Immortal Path Space

Chapter 207: Defeat in the North

Chapter 207: Defeat in the North

The battle between the two sides raged from night until dawn, and from morning until noon.

On the city wall, only a little over a thousand Qi Cultivation Cultivators remained able to resist the onslaught of Demonic Beasts. Many Qi Cultivation Cultivators under the command of Foundation Building Cultivators had already perished, leaving only one resolute commander.

Among them, the five under Wang Hong's command had all survived, thanks in part to the Spirit Wine he had sold them earlier.

More crucially, Wang Hong had successfully slain all the second-tier Demonic Beasts, and the Poisonous Bees had taken care of most of the first-tier ones.

Since the appearance of the Poisonous Bees, these five Qi Cultivation Cultivators led a relatively relaxed life, occasionally engaging in small talk.

The Cultivator on Wang Hong's left fell in battle, yet this bolstered his defense significantly.

The bodies of Demonic Beasts below the city wall had piled up to a height of four or five zhang, allowing more agile ones to leap onto the wall.

Wang Hong used the Binding Spirit Rope to securely tie up six first-tier Demonic Beasts and tossed them aside.

As he was about to activate the Golden Seal to strike at a few other first-tier Red-Haired Cow demons, a sudden change occurred.

Although the number of second-tier Demonic Beasts was not significant, after he killed a few, they appeared only occasionally. Thus, he focused on eliminating the first-tier ones.

Suddenly, five second-tier Demonic Beasts emerged from the advancing Beast Tide, heading straight for his section of the wall.

Simultaneously, the Beast Tide exhibited a transformation. The vanguard was no longer the previously straightforward and physically dominant Demonic Beasts.

At this moment, similar situations unfolded in other locations. It seemed that the earlier attackers were merely cannon fodder, and now the real siege had begun.

Seeing the five second-tier Demonic Beasts charging toward the wall, Wang Hong felt the challenge. These Demonic Beasts were much stronger than the ones he had dealt with before.

Summoning two Spiritual Weapons and wielding the black giant club, he engaged in combat. After dispatching one of the second-tier Demonic Beasts with the Binding Spirit Rope and Golden Seal, the remaining four beasts advanced onto the wall.

While Wang Hong was entangled with the Demonic Beasts, more Spiritual Weapons were released from the six Flying Boats. Many Foundation Building Cultivators, each possessing two Spiritual Weapons, simultaneously unleashed their power.

Normally, Foundation Building Cultivators rarely used two Spiritual Weapons simultaneously, as it doubled the consumption of Spiritual Power. Under this continuous high-intensity battle, the Foundation Building Cultivators on the Flying Boats were already in an extremely fatigued state.

Controlling two Spiritual Weapons, Wang Hong entangled two second-tier Demonic Beasts, while the other two climbed onto the wall.

Wang Hong wielded the giant club and charged towards the two second-tier Demonic Beasts: a black crocodile opening its mouth to bite, and a white fox agilely approaching.

He quickly retracted the club, avoiding the crocodile's bite, and then swung it at the fox. The fox dodged a few feet away.

Meanwhile, the crocodile's large mouth missed its target, and its massive tail swung towards Wang Hong.

With a swift movement, Wang Hong appeared next to the fox before it could react. The club struck its head, instantly killing the fox.

After slaying the fox, Wang Hong casually collected its corpse, thinking its fur might be valuable.

Seeing that Wang Hong had evaded one attack and killed a companion, the enraged crocodile lunged at him.

Single-handedly facing four Demonic Beasts, having already killed one, Wang Hong felt confident he could handle the remaining three with caution.

The giant crocodile, though powerful and covered in tough scales, was clumsy in its movements. While dodging, Wang Hong sought an opportunity to strike with his giant club.

Simultaneously, first-tier Demonic Beasts under the city wall were launching a frenzied attack. Wang Hong released two thousand Poisonous Bees to defend against the first-tier Demonic Beasts assaulting the city.

While Wang Hong was entangled with various Demonic Beasts, other sections of the city wall were also in dire straits. Numerous Demonic Beasts surged onto the wall.

Although the Foundation Building Cultivators on the six Flying Boats fought with all their might, they couldn't handle the situation for the time being.

Surrounded by Demonic Beasts, several Foundation Building Cultivators near Wang Hong's location retreated to his side when they saw a temporary respite.

Similar situations occurred on several parts of the wall, creating gathering points where Cultivators temporarily defended small sections together, maintaining some safety.

In other areas, Demonic Beasts had overwhelmed the defenses and entered the city.

The six Flying Boats continued to hover above the city wall, vigorously battling Demonic Beasts. They assisted Cultivators at each gathering point, bringing them aboard the Flying Boats.

At this point, nearly all Qi Cultivation Cultivators on the city wall had perished. It was a rare sight that Wang Hong and his five Qi Cultivation Cultivators were still alive.

The surviving Foundation Building Cultivators numbered only around two to three hundred. They were hastily loaded onto the Flying Boats.

With the support of the Flying Boats, Wang Hong and his group also boarded one of them.

While boarding, he casually used the Golden Light Bowl to capture the five Qi Cultivation Cultivators following him, bringing them onto the Flying Boat. If they had survived this long, might as well save them rather than leave them to perish below.

