Chapter 73: Blocking the Demonic Chaos
Once he became Alliance Leader, Li Xingge issued his first command:
all major powers were to gather their elite forces at Qingfeng Valley and await the Alliance Leader’s unified direction.
Naturally, no one dared oppose the first order of the Alliance Leader.
The heads of the various powers sent word back to their home territories by every method available, ordering their elites to gather at Qingfeng Valley.
Half a day later, aside from the forces that were simply too far away, the elites of the remaining powers had already largely arrived.
After counting the numbers, the full strength of Baihe County’s families and sects came to this:
ten Qi-Blood Realm cultivators, two hundred and ninety-seven Physical Body Realm cultivators, close to ten thousand Body Tempering cultivators, and seventy thousand able-bodied mortals.
As the saying went, once men passed the ten-thousand mark, they became boundless to the eye. For a time, banners spread in every direction outside Qingfeng Valley, and the force assembled there was vast and imposing.
Li Xingge stood at a high vantage point. To his left and right were Zheng Cangfeng and Shangguan Jie, the head of the Shangguan family.
Li Xingge waved his hand.
“Our destination is Flying Dragon Gorge. Move out!”
His voice, strengthened by qi and blood, rang clearly into every ear. The grand army began to move, shaking the earth and startling away countless birds and beasts.
Flying Dragon Gorge was a place of dangerous terrain. It stretched dozens of li from east to west, full of jagged rocks and ancient towering trees. The only passage through it was a narrow path a little over ten zhang wide. For mortals, if one erected even a crude pass there, it could truly be said that a single man could hold it against ten thousand.
The alliance’s army of tens of thousands reached Flying Dragon Gorge. Scouts returned with word that the vanguard of the beast tide was still two hours away.
At once, Li Xingge ordered them to use local materials and build a defensive pass on the spot.
For ordinary men, building a defensive pass in two hours might have been difficult. But to cultivators, it was no great feat at all.
Several dozen Physical Body Realm cultivators joined forces and, in mere moments, shattered a giant rock more than ten zhang high. Others tore towering ancient trees out by the roots and fashioned them into simple defensive weapons.
In only one hour, a giant stone barrier several zhang tall, connecting the two ends of the gorge, had been completed. One mighty ballista after another was hoisted onto the walls. These weapons might not threaten higher demonic beasts, but against low-level ones, their killing power was tremendous.
Half an hour later, the earth began to tremble. Dust flew into the air.
A dark smear appeared upon the horizon. Then came the demonic beast tide, black and overwhelming enough to cover the sky.
Many of those witnessing such a scene for the first time had their legs go weak with fear. Had it not been for the overseer squads behind them, many would likely have already turned and fled.
“Alliance Leader, the scale of this demonic chaos is no small thing.”
Zheng Cangfeng said beside Li Xingge, his brows tightly drawn.
Since sensing the shift in Li Xingge’s strength, even Zheng Cangfeng’s form of address had gradually changed, from “virtuous nephew” to “Alliance Leader.”
Li Xingge nodded.
Indeed, if not for the trump cards he still possessed, then faced with a beast tide of this scale, even his heart might already have gone cold.
“Do not worry, Old Senior. Victory will belong to us.”
Li Xingge said, his eyes bright and his confidence absolute.
Perhaps infected by that confidence, the alliance’s upper ranks also felt their battle spirit burn hot.
Yes, the demonic beasts were numerous—but the human race was not here to eat dry rice either.
Perhaps before this day, many among them had held grudges and friction with one another. Yet in the face of a common enemy, they had all temporarily cast such things aside.
It was not that they had forgotten their grudges.
It was simply that, first of all—they had to live.
The vanguard of the demon race, the rat tide, launched itself directly against the hastily built stone pass, repeating the same tactic it had used against Red Maple City.
From atop the walls, bolts from the ballistae shot out like meteors. A single bolt could pass through dozens of rat demons, nailing them all to the earth. Yet these mindless rat demons feared no death. Their scarlet eyes seemed to thirst to tear apart everything standing in their path.
In half a quarter-hour, the corpses of rat demons had already piled into mountains.
Seeing this, Zheng Cangfeng’s expression turned worried.
“Alliance Leader, if these rat demons are allowed to continue hurling themselves against the stone wall, then before long they will fill it level. Once that happens, we will be in real danger.”
Li Xingge nodded.
