Mutiny

"The Monster Uprising is already underway, and these blackhearted profiteers still dare to jack up their prices! Fellow Daoists, don't waste your breath on him. Charge in and take what you need!"

Someone in the crowd shouted.

"Right! Just take it!"

"Why bother reasoning with such scum!"

"Charge!"

The situation instantly spun out of control. The people in the street surged into the stalls and shops like madmen.

At the sight, the merchants' smiles vanished.

Just then, a powerful pressure descended from the sky. Several swift streaks of light followed, and members of the City Guard appeared above the street.

The two men at their head unleashed their Foundation Establishment Realm divine sense and auras without restraint, forcibly suppressing more than half the clamor below!

"They're... Foundation Establishment Realm experts!" a cultivator exclaimed under his breath.

"The City Guard officers! Their personal guards are here too!"

"They're finally here..."

The two leaders hovered in midair, their expressions stern.

One spoke first.

"I am Zhang Tang of the Twin Crane Sect, courtesy name Congmen, humbly serving as an officer of the Flowing Cloud City City Guard!"

The man beside him likewise channeled his magical power and said, "I am Guan Chiwen of the Twin Crane Sect, courtesy name Bingwu, also serving as an officer of the Flowing Cloud City City Guard!"

Zhang Tang continued, "Fellow Daoists, remain calm! I have ordered the city's defensive formation activated at full strength! Though the demon race is numerous, they rely only on sharp claws and fangs. They lack cunning and are nothing to fear! All of you are hereby forbidden from causing an uproar or inciting disorder. Violators will be executed!"

Guan Chiwen immediately ordered, "Squads one through five, disperse throughout the city at once and suppress the unrest. No mistakes! Squads six through twenty, follow Senior Brother Zhang and me outside to meet the enemy. Anyone who throws away his armor and drags his weapon in retreat will be executed!"

"Yes, sir!"

The armored cultivators behind them answered in unison, then split into two groups to carry out their orders.

When Zhang Tang and Guan Chiwen flew to the city gate, they found that the situation looked grim.

"This is bad," Guan Chiwen said, sweeping the area with his divine sense. "Six of the creatures leading the charge have auras at the Foundation Establishment early stage!"

"Why panic? According to the scouts, those six are the only ones with Foundation Establishment cultivation. Let's each lead an elite squad and use the Array Formation to support us. We'll kill those six Demon Beast leaders first."

"Agreed!"

With their plan settled, Zhang Tang and Guan Chiwen drifted down.

Zhang Tang landed at the very front and suddenly sprang into action. With a low shout, he gathered earthen-yellow spiritual light around his right fist and slammed it into the ground!

In an instant, cracks raced across the ground around him. Six rock pillars as thick as cartwheels burst from the earth, transformed into six giant stone pythons, and lunged open-mouthed at the six Gu Diao.

"Coordinate with my Earth Attribute spells. When Earth Attribute spiritual energy fills the surroundings, my Wall-Earth Spiritual Root automatically forms a powerful trapping formation to bewilder them. These Demon Beasts aren't as intelligent as cultivators. Just seize your chances to support me from the flanks."

The Qi Refining disciples behind him repeatedly voiced their assent.

But the six Foundation Establishment Gu Diao reacted swiftly. They spread their enormous wings and took flight, avoiding the stone pythons' deadly strikes.

The largest Gu Diao soared high into the sky and let out a long cry.

At the sound, the dark mass of Gu Diao behind it beat their wings in unison and hurled themselves madly at Flowing Cloud City's Array Formation!

Seeing this, Guan Chiwen blurred and shot into the air. He raised his right hand and unleashed a glittering golden talisman.

Once activated, the talisman instantly became a Dagger radiating cold light.

The Dagger trembled slightly in midair, then abruptly split—one became three, and three became nine!

The nine golden Daggers gave off clear, ringing hums as they flew straight toward the Foundation Establishment Gu Diao attempting to command the flock!

Seeing the impressive force of Guan Chiwen's opening attack, Zhang Tang immediately praised him.

