Chapter 81: Chapter 81: Sword Rain
"Everyone, the beast tide is attacking, and its scale is beyond imagination. Please follow me out of the city to intercept it!"
On the city tower, a figure descended; his body surrounded by a faint golden glow, akin to being entwined by dragon aura, was none other than Emperor Chu.
At this moment, his brows were furrowed, his face full of a solemn expression.
Clearly, the scale of this beast tide was grand enough that no one could underestimate it.
"Swish!"
Without a moment’s hesitation, as soon as his words fell, Emperor Chu took action first, leaping into the dark beast tide.
Following Emperor Chu, strong cultivators from various forces also started moving.
The scene became much more chaotic instantly, with constant energy clashes erupting, shaking this void space.
For most people, their cultivation hadn’t reached the Returning Ruins Realm, unable to control the sky, thus they could only ride flying demon beasts to confront the threat.
Besides this, some leaped onto the city tower, where they used invisible spiritual power to conjure various affects, launching long-range attacks, though these attacks were apparently far less effective.
"Swoosh!"
Not far from Ji Chen, Qu Luoning stood at a corner of the city tower, her two fingers joined, continuously pointing outwards, where streams of sword light soared to the sky, continuously attacking the advancing beast tide targeting Celestial Essence City.
Emperor Chu, Hong Cheng, and other strong cultivators of the Returning Ruins Realm were walking on air, fully entering the beast tide; their figures drowned among countless demon beasts. Although the happenings within were unseen, the terrifying energy bursts could be felt, alongside the sorrowful roars of demon beasts, as their corpses continually fell from high above onto the ground.
The battle was exceedingly intense; such scale of beast tide was unprecedented.
The hordes of demon beasts seemed endless, akin to swarms of locusts, constantly surging towards Celestial Essence City.
Only within a brief moment, countless cultivators fighting outside were killed, unable to halt the front of the demon beasts.
"Bang!"
At last, the beast tide crashed against the Defense Array.
Fortunately, the array was solid enough to withstand the first wave of the beast tide’s assault, and the powerful backlash instantly turned numerous demon beasts into ash.
"Eldest Princess, please bring more spirit stones, the beast tide is continuously attacking, the array might soon be damaged, requiring constant repair."
Ji Chen spoke, his brows similarly furrowed, seeming somewhat grave.
Such an array was built using the Cenling Array Manual, its defense undoubtedly strong; even a full attack by a Celestial Essence Realm strong cultivator couldn’t break it.
However, even so, it couldn’t withstand the incessant assaults by numerous demon beasts, the damage accumulating gradually; without repairs, it would eventually be broken through.
Hearing this, Qu Luoning nodded slightly, leaping swiftly towards the direction of the Imperial Palace.
Shortly after, Qu Luoning returned to the city tower, handing a storage bag filled with spirit stones to Ji Chen.
"If it’s not enough, I can have someone prepare more," Qu Luoning spoke.
Ji Chen opened the storage bag for a quick look, then said, "It should be enough."
Though not counting meticulously, Ji Chen roughly estimated the storage bag contained at least hundreds of thousands of spirit stones.
Such quantity was more than enough to sustain the array’s repairs, even leaving some surplus.
"Kill!"
The clash cries continued echoing, the chaotic battle outside was exceedingly intense.
The sky was almost stained with blood, countless cultivators fell, dismembered or reduced to nothing, becoming food for the demon beasts.
But under constant interception from Emperor Chu and other Returning Ruins Realm cultivators, many demon beasts were killed, their corpses piling outside the city forming towering mountains, countless in number.
"Boom!"
"Boom!"
"Boom!"
The explosions resounded, the scale of the beast tide was too vast to be fully intercepted by everyone.
Numerous demon beasts amassed, forming a dense mass, persistently surging towards the Defense Array of Celestial Essence City.
Each of their assaults caused the array to tremble, as if the whole Celestial Essence City was shaking.
Ji Chen stood atop the city tower, individually controlling the array, which was by no means an easy task.
Because controlling such a massive array was itself a huge drain on the Array Master.
By now, his inner spiritual power was rapidly diminishing, his breaths increasingly chaotic, his complexion slightly pale.
Time flew by, soon it was the second day.
After a night of fierce fighting, the beast tide still hadn’t retreated, with small waves of beast tide continuously emerging from the direction of the Demon Beast Mountain Range, merging in, no matter how hard the people intercepted them, they couldn’t kill them all.
Emperor Chu, Hong Cheng, and other Returning Ruins Realm strong cultivators, after a night of fierce fighting, had almost exhausted their spiritual power.
"They are nearing their limits, if this continues..." Qu Luoning frowned.
Facing such a massive beast tide, managing to hold out for a night was already very remarkable, but if this continued, everyone outside the city, including Emperor Chu and other Returning Ruins Realm strong cultivators, might face risk of falling.
"Have them all retreat," Ji Chen suddenly said.
Hearing these words, Qu Luoning glanced over, "But if they withdraw now, allowing the beast tide to assault the array..."
"Don’t worry, I have my ways," Ji Chen said.
Qu Luoning paused, but didn’t inquire further, quickly spreading the retreat message.
"Swish!"
In no time, those intercepting the beast tide outside had all retreated back to the city tower.
Emperor Chu frowned, now looking with disheveled hair, his body stained with blood from continuous battle, hard to tell apart his blood from that of the demon beasts.
"Luoning, you asked us to retreat to Celestial Essence City, but is there..."
He began to ask.
"Buzz..."
Suddenly, everyone felt an astonishing aura instantly spreading throughout.
It was as though the entire Celestial Essence City was trembling at that moment.
The surrounding City Defense Array kept vibrating, streams of purple light soared skywards, converging above the clouds, transmitting a world-shaking aura.
"Swoosh!"
In the blink of an eye, those purple lights descended rapidly, transforming into streams of purple sword light during movement, enveloped in astounding aura, like a rain of swords, numbering in the thousands, crashing downward towards the beast tide.
"Roar!"
In mere seconds, the sheets of purple sword light descended, making contact with the beast tide.
A series of sorrowful roars entered the ears.
Under the current offensive of the sword rain, numerous demon beasts were instantly slaughtered, some even being directly obliterated into blood mist, leaving no remains.
"This..."
Such a scene unfolded before everyone, causing them to be stunned on the spot.