Shen Yiyun looked at the city wall and then at the man beside him, feeling that this young prefect could no longer be described as merely cunning; he was downright eerie!
Chen Ying also looked at the guy next to her in horror. If he hadn't led them out of the white mist, she would have suspected that he was some other monster in the mist.
Chen Qing ignored the crowd and looked towards the city wall. At this moment, Chen Qing in white on the city wall seemed to sense something as well, and looked at him. Their eyes met, and in the next second, Chen Qing understood the current situation on the city wall!
"With tens of thousands of zombies attacking the city, more than half have already been lost. Defending Liuzhou City should not be a problem."
The group looked at Chen Qing, then at the city wall, unsure of what to say.
Chen Qing naturally wouldn't explain what that thing on the city wall actually was. That thing was himself, or rather, it wasn't himself. It was a unique talent of the Divine Path Style player, which his partner had given a very flashy name: External Incarnation!
The reason for designing this talent is related to the characteristics of Divine Path Style players. In the original setting, Divine Path Style players were designed so that if the person who bestowed the title died, the entire Shinto system of bestowed Divine Path Style would be wiped out.
However, over time it became clear that this setting was extremely unfair to Divine Path Style players!
Because it is extremely difficult to complete the Divine Path Style style, almost dozens of times more difficult than a normal profession, if an ordinary player dies, they can quickly catch up in level with a new account by burying some of their legacy items, and can recover their strength in a week at most.
However, the establishment of Divine Path Style involves many aspects such as politics and public opinion, making it extremely difficult to start from scratch.
However, if this isn't the setting, and a Divine Path Style player dies while their conferred deity remains, the bug would be even bigger. Wouldn't that mean Divine Path Style players are practically invincible?
Since you die and are reborn, the gods you were appointed to still be there, and your strength instantly returns to its peak, what's the point of other players even playing?
After much deliberation, my partner and I decided to keep the original setup but increase the difficulty of killing Divine Path Style players.
This is the External Incarnation!
The characteristic of External Incarnation is that as long as one has bestowed a divine title upon a deity, one can leave a Divine Path Style there. In case of emergency, it can temporarily appear to not only monitor the deity's condition but also appear at crucial moments to play a commanding role.
But its greatest function is not that; rather, it can serve as a catalyst for one's own rebirth.
This is also the source of his confidence to go to find Yuchi Feihong alone. As long as the clone is still there, even if the main body is destroyed, Chen Qing can be reborn with the help of the clone. At most, he will recover for a period of time and be the same as before!
This is one of the Divine Path Style's greatest trump cards. If their power grows large enough, they can even have dozens of External Incarnation. Players who want to assassinate Divine Path Style players need to lock down the locations of all of their avatars at the same time!
"My lord, this gatekeeper is truly remarkable. Not only does it make our soldiers incredibly brave, but it also possesses such extraordinary ability to defend the city. If every prefecture in our Great Jin had such a thing, what would we have to worry about when foreign enemies invade?"
In response to Shen Yiyun's question, Chen Qing curled his lip and said, "Mr. Shen, you don't need to worry. In the future, our Great Jin will naturally be as you wish, with gatekeepers everywhere!"
"Oh?" Shen Yiyun gave the other person a deep look, thinking to himself: So, they really handed over the technique to the royal family?
Murong Yunji also laughed and said, "Is it the power of a gatekeeper that allows the soldiers on the city wall to possess the Windwalking Arrow, which is unique to my Heavenly Wolf Family?"
"I suppose so," Chen Qing replied without further explanation.
"My lord just said that holding the city shouldn't be a problem." Shen Yiyun pointed to the horde of zombies below the city gate. "That number is quite frightening, at least over ten thousand, right? Are you sure my lord can hold the city with those few dozen soldiers on the city wall? The power you used at the city gate just now shouldn't be overused, should it?"
" Mr. Shen Er, please observe quietly," Chen Qing replied calmly.
He dared to set sail near nightfall, naturally because he had something to rely on. He left his precious clone on the city gate, not just to leave behind a reborn copy.
"Waaaaaah!!"
The three leaders stared intently at the city wall, then suddenly howled like alpha wolves, their voices strange and accompanied by a high-frequency vibration like the chirping of cicadas.
As the howl began, all the zombies seemed to be stimulated, convulsing wildly, their muscles swelling, their rotting skin bursting open, veins bulging, looking as ferocious as hungry ghosts from hell.
The next instant, all the zombies started running, moving with the speed of wolves galloping across the grasslands—completely different creatures from before!
"Fire!" Wei Gongcheng's eyelids twitched at the sight, and he quickly gave the order.
Maozi and his men were equally formidable, unleashing a barrage of arrows that created a curtain of fire among the dozens of archers.
After a period of rest, they performed at a level no less than at the beginning. Even though these zombies were running several times faster, every arrow hit its mark, and their lethality remained astonishing.
This time, however, they could not put everyone at ease, because those zombies were many times more ferocious than before. They pounced one after another, and their movements were extremely fast. In an instant, they reached the city gate. What was most terrifying was that these zombies were incredibly agile this time. They could climb up like cats, and their movements were exceptionally nimble. Judging from their posture, they could leap onto the city wall in just a few steps!
In an instant, all the new recruits still on the city wall retreated, so frightened that they almost ran straight into the city.
Wei Gongcheng looked directly at Chen Qing; at this point, he truly had no other options.
Chen Qing, however, stared intently at the city below, as if waiting for something.
"My lord, if it doesn't work, shall we retreat?" Wei Gongcheng asked directly.
"No rush," Chen Qing said with a smile. "General Wei, keep a close eye on him; you'll find him useful in the future."
"Hmm?" Wei Gongcheng was taken aback. Before he could respond, Chen Qing had already begun to make a move.
