Beast Tide Erupts

Splash—

A streak of red light shot out from beneath Sunfire Lake.

Red Cloud identified the direction of Heavenly Treasure City, used the Literary Dao divine ability Treading the Azure Clouds, and vanished in an instant.

A few days later, Red Cloud returned to Heavenly Treasure City.

But not long after he entered the city, the surface of Sunfire Lake began to boil, and densely packed Water Beasts rose from the water.

"Woo, woo, woo~!!"

This sight immediately alarmed all of Heavenly Treasure City. A shrill warning bell rang throughout the city, and troops of the Heavenly Treasure army climbed onto the walls.

As battle-hardened soldiers of Heavenly Treasure City, the instant the warning bell sounded, they understood that something had happened at Sunfire Lake. A new wave of the beast tide might have arrived.

Thunderous rumbles rang out without pause as beams of golden light shot into the sky. Huge Water Beasts emerged one after another from beneath the lake.

The first Water Beasts to appear were only at the Heavenly Immortal level. Then came Mysterious Immortals, followed by Golden Immortals.

Under the command of a Golden Immortal-level Golden-Scaled Demon Crocodile, all the Water Beasts began attacking Heavenly Treasure City.

Water Beasts assaulted Heavenly Treasure City from every direction. City Lord Heavenly Treasure Old Man felt his scalp go numb. This beast tide was far more severe than he had imagined.

"Fellow Daoists of Heavenly Treasure City..."

Then Heavenly Treasure Old Man decisively activated the Heroes' Assembly Order, calling upon all cultivators in Heavenly Treasure City to resist the beast tide.

For every Mysterious Immortal-level Water Beast or lower slain, Heavenly Treasure City would reward one Flame Yang Stone.

For every Golden Immortal-level Water Beast or higher slain, Heavenly Treasure City would reward one Sunflame Mystic Stone.

Under Heavenly Treasure Old Man's lavish rewards, tens of thousands of cultivators answered the call and voluntarily left the city to fight.

For low-level cultivators, this was a rare chance to get rich. As long as they killed Water Beasts, not only would the Flame Yang Stones dropped by the beasts belong to them, but Heavenly Treasure City would also give them another one. At the very least, they were guaranteed one Flame Yang Stone.

Red Cloud answered the call as well. Money was there for the taking—Heavenly Treasure City was throwing money around, and such an opportunity was rare!

Meanwhile, atop Heavenly Treasure City, the defending army sprang into action as the Water Beasts crawled onto the lakeshore.

A Heavenly Treasure general shouted at the Heavenly Treasure soldiers around him, "The Water Beasts have come ashore! Everyone, stay alert!"

When the first Water Beast climbed ashore, Water Beasts began landing from all directions around Heavenly Treasure City.

"Roar, roar~!!"

The Water Beasts threw back their heads and roared in unison.

Golden light glittered, and their roars rolled like thunder as Water Beasts of all shapes and forms charged toward Heavenly Treasure City.

There was only Heavenly Treasure City before them, making it the perfect target for them to vent their fury upon.

A swarm of Water Beasts charged at Heavenly Treasure City, their momentum stirring mountains and rivers, their force like rushing thunder—unstoppable.

On the eastern wall of Heavenly Treasure City, Red Cloud watched the group of Water Beasts climbing ashore. He could clearly sense their killing intent. Anything standing in their path would be mercilessly torn apart.

Just as the Water Beasts were about to reach Heavenly Treasure City, armies of cultivators surged out from within the city.

Their formations were orderly, and they showed not the slightest fear in the face of the Water Beasts. They met the charge in perfect order, as though they were accustomed to such scenes.

Red Cloud thought that Heavenly Treasure City had probably encountered such scenes many times before.

These people formed combined attack formations, splitting apart the attacking Water Beasts one by one before joining forces to kill them.

Watching their battle, Red Cloud noticed that the magic treasures of the Heavenly Treasure cultivators defending the city were all rather peculiar.

Their magic treasures seemed to come in complete sets, as though they had been refined specifically for combined attack formations.

The Heavenly Treasure army was responsible for dividing the Water Beasts and blocking their first wave of attack. Then the Rogue Cultivators entered the fray, slipping through the gaps to reap the Water Beasts.

Red Cloud headed straight for the eastern front line.

Sunfire Lake had already begun to boil. Golden lake water surged madly onto the shore, while dense Blazing Sun Power battered the surroundings.

