Volume 1, Chapter 70 – An Aberration

Nie Yangze looked at the Demon-Suppressing Army far away, swallowed by the beast tide, and let out a light sigh. He began pulling the defenders from the four walls back toward the west gate, preparing to resist the demonic beasts.

From last night’s battle, Huangfu Yun and the others had already seen that there was a powerful demonic beast behind the beast tide, directing it.

Using a small number of demonic beasts as harassment to attack the east gate and split the defensive forces, then focusing the main assault on the west—though still a bit clumsy, it was clearly a textbook tactic of dividing the enemy and striking in parts.

Ordinary Earth Fiend Realm demonic beasts definitely couldn’t manage this. While an Earth Fiend Realm demonic beast’s intelligence was no different from an ordinary person’s, their temperament was explosive. They would never have such meticulous thoughts as devising siege tactics.

Using the Demon-Suppressing Army as bait to fish out the demonic beast commanding the herd from behind, then using the Demon-Slaying Platform, drawing on the blood and qi of the city’s people as its foundation, to cut it down—

That was the decision Huangfu Yun and the other centurions had made after discovering the demonic beasts were preparing a full-scale assault.

To passively hold the walls was just waiting to die. Rather than die sullenly inside the city, they might as well put everything on the line—there was at least a chance of an unexpected gain.

Sure enough, the massive blood and qi contained in the Demon-Suppressing Army and the Demon-Slaying Platform had lured out a flood dragon. Huangfu Yun and the others had achieved their goal.

A chaotic herd wouldn’t be as crazed as before. Twin Moon City could cling to life a while longer—maybe it could even survive this calamity.

Watching the Demon-Suppressing Army in the beast tide, like a lone skiff on a vast ocean that could be swallowed at any moment, a trace of reluctance flashed in the eyes of a martial artist at Nie Yangze’s side. He stepped forward and said, “City Lord, let’s bring them back?”

“City Lord, the demonic beasts are already in disarray. With the bed crossbows on our side, we can hold the city. Send a team out to bring the Demon-Suppressing Army back. We’ll support them from the flanks. It won’t be too hard!” an Innate Realm martial artist spoke up.

“That’s right, City Lord. Just give the order and we’ll follow without a word of complaint!”

The other martial artists also chimed in.

Shi Lan and the others had already, wordlessly, picked up their weapons, just waiting for Nie Yangze to speak.

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Nie Yangze shook his head, his expression dim. “It’s pointless. The blood and qi of hundreds of thousands aren’t so easy to bear. Those Demon-Suppressing Army soldiers forced their strength up with Bloodburst Pills. Now their blood and qi are rampaging through their bodies. Even if we bring them back, they won’t live more than a few days.”

At his words, Shi Lan’s hand tightened slightly around her battle halberd. Her heart surged like a stirred lake, hard to calm, her mind suddenly going a bit blank.

She had vaguely sensed it already, but hearing it confirmed, there was still a strange sense of unreality.

People like the Demon-Suppressing Army and Huangfu Yun shouldn’t be dying here like this…

“Draw the crossbows, nock the bolts!” Nie Yangze ordered in a low voice, his gaze locked on the demonic beasts charging straight for the city. A three-foot frost seemed to glint in his eyes.

Forcing down the sourness in her chest, Shi Lan moved to the bed crossbow, released the battle halberd, and set her hands on the bowstring.

……

The Demon-Suppressing Army in the distance had already been swallowed by the herd. Only now and then did a streak of black flicker into view.

When the beast tide surged up to the foot of Twin Moon City’s walls, the Demon-Slaying Platform suspended in the sky shrank to the size of a palm and fell. The nearby demonic beasts scattered away in all directions, not daring to approach it in the slightest, leaving a patch of empty ground.

In the center of the open space, Huangfu Yun stood with his blade in hand, back straight as a spear, unyielding.

A flood-drake steed lay beside him, eyes rolled white, panting heavily, its body covered in wounds. Several gashes beneath its ribs were deep enough to show bone and faint glimpses of organs. Its muscles twitched uncontrollably.