Chen Qing made a hand seal resembling that of a sorcerer, and the next second, a scene that surprised Wei Gongcheng appeared.
Suddenly, the massive city gate visibly flipped upside down, and parts of the metal seemed to come alive, revealing at least hundreds of wolf heads. Although these wolf heads were made of metal, they were extremely realistic, as if they were real, living wolves. Facing the frantically climbing zombies, they directly revealed the ferocity of wild beasts, biting at the climbing zombies.
The bite force was incredibly powerful. Many zombies were bitten in half or had their heads bitten off. The densely packed zombies that rushed up the city wall were almost instantly turned into piles of mangled flesh and blood that fell from the city gate!
However, as the city gate displayed its mighty power, Chen Qing's body, who was standing on the city wall forming hand seals, visibly faded, becoming semi-transparent in just a few breaths. But at this moment, everyone was so excited by the city gate's performance that they didn't notice Chen Qing's change at all.
Chen Qing, standing at the city gate, frowned slightly.
It was indeed a bit of a stretch.
The current gatekeepers are newly appointed. This Wind Wolf is the former Wolf King, and he has some potential, but even so, after being appointed, he is still a minor, unranked god.
According to the hierarchy of the Divine Path Style, Heaven and Earth are divided into Xuan and Huang. The Ninth Rank rank of Huang is considered the entry level of Earth Immortal, whose spiritual power is roughly equivalent to Third Rank third-rank sorcerer in the present day. At this time, the South Gate of Liuzhou has not yet entered the ranks, and many of the gate gods' special abilities cannot be used. Their spiritual power is also weak, roughly equivalent to Fifth Rank sorcerer in the mortal world today.
Fifth Rank sorcerer's spiritual power is quite limited. He used up most of it in the first wave of wind energy release, which is why he was able to lure out Chen Qing's clone to replenish the city gate's spiritual power.
At this time, Chen Qing was nourished by the door gods and Mountain God, and his clone had existed for many days. In terms of spiritual power alone, it was almost at the Fifth Rank level.
In other words, the firepower is actually quite limited.
Chen Qing looked down, mentally estimating the remaining spiritual energy, and felt slightly guilty.
The Shen Family below the city were all quite surprised to see this scene. Second Master Shen suppressed his astonishment and asked, "Is this city gate a newly designed mechanism by the Ministry of Works?"
He could only guess at it, but doubts remained in his mind. Such an ingenious mechanism must have cost a lot to make. If he had the chance, he would like to make a few such gates for Nanyang City. After all, Nanyang lacks garrison troops, and such a mechanism gate would be a rare and effective defensive weapon.
As for the door gods, he hadn't even considered it. In his eyes, the so-called door gods were just a magic spell, good for fooling people. He didn't believe that the city gate's transformation was due to the power of the door gods.
I've never heard of any spell that could turn a city gate like that!
"It's a secret of the imperial court, so please don't ask any further questions Mr. Shen Er." Chen Qing was happy to use this as leverage.
Upon hearing this, Shen Lao'er nodded. It seemed that after this matter was over, he would have to write to Laowu in the capital to discuss it. Laowu had to get the design drawings for this kind of mechanical city gate for the Shen Family no matter what.
Murong Yunji looked at the city gate with a puzzled expression. Had the craftsmanship of the Great Jin reached this level? If this kind of thing became widespread and every city gate in the north was like this, it would be difficult for the northern kingdoms to even conquer a county.
Looking at Shen Er's greedy eyes, Chen Qing curled her lip slightly. This is nothing!
Many gatekeepers who haven't reached a certain rank lack complete functions, and their Spirit Energy release is rather crude. The wolf head bite just now was already a rather rudimentary way of defending against enemies.
If there were several thousand loyal followers who advanced to the Ninth Rank rank of the Yellow level, they could at least evolve a powerful weapon like the Wind God Ballista. With a few operators, those three foolish zombie leaders who dared to show their faces could have been shot down from a distance!
If there were tens of thousands of loyal believers who advanced to the First Rank rank of Yellow, they could directly evolve into firearms like the Wind God Cannon, which carries Spirit Energy. A few shots would instantly reduce the living corpses of that strength below the city to ashes.
As for higher
Chen Qing remembered that in his partner's design, the Heavenly-level gatekeeper was the Tianmen General, and the evolved giant cannon could blast mountains across thousands of miles, making it no different from Huaxia's Dongfeng Express.
However, that's too far off. With the current configuration, this is the only change the door gods can make. For door gods that haven't reached the next level, it's already considered a relatively cost-effective way to defend against enemies.
"Huh? Those zombies have retreated!" Chen Ying couldn't help but exclaim excitedly.
"Oh?" Shen Er looked over upon hearing this and immediately saw that the living corpses below the city wall had suddenly stopped and retreated. He laughed and said, "I thought these things were really not afraid of death."
Looking at the leader hidden among the zombies, Chen Qing knew that this was because the higher-level zombies had developed some rationality and would naturally not sit idly by and watch the entire zombie horde die.
"They've retreated! They've really retreated!" Chen Ying exclaimed excitedly upon seeing this. "My lord, shall we press our advantage?"
Chen Qing rolled his eyes. What's the point of pressing the attack? Once they're out of the city gates, how are they going to fight these tens of thousands of ghostly things?
"Sir, are you going to let them go?" Shen Er smiled as he looked at the horde of zombies. They were retreating towards the dock; he had just seen them. These zombies were quite fast in the water. If they went downstream, the surrounding counties of Liuzhou wouldn't have such formidable city gates, would they?
As mentioned before, these zombies can infect ordinary people. There are quite a few counties and districts along the river, and including the rural areas, the population is at least over 500,000. If the zombies were to spread there, things would get really interesting.