Chapter 1280: Savage Beast Torrent (1)
Han Li felt his heart roil.
When he heard him mention 'silver wolves', he was instantly reminded of Silvermoon.
She was a giant silver wolf that hailed from the Silvermoon Wolf Clan. Perhaps the silver wolves were of the same clan.
But regardless of whether this was true, it was no use to him in his current realm. He could only set aside the thought in the back of his mind.
Zhang Kui solemnly said, "If it were only common wolves, we wouldn't have anything to fear with our high walls, but unfortunately, they are being led by intelligent low-grade demon beasts.
They are also mixed with variant beasts that are halfway to becoming a demon beast. While the variant beasts don’t possess the same inconceivable abilities as demon beasts, they are still far more fearsome than any ordinary beast. The size, power, and vicious far exceed their ordinary kind. At the very least, an ordinary low-grade body refiner wouldn’t be able to take one alone.”
"How troublesome! Are there many of these variant beasts in the wave?"
Zhang Kui pondered briefly and doubtfully said, "There is about one variant beast in a thousand."
"A thousand?" Han Li swept his eyes past the azure beast sea and couldn't help but wryly laugh.
Even if he couldn't guess their number, they numbered in the millions at the very least. There should be several thousand variant beasts among them. And with no Core Formation cultivators guarding the city, those numbers could prove fatal.
After taking another look, Zhang Kui sighed, clearly discouraged by the sight, and said, "Alright, let's go to other areas and take a look at the other beasts."
Although Han Li followed the large man through the city, he still wore a smile and asked, "What, Brother Zhang worries the city defenses won't hold?"
Zhang Kui replied with an anxious expression, "I am worried, yes. I've seen several beast waves in the past, but never against a city that was just established in the last thousand years. Against a grand beast wave like this one and with our lacking preparations, they should be able to breach our defenses.
Furthermore, this beast wave also has Leocon Beasts. Although there won’t be too many of them, they will all be grade one demon beasts. As we won’t be able to protect against them, they will be a large threat to the city.
“Are Leocon Beasts so fearsome?” A glint flashed in Han Li’s eyes and his voice carried doubt.
“Leocon Beasts aren’t considered strong amongst the rank of demon birds, but they carry a formidable toxin that can kill ordinary people. Unless they approach us, we will only be able to attack them from afar. And even worse is how nimble and quick these birds are. While they may be lacking in strength, they are unable to suppress them as they attack the weakest points in the city’s defense.
With a tone of surprise, Han Li asked, “How did this lack of aerial power come to be? Could it be the An Yuan City Lord didn’t know this matter would be so critical?
From what he came to know, all positions of secular power within the city belonged to mortals.
“Even if he knew about it, what could he do? I heard the last beast wave to attack the city left disastrous damage. Their numbers were almost exhausted. Being able to restore their defensive strength to this level had already exhausted the city lord’s influence. The other nearby cities also lent them a few weapons and soldiers. There is nothing else he can do about the air.”
When Han Li heard this, he was at a loss for words.
Not long after, Han Li followed Zhang Kui to another side of the city wall and saw rows of meter-long pythons forming a red beast sea. It appeared even more fearsome than the sea of wolves.
The only good news to hear from this was that these snakes weren’t venomous. As such, their defenses were more lax towards them.
As Han Li gazed at the sea of pythons from a distance, he would occasionally spot pythons that were several times larger than the others and he inwardly gasped.
These variant pythons were over thirty meters long, no smaller than a crimson wyrm. They could easily devour a man. And because the hoard of crimson pythons was larger than the azure wolves, it was only natural there would be more of variants.
After looking at these two beast hoards, Han Li felt some regret at not being able to see the Leocon Beasts.
According to what the Zhang Kui said, the hawks were perched at a concealed area. They wouldn’t show themselves until it was time to attack.
As Han Li looked at the distant pythons, he suddenly asked, “Why haven’t the beast hoards launched their attacks?”
“The beast hoards are led by intelligent demon beasts. They won’t attack us of their own accord. They will be certain to cooperate with the other two demon hoards in a joint assault and strain our forces. Normally, something like this will only occur for another day. Let’s go. We need to lead the Heavenly East Enterprise soldiers to the center of the city in preparation for orders. If we are lucky enough to make a breakthrough or comprehend something, it may be worth it to put ourselves in danger.” Zhang Kui let out a cold laugh and led Han Li back to the inn.
As expected, the guards at the inn had received orders from An Yuan City and were preparing to move out. They were already gathered together.
The Gold Jade Sect cultivators were asked for their presence earlier and had already left.
Without any hesitation Zhang Kui immediately shouted and commanded the two hundred soldiers of the Heavenly East Enterprise to move out, marching out of the inn in a powerful display.
When they arrived on the street, they saw private troops and body refiners head in the direction of the palace, but most of these groups were nowhere as large or formidable as the Heavenly East Enterprise. Their numbers ranged anywhere from five or six to a dozen.
As Han Li traveled together with the others, they caught quite a bit of attention, particularly with the fifty mounted horned wolves.
After all, the horned wolves were one of the many beasts that were tamed by the humans of the spirit realm. Each one was meticulously raised from birth, completely erasing their savage nature. As they were able to exhibit greater power when joined together with cavalrymen, their price was considerably high.
Only a business as overbearing at the Heavenly East Enterprise had the ability to purchase so many trained horned wolves for their guards.
All the people on the streets were heading in the direction of a huge plaza near a city wall. The city was facing the hoard of azure wolves.
Tens of thousands of empty-handed strong men, a few uniformed troops, and scattered body refiners were already gathered together. There were even a few mounted horned wolves there, but their numbers didn’t match the cavalrymen of the Heavenly East Enterprise. Surrounding the plaza were a few fully-armed An Yuan City guards keeping order.
A silver-armored middle-aged man stood at the other end of the plaza. He was speaking with a Confucian scholar and a Buddhist monk at his side.
When Han Li saw this person, he recognized him as the officer he had seen watching the gate.
The scholar and the monk were the two cultivators that inspected their troops. The silver-armored middle-aged man had some sort of skill to keep behind the two cultivators.
At that moment, the silver-armored man noticed that enough people had gathered together and he waved his arm.
The soldiers behind him roared, utter a string of orders that were already prepared.
The first order was to organize a division of cavalrymen. Afterwards, a group of land tortoise carriages rushed into the plaza, carrying a large quantity of weapons and some armor. They began to distribute them to the strong men.
As for the body refiners, they didn’t hold common weapons in their eye and they stood in place with a detached gaze.
For the time being, private troops such as Han Li and the lone body refiners remained to the side.
Then, the private troops and body refiners were bewildered by the long wolf cries outside the city. They were resounding and harsh as if brimming with violent energy.
Han Li narrowed his eyes when he heard this. The myriad of wolf howls soared through the heavens like rumbling thunder.
The body refiners were better off with only changes in expression, but the commoners felt overwhelmed as the scream filled the world.
But that was only the start. They soon heard hissing and strange bird cries from other directions.
Although these sounds weren’t as overwhelming as the wolf howls, they still sent shivers down people’s spines.
At that moment, gongs sounded from all the city walls at nearly the same time. A man’s voice then filled the air. It wasn’t particularly loud, but it reached the ears of everyone in the plaza, “Be Careful, the beasts have begun to move.” It was a sound transmission that came from a grey-robed Foundation Establishment cultivator riding on a flying sword. There appeared to be other flying cultivators giving warnings throughout different districts of the city.
Suddenly, an uproar rose through An Yuan City and squads of idle soldiers sprung into action. They immediately scaled the walls, manned the ballistas, and readied themselves for battle.