Sudden Crisis! The Demon Race Besieges the City!

"Ye Qingxuan, isn't this going too far?"

Lin Qingxian could not help stepping forward to speak.

She had seen it clearly: earlier, Ye Qingxuan had been the one insisting on preserving her marriage contract with Xiao Chen. Now, the moment Xiao Chen had been sentenced to death by the Saintly Wasteland Old Man, Ye Qingxuan had immediately turned her back on him?

Even if she wanted to break off the engagement, couldn't she have said it in private? Breaking it off before everyone was no different from grinding Xiao Chen's face into the dirt. How was he supposed to face people afterward?

"Too far? What's too far about it? Must I, the dignified Ninth Princess of Great Xia, marry a useless piece of trash?"

Ye Qingxuan sneered.

"You..."

"What about me? If you like trash so much, then go marry Xiao Chen yourself!"

Ye Qingxuan's face was full of disdain. Then she looked at Xiao Chen. "Xiao Chen, I know you like me, but we're no longer suitable for each other. I hope you can let go and fulfill my wishes!"

Seeing the arrogance in Ye Qingxuan's eyes, a nameless fury instantly rose within Xiao Chen.

He had already agreed to dissolve the engagement, yet this woman still would not let up. What a damned nuisance!

He walked straight over to Xiao Zhentian and held out his hand. "Give me the marriage contract!"

Earlier, Xiao Chen had seen Ye Qingxuan hand the marriage contract to Xiao Zhentian.

Xiao Zhentian paused slightly. After hesitating for a moment, he still handed the contract to Xiao Chen. "You and Qingxuan were destined to belong to different worlds. I hope you..."

Xiao Zhentian had thought Xiao Chen would, as before, desperately try to win Ye Qingxuan back. He wanted to reprimand him a few times, but before he could finish, he froze.

Because he saw Xiao Chen rip the marriage contract in his hand into scraps at incredible speed.

Not only Xiao Zhentian—even everyone present was stunned.

That was the Ninth Princess of Great Xia: beautiful as a celestial maiden, noble in status. And he was simply throwing away such a wife?

Seeing how decisively Xiao Chen tore up the marriage contract, Ye Qingxuan was caught completely off guard. She had thought Xiao Chen would beg her to give him another chance. She had never expected him to be so indifferent, tearing up the contract just like that.

The last time, she had bought the marriage contract from him. She had thought he was playing hard to get, trying to change her impression of him.

But this time, she wavered. Could it be that Xiao Chen had truly fallen for someone else—Lin Qingxian?

Now she felt somewhat miserable. Someone who had liked her for more than ten years had suddenly begun liking someone else. Even if that person was trash, it was still unbearable for a woman as proud as her!

"You won't even try to win me back?"

Ye Qingxuan stared at Xiao Chen and gritted her teeth.

"Heh, win you back? Are you worthy? Ye Qingxuan, I already told you last time not to bother me. I never expected you to send the marriage contract back to Xiao Zhentian. This time, I've torn it up. From now on, you and I have nothing to do with each other!"

Xiao Chen shot Ye Qingxuan a cold glance, casually scattered the scraps in his hand into the air, then turned to leave.

Ye Qingxuan stood frozen in place. Seeing Xiao Chen's utterly indifferent expression, she trembled from head to toe with rage.

Xiao Chen was definitely putting on an act. As a cripple, there was no way he could find a wife more outstanding than her. How could he possibly not be heartbroken?

"Bad news, Zhenbei King! Several thousand demons have surrounded Bear Martial City! It looks like they're going to slaughter the city!"

Just then, a soldier drenched in blood staggered over.

At those words, a flash of panic crossed Xiao Chen's eyes.

If Bear Martial City was slaughtered by the Demon Race, wouldn't Liu Sanji be in danger?

"Bear Martial City has been surrounded? How many demons are there? What cultivation levels?"

Xiao Zhentian's expression changed abruptly as well.

Bear Martial City was a small city under Barren North Province. It had a modest population of only several hundred thousand and lay adjacent to Barren North City.

Its defenses were relatively weak. If the Demon Race attacked the city, it likely would not hold out for long.

"Several thousand! Most are Demon Disciple Seventh Level, with some at Demon Disciple Eighth Level! Some people from the Demon God Hall have come too! The city guards simply can't hold them back. More than half have already died, and the city lord has fallen in battle as well!"

the soldier said in a trembling voice.

"Se... several thousand demons! The Demon God Hall has come too?"

Everyone present revealed looks of horror, and many of them even began to tremble.

