The imperial guards behind her reacted extremely quickly, drawing their weapons one after another and assuming a battle stance.
Xiao Cen also drew her longsword, her gaze locked onto the rapidly approaching yellow dust.
The border of the Northern Wilderness had always been peaceful.
In fact, Shuolin City had not seen a large-scale beast tide in many years.
How could this happen so suddenly?
In the blink of an eye, the yellow dust swept toward them.
Only then did Xiao Cen see clearly that there were over a hundred spirit beasts in this wave.
These spirit beasts were of various species, clumped together in a chaotic mass as they fled frantically toward the south.
Their eyes were bloodshot and their expressions terrified; they had clearly lost all reason.
However, most of the spirit beasts in this batch were only at the Golden Core Realm.
She could still handle them.
“Form a formation!”
At Xiao Cen's command, the guards behind her immediately dispersed.
The guards at the very front raised their defensive artifacts, forming a spiritual energy barrier.
Meanwhile, the cultivators in the rear launched their attacks simultaneously.
Sword light, blade energy, and various spells rained down upon the beast tide.
Several spirit beasts charging at the front fell to the ground on the spot.
Yet, the spirit beasts behind them did not pause for even a second. They trampled over the corpses of those in front and continued charging toward the group.
Pushing off the ground, Xiao Cen met them head-on with her sword.
She slashed her sword at the leading giant-horned bull beast.
The sharp sword Qi struck the bull's head, instantly slaying the late stage Golden Core spirit beast.
Twisting her body to avoid a wasteland wolf leaping at her from the side, she swept her sword outward in another strike.
Several spirit beasts were blown away by the sword Qi simultaneously.
The two sides quickly clashed in a chaotic battle.
As Xiao Cen swung her sword, she observed the spirit beasts before her.
Although these spirit beasts were maddened, they showed no intention of actively hunting or devouring the cultivators.
They seemed more like they were fleeing.
Even when attacked, they were merely acting on instinct to clear the obstacles blocking their path.
Had something appeared deep within the Northern Wilderness?
The unease in Xiao Cen's heart grew stronger.
There were likely even stronger spirit beasts following behind.
She turned to look at the guards behind her.
“You two, return to Shuolin City immediately.”
“Report this to the City Lord and have the City Lord's Estate send reinforcements as soon as possible.”
“Leave this place to me.”
The two Nascent Soul guards immediately took their orders.
“Yes.”
The two broke away from the battlefield and rushed toward Shuolin City.
The remaining guards continued to work with Xiao Cen to hold off the spirit beasts.
This battle lasted for a long time.
Once the final spirit beast fell, silence finally returned to the surroundings.
The wasteland was littered with the corpses of spirit beasts.
Many of the imperial guards had also been injured.
Clutching her sword, Xiao Cen slowly steadied her breathing.
She had consumed a portion of her spiritual energy, but not to the point where she could no longer fight.
As long as she waited for the people from the City Lord's Estate to arrive, everything should be fine.
However, just as she let her guard down, a low, rumbling sound echoed from the distance once more.
The ground began to vibrate again.
The commotion this time was far more violent than before.
Xiao Cen abruptly raised her head.
The yellow dust in the distance, which had just begun to settle, rose once more, forming a wall of earth that virtually blotted out the sky.
Even more chaotic beast roars echoed from afar.
Just by the sound alone, she could tell that far more spirit beasts were appearing this time.
“This is bad.”
Xiao Cen's expression turned grim.
Her spiritual energy was already heavily depleted, but she absolutely could not retreat now.
Shuolin City lay not far behind them.
If the beast tide were allowed to charge straight to the city gates, it would undoubtedly cause massive casualties.
The second wave of the beast tide was several times larger than the first.
Among them, besides a vast number of Golden Core spirit beasts, there were also many Nascent Soul spirit beasts.
Gripping her longsword tightly, Xiao Cen charged forward once again.
A late stage Nascent Soul giant bear roared and swiped its paw at her.
Xiao Cen sidestepped the massive paw and thrust her sword into its shoulder.
