Volume 1, Chapter 65 – War

Before it even got dark, Nie Yangze had people start the fires and cook, moving dinner up ahead of time.

Everyone had been fighting the monsters** all day and was already utterly exhausted. After eating, each and every one of them was bone-tired, heavy with sleep.

The sun was about to set and there was still no sign of any demonic beasts. Everyone relaxed a little.

Nie Yangze and several centurions including Huangfu Yun ran back and forth along the city wall, urging everyone to perk up and man their posts in full readiness.

At dinner, Shi Lan ate a full two large buckets of demonic beast flesh and blood. Only after circulating the Jade Tempering Art to digest the refined essence did she finally shake off those severe aftereffects.

【34/1000】

Looking at the mission panel and that objective of a thousand Body Tempering Realm demonic beasts, Shi Lan let out a soft sigh. It really was still too difficult.

……

As the last trace of light was swallowed up and the moon rose, it became deathly still before Twin Moon City. Not a single beastly roar could be heard; the calm was uncanny, like the stillness before a storm.

Huangfu Yun and the others grew even more grim, sending out several Innate Realm martial artists again and again to patrol outside, watching for any movement from the demonic beasts.

“Boom——”

“Thud… thud……”

Heavy footsteps rang out from all directions around Twin Moon City, sometimes distant, sometimes close, mixed with the howls and screeches of countless birds and beasts, rising and falling in waves!

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Just then, a bank of dark clouds swept past and blotted out the moonlight. Everything around Twin Moon City sank into gloom; they could see no farther than ten zhang.

Several streaks of light shot up, fanning out in all directions, then returned after the time it took to drink a cup of tea, their owners shouting loudly one after another:

“Over four thousand to the south, number of Innate Realm demonic beasts unknown!”

“Over three thousand to the north, more than four Innate Realm demonic beasts!”

“Over two thousand to the east, three Innate Realm demonic beasts!”

“Nearly eight thousand to the west, more than ten Innate Realm demonic beasts, suspected Earth Fiend Realm demonic beast activity!”

“There’s also a flock of flying beasts above the southwest, specific strength unknown, total number over a hundred!”

Hearing the reports come in, Huangfu Yun and the other centurions immediately scattered toward the four walls. Over three hundred Demon-Suppressing Army soldiers mostly followed Huangfu Yun to the western side, where the demonic beasts were making their main assault.

Shi Lan, along with eight other Demon-Suppressing Army soldiers at the ninth stage of the Body Tempering Realm, was assigned to stand by next to one of the Nine-Bow Bed Crossbows.

The dark clouds dispersed, and by the light of the moon, they could make out, several li away, vague shadows of the herd whose exact numbers were unknown. In the night, they could only see the rough outlines of the demonic beasts, which made the scene all the more chilling.

“Open the crossbows, load every Cloud-Piercing Bolt!” At Huangfu Yun’s command, all twenty Nine-Bow Bed Crossbows on the four walls drew their strings. Every groove was filled with Cloud-Piercing Bolts.

This was no time to be stingy; Twin Moon City could be destroyed at any moment.

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Twang twang twang!

The sound of Cloud-Piercing Bolts leaving the strings exploded again and again, deafening. Their howling flight was like dragon roars and tiger cries, shaking the very sky!

There were only just over two thousand demonic beasts on the eastern side. Three bed crossbows firing together almost wiped this group out.

On the south and north sides, thanks to the might of the Cloud-Piercing Bolts, there were no dangerous situations either.

The herd directly to the west, even after taking the brunt of forty-five Cloud-Piercing Bolts head-on, still had over three thousand beasts remaining.

Huangfu Yun didn’t hesitate for an instant. He gave the order again and had the Nine-Bow Bed Crossbows drawn once more.

There were signs of Earth Fiend Realm demonic beasts among this herd; they absolutely could not be allowed to approach the walls.

With the strength of an Earth Fiend Realm demonic beast, if it got close to the walls, it could inflict serious damage on them. And if it happened to be a nimble type, it could even run straight up the wall itself. There was no one on these walls capable of facing an Earth Fiend Realm demonic beast head-on.

