Chapter 497: Tug of War

At this moment, everyone suddenly noticed something unusual about the rat demon corpses.

Lei Zhenhai's expression changed. He decisively swept his sleeves, conjuring powerful gusts of wind that sent the rat demon corpses in front of him flying down to the foot of the mountain. The other elders immediately took action. Some simply channeled their spiritual energy. Others pulled out artifacts resembling plantain fans, which, with a single wave, generated tornado-like winds. The Grand Elder of the Heavenly Sound Sect even coordinated with his disciples, unleashing several consecutive sound waves to push the rat demon corpses down the slope.

The snowy slope was slick. With just a little effort from the people above, the rat demon corpses slid down, never to return.

However, they had only cleared half of them when the animal skin pouches began to dissolve. Wisps of an unknown black liquid corroded through the pouches and dripped onto the ice. The ice surface, unable to withstand the corrosion, melted into scalding water, melting a small patch of ice nearby.

A similar scene unfolded across the snowy slope. Patch after patch of ice melted, leading to a chain reaction… *Crack!* Under their uneasy gazes, a disheartening sound of breaking echoed from within the snow-covered ice layer. The ice layer… had shattered!

*Whoosh!* Without warning, the lower half of World Mountain's icy surface suffered a massive collapse. Like a torrent, it cascaded down to the foot of the mountain. The enormous impact even caused the countless shards of broken ice to form a moving ice river. This river surged from halfway up the mountain, crashing into the army of corpses. It crushed hundreds of zombie puppets, forcing the army to retreat repeatedly and causing considerable disarray.

Yet, those on World Mountain could not smile. The ice layer below the halfway point of World Mountain was completely gone, revealing incredibly hard permafrost and rough stone surfaces. The demonic beasts could now climb as if on flat ground!

Within the army of corpses, the Demon Priestess frowned, her willow-leaf eyebrows furrowed. "Has some master arrived among the human defenders?" Had someone not commanded the timely clearing of the rat demon corpses, the entire snowy and icy slope of World Mountain would have been completely cleared by now, allowing her corpse army to advance unopposed.

"Even half a slope is enough!" she declared. "We'll fill the rest with bodies if we have to!"

She removed a butterfly hairpin and began to gently blow on it. A low horn-like sound, like a war hammer, urged the torrent of the corpse army to charge World Mountain!

The first to charge were giant beasts, second only in size to mammoths. Their massive bodies easily trod upon the hard rocks and permafrost, quickly surging upwards. Each step made the ground tremble.

The expressions of the people, who had just secured minor victories, became incredibly grave. Lei Zhenhai was the first to attack, shouting, "Kill! Don't let them climb up! This last half of the slope is our only natural barrier!" If the corpse army were to cross it, they would be forced into a direct confrontation, and casualties would drastically increase!

The elders and disciples from various sects immediately threw various torches and talismans, or used fire-elemental techniques. They tried their best to eliminate the corpse army at the foot of World Mountain. But their numbers were simply too great. Moreover, the leading demonic beast corpses were colossal and teeming with death qi. Ordinary torches took a while to completely burn away the death qi. As soon as one fell, the corpse army behind it would step over its body and continue charging upwards.

The battle was exceptionally fierce. The elders and disciples of the Nine Sects desperately hurled torches and talismans downwards, and unleashed fire-attribute techniques. Meanwhile, the corpse army, unafraid of pain or death, surged forward relentlessly.

The struggle lasted for a full hour. The half-slope, less than a few hundred *zhang* in length, was already covered with over two thousand zombie puppets of varying sizes. Yet, looking up, a sense of despair crept in: the corpse army still stretched as far as the eye could see! They were like an endless torrent, impossible to fully eliminate!

Even worse, bodies of zombie puppets began to pile up on the remaining half of the slick icy slope. The corpse army behind them climbed over these bodies, and when they, too, fell, they provided further stepping stones for the subsequent waves.

The situation was perilous! In this critical moment, Lei Zhenhai roared, "Rolling logs!" The elders and disciples from the various sects immediately brought long, whole logs. After igniting them, they rolled them down the slick mountain slope. The flaming logs instantly tumbled downwards, igniting the corpse army on the slope as they went. And similar logs, one after another, seemed endless.

The corpse army, which had painstakingly climbed halfway up the mountain, was either set ablaze and burned to death, or struck by tumbling zombie puppets and sent flying backwards.

The Demon Priestess frowned. "Where are they getting so much wood? This is a ten-thousand-mile snowfield!" Initially, she hadn't thought much of the humans throwing torches, assuming World Mountain might have a small supply. But the battle had gone on, and not only had the wood not run out, it seemed to be increasing. Even if World Mountain were piled high with wood, it should have been exhausted by now, shouldn't it?

"Who exactly is commanding this?" A glint of battle intent flickered in the Demon Priestess's eyes. "Then I shall see who can last the longest! As soon as we breach World Mountain, you all will just wait for death!" "Keep charging!" Under her command, the corpse army thundered once more, assailing World Mountain.

Countless rolling logs, trailing thick black smoke, ignited one charging zombie puppet after another. Yet, the zombie puppets, fearless of pain or death, stepped over corpse after corpse, continuously surging upwards.

The two sides were locked in a tug-of-war, each wearing down the other. By midnight, most of the sect elders looked weary. The disciples were pale-faced, many of their limbs cramping. The monotonous task of throwing rolling logs had lasted half the night, a tremendous drain on their physical strength.

Xia Chaoge wiped sweat from her face. Her exquisite features were smudged with black and white from the smoke, making her look like a calico cat. Liang Feiyan's hair was disheveled, his sleeve burned away at some point, exposing his armpit. He kicked a burning log down the slope, disregarding his boots melting from the heat, and immediately lit the next one.

Everyone was exhausted, but they simply couldn't stop.

On the hundreds of *zhang* of snowy slope, corpses were piled high. Not a speck of ice or snow was visible. The corpse army had advanced to within fifty *zhang*. Some of the larger zombie puppets could already reach the people on World Mountain.

Fortunately, they had an endless supply of rolling logs, which allowed them to maintain the fifty-*zhang* perimeter. What brought them relief was that the seemingly endless corpse army, after half a night of relentless attacks, finally showed signs of dwindling. Although still dense and countless, if they could just hold this stalemate, they still had a chance to win!

The Demon Priestess watched the battlefield silently. Observing her heavily depleted corpse army, she grew quite irritated. "Where are they getting all this wood from? This mountain assault alone has cost me forty percent of my corpse army! This is absurd!"

Seeing the humans stubbornly holding the last fifty *zhang* of the snowy slope and intending to continue the attrition, she gave a cold snort. "Do you think I'll let you have your way? It's time for this to end!"