The earth shook, making the pebbles atop the city wall rattle. People sucked in cold breaths as the vibrations beneath their feet told them that the horde was drawing closer to Glory City.
Ye Zong stepped closer to the edge of the city wall, his sharp eyes intently focused on the distance as a grim expression washed over his face.
He could see it now, from the distance came a towering cloud of dust, dark clouds looming above it, and waves of shadowy figures heading toward them. The beasts' howls were still faint, but it wouldn't be long before their deafening roars reached their ears.
"Brother Zong."
Ye Zong was snapped out of his musings as Chen Zhenlong walked to his side. In his hand was the Myriad Soul Puppet Army. Ye Zong glanced at it as Chen Zhenlong handed it to him.
"You're the City Lord, Brother Zong. It's only proper that you command the Myriad Soul Puppet Army once the attack begins."
Ye Zong nodded and accepted the treasure. He gave it a thoughtful look before turning his gaze back to Chen Zhenlong.
"I guess you're going out there to fight," Ye Zong said, making Chen Zhenlong nod.
"Mhm. Although I haven't reached the Demigod rank, I'm still the second-strongest Demon Spiritualist we have right now. I need to be down there to slaughter as many demon beasts as I can," he stated firmly, a fierce expression crossing his face.
"By yourself? That would be dangerous, even with your strength," Ye Zong said concernedly.
Chen Zhenlong shook his head as his lips stretched into a confident grin.
"I'm not alone, Brother Zong. I have my partner with me."
As Chen Zhenlong said those words, a white blur shot down from the sky, landing beside him. Its abrupt landing sent a powerful gust of wind sweeping outward, forcing the people around them to dig their feet into the ground to avoid being blown away.
As the wind settled, Ye Zong was able to see what had landed next to them. His eyes grew wide as a shocked look washed over him.
Standing proudly beside Chen Zhenlong was a towering demon beast that resembled a massive horse. It had snow-white fur, well-defined muscles, and what appeared to be long, flowing clouds extending from the back of its head, tail, and hooves. Its entire appearance was the very definition of majesty and might.
"Ra-ul!"
Ye Zong choked when he heard the massive horse speak. He looked dumbfounded as flashes of memories of a white donkey committing a series of liquor store robberies throughout the city resurfaced in his mind.
"T-That's your demon beast companion, Brother Zhenlong? That's the damned donkey? How?" Ye Zong was genuinely in disbelief. What stood in front of him looked like a Divine Beast, completely different from the alcoholic donkey that had caused him and Chen Zhenlong a headache in the past.
"Hahaha, that's indeed him. Silver. It took him a while to break through to the Legend rank, but it was worth the wait, as his strength has increased massively. I'm afraid he might even be stronger than me now," Chen Zhenlong said with a proud grin as he patted Silver's side, making the white beast let out a proud neigh.
"It's been a while since my partner and I fought together, so it's about time. To show our combined might, we will go to the heart of the demon beast horde and slaughter them. We will cut down their numbers so you guys here won't be overwhelmed by the horde," Chen Zhenlong said in a cold, resolute tone.
"RAUL!" Silver added as a determined glow flashed through his eyes.
Seeing this, Ye Zong was certain that this master and demon beast companion duo would be bathed in blood once the battle began.
ROAR!
An earth-shaking roar entered everyone's ears, making Ye Zong and Chen Zhenlong stop their conversation as they both looked ahead.
In the distance, hundreds upon hundreds of Black Gold rank demon beasts could be seen standing atop the hills, seemingly acting as commanding officers. Their bloodshot eyes locked onto the City wall as they roared, prompting the millions upon millions of lower-ranked demon beasts behind them to rush forward.
This made everyone tense as they braced themselves.
"There they are!"
Chen Zhenlong leapt onto Silver's back as the white beast straightened himself, looking imposing.
"Silver, make your presence known."
At Chen Zhenlong's command, Silver planted his hooves firmly on the pavement, cracking the stone beneath them. A sharp whistling sound filled the air as a massive amount of air was sucked into his body. Silver's chest swelled, his lungs filling with air.
"EVERYONE, COVER YOUR EARS!" Chen Zhenlong shouted, making everyone do as he said.
Before Silver let out a thunderous roar.
"RAAAUULLL!"
The entire St. Ancestral Mountain shook violently as the cluster of dark clouds above Glory City was swept away by Silver's spiritual pressure.
Sensing his mighty presence, the advancing demon beasts lost their footing, causing tens of thousands of them to roll across the ground before being trampled by the advancing wave behind them, killing them in an instant.
In front of Silver's mouth, a beam of pure, condensed spiritual energy shot forth. It whistled through the air as it swept through the enemies like a sickle cutting through grass, vaporizing the advancing demon beasts and killing the first wave in an instant.
After annihilating the small fry, the beam continued on its course, sweeping toward the Black Gold rank demon beasts. Their bodies were frozen in fear, as none of them were able to dodge and could only watch in horror as the beam obliterated them.
"RAUL!" Silver huffed, making smoke billow from his mouth.
That attack alone killed tens of thousands of demon beasts, rendering the first wave annihilated and leaving everyone stunned.
