Published: August 10, 2026
Eight years might only be the time it took a true lord to meditate a few times.
True lords were mainly responsible for dealing with the demonic kings, and generally would not take the initiative to interfere in low-level battles, so they had not made many moves overall.
As for the cultivators below, especially qi refinement and foundation establishment cultivators, they had to fight the demonic race almost every day.
Although they could rely on formations to hold their ground, they were still under tremendous pressure and had already reached the point of mental exhaustion.
"Rumble—"
A deafening roar rang out every moment, almost constantly echoing in everyone's ears, and nearly all cultivators had a hint of fatigue on their faces.
Thud, thud.
Within the vast Tianyi District City, heavy footsteps rose and fell in succession.
During wartime, the district city was under strict control, with all unnecessary activities banned. Patrols from the enforcement team were seen on the streets at all times.
Anyone wandering about at random would be harshly interrogated, and anyone who retreated from battle would be executed on the spot.
Thud, thud, thud.
Especially on the city walls, aside from the howls of demonic beasts and the thunder of spells, the rapid footsteps of immortal cultivators were also constantly ringing out.
Looking out, countless demonic beasts swarmed in from all directions, assaulting the city in wave after wave under the command of demonic cultivators and clan leaders, utterly unafraid of death.
True lords and demonic kings almost never made a move, but because there were simply too many demonic beasts, and because they were willing to throw away their lives without hesitation, time itself became an enemy.
Even the heavily fortified fourth-stage formation would occasionally reveal one flaw after another.
At such times, demonic beasts and even demonic cultivators would slip through the gaps in the formation and begin slaughtering indiscriminately inside the district city.
When battle broke out at close range, demonic beasts and demonic cultivators, with their powerful bodies, were basically a massacre for any unsuspecting cultivator.
Although they would eventually be exterminated, many cultivators still died in the process.
Because there were far more low-level demonic beasts than low-level cultivators, even a trade of one for ten or one for a hundred meant the demonic race was making a huge profit.
Just as true lords did not regard mortals and low-level cultivators as "people," in the eyes of demonic kings and demonic cultivators, countless low-level demonic beasts were nothing more than expendable tools. They would not feel the slightest pain no matter how many died, and they were more than willing to use them as exchange pieces.
More than eight years had passed, and under such circumstances, of the fifty thousand cultivators who had originally defended Tianyi District City, only a little over thirty thousand remained.
Including the foundation establishment cultivators, of the four thousand disciples Liu Yu had brought from the sect, only a little over twenty-eight hundred were left, and that was with deliberate care.
Of the three thousand outer sect disciples, fewer than two thousand two hundred remained. Of the eight hundred inner sect disciples, fewer than six hundred were left.
The death warriors he had brought with him had also suffered nearly a third in losses.
With Yuan Yang Sect suffering such casualties, the cultivators from other forces in the district city, as well as the most numerous loose cultivators, had even more alarming losses. It was simply shocking to behold.
On a stretch of city wall, a clean-faced white-clad youth led more than twenty cultivators in continuously activating magical artifacts to kill the demonic beasts crashing against the formation outside.
That youth was Jiang Yifei.
After eight years of bitter fighting, his cultivation had reached the peak of qi refinement, and he had also accumulated more than half of the merit needed to exchange for a foundation establishment pill.