Volume 1, Chapter 255 – The Battle Begins

“What does Sacred Venerable mean?”

Before Lan Die’er could finish speaking, radiant Xianwu City suddenly dimmed, and the array patterns that had been shining with brilliant light vanished without a trace.

At the sight, Lan Die’er reacted at once and narrowed her eyes.

“For now, do not launch a full-scale assault. Just have a few of the little ones lead beast packs to harass them.”

The old man gave the order. After staring at one corner of the city wall for a long while, he turned and disappeared into the beast tide. At this moment, the human race’s vigilance was bound to be at its highest. Striking now would not be a good opportunity.

On the battlefield, letting down one’s guard and growing careless was the root of defeat.

Lan Die’er immediately understood. At once, she arranged for several shape-shifted Demon Kings to lead a beast horde of more than seven hundred thousand toward Xianwu City.

…

Shi Lan sat upright atop the city wall, her gaze slowly sweeping across the beast horde advancing in the distance. In her hands, she gently stroked a giant bow covered in thunder-patterns. Nine blue arrows, each over four chi long, hovered quietly in midair and circled at her side.

The Thunderclap Bow and Shattering Void Arrows were a set of top-grade magic treasures Bai Weiyang had specially found for her. At this moment, she was nourishing them with Heavenly Astral true qi, slowly strengthening her connection to them.

The power of this set of magic treasures was astonishing. Back when Shi Lan had still been in the Earth Fiend Realm, she had relied on this very bow and arrows to wound that Heavenly Astral Realm Vajra Demonic Ape. Now that she had entered the Heavenly Astral Realm and was reinforcing them with Heavenly Astral true qi, the power of this set of treasures was enough to leave anyone dumbstruck.

The moment the Xianwu Yin-Yang Grand Array ceased operating, Shi Lan received her deployment order. Bringing the bow and arrows with her, she led her troops to the wall. At this point, those under Bai Weiyang’s command were all the elite among elites, so naturally they stood at the very front.

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In the Demon-Suppressing Army, there was no such thing as cannon fodder. Those active on the front line were always the strongest.

Only those fearless of death were worthy of glorious battle merit and of the chance to climb higher.

“Shi… Lan, everything is ready.”

The voice at her ear broke Shi Lan out of her thoughts.

She lifted her eyes and saw a tall man who looked about twenty-seven or twenty-eight. He was one of the commanders of a thousand whom Bai Weiyang had temporarily placed under her command. His name was Qu Linghuan.

There was something about Qu Linghuan that felt different from most of the Demon-Suppressing Army, somewhat similar to Wu Lingkong. This was something Shi Lan had only recently begun to notice.

That thing was called “great clan background.”

Qu Linghuan, Wu Lingkong, and many of the young officers in the Demon-Suppressing Army were all the same sort of people.

Those born into great clans always differed a little from ordinary people.

Qu Linghuan felt rather awkward at the moment. Logically speaking, Shi Lan was also a commander of a thousand, the same rank as he was, but now he was under her command. On top of that, Shi Lan’s age and cultivation placed no small amount of pressure on him.

The reason Bai Weiyang had not promoted Shi Lan to commander of ten thousand was, first, because the position of commander of ten thousand was different from that of commander of a thousand. It was no longer a minor post, and a Demon-Suppressing General did not have the authority to promote someone directly. The Imperial Court had to be notified to make the appointment. Second, Shi Lan had joined the Demon-Suppressing Army too recently. Rising too fast was not appropriate.

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“Prepare to meet the enemy.”

Shi Lan glanced at the beast horde, which was already less than five miles from Xianwu City, nodded slightly, rose to her feet, and gripped the Thunderclap Bow.

Qu Linghuan did not particularly want to stay around Shi Lan for long either. After nodding in acknowledgment, he immediately withdrew.

Hundreds of thousands of beasts surged forward, trampling through blood-mud several chi thick. Stimulated by the smell of blood, what little intelligence these low-level demon beasts had left was reduced to almost nothing, and they grew ever more frenzied.

