Dao Companions Help Me Live Forever

Chapter 174: Demon Clan Girl and Beast Tide

In the peripheral area of the Wan Yao Mountain Range,

Song Yong hid in a tree hole, with two concealment talismans attached to his body and a turtle breath pill in his mouth, reducing his presence to the minimum.

He was a member of the Shangyang City Demon Hunting Squad - Thundercloud Squad.

Like most demon hunting squads, the Thundercloud Squad made a living by hunting demon beasts, but occasionally took on tasks such as gathering intelligence, assassination, and protection.

After all, they needed to make a living and cultivate.

Song Yong appeared here to accept the Zhou family's commission to investigate the internal situation of the Wan Yao Mountain Range.

As far as he knew, there were many demon hunting squads receiving this mission.

The Zhou family was a prestigious beast-taming family and currently in charge of the Spirit Beast Department of Shangyang City. In order for all spirit beast and demon beast transactions on the market to proceed smoothly, one must not offend the Zhou family.

Otherwise, even if they hunted and brought demon beasts to the market, no one would buy them, and they could only consume them internally.

Therefore, as long as it was a demon hunting squad in the Wan Yao Mountain Range, they would give face to the Zhou family.

Moreover, the reward given by the Zhou family this time was not stingy.

Song Yong had been hiding in the tree hole for three days.

He was very patient. Once, in order to hunt down a first-stage peak Flower-eyed Leopard, he spent a full three months observing the leopard's habits.

Finally, he seized the opportunity to feed the leopard's prey with a sedative fairy drunk in advance.

The greatest wisdom of humans is the use of tools.

In the end, the Flower-eyed Leopard became his trophy and helped him break through to the later stage of Qi Refining.

By the side of a nearby pool,

A gray long-eared demon rabbit, with its body tilted and ears erect, licked the water surface in small sips, never forgetting to be vigilant of its surroundings. Traces of blood spread in the water.

The red eyes of the long-eared demon rabbit widened, with a hint of bloodthirstiness.

This was a newly awakened advanced-stage demon beast, and it had just eaten meat.

At this moment,

A black shadow gradually expanded on the water surface, and a huge mouth broke through the water, biting towards the long-eared demon rabbit.

Splash!

Giant water splashes fell like rain.

It was a giant-headed fish with a length of about thirty feet. Its head alone occupied almost half of its body, and it opened its big mouth, revealing two rows of sharp teeth.

The long-eared demon rabbit's muscles bulged as it retreated, and its fur stood up like a hedgehog. In one leap, it fled like an arrow leaving the bowstring.

Both actions happened almost simultaneously.

At the moment the giant mouth appeared, the long-eared demon rabbit had already tensed its muscles.

However, the huge body of the big-headed fish represented formidable demon power. It opened its mouth, and a gust of wind suddenly rose out of nowhere.

A small vortex appeared in its mouth.

The long-eared demon rabbit, after all, was just a newly advanced demon beast and couldn't withstand this powerful suction.

Crack!

A burst of blood splattered in the mouth of the big-headed fish.

All of this happened in the blink of an eye.

The big fish leaped out of the water, then bit and sucked, and finally fell down with a huge splash, creating a large water pit.

This hunting was over.

Just as the big-headed fish was about to sink into the pool, a furry hand descended from the sky and scooped up a handful of water from the pool.

The big fish was still in the water.

It was a fifty-six-meter-tall giant ape-like mountainous giant ape. The ferocious big-headed fish had now become its meal.

Crunch!

Just like chewing on ice cubes, the big-headed fish turned into fresh sashimi in the giant ape's mouth. Blood flowed down the corners of its mouth, staining its gray-black fur red.

The giant ape swallowed the big-headed fish, and it actually spoke, its voice thundering in the air.

"Delicious."

On the shoulder of a giant ape stood a red-haired girl wearing a red feathered robe. She stomped her foot in dissatisfaction, her voice as clear and crisp as an oriole.

"You big dummy, you got my new clothes dirty."

The giant ape's face showed a human-like smile, looking foolish.

"There are many beautiful clothes in the human city, I'll help you steal them all."

The girl snorted, "Crude, all you know is stealing. No wonder our demon clan can't defeat the human cultivators. They all buy things with spirit stones. You should go to the human sect and learn, otherwise you'll forever be stuck in the mountains as a lowly mountain king. I'm embarrassed to be seen with you."

The giant ape chuckled, "Xiaoxiao, we are demons, not humans."

The girl fell silent for a moment, impatiently saying,

"I know, it's annoying. Why am I a demon?"

She sat down, propping her chin up with her small hand, looking ahead without speaking.

The giant ape didn't get angry, just indulgently looked at the girl, then took big strides forward.

Unlike before.

This time, with each step it took, a huge footprint was left on the ground, causing the earth to tremble.

Behind it, there was an army of equally massive demon beasts, stirring up clouds of dust, like a tornado.