The Cloud-Piercing Bolts once again leapt from the strings, dealing a devastating blow to the herd. Of the remaining three thousand or so beasts, only a pitiful few survived.

Before anyone could breathe a sigh of relief, a piercing birdsong rang out overhead. A dense swarm of black shadows came sweeping in from the southwest at terrifying speed!

“Mount the crossbows!”

Huangfu Yun let out a thunderous shout, stepped in a single stride to the bed crossbow, swung its frame around, drew back the bowstring, and set the Cloud-Piercing Bolts in place.

Nine waves of qi swept out, punching through the flock in the sky. Great chunks of flesh mixed with feathers fell like snow, showering down in a rain of blood!

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The others all raised the Demon-Piercing Crossbows in their hands, aiming at the flock that had already been torn open by the Cloud-Piercing Bolts.

This group of flying beasts was much weaker than those giant eagles from before and couldn’t withstand the sharpness of the Demon-Piercing Crossbows. After a single volley of arrows, the sky was cleared.

Huangfu Yun soared out over the battlefield, made a quick, rough inspection, then picked up several dozen Cloud-Piercing Bolts and returned to the wall.

After this wave of beasts, the distant roars did not lessen in the slightest. Half an hour later, the heavy footsteps rolled in again.

It was obvious the previous wave had only been the vanguard.

Shi Lan rested one hand on the Nine-Bow Bed Crossbow. She had never felt her own insignificance so clearly. Faced with a situation like this, it wasn’t just her—even someone like Huangfu Yun could have only the tiniest impact.

This was war!

Huangfu Yun pressed both hands against the wall, his brows tightly furrowed. There were only about a thousand Cloud-Piercing Bolts in total. Once they were used up, it would be when the demonic beasts were at the very foot of the walls.

Boundless black shadows reappeared in everyone’s field of vision, merging into one, surging forward like a tide that stretched beyond sight.

“Draw the strings!”

The Nine-Bow Bed Crossbows were drawn once more, Cloud-Piercing Bolts loading one after another.

The demonic beasts’ assault crashed against them like waves, one after another. Even with the Nine-Bow Bed Crossbows to rely on, the herd still managed to reach the walls, pressing from all four sides. Shi Lan even felt the stones beneath her feet begin to faintly tremble.

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They were running out of people to defend the city.

Nie Yangze summoned a group of able-bodied men up onto the walls. If one person couldn’t pull a Demon-Piercing Crossbow, then two or three would pull it together. The efficiency was low, but it was still better than having no one.

Once the refined steel bolts were loaded, there was no need to aim. Just point them down at the base of the wall—right now the demonic beasts were like a flood; you could hit them even with your eyes closed.

On top of that, Nie Yangze took all the tung oil in the city’s stores, poured it down, and raised a sea of fire all around Twin Moon City.

These flames were useless against higher-level demonic beasts, but for some of the weaker ones, they could at least slow them down a little. Better than nothing.

Martial artists at and above the Innate Realm hovered around the walls, ready to intercept any Innate Realm demonic beasts that showed their heads and tried to leap onto the battlements.

When there was only one last bundle of Cloud-Piercing Bolts left at their feet, Shi Lan and the others moved away from the Nine-Bow Bed Crossbow, grabbed Demon-Piercing Crossbows, drew the strings and nocked bolts. Huangfu Yun had warned them they had to keep one bundle of Cloud-Piercing Bolts in reserve for any Earth Fiend Realm demonic beasts.

The tung oil set the demonic beast corpses at the base of the wall ablaze. The tongues of flame rose over four zhang high, surging up into the sky, baking the bluestone walls red and lighting up the night.

The air was thick with the stench of blood mixed with the scorched reek of over-roasted corpses. Beastly roars and countless shouts crashed in their ears, making everyone’s hearts restless and on edge.

The demonic beasts below the walls hurled themselves madly into the sea of fire. They didn’t spare a thought for the fur on their bodies that had caught flame, only kept ramming the walls again and again.

Huangfu Yun lifted his hand and slashed out two arcs of blade qi, beheading two Innate Realm demonic beasts. Then he swept his gaze across the battlefield, and in a flash he appeared at Nie Yangze’s side in midair. “First, go have the people in the city gathered into one place!”