Chapter 1908: The War Between Humans and Demons (Part 2)

Chapter 1883: War Between Humans and Demons (Part Two)

“Yes, Elder,” a Golden Guard standing nearby replied without hesitation upon hearing the command. He quickly transformed into a streak of light and sped downwards to relay the order.

“Two-headed lizards. Those are the low-tier demon beasts capable of both wind and fire attacks, known as one of the Ten Great Demon Beasts of the Demon Realm.”

Grandmaster Jinyue asked thoughtfully.

“Precisely. Although these two-headed demon lizards are low-ranked, equivalent to Qi Condensation cultivators, their overwhelming numbers are their advantage. It's said they number in the tens of millions in the Demon Realm itself. While it's impossible for the demon race to bring all of them across when breaking through the barrier this time, even a small fraction would pose a significant problem. As for the venomous demonic insects, they are equally troublesome. The venom they spray is not only lethal to low-tier cultivators but can also corrode city walls,” Elder Gu replied with a solemn expression.

“However, since these are known demon beasts, those below should know how to deal with them. Brother Gu, there’s no need to worry too much,” Grandmaster Jinyue said with a calm nod.

“Let’s hope so!” Elder Gu sighed softly and turned his gaze back to the distant battlefield.

Surrounding one side of Heavenly Abyss City were thousands of colossal fortresses, each over a hundred zhang tall, garrisoned by hundreds of human cultivators, shielding the city tightly behind them. Between the fortresses, faint ripples of restrictive spells could be seen, clearly indicating some profound mechanism at play. Unless these meticulously constructed human defenses were cleared, the demon race could not directly attack Heavenly Abyss City’s walls. This was also why the demon side had brought so many demon beasts as cannon fodder; after numerous invasions into human territories, the demon race had learned many effective methods to deal with human mega-cities.

In the distance, the two types of beast hordes combined numbered thirty to forty thousand. More than two-thirds of these were two-headed lizards, roughly the size of calves. The venomous demonic insects, on the other hand, resembled enormous jade-green silkworms, with extremely fat and swollen bodies, twice the size of the two-headed lizards. Yet, when mixed among the two-headed demon lizards, they showed no signs of falling behind. Behind these beast hordes, over a hundred high-tier demons in black armor had appeared at some point, following calmly behind the beasts, seemingly acting as overseers.

In a blink of an eye, tens of thousands of demon beasts advanced to within ten-odd li of the human fortresses. Suddenly, a majestic roar erupted from the beast horde. The eyes of the two-headed demon lizards, which had been merely trotting, turned blood red. After letting out responsive growls, the entire horde began to charge wildly. The venomous demonic insects mixed among them suddenly flashed with green light on their backs, extending two transparent wings from within their bodies. With a tremor of their wings, the demonic insects soared into the air, their speed no less than that of the full-speed charging two-headed demon lizards.

Tens of thousands of demon beasts charged, looking like a stampede of ten thousand horses from a distance. The distance of ten-odd li was but a brief moment for them, traversable in an instant. Simultaneously, a high-tier demon in the air cast a spell, causing a rolling black demonic energy to surge downwards like a black dragon, plummeting into the beast horde and exploding. The formerly clear demon beasts became indistinct amidst the rolling demonic energy.

The next moment, when they were only about a li from the fortresses, loud 'thudding' sounds suddenly erupted from within the demonic energy. Dense fireballs and wind blades surged forth, raining down overwhelmingly upon the fortresses ahead. With such astonishing momentum, even fortresses bolstered by restrictive spells could not possibly remain unscathed under such an attack. Many human cultivators within the fortresses blanched at the sight.

But just then, a clear, ethereal chime, like celestial music, emanated from the white jade palace above Heavenly Abyss City. Following this, the golden mirror atop the highest building suddenly vibrated, spewing forth a golden pillar of light that, upon dispersing, transformed into a shimmering golden barrier, shielding the fortresses. In an instant, the dense fireballs and wind blades struck the golden light like a raging storm, exploding one after another. For a moment, a loud roar erupted as countless red and white light clusters appeared on the barrier. The combined power of wind and fire magnified the assault severalfold, causing the surrounding spiritual energy of heaven and earth to tremble as if the sky and earth were collapsing. High-tier beings from both the human and demon races watched this spectacle with solemn expressions. When all the light receded, the golden barrier reappeared before everyone, completely intact. This seemingly thin layer of defense appeared utterly unharmed.

Many high-tier demons in the high sky were naturally slightly surprised at this sight. However, Grandmaster Jinyue and the other cultivators of Heavenly Abyss City showed no particular surprise. Even Immortal Silverlight chuckled softly and said to the white-robed elder:

“Elder Gu, your Golden Dawn Mirror has become increasingly profound. Although its power relies on the immense spiritual energy of the Heavenly Treasure Divine Hall, to be able to block the demon beast attack with just a single ray of light shows that your thousand-plus years of refining, Brother Gu, were not in vain.”

