Seizing the City

The Shadow Hall Deacon signaled to the disciples behind him. A disciple responsible for relaying intelligence stepped forward and repeated Ye Xianyu's words verbatim to Xu Xian.

"The Sect Master told me to inform the Little Grand-Uncle that she wants the auspicious beast alive."

Xu Xian's brow quirked.

The others, who were resting nearby, also turned their attention toward them.

Xu Xian sought confirmation. "Alive?"

The Shadow Hall disciple replied with absolute certainty, "Yes, alive. The Sect Master also said that since the Little Grand-Uncle has already revealed his trump cards, there is no need for any more hesitation or reservations. You are to let loose and go all out. Even if you stir up trouble as big as the heavens, the Sect Master and the Patriarchs will be there to back you up."

The expressions of those listening shifted. Their movements slowed, and the doubt in their eyes outweighed their previous confusion.

They understood the words, but they couldn't wrap their heads around the implications.

They naturally understood the Sect Master's intent. What they didn't understand was why such a sudden change had occurred.

Xu Xian subconsciously looked up at the sky. High above, two star-like spheres—one black and one white—hung in the air, each radiating a halo of light amidst the bright autumn sun.

Lowering his gaze, he gave a simple "Mhm" and said, "Go back and tell my Senior Sister that I understand."

The Shadow Hall disciple cupped his hands in a salute, and with a flicker of an afterimage, he was gone.

He had arrived without a shadow and departed without a trace.

The eyes of the crowd fell upon the youth, seemingly waiting for something.

Xu Xian exhaled a long breath of turbid air as his expression relaxed. He stood up, not forgetting to brush the mud and dust from the bloodstains on his sword robes.

He first scanned the people around him, then looked toward the distant mountains. With a smile, he asked, "Everyone, do you dare take a trip to Spirit Elixir City with me?"

The disciples finally understood. The confusion in their eyes vanished, replaced by a look of calm resolve. Their lips curled into smiles, and their eyes sparkled with amusement.

Some stood up, some tossed aside what they were holding, and others pulled their swords from the ground... They stood tall beneath the sky in the middle of the battlefield, looking toward the eastern horizon.

They were free and easy.

"Let's go."

"Of course."

"That's exactly what I was thinking."

"Count me in."

The youth laughed heartily and uttered a single word.

"Go!"

Xu Xian stepped onto the wind and headed straight for the east. The others followed him, walking with their swords in hand.

Along the way, Wen Qingxue asked, "Little Grand-Uncle, what does the Sect Master mean? Is she trying to force the demon race into an all-out war?"

Xu Xian shook his head.

"I don't know."

Wen Qingxue fell silent.

Xu Xian's voice grew firm and full of confidence. "But it doesn't matter. All I know is that from now on, I can do whatever I want."

"Hmm?"

Xu Xian smiled slightly. "Below the eighth stage, I am invincible."

Wen Qingxue couldn't help but laugh as she shook her head.

Bu Yining chimed in with a heavy voice, "Little Grand-Uncle, that's impressive."

The reasons? The logic? The intentions?

Xu Xian could guess some of it, and while he might not be entirely correct, he wasn't completely off the mark either. But as he had said, it didn't matter.

He only needed to know what he had to do.

Since his Senior Sister wanted the auspicious beast alive, he would capture it alive.

Since his Senior Sister told him to do as he pleased, he would let loose.

Today, he was going to tell the world that from now on, he was the one in charge of the Demon Suppression Abyss.

The Sword Mound was so massive that it could hold plenty. Since he was already here, taking a little was an option, but taking everything was also an option.

Given his personality, he would be a fool not to take advantage of such a situation.

If he had even a slight advantage, he would push for more. If he held the upper hand, he wouldn't leave his opponents a way out.

'You all want to kill me?'

'Fine.'

'I'll kill all of you first.'

As for those beast sovereigns and beast gods of the East Desolation, his own Senior Sister had told him not to be afraid.

So he wouldn't be.

If this had been when he first joined the sect, he might have hesitated and weighed his options.

But now, he had absolute trust in the sect. Setting aside his Senior Sister, who only appeared unreliable on the surface, there was his Fifth Senior Brother, Yun Zheng.

Xu Xian knew him well.

That man was a true master, and more importantly, he looked very reliable.

He trusted them.

Therefore, he had no worries.

