“Damn it, they're here so fast.”
Jin Sha slammed his fist onto the city wall. Staring at the oncoming beasts with gritted teeth, he ordered, “Quick, activate the city-protecting array! Every second we hold them off counts. We absolutely cannot let those beasts enter the city!”
“Yes, sir!”
The soldiers mobilized immediately upon receiving the order, taking up their designated positions in an orderly fashion.
Though fear and dread showed on their faces, not a single one of them retreated.
For their families were inside this very city.
“Elder, we must go outside the city to face the enemy,” City Lord Jin Sha said. “The city-protecting array was already damaged during the previous two beast tides. If we let those beasts cross the boundary, the array won't be able to withstand them at all.”
“Very well, I shall go with you.”
The Yuhui Immortal Sect elder agreed without a moment's hesitation.
Before leaving, he instructed the dozen or so disciples, “Do not try to be heroes. Stay within the array. If you encounter an enemy you cannot defeat, band together immediately and wait for my return.”
“Understood!”
The disciples immediately bowed deeply.
They knew that the elder might not return from this excursion, but they were powerless. Their cultivation was simply too weak; going out there would only make them a burden.
“Good. You are all obedient, good children.”
With that, the only two Golden Core Realm cultivators in Black Cloud Border City charged out of the city, heading out to face the army of tens of thousands of demon beasts head-on.
Seeing this, Wang Xuanyi had no intention of sitting around waiting for death. While everyone else was tense and focused on the enemy, he used his knack for having an extremely low presence to slip away.
He wasn't running away in the literal sense; rather, he went to inspect the damaged city-protecting array.
Being able to withstand two beast tides and serve as a border city of the Great Xia Dynasty meant that Black Cloud Border City's protecting array was by no means ordinary.
The more chaotic the environment, the more one needed to think calmly.
What Wang Xuanyi could do was repair and strengthen the city-protecting array while City Lord Jin Sha and the Yuhui Immortal Sect elder were out fighting.
Otherwise, relying solely on two Golden Core cultivators and a group of Foundation Establishment cultivators, the city would fall sooner or later. It was only a matter of time.
“The Grand Dao has fifty pathways; Heaven derives forty-nine, leaving one to escape...”
“All things in the world possess a sliver of hope for survival.”
Wang Xuanyi silently chanted the mantra, and his eyes were once again covered by heterochromatic eyes. Eerie patterns gradually formed a floral design within his pupils.
The flower, originating from an unknown place, was filled with ominous and eerie energy. These immortal eyes, existing between life and death, saw through all illusions in the world to reveal the absolute truth.
“Netherworld Immortal Eyes, open!”
His eyes became bizarre and sinister. Massive eyeballs seemed to look down upon the entire city, observing everything within it, solely to seek that single sliver of hope.
“Hmm?”
Within the thunderclouds, as if sensing something, a pair of purple eyes slowly opened. Purple lightning burst forth from them, making the thunderclouds even denser and more sinister.
“Was it an illusion?”
With that, it closed its eyes once again.
Inside Black Cloud City, Wang Xuanyi's gaze shifted rapidly. In just a brief moment, he located all the array cores and quickly began repairing them.
Over his many years of cultivation, apart from his reckless dedication to the path of immortality, Wang Xuanyi had also mastered alchemy, arrays, and blacksmithing to an almost miraculous degree.
All of this was thanks to his nearly monstrous cultivation awareness.
When he first arrived in this cultivation world, saying he wasn't excited would be a lie.
Longevity, eternity, destiny—his youthful passion had been ignited. How could he spend his life in mediocrity, or become a stepping stone for others, trampled upon like a stray dog by the roadside?
While Wang Xuanyi was repairing the array, the battlefield outside the city grew even more grim.
Although City Lord Jin Sha and the elder were incredibly powerful, their opponents were no pushovers. In particular, the five Shapeshifted Grand Demons constantly breached their defensive lines, relying on the exceptionally robust physical bodies of demon beasts.