The demon beasts covered the sky and the earth, seemingly endless.

After a long time.

In a tree hole, Song Yongcai snapped out of his stiff state.

"Speaking human words, it... it's a demon king, and there are many, many second-stage demon beasts!"

Facing the pressure of the demon king up close was extraordinary, like standing in front of a huge tsunami, there was a tremendous fear of being crushed to pieces in the next moment.

He didn't know if he had been discovered by this giant ape demon king.

But even if he had been discovered, he probably wouldn't be cared about, just like how humans don't pay attention to ants under their feet.

"I must quickly inform the city."

Song Yong trembled as he reached for the spirit beast pouch at his waist, a white-feathered gray-billed hawk falcon perched on his arm.

He quickly recorded what he had just witnessed in a sound transmission talisman and tied it to the hawk falcon's leg.

"Go quickly, Youlong, inform the boss of the situation here."

Song Yong threw the hawk falcon into the air.

This hawk falcon was called Bai Mao Falcon, a descendant of the second-stage flying beast, the White-headed Eagle King. After special training, its flying speed was extremely fast.

After doing all this, Song Yongcai also slapped two concealment talismans on himself, as well as several light body talismans, and quickly fled in the opposite direction of the demon beast army.

...

Shangyang City.

The news of the beast tide had long spread throughout the city, and the city lord's mansion began to establish refugee camps in the inner city, calling on cultivators from the outer city to take refuge.

However, this order did not receive widespread attention from the lower-level cultivators.

Because it didn't make sense.

Although there were various pieces of information brought by the demon hunting team, most people believed that this was a relatively special phenomenon.

For example, more than a hundred years ago, there was a scene of deep mountain demon beasts surging out.

That was when a demon king deep in the mountains broke through to the fourth stage demon emperor, and other demon beasts ran towards the outer mountains to avoid being affected.

But later, when the demon king's breakthrough failed, the demon beast group in the outer mountains returned.

So there were conspiracy theorists who believed that they were the only ones awake while everyone else was asleep, pointing out that this was a scheme by the noble families in the inner city.

According to the rumors, in the past few years, the houses in the inner city's civilian area had plummeted in price, and many cultivators had switched from buying to renting.

And the major Foundation Building forces took the opportunity to acquire houses on a large scale.

Now, using the news of the beast tide to speculate, the houses in the inner city's civilian area had risen by a full thirty percent in just half a month.

After a reasonable and well-founded deduction, they even gained quite a few supporters.

After all, the living standards in the inner city are much higher than those in the outer city.

Once you start living there, unless the city lord's mansion provides free supplies, it won't be long before you have to throw away all your lifelong savings.

Furthermore, based on past experience, the demon army moves slowly, so even if they really come, there will be time to evacuate.

But no one expected the beast tide to come so unexpectedly.

Almost at the same time the intelligence scouts from the demon hunting team reported back, the rolling demonic energy surged out from the Ten Thousand Demon Mountains.

Boom!

A thunderous sound came from a distance.

"The beast tide is here! The beast tide is here!!!"

On the wilderness outside the city, cultivators exclaimed and flew into the air.

But soon, flying demon beasts appeared and extinguished each of the flying lights one by one.

Cultivators without magical tools ran desperately on the ground.

Lightness talismans, speed-enhancing talismans, one after another, the talismans that increased speed lit up with a faint light.

But every flickering light would be swallowed by the demon army, without making any sound.

On the city tower of the inner city.

Yu Xian stood side by side with Chen Xiao, looking at the demons surging from all directions, expressionless, but unconsciously clenched his fist in his sleeve.

He wasn't as calm as he appeared.

He had once seen millions of chaotic soldiers setting up camp, stretching for dozens of miles. That magnificent scene was the most stunning moment in his decades-long career.

But at that time, he was an outsider, more of an observer, an eyewitness.

This time, the millions of chaotic soldiers were replaced by millions of demons, and he had become the protagonist instead of a spectator.

The change in opponent and identity made him suddenly filled with infinite emotions. His sea of consciousness was shining brightly, and he felt his spirit constantly rising.

He knew he would be fine.

Because he had an ace up his sleeve that could guarantee victory with a single move.

But when he saw the black clouds pressing forward with the rolling demonic energy, and the endless horde of demons, his body began to tremble.

He couldn't tell if it was excitement or fear.

"Close the city gates in half an hour."

Taking a deep breath, Yu Xian instructed a muscular man beside him.

The muscular man was named Jiang Wang, the current head of the Jiang family and the head of the Law Enforcement Department.

He was not only a second-stage body cultivator, but also had reached the Foundation Building stage. After the death of the Jiang family's patriarch, he became the pillar of the Jiang family.

If it weren't for him stepping forward earlier, the Jiang family would have long been forced to retreat under the pressure from the Lin family.

But now, the united Jiang family, firmly under the control of the Lord Manager, and the rising Wu family, known for their frequent appearances of Foundation Building cultivators in alchemy, were considered the two powerhouses.

