Beast Tide

“Thank you, old sir.”

Wang Xuanyi handed over some money, then followed behind the Yuhui Immortal Sect group, intending to enter the City Lord's Manor with them. To his surprise, he was suddenly surrounded.

“Speak! Who are you?”

Yu Linglong held a long sword against Wang Xuanyi's neck, asking with a solemn expression, “Why are you following us?”

With every word she spoke, the blade pressed a fraction of an inch closer.

“I told you, but you wouldn't listen. When you listened, you didn't believe me. Since you didn't believe me, why ask again? What do you expect me to do?” Wang Xuanyi shrugged indifferently.

Wang Xuanyi had already told them that he was a disciple of the Heavenly Martial Immortal Sect and had come to this place after accepting a mission. He had only followed them because he was unfamiliar with the area.

Unfortunately, these people acted as if they had a screw loose and refused to believe him.

What other choice did he have?

None at all.

“You're lying. Most of the disciples of the Heavenly Martial Immortal Sect are in the Little Purple Realm. How could you possibly not go? Besides, you don't even have a Heavenly Martial Immortal Badge. How can we believe you?” Yu Linglong said.

The cold blade pressed in slightly further.

“Here, this is the Heavenly Martial Immortal Badge.”

Wang Xuanyi took a golden badge from his robe. Yu Linglong warily took the badge, which was clearly engraved with: Tianzhu Peak disciple, Zhu Huai.

Wang Xuanyi said, “I told you I was a disciple of the Heavenly Martial Immortal Sect, but you didn't believe me. Do you believe me now?”

After confirming that the badge had not been tampered with, Yu Linglong sheathed her sword, gestured for her companions to deactivate their formation, and tossed the badge back to Wang Xuanyi. “If you had just shown it to us in the first place, there wouldn't have been so much trouble.”

To this, Wang Xuanyi shrugged and said nonchalantly, “I was also worried that you guys were fakes. It's always good to be cautious.”

With that, Wang Xuanyi tossed Yu Linglong's own badge back to her. This single movement left the dozen or so disciples stunned.

“When did he...”

Wang Xuanyi cut her off directly, “Let's go. The situation in Black Cloud Border City isn't looking good. Stop wasting time here.”

Yu Linglong nodded and gave up on questioning him, following his lead.

She had many questions, but now was not the time.

The most important thing was to deal with the beast tide facing Black Cloud Border City.

The City Lord's Manor.

Jin Sha, the ninth City Lord, stood on the city wall, looking at the dense black swarm of beasts in the distance and the rolling thunder in the sky, his brow furrowed deeply.

There were no extra troops left in the city to continue resisting, and the imperial city was temporarily unable to dispatch more reinforcements to aid Black Cloud City.

Letters of distress had been sent out a few days ago, pleading for the immortal sects to quickly reinforce Black Cloud Border City. Otherwise, they wouldn't be able to withstand the next beast tide at all.

“City Lord, the disciples of the Yuhui Immortal Sect and the Heavenly Martial Immortal Sect have arrived.”

A soldier said, panting heavily.

Hearing this, Jin Sha's expression softened considerably, and he quickly said, “Quick, quick, quick! Take me to meet them.”

Jin Sha hurried down from the city wall. When he saw the group, the joyful expression on his face instantly turned into one of gravity.

There were too few people—only a dozen or so.

“Greetings from the Yuhui Immortal Sect.”

The moment he saw Jin Sha, the Golden Core Realm elder took the lead to salute, and the disciples behind him followed suit.

“Greetings, Elder.”

Jin Sha did not stand on ceremony and quickly returned the salute, then asked, “Elder, I have a question to ask. I wonder if you could answer me honestly?”

“Please speak.”

“Are there still members of the Yuhui Immortal Sect who have not yet arrived?”

“No,” the elder answered honestly, then added, “When our sect received your dynasty's request, we only dispatched the few of us to help. Is there a problem?”