A city's garrison usually numbered in the tens of thousands. Even a remote small city like Bear Martial City had twenty thousand troops. Several thousand demons might not sound like much.

But the guards were merely strong ordinary people, not martial artists, while those several thousand demons were all Demon Disciples equivalent to Martial Apprentice Realm martial artists. The gap in strength between ordinary people and demons was simply too vast.

Even if those guards were considered well trained, before the Demon Race they were no more than earthen chickens and pottery dogs, unable to withstand a single blow.

Moreover, because the Demon Race and humanity had an agreement, humans were not permitted to cross the border and attack the Demon Race.

Therefore, to defeat those several thousand demons, humanity would need to dispatch at least an equal number of martial artists. But martial artists were scarce resources; humanity simply did not have that many martial artists to contend with the Demon Race.

Take Bear Martial City, for instance. The entire city had fewer than a hundred martial artists combined. Facing several thousand demons, they had no power to fight back at all!

And that was not even considering the terrifyingly powerful human traitors of the Demon God Hall, aiding the tiger in its evil!

"Where is Bear Martial City's Demon Suppression Office? Where have they gone?"

Xiao Zhentian frowned.

The Great Xia Dynasty had established a Demon Suppression Office in every city specifically to deal with the Demon Race.

By all rights, when a demon outbreak occurred, the Demon Suppression Office should have been the first to step forward. Why were the city guards the ones coming to beg for aid?

"Reporting to the Zhenbei King, after the Demon Race surrounded the city, we immediately went to the Demon Suppression Office for help. But to our surprise, they shut their doors and refused to come out. They simply stood by as the Demon Race ran rampant. We had no choice but to risk our lives breaking through the encirclement and coming to Barren North City for aid!"

The soldier's face was filled with indignation!

"Outrageous! The Demon Suppression Office in Bear Martial City actually acted like this? Who is the current Office Chief?"

Xiao Zhentian flew into a rage.

The soldier hesitated for a moment before saying, "You know this man as well. He is Zhao Tiangang, the one who saved Young Master Ling Tian back then!"

Upon hearing that name, Xiao Zhentian was immediately taken aback.

Two years ago, while Xiao Lingtian was tempering himself abroad, he had been attacked by a great demon of the Demon Master Realm and nearly lost his life. It was Zhao Tiangang, who happened to be passing by, who drove back the Demon Race and saved Xiao Lingtian.

From then on, Xiao Lingtian had formed a deep bond with Zhao Tiangang. Even Xiao Zhentian and Wen Wanrong were immensely grateful to him.

Who would have thought that this man had actually been transferred to Bear Martial City as the chief of its Demon Suppression Office?

This made things difficult!

"Please, Zhenbei King, quickly send people to reinforce us! If we delay any longer, it will be too late!"

Seeing Xiao Zhentian remain silent, the soldier said with reddened eyes.

Xiao Zhentian nodded slightly, his expression grave.

Several thousand demons had surrounded the city, and he could not intervene personally. Resolving this crisis would be incredibly difficult—almost impossible!

If the Demon Suppression Office over there had acted, there might still have been a thread of hope. But now that they refused to do anything, matters had become far more difficult!

Yet as the military commander of the entire Barren North Province, he naturally could not simply stand by.

"Everyone, Bear Martial City is in trouble. Is anyone willing to go and provide reinforcements?"

Xiao Zhentian swept his gaze across the crowd.

He did have some martial artists under his command, but they were severely short-handed. He needed more people to support them, and among the crowd below were quite a few martial artists of suitable cultivation.

As Xiao Zhentian's gaze passed over them, the martial artists all lowered their heads in silence.

Go provide reinforcements?

The Demon Race was powerful, and Bear Martial City was surrounded by several thousand demons, including many terrifying Half-step Demon Master experts. If they went, they would surely face grave danger with little chance of survival.

Who would be willing to throw away their life for nothing?

They did not belong to the imperial dynasty. They had no such obligation!

"No one is willing? Hundreds of thousands of our human brethren may lose their lives to demon jaws at any moment, yet you can remain so unmoved?"

Xiao Zhentian frowned.

"Zhenbei King, in these times, it is already good enough if we can look after ourselves!"

"Exactly. What do the people of Bear Martial City have to do with us in Barren North City?"

"If they were surrounded by the Demon Race, then it is simply because their fate was bad. They have no one else to blame!"

Several martial artists spoke with complete self-righteousness.

"You... you people..."

Xiao Zhentian's expression changed drastically.