Eastern Extreme Region.
Qingguang City, a medium-sized city on the border of Xingluo Prefecture, was currently under attack by a horde of demonic beasts.
In the Eastern Extreme Region, human cultivators viewed demonic beasts as cultivation resources, while most demonic beasts, in turn, fed on humans.
The two sides were practically locked in a life-and-death struggle.
So in the Eastern Extreme Region, it was quite common for human cultivators to launch encirclement and hunting campaigns against demonic beast packs, or for demonic beasts to launch beast tides against human cities.
Not only that—since there were no rules to bind them, human factions in the Eastern Extreme Region also frequently attacked each other.
So if you wanted to establish yourself in the Eastern Extreme Region, you not only had to guard against demonic beast attacks, but also watch out for covetous eyes from other human factions.
Under these circumstances, formidable strength was absolutely essential.
Take the city lord of Qingguang City—Zhou Qingguang—who was a mid-stage Golden Core cultivator.
Zhou Qingguang dressed in elegant, scholarly attire, giving off a refined and gentle impression.
At this moment, facing the surging beast tide, Zhou Qingguang stood suspended in midair, personally presiding over Qingguang City’s fourth-tier city-protection formation, gazing with worried eyes toward the depths behind the beast tide.
There, Zhou Qingguang sensed several auras stronger than his own.
If those few demonic beasts hidden in the shadows made their move, even with the fourth-tier city-protection formation, Zhou Qingguang had no confidence he could fend off those beasts’ attacks while simultaneously holding back over ten thousand demonic beasts.
Thinking of this, Zhou Qingguang looked down at three Purple Mansion realm cultivators and ordered:
“Black Wind, Qingyu, Xueyu—lead the guard squads and speed up the clearing of the attacking beasts.”
“Yes, City Lord!”
Zhou Qingguang’s aim was to weaken the beast tide’s strength as much as possible before the fourth-tier beasts made their move.
The beasts currently being driven to launch the first wave of attack on Qingguang City were mostly first- and second-tier beasts.
With the strength of Qingguang City’s guard squads, clearing these beasts wasn’t difficult.
But doing so would consume a large amount of their spiritual power, which wouldn’t bode well for the later battles.
However, at this point, facing the endless beast tide, Zhou Qingguang had no other options.
Black Wind, Qingyu, and Xueyu were all guard commanders of Qingguang City, each commanding one of its three cultivator guard squads.
The three, already poised for action, responded without hesitation upon hearing Zhou Qingguang’s command.
They began leading their respective guard squads, relying on the city-protection formation, to clear the beasts that had already begun attacking Qingguang City.
Seeing Qingguang City’s guard squads spring into action, other cultivators in the city who didn’t belong to Qingguang City’s command also began moving in tacit coordination, launching attacks on the beasts outside the city walls.
When the nest overturns, how can any eggs remain intact?
These cultivators temporarily trapped in Qingguang City by the beast tide weren’t fools—they knew they were now in the same boat as Qingguang City.
As long as it didn’t harm their own interests, they were more than happy to strike at the beasts outside the city.
Booming crashes instantly resounded across the entire sky as spells of all colors radiated dazzling brilliance, slamming fiercely into the beast horde.
In an instant, they dealt massive damage to the beasts.
Roar!
The stimulation of blood sent the attacking beasts into an even more frenzied state.
Various energy attacks, along with the beasts’ sharp claws and fangs, hammered fiercely against the barrier formed by the city-protection formation.
The barrier of the city-protection formation continuously rippled with violent waves.
Inside Qingguang City.
Sensing the commotion outside the city, many ordinary mortals in the city were praying anxiously.
Praying that Qingguang City could survive this calamity, praying that they themselves and their loved ones could make it through alive.
In the Eastern Extreme Region, conflicts between demonic beasts and humans occurred frequently.
For ordinary mortals to survive, they could only attach themselves to cultivators.
Cities or villages formed purely by mortals—while not nonexistent in the Eastern Extreme Region—were extremely rare.
The few such cities or villages that did exist were mostly far from beast gathering grounds, located in areas scarce in spiritual energy.
So the mortals of the Eastern Extreme Region were basically all under the rule of cultivators.
Their living environment and way of life depended entirely on the rules set by their rulers—or their rulers’ moods.
Although the foundations of cultivator factions all came from mortals, and most factions weren’t overly harsh toward the mortals living under them, there were inevitably some scoundrels or temperamental madmen among cultivators.
Inevitably, some mortals would spend their entire lives—even generations upon generations—living in utter misery.
So for mortals, finding a city with stable order and a ruler who wasn’t harsh to them was an extremely fortunate thing.
And Zhou Qingguang, as the city lord of Qingguang City, had set rules for the mortals in the city that weren’t harsh.
So now that Qingguang City was in crisis, these mortals living in the city naturally hoped Qingguang City could safely pull through.
Only when you’ve given them hope for life in normal times will they pray for the city’s deliverance in times of danger.
“Grandpa, don’t be scared. When Yinyin grows up and can cultivate, Yinyin will protect you.”
