Beast Roars as Orders, Thunder and Fire as Banners

At the Fifth Defense Line command headquarters, the cafeteria chefs were working at fever pitch.

With more exotic beasts appearing lately and more martial artists arriving to provide support, they had to prepare massive quantities of exotic beast flesh every day as dietary supplements for martial artists of every rank.

Just then, a figure walked over carrying an enormous exotic beast corpse.

"Please make soup with this."

The chef impatiently looked up. "Only Seventh Grade exotic beasts can be handled separately. You..."

Before he could finish, a huge shadow dropped before him.

When he saw the corpse clearly, his eyes flew wide open and his pupils contracted.

"A Sixth Grade Tiger Shark!?"

His cry made everyone in the cafeteria turn to look.

"A Sixth Grade exotic beast? My God, aside from Lord General Star, there's actually someone else on the Fifth Defense Line who can kill a Sixth Grade exotic beast!?"

"It's Jiang Li—it's that Jiang Li!"

"He's that Jiang Li? The eighteen-year-old genius martial artist!?"

The crowd stared at Jiang Li, their faces filled with shock and disbelief.

Some of these martial artists had arrived later and had not quite believed the rumors about Jiang Li. But now, a living, breathing—no, freshly slain—Sixth Grade exotic beast corpse lay right before their eyes. They had no choice but to believe.

"I'll handle it for you immediately!"

The chef promptly gave a military salute, then directed the others to put down the exotic beasts in their hands and begin processing the Sixth Grade beast.

Jiang Li sat in a relatively quiet corner of the cafeteria and took out his phone. At this moment, his Points had already refreshed.

3,277 military merit points. This was the total the military had settled for him as of one day ago.

These military merits included rewards for killing exotic beasts, as well as the assessed recovery value of their corpses.

On the Donghai Battlefield, unless an exotic beast corpse was particularly special, there was no need to carry it away.

The military had dedicated teams for recovering exotic beasts, and military merit points were settled according to the recovery value.

Thus, any martial artist on the Donghai Battlefield only needed to fight and kill the enemy without worrying about military merit.

3,277 points was already a great deal—enough to exchange for a Seventh Grade A-rank combat armor set.

Such armor would cost at least tens of millions in Great Xia.

But Jiang Li was still not satisfied. Seventh Grade armor was neither here nor there to him; it was not as useful as Martial Soul Protection.

He checked his lifespan as well. It had now risen to 2,832 years. A single Sixth Grade exotic beast had added a full seventy-six years to his lifespan.

Demonic beasts still provide more lifespan. But I may not be able to kill a Sixth Grade demonic beast so easily.

Jiang Li thought to himself as he took out his phone and asked Yun Fei about Yang Xiansheng's identity.

This was the first time he had felt such obvious pressure. Even the perception he gained from cultivating the Heaven-Stealing Divine Art could not sense the other man's strength.

A Fifth-grade Grandmaster!?

Only after Jiang Li had completely finished a pot of pale golden fish soup did Yun Fei reply.

"Yang Xiansheng of the Qingyuan Mercenary Group? You actually ran into him!"

Yun Fei sent a shocked emoji, then quickly sent another message.

"Yang Xiansheng, thirty-seven years old, a Peak Fifth-grade Grandmaster and the military commander of the Qingyuan Mercenary Group. He commands three thousand martial artists and eight fierce generals. The Qingyuan Mercenary Group ranks among the top ten mercenary groups in Great Xia."

"Also, Yang Xiansheng is an S-rank gifted ability user. His ability is unknown, while his cultivation technique and martial arts are at least S-rank."

"He once killed a Fourth Grade Beast King, making his name known throughout Great Xia. He ranks first on Great Xia's Divine Martial Grandmaster Ranking."

That string of titles made even Jiang Li click his tongue softly.

No wonder Yang Xiansheng had felt so extraordinary to him.

"He wanted to invite me to join his mercenary group, but I refused," Jiang Li replied.

After waiting for a while, Yun Fei finally answered. "You did the right thing. Yang Xiansheng may be strong, but he has some conflicts with the Martial Emperor Hall. If you joined him, it would instead be detrimental to your development."

"The Martial Emperor Hall? The force under Longevity Martial Emperor?" Jiang Li was shaken.

Longevity Martial Emperor was currently Great Xia's only First-grade Martial Emperor, as well as Huaxia's undisputed number one martial artist.