The churning stench of blood drew closer and closer. The Demon-Suppressing Army on the wall seemed to be affected by it as well, growing excited, bloodshot veins gradually appearing in their eyes.

Creak!

The perfectly synchronized sound of bowstrings being drawn suddenly rang out, in an instant nearly drowning out the tide-like roars of the beast horde in the distance.

Shi Lan’s Thunderclap Bow had already been drawn as well, with three Shattering Void Arrows nocked on the string.

Twang!

Whoosh!

No command was needed. The moment the beast horde entered the zone within three miles of the city, every bow and crossbow loosed almost at the same instant. Countless arrows tore through the sky in a flash, trailing wave after wave of surging force.

Anyone qualified to wield magical artifacts was, without exception, a martial artist at the Innate Realm or above. At this moment, in the area around Shi Lan alone, there were tens of thousands of martial artists at the Innate Realm or higher. With so many martial artists attacking at once, the might was almost heaven-shaking and earth-rattling. The entire world was filled with the shrieking howl of arrows.

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The explosive crashes of metal-piercing, stone-rending force tore through the layered clouds. With the Xianwu Yin-Yang Grand Array shut down, the demon clouds that had pressed much closer were ripped open as well, letting scattered patches of sunlight shine through.

A distance of three miles to these martial artists was no different from being right before their eyes.

The three arrows Shi Lan fired, wrapped in Heavenly Astral true qi with the power to split mountains and cleave earth, nearly shattered space itself. In the blink of an eye, they slammed into the beast horde, kicking up a towering blood wave hundreds of zhang long. No fewer than several thousand demon beasts died beneath those arrows.

There was no shortage of Heavenly Astral Realm martial artists among those drawing bow and shooting, yet the power of Shi Lan’s three arrows still stood out from the rest.

Those who had once been unconvinced by Shi Lan could not help but feel a little awe. Worshiping the strong was simply the instinct of most living beings, and humans were no exception.

Shi Lan did not pause in the slightest. After glancing at the battle merit in her Demon-Suppressing Token, which was rapidly rising, she drew the bowstring again.

A second rain of arrows immediately soared into the air, beginning to reap the surviving demon beasts.

Under two volleys of arrows, the horde of several hundred thousand beasts was almost wiped out. Aside from those shape-shifted Demon Kings who relied on the laws of space and emerged completely unharmed, only some Heavenly Astral Realm demon beasts survived.

The surviving beasts no longer advanced and instead began retreating in panic.

Before cheers could rise from the city wall, several ripples of space appeared atop the wall. The shape-shifted Demon Kings that had come with the beast tide crossed space almost simultaneously and stepped onto the wall.

Shi Lan’s heart tightened, and a strand of azure sword qi appeared in her hand.

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But before she could move, several chilling sword qì slashed down from the highest heavens.

Before those Demon Kings could react and retreat, the surrounding space had already been sealed shut. With nowhere to evade, their bodies were pierced through by sword qi in the blink of an eye, their divine sense and life force extinguished together.

The terrifying fluctuations of demonic power had only just risen when they were suppressed before they could spread.

To kill so many Demon Kings in the space of a breath, the one who had acted had to be a Heaven-Man mighty expert. Clearly, powerful experts had been standing guard around the city wall the entire time.

Shi Lan relaxed slightly and put away the strand of azure sword qi. That was a protective talisman Yan Mobei had given her. Being able to save it was naturally a good thing.

But…

Looking at the endless beast tide in the distance, Shi Lan suddenly felt an inexplicable sense of unease rise in her heart, as though a pair of eyes were fixed on her, making her scalp crawl.

That unease kept growing inside her, disturbing her mind until she could not settle down.

Forcing down the chill rising within, Shi Lan quietly spread out her Black Domain and began carefully devouring the blood qi dissipating around her. This was the essence of Demon Kings’ flesh and blood. Letting it go to waste would be far too much of a pity.

She could not find the source of that unease, so for the moment, she could only ignore it.