The Speedrun Begins with Choosing Hunter

An open field lay ten li west of Wan Jun Peak, dotted with over a thousand tents.

This was the encampment of the Divine Mansion Army.

Unlike the various halls on the Thirteen Peaks and the main peak, the Divine Mansion Army answered only to the commands of Sect Leader Murong Tian and Dong Wanjun.

It was the Divine Mansion Sect’s sharpest blade for external affairs.

Tasked with guarding the Huanglong Counties, its ranks were filled with countless experts.

Although the Divine Mansion Army officially took orders from the Sect Leader, everyone in the Divine Mansion Sect knew it was Dong Wanjun’s private army. Old Dong had been challenged on this point many times, but Murong Tian always shut down the complaints.

"Bai Yuan, you’re here."

Divine Mansion Army Commander Yu Hui chuckled, not the least bit surprised by Bai Yuan’s arrival.

In his eyes, Grand Commander Dong would never let a promising talent like Bai Yuan go to waste.

Of course, his idea of a "promising talent" was someone skilled at killing.

Bai Yuan took out the Divine Mansion Army Token that Dong Wanjun had given him yesterday.

Yu Hui didn’t even glance at the Token.

"Elder Dong has already made arrangements. You’ll be a Squad Leader in the Wei Camp, stationed in Huanglong Prefecture’s South City."

The Divine Mansion Army was organized according to the Thirty-Six Celestial Spirits, with its thousands of soldiers divided into thirty-six camps.

Each camp generally had over a hundred soldiers and several Squad Leaders.

Only Martial Artists who had broken through to the Strong Organ Pass were qualified to become Squad Leaders.

The benefits of being a Squad Leader in the Divine Mansion Army were excellent, making it a coveted position within the Divine Mansion Sect. Many Inner Sect Disciples competed for the role, and it was even rarer for an Outer Disciple to become one.

Even though their Peak Masters didn’t get along with Old Dong, no one would turn down Spirit Medicine and demon meat.

Moreover, the Peak Masters of the other twelve peaks encouraged their disciples to join the Divine Mansion Army, hoping to weaken Dong Wanjun’s control over the Divine Mansion Sect.

As for the thirty-six Camp Commanders...

Each Camp Commander was an elite among Blood Refining Pass Martial Artists. As warriors who had survived countless life-or-death battles, their combat prowess was far beyond that of ordinary Divine Mansion Sect disciples.

But this was not a position that disciples from the other twelve peaks could hope to attain.

The reason Old Dong was able to keep the Divine Mansion Army firmly in his grasp was precisely that the commanders of the thirty-six camps were all his adopted sons.

That’s right. Though Dong Wanjun only had three disciples, he had thirty-six adopted sons.

This practice had drawn endless criticism from the Peak Masters of the other twelve peaks.

But of course, Old Dong paid them no mind.

No matter how strong he was, one man’s power had its limits. It was only natural that he needed to cultivate his own faction.

Although the man before him, Yu Hui, was not one of Old Dong’s adopted sons, his loyalty was beyond question. He was a master of refined force, highly valued by Old Dong, which was precisely why he had become a Commander in the Divine Mansion Army.

「A short while later.」

A dark, lean, and capable-looking man appeared outside the Commander’s main tent.

"Commander Yu, you were looking for me?"

Seeing the lean man, Yu Hui smiled and introduced him to Bai Yuan. "This is the Commander of the Wei Camp, Zhao Han."

Hearing this, Bai Yuan couldn’t help but study the lean man more closely.

The commanders of the Divine Mansion Army’s thirty-six camps were all powerful experts who held great authority; they were by no means ordinary. Although this lean man seemed unassuming, to be favored by Old Dong meant he was definitely not as simple as he appeared.

"This is Bai Yuan, Elder Dong’s disciple. From now on, he’ll be a Squad Leader in your Wei Camp."

Yu Hui added, turning to Zhao Han.

Zhao Han’s brow furrowed slightly.

Clearly, he had not been informed of Bai Yuan’s arrival.

However, since he was a disciple of Old Dong, Zhao Han naturally wouldn’t object.