"MY BROTHERS AND SISTERS! DON'T BE AFRAID! BRANDISH YOUR WEAPONS AND SLAUGHTER OUR ENEMIES!" Chen Zhenlong roared, snapping everyone out of their shock. Realizing that they had already killed at least a tens of thousands of beasts from that attack alone, their morale and courage surged. They lifted their weapons as thunderous battle cries echoed along the city walls.
"Raul!" Silver spoke, making Chen Zhenlong nod. From the distance, another wave of demon beasts came into view, among them another batch of a few hundred Black Gold rank demon beasts.
"Xiao Hui was right. Since this is a demon beast horde attack orchestrated by the Demon Beast Clan, you alone aren't enough to deter them from advancing. Here, take these Nine Transformation Pills. That attack must have consumed a lot of your spiritual energy."
"Ra-ul."
Silver let out an annoyed huff as he swallowed a fistful of Nine Transformation Pills.
If this had been a normal demon beast horde, merely showing himself would have been enough to frighten the beasts into retreating. After all, Silver was a Legend rank demon beast. Unfortunately for them, there was a greater force at play here.
ROOOOAAR!
As another wave of demon beasts charged forward, several dozen burning arrows tore through the air. They flew in beautiful arcs before landing in the trenches prepared earlier.
WOOSH!
ROOOAR!
Towering flames burst forth, engulfing the attacking beasts in a hellish inferno. Miserable cries echoed everywhere as more and more demon beasts were pushed into the flames by those advancing from behind.
The sheer number of beasts caused the flames to spread further, their heat intensifying as the fallen bodies piled up, creating a wall of fire that forced the remaining beasts to move in a single direction, surprising everyone with its devastating effectiveness.
"Fascinating. I never knew we could use this kind of method to deal with demon beasts," Huyan Xiong exclaimed in amazement.
"This method was devised by Nie Li. That kid is full of ingenious ideas," Ye Xiu praised. Nie Li had done a good job of killing quite a number of enemies.
"Ha! That's the brat my daughter has her eyes on. Not bad, not bad. If Nie Li is this excellent, I wouldn't mind if he took my daughter as his concubine. After all, that Xue Hui brat isn't interested in her. Hahaha!" Huyan Xiong laughed heartily.
Chen Zhenlong grimaced, remembering the time Huyan Lanruo had cried her heart out inside the Divine Family Mansion after the Huyan Family's marriage proposal was turned down by Xue Hui. Poor lass, she had experienced her first heartbreak.
THUD!
OUCH!
"What the-?!"
Huyan Xiong's laughter abruptly ceased as a head-sized fruit flew toward him, smacking him on the back of the head. Looking behind him, he saw his daughter in her maiden armor, giving him a death glare.
"Ah, I might have said that out loud," Huyan Xiong said sheepishly as he tried to shrink into himself. Ye Zong shook his head at his best friend's antics.
Time passed, and more and more demon beasts fell beneath the heat of the firewall. But it didn't take long before the demon beasts found a way to pass through it.
"Lord Ye Xiu!" Nie Li called out in alarm, making Ye Xiu nod before jumping onto one of the largest ballistas Glory City had. Using his strength, he aimed it toward the enemy, sending its bolt toward the area where the demon beasts were most densely packed.
BOOM!
ROAR!
As soon as it hit its mark, the bolt caused a massive explosion, killing hundreds upon hundreds of beasts at once.
Chen Zhenlong's eyes widened. The explosion reminded him greatly of Xue Hui's Black Blood Ignition.
"W-What?! How did those bolts explode? What did they put on them? That explosion is huge! Look! Some of the Black Gold rank demon beasts were killed by it!" Huyan Xiong exclaimed in shock. He was a bit uneasy knowing that a weapon like that was resting beside them. If one of those things exploded by accident, all of them would be sent flying with their asses charred.
"I'm not sure what it's called, but to my knowledge, it was something Nie Li came up with," Ye Zong answered, looking very surprised as well.
Seeing its effectiveness, Ye Xiu, along with the other experts, fired dozens more bolts, causing a rain of explosions to shake the land below, turning tens of thousands of demon beasts into chunks of meat.
"We have at least a couple hundred bolts with explosives in them. If we continue this, we might be able to kill at least a million more before we need to deploy the Myriad Soul Puppet Army," Ye Zong remarked as he watched the scene in front of him.
His eyes then turned toward the tallest part of the city wall, where Chen Shenxin was cultivating under the effects of the Essence Blood Tempering Array. The beam of light surrounding him had long since turned crimson as wave after wave of essence blood rushed toward it. At the same time, the chaos and destruction in the air further deepened Chen Shenxin's understanding of the Law of Slaughter, increasing his strength by leaps and bounds.
"We can do this," Ye Zong muttered under his breath.
Meanwhile,
ROAR!
WOOSH!
The Silao Grande let out a furious roar as it opened its enormous maw and unleashed a rain of thunderbolts from it. Xue Hui moved at blinding speed, effortlessly dodging the streaks of lightning as they branched out through the air around him, making the surrounding space crackle with electricity. Some of the bolts flew past him before striking a nearby mountain with a deafening boom. Rock and debris flew as the mountaintop was completely annihilated.
Xue Hui looked at it with a serious expression.
"Well, this is more troublesome than I imagined. I might need your help, Big Sis Yu Yan."
As Xue Hui spoke those words, a golden flame burst forth, illuminating the chaotic night with its radiant glow.
End of Chapter 123
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