by D cat
At this time, Yin Zhou continued, "Of course, refining the Heavenly Flame isn't that simple of a task either."
"According to the statistics, 99% of the cultivators who attempted to refine the Heavenly Flame ended up burning to death."
"It just so happens that the bloodline and features of the Crystal-scaled Green Snake match quite well with the Green Lotus Dragon Flame. Moreover, it probably only managed to refine the Heavenly Flame by pure luck."
"I reckon that the Crystal-scaled Green Snake's overall strength has already broken through to the Martial Emperor Realm."
"Taking the other four C-class Vicious Beasts into account, I'm afraid that our Red Maple City... won't stand a chance."
Upon uttering those words, Yin Zhou's eyes trembled and turned bloodshot.
As the Guardian dispatched by the League of Martial Cultivators to Red Maple City, he had participated in three terrifying battles against the Vicious Beast Tide over the years. Although each time ended as humanity's victory, everyone had to fight with their lives on the line each time.
Over the past thirty to forty years, he had created many attachments in Red Maple City and had long since regarded it as his home.
But now, that sweet home of his was going to be destroyed...
CHAPTER 94 - A SIMPLE HELPING HAND
"Guardian Yin Zhou, it seems that we have to resort to our final plan of escape!"
Yu Feng took a deep breath and said with a trembling voice.
"That's right!"
Bao Zheng shouted in horror. "We should escape while we still have the time!"
"That's all we can do..."
Yin Zhou nodded in dejection.
The so-called escape plan was to bring along the small number of elites and get away from Red Maple City with the few airships available.
However, this also meant that they would give up 99% of the people in Red Maple City!
"There's no need to worry if we have a way to escape. Let's go!"
Bao Zheng nodded his head fiercely. In any case, he couldn't wait to escape.
"Let's go."
Yin Zhou looked at the Crystal-Scaled Cyan Snake again and turned around with Yu Feng, about to leave.
"Wait!"
Suddenly, Su Lang's calm voice sounded from behind.
"Mister Su Lang?!"
Yu Feng exclaimed in an anxious tone. After all, if they stayed here any longer, the entire Red Maple City would already be finished!
"You guys may not be able to defeat that Crystal-scaled Green Snake, but that doesn't mean that I can't!"
The corner of Su Lang's mouth curved into a smile. "This time, I will be the one to protect Red Maple City. You guys can just assist me from the side."
"What?!"
Everyone stood dumbfounded upon hearing his declaration. They simply could not believe their ears.
"Mister Su Lang, that Vicious Beast possesses a Heavenly Flame!"
Yu Feng said warily, "Its strength is estimated to have reached the Martial Emperor Realm. How can you possibly defeat it?"
"That's right, Mister Su Lang!"
Yin Zhou found it hard to believe. "Although you may have certainly overpowered Ye Feizhang, you still haven't broken through to the Martial Emperor Realm!"
"Do you guys think I'm an idiot?"
Su Lang smiled. "Since I dared to say such a thing, of course I would have confidence in defeating it!"
When everyone was staring dumfoundedly at the five gigantic Vicious Beasts, Su Lang, on the other hand, took the opportunity to scout out the strength of those five Vicious Beast with his Property Panel.
The black wolf, red fox, gigantic elephant, and golden tiger were all indeed C-class Vicious Beasts.
Although their strength may have certainly increased under the influence of that strange aura, they were only equivalent to that of an Advanced Martial King.
As for the Crystal-scaled Green Snake with the Green Lotus Dragon Flame, its attack level was similar to that of an Initial Martial Emperor while its three other attributes were that of an Advanced Martial King.
At this moment, its combat strength was indeed not something that Su Lang could deal with at the moment.
However, Su Lang had managed to attain the combat strength of a Quasi Martial Emperor only after devouring three of his clones!
If he decided to swallow a few more clones, he would definitely be a full-fledged Martial Emperor!
"Mister Su, do you really have a way to salvage the dire situation?"
Yin Zhou did not see Su Lang as a total fool. Seeing how Su Lang spoke with full confidence, he asked with a hint of hope.