Howling in pain, the giant bear grew even more crazed, turning around to lunge at her again.
On the other side, two mid stage Nascent Soul spirit wolves also launched an attack simultaneously.
Activating her movement technique, Xiao Cen darted between the three spirit beasts, spinning around to unleash a wave of sword Qi.
The sword Qi wounded one of the spirit wolves but failed to kill it outright.
As the battle dragged on, the spiritual energy within her body drained faster and faster.
Spirit beasts were naturally stronger than human cultivators of the same realm.
Now that these beasts were entirely maddened, completely oblivious to pain and retreat, they were significantly harder to deal with than ordinary spirit beasts.
Although Xiao Cen had already reached the mid stage Soul Transformation Realm, it was impossible for her to block all the spirit beasts on her own.
The imperial guards by her side were also beginning to suffer casualties.
This couldn't go on.
Relying on her alone as a high-level cultivator was not enough to hold off such a massive beast tide.
Yet, the reinforcements from the City Lord's Estate had still not arrived.
What should she do?
Just as Xiao Cen was racking her brain for a solution, a sudden whistling sound echoed from the sky.
A magnificent silver-white airship pierced through the vast clouds of yellow dust, appearing directly above the battlefield.
The airship traveled at an incredible speed.
Pale gold array runes glowed upon its hull, and a transparent protective barrier enveloped its exterior.
Xiao Cen looked up.
The silver-white airship rapidly descended, finally coming to a halt on an open clearing not far from the battlefield.
The cabin door opened, and a young female cultivator stepped out of the airship.
She wore a magnificent, ink-black dress adorned with flowing dark-gold patterns, her wide sleeves billowing in the wasteland wind.
Her long hair was tied behind her back, and a silver-blue longsword hung at her waist.
Though she appeared young, her aura was incredibly steady and profound.
It was none other than Yun Heng.
As soon as Yun Heng stepped off the airship, she saw Xiao Cen and the others locked in battle with the spirit beasts.
It seemed she had arrived just in time.
She walked briskly toward the battlefield and drew the Tianheng Sword.
The moment the blade left its scabbard, a silver-blue sword light suddenly flared.
Just as a mid stage Nascent Soul spirit beast was about to pounce on an injured guard, Yun Heng appeared before it.
She channeled the Tianheng Sword Art.
A flash of sword light swept past.
The spirit beast's body collapsed heavily onto the ground.
Sensing danger, another nearby spirit beast immediately pivoted and lunged at Yun Heng.
The longsword in Yun Heng's hand slashed down once more.
Another strike.
The second spirit beast fell.
Though Xiao Cen was bewildered by the sudden appearance of this female cultivator, she knew now was not the time to ask about her identity.
The other party was clearly here to help.
Swallowing a pill to restore her spiritual energy, she held her sword and charged at the remaining spirit beasts alongside Yun Heng.
Yun Heng was currently at the late stage Soul Transformation Realm.
She felt almost no pressure facing these spirit beasts, whose highest cultivation was only at the Nascent Soul Realm.
Her figure darted swiftly through the beast tide.
With every flash of sword light, a spirit beast would fall.
One strike, one beast.
Clean and efficient.
With Yun Heng sharing the burden, Xiao Cen was finally able to fight without holding back.
Flanking from the left and right, the two pushed steadily through the beast tide.
Before long, the second wave of the beast tide was completely wiped out.
Standing amidst the scattered corpses of spirit beasts, Xiao Cen had very little spiritual energy left in her body.
She looked at Yun Heng, who stood there sheathing her sword, her eyes filled with curiosity.
To possess a Soul Transformation cultivation at such a young age and travel alone in such a Heaven-grade airship—the other party was clearly no ordinary cultivator.
Xiao Cen clasped her hands and bowed to her.
“Thank you, Fellow Daoist, for your assistance.”
“May I ask who you are?”
Yun Heng replied simply.
“I am Yun Heng.”
Almost the instant she heard this name, Xiao Cen recalled the event that had shocked the Eastern Region five years ago.
The protagonist of that incident was also named Yun Heng.
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