It was clear that Yanyue City's people had been driven half-mad by the torment of those half-human, half-fish monsters. As soon as the rallying order was given, the response was immediate and fierce. Both the local gentry and common folk reacted with a grim, determined enthusiasm. Countless citizens grabbed whatever weapons they could find—hoes, kitchen knives, and sharpened farming tools—and they hurried toward the city square. The metallic tang of sharpened steel and the earthy scent of unwashed commoners filled the air.
In Great Wei, the martial spirit ran deep. Even the scholars were often sturdy men who were ready for a fight, their ink-stained fingers now gripping spear shafts with surprising strength. Under the heavy, suffocating atmosphere of hatred and fear, they all took up arms, eager to finally settle the score. Everyone knew the merfolk's weakness. They feared the sunlight. Under its brilliant rays, their strength withered and their scaly bodies betrayed them. Now that they had located the monsters' nest, there was no reason to hesitate any longer.
In barely the time it takes to blink, an army of five thousand strong was mustered. They surged through the city gates like a tidal wave of righteous fury, their boots kicking up clouds of yellow dust. Yanyue City wasn't a grand metropolis. It was too small and remote to even host an official Demon Slayer Division outpost. In this new age where cultivators held real power, ordinary armies were becoming obsolete. Only forces composed of true cultivators remained truly formidable.
Thus, the emperor's control over distant regions like this had steadily weakened. It would be more accurate to say he could no longer control Great Wei's vastness at all. Inside the governor's command tent, which had been set up on a hill overlooking the coast, Su Min lounged in the honor seat. She crossed her legs, idly watching the mustered troops assemble below while the salt wind ruffled her hair. She casually reminded Governor Jia of the plan.
"My identity is a bit... special," she said, her voice low. "If I act too soon, it might startle the big fish into fleeing back to the depths. The weeds must be uprooted completely, all at once. For now, your men's main task is to draw that fiend out into the open."
Governor Jia nodded heavily, his face set in grim lines that looked as though they were carved from stone. "Understood. We have ten warriors at the Body Refining Stage among the troops. That should be enough to tear through those lesser creatures' defenses. We shouldn't need to trouble you to act against them." He hesitated for a brief moment, his confidence faltering as he looked toward the gray horizon. "However… that final clam demon, I'm afraid it's far beyond our capabilities."
"The shell on that thing must be incredibly hard," Su Min mused. She tapped her fingers lightly on her chair's armrest. "And it's hidden in the sea. Our opportunities to strike will be few and fleeting. To kill it, its defense must be shattered in a single, decisive blow."
She wasn't entirely sure of the creature's true cultivation level, but it was most likely in the Late Qi Refining Stage. Ultimately, it didn't matter much. Su Min was fully prepared. Against a true Foundation Establishment cultivator, the risk would be high, but against another being in the Qi Refining realm, she was confident she could take them down.
"Then—march!" Governor Jia roared, his voice cutting through the morning air.
With his command, the five thousand strong army rumbled into motion. It was a tidal surge of steel, leather, and human fury marching toward the coast. She, meanwhile, vanished from the tent. She used her movement technique to hide herself nearby, her form a flickering shadow in the brush, ready to act the moment the true target appeared.
The fishing village wasn't far. In this primitive world, communications were so poor that even villages just ten kilometers apart could live utterly isolated lives. Some might never interact across generations, and thus news of horror rarely spread. By the time the army arrived, the sun had climbed to its zenith. It was high noon, when the sunlight blazed brightest and most punishing. The merfolk would be at their absolute weakest.
The vanguard officers frowned as they drew closer. The village was far too quiet. In this ancient era, where every moment of daylight was precious for those fighting hunger, such an eerie, total silence was deeply unnatural. It was late autumn, and the crisp air bit at the skin even though the first snows hadn't yet fallen.
"This must be it," Governor Jia said grimly. His gaze fixed on the distant, sleeping village. "No mistake, their nest lies here."
"Everyone, charge with me! Leave no one alive!"
Without further hesitation, Governor Jia raised his sword high. After a brief, tense silence, the command echoed across the ranks. In perfect, disciplined formation, thousands of soldiers spread out and charged toward the village.
Rumble...!