"You still don't believe me? Then open your eyes and see for yourself!"
Revealing a slight grin on his face, Su Lang instantly devoured his remaining two clones.
Immediately after, a terrifying aura surged up and formed into a pillar of light around his body.
In the next moment, a violent whirlwind with a radius of several hundred meters roared like a wild dragon. Shocked, Yin Zhou and the other two failed to stand firmly on their feet as they fell on their back.
"The realm of the Martial Emperor?! This... What kind of sorcery is this?!"
"He actually broke through a major realm just like that? How could that be?!"
"Dear God... this is too unbelievable!"
They looked as if they had witnessed the reincarnation of a god as their eyes popped out from their sockets in shock.
Meanwhile, Su Lang had already gotten used to the three of them making such a big fuss.
He smiled and opened his Property Panel.
[Name]: Su Lang
[Race]: Human
[Qualification Level]: Turbid Body
[Realm Level]: Quasi Martial Expert
[Attack Level]: Initial Martial Emperor +
[Defense Level]: Quasi Martial Emperor +
[Movement Level]: Initial Martial Emperor
[Endurance Level]: Quasi Martial Emperor +
[Skill Mastery]: Infinite Heart Sutra, Soul Chasing Sword Arts (High-rank, Entry-state), Thunder Filament Arts (Low-rank, Middle-state), True Lightning (Low-rank, Middle-state), Astral Thunder Technique (Low-rank, Entry-state);
Tyrant Armor Body Forging Technique (Intermediate-rank, Entry-state), Cloud Threading Silk Steps (Intermediate-rank, Entry-state), Ethereal Martial Body Forging Technique (Intermediate-rank, Entry-state), Nine Elephants Mountain Treading Technique (Intermediate-rank, Entry-state)...
(Parts of the cultivation techniques have been omitted).
[Activated System Functions]: One-click Cultivation Function (Level 5), One-click Martial Arts Function (Level 5), Clone Dispatch Function (Level 5), One-click Treasure Hunting Function (Level 3)
CHAPTER 95 - THE VICIOUS BEAST TIDE
"Only the realm of the Initial Martial Emperor (+)?"
Su Lang raised his brows in slight disappointment. "It seems that the effects of Devouring Clone becomes less effective after breaking through a major realm."
"It's honestly such a pity that I don't have enough funds. Otherwise, I would have already spent 10 million gold coins on raising the Clone Dispatch Function to Level 6. After devouring the sixth clone, I reckon that I could break through to the realm of Intermediate Martial Emperor!"
"Even then, my current combat strength should be enough to deal with that snake. Although the attack level of the Crystal-scaled Green Snake may be quite high, its other three attributes are only at the realm of the Martial King. Therefore, I should definitely be able to kill it with ease."
After thinking for a moment, Su Lang revealed a faint smile and turned to Yin Zhou.
"Don't just stand there and stare blankly at me. The citizens of Red Maple City have probably fallen into a state of panic at this very moment."
"Go back and calm the hearts of your people. Command the cultivators of the Mortal Realm and above to guard the walls of the city. You can leave those C-class Vicious Beasts to me!"
Suddenly, Su Lang had t
urned into someone worthy of becoming a leader.
"Yes, Lord Su Lang!"
Upon receiving Su Lang's confident commands, the three men burst into cheers like a roaring sea.
With someone as powerful as Su Lang on their side, they could definitely be able to defend Red Maple City, no longer needing to leave their homes behind and escape with their tails tucked between their legs.
"Let's go!"
With a single wave of his hand, Ye Feizhang's longsword, a high-rank spirit artifact, suddenly appeared in his hand.
The sword was enveloped by a domineering aurea while its blade felt sharp enough to slice apart an entire cliff. Its lethality felt that much great than the Violet Spirit Sword.
Grasping the longsword in his hand, Su Lang instantly bolted over a hundred meters with a single step. In the blink of an eye, his figure had already disappeared from the vision of the other three men.
