A bad premonition surfaced in Teng Qingshan's heart.
"Get back to the defenses, now!"
Teng Qingshan's expression changed, and he immediately flew toward Yangzhou City.
If this Lord-level Monster had used a diversion to lure him away, there might be another Lord-level Monster attacking elsewhere.
Those armies wouldn't stand a chance against a Lord-level Monster.
Even if armor-piercing rounds, howitzers, or small missiles hit a Lord-level Monster, they probably wouldn't even break its skin!
Teng Qingshan himself was a High-level War God, and the density of his skin already surpassed that of diamond.
Monsters' bodies were generally far more durable than those of humans at the same level, to say nothing of that.
Driving his Telekinesis and domain to their limits, Teng Qingshan became a blazing streak of light and returned to the skies above Yangzhou City in no time.
"Thank goodness there was only that one Lord-level Monster. If there really were another one hidden nearby, waiting to attack while I was gone..."
Teng Qingshan didn't dare finish the thought.
Now, aside from him, the strongest person in all of Yangzhou City was Hong.
But even Hong could only protect himself from a Primary-Level Lord.
He was still nowhere near defeating one.
Besides Hong,
there were Teng Qingshan's other registered disciples who had reached Warrior Level, as well as some talented Martial Artists who had emerged from the Military. But even the strongest among them had only reached Advanced Warrior strength.
They already struggled immensely against Warlord Level Monsters, let alone Lord-level Monsters.
"Lord Monsters are as intelligent as humans, and some are even more cunning. I'll have to be more careful from now on. If Grandpa gets caught in danger, it'll be too late for regrets."
With a cold gaze, Teng Qingshan controlled the Bone Blade and hurtled down toward the Beast Tide, which was still battling the human army.
At that moment,
the hundreds of Beast Soldier-level Monsters he'd deliberately left behind for the army to practice against had already been wiped out by the overwhelming artillery fire.
Even the one or two stragglers that had made it through the defensive line had been killed by the Military's experts lying in wait.
Only the vast numbers of low-level cannon fodder were still constantly charging the defenses.
These cannon fodder posed little threat; even machine-gun bullets could kill them.
But because there were so many, the third defensive line was under considerable pressure.
Seeing this,
Teng Qingshan simply controlled the Bone Blade, forming it into a curved blade with his formidable Telekinesis clinging to it.
Then he swept it through the cannon fodder below.
Sss! Sss! Sss! Sss!
It was like a gale flattening a field of grass.
In an instant, the enormous blade sliced the cannon fodder in half.
After a few passes,
Teng Qingshan had single-handedly cleared the remaining cannon fodder from the battlefield.
"Spiritual Telekinesis sure is useful..."
He'd killed nearly a hundred thousand cannon fodder in just a few breaths, and Teng Qingshan was fairly satisfied with the result.
Without Telekinesis, he'd have had to wield a spear and kill them one by one. It would probably have taken him half an hour.
And many of them would have escaped.
But with Telekinesis, he was remarkably effective in both one-on-one fights and against groups.
"Sect Master Teng is so strong!"
The soldiers on the defensive line watched as Monsters they could only hope to kill after exhausting themselves were utterly helpless against Teng Qingshan. Their admiration for him grew even stronger.
"Exactly. And Sect Master Teng even teaches us how to cultivate for free. I wish I could reach Quasi-Martial Artist physical strength one day. Then I could fight those Monsters with my bare hands, just like Platoon Leader Zhou and the others."
The soldiers chatted as they cleared the battlefield.
"We really do need to train harder. At this rate, even more Monsters might attack later. Our guns are becoming more and more useless against them. The 'martial arts' we used to look down on have become our salvation."
The "truth" they had once believed in was gradually losing its place on the pedestal. The professional soldiers couldn't help but sigh at the thought.
After confirming that there were no more Beast Tides nearby, Teng Qingshan turned and flew toward the command center.
"Welcome back, our War God Qingshan!"
Commander Wang could no longer hide his smile. "So many Monsters, yet they were as fragile as paper before you, Qingshan. Having someone as powerful as you in Yangzhou City is a blessing for Yangzhou."
"You're too kind, Commander. It was my duty," Teng Qingshan replied with a smile. "How were our casualties in this Beast Tide?"
"Because you killed the most dangerous Monsters beforehand, our army could handle the remaining Beast Soldier-level Monsters, though they were still a threat. Not a single soldier died this time. We only had two with minor injuries."
"That's good."
"Our situation here is indeed good, but things aren't so fortunate elsewhere." Commander Wang's smile slowly faded. He turned to his secretary and had him bring up a projection.
"Qingshan, take a look. This is the situation in China right now. The areas marked with red dots are under attack by Monsters."
Teng Qingshan looked over.
Good grief.
The map of China was covered in countless red dots!
Only the places that had never been inhabited were free of them. Everywhere else, the red dots had nearly merged into a single sea of red!
It meant that every city in China was under attack by Monsters!
"Zoom in on the eastern coastal region."
"Yes, Commander."
As the map zoomed in,
Teng Qingshan saw it.
The once most prosperous coastal cities
were now all marked in black on the map.
"In just one day, Qingshan. One day. Every coastal city in China has been seized by Monsters. Even though our troops fought with everything they had, they only managed to evacuate a small portion of the people. The rest..."
Commander Wang's usually strong voice choked up.
Teng Qingshan's heart grew heavier as he listened.
As the region that had once been China's most economically developed and most densely populated, it had been battered in turn by sea Monsters, land Monsters, and flying Monsters.
Humanity seemed incredibly fragile.
Missiles were powerful, and nuclear weapons were a formidable deterrent.
But against Monsters that blotted out the sky and covered the earth, how many soldiers could the army send, and how many powerful missiles did it have?
In the greatest catastrophe in human history,
the death toll was climbing every second at a terrifying rate.
"Actually, China's situation is still relatively good." Commander Wang continued, "According to the latest news, as of three o'clock this morning, the vast majority of island nations around the world had been overrun by Monsters within a single day. Only a few of the largest island nations were still putting up a desperate fight."
"Those who tried to flee by plane had their aircraft torn apart by flying Monsters, and all of them ended up in the Monsters' jaws. The small countries near the sea, like Bang Country, had also all been overrun by Monsters by six o'clock this morning. Even if they had a small number of survivors, China rejected their requests for aid."
"China can barely protect itself right now. How could we possibly shelter anyone else?" Teng Qingshan agreed. Besides, he'd never had the slightest fondness for those island nations, Bang Country, or the like.
Now that they'd all been devoured by Monsters, they'd at least contributed to the evolution of humanity on Earth.
Before you continue