Chapter 171: Wolf Smoke Rolling

The Demon Kings immediately dispersed, rushing towards the four city walls of Jiangzhou. Only the Blackwater Palace Master and ten Sky Demons remained on the grass.

“You, too, depart,” the Blackwater Palace Master calmly ordered. “According to the agreed plan, infiltrate Jiangzhou City and slaughter its inhabitants to force the Divine Demons to appear, then ambush and eliminate them.”

“Understood.”

The ten Sky Demons respectfully acknowledged the command, then split into four small teams and vanished into the wilderness.

The Blackwater Palace Master gazed at Jiangzhou City in the distance. His body silently transformed into streams of black water, which flowed rapidly into a nearby river and surged towards Jiangzhou City at an astonishing speed.

Outside the west gate of Jiangzhou City.

The Demon Kings moved with extreme speed, transforming into blurry phantoms as they rushed directly towards the west city wall.

“We finally reached the west gate after a detour of over 300 li. Our side’s detour was the longest, making us the last to arrive. The Demon Kings at the other three city walls have already arrived earlier,” said the Goat Demon King, gazing at the formidable west city wall ahead. Currently, thirty Demon Kings, divided into twelve small teams, were scattered tens of li outside the west city wall, with two other Demon Kings beside the Goat Demon King.

“Great Leader, all the Demon Kings are awaiting your command,” the other two Demon Kings said, filled with anticipation.

Excitement gleamed in the Goat Demon King’s eyes, and a murderous aura surged within him.

They had been carefully hiding throughout the human world. Now, they could finally attack a major prefectural city, something they had never dared to do before.

But now?

There were no Marquis Divine Demons within the prefectural city, and they had a Fourth-Layer Sky Demon leading them!

“Let’s begin,” the Goat Demon King declared, pointing his sharp claws towards the gloomy sky, from which rain had just begun to fall.

“Whoosh.”

A dazzling white light shot from its claws into the sky, forming an exceptionally bright, hundred-zhang-long white pillar of light. It was so conspicuous that even mortals could see it from dozens of li away, let alone the Demon Kings outside the other three city walls.

This was the signal! The signal for synchronized action.

“Kill!”

Outside the east city wall, the Demon Kings led by the Cat Demon King, scattered over tens of li, swiftly charged towards the wall.

Outside the south city wall, the Demon Kings led by the Snake Demon King also moved.

The north city wall was led by the Tiger Demon King, and the west city wall by the Goat Demon King.

“Demon Kings! There are Demon Kings!”

The soldiers patrolling the formidable city walls had been on watch for a long time. When the Demon Kings charged furiously without concealing their forms, many of them, being quite large, were immediately visible.

Moreover, as a prefectural city, the commanders of all four city walls carried a ‘Fiend-Seeking Token’ which could sense any Demon King using demonic energy within fifty li.

All four commanders were shocked to see their ‘Fiend-Seeking Tokens’ glowing searing hot and emitting a dazzling red light. As they rushed out of their resting towers, they stood on the city walls and saw with their own eyes individual Demon Kings charging in scattered formations. Their phantom-like speed filled the mortal commanders with despair.

“Light the signal fires!” the commanders cried out in shrill desperation.

In fact, even before the order was given, soldiers had already begun to light the signal fires, as it was an ironclad rule to do so upon discovering Demon Kings.

Billowing signal fires rose from many points along all four city walls of Jiangzhou City. Any section of the wall where Demon Kings were spotted would light a signal fire. In an instant, over a hundred signal fires soared into the sky!

“Hahahaha…” The Demon Kings leaped forward.

The city walls, 160 li long and 30 zhang high, were never intended to stop Demon Kings. They were designed to stop ordinary demon creatures! No matter how high they were built, Demon Kings could scale them in a few attempts, and mortal soldiers on the ramparts posed no threat to them.

“Whoosh.” A mist of blood rose as the Cat Demon King surged onto the city wall. Sharp energy swept in all directions, and a large section of soldiers on the ramparts fell like mown rice, their blood forming a thick mist.

