Every blast of the magic crystal cannons carried terrifying destructive power.
Naturally, that power came at a cost—a massive consumption of crystal stones. Each moment required an immense amount of energy, and one could see crystals turning to dust and drifting away in the wind. But right now, the expenditure of resources no longer mattered. As long as it inflicted mass casualties upon the enemy, any cost was worth it.
Boom! Boom! Boom!!
The defenses of Jinshui City were comprehensive. Besides the magic crystal cannons, it had trebuchets. Giant boulders coated with flammable substances turned into blazing fireballs, hurling into the beast tide. Countless vicious beasts were either crushed to death or ignited on the spot, the flames consuming them rapidly. Their agonized screams echoed as they burned, even spreading the flames to others.
Before the tide even reached the city walls, countless beasts had already perished.
"Kill! Kill! Kill!!"
But this wasn't enough to halt the tide. Soon, it pressed up against the walls.
Amidst the cries of slaughter, volleys of arrows rained down like a storm. Even the civilians on the walls joined in, drawing bows and launching attacks. These citizens all possessed cultivation and strength. When paired with the power of their bows, they could inflict considerable damage. In such dense numbers, precision wasn't necessary—just shooting blindly was enough to strike something.
Rumble!
Still, death could not shake the beasts. A massive pangolin beast crashed into the city wall. Though the walls were protected by arrays and forged from special reinforced stone, they groaned violently under the impact. A gaping hole was smashed open, horrifying to behold.
"Use talismans! Earth Wall Talisman! Golden Shield Talisman!!"
Xu Chu, unshaken, issued calm orders as if he had encountered this before.
Immediately, talismans flew out, and under the power of the Earth Wall Talisman, the hole began to heal rapidly, stone rising to fill the breach. Golden light surged across the walls as the Golden Shield Talisman activated, greatly enhancing the wall's defenses.
Subsequent impacts from other beasts made the walls tremble as if on the verge of collapse, but they held. Some beasts even cracked their skulls and splattered their brains open from the collisions.
Above, a horde of vicious flying beasts descended from the sky.
They posed a serious threat. Some people were seized mid-air and torn apart, their remains turned into clouds of blood mist.
But the people on the walls remained unfazed—as if they were long used to this. Death had become a daily reality.
Especially the soldiers of the Great Wei. When beasts climbed the wall, they abandoned their bows and drew their spears and sabers, cutting down the invaders without hesitation. One by one, the beasts were pierced and hacked to death. The corpses piled beneath the wall, creating a mountain of the dead.
The heap of corpses was growing higher—threatening to turn the natural moat into level ground. The blood-soaked remains formed a gory path.
"They're coming! Brothers, be careful! Once the corpses stack high enough, the beasts can climb right up. That's how most of our Great Wei cities have fallen—no terrain advantage to defend."
"Tragic, but glorious. Brave to the end."
Standing atop the wall, Yi Tianxing silently nodded. The unwavering spirit of these Great Wei soldiers—their resolve to fight to the death without retreat—was something only elite armies possessed. It honored the human race.
With a thought, the Heavenly Emperor's Tower plunged underground and reappeared on the battlefield, unleashing its terrifying devouring ability. Within its radius, mountains of corpses vanished in an instant, consumed completely. Even the bloodstains disappeared—leaving behind nothing at all, as if the slaughter had never occurred.
"What?! Where did the corpses go?"
"Am I seeing things? They vanished just like that?"
"Great! No more corpse-bridge means the beasts can't climb up so easily. Maybe we really can hold Jinshui City! Kill! Keep killing!!"
Whether confused or surprised, the people on the walls were thrilled. The mountain of corpses had posed a massive threat.
They had been ready for close combat, for bloodshed on the walls. But suddenly, the tide turned, and they regained the advantage. The crystal cannons resumed their relentless barrage, each beam carving massive holes through the beast tide, annihilating swaths of enemies.
"Seven-Star Mantis!!"
A flash of light appeared behind Xu Chu—his Life Diagram unfolded.
It depicted a massive mantis, its body shimmering with starlight, seven bright stars glowing on its back. Its scythe-like arms gleamed with razor-sharp brilliance, etching mysterious star-patterned trajectories as if born from the stars themselves. The entire creature radiated a brutal, savage aura.
Life Diagram – Seven-Star Mantis Diagram
Divine Power – Seven-Star Mantis Blades
From the diagram, the mantis leapt out. It rapidly expanded, growing to over a hundred zhang in size.
It dove into the beast tide, and immediately began slashing with its blade-like arms. They moved so fast they became afterimages, trailing starlight in every direction. The flurry of strikes was too rapid to count.
Slash! Slash! Slash!
Wherever it passed, beasts were torn to pieces—minced into uniformly-sized chunks, dismembered beyond recognition.
It became engulfed in a dense mist of blood, its form hidden by gore.
Not only were its strikes lightning-fast, but its movement speed was astounding. The seven stars on its back pulsed in sequence—each burst of starlight causing a surge in its power and speed. Each arm swing carved out glowing arcs of astral destruction.
Unavoidable. Inescapable.
Even more terrifying was the mantis's unpredictability—one moment it was there, the next it was right in front of you, delivering a fatal blow.
It didn't matter if it was a tier-one, tier-two, or even tier-three beast—in front of the Seven-Star Mantis, they all died. Even tier-four beasts, equivalent to the Dharma Phase Realm, were hacked to pieces.
With every breath, tens of thousands of beasts perished. The assault of the beast tide was forcibly stalled.
After an unknown amount of time, the mantis's body began to dim, eventually vanishing altogether.
Xu Chu's face had turned pale. His burly frame trembled, showing signs of severe exhaustion. Using a life diagram divine power consumed enormous amounts of true essence. The stronger the divine power, the more it drained.
"Blade arms… Golden Edge… Big Dipper… Starshift… Blink… Gale Speed… what a fearsome Seven-Star Mantis Diagram. Once activated, it's one of the deadliest blade techniques under the heavens—unstoppable and peerless. That strike alone must've killed over a hundred thousand beasts."
Yi Tianxing's eyes flickered with astonishment.
This life diagram was incredibly domineering.
The blade arms, infused with Golden Edge, had unmatched sharpness. Gale Speed made the strikes lightning-fast. Big Dipper gathered starlight into seven stars, and Starshift caused explosive bursts of power. Blink allowed it to teleport, rendering it ghostlike. Together, this was a divine power crafted purely for slaughter.
And it wasn't even at full potential—some stars had yet to be awakened. At full strength, its power would be even more overwhelming.
Even now, it had managed to slaughter over a hundred thousand beasts in moments. A terrifyingly destructive force.
The most frightening part? The sheer aura the mantis radiated caused the remaining beasts to collapse in fear, their will broken. The tide began to crumble, scattering in all directions. It was a suppression of life force itself—a primal fear.
"Impressive. A top general of Great Wei indeed. To shatter a beast tide with a single divine art—such strength is no trivial matter. Unfortunately… a man like you will still die here today."
Suddenly, a grating, hoarse voice echoed through the sky.
A massive skeletal dragon circled in the air—an enormous Western-style dragon made entirely of bone. It radiated freezing air, its very breath threatening to turn moisture into ice.
An Icebone Dragon.
Atop the dragon's back stood a mysterious figure in a black robe. In his hand was a white bone staff, topped with a skull. The aura it emitted was evil—bone-chilling.
"Undying Bone Demon!!"
Xu Chu's face darkened, and he spat the name coldly.
This was one of the prime culprits responsible for plunging the Great Wei into crisis—the Undying Bone Demon. His summoned undead legions were like locusts, laying waste to countless cities.