Outside Qingyan Town, a vast, dark mass of beasts surged toward the settlement. The villagers who had yet to make it inside could only watch in despair as the Beast Tide swept past.
Roars shook the heavens, and the stampede made the earth tremble.
On the walls of Qingyan Town, Wei Zhan watched the Beast Tide pouring in from afar, his face pale.
Nearby, Xie Feng, Xie Jingjiang, and the other members of the families still in town looked just as grim.
Some had even begun to lose heart.
"Tigers, wolves, wild boars, leopards..."
"First-Order Ironclad Beasts, Gold Saber Beasts, Man-eating Eagles..."
"Second-Order Dazzling Beasts, Two-headed Apes..."
How could this be? How could a Late Second-Order Dazzling Beast appear in this tiny Qingyan Town?...
But the Beast Tide had already surrounded Qingyan Town. Even if they wanted to leave, it was too late. Where could they run?...
From this wave of beasts, Wei Zhan had spotted the Dazzling Beasts appearing and disappearing behind the horde.
As he had expected, there were only three Second-order Mutant Beasts.
Two Twin Ape Beasts and one Dazzling Beast. But the Dazzling Beast was a late-stage Second-Order Mutant Beast. Multiple pairs of eyes grew across its head, and it could unleash blinding flashes that seized the mind.
Even Martial Artists at the Late Inner Qi or Perfection stage would rather not encounter one.
Wei Zhan glanced back at Qingyan Town, closed his eyes, then quickly opened them again and gave his order.
"Hold Qingyan Town to the death! Brothers, your families are behind you..."
"We have nowhere left to run. All we can do is fight with everything we have..."
"Fight! Fight! Fight!" Their voices rang out in unison, stirring every heart.
Wei Zhan saw a wall of resolute faces.
With no way back, they would fight with their backs to the river!
"Head of the School Xie, Brother Jingjiang, it looks like we'll be going down together. It's just a shame for you, Brother Jingjiang."
"Town Chief, there's no need to say more. It's just death! If I ran today, I'd be haunted by this shadow for the rest of my life, living in fear every waking moment. I'd rather die here today!"
"Good! At least we'll have company in death!"
The Martial Artists on the wall fought to rein in their fear. They knew they couldn't hold the line, and they knew what that meant.
Those who had stayed until now and stood upon the walls had no way back.
There was nothing for it but to die!
What a pity... Everyone looked toward the places where their families were...
Several Body Tempering First Level Martial Artists from the Chen Clan stood with Chen Qingshi in the Iron Sword Martial Arts School's section.
They were terrified, too. Linhe Village had fallen a day ago, but members of the Chen Clan were still in Qingyan Town.
Even if they were afraid, they had to fight.
The Beast Tide drew closer...
On the walls of Qingyan Town, the guards drew their bows and loosed a rain of arrows, shooting down the birds and other raptors in the sky.
The Body Tempering Martial Artists in the crowd fixed their eyes on the flying Mutant Beasts that had reached a rank, determined to keep them outside Qingyan Town.
If these flying beasts made it into town, it would be a disaster!
Outside the walls, the traps they had dug did little to slow the horde. The beasts trampled over their companions' corpses and kept charging, while Ironclad Beasts slammed into the walls until they shook.
They couldn't let the beasts keep ramming the walls!
Martial Artists began leaping down from the walls to stop them, but their weapons couldn't pierce the beasts' armor.
Gold Saber Beasts followed close behind, their arms slashing down like blades. Ordinary weapons were severed in an instant. Against ranked Magical Weapons, only divine-grade blades could stand a chance.
One Martial Artist after another fell beneath the walls, drenched in blood.
Wei Zhan hurriedly stopped the Martial Artists from jumping down. They would hold out longer if they used the walls to defend themselves.
The flying raptors reached the top of the walls and began attacking everyone.
Some even flew into Qingyan Town and began attacking its people.
The Martial Artists glared furiously, their eyes bloodshot as they fought.
Fortunately, Wei Zhan had stationed a squad of Martial Artists inside town. Seeing what was happening, they shot down the raptors that broke through the defensive perimeter.
They urged the townspeople to take shelter in cellars to improve their chances of survival.
But this wasn't even the worst of it. As time passed, the city gate buckled under the Ironclad Beasts' relentless impacts. It was close to giving way.
Meanwhile, Wei Zhan and the father and son, Xie Feng and Xie Jingjiang, had immediately rushed to intercept the Twin Ape Beasts, keeping them from slaughtering the other Martial Artists.
The Twin Ape Beasts resembled apes but had two heads and immense strength. Each carried an Iron Tree more than five zhang long.
If they were left alone, the Body Tempering Martial Artists and soldiers on the walls wouldn't be enough to stop them from killing everyone.
Watching the scene from behind the Beast Tide, the Dazzling Beast let a sly glint pass through its many eyes. It stood upright like a person.
It was clearly an intelligent Mutant Beast—or perhaps it had been demonized.
It resembled a fox, with three pairs of eyes on its head and three bushy tails swaying behind it.
After watching for a while, the Dazzling Beast quietly slipped into the Beast Tide and headed for the battlefield where Wei Zhan and the three others were fighting the two Twin Ape Beasts.
On the battlefield, the three men faced the Twin Ape Beasts, drawing on everything they had learned.
