The Heart Demon Ring shook its head. "They're not one of us."

With both sides tallying up their accounts, the truth is becoming increasingly clear: Shang Qilei is very likely another demonic weapon.

His rise from an ordinary but powerful bodyguard to a high-ranking member of a large business empire is too bizarre; it's highly likely he gained such immense power by becoming possessed by a demon.

The question now is, is he the master of the demonic weapons, or a slave of the demonic weapons?

"You should continue as usual, without needing to inquire about Shang Qi's whereabouts. Remain still and continue to build up your strength."

Given Shang Qilei's outstanding abilities, many forces are eyeing him, and any slight flaw will expose him.

Therefore, Yin Hen continued to be a deeply hidden pawn, diligently fulfilling his duties as the controller of the remaining power of small merchants.

Everything was normal until the Heart Demon Ring received a message that caught the attention of Zhou You's main body.

"The anomalies in the Southern Frontier have triggered simultaneous disturbances in the Demon Soldier Village, suggesting a possible connection!"

(End of this chapter)