“Old man, die!”
The tiger grand demon attacked, striking forward with its sharp claws. A wild, savage aura filled the air, and the demonic runes on its body glowed brilliantly. The faint phantom of a fierce tiger materialized behind it.
Roar!
The tiger roared furiously. Its claws, sharp as weapons, gleamed with cold light, carrying a violent force that seemed to tear through space itself.
Splat!
Unable to dodge in time, the elder took the full force of the blow. Blood spewed from his mouth as several deep, striking bloody gashes appeared on his back, and he was sent flying backward uncontrollably.
“Slash!”
Just as the tiger demon was gloating, City Lord Jin Sha materialized behind it. He swung his blade coldly, and a majestic sword intent crashed down from above, slashing the tiger demon and causing it to cough up blood from severe injuries.
City Lord Jin Sha did not let his guard down. Sidestepping to dodge a bolt of lightning from above, he rushed toward the elder's position.
The tide of battle shifted in the blink of an eye.
Both sides had suffered casualties.
Seeing this, the bear demon, the dark demon, and the stone demon attacked simultaneously, intending to quickly finish off the elder before dealing with City Lord Jin Sha.
“Wild Sand Seal!”
However, City Lord Jin Sha was exceptionally fast. Before he even arrived, a palm imprint struck first. A golden palm materialized in midair, pressing down with countless runes, determined to crush the three Shapeshifted Grand Demons.
“Hmph, a mere palm strike.”
The stone demon snorted coldly. Its body expanded rapidly, reaching dozens of zhang in height in the blink of an eye as it used its rock-hard body to withstand the blow.
Thud!
When the palm imprint collided with the stone demon, ripples vibrated through the air. The dull, heavy sound resembled a temple monk striking an ancient bell, echoing with immense force.
“Ignore me, kill that old man first!”
Blood trickled from the corner of the stone demon's mouth; it was clearly not in good shape either.
But whether they could effectively reduce the enemy's combat strength was of paramount importance.
One-on-one, none of the five were a match for City Lord Jin Sha. But five-on-one, they had more than enough to overwhelm him.
Unfortunately, their concentrated assault had been largely absorbed by the elder, which was why they had been unable to defeat City Lord Jin Sha for so long.
Below, the horde of lesser demons swarmed forward wildly. The dark demon and the bear demon hesitated no longer, nodding to each other before launching another attack at the old man.
Although the elder was severely injured, he was not someone these lesser demons could easily handle. The gap in realm and strength was not something low-realm cultivators could bridge.
“Yuhui Sword Shadows!”
The elder formed a hand seal, conjuring hundreds of sword qi that slashed in all directions. Flesh and blood flew everywhere as hundreds of demon beasts were decapitated in the blink of an eye.
Boom!
Just then, the bear demon brought down a powerful palm strike, hitting the elder squarely in the chest. The sheer, raw power sent him flying once more.
Pfft!
The elder spat out another mouthful of blood. He was covered in blood, his pristine white robes now dyed crimson, and his aging body was covered in countless wounds.
Some were from the demon beasts, some from his own overexertion.
The most shocking wounds were the claw marks from the tiger demon earlier and the palm imprint on his chest, which had severely damaged his internal organs and stripped him of most of his combat strength.
“I really am getting old. I can barely even hold my sword anymore.”
The elder stared at his trembling hands. Blood clots blurred his vision, leaving him only able to make out a hazy view of the countless demon beasts charging toward him.
“Elder, run! Leave this place to me!”
City Lord Jin Sha shouted anxiously. He wanted to rush over to help, but he was constantly besieged by the surrounding lesser demons and had to trade blows with the tiger demon from time to time, leaving him with no room to spare.
On the city wall, the disciples of the Yuhui Immortal Sect wept bitterly as they watched this tragic scene, screaming for the elder to retreat.
Yu Linglong felt it even more acutely.
She was the one who had accepted this mission, originally intending to hone her own strength. She had never expected it to end like this, resulting in the tragic loss of an elder.
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