“This treasured mirror was originally a top-tier Sky-reaching Spiritual Treasure on the Chaos Myriad Spirit List; even without my dedicated refining, this level of attack would be nothing to it. I’d like to see how the demon race plans to break through its defenses,” Elder Gu replied modestly with a slight smile.

Hearing this, Han Li's expression stirred, and he couldn't help but glance at the massive mirror behind him. He saw that the treasure’s surface was now radiating dazzling golden light, with a golden pillar of light, the thickness of a bowl, still spewing from it, connecting to the golden barrier that covered half the distant sky.

While Han Li was momentarily distracted, the demonic energy in the distance was already only about a li from the fortresses. Even though shrouded by the rolling demonic energy, the cultivators within the fortresses could still make out the ferocious faces of the demon beasts inside, causing everyone’s heart to quicken.

“Attack!”

A grim male voice suddenly echoed simultaneously throughout all the fortresses. Almost instinctively, the cultivators simultaneously formed hand seals, activating their magical artifacts. In an instant, above dozens of fortresses closest to the beast horde, lights shimmered. Thousands of magical artifacts rose up and then plunged like meteors directly into the demonic energy. The demonic energy roared, and another wave of fireballs and wind blades surged forth, forming a massive wave of wind and fire that lifted all the magical artifacts, preventing them from descending even an inch. Under the control of the high-tier demons, these demon beasts appeared well-trained.

The cultivators in the fortresses, seeing this, naturally refused to give up. They immediately formed seals, chanted incantations, and some even furiously pointed at their magical artifacts. The power of thousands of magical artifacts greatly increased, and they converged into a vibrant, radiant glow, pushing downwards with all their might. For a moment, they actually forced the wind and fire wave to retreat step by step, seemingly about to break through.

But just then, a series of 'hissing' sounds suddenly intensified within the demonic energy where the demon beasts were hidden. Thousands of green lines shot out from it, striking the five-colored light barrier solidly in a flash and bursting into plumes of green mist. A foul, pungent odor intensified, and the plumes of green mist, without any obstruction, immediately enveloped all the magical artifacts.

An astonishing sight appeared! The moment most of the magical artifacts were enveloped by the green mist, regardless of their original color, they instantly turned a sickly green. Then, their light dimmed, and they tumbled erratically from the sky. Only two to three hundred magical artifacts remained, still casually darting through the green mist, seemingly unaffected.

“No, those demonic insects aren’t ordinary venomous insects. The venom of ordinary venomous insects doesn’t have the ability to corrupt magical artifacts,” Elder Gu said, slightly surprised, as he observed this scene from the high platform. The others were also slightly startled, but maintained their composure. This minor setback was naturally not enough to truly unnerve these Integration cultivators.

Meanwhile, inside the gigantic beast-chariot shrouded in demonic energy high in the sky, the burly man in purple armor clapped his hands and laughed heartily, then turned to the green-robed elder, saying proudly:

“Elder Lu, the human side really fell for it. They actually thought those mutated demonic insects were ordinary venomous insects and suffered a small loss.”

“It’s a pity these mutated demonic insects are too few, and their venom is only effective against magical artifacts below the mid-tier. Otherwise, if we had saved them for later, they might have achieved an even greater miraculous effect,” the green-robed elder replied with a smile, though his words carried a hint of regret.

“Heh heh, mutated demon beasts aren’t that easy to find. It’s already good luck that we accidentally subdued this batch of mutated demonic insects. Besides, these demon beasts are just pawns; to truly flatten this city, we must rely on ourselves,” the purple-armored demon said with an indifferent chuckle.

“However, these mutated demonic insects also have some miraculous effects against bamboo spell formations and restrictions. Perhaps they could give us an even greater surprise!” the elder said, nodding.

“Hmm, that’s not impossible,” the burly man in purple armor said with some anticipation after glancing towards the distant fortresses.

At this moment, the cultivators in dozens of fortresses, seeing their magical artifacts lose connection with their minds, felt a pang of regret and naturally dared not activate a second magical artifact to face the enemy. Instead, at the command of a Core Formation cultivator leading them, they suddenly each stood on a pre-inscribed formation diagram within their respective fortresses. Then, with a single flip of their hands, array disks appeared before each of them. Supported by the Core Formation cultivator, these cultivators chanted incantations, and with spiritual light flashing around their bodies, began to pour their magic power wildly into the disks. The leading Core Formation cultivator, meanwhile, made shifting hand seals and slowly closed his eyes. In an instant, the spell formations beneath the cultivators began to glow brightly, emitting a low humming sound. A five-colored orb of light began to form at the center of the spell formation, rotating rapidly…

Meanwhile, outside the fortresses, without the obstruction of the magical artifacts, the wind and fire energy spewed by the two-headed demon lizards transformed into a red and white glow that directly struck the golden barrier, once again producing a thunderous roar. Mixed within the radiant glow, thousands of green lines also silently sprayed towards the barrier.