Shocking Changes in Xu Hai City

Xu Hai City, in the southwestern part of the Star Luo Empire.

This medium-sized city, built along the sea, is an important port for the Star Luo Empire's foreign trade. Thousands of sails compete and merchants gather. Even after nightfall, the dock area is still brightly lit. Porters shout as they unload boxes of goods from cargo ships, and the rough laughter and cursing of sailors can be heard from the taverns.

No one noticed that, starting at dusk, the familiar surging waves on the sea were quietly changing.

The waves no longer lapped against the embankment in a regular pattern, but instead overlapped in layers with a common rhythm, as if a giant heart was beating deep in the sea.

Even the most experienced fisherman on the dock only frowned, glanced at the sea a couple more times, muttered "the tide is wrong," and then turned and went back to the cabin.

The third quarter of the hour of Zi (11:45 PM).

Deep in the wild forest twenty miles Xu Hai City, Di Tian stood with his hands behind his back on a bare rock, his black clothes motionless in the night wind.

Behind him knelt a dense mass of Soul Beast, each with a different form. The smallest was Green Scale Snake no more than a foot long, while the largest was a Shadow Demon Wolf nearly four zhang long. The stench of their breath pressed the surrounding vegetation down to the ground.

All the Soul Beast lowered their heads, not daring to look directly at Di Tian's tall back.

"Did you all hear that?"

Di Tian's voice wasn't loud, but it pierced the minds of every Soul Beast like an ice pick.

"Before dawn, all the Defensive Soul Tool in Xu Hai City must be destroyed. Those in the sea, cut off their retreat."

He turned around, his gaze sweeping over the dense horde of Soul Beast before him. A glint of purple-gold light appeared in his dark pupils, and his oppressive aura descended like a mountain.

"Destroy the city, but don't harm civilians. But what if Soul Master resists—"

He paused, his voice turning colder.

"Kill without mercy."

The Shadow Demon Wolf let out a low growl and turned to dart into the night. This was followed by a chorus of beastly roars and the rustling of scales against the grass and trees. In just a few breaths, there was nothing behind Di Tian.

He looked up at the silhouette of Xu Hai City in the distance. The warm glow of thousands of lights floated at the horizon, like a warm heart beating in the darkness.

"You will understand soon."

He muttered to himself, lightly touched the ground with his toes, and his entire body transformed into a black streak of light, merging into the night sky.

At the fourth watch of the night, in the Xu Hai City.

The night watchman Zhao the Third, walked along the deserted street, yawning incessantly, carrying his gong.

The street was lined with warehouses, bustling with activity during the day, but at this hour it was so quiet that only his own footsteps and the sobbing of the waves could be heard.

He suddenly stopped in his tracks.

It wasn't that I heard any sound, but rather that I felt a vibration coming from under my feet—an extremely subtle, rhythmic tremor rising from beneath the stone pavement.

Zhao the Third lay on the roadside, listening intently, and his face turned deathly pale.

The gong rang out shrilly in the night sky.

"Warning! The beast tide is coming!"

Before the words were finished, a deafening roar came from the direction of the eastern city wall, and a crimson light shot into the sky. It was the secondary explosion that erupted when the city wall's defensive soul-guided array was breached.

Then came the second and third sounds, rapid-fire like a barrage of bullets, interspersed with the shouts of the defending soldiers and the dull thud of some giant beast striking the stone wall.

Zhao the Third threw down the gong and ran away. Behind him, the wooden doors of the warehouses on both sides of the long street shattered one after another, and black beast shadows emerged from every crack. Their scales reflected the distant firelight, like a dark current surging from hell.

At the same time, at the southern port.

In the short span of half a cup of tea's time, the sea surface churned like boiling water. A merchant ship anchored at the dock was violently propelled by something underwater, causing the entire ship to capsize at an angle, and the cargo on the deck poured into the sea like rain.

Then came the second and third ships, with muffled cracking sounds coming from their hulls.

The seawater suddenly turned pitch black, and countless dorsal fins sliced through the waves. Sea Soul Beast surged out of the deep water, climbed the embankment, and rushed toward the pier.

Before the guards on the dock could even light their warning Soul Guidance Lamp, they were struck in the chest by a water arrow, grunting as they were sent flying backward, crashing into the wooden barrel behind them and shattering it.