“Kill, kill, kill,” the Cat Demon King’s eyes turned red, filled with savage madness.

Other Demon Kings stormed onto the city wall one by one, slaughtering indiscriminately. Mortals at this moment were utterly despairing.

These Demon Kings had been accustomed to the law of the jungle since birth. Having been suppressed for too long in the human world, they finally seized the opportunity of humanity’s “Great Migration” to launch a massive counterattack.

The sky over Jiangzhou City was gloomy. Dots of rain finally began to fall.

Meng Chuan held up his umbrella, patrolling the streets of Jiangzhou City as usual. He wore a dark green robe, one issued by Yuanchu Mountain. Ever since discovering the Sky Demon Gate’s spies, he knew that battle was drawing nearer.

“Hm?” Meng Chuan looked at the distant sky ahead.

Signal fires were rising!

“Signal fires are rising from the east city wall,” Meng Chuan’s expression changed, and he swept his gaze across the surroundings.

The south city wall, the west city wall, the north city wall…

Signal fires were rising everywhere.

Twenty, then thirty signal fires, quickly escalating to over a hundred in almost an instant.

Meng Chuan’s face changed drastically: “Demon Kings are invading from all directions, a large-scale assault?”

His speed was exceptional, ranking among the top Divine Demon-Marquis. However, one city wall alone was 160 li long, meaning a full circuit of all four walls exceeded 600 li! It would take Meng Chuan nearly the time it takes to brew a cup of tea to run 600 li. How many people could the Demon Kings slaughter in that time? What’s more, that ‘cup of tea’ measurement was for Meng Chuan’s continuous sprinting speed without engaging in combat. And the Demon Kings wouldn’t stay in one place; they would continue their slaughter while spreading throughout the city.

At this moment, Meng Chuan found Jiangzhou City overwhelmingly large!

With the threat of demon creatures, prefectural cities were much safer. Jiangzhou City had been continuously expanded over the past eight hundred years, becoming the massive city it was today, with each wall stretching 160 li and a population of seven million.

“Don’t panic, there are many other Divine Demons within the city,” Meng Chuan quickly thought. “According to the Divine Demon distribution, Yuanchu Mountain’s Jiangzhou Branch is in the northwest, and more Divine Demon families are in the east… the south city is the most vulnerable. I’ll go to the south city first.”

This all happened in a flash.

Meng Chuan made his decision instantly, transforming into a streak of lightning and vanishing. His umbrella floated down to the ground, rolled a few times in the wind, and then fell into a nearby river, flowing away with the current.

“Let’s go.”

“Quickly.”

The place with the most Divine Demons in Jiangzhou City was Yuanchu Mountain’s Jiangzhou Branch. The fifteen Divine Demons there immediately rushed to support the nearest west and north city walls. Other arrangements were also made for the east and north city walls.

The Divine Demons had made preparations for various scenarios of Demon King attacks, but even with preparations, an insufficient number of Divine Demons was a disadvantage. After all, humanity needed to defend all prefectural capitals, while the demon race and the Sky Demon Gate could choose to focus their attacks on specific cities.

“I hope we can hold out this time,” said Dean Chang, the white-haired head of the Jiangzhou Branch. Standing in the highest clock tower of the branch, he surveyed the situation in all directions. With a flick of his right hand, a palm-sized black wooden box appeared. Dean Chang looked at the box: “The sect is truly ruthless. It can only be used if the Divine Demons are completely defeated, or if over twenty percent of the city’s mortals are slaughtered, fulfilling one of those conditions? If I dare to use it without permission, I become a sinner of humanity?”

Dean Chang looked at the hundreds of rising signal fires and understood that a large number of Demon Kings had breached the city and were slaughtering indiscriminately, causing his heart to ache as if being stabbed.

But he also understood.

A guardian treasure, after all, was not a living expert; it would be gone after one use. It could only be deployed at the most critical moment. In fact, it would be fortunate if it wasn’t needed for decades while guarding the prefectural city.