Chapter 605: He Arrives on the Back of a Softshell Turtle
Five days later.
The twentieth day of the eleventh lunar month.
The Great Zhou’s Imperatorial Province, outside the Cloudriver Prefectural Capital.
The twilight skies were gray, and the crescent moon was as red as blood.
“Kill! Kill! Kill!”
Shouting and the sounds of slaughter reverberated throughout heaven and earth.
A group of Grandmasters lead a massive army of martial artists as they clashed with the swarm of beasts just outside the city gates.
The dense swarm of beasts surged like a tide. They’d practically surrounded the entire Cloudriver Prefectural Capital.?Their ranks stretched as far as the eye could see, seemingly without limit.
The city had only about twenty Grandmaster Realm experts, and each led a platoon of hundreds of martial artists into the fray. All were bathed in blood.
Numerous figures stood atop the city walls, watching nervously from afar.
Family Head Yuan Wutong was among them, his brow knit with deep worry.
The slaughter below shook the heavens, and the blood formed rivers deep enough to float a shield on. Time and time again, they struck the beasts’ vanguard, keeping them away from the city gates. The ground was soaked with blood and covered in corpses.
But there were just too many spirit beasts; no matter how many they killed, there was no end to them. More just charged over from afar.
The battle had already raged for three days.
By now, countless experts of the Cloudriver Prefectural Battle had already fallen, and the people saw no hope of attaining victory.
“In just one short month, the world… has changed completely….” Up on the city walls, someone sighed, his expression bleak.
Others were rueful.
A month ago, with no forewarning whatsoever, dramatic changes had occurred throughout the Great Zhou. A tide of spirit beasts arose from its mountains, rivers, lakes, and seas, bringing devastation to the human world.
The Eight Great Yao Mountains had changed dramatically too. They’d grown increasingly perilous as one otherworld cultivator after another arrived, proclaimed themselves rulers of their respective mountains, and sent their forces into the world below.
In just one month, the entire Great Zhou was in turmoil; it had become an abyss of suffering.?Everywhere you looked, there was conflict and bloodshed. The situation was dire.
Now, with the rising beast tides, no one knew how many cities had been enveloped and destroyed.
Given the circumstances, never mind the ordinary citizens; even the martial artists of the mundane world struggled to protect themselves!
“I heard that more than half of the Imperatorial Province’s prefectures have already fallen to the beast tide. If we can’t hold them off, the Cloudriver Prefectural Capital… is finished,” sighed Elder Zhou Huaiqiu of?Blueriver?Sword Manor.
“What arrangements have we made for our disciples?” Mu Cangtu, the leader of Blueriver Sword Manor said gravely.
“Sect Master, the disciples are ready to leave at any time,” said Zhou Huaiqiu.
“Good!” Mu Cangtu nodded his head. “If the Cloudriver Prefectural Capital cannot hold them off, lead the disciples away before it’s too late. Take them to the Imperial Provincial Capital and seek refuge at Heaven’s Origin Academy.”
Zhou Huaiqiu grimaced. “Ever since Palace Master Ning Sihua left, taking numerous others with her, Heaven’s Origin Academy has been like a pack of dragons without a leader. They’ve faced calamity on all sides too lately; I’m afraid their situation isn’t much better than ours…”
The group fell silent, and their hearts sank.
Heaven’s Origin Academy was one of the Great Zhou’s Ten Great Academies.?If even such a powerful faction faced numerous disasters, it was easy to imagine how terrifying the predicament of the nations’ smaller sects and clans was.
It was likely… much like what was currently happening to them!
“I heard that half a month ago, the Great Zhou’s imperial family and the Hidden Dragon Sword Sect submitted to that otherworld faction, the Celestial Prison Demon Court. Perhaps it won’t be long before experts of the Celestial Prison Demon Court help resolve all these calamities,” someone couldn’t help but say.
The Celestial Prison Demon Court!
When they heard this name, the group’s expressions turned conflicted.
A month ago, no one in the Great Zhou knew of them, yet now, they were already common knowledge.
This was a faction from another world, and even the weakest of its subordinates were in the Grain Avoidance Realm!
They’d come from the hole in the spatial barrier deep within Bloodthistle Yao Mountain, and in just a few weeks, they’d occupied five of the Eight Great Yao Mountains!
Even some of the Great Zhou’s Ten Great Academies had already submitted to the Celestial Prison Demon Court.
And recently, word that even the imperial family and Hidden Dragon Sword Sect had lowered their heads had spread throughout the nation!
The Great Zhou was in turmoil, and the world was changing rapidly. Who wouldn’t have been surprised?
It was then that Yuan Wutong snorted. “Those of other worlds cannot be trusted! It’s because of the changing times that those otherworlders had an opportunity to invade the Great Zhou. How… How could they possibly help us out of the goodness of their hearts?”
“But with just the power of the Great Zhou, how could we possibly defend against the Celestial Prison Demon Court?” said Family Head Zhang Zhiyan, his eyes flashing. “This is simply the trend of the world; those who adapt will flourish, and those who cannot will perish. It’s only been a month, yet the world is already this turbulent. Going forward, I’m certain that the Celestial Prison Demon Court will make the rules here!”
Yuan Wutong’s brow furrowed.
“This is bad!” Suddenly, Mu Cangtu’s expression changed dramatically. “Everyone, come with me!
As he spoke, he shot ahead. He’d already leaped off the city walls.
Everyone looked over. Further down the battlefield, they saw several spirit beasts with terrifying auras forcing their armies back over and over again!