As for the Lin family, which used to be on par with the Jiang family...

Because the Lin patriarch had not shown himself for a long time, coupled with the obvious targeting by Deputy Tax Minister Zhao, their influence kept shrinking, and they had almost become a second-rate power on the surface.

"Yes."

Jiang Wang took the order and left.

The Law Enforcement Department was one of the only two violent departments under the City Lord's Mansion, responsible for the city's defense. It seemed glorious, but in reality, it was mostly dirty and tiring work.

The truly glorious department was the Taxation Department, under the control of the Lord Manager. Although it was high-risk, the welfare benefits were absolutely top-notch. Coupled with various extra income, it was a lucrative position.

In addition, the Lord Manager also managed the finances, which meant he was responsible for distributing money to each department every year.

Even though Jiang Wang looked down on Yu Xian, who relied on the support of a real person, for the sake of spirit stones and the family, he had to bow his head.

After all, the Lin family's example was right in front of them.

On the other hand, Chen Xiao, who had recently told Yu Xian to go with the flow, felt a bit reluctant at the moment.

"Yu Xian, there is still some time before the demons arrive. How about giving them another half an hour? With only half an hour, at most only a small portion of the people can enter."

Yu Xian shook his head and said, "You're right, the opportunity has already been given to them."

The refugee camp built by the City Lord's Mansion and the early warning were his limited conscience.

Chen Xiao was momentarily speechless.

...

Half an hour later.

With a loud bang, the city gate began to slowly close without any warning.

The numerous cultivators and mortals congested at the city gate were all horrified, letting out cries of despair.

"I haven't gone in yet!"

"Let me in!"

Some people wanted to forcefully enter before the city gate closed, but they found that the gate official had an indifferent expression and did nothing, revealing a look of wild joy.

"Hurry, hurry!"

"Damn it! Get out of the way!"

Cultivators with high cultivation directly used their techniques, casting spells to kill the people blocking their way and rushing forward by stepping on their companions' bodies.

Even Qi Refining stage cultivators who could fly on their flying devices disregarded the airspace regulations and flew low, flying over the heads of the crowd.

"Damn it, I can't get in, and no one else can either!"

"Father, mother!"

"Quick, quick, go home, go home first!"

...

The city gate finally closed.

It stood there like a silent giant, ignoring the cries of the living.

Golden lights appeared on the city gate and walls.

The city's protective formation was activated, and no one could approach anymore, otherwise they would be indiscriminately attacked by the formation.

Those who had not yet entered the inner city scattered and fled, some running home, perhaps already prepared shelters.

Some ran to the shops in the city, wanting to make a fortune in the chaos. The beast tide came suddenly, and many treasures couldn't be put away in time.

Some ran outside the city, wanting to escape this vortex before the beast tide arrived completely.

Different choices brought different results.

Yu Xian stood on the city wall, looking at the various states of the people below, but his heart remained unaffected.

Once upon a time, he was a young man who felt guilty when he stood on the deck and watched the people on both sides kneeling and begging for survival. But now, he could ignore the occurrence of tragedy.

He was powerless to save all living beings, the only one he could save was himself.

Yu Xian turned around and flew into the air. Behind him, a giant pillar of light rose, connecting the sky and the earth. A layer of golden light shield centered around the pillar of light, covering the entire city.

The formation masters who had been waiting in various parts of the city saw the pillar of light rise and almost simultaneously activated the formations they were responsible for.

Then, smaller pillars of light rose from various places, like pillars supporting the entire city's formation.

As the main formation controller, Yu Xian finally experienced the power of a complete third-grade formation firsthand.

Information about the protective formation flashed through Yu Xian's mind.

The Xuan Yang Golden Light Formation's origin is unknown.

This formation was established by the real person stationed in the first generation of Shang Yang City and has been repaired and improved by more than ten generations of real people. It has reached the level of a middle-grade third-grade formation.

The formation has three major killing moves: Golden Shield, Needle Rain, and Golden Light. Inside the formation, there are also auxiliary effects such as Forbidden Air, Suppression, and Gathering Qi.

Compared to Zhao Laozu's Four-color You Huang Formation with distinct variations, the Xuan Yang Golden Light Formation is also a combination formation, but it has already integrated all the formations into one.

Even a fragment of the formation can exert tremendous power.

However, opening a third-grade formation consumes a huge amount of spiritual power, far more than a second-grade formation. The second-grade superior spiritual veins under Shang Yang City cannot support the energy needed for the formation, so auxiliary spiritual stone formations are required.

Therefore, even though Yu Xian, who held great power, was still opening the protective formation for the first time.

After all, theoretically, the spiritual stones used in the protective formation were his own.

After personally controlling the third-grade formation, Yu Xian felt countless inspirations being sparked in his mind. He seemed to see the embryonic form of his own unique formation technique.

Second-grade superior formation masters, it's time to reveal yourselves!

(End of this chapter)