"Lord Su Lang... please save the city!"
Yin Zhou muttered as he rushed towards the city walls with Yu Feng and Bao Zheng.
While Su Lang had gone his separate way from Yin Zhou, the hundreds of strongholds outside the city had also begun to evacuate before the Vicious Beast Tide fully overwhelmed them.
Within the span of ten minutes, the Vicious Beast Tide had already covered the entire land and formed into a large wave that devouring everything in its path.
The countless Vicious Beasts that had lost their rationality squeezed together and charged towards the towering rampart of Red Maple City like a tsunami.
At this point, the Vicious Beasts were as cruel and brutal as they could be, for it targeted anything that was contaminated with the aura of a human.
In a short period of time, a large number of martial cultivators had already been caught and eaten alive by them.
Su Lang advanced at a rapid pace towards the location of the C-class Vicious Beasts. Even though he was emitting a powerful aura around him, the densely packed Vicious Beasts were not afraid of his presence whatsoever as they crazily pounced in his direction.
On the other hand, Su Lang continued to slash down at them with his sword. Any Vicious Beasts that dared to step within three meters of him would immediately be killed on the spot.
Amidst the horde of Vicious Beasts, Su Lang forcefully opened up a crimson path for himself as if he was splitting the Red Sea, which extended rapidly towards the location of the Crystal-scaled Green Snake.
On the other side, over ten thousand martial cultivators had gathered on the rampart of Red Maple City.
At this moment, almost every single one of the martial cultivators had been issued the mission to defend the city from the Vicious Beast Tide. The majority of the Standard Martial Cultivators and even some of the Peak Body Tempering Cultivators decided to participate in this defense.
At the same time, a series of mysterious patterns began to radiate across the rampart of the city and the top half of the Union House. With that, a transparent barrier gradually enveloped the entire Red Maple City.
Those mysterious patterns that possessed powerful offensive and defensive abilities had been carved in by the honorable Array Masters.
Even with such powerful array formations protecting them, the complexions of the martial cultivators were still covered with a horrifying bleached tone.
After all, news has spread around the city that this time's Vicious Beast Tide consisted of a total of five C-class Vicious Beast and countless other D-class and E-class ones. Just the number alone was enough to drag everyone down a spiral of despair.
A few more minutes had passed, and the Vicious Beast Tide had already spread across the bottom of the rampart.
"Ready! Fire!"
At the command of a Martial Expert, hundreds of martial cultivators charged up the bows and shot their sharp arrows down at the Vicious Beasts.
Without waiting for another order, the martial cultivators immediately sent down their second volley of arrows.
Under their hands, the bows and arrows had almost turned into an automatic rifle as the rate at which they shot the arrows continued to speed up without any decrease in firepower whatsoever.
At the same time, the more powerful crossbows had also started to open fire.
While the normal bows and arrows could only pierce through a few Vicious Beasts with a single shot, the crossbow bolts were like a lead bullet that penetrated dozens of meters through the Vicious Beast Tide. Every single Vicious Beast pierced by those bolts was torn into pieces and ended up as a lifeless corpse.
The terrifying volleys of arrows continued to kill hundreds of Vicious Beasts.
But even with such firepower, the advance of the Vicious Beast Tide continued, only at a slightly slower pace.
*Bang!*
Suddenly, a loud crash resounded from a certain direction of the rampart. The tsunami-like Vicious Beast Tide had just collided with the part of the rampart covered with the arrays.
In the next moment, the profound array patterns lit up brightly like a flashbang.
A terrifying shock wave suddenly blasted forth as countless Vicious Beasts had instantly been turned into meat patties. With that, a large empty space had appeared in front of the barrier as if sucked clean by a vacuum.
Immediately after, dense bolts of lightning shot out from the arrays and turned the Vicious Beast in its path into mountains of ashes.
CHAPTER 96 - FIRST ON THE LIST
Despite the city's efforts, the countless waves of Vicious Beasts slowly began to overwhelm the defending humans.