When their ranks broke, numerous martial artists were ripped apart and devoured.?This bloody spectacle sent chills through countless hearts.
“Come on!” The experts gathered on the city walls dared not hesitate. They attacked, one after another.
However——
As time went on, more and more spirit beasts appeared, and their strength only increased!
The pressure on Mu Cangtu, Zhou Huaiqiu, Yuan Wutong, Zhang Zhiyan, and the other top experts of the Cloudriver Prefectural Capital increased enormously, and their expressions were incomparably solemn.
“Everyone, we can’t stop them. Where there’s life, there’s hope. Let’s flee!” someone shouted.
“Retreat? The Cloudriver Prefectural Capital is beset on all sides by a tide of spirit beasts. We might well escape, but what about our wives? Our children? Our friends? Our relatives? What will become of them?” said another, his eyes bloodshot.
“Then we’ll just have to fight to the bitter end! Even if we die, we’ll kill to our hearts’ content first!” Yuan Wutong gnashed his teeth, and his expression filled with determination.
Their situation was desperate. How could he concern himself with his own life and death?
“Kill! Kill! Kill them all!” Shouts shook the heavens, and the world was painted in blood. It was as cruel as could be.
The spirit beasts fought with no regard for their own lives, attacking in waves. They repeatedly forced the defending martial artists back, and soon, they were almost at the city gates.
A few vicious birds shot through the air, attempting to invade the city, only to be greeted with round after round of arrows. The projectiles poured down like a waterfall.
The distant crescent moon was as red as blood, and the dim skies gradually darkened. Night was approaching.
Against dim skies, a bloody, desperate, apocalyptic struggle unfolded before the city gates.
Splurt!
Sharp claws found their way to Yuan Wutong’s chest, slashing down into his gut and almost disemboweling him.
His face paled, and he staggered back.
When he looked up, he saw spirit beasts on all sides, so many that they blotted out the sun. He couldn’t help but give into despair.
A sudden roar reverberated throughout heaven and earth, and Yuan Wutong’s pupils constricted.
A several-dozen-foot-tall feline spirit beast charged at him.
It raised its claws, each a foot long and terrifyingly sharp.
The nearby spirit beasts gathered and surrounded him.
He was beset on all sides!
Yuan Wutong had seen his fair share of wind and rain, but even he couldn’t help but give in to despair. His face filled with bitterness.
So what if he was a Grandmaster?
He was still just a mortal man.
But it was then that——
A deep, boundless, bestial roar reverberated throughout heaven and earth, like a deity beating a celestial drum. It echoed throughout the dusky skies, filling the landscape.
Thud!
The enormous spirit beast about to charge into Yuan Wutong suddenly stiffened as if utterly terrified. Then, it fell limply to the ground, wailing mournfully.
Immediately afterward, the other beasts around ?Yuan Wutong wailed too. All of them were so terrified that they prostrated themselves on the ground, quivering from head to toe, too scared to even move.
“This…” Yuan Wutong’s eyes widened.
For this to happen when his life hung by a thread, on the brink of utter despair, left Yuan Wutong feeling almost as if he were dreaming.
“What’s happening?”
“My heavens!”
“Why are those spirit beasts…”
An uproar arose throughout the battlefield.
The bloodstained, valiant warriors all looked flabbergasted. They stared ahead of them in a daze.
The seemingly endless army of spirit beasts covering the landscape seemed to have instantly lost their will to fight. All lay prostrate on the bloodstained ground, wailing and quivering.
The light of the setting sun illuminated the mountain of corpses and sea of blood, as well as the martial artists’ bewildered expressions. They stood there in a daze, still as statues.
This…What’s going on?
Those watching from the city walls were stunned too.
Earlier, they’d all heard that boundless bestial roar. Afterward, they watched from on high as the seemingly endless army of beasts fell, like wheat before a scythe. All of them now lay prostrate on the ground!
“Quick, look!” Someone suddenly shouted in alarm, “That’s…!”
Everyone instinctively looked over.
Off in the distance, under the cover of dusk, a fully one-thousand-foot softshell turtle was approaching from the banks of the Great Azure.
Its limbs were like pillars supporting its mountain of a body. The orange light of the setting sun illuminated its body, giving it an ethereal, dreamlike quality.
Wherever it passed, the spirit beasts quivered and retreated in abject terror, clearing a path.
Thud! Thud! Thud!
The earth shook, and the terrifying aura emanating from the turtle intimidated everyone present. Even the distant martial artists held their breath, and their faces filled with astonishment.
How terrifying must that yao be?
“There are people! There are people riding on its back!” A young person shouted from atop the city walls, their face filled with disbelief.
There was a disturbance amongst the crowd as everyone looked over.
Indeed, there were several figures atop the softshell turtle’s thousand-foot back.
A pretty, dignified woman.
A young man in apricot-yellow?Daoist?robes.
Both the woman and the young man stood beside a young man in blue, who was sprawled out in a wicker chair.
Beneath the light of the city sun, the three of them rode in on the back of a softshell turtle, and ten thousand beasts prostrated themselves before them!
The sight came as an enormous shock to every martial artist present.
“That… Is that an Earthly Immortal?”
“Most likely…”
“Does that mean we’ve been saved?”
Countless martial artists felt dazed and bewildered as they took this in.
When he saw the blue-robed youth reclining in a wicker chair on the turtle’s back, Yuan Wutong’s jaw dropped.
He instinctively rubbed his eyes, seemingly in disbelief.
That’s… M-Master Su!?
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