Volume 1, Chapter 66 – Earth Fiend Realm Demonic Beast

Nie Yangze gave Huangfu Yun a long, deep look, then turned and flew back into the city to arrange for people to notify the commoners.

With such a huge commotion outside the city, there was no way the people inside could sleep peacefully. Every household was brightly lit.

Once they got the notice, everyone gathered in front of the City Lord’s residence.

……

Shi Lan kept drawing the crossbow and nocking bolts. Bundle after bundle of refined steel arrows was spent, and wave after wave of demonic beasts rushed up to die, as if there were no end to them.

Feeding off the beasts’ corpses, the flames burned fiercer and fiercer. Everyone on the city walls could feel waves of scorching heat under their feet.

The constant high temperature had them all drenched in sweat; some Mortals were already showing signs of dehydration.

“Boom!”

A huge black shadow over five zhang long barreled in like a raging gale, parting the sea of fire. It took several heavy steps along the wall, leaving deep pits several chi down with each step, then leapt up onto the battlements!

Shi Lan was less than three zhang from that shadow. By the firelight, she could see every single hair on its body. It was a massive lion, crimson from head to toe; Shi Lan’s whole body wasn’t even as big as one of its paws!

“Roar!”

The giant lion let out a furious bellow, and a terrifying shockwave exploded out. Several Demon-Suppressing Army soldiers in heavy armor beside it were flung away; one of them tumbled off the wall and was swallowed by the sea of fire in an instant.

The lion’s tail, over a zhang long and iron-hard, swept sideways, whipping up a howling gust of wind as it lashed toward the soldiers and commoners holding Demon-Piercing Crossbows. A string of figures was swatted into the air, flung a hundred zhang skyward!

On the Demon-Suppressing Army soldiers hit by its tail, the armor forged of hundred-times-tempered blackiron shattered apart one after another!

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A hint of disdain flashed in the blood-red beast eyes of the giant lion. It was just about to continue its rampage.

“Twang!”

With a thunderous crack, nine waves of qi howled in from the south like nine indestructible divine swords. In an instant they punched through the lion’s body, sending up a great spray of blood!

“Roar——”

The giant lion let out a miserable scream, its massive body blasted sideways for dozens of zhang, then driven off the wall by the terrifying impact carried on those nine waves of qi.

Several centurions had been on guard the whole time against Earth Fiend Realm demonic beasts making a move in the chaos. They were ready; Cloud-Piercing Bolts stayed on the strings. The moment they saw the lion start slaughtering, the centurion guarding the south wall reacted with lightning speed and fired the Nine-Bow Bed Crossbow.

After being rattled by that giant lion, everyone’s hands moved a little faster, and their already jittery nerves frayed even further.

……

“Snap——”

When Shi Lan drew the crossbow again, the bowstring couldn’t withstand such intense, repeated strain anymore and snapped.

She looked around, and only then did she suddenly realize that at some point, the sun had risen once more. Dawn was here.

It wasn’t just Shi Lan’s Demon-Piercing Crossbow whose bowstring had broken. All along the wall, broken crossbows lay scattered; at a glance, there were at least several dozen.

After the sun came up, the demonic beasts’ assault eased slightly. The commoners working the bows had already been replaced again and again. In a battle this intense, plenty of martial artists had already collapsed from exhaustion, let alone Mortals.

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Inside the city, the ground was already covered in the wounded—martial artists who had collapsed from exhaustion and commoners who were utterly spent. Blisters raised by the heat covered every commoner’s feet, raw flesh visible beneath.

A group of townsfolk came up onto the wall and started resupplying the people defending it.

Shi Lan took the bowl of tea someone handed her, drew in two light breaths to speak, and found her throat dry and raspy. After a whole night of smoke and fire, her throat could barely take it.

She drained the tea in one go and coughed lightly twice before she felt even a little better.

The beast tide gradually dispersed, and the flames around the walls died down a good deal. Everyone finally had a chance to catch their breath and simply dropped to the ground, ignoring the scorching heat under them.

Huangfu Yun immediately sent several Innate Realm martial artists who still had strength left outside the city to search for any Cloud-Piercing Bolts that could still be used. He also ordered the gates opened, had people clear the corpses, and retrieve the refined steel arrows.

After a whole night of battle, out of a hundred thousand refined steel arrows, eighty to ninety percent were gone. Of nearly a thousand Cloud-Piercing Bolts, fewer than a hundred remained. There were around two hundred Demon-Piercing Crossbows with snapped strings.

The demonic beasts’ corpses completely blocked the city gates. With help from several Innate Realm martial artists, they spent a long while clearing them before finally opening a path.

Once the flames burned out, the stench of charred corpses grew even stronger. Mixed with the reek of blood, it made people want to retch.

Shi Lan leaned back against the wall with her eyes closed, straining to recover every last shred of strength. She felt terrible right now, her heart filled with a feeling she couldn’t put into words.

Bewilderment, unease, a touch of helplessness, and a nameless killing intent—all sorts of tangled emotions twisted together, leaving her on edge and irritable, her mood utterly stifled, with no idea how to vent it.

“Let me take you away from here,” Samsara suddenly spoke up.

Shi Lan’s thoughts were in turmoil, and for a moment she didn’t know how to answer.

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“Thump——”

A soft sound came from beside her. Shi Lan turned her head and saw someone sit down next to her. She squinted to make them out and finally recognized Jiang Li’s features under the face smeared with soot.

“Here.”

Jiang Li was holding two big bowls of meat broth and passed one to Shi Lan.

“This is a real tonic—flesh and blood from an Earth Fiend Realm demonic beast. I’d never even seen it before this.”

Jiang Li’s voice was a little hoarse; clearly he’d been choked by smoke and fire as well.

Shi Lan took the broth, lifted her faceplate, and asked, “How did you know I was here?”

Jiang Li took a big gulp of broth, then pointed beside her.

Shi Lan looked down and saw the Purple Star Seven-Section Halberd lying quietly on the ground.

Seeing the dazed look on Shi Lan’s face, Jiang Li patted her shoulder. “Hurry up and drink. Once you’re done, I’ll go get you another bowl. Otherwise they’ll all be gone.”

Even with how big an Earth Fiend Realm demonic beast was, there still wasn’t enough to feed so many martial artists.

Shi Lan snapped out of it and downed the broth in her hands like a storm sweeping away clouds.

The flesh and blood of an Earth Fiend Realm demonic beast really was extraordinary. The energy contained in that single bowl of broth was equivalent to the flesh and blood of an entire Body Tempering Realm demonic beast, and far more refined.

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With that bowl of broth in her belly, Shi Lan immediately felt about half her strength return. Her spirit lifted.

Jiang Li took the bowl from her, got up, and left, returning soon after.

In addition to the two bowls of broth, he had a small paper packet tucked in his arms.

Shi Lan picked up the soup bowl and was just about to drink when Jiang Li stopped her.

“Hold up—eat this with it.”

Jiang Li pulled the little packet from his chest and tossed it into her lap.

“What’s this?”

Inside the paper were thin slices of roasted meat. Shi Lan could faintly smell a very light gamy scent.

“Lion ‘whip.’ It’s a serious tonic! Some kid tried to keep it for himself, and I happened to catch him. Split it half and half on the spot. Funny thing, though—that lion was such a huge beast, but its, uh, equipment was that tiny. Totally out of proportion.”

Jiang Li grinned, his tone teasing. His white teeth were in stark contrast to his pitch-black, smoke-stained face.

Shi Lan froze, glanced down, then set the packet aside. “You eat it. I don’t need it.”

Jiang Li blinked, sucking in a quiet breath. “Young people these days—so confident?”