Unlike the disciples from the Divine Mansion Sect’s Thirteen Peaks, the soldiers of the Divine Mansion Army did not necessarily come from the sect. Many had no connection to the Divine Mansion Sect at all before joining.

Take Wei Camp’s Commander Zhao Han, for example. He was once an Elder of a sect in Ling Province.

Later, after his sect was annihilated by Old Dong, he had a stroke of fortune in disaster. Old Dong took a liking to him, adopted him as a son, and made him a commander in the Divine Mansion Army.

Many commanders among the thirty-six camps had similar origins.

It was precisely because of these backgrounds that they turned a deaf ear to Sect Leader Murong Tian’s directives and listened only to Dong Wanjun’s orders.

Of course, many within the Divine Mansion Sect were unhappy with this arrangement, but the commanders of the thirty-six camps were just too damn good at fighting.

While there were certainly powerful fighters among the sect’s members, those who reached such a high level had no interest in being a mere grunt in the Divine Mansion Army, living a precarious, thankless life.

"Brother Bai, follow me."

Zhao Han spoke flatly, his tone far from enthusiastic.

Unlike on the Thirteen Peaks, members of the Divine Mansion Army mostly addressed each other as "brother" rather than the formal "martial brother."

Even though Bai Yuan was Old Dong’s disciple, Zhao Han still couldn’t bring himself to like him.

His attitude wasn’t directed at Bai Yuan personally; he treated all disciples from the Divine Mansion Sect this way.

It wasn’t out of jealousy. Rather, most of these disciples were arrogant, proud, and unruly, constantly causing major trouble.

In the Divine Mansion Army, any trouble had to be paid for with lives.

Therefore, he felt his attitude toward Bai Yuan was already quite good. With anyone else, he would have been even colder.

Yu Hui took all of this in. 𝑓𝘳𝑒𝑒𝓌𝘦𝘣𝘯ℴ𝑣𝘦𝑙.𝘤𝑜𝑚

As one of the most senior veterans in the Divine Mansion Army, he naturally knew what Zhao Han was thinking, but he had no intention of speaking up for Bai Yuan.

He did indeed admire Bai Yuan and felt the kid was a natural-born killer. However, to become a major figure who held the power of life and death, one needed much tempering. If he couldn’t even handle Zhao Han, then there was no need to continue thinking so highly of him.

Yu Hui clapped Bai Yuan on the shoulder with a knowing smile, as if to say:

"Welcome to the Divine Mansion Army."

Bai Yuan rolled his eyes internally.

’Are we playing at being Amazon special forces here?’

’I came to the Divine Mansion Army for only two things: killing people and killing demons.’

The Divine Mansion Army had been one of his goals for coming to the Divine Mansion Sect in the first place.

’Getting to kill people openly... it’s just too satisfying. A perfect match for my cheat ability.’

The Divine Mansion Army’s reputation within the sect wasn’t prominent; to ordinary disciples, it had less prestige than even the Law Enforcement Hall. But to the powers outside the sect, the Divine Mansion Army was a force of demons, gods of slaughter—the most terrifying blade in the Divine Mansion Sect’s hand.

Countless factions in Huanglong Prefecture had been annihilated under the iron heel of the Divine Mansion Army.

Besides quelling rebellions within Huanglong Prefecture, the Divine Mansion Army was also responsible for fighting other powers from Ling Province that coveted Huanglong Prefecture. That was the real Chaotic Scene.

The Wei Camp was responsible for guarding the South City, a cushy assignment that countless people dreamed of.

After all, Huanglong Prefecture City was right next to the Divine Mansion Sect; no major trouble was likely to break out.

Moreover, one could use their status in the Divine Mansion Army to extort from the wealthy households in the South City. The pickings were incredibly rich.

Rumor had it that Zhao Han was originally in the Slaughter Camp, where the most killing occurred, and was only demoted to become a commander in the Wei Camp later.

He knew better than anyone what kind of place the Wei Camp was.

That was why Zhao Han assumed Bai Yuan was just like the other scions from powerful families—there only to burnish his reputation.

It was no wonder he had such an attitude.