The ground shook with their thundering advance. At last, the village stirred. From the dilapidated thatched huts, old men and women stumbled out, their eyes wide with shock and disbelief at the army's sight. Governor Jia's jaw tightened. There was no pity in his heart. He knew the truth. He rushed forward, his blade a silver flash. The man's pale, weathered head flew high into the air.
He knew everyone here was guilty. The only reason these elders hadn't transformed into fish monsters themselves was that their bodies were too old and frail to survive the violent mutation. There were no innocents left in this cursed place.
"Kill!"
The army crashed through the flimsy huts, scattering straw and splintered wood with ease. The vanguard alone, with their enhanced strength, could have torn the entire village to pieces.
Screeeeech—!
Suddenly, a sharp, grating shriek, unlike any human sound, tore through the air. From the ruins and hidden cellars, dozens of monstrous figures leapt out. They slashed at the nearest soldiers with webbed claws and broken fishing spears. The moment they stepped into the direct sunlight, they cried out in agony. They clutched their overly large, sensitive eyes. Their monstrous bodies writhed and smoked helplessly under the burning light. Without a moment's hesitation, the soldiers descended upon them. Blades rose and fell, cutting the crippled creatures down one after another.
These monsters had tormented the people for too long, bringing fear and death in the night. Now that vengeance was within reach, how could the soldiers possibly show mercy? Watching from her concealed position, Su Min couldn't help but click her tongue in amazement. It was a small fishing village, home to at most two or three hundred souls. Among them, perhaps sixty or seventy had been transformed into those half-human abominations.
In the dark of night, these creatures could have wreaked terrible devastation. But under the sun's unforgiving gaze, they were utterly helpless, mere lambs before the butcher.
She had yet to move. Her gaze, half-lidded and focused, was fixed on the distant beach. Spiritual energy began to pulse sharply around her, a contained storm waiting to be unleashed. At that moment, the witch-like priestess Su Min had seen the day before stumbled out of a hut. She clutched a peculiar, conch-like seashell and scrambled toward the shoreline. Kneeling upon the wet sand, she began to chant in that same strange, guttural language.
Suddenly, the calm sea erupted. Winds howled, the sky darkened with churning clouds, and the water's surface twisted inwards, forming a vast, terrifying whirlpool. From that spinning abyss's center, a monstrous creature rose.
It was a giant clam demon. Its shell towered over ten meters high, gleaming with a nacreous, alien light under the noon sun. The soldiers faltered. Their advance stalled as they stared, stunned and horrified by the sight.
"Loose the arrows!" Governor Jia barked sharply, breaking the spell of fear.
Archers stationed in the rear immediately pulled their bowstrings taut, releasing a dense flurry of shafts toward the colossal clam. The arrows clattered harmlessly against the creature's shell. They bounced off with sharp, metallic chimes before vanishing into the churning sea. A few of the strongest Body Refining warriors leapt high into the air, their spiritual energy flaring and their weapons poised for a powerful strike.
They came down with all their might.
Clang! Clang!
Their blows rang out like great bells being struck, but they failed even to scratch the creature's nacreous surface. The clam demon seemed to shudder, and then it roared, a deep, gurgling sound that vibrated through the very air. It opened its maw wide. From its dark throat, a torrent of pressurized water arrows burst forth, shooting toward the army like a deadly, horizontal storm.
In that instant, every soldier on the front line felt the chill of imminent death. The creature's overwhelming might pressed down on them like a physical mountain. If that attack landed, hundreds would die in a heartbeat, enough to shatter their morale and break the army completely.
"Immortal Fairy—save us!" Governor Jia bellowed at the top of his lungs, casting aside all pretense and protocol.
As his voice echoed across the battlefield, the trees and shrubs at the beach's edge suddenly surged upward. They grew with impossible, visible speed. Vines thickened, trunks expanded, and in the blink of an eye, a dense, living barrier of thick, intertwined wood rose from the earth. It planted itself firmly between the soldiers and the deadly water barrage.
The clam demon's water arrows slammed against the wooden shield with tremendous force, but they couldn't penetrate it. The water splattered harmlessly, soaking the thick bark but leaving the soldiers behind it completely unharmed. The path was clear for Su Min to act.