In a single-story house in Qingguang City, a little girl about seven or eight years old was lying in her grandpa’s arms, comforting him.
Her little head tilted, her big bright eyes fixed on the cultivators flying above the city, showing not a trace of fear.
Her grandpa merely gently stroked her little head without speaking.
His gaze toward the outside of the city, though cloudy, revealed deep worry.
Suddenly.
Three sharp, piercing beast cries came from outside the city:
“Moo!” “Howl!” “Screech!”
After the many cultivators of Qingguang City had cleared the attacking beast horde and consumed a large amount of spiritual power, two late fourth-tier beasts and one peak fourth-tier beast, accompanied by a large number of third-tier beasts, suddenly descended outside Qingguang City.
They launched a fierce assault against the barrier of the city-protection formation.
The two late fourth-tier beasts were a massively enlarged ox and wolf.
The peak fourth-tier beast was an enormous flying creature.
“Oh no!”
Facing three fourth-tier beasts far beyond his own cultivation level, plus thousands of first-, second-, and third-tier beasts attacking together, Zhou Qingguang’s expression changed drastically.
He instinctively channeled a massive amount of spiritual power into the city-protection formation to boost its power.
Bang! Bang! Bang!
Crack! Crack! Crack!
As dull impacts rang out one after another, cracks began appearing on Qingguang City’s protective barrier, gradually spreading outward.
“Ugh!”
The city-protection formation suffered attacks far exceeding its defensive capacity, and Zhou Qingguang, who had been presiding over it, suffered a direct backlash, letting out a stifled groan.
After settling the churning blood and qi in his body, Zhou Qingguang looked unwillingly at the two late fourth-tier and one peak fourth-tier beasts outside the city and said bitterly:
“Could it be that all my hard work is about to be destroyed in an instant?”
Glancing at the millions of ordinary mortals without any cultivation in the city behind him, Zhou Qingguang gritted his teeth and secretly transmitted a command:
“Black Wind, Qingyu, Xueyu—lead the guard squads and prepare to break out!”
He still had a great vengeance unfulfilled. He could only apologize to the city residents who had attached themselves to him.
Hearing this, Qingyu couldn’t bear it and couldn’t help speaking up:
“City Lord, but what about the people in the city?”
“Abandon them. We can’t protect them.”
Zhou Qingguang’s only response to Qingyu was a cold command.
And indeed, that was the truth—if they stayed, they would only die alongside everyone else in Qingguang City.
“Qingyu, listen to the City Lord. We have no other choice.”
Black Wind, standing nearby, also couldn’t help persuading Qingyu.
Only Xueyu remained silent throughout, expressing no opinion.
There was no right or wrong in this matter—staying would only be a meaningless sacrifice, and the people in the city had very few ties to them cultivators.
Ordinary emotions could no longer sway cultivators’ hearts or affect their final decisions.
Perhaps this choice wasn’t humanitarian, but when nothing could be done, it was the most rational choice.
In the end, Qingyu could only bite her lip and look at the city residents with a guilty expression.
Crack! Crack!
Seeing the cracks on the barrier growing larger, Zhou Qingguang shouted:
“Go!”
Immediately, Zhou Qingguang, Black Wind, Qingyu, Xueyu, and a small portion of the guard squad members all fled toward another direction of Qingguang City.
That direction, though also swarming with beasts, was mostly lower-tier ones.
Breaking out from there had a much higher chance of success.
As Zhou Qingguang fled, most of the other cultivators in Qingguang City cleverly followed suit.
As for the remaining majority of Qingguang City’s guard squad members and a very small number of other cultivators, they didn’t choose to flee immediately.
They were all native-born people of Qingguang City. These guards were all young, and they had ties in the city they couldn’t abandon.
So they didn’t flee immediately. Instead, they returned to their homes, preparing to bring their families along.
At this moment, the mortals in the city, witnessing the cultivators fleeing above, fell into utter despair.
Cultivators could flee—but where could they, the ordinary people, go?
Many, facing the threat of death, began crying out for help:
“No! Don’t go! City Lord, please take me with you!”
“Erlang, Erlang! I’m your distant auntie! Save me, take me with you!”
“City Lord, I beg you, take my daughter with you! City Lord—”
Many others, having lost all hope, began cursing without restraint:
“Zhou Qingguang, may you die a horrible death!”
“Die! Everyone die! Why can’t I have a spiritual root? Why?”
“Heh heh heh, Zhou Qingguang, you can’t escape. I’ll be waiting for you down below!”
In that moment, the myriad facets of human nature, all the faces of sentient beings, were on full display.
Facing the threat of death, the dark sides hidden in many people’s hearts were thoroughly provoked.
Bang!
With a crisp, resounding crash, specks of starlight began scattering above Qingguang City.
Amid the chaos of Qingguang City, the barrier of the city-protection formation—having lost Zhou Qingguang’s control—held out for only a brief moment against the ceaseless attacks of the beast horde before completely collapsing.
“Grandpa, I’m scared, wuu wuu!”
The little girl who had just been comforting her grandpa completely broke down at this moment.