After nearly half an hour, they seized an opening when the two Twin Ape Beasts split apart.
At the request of our readers, VIP members can now enjoy an ad-free experience.
Click to view
Wei Zhan struggled to hold one of the beasts back.
Xie Feng and Xie Jingjiang briefly joined forces, unleashing fierce, razor-sharp Sword Qi at the Twin Ape Beast. It swung its massive Iron Tree down at them.
It shattered their Sword Qi and brought the club crashing toward Xie Jingjiang.
Xie Jingjiang struck with all his strength, but he was no match for the Twin Ape Beast's power.
The blow sent him flying. The Iron Tree slammed into the wall, and the nearby Martial Artists and soldiers were crushed into bloody pulp.
With no time to consider Jingjiang's condition, Xie Feng seized the opening and used the final move of Iron Sword Sword Art, "Sweep Across the Mountains," to sever one of the Twin Ape Beast's heads and one of its arms.
But before he could press his advantage, a blinding light flashed, and a claw came slashing toward him.
Not far away, Xie Jingjiang staggered back to his feet, only able to watch in despair, too far away to help...
"Old Xie!..."
"Master..."
"Father..."
Xie Feng's mind was seized. He couldn't dodge at all.
The claw was about to split him in two...
Whoosh!... Caw!...
An arrow tore through the sky and struck the beast's shadow, pinning it and hurling it into the ground.
Before anyone could make out what had happened, a Divine Green Eagle was circling overhead. A Green-robed Figure leaped from its back, and bursts of sword light erupted around him.
Sword Qi swept past, slicing through the Twin Ape Beast on Wei Zhan's side, Iron Tree and body alike.
The Dazzling Beast, pinned to the ground, yanked out the arrow. Its three pairs of eyes blazed with dazzling light.
But the newcomer ignored it completely. He rushed forward, and a boundless streak of green light flashed past. The Dazzling Beast's thoughts stopped.
The sword light pierced through the Dazzling Beast without slowing, continuing to cut into the beasts behind it. Those it grazed were wounded; those it struck died.
A patch of open ground appeared amid the beasts spread across the fields and hills. Only when the Green-robed Figure came to a stop did anyone get a clear look at him.
The Dazzling Beast's three-paired head finally fell from its body...
He had saved Xie Feng and killed the Dazzling Beast in a single instant, while everyone was still lost in grief.
For a moment, no one reacted.
Xie Feng himself was still shaken. If you could live, who wanted to die?
There was no time for talk. The sword light plunged into the Beast Tide again.
Where the Azure Sword Light appeared, the beasts bowed their heads and ten thousand beasts wailed!
Kill! Kill! Kill! His fury poured out without restraint. Sword light crisscrossed the battlefield, and no beast could withstand it!
With this figure joining the fight, the Martial Artists of Qingyan Town rekindled their hope of survival and fought with all their might!
Half an hour later, the Beast Tide was gradually wiped out.
Qingyan Town began coordinating the aftermath and dealing with the many tasks left in the battle's wake.
But none of that had anything to do with Chen Qinglin.
The one who had arrived was Chen Qinglin. He had set out the previous afternoon, but many Mutant Beasts had blocked his way along the route, and he had slain them one by one.
That had slowed him down. Fortunately, he had still made it in time and saved Xie Feng.
"Are you all right, Senior Brother?" Chen Qinglin asked as he looked at Xie Jingjiang. He took out some healing pills and gave them to him.
"I'm fine. Cough, cough. You came just in time, Junior Brother. Otherwise..."
Xie Jingjiang had been on the verge of despair, but Chen Qinglin had arrived just in time.
As for his injuries, they would heal after a period of rest.
"Junior Brother, how long can you stay?" Xie Jingjiang asked. Wei Zhan had been too embarrassed to ask him himself.
This mattered greatly to Qingyan Town now.
"I'll stay until the Beast Tide is wiped out. My family and all of you are here in Qingyan Town, after all," Chen Qinglin said firmly.
"I'm sure Senior Sister Xie will arrive soon, too."
"Is that so? That's wonderful. If you couldn't stay long, the Town Chief was planning to organize us to head for Dingyuan County," Xie Jingjiang said, his face pale.
"My younger sister is coming back, too. Will she be able to make it here safely in these conditions?" He sounded worried when he heard that Xie Jingyun was returning.
"Don't worry, Senior Brother. With the Green Feather Eagle, she may be a little slower, but she'll be fine," Chen Qinglin said. He himself had the Jade Token Fu Shenxing had given him, and Meng Yunling had surely prepared some trump cards for her disciples, too.
"That's good. That's good."
"Take your time recovering, Senior Brother. I want to go back and check on things!"
"Wait, Junior Brother. My grandfather is with your parents. When we heard the Beast Tide had broken out, we brought your parents and Qingshi's parents over here."
"They're all right, so don't worry."
"Thank you, Senior Brother."
"Don't mention it, Junior Brother. If you hadn't come today, it wouldn't just have been my father and me—this entire Qingyan Town would have perished beneath the Beast Tide. We're the ones who should be thanking you."
"Then I can rest easy."
"I'll hold off on seeing my parents for now. I'll go check the surrounding area for anything left behind."
"Tell my parents not to worry about me."
Then he called the Green Feather Eagle and flew out of Qingyan Town.
Before you continue