Then again, it had been six years. For six whole years, he had been forging day and night to build the second-story Sword Tower and break through to the soul transformation stage.

Now that he had reached soul transformation, it was time to show off his strength.

You could call it acting cool.

Xu Xian wasn't like Li Qingshan, who only liked small displays of power; if Xu Xian was going to make a display, he would make it a grand one.

Trampling Spirit Elixir City and hanging a sword over the banks of the Wild River—that seemed like a very good idea to him.

The sword light was chilling as the moon set and birds cried out. The Demon Suppression Abyss was in a state of chaos as Xu Xian led nearly a hundred experts from the Wendao Sword Sect deep into the heart of the territory, continuing their eastward march.

They slaughtered their way through.

The demons wandering the mountains and fields were met with disaster, their lives ending permanently on that land.

At first, the Eight Great Tribes of the East Desolation tried to block their path. They attempted to wait for the humans to tire themselves out, hoping to trap and kill them all using formations and secret arts.

However, the results were not to the demons' liking.

Later, the demon race tried a different tactic. They planned to temporarily avoid the humans' sharp edge, retreat to recover, and wait for reinforcements before making another move.

They thought that as long as they retreated into Spirit Elixir City, the people from the Wendao Sword Sect would surely stop there.

After all, the humans couldn't possibly charge into Spirit Elixir City itself.

But fate did not go their way. To their surprise, under Xu Xian's leadership, the group from the Wendao Sword Sect continued their aggressive advance, heading straight for Spirit Elixir City with no intention of stopping.

They acted as if they wouldn't rest until the city was destroyed.

Finally...

When a certain sword intent from the Wendao Sword Sect struck the walls of Spirit Elixir City from ten miles away, the demons realized that the humans truly intended to break the city.

Spirit Elixir City had been born at the same time Demon-Slaying City was established.

In the thousands of years since then, both humans and demons had tacitly accepted a fact: these two cities were the two boundary lines of the Demon Suppression Abyss, rather than Boundary Mountain and the Wild River.

West of Demon-Slaying City was human territory.

East of Spirit Elixir City was demon territory.

The area in between was the Land of Great Contention.

The demons and humans living here also tacitly agreed that no matter what happened, as long as the opponent retreated into their city, the pursuit would end.

It had been this way for thousands of years.

They fought to the death within the Demon Suppression Abyss, but neither side crossed the line into the two cities.

But today, that unwritten rule was being broken.

The group from the Wendao Sword Sect was just like the demons from earlier that morning—aggressive and fierce. They charged to the city walls and showed no sign of turning back.

The demons in Spirit Elixir City were panicked, but they were also beyond furious.

They denounced the Wendao Sword Sect for not following the rules.

After all, in their subconscious, Spirit Elixir City was the territory of the East Desolation and the land of the demon race. Humans could only be brought in as prisoners; how could they set foot there with swords in hand?

This act had insulted their pride.

Even though Xu Xian was very strong, and even though the Wendao Sword Sect's blades were incredibly sharp, the demons had nowhere left to retreat. They could only resolutely leave the city to meet the challenge.

A fight to the death.

If their previous skirmishes were just struggles, then for the demon race, this was now a true war—a war to defend their land.

They would not retreat half a step.

"The Wendao Sword Sect has gone too far!"

"Fight them to the end!"

"Kinsmen, the honor of our race cannot be trampled upon! Follow me and kill them!"

They shouted and roared, transforming into their true forms as they charged out of the city, fighting a bloody battle before the gates of Spirit Elixir City.

Whether human or demon, when their home was at stake, there would always be a group of people who were not afraid to die.

That was the case now.

The Envoys of the Eight Tribes had issued a death order to hold the line at all costs.

If Spirit Elixir City fell, these younger generations would have no face to meet the elders of their tribes.

They had no choice but to fight.

The ferocious beasts, fighting desperately and without fear of death, managed to forcibly block Xu Xian and his group outside the city.

They fought from the bright daylight until dusk, and from dusk until the sky was filled with stars.

After several hours of stalemate, Xu Xian and the others were unable to move forward another inch.

By this point in the battle, both sides were seeing red.

"Roar! Kill! Kill all these humans!"

Xu Xian's eyes were also bloodshot. With Wait in one hand and his big hammer in the other, he smashed and slashed his way through.

"You won't surrender, right?"

"Then I'll just have to kill every last one of you!"