The various family heads chuckled, though what
His contribution could not be erased!
Ye Zong gazed out at the endless tide of beasts stretching into the distance. The City of Radiance had always existed on borrowed time, liable to be struck by a beast tide at any moment. Who knew when the city might be wiped out entirely? If Nie Li truly could protect the City of Radiance, then giving Yun'er to him in marriage wouldn't be so bad after all.
If Yun'er married Nie Li and then took on the role of City Lord, that might well be the most appropriate choice.
But then, thinking of
He hoped his son could come to terms with things.
Though Ye Han possessed decent talent, compared to the current
As if sensing something, Ye Han on the watchtower glanced toward Ye Zong's direction. He had never imagined that Nie Li would possess such a vast arsenal of unpredictable techniques, slaughtering over a hundred thousand demon beasts—including two at the Black Gold level.
Ye Han was gradually coming to understand why Ye Zong placed increasing value on Nie Li. He had heard that even the Myriad Demon Spirit Grand Formation had been set up by Nie Li. With just these two contributions alone, he would find it nearly impossible to surpass Nie Li.
Ye Han's right hand clenched tight, his sharp nails digging into his palm as though they might draw blood. Only this sharp pain could ease the resentment and fury churning within him. The position of City Lord had been so close—right within his grasp—yet he had failed to claim it, forced to watch it slip further and further from his reach.
Ye Han recalled what
Ye Han's eyes turned bloodshot as he gritted his teeth and thought bitterly: "You brought this on yourselves!"
Meanwhile, atop another section of the city wall.
"This beast tide isn't so impressive!" Lu Piao declared, standing atop the wall, letting the fierce cold wind whip against him as he laughed smugly.
Seeing Lu Piao's gloating expression,
"Don't celebrate too early,"
Aside from the carefree Lu Piao, everyone else still carried a certain weight of gravity in their hearts. The beast tide had already breached three lines of defense. How many more trump cards did they have left?
The three defensive lines had held for half an hour, taking down over a hundred thousand Wind Snow Demon Beasts, but the beasts continued to surge forward in maddened waves, one after another.
The Wind Snow Demon Beasts gradually pressed close to the city walls. A deep rumbling shook the earth as the city gate took its first impacts.
"Pour the red oil down quickly!"
A mass of warriors tipped barrel after barrel of red oil from the rear down onto the ground below, then tossed in a few sparks. Boom—flames soared into the sky.
Below the wall lay the fourth line of defense!
The inferno instantly devoured countless Wind Snow Demon Beasts. The moat below had become a sea of fire, and the beasts roared and howled in frenzy, like souls trapped in purgatory.
The guards atop the wall were fully armored and ready for battle. Once the fourth line was breached, it would come down to close-quarters combat, and they would have to face swarms of Wind Snow Demon Beasts head-on.
"A beast has made it onto the wall!" came a startled cry from the distance.
The blazing flames formed by the red oil had devoured a great many Wind Snow Demon Beasts, but a handful of powerful Gold-level beasts had still managed to scale the wall. Powerful warriors from every family immediately drew their swords and charged toward the intruders.
"Roar!" The few Gold-level Wind Snow Demon Beasts swung their razor-sharp claws, crushing several city guards in an instant. Blood stained the wall.
Whoosh! Whoosh! Whoosh!
Several figures darted toward those Gold-level beasts at tremendous speed—each one at least a Gold-level expert, with some even at the Black Gold level. Working together, they made short work of the Gold-level beasts, then hurled their carcasses off the wall.
A fierce melee erupted atop the wall. Though the City of Radiance suffered some casualties, it was incomparably better than past beast tides. In previous invasions, the beasts had always surged up the wall in droves, triggering brutal close-quarters combat that cut through people like a meat grinder.
This time, however, the ordinary Wind Snow Demon Beasts had been consumed almost entirely by the sea of fire. Only a select few Gold-level beasts managed to climb the wall, and since Wind Snow Demon Beasts were especially vulnerable to heat, their combat effectiveness had plummeted with the raging flames below. The powerful warriors from every family on the wall continued to cut down the beasts as they came.
Barrel after barrel of red oil cascaded downward. Wave after wave of flames swallowed batch after batch of Wind Snow Demon Beasts.
The melee atop the wall continued without cease. Nie Li directed the efforts with growing urgency—though their supply of red oil was vast, it could only last a few more hours at most.
But Nie Li had already handed the Runic Pattern materials and such to the Alchemist Association, instructing them to begin mass-producing Blood Burst Demon Vials. Once the red oil ran out, the Blood Burst Demon Vials would take its place.
So far, none of the family heads even needed to take action. They were only standing by in reserve.
"Send someone back to the family immediately!" Huyan Xiong bellowed. "Have everyone bring every drop of oil we can spare! I'm going to burn these Wind Snow Demon Beasts to ashes today!" Several members of the Huyan Family set off at once to gather red oil.
The other families likewise dispatched people to collect more red oil. Even if they had to go without oil for an entire year, they would destroy these beasts! If the citizens of the City of Radiance had known the oil was meant to be used against Wind Snow Demon Beasts, they would have donated their household supplies without a moment's hesitation.
Ye Zong looked into the distance, his gaze locking onto the dozen or so Black Gold-level demon beasts within the Wind Snow Demon Beast army. Those Black Gold-level beasts were the most dangerous of all—they were the ones commanding the entire tide.
The battle remained locked in a grinding stalemate. Below the wall, a colossal meat grinder was already tearing through over a hundred thousand Wind Snow Demon Beasts, while atop the wall, the melee raged on. Hundreds had fallen, and thousands more severely wounded had been carried away.