After all Foundation Building Cultivators were brought aboard, it marked the complete loss of Boundary City.

Even if they managed to reclaim Boundary City from the Demonic Beasts, the remaining one thousand plus people on the six Flying Boats wouldn't be enough to defend the city. In the end, it would fall into the hands of the Demonic Beasts.

After the six Flying Boats converged, they didn't immediately depart. Instead, they unleashed a massacre in the air, specifically targeting flying Demonic Beasts.

Previously, they had to defend the city walls, unable to fully deal with these flying Demonic Beasts. Now, slaughtering them served both as a release of frustration and a strategic move for the future battles against the Demon Clan. These flying Demonic Beasts were too troublesome.

If they could eliminate most of the flying Demonic Beasts, how could the ground-based Demonic Beasts pose a threat to the Flying Boats?

After a round of slaughter by the six Flying Boats, the flying Demonic Beasts scattered and fled, bringing the carnage to an end.

Watching the Flying Boats depart, the Demon Clan did not pursue. Mainly because, apart from third-tier Demonic Beasts, the rest of the Demonic Beasts lacked the strength to contend with the Flying Boats.

In this battle, the Golden Core Cultivators on both sides and the third-tier Demonic Beasts had merely been a mutual restraint, without either side making a move. Since they had emerged victorious without having to resort to these forces, there was no need to employ them now.

Moreover, the Demon Clan had achieved two consecutive victories. First, by capturing Jin'an City using the Spirit Stone vein as bait, the Demon Clan left the human race without a foothold in the Boundary Mountain Range. Then, in a retaliatory move, they seized Boundary City, which the humans had already developed. This further weakened the human race.

The Demon Clan suffered only minor losses in terms of cannon fodder. Apart from that, they had no significant casualties.

In this battle, the Demon Clan was the clear winner!

At this moment, the Cultivators on the Flying Boats were despondent. Some mourned the loss of friends and family, others felt frustrated due to the defeat, and some were forward-thinking, worrying about the future.

Wang Hong, however, did not feel particularly emotional about the outcome. Victory and defeat were common in warfare, and he had witnessed it countless times.

Besides, his few friends had been assigned to the Flying Boats and were unharmed.

As for the other Cultivators who had died, he didn't know them personally. While it was disheartening to see fellow humans fall to Demonic Beasts, he didn't have much emotional attachment. If given the opportunity, he would avenge them by killing more Demonic Beasts in the future.

The Cultivators on the Flying Boats went through a brief period of mourning before starting to tend to their wounds and engage in meditation for recovery. After all, they still needed to survive.

After a short period of recovery, Wang Hong opened his eyes and found a Qi Cultivation Cultivator kneeling three feet away from him.

During Foundation Building Cultivator meditation, they closed off their six senses. However, if someone or something approached within three feet, it would awaken the Cultivator. Therefore, Wang Hong hadn't noticed.

Wang Hong raised an eyebrow and asked, "What do you want?"

The person was one of the Five people Wang Hong had saved earlier.

"I am Yin Ze, and I want to express my gratitude to Senior for saving my life," the man said as he bowed.

The other four who had been saved by Wang Hong also came forward, expressing their thanks.

"No need for excessive courtesy. I just helped out a bit," Wang Hong said, waving his hand.

"For Senior, it may be a trivial matter, but for us, it's a matter of life and death. If Senior hadn't intervened, we would have died at the hands of the Demonic Beasts. We have no way to repay this life-saving grace, so we are willing to follow Senior for the rest of our lives and serve as Senior's loyal servants!" Yin Ze said with determination, and the others echoed similar sentiments.

"Following me is quite dangerous. There's always a risk to your lives. Think carefully," Wang Hong said with a half-smile.

"We have considered it thoroughly. Since our lives were saved by Senior, we naturally want to return them to Senior," Yin Ze replied without hesitation.

"Yes, yes," the other four hesitated for a moment but followed suit.

"Unfortunately, I only need one person for now. Yin Ze, I'll accept you temporarily. However, any betrayal midway will result in me extracting your soul!" Wang Hong warned.

"Thank you, Master!" Yin Ze replied with unwavering determination.

The other four secretly breathed a sigh of relief. Although they were grateful, entrusting their lives to Wang Hong wasn't their intention. It was just a spur-of-the-moment expression, and now they didn't dare offend Wang Hong and could only follow suit.

"You don't need to worry about that. From now on, you can call me East Master!" Wang Hong said.

"Yes, East Master!" Yin Ze replied respectfully.

Wang Hong had gained another follower in the form of a Qi Cultivation late-stage Cultivator. Although he had many followers, manpower was still insufficient.

Especially for Foundation Building stage followers, they were severely lacking. Yin Ze was already at the Qi Cultivation late-stage, and with the help of a Foundation Establishment Pill, Foundation Building was within reach.

However, Wang Hong was selective in accepting followers. Yin Ze's usefulness still needed observation. If he proved valuable, Wang Hong would cultivate him into a Foundation Building Cultivator to take on more significant responsibilities.

If not, he could always leave him at the store to handle minor tasks in the future.

[East Master or Master, both are the same.]

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