Burying her little face in her grandpa’s chest, she began crying in terror.
“Yinyin, be good, don’t be scared. Grandpa’s here!”
Tears also streamed down the old man’s face. His son and daughter-in-law had died young, and his granddaughter Yinyin was his only concern.
Could it be that this time, the two of them—grandfather and granddaughter—would die together in the mouths of demonic beasts?
Thinking of this, the old man held his granddaughter Yinyin tightly.
Unwilling to give up, he struggled to his feet, closed the door, and searched for everything in the room to reinforce it.
Even without hope, for his granddaughter’s sake, he would struggle to the very end.
“Moo, howl, screech, roar!”
As the city-protection formation shattered, all kinds of beast cries rose and fell.
The beast horde excitedly breached Qingguang City’s walls, preparing to penetrate deep into the city to slaughter its humans and feast.
All kinds of screams filled the sky above Qingguang City.
At the critical moment, a light yet powerful Dao voice rang out:
“Realm Suppression!”
Instantly, the illusory image of a glazed-colored pagoda appeared above Qingguang City, directly suppressing the beasts that were about to go on a killing spree.
Sensing this turn of events, Qingguang City fell instantly silent, and hope rekindled in the eyes of the people in the city.
The little girl who had buried her head in her grandpa’s chest now looked up at him, sobbing and choking, and asked in confusion:
“Grandpa, how come I’m not dead yet?”
“Shh!”
Her grandpa quickly covered the little girl’s mouth and warily glanced at the sky above Qingguang City.
At this moment.
The figure of Ye Qingxuan’s external incarnation, Gui Xuanzi, had already appeared above Qingguang City, gazing coldly at the beasts below:
“A bunch of wretched beasts—courting death!”
With a hand seal, the Realm Suppression Tower nurtured in his dantian automatically flew out and enlarged, overlapping with the illusory glazed pagoda in the void.
The suppressive force of the Realm Suppression bearing down on the beast horde surged dramatically.
Beasts below the fourth tier died instantly under this surging suppressive force.
“Moo!” “Howl!” “Screech!”
The three fourth-tier beasts roared continuously under the suppression. That ferocious flying creature was now already lying on the ground, struggling.
Fourth-tier energy slowly rippled and gathered as the three fourth-tier beasts attempted to condense energy for a counterattack.
But the energy they had just gathered—Ye Qingxuan, with a mere thought, used the Realm Suppression force to scatter it directly.
“Die!”
Without another word, Ye Qingxuan produced a flying sword.
Under the control of his divine sense, the flying sword tore through the sky, transforming into a streak of light that pierced through the bodies of the three fourth-tier beasts.
Boom!
The three fourth-tier beasts that had been struggling collapsed with a thunderous crash, kicking up a cloud of dust.
Whoosh! Whoosh! Whoosh!
Just as Ye Qingxuan finished slaughtering all the beasts, Zhou Qingguang—who had previously fled—sensed the turn of events at Qingguang City and returned with the guard squad members.
Looking at the beast corpses covering the ground, Zhou Qingguang carefully approached to a short distance before Ye Qingxuan, smiled, and respectfully said:
“Junior Zhou Qingguang thanks Senior for the rescue!”
Hearing this, Ye Qingxuan glanced at Zhou Qingguang and said with a hint of amusement:
“You don’t need to thank me. Since I saved the city and its people, this city and everyone in it will naturally fall under my command from now on.”
“This…?”
The smile on Zhou Qingguang’s face froze, and he hesitated slightly.
“What? Do you have a problem with that?”
Ye Qingxuan gave Zhou Qingguang a cold glance, frightening him into hastily lowering his head:
“Junior wouldn’t dare, junior wouldn’t dare. Everything will be as Senior commands!”
Though he said this, Zhou Qingguang was deeply frustrated inside.
He had originally fled to this border region of Xingluo Prefecture to build his city precisely because he didn’t want to submit to anyone—to avoid the factions in the core region of Xingluo Prefecture.
He never expected that his city, which had been developing nicely, would suddenly face a beast tide and the crisis of destruction.
Then a senior unexpectedly appeared to save the day—and who would have thought this senior would take a fancy to his city.
Facing this outcome, Zhou Qingguang felt somewhat unwilling, but there was no resentment in his heart.
After all, in the beginning, it was he himself who chose to abandon the entire city.
“This… might be for the best, after all!”
Zhou Qingguang looked at the residents of Qingguang City below who had been given a new lease on life, a dimness in his eyes, as if he had found some peace in his heart.
Ye Qingxuan paid no attention to Zhou Qingguang’s shift in expression.
Standing suspended above Qingguang City, he circulated his spiritual power and announced in a loud voice:
“I am Gui Xuanzi. From today onward, this city and all its people fall under my command.”
“Those who are unwilling may leave the city within three days.”
The Earth Mystery Realm was different from the Mystic Wood Realm. To build a city in the Earth Mystery Realm and develop it long-term, population was indispensable.
So what Ye Qingxuan had his eye on wasn’t the city itself, but the population within it.
The people in this city—he, Ye Qingxuan, wanted them.