"Your Gold Foil Gold Spiritual Root really is enviable, Fellow Daoist Guan. With just a tiny scrap of gold, you can extend it endlessly. Though it isn't as versatile as White Wax Gold, it grants you the Golden Thread Garment spell. If you manage to comprehend the Grotto-Heaven Seal someday, that Golden Thread Garment might even advance into a divine ability, wouldn't you say?"

Under Guan Chiwen's control, the Gold Foil Gold paper Daggers swiftly slaughtered forty-five Gu Diao near the city gate before flying back into his hand.

The nine Daggers merged into three, then one, finally becoming a thin sheet of gold foil resembling a talisman.

"Enough praise, Fellow Daoist Zhang. I envy the Wall-Earth Five-Note Resonance in your Eight Characters even more. Given enough time to cast your spells and gather sand into an overwhelming force, you could hold eight or ten cultivators of your own level inside your Earth Attribute labyrinth for quite a while."

Zhang Tang merely waved his hand. "It's powerful, certainly, but I still need time to layer one earth spell after another and build up that force. Otherwise, how could I hold several cultivators of my own level? Besides, what cultivator would give me time to keep forming hand seals and casting spells in a fight?"

While Zhang Tang and Guan Chiwen traded compliments, the other City Guard cultivators below also attacked, sending multicolored radiance soaring into the sky.

Several searing fire serpents appeared out of thin air and coiled around the dozens of Gu Diao at the forefront, burning them until they screamed and fell.

Among the squads supporting Zhang Tang and Guan Chiwen, some cultivators conjured sharp Water Blades. A few flashes sliced several Gu Diao at the third or fourth level of Qi Refining into pieces.

The Gu Diao that evaded the attacks swiftly folded their wings and hurled themselves at the outermost cultivators with astonishing speed. Their jaws opened wide, and unfortunate cultivators had their heads bitten off.

Others worked seamlessly in groups of three or five, splitting up the cultivator squads and surrounding them.

Zhang Tang and Guan Chiwen exchanged a glance.

Kill the leaders first!

Some Gu Diao tried to circle overhead and dive straight toward Flowing Cloud Immortal City, only to be mercilessly cut in two by the spiritual light that suddenly flared from its defensive formation.

At the center of the battlefield, Zhang Tang's Rock Pythons twisted as nimbly as living creatures, coordinating with Guan Chiwen's golden Daggers to attack from viciously tricky angles.

Zhang Tang himself leaped up and sprinted along a python's body. He summoned an Earth Attribute spear into his hand and hurled it with all his strength!

The spear became an earthen-yellow streak that pierced a Gu Diao's chest in an instant. Zhang Tang snorted coldly, and another stone pillar shot up beneath his feet to support him.

Zhang Tang formed an Object-Controlling Art seal, and the bloodstained spear flew back. His figure flashed as he jumped onto another Rock Python.

The Gu Diao were no fools either. Realizing that the Rock Pythons' vulnerable points lay seven inches below their heads, they circled around, seized opportunities to latch onto their necks, and clawed at them.

Broken stone flew as a Rock Python was clawed apart. Its head separated from its body, and both collapsed into rubble.

Seeing this, the other Foundation Establishment Gu Diao followed suit, attempting to destroy the remaining Rock Pythons.

Zhang Tang gave an angry snort and abruptly changed his Hand Seals. Spikes as thick as forearms erupted from the Rock Pythons' bodies, catching the clawing Gu Diao off guard and piercing their foreclaws.

Guan Chiwen seized the opening. The nine phantom Daggers suddenly struck, becoming golden threads that flashed around the wounded Gu Diao's necks.

Squelch!

Four enormous Gu Diao heads flew into the air. The remaining two were also slaughtered through the combined efforts of the cultivators and the Array Formation.

Huang Yi, who had been watching from afar at the Array Formation's control hub inside the city, finally showed a faint, relieved smile.

"Thank you for your efforts, fellow Daoists! I, Huang Yi, have come to lend you both a hand!"

"Huang Yi! You only come now?" Zhang Tang exploded with rage at the sight of him.

