On the first day of the demon tide, all of Muddy Bay was shrouded in blood.
From daylight to dusk, and from dusk into night.
The battle cries on the river never truly ceased.
Shattered ships floated on the water, their broken masts, bloodstained planks, and flags torn by demon claws rising and falling with the waves.
The river had long since lost its clarity. Demon blood, human blood, mangled flesh, and scales mingled together, spreading steadily with the current.
A heavy, bloody stench filled the air.
The Dragon-Tiger Guards fought desperately, hacking until their blades broke.
Lu Chen was fighting desperately too.
He circulated the Flying Dragon Art.
He strode across the waves, his figure weaving between the river's surface and the wrecked ships.
Sinew-Piercing Realm water demons were no ordinary lesser demons.
Every one of them had thick hide, tough flesh, and ferocious demonic power.
Even with his deep reserves of blood and qi, the prolonged fighting left his sinews feeling faintly swollen.
The Heavenly Silkworm Tendon-Transmutation Art circulated without pause.
Blood and qi surged through his sinews like rivers of scalding water.
His sinews bore the strain, gradually adapting to it.
Only when darkness had fully descended did things change.
Experts from the Martial Temple intervened, and the Water Transport Office's fleet reestablished its defenses. Torches along the river joined into a line of fire, and the demon tide finally withdrew for the time being.
Across Muddy Bay, only the sound of waves slapping wrecked ships remained, mingled with the labored breathing of countless martial artists.
Lu Chen stood on a broken section of a ship's bow, looking down at the long saber in his hand.
Demon blood dripped from its edge, drop by drop.
Beside him lay a pile of water demon heads.
Not far away,