"Yes. I don't know the details either, but it's best not to get too deeply involved with Yang Xiansheng. The people of the Martial Emperor Hall have always been difficult to provoke," Yun Fei replied. "If there's nothing else, I'm going to take a bath."

"Thank you, Senior Sister!"

Putting away his phone, Jiang Li felt his body continuously digesting the meal.

"Sixth Grade exotic beast flesh is fairly filling. Lower-grade flesh requires enough quantity to fill my stomach. Looks like I'll need to bring back more exotic beast corpses of Seventh Grade and above."

Jiang Li muttered to himself, then returned to his quarters with the Black Horizontal Saber.

He had already killed nearly all the high-grade exotic beasts along the Fifth Frontline. It was time to rest properly for a few days.

After spending so long on the battlefield, he found himself missing his days at the Golden Foot Celestial Phenomenon.

He took a shower, stretched lazily and comfortably, then fell asleep in his room.

But while Jiang Li was half awake and half asleep, a piercing alarm jolted him awake.

Frowning, he rubbed his bleary eyes and shook his head. "The Beast Tide is here? So soon? They won't even let me have a good night's sleep."

Jiang Li opened his eyes, and a trace of ferocity surfaced within them.

He changed back into his combat uniform, picked up the Black Horizontal Saber, and walked out.

By now, everyone in the command headquarters, including the soldiers from the cafeteria logistics department, had already rushed outside.

Jiang Li, however, was in no hurry. By the time he stepped out of the command headquarters, artillery fire and thunderous booms were already rumbling in the distance.

In Jiang Li's eyes, countless exotic beasts surged toward the Fifth Defense Line like an ocean tide.

Boom! Boom! Boom...

The roar of artillery and explosions soon rang out without end, making the entire earth tremble as if an earthquake had struck.

These exotic beasts feared neither death nor pain. Soon, those behind them charged forward over the corpses of those before them.

Li Chaofan stood at the very front, his gaze cold as he watched the Beast Tide.

He seemed to be searching for Seventh Grade or higher exotic beasts within the tide.

Until the exotic beasts were less than five hundred meters from the Fifth Defense Line, the ordinary soldiers had already set up their guns and cannons, while the martial artists drew their weapons.

"Beast roars as orders, thunder and fire as banners!"

"Better to bury our blazing bones upon the battlefield than retreat half a step and betray loyal souls."

"What is a mere Beast Tide? Today, I, Li Chaofan, will make these beasts understand that though humans are made of flesh and blood, we can still forge the gates of our nation!"

With an enraged roar, Li Chaofan charged ahead, a Sixth-grade Martial Arts Master cutting into the surging Beast Tide like the tip of a formation-breaking spear.

"Kill!"

The many martial artists and soldiers behind him were likewise boiling with passion. Only one word filled their hearts with wild courage.

In an instant, thousands of martial artists collided with the Beast Tide.

Blades struck claws, spears pierced fangs... in the blink of an eye, it became a true meat grinder.

Watching this scene, Jiang Li felt an unprecedented shock.

Black Horizontal Saber in hand, he shot into the Beast Tide like a meteor.

This kind of war—this slaughter between humans and exotic beasts—was entirely different from his previous hunts.

Beast blood, howls, claws, endless stench of blood and lunging attacks washed over him like a tide, suffocating him.

Jiang Li wielded the Black Horizontal Saber, slashing again and again. Wherever he passed, every exotic beast was killed with a single stroke.

Yet he soon discovered that he had already fallen deep into the Beast Tide, surrounded by exotic beasts on all sides.

Encircled by countless exotic beasts, Jiang Li not only felt no fear, but instead laughed aloud.

With every breath, white streams seemed to flow.

In an instant, the Black Horizontal Saber flashed out, and his entire body became like a bolt of lightning as he charged forward.

Wherever he passed, rows of exotic beasts fell like weeds.

Ahead, Eighth Grade exotic beasts appeared in clusters, while Seventh Grade exotic beasts emerged one after another.

Suddenly, Jiang Li heard a deafening beast roar. He raised his eyes and looked over.

A beast coiled in the air stared coldly at him. Its body was like a snake-dragon's, and thin wings grew from its back.

"A Sixth Grade Beast King—the Wind-Winged Thunder Eel!"