City Lord Jin Sha's directness did not offend the Yuhui Immortal Sect; instead, it made them feel that something was amiss.

Sure enough, it was exactly as the elder suspected.

City Lord Jin Sha sighed and said with a heavy face, “Elder, this beast tide is different from before. It might be the most ferocious one yet. There are quite a few Transformed Grand Demons (Golden Core Realm), and even several Earth Demons (Nascent Soul Realm) among them.”

“What?!”

The disciples cried out in shock, clearly shaken by this news.

“The intelligence we received only mentioned dealing with a small-scale beast tide in Black Cloud Border City. We had no idea of the actual situation,” the elder's expression also grew solemn.

It was precisely because it was supposed to be a small-scale beast tide that he had brought along several inner sect disciples for real-world experience. Now, this was no longer an experience; it was a death trap.

“It seems someone is targeting the dynasty and the various immortal sects.”

Jin Sha couldn't blame the Yuhui Immortal Sect. This wasn't their fault. It was highly likely that a traitor had appeared within the dynasty and deliberately sent out false intelligence.

“Yes. I will send a message to the sect to report the truth and have them quickly dispatch personnel to resolve this disaster,” the elder said.

Since things had reached this point, only by quickly correcting the mistake could they minimize their losses.

“What about the Heavenly Martial Immortal Sect? Wasn't there another faction?”

After finishing his conversation with the elder, Jin Sha remembered that there was another faction present. Why hadn't he seen their representative?

“I'm here.”

Wang Xuanyi raised his hand and stepped out from behind the Yuhui Immortal Sect group.

He had already overheard their conversation. The situation was indeed complex, even exceeding his scope of control.

If it were only Shapeshifted Grand Demons, he still had the ability to resolve it all. But there were also Earth Demons in the beast tide—terrifying existences comparable to Nascent Soul Realm cultivators, and more than one. In that case, he was powerless.

Furthermore, there might even be a Sky Demon (Soul Formation Realm) in the beast tide. The opponent could crush him to death with a single finger. This was far too dangerous.

When Jin Sha saw that Wang Xuanyi was alone, he fell completely silent.

Out of courtesy, Wang Xuanyi explained, “City Lord, most of the Heavenly Martial Immortal Sect's disciples are participating in the Little Purple Realm. The elders and Peak Masters were also misled by the letters, which is why they only sent me.”

“Sigh, I am to blame for not noticing the issue in time.”

City Lord Jin Sha was helpless. However, he still had to defend the city; otherwise, he would have really wanted to return to the dynasty to catch the spies.

“City Lord, this is bad! The beast tide is here!”

A sentry on the city wall shouted, his voice trembling violently as if he had seen something terrifying, his face instantly turning pale.

“Everyone, I humbly implore you all for your assistance.”

Jin Sha bowed, looking at the dozen or so people with sincere eyes. Even if they were few, it was better than nothing. There were still over a hundred thousand citizens in the city who had not evacuated yet, and he absolutely could not abandon the city so carelessly.

Moreover, the group of citizens who had left earlier had not yet reached a safe zone. No matter what, he could not fail them.

“Very well.”

The Yuhui Immortal Sect elder was not one to shirk responsibility and agreed immediately.

Although the dozen or so disciples hesitated, they also nodded in agreement.

In this situation, they couldn't leave anyway. Only by fighting with all their might would they have a sliver of hope for survival.

Saying this, Jin Sha led them up the city wall, with Wang Xuanyi following closely behind. Only then did they clearly see the true face of this beast tide.

In the distance, amidst the thousands of mountains and valleys.

Tens of thousands of demon beasts rushed forward like dense black clouds, carrying a momentum as powerful as a thunderbolt, the earth rumbling under their trampling hooves.

In the sky, rolling thunderclouds flashed with lightning, the dense electrical bolts resembling a massive spiderweb. They seemed like roaring beasts, descending alongside the demon beasts below.