Volume 1, Chapter 222 – Completion

“Kill!!” “Roar—”

Deafening battle cries, mixed with countless roars, drifted across the sky.

Rumble, rumble, rumble!

The armored torrent formed by countless soldiers of the Demon-Suppressing Army, carrying thunder-like hoofbeats with it, slammed into the beast tide surging forward like a flood.

Dust filled the heavens, clinging to the waves of blood thrown up into the air, so that a blood-colored mist hung over the entire battlefield, and the baleful aura of bloodshed shot straight into the Nine Heavens.

To one side of the main battlefield, there were also many figures with different auras. Every gesture they made surged with thick true qi, and each strike killed dozens or even hundreds of demon beasts.

“Whoosh—whoosh—”

A rain of arrows whistled out from behind the battlefield, blotting out the sky as it pressed down on the beast tide in a vast blanket, slaughtering countless beasts.

The battle line stretched for over a hundred li. Everything was in chaos, and command could no longer be effectively carried out. Everyone could only use every means they had to kill all the demon beasts within sight.

This place was now less than ten thousand li from Xianwu City. The demon beasts were gathering ever more densely; on this battlefield alone, there were no fewer than a million of them, their demonic aura soaring into the heavens.

It had already been over half a month since Shi Lan left home. During these past two weeks, the Demon-Suppressing Army had not rested for even a moment. Large-scale operations were launched again and again, joining forces with martial artists from other factions to exterminate the demon beasts. Battles involving hundreds of thousands at a time were common, and the scale of the war was immense.

Countless people, whether willingly or by force, had been dragged into it.

Shi Lan held a longbow in her hands. Void-Shattering Arrows flew from the string without pause, yet they still could not keep up with the speed at which the beast tide surged forward.

When the beasts closed to within a hundred zhang, a cold light flashed in Shi Lan’s eyes. She put away the Thunderclap Bow, gripped her long sword, leaped from the horse’s back, and strode through the air.

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Thick true qi burst from her body, forcing the blood mist around her back several hundred zhang. The frenzied beast tide was already right before her.

Zheng!

Golden Rainbow flashed in Shi Lan’s hand, drawing out a sword qi hundreds of zhang long as she plunged into the beast tide like a falling meteor.

Whoosh—

The sword qi swept out, and a blood lotus bloomed within the beast tide.

“Roar—” “Screech—”

All the demon beasts within a hundred zhang of Shi Lan were chopped into several pieces, torn apart by the sword qi. Not a single one escaped.

Countless shrill beast cries rang out. Blood and shredded flesh surged like waves, staining the sky red.

Whoosh—boom!

Shi Lan had just slashed out with her sword and was about to follow with another flowing sword move when the ground beneath her feet suddenly shook violently, splitting open into countless ravines, and a berserk gale swept at her from behind.

Countless figures were swept up by the gale and thrown into the beast tide.

Shi Lan steadied herself and turned to look, only to blanch in shock. A two-headed golden lion the size of a mountain had landed in the army formation, crushing who knew how many soldiers of the Demon-Suppressing Army to death.

Terrifying fissures stretching for several thousand zhang spread out from beneath it.

“Roar—”

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The two-headed lion let out a long howl, and the visible sound waves blasted through space itself. Some of the people who were slightly too close had no time to flee before they exploded into clouds of blood, leaving not even bones behind.

With such ferocious might, no Heavenly Astral Realm demon beast could possibly possess this kind of strength. This was a peerless Demon King that had come in its true form.

“You evil beast!”

With an angry shout, an armored figure crossed through space and arrived. A blazing palm seal struck out, shoving the two-headed lion sideways for more than a hundred li.

Before Shi Lan could settle herself, several more figures appeared in the sky. They flashed like streaks of light for an instant, then their bodies rapidly swelled in midair, transforming into giant beasts thousands of zhang in size before crashing down.

Boom! Boom! Boom!