Expressionless, Huangfu Yun caught the falling Demon-Slaying Platform. After sweeping his gaze over the demonic beasts around him that didn’t dare advance because of it, his eyes locked onto a massive demon ape, and a hint of disdain touched the corner of his mouth.

“Beasts with fur and horns, who gorge themselves on raw flesh and blood—sooner or later, you’ll all perish at the hands of our human race.”

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A flash of fury crossed the demon ape’s eyes. After a wary glance at the Demon-Slaying Platform in Huangfu Yun’s hand, it grabbed a black panther beside it and hurled it at him.

“Wuu——”

The panther let out a low howl as it hurtled toward Huangfu Yun, carrying a vicious gust of force.

Huangfu Yun’s fingertip twitched. A strand of blade qi slashed out, cutting the panther cleanly in two.

“Even after awakening intelligence, you can never change the cold, selfish nature in your bones. You’re still just beasts.”

The mockery on Huangfu Yun’s face deepened.

“Roar——”

The demon ape bellowed in fury, snatching up beast after beast and chucking them at Huangfu Yun. At the same time, it stomped heavily, its massive body shooting into the air as it came crashing down to stomp him flat!

Huangfu Yun let out a slow breath and set the Demon-Slaying Platform down. His blood and qi surged up, skin flushing red. The heat he radiated baked the air around him until it warped.

The saber rose slowly. Its black blade took on a faint red sheen, like a branding iron heated white-hot.

“Even with awakened intelligence, your mind still can’t turn a corner. A few words and you rush to your death. And you think you can one day rule the vast lands of Shenzhou? You don’t know your place.”

Huangfu Yun murmured quietly.

A streak of blade qi, black edged with red, shot skyward like a rainbow spearing the sun!

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“Screee——”

In midair, the rage on the demon ape’s face twisted into terror, and it let out a shrill scream.

“Puff——”

The scream cut off abruptly. Its body was sliced cleanly in half by that single streak of blade qi. The beasts it had thrown out as shields were also shredded into blood rain by the overflowing blade qi.

“Szzz——”

The saber drove into the earth. Huangfu Yun stood leaning on it, lids half-lowered, not a hint of light in his eyes—he had already breathed his last.

The demonic beasts circled for quite a while, but because of the Demon-Slaying Platform’s killing aura, they didn’t dare approach and eventually turned away.

Wave after wave of beasts gathered, but none stepped within ten zhang of the Demon-Slaying Platform, giving it a wide berth.

……

“Twang——”

“Whoosh——”

Volley after volley of arrows kept reaping the demonic beasts’ lives at the foot of the wall. Counting from when Shi Lan had first joined the Demon-Suppressing Army, the beasts that had died near Twin Moon City already numbered in the hundreds of thousands.

There were truly mountains of bones and seas of blood.

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Shi Lan swept a glance over the beast tide below, roiling like an ocean, took a quiet breath, drew the bowstring, and set the last few Cloud-Piercing Bolts.

Just as she pulled the release lever, a massive black shadow flickered at the edge of her vision.

“What’s that…”

“Careful!” Samsara’s urgent warning rang out in her mind.

Before Shi Lan’s brain could even react, a shrill gust of wind screamed past, and an unimaginably powerful force slammed into her.

“Bang——”

Her body was flung hundreds of zhang into the air in an instant. The armor on her body came apart at once, disintegrating into fragments—several of which buried themselves deep in her flesh.

The world flipped in her vision. In a daze, Shi Lan seemed to glimpse a giant tiger, cyan from head to toe with faint lightning patterns on its body. Then her mind went blank, and she lost consciousness in an instant.

Samsara grew frantic, its energy surging out as it tried to temporarily seize control of Shi Lan’s body.

【An anomaly has been detected. A foreign entity is attempting to seize the host’s body. Hidden-danger elimination program initiated.】

【Assessing host’s mental state……】

【Host has lost consciousness and lacks subjective initiative. Determined as possession attempt. Autonomous counterattack program initiated.】