His gaze locked onto a gray rat several zhang in size in the distance.
That gray rat was not only dozens of times larger than the ordinary rat demons around it, it also wore a layer of hard scales over its body. Most importantly of all, a rich qi-and-blood aura radiated from it.
This was a high-level demonic beast.
And more than likely, it was the king of the rat demons.
As the saying went, to capture bandits, first capture their chief.
A sharp light flashed in Li Xingge’s eyes. He made a grasping motion toward the empty air, and a blood-colored bow gradually appeared in his hand. Drawing the bow and setting an arrow upon it, he loosed it.
WHOOSH!
The arrow streaked forward like a bolt of thunder and a falling star, transforming into a charging blood-colored lion that lunged at the gray Rat King with unbelievable speed.
Seeming to sense the approaching danger, every hair on the Rat King’s body stood on end.
“Squeee!”
As though sending out some signal, the rat tide, which had been charging fearlessly, suddenly changed direction and threw itself at the blood-colored lion.
Yet the scorching qi-and-blood power surrounding the lion vaporized them into nothingness before they could even come close.
“Squeee!”
Terrified intelligence surfaced in the Rat King’s dark golden pupils. Its claw-like talons frantically tore at the earth, trying to burrow underground.
But the blood-colored lion was far too fast. It arrived in the blink of an eye.
BOOM!
A tremendous explosion rang out.
The Rat King was instantly ripped apart into a spray of blood. The aftershock alone flattened everything within dozens of zhang.
From the center of that blast, a strange, shadowy phantom fled out at astonishing speed.
Seeing it, Li Xingge produced the Hundred Ghost Banner. Strange black mist curled around the banner.
The moment it appeared, it was as though the air around them suddenly dropped by a freezing degree. Everyone shuddered at once, staring at that eerie banner in Li Xingge’s hand with fear and dread in their eyes.
Li Xingge waved the Hundred Ghost Banner, and the Soul-Snaring Bell upon it gave off eerie peals of chime after chime. Though invisible to ordinary eyes, a terrifying suction burst from the banner like a bottomless abyss.
Across the battlefield, one sinister strand of black vapor after another was drawn into the banner. The black phantom that was trying to flee suddenly found its body being dragged backward against its will. It struggled with all its might, but before that dreadful pull, it was simply too insignificant.
In the midst of boundless terror and despair, the phantom was sucked directly into the Hundred Ghost Banner.
The banner gave off a brief flash of light. Then the strange wonder faded, and it once more looked like nothing more than an ordinary banner.
Li Xingge turned to the crowd with a smile of utterly “kind” warmth.
Everyone instantly felt their scalps go numb and all took several steps backward.
On the battlefield, from the moment the Rat King was slain, the endless rat tide seemed to lose its command. Chaos broke out among them. They even trampled one another in confusion.
At that sight, the alliance’s upper ranks all let out a deep breath.
Far behind the beast tide, however, a giant demon bear the size of a small mountain looked on with a mocking human-like expression upon its face. In demon speech, it sneered, “Old snake, it seems your subordinate wasn’t much use. One move from those lowly humans and he was done for!”
Beside it coiled a snake demon dozens of zhang long. Horns rose from its head, wrapped in fire. Its whole body was covered in golden scales as hard as mystic iron, flashing with a cold metallic gleam.
Mocked by the bear demon, anger surged through the snake demon’s lantern-sized eyes. It did not care if ordinary rat demons died in droves. They had been meant to serve as expendable fodder from the start. But the Rat King was different. A demon of Minor Accomplishment in the Qi-Blood Realm—there had only been one such under its command.
Ignoring the bear demon’s ridicule, the snake demon flicked its tongue and began winding its massive body toward the stone pass. Wherever it moved, its scales ground the rocks flat, casting off sparks as though it could crush all things before it.
The snake demon ignored him completely, and the bear demon found himself boringly rebuffed. He lumbered after it in great strides, his mountain-sized body making the earth shake with every step.
As the two great demons slowly drew near, every demonic beast ceased its assault and prostrated itself upon the ground, as if paying homage to kings.
Atop the stone pass, the alliance’s upper ranks also saw the two monsters approaching. Their colossal size made the heart quail, and many could not help asking themselves whether this was truly something the human race could defeat.
Yet Li Xingge remained unnaturally calm.
He stood with his hands behind his back, looking at the two great demons, and the fire of battle blazed in his eyes.