"I've come at precisely the right moment. You two fought valiantly and dealt with the beasts leading the charge, but clearing out the hundred-odd Qi Refining Stage Gu Diao left here will still take some effort, won't it?"

"Hmph! We have our own ways of dealing with a few leftover Qi Refining Stage Demon Beasts. What difference does it make whether you come now or not?"

Zhang Tang rolled his eyes at Huang Yi as he spoke.

"Oh, come now, Fellow Daoist Zhang. That's treating me like an outsider. You'll sour our friendship."

But just as the three men, who could not stand one another, were about to continue their squabbling, Huang Yi's expression changed drastically with fright.

Pitch-black demon clouds surrounded Flowing Cloud City from every direction. A closer look revealed that the clouds consisted entirely of Gu Diao, blotting out the sky. The sound of the Demon Beasts' beating wings made their scalps crawl!

More importantly... it was the dead of night. By the time they could make them out, they were already very close to the immortal city.

And these Demon Beasts flew so fast that a moment's stunned hesitation brought them dozens of yards closer.

"Fellow Daoists, retreat into the city immediately! Hurry!" Guan Chiwen shouted. He then exchanged a glance with Zhang Tang, and the two silently agreed to cover everyone's retreat.

"Brother Guan, protect me while I cast!"

"Leave it to me!" Guan Chiwen flashed in front of Zhang Tang. He recalled the nine golden Daggers and formed them into a sharp sphere of light that spun rapidly around the pair, shredding the Gu Diao that lunged at them one after another.

Zhang Tang formed Hand Seals with both hands. Earth spiritual power surged wildly around him, making the ground tremble.

"Rise!"

An enormous earthen wall burst from the ground. It stretched twenty zhang long and rose more than ten zhang high, with astonishing thickness and countless viciously sharp stone spikes covering its surface. It temporarily blocked the flock, allowing the squads of Qi Refining City Guard cultivators to slip back into the city through a narrow opening in the Array Formation.

But Zhang Tang and Guan Chiwen were left in dire straits. No matter what they said, Huang Yi refused to open the Array Formation at the city gate again.

"Fellow Daoists, it isn't that I'm unwilling. I simply cannot. Even if I open the slightest gap in the Array Formation, a great number of demons will seize the chance to pour into the city. For the safety of every fellow Daoist within these walls, how could I dare take that risk?"

Guan Chiwen shook with rage. "Bastard! Aren't there still two hundred city guards inside? Can't they even deal with a few beasts that slip through?"

"My apologies, fellow Daoists. For the safety of the majority, I can only... ask you two to suffer this injustice."

"Huang Yi, fuck your ancestors! May you die a miserable death!"

Seeing Zhang Tang and Guan Chiwen gradually falter, the cultivator holding the command token asked, "Lord Huang, the two seniors seem to be losing. Perhaps..."

Huang Yi had only heard half the sentence before a streak of spiritual light from his hand cut the token-bearing cultivator in half at the waist, spilling blood across the ground.

Then Huang Yi stood inside the Array Formation with his arms folded, enjoying the spectacle as Zhang Tang and Guan Chiwen exhausted their magical power and were swallowed by the beast tide.

The circling golden Daggers and the spear instantly lost their spiritual radiance and clattered to the ground.

Seeing this, Huang Yi opened another narrow gap in the Array Formation and beckoned toward the outside. Using the Object-Manipulation Technique, he drew the Daggers and spear from the ground into his hands.

Huang Yi then tossed the Array Formation's control token to a cultivator beside him.

"Follow my orders. Reinforce the Array Formation with all your strength."

"Yes, Lord Huang."

Huang Yi toyed with his spoils and casually cast several spells to kill the few Gu Diao that had flown inside. Then he turned away from the city wall.

But before Huang Yi could fly far, another sudden change struck!

Before Huang Yi could fly far, a shout came from behind him. "Senior Huang! It's failing! The Array Formation... the Array Formation's core can't take it! It's about to collapse!"

"What?" Huang Yi looked back in terror.

The instant Huang Yi turned, several cracks appeared in the Array Formation's light barrier at the city gate...