"It's in the sea too! It's in the sea too--"

A young sailor stumbled and ran wildly into the city, behind him a three-zhang-long Iron-Spined Crocodile Dragon emerging halfway out of the water, its huge mouth opening wide and uprooting the winch on the pier.

The city was under attack from the east, west, and south sides simultaneously.

The City Lord's Mansion of Xu Hai City.

"What do you mean by 'unstoppable'?!"

City Lord Zheng Hongji slammed his palm on the edge of the sand table, causing the marking flags on the table to tremble violently.

"The defensive soul-guiding arrays on three sides of the city walls are all destroyed? Who did this?"

The messenger, covered in blood, knelt on the ground, his voice trembling. "Lord, the main force of the beast horde is advancing from the direction of the eastern forest. The leader... the leader is a Shadow Demon Wolf, with at least ten thousand years of cultivation. It was shattered by a single Soul Guidance Cannon!"

Zheng Hongji's face turned ashen. He was merely a Six-Ring Soul Emperor, who usually relied on the city's defensive Soul Tool to intimidate the surrounding area. Now, however, the defenses had crumbled in a single blow, and there were only about twenty Soul Master stationed in the city. How could they possibly withstand the beast tide?

"All Soul Master, follow me to the east city wall! Civilians, evacuate to the west of the city!"

Before he could finish speaking, the gate of the city lord's mansion collapsed with a crash.

A jet-black Shadow Demon Wolf strode into the courtyard, followed by a dense swarm of low-level Soul Beast. Its eyes flashed with purple light as it stared at Zheng Hongji.

It was more than three times the size of an ordinary wolf, with a shoulder height equal to that of an adult. Saliva dripped from its mouth onto the floor tiles, hissing and corroding several shallow pits.

Zheng Hongji immediately released his Soul Ring —six rings, yellow and purple-purple-purple-purple—and gripped a long spear in his hand, shouting, "You beast—"

The Shadow Demon Wolf didn't give him a chance to say another word.

With a swift movement, he closed in, slapping down with his claw. The spear shaft, formed from condensed Soul Power, snapped in two, and Zheng Hongji coughed up blood as he flew backward, crashing into the brick wall behind him.

"City Lord!"

Two guards pounced at the same time, Shadow Demon Wolf swept its tail, sending two figures in the courtyard plummeting into the flowerbeds on either side like kites with broken strings.

"A bunch of useless trash..."

The wolf did not pursue, but instead crushed the sand table with its paw, turned its head to look at the flames shooting into the sky outside the courtyard wall, and let out a low howl.

That was an order to urge us forward, to advance westward into the city.

West of the city.

A dense crowd surged along the main street toward the city gate, pushing, shoving, crying, and cursing all mixed together.

A mother carrying her child was swept along by the crowd, staggering forward; an elderly person was pushed to the side of the road, ignored by everyone.

A young Soul Master stood guard at the city gate, his Four Rings fully activated, surrounded by purple light, desperately repelling several Crimson Flame Tusk Boar that charged towards him.

But behind him were only a few low-level Soul Master, each with a face filled with panic.

"Quickly! Get out of the city! Head north--"

He shouted at the top of his lungs, but no one noticed the tremor in his voice.

At a street corner in the distance, a three-meter-tall Iron-Backed Bear crashed through the wooden wall of an entire house, sending rubble and wood flying everywhere, causing the screams from the crowd to suddenly increase in volume.

The young Soul Master turned to face the Iron-Backed Bear, but the Soul Power in his hand trembled uncontrollably in his palm.

He was only in the Four Rings, yet he had to face this Iron-Backed Bear that was at least five thousand years old.

"Get out! Get out of here!" he shouted through gritted teeth as he lunged forward.

The firelight illuminated half of the sky above Xu Hai City.

At dawn, Di Tian stood atop the ruins of the tallest tower in the eastern part of the city, overlooking the entire city.

The east side is now in ruins, all the ships in the South Port have been capsized, and not a single one of the city's defensive soul-guided arrays remains intact.

However, the residential areas to the west and north were largely intact, and the evacuated people had gathered in a dark mass in the fields outside the city. Although they were still in shock, there were no casualties.

He gazed at the gradually brightening dawn on the horizon. The herd of beasts behind him had quietly retreated under the cover of night, leaving only devastation and the acrid smell of burning flesh in the air.

"My Lord," he spoke softly, as if talking to the void.

"Xu Hai City... has fallen."