As the water level rose wildly, densely packed Water Beasts became a torrent, pouring onto the battlefield outside Heavenly Treasure City.

Watching the Water Beasts rush in madly, a flash of red glinted in Red Cloud's eyes. With a casual motion, he took out the Ice Soul Essence.

There were too many cultivators around, so Red Cloud did not use the Firecloud Banner, worried that it would draw unwanted attention.

Looking at the Ice Soul Essence in his hand, Red Cloud used the Spitting Transformation divine ability and breathed out a wisp of dark-blue aura.

Spitting Transformation: breathing out immortal qi to transform an object without changing its essential nature.

The next moment, the Ice Soul Essence emitted an eerie blue glow and instantly transformed into a domineering divine bow.

The bow was icy blue and etched with dragon patterns. Both ends were dragon heads, and the dragon heads spat out a blue thread of ice.

Red Cloud gently drew the icy thread. Endless cold qi began to gather, condensing into an ice-blue arrow.

Then Red Cloud released his fingers, and the ice arrow shot forth, transforming into an ice dragon that roared as it flew.

With a thunderous blast, the lake water on the ground was struck by the ice arrow. The splashing waves instantly froze into glaciers.

"Crack! Crack!!"

A terrifying cold tide swept outward.

The lake surface froze in an instant, like an ice dragon baring its fangs at the Water Beasts in every direction.

Low-level Water Beasts were instantly frozen into blocks of ice.

Everything was frozen solid. Even Water Beasts tens of thousands of zhang long were turned into ice sculptures by the bone-chilling cold qi.

At that moment, an enraged roar rang out.

A pillar of golden light shot toward him. Red Cloud flashed out of its range, appearing in the sky ten thousand meters above in an instant, where he looked down at the enormous Water Beast emerging from beneath the lake.

To his astonishment, the frozen lake surface cracked apart, and a spine ten thousand zhang long rose from beneath the ice.

Then the ice pillar exploded with a bang, shattered chunks of ice and stone of all sizes flying and crashing down in every direction.

An icy stone rain fell across a radius of more than a hundred li. Wherever it landed, it smashed the ice into countless craters.

A Water Beast resembling both a fish and a dinosaur strode ashore from Sunfire Lake on heavy footsteps.

Accompanied by muffled rumbling, the ice across a thousand li shattered with a boom. Surging waves erupted violently, one wave blasting tens of thousands of meters into the clouds.

"This aura... a Primordial Unity Golden Immortal!"

Red Cloud's Primordial Spirit sensed the Heavenly Dao, and from the Heavenly Dao, he learned the Water Beast's identity: the Flameburst Thorn Dragon.

Like most Water Beasts, the Flameburst Thorn Dragon was predominantly golden, but black and red lines ran across its spine, making it appear even more cold-blooded and savage.

The Flameburst Thorn Dragon's pale golden vertical pupils stared coldly at Red Cloud. One side was several hundred thousand zhang in size—before it, even Mount Everest would have been nothing but a small mound of earth.

The other side was only one point eight meters tall. To the Flameburst Thorn Dragon, Red Cloud was smaller than the difference between a human and an ant.

Yet in terms of presence, Red Cloud was not the least bit inferior to the Flameburst Thorn Dragon. Strength had never been measured by size.

Besides, if Red Cloud assumed the blood-cloud form of his true body, he would be far larger than the Flameburst Thorn Dragon.

By Red Cloud's estimation, his avatar's true-body form should exceed several million zhang, truly blotting out the sky and covering the sun. If he used the divine ability Heavenly Law, Earthly Form, it would be even larger.

After the Flameburst Thorn Dragon appeared, the atmosphere throughout Heavenly Treasure City froze for a moment, and everyone felt a trace of despair.

After all, Heavenly Treasure City's strongest expert was Heavenly Treasure Old Man, only at the peak Golden Immortal level. The appearance of a Primordial Unity Golden Immortal-level Water Beast meant Heavenly Treasure City was about to be destroyed.

"It's over. Heavenly Treasure City is going to fall."

"Why? Why would a Primordial Unity Golden Immortal join this beast tide? Does Heaven truly intend to destroy us?"

"There is still hope. That Daoist confronting the Flameburst Thorn Dragon is also a Primordial Unity Golden Immortal-level expert."

"Then we're even more finished. The aftershocks from a battle between two Primordial Unity Golden Immortals are simply not something we can endure."