“Ah!” “Hiss—”

Terrifying explosions rang out one after another, shaking heaven and earth. Sand and stone swept across the battlefield. In an instant, severed limbs flew through the air, flood-dragon horses screamed, and the ground was littered with dead and wounded!

The bodies of those giant beasts were simply too terrifying. Wherever they moved, countless died, and their slaughter stained the heavens!

Several Demon-Suppressing Generals and human experts followed close behind, crossing through space to engage them and drag the battle into the beast tide, barely managing to check the slaughter by those Demon Kings.

Shi Lan drew a light breath, steadied her mind, and tightened her grip on Golden Rainbow once more.

…

[1000/1000] [Main Quest complete. Reward issued.] [Congratulations, Host. You have obtained one portion of Ancient Enlightenment Tea.]

Just as she had done countless times before, Shi Lan raised her hand and slashed out a sword aura, tearing apart a giant crocodile, when the system’s notification suddenly sounded in her ear.

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But at this moment, she had no mind to spare for such things. Without the slightest distraction, she swung the sword in her hand once more.

…

After killing the last demon beast before her, Shi Lan finally came back to herself from the numb slaughter. She stood with her sword planted in the ground, feeling the exhaustion rising from the depths of her body.

Because the Black Domain had been pushed to its limit, waves of stabbing pain were also coming from her mind.

This was true utter exhaustion. Every last shred of her strength had been wrung dry.

Even with the Black Domain absorbing blood and qi to sustain her, under such intense fighting it was still far from enough.

When she looked back, fewer than a hundred people remained standing behind her. Every one of them was deathly pale, their breathing like broken bellows, gasping without cease.

The flood-dragon horses had long since collapsed to the ground, their eyes rolled white and their bellies heaving violently.

Their muscles convulsed, and with the stench of blood all around them, many people bent over retching. But aside from a mouthful or two of sour water, there was nothing else left. Everything in their stomachs had already been completely consumed.

“Th-thank… thank you, Thousand… Commander, for… saving our lives.” “We will… never forget… today’s grace.”

Several Centurions, Wang Ning among them, were the first to recover somewhat, and they bowed deeply in thanks.

“Thank… you, Thousand Commander.”

The remaining dozens of survivors gradually recovered as well and likewise bowed in great gratitude.

If Shi Lan had not borne the vast majority of the frontal pressure on the battlefield just now, then even if they had had several times as many men, they still would have been buried in the beast tide. How could they possibly have held on until now?

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Shi Lan closed her eyes and shook her head. Her body remained completely motionless as she relied on her Innate spiritual body to draw in spiritual qi on its own and restore her strength. Her breathing gradually lengthened and steadied.

As for the others, unable to endure the spasms in their stomachs, they picked up the blood-stained blades from the ground, skinned the corpses of the demon beasts on the spot, carved off raw flesh, and stuffed it directly into their mouths.

Scenes like this were everywhere across the battlefield. At a glance, all one could see were people devouring raw demon beast flesh.

This kind of prolonged chaotic battle consumed far too much stamina. If they still did not eat, these people who had only just managed to survive the fighting would likely die of exhaustion.

Several soldiers brought a few cut pieces of beast meat over to Shi Lan.

“Thousand Commander? Thousand Commander?”

After calling to her several times and seeing no response, they did not dare disturb her further, only assuming that she was circulating her cultivation to recover from her injuries, and withdrew to one side.

Several hours later, the sky had grown dim. Shi Lan recovered her awareness, opened her eyes in some confusion, and after sweeping her gaze around, suddenly understood.

She had actually fallen asleep without noticing.

Her body, nourished by spiritual qi, had already recovered by more than half, and a fair portion of her combat strength had returned as well.

After circulating her true qi slightly, Shi Lan discovered, without surprise, that six more acupoints along her back had been opened. She was drawing ever closer to the consummation of the Earth Fiend Realm.

Recalling the reward for the main quest, Shi Lan’s thoughts stirred, and she directly opened the system’s temporary storage.