The Black Tide

Ye Yun hadn't expected the beast tide to arrive so suddenly. By the time he reached the city gate, the main gates had already been shut, leaving only a small door for people to enter and exit. The soldiers stationed there gave every person heading out a jade token. Ye Yun knew it was used to record the number of beasts and demon beasts slain: one point for each beast, and fifty for each demon beast. Points could be exchanged with the imperial court for money, official titles, rare treasures, and even cultivation techniques. This was one reason so many cultivators gathered at border cities each year.

After receiving, binding, and activating his jade token, Ye Yun walked out of the city. As soon as he did, he saw a great many people roaming about outside. Whenever a ferocious beast appeared within sight, they swarmed it, raining down swords, spears, and clubs. By the time the crowd dispersed, the beast was well and truly dead.

"I didn't expect it to be so lively outside the city. I might as well join in—but I can't go too deep, or I'll be in trouble if demon beasts surround me." Watching the cultivators outside the city enthusiastically slaughter the beasts charging toward the border city, Ye Yun couldn't help but marvel.

Ye Yun knew better than to stand out, so this time he didn't reveal his full strength. He showed only the strength of the Fourth Layer of Jade Purity; otherwise, the demon beasts might target him. They weren't stupid, after all. They understood that eliminating the enemy's strongest fighters first would reduce their own casualties. Besides, standing out too much could draw the attention of demonic cultivators. It was essential to keep some of his strength in reserve; otherwise, he might not even know how he'd died.

Though he used only the strength of the Fourth Layer of Jade Purity, these were just ordinary beasts, and they couldn't withstand even a casual blow from Ye Yun. This was especially true once he began using sword aura: a single swing often felled several ordinary beasts.

After slaughtering another herd of red-eyed wild oxen, Ye Yun furrowed his brow. The beasts around him were growing denser. He had just wiped out a herd of more than twenty oxen when a herd of around forty wild horses came into view. Still, after scanning his surroundings, Ye Yun charged into the herd with his sword. The other cultivators nearby hadn't retreated, which meant the true beast tide had yet to arrive.

In the midst of the herd, Ye Yun darted back and forth. Every time he swung his sword, a red-eyed wild horse fell; whenever his blade flashed, several horses were cleaved in two by his sword aura. In the blink of an eye, he had slaughtered all forty-odd horses. Aside from his slightly disheveled clothes and hair, not a drop of blood had touched him.

Seeing that no more herds were charging toward him, Ye Yun let out a quiet breath and planted his sword in the ground. He tidied his clothes and hair. He had been outside the city for over two hours, and in that time he had slain more than three thousand beasts, earning three thousand points. If exchanged for money, those points would be worth thirty thousand taels of silver. Five taels were already enough for an ordinary family of three to live comfortably for a month.

Three thousand points would also be more than enough to earn him the rank of seventh-grade military officer, which would let him command fifty soldiers and earn an annual salary of three hundred taels. But most people with over a thousand points wouldn't care for either of those first two rewards. The vast majority were after rare treasures and cultivation techniques, and Ye Yun was no exception. His three thousand points would be enough to exchange for the other spiritual herbs he needed to refine Spirit-Raising Pills, made with vermilion fruit.

Ye Yun had barely finished straightening his clothes when he saw an even larger herd charging toward him. From the clouds of dust rising behind them, he could tell there were a great many beasts. When he made out the kinds of beasts in the herd, he was startled: it wasn't a single species, but a mixture of several. He even saw a few bighorn sheep running among the wolves. His alarm spiked, and he hurriedly took to the air.

After rising just a few dozen meters, Ye Yun saw something that left him stunned. On the wasteland several hundred meters away, herd after herd, each with more than a hundred beasts, was surging toward him, raising clouds of dust that blotted out the sky. Farther still, a vast black mass stretched into the distance like a black tide. Even more shocking, the sky itself was filled with the same dark mass. It was impossible to tell which beasts were flying and which were on the ground.

"Retreat! Fall back, quickly! The beast tide is here!"

Ye Yun amplified his voice with his magic power, and everyone within a thousand meters heard him. His thunderous shout snapped the people around him out of their bloodthirsty frenzy. Supporting one another, they hurried toward the border city. No one simply turned and ran, because people who did that almost always died—and they died trampled into pulp by the herds. In these conditions, anyone without the strength of the Fourth Layer of Jade Purity would sooner or later be knocked down by the stampede when they could no longer defend themselves, and die horribly.

Though Ye Yun had given warning, retreating in the midst of a beast tide was far from easy. Fortunately, as the pressure from behind grew, most people formed small groups to fight together. Still, there were always a few self-important fools who went off alone. Ye Yun usually granted them their wish, letting them fight on their own before they vanished into the black tide.

Watching more and more people get knocked down as they struggled against the growing herds, then scream as they were trampled into pulp, Ye Yun began attacking frantically. He did his best to clear the beasts around him and cover the others' retreat, giving them enough time to escape. The other cultivators with the strength of the Fourth Layer of Jade Purity did much the same. Every person they managed to save now would make defending the city that much easier later.

A few minutes later, apart from several cultivators with the strength of the Fourth Layer of Jade Purity, Ye Yun was almost the only one left nearby. The flying beasts in the tide were not far from them now—perhaps just over a thousand meters away. At that moment, a clear, powerful horn sounded from the border city. According to the shopkeeper, after three blasts the city would shut all its gates and raise its defensive formation. Anyone who failed to get inside before the formation rose would face certain death.

The moment the horn sounded, the cultivators with the strength of the Fourth Layer of Jade Purity hurried back to the border city through the air. Those with kind hearts even carried one or two people fleeing toward the city. On his own way back, Ye Yun also rescued two cultivators who were about to die beneath the beasts' hooves and carried them into the city. Less than two minutes after Ye Yun and the others entered, a huge circular barrier suddenly rose and enveloped the entire border city. Everyone who had failed to get inside in time was left outside it.

Those still outside the city saw the yellow defensive barrier, and their faces instantly turned ashen. The clever ones ran along the barrier and headed for the edge of the Great Wilderness. The rest either foolishly turned to fight the beast tide or desperately attacked the barrier, only to be smashed into pulp by the herds that soon caught up with them.