Under their berserk state, those beasts charged forward without any regard for their lives and even forcefully withstood the terrifying bolts of light shot out from the array formation. Some even started to attack the defensive light barrier.
"God damn it! The C-class Vicious Beasts have not even arrived on the frontlines, yet the barrier has already been activated!"
The complexion of that particular martial cultivator turned savage as his eyes drowned in madness and despair. "If this continues, the barrier will definitely be shattered!"
"That's right! If this goes on, even Lord Yin Zhou and the others won't be able to the turn the situation around!"
"It's all over. This time, we will definitely not be able to defend the city! What should we do now? Could it be that all of us are going to meet our ends here?!"
Panic quickly infected the minds of the surrounding martial cultivators. As the atmosphere turned uneasy, everyone gradually spiraled down into a state of despair.
At this time, one of the cultivators whose eyes were filled with a mix of shock and anger suddenly pointed into the distance and shouted.
"Look over there! Those five C-class Vicious Beasts have stopped moving!"
Astonished by the unexpected announcement, everyone hurriedly shifted their gazes that flickered with a hint of hope towards the location of the C-class Vicious Beasts and saw that they have indeed stopped advancing with the rest of the Vicious Beast Tide.
"Heavens, what exactly is going on over there?"
"During the invasion of Vicious Beast Tide, there had never been any precedents of the C-class Vicious Beasts stopping halfway!"
"Could they be charging up some kind of terrifying attack?!"
"......"
Taking into account of that realistic possibility, the entire city erupted into an uproar!
Almost every single one of the cultivators who saw that scene paled in shock!
On the other hand, the only ones who knew the cause of this unusual phenomenon was Yin Zhou and the other two Martial Kings.
"Lord Su Lang managed to stop them in their tracks!"
Overjoyed, Yin Zhou could not help but burst into cheers as he clenched his fists tightly.
"That's right, it must be Lord Su Lang's doing!"
Yu Feng and Bao Zheng also widened their eyes in surprise.
"Quick, move on to the next stage of the plan!"
Turning his gaze towards Yu Feng and Bao Zheng, Yin Zhou ordered
, "Hurry up and gather up all the capable cultivators! We will lead an army in Lord Su Lang's direction and assist him immediately!"
"Alright! We need to work together in order to prevent those C-class Vicious Beasts from advancing any closer to the city!"
With a solemn nod, Yu Feng immediately rushed to gather up the troops and prepared to leave the city to back Su Lang up.
At this moment.
Su Lang was standing in a domineering manner on top of a mountain peak.
With his body stained by a layer of crimson, the blood of the Vicious Beasts flowed down to the bottom of where he stood and formed a small pool of blood under his feet.
Standing several hundred meters away from him were five terrifying C-class Vicious Beasts.
The Demonic Nether Wolf, Rainbow Jade Red Fox, Ancient Mammoth, Bloodthirsty Golden Tiger, and the Crystal-scaled Green Snake comparable in terms of combat strength to a Martial Emperor!
At this moment, all five of those gigantic Vicious Beasts were staring fixedly at Su Lang.
However, the eyes of the four weaker Vicious Beasts contained a trace of instictive fear.
They had clearly detected the powerful aura emanating from Su Lang's body.
On the other hand, the Crystal-scaled Green Snake glared at Su Lang with a hint of contempt.
"Looks like you guys are a little smarter than those lowly beasts."
The corner of Su Lang's mouth curled up into a cold smile. "Unfortunately, it still won't be enough to change the fate of your impending death!"
*Roar!*
Seeming to have sensed Su Lang's ridicule, the Crystal-scaled Green Snake immediately let out a furious roar that pierced through the clouds in the sky.
In the next instant, it swayed its body and swooped down while activating its Green Lotus Dragon Flame.
At the same time, the Demonic Nether Wolf and the other three gigantic beasts also charged towards Su Lang as the shadows that covered the entire land attempted to drown him in an instant!
"Humph!"
Snorting in disdain, Su Lang turned his gaze to the Rainbow Jade Red Fox and said, "You're first on the list!"
