Chapter 1793: Chapter 1778: Xio Qiangu Dumbfounded
Looking at the blazing fires and smoke rising from Dachang Mountain, the just-arrived ancestral elder of the Xio family, Xio Zhen, bit his lip hard, but blood still kept seeping from the corners of his mouth.
Meanwhile, the current head of the Dongxi Clan, Xio Tiandong, had a face as pale as a sheet, and even his fingers were trembling.
Earlier, they had received a warning from the clan while tracking that Ancient Fierce Beast driven by the strong wind. After their hasty return, they witnessed the massacre that left the entire Xio Mansion slaughtered.
Bear in mind, within the Xio Mansion, no matter if it was the granted guardians or the Martial Artists under constant training, all were elite and highly talented clan members of the Dongxi Clan.
But now, they were all wiped out.
What does this represent? It represents that two-thirds of the Dongxi Clan’s members were killed, reducing the once-renowned great family in Pingzhou to an almost insignificant clan within an instant.
Compared to the deaths and injuries of the clan members, the loss of those over five million High Grade Spiritual Stones doesn’t even seem to matter.
Fortunately, the ancestral elder Xio Zhen and family head Xio Tiandong are still there, along with forty elite Realm King Realm clan members and Dachang Mountain. Under their protection, with the remaining eight thousand clan members of the Dongxi Clan, given a period of sixty years, the Dongxi Clan can rise to power again.
Sixty years is neither too long nor too short, but for Martial Artists, it’s a duration they can afford to wait.
So, the Xio family’s group of Martial Artists, stifling their grief, sent out numerous warning documents and began to treat the surviving clan members.
But less than fifteen minutes had passed before the ancestral elder Xio Zhen received an urgent Talisman Communication from Dachang Mountain.
A hundred thousand demon army troops appeared in Dachang Mountain and began slaughtering the mountain.
Xio Zhen and others turned pale with fright.
By the time he rushed over in fifteen minutes, the entire Dachang Mountain had already become a ruin.
The Xio clan members stationed here, overseeing and protecting the mining veins of Dachang Mountain, themselves amounted to over six thousand people.
Less than a hundred survivors remain.
Not only that, but they also destroyed the foundation of the Xio Clan, all the hundreds of mining tunnels within the veins of Dachang Mountain.
Understand that the Dongxi Clan spent over a hundred years constructing those thousand-meter mining tunnel passages at a massive cost.
Now, it was all destroyed overnight....
"Who, exactly who did this..." roaring, unable to bear the strike, Xio Tiandong, head of the Dongxi Clan, collapsed skyward.
It wasn’t that Xio Tiandong lacked the ability to withstand blows.
But the blow was simply too great.
Nearly fifty thousand clan members of the Dongxi Clan, now ninety percent have been exterminated, and the number of survivors is only around two thousand.
The clan members here refer specifically to the males; within great families, only males are considered true clan members.
Among the remaining two thousand, of the males capable of normal offspring reproduction, possibly even less than four or five hundred.
Among those like the forty Realm King Realm experts of the Dongxi Clan, they can indeed still procreate, but even with effort over several decades or a hundred years, they may not necessarily produce a single child.
To increase the number of usable clan members to over ten thousand, it is basically impossible without nearly a hundred years of recuperation and population growth.
Losing the population and losing Dachang Mountain, a source of wealth.
The Dongxi Clan, has been virtually crippled.
The same thought crossed the mind of West Patrol Xio Qiangu.
Xio Qiangu realized, the Dongxi Clan was finished, and for a long period, they could be of no help to him.
It also implied that the wealth of over ten million High Grade Spiritual Stones annually supplied to him by the Dongxi Clan would decrease by over ninety percent.
Moreover, it means he won’t be able to get any usable talents from the Dongxi Clan in the next hundred years.
Under normal circumstances, within a century, the Dongxi Clan could steadily supply him with ten thousand clan members, with Cultivation at the Dao Entrance Realm and well-trained.
This caused Xio Qiangu severe heartache.
"Weis Gang, first it was the Xio Mansion in Dongxi County City being bloodwashed by a hundred thousand demon army, then Dachang Mountain being bloodwashed, isn’t this too much of a coincidence?"
"This invading demon army is deliberately targeting the Dongxi Clan, specifically targeting me, Xio Qiangu. Do you have that feeling?" Xio Qiangu quickly realized something was amiss.
Weis Gang’s face changed, "My lord, this is indeed too coincidental. If that’s the case, then ...." Weis Gang then frowned, "But the problem is, my lord, who would have the capability to silently and stealthily transport a hundred thousand demon army into the heartland of our Great Zhou?"
Even Prince Lik Ji, who is stationed at the Human Demon Battlefield, is afraid he wouldn’t have that capability."
"Indeed...."
This was exactly what puzzled Xio Qiangu.
This matter smacked of too much incredibility.
Even though Xio Qiangu knew about this immediately and began immediate preparations, he was still overwhelmed by the flood of documents flying in like snowflakes.
This time, he experienced the feeling that Ye Zhen had back then.
What was most deadly, when the news spread that a hundred thousand demon army appeared in Pingzhou and wiped out a county city, the Imperial Court of the Great Zhou was utterly alarmed.
Successive demon army invasions by battalions were provoking the dignity of the monarch and ministers of the Great Zhou.
Not only did Ren Venerate Emperor Ji Long directly issue an Imperial Decree, but even Grand Celestial Official Wu Yu also issued Military Orders.
The Imperial Decree and Military Orders essentially had the same meaning.
Work with nearby garrisons to find and eliminate the invading demon army within a specified period.
The deadline was even more pressing.
This time, the Imperial Decree and Military Orders from Grand Celestial Official Wu Yu gave Xio Qiangu a timeline of only one day.
The West Patrol and the Wind Patrol Envoy in charge of Pingzhou’s Third Route were given only one day to find the traces of the invading demon army, or face military law.
Don’t be misled by the fact that the timeline is only one day, it was far more stringent compared to what Ye Zhen was given back then.
But that wasn’t the case.
Ye Zhen faced an invasion of slightly over a thousand demon army troops back then; such a number could hide easily, even a slightly larger cave could serve as a shelter.
Finding them within a three-day period was actually quite difficult.
But this time, Xio Qiangu was looking for a hundred thousand demon army.
A hundred thousand demon army, even if they stood there person to person, would stretch tens of miles, and there would be no suitable hiding place, even if they wanted to hide.
It’s almost impossible for a hundred thousand to conceal their tracks; concealing entirely isn’t feasible.
So, compared to the three-day Military Orders given to Ye Zhen before, the Military Orders Xio Qiangu and the Third Route Wind Patrol Envoy received were of much less difficulty.
Initially, upon receiving the Imperial Decree and Military Orders, Xio Qiangu was quite confident.
Completing this Imperial Decree and Military Order was not difficult, so Xio Qiangu was considering how to handle the aftermath.
However, after dispatching a large number of personnel based in the Dongxi County, conducting a widespread search for half a day, cold sweat formed on Xio Qiangu’s forehead.
Couldn’t find them!
The vast amount of manpower he dispatched, along with several Dao Realm experts led by Xio Zhen, combed an area of 300,000 miles around Dongxi County.
Not to mention a hundred thousand demon army, they couldn’t even find a trace of the demons.
A hundred thousand demon army seemed to have vanished into thin air, impossible to locate no matter what.
In an instant, Xio Qiangu felt helpless!
He was like an ant on a hot pan, dumbfounded!
