A few days later, "Your Majesty! Emergency at the border!"
After the Tianhun Emperor returned to the Tianhun Empire, he immediately began to deal with the mess left behind by the Evil Monarch Soul Engineer Legion in the north.
When he learned that many elders from the Body Sect, led by the Limit Douluo Du Busi himself, were stationed in Haibo City, had annihilated the Evil Monarch Soul Engineer Legion, and captured its commander, he was overjoyed, and the gloom from having several cities captured in succession dissipated considerably.
But when he learned that Haibo City had not been attacked, his first reaction was not that the Nine Treasures Glazed Tile Sect had misjudged the situation. After all, the Evil Monarch Soul Engineer Legion was indeed retreating in the direction of Haibo City.
Once he understood this point, he realized that the Evil Monarch Soul Engineer Legion must have used a soul tool to transmit the message before they were annihilated.
So, after having the commander of the Evil Monarch Soul Engineer Legion escorted back to the imperial capital and imprisoned, and without being clear on the Sun Moon Empire's next move, the Tianhun Emperor immediately ordered the Tianhun Navy to set sail, intending to turn the passive into the active. He even allied with the Star Luo Empire to start a war against the Sun Moon Empire, forcing them to fight on two fronts, making it difficult to attend to both ends!
But what he never expected was that just as the Star Luo Empire and the Sun Moon Empire were in a standoff at their border, and his Tianhun Navy was about to leave the Tianhun sea territory, this message arrived.
Emergency at the border?
Could it be the north again!?
Thinking of this, the Tianhun Emperor's brows furrowed tightly. "Speak quickly! Is the Sun Moon Empire attacking the north from the Extreme North again!?"
Fearing that the Sun Moon Empire would use the same trick again, the Tianhun Emperor ordered, upon his return to the empire, that Ji Bei City be rebuilt to specifications comparable to the imperial capital's city walls. As the northern gateway, it didn't need to be indestructible, but at least it had to be as secure as a fortress.
He even sent two Tianhun Worships to Ji Bei City to guard it, to prevent any accidents during the reconstruction process.
But it had only been a few days! Even at the fastest speed, the fortifications of Ji Bei City were less than twenty percent complete, not a bit more.
And now an emergency was being reported!?
But what the Tianhun Emperor didn't expect was, "No, it's not an attack by the Sun Moon Empire. It's a beast tide, a beast tide from the Extreme North!"
"What!?"
As soon as the words "beast tide" came out, the Tianhun Emperor's face changed drastically!
If one were to list natural disasters that are harmful to humanity, a beast tide would definitely be on the list. For example, the most famous Star Dou Forest beast tide. And that time, it was just one beast king, instigated by the Body Sect, that required the combined efforts of Shrek Academy, the Body Sect, and other powers to withstand the disaster.
And now, a beast tide had erupted again!
Although it wasn't the Star Dou Forest but the Extreme North, as a forbidden zone for humans and one of the three great gathering places for soul beasts, a beast tide launched from the Extreme North would absolutely not be inferior to the last one from the Star Dou Forest; it might even be worse.
If that were the case...
The Tianhun Emperor could already imagine it: after the beast tide erupted, the soul beasts of the Extreme North would sweep south across the continent from the north.
Once it reached that point, the Tianhun Empire would undoubtedly suffer an unprecedented, heavy blow, its vitality severely damaged! At that time, let alone attacking the Sun Moon Empire, it would be a good thing if the Tianhun Empire itself could survive this world-sweeping war.
Thinking of this, the Tianhun Emperor immediately gave an order.
"Have the Tianhun Navy contract its lines of defense, switch from offense to defense. Go to Haibo City and invite the Body Douluo, Elder Du Busi, to lead the entire Body Sect to guard the northern front line. Then, go and invite the powerhouses of the Nine Treasures Glazed Tile Sect and Shrek Academy to join forces and resist the Extreme North's beast tide!"
"Yes!"
Watching the guard hurry out of the imperial study, the Tianhun Emperor's gaze was deep as he looked out the window, his expression meaningful.
What a coincidence!
It was simply too much of a coincidence!
After not attacking Haibo City, the Sun Moon Empire's navy disappeared to who-knows-where, and then a beast tide erupted in the Extreme North. All of this was as if it had been deliberately arranged by the Sun Moon Empire.
He now strongly suspected that the beast tide in the Extreme North was instigated by the Sun Moon Empire. It was just a pity that he had no evidence.
After a long while, an angry curse rang out.
"Damn the Sun Moon Empire!"
...
At the same time, outside Ji Bei City.
The howling blizzard was like a roaring, terrifying beast, sweeping across everything between heaven and earth. The gale, mixed with the blizzard, seemed to want to devour the entire world in its endless, bone-chilling cold.
Two Titled Douluo were stationed on the damaged northern city wall of Ji Bei City, their faces grim as they looked at the black, oppressive sky.
At this moment, Ji Bei City was already enveloped by a soul guidance shield, but the blizzard raged on. The snowflakes, like ice blades, continuously ravaged their way towards Ji Bei City. The frantic ice blades scattered in all directions, completely enveloping Ji Bei City. If not for the protection of the soul guidance shield, the people inside the city would likely have been covered in wounds.
This situation had been going on for about two days.
At first, the two Tianhun Worships had wanted to make a move and use their own strength to capture the culprit behind the blizzard. But the impenetrable visibility, their blocked spiritual power, and the immense sense of threat rising in their hearts all told them that this blizzard attack was absolutely not simple.
For this reason, they sent out scout teams.
But the result was that not a single one returned.
At that moment, they realized it was a beast tide!
And a beast tide from the Extreme North, rarely seen in a thousand years!
As for why they hadn't attacked yet...
You think it was just a show of force?
No!
It was because they were waiting for the beasts.
The Extreme North was vast, comparable to half a continent. If they wanted to launch a beast tide, the time required would far exceed that of the Star Dou Forest.
But from another perspective, the longer the preparation time for a beast tide, the larger its scale would be.
Now, on this second day, the faces of the two Worships had already become extremely ugly. They were both wondering if this time, all three of the Extreme North's Great Heavenly Kings would participate?
If that were really the case...
The over 200,000-year-old ferocious beast—the Titan Snow Devil King;
The seventh-ranked of the ten great ferocious beasts—the Ice Jade Empress Scorpion, the Ice Empress;
And the third-ranked of the ten great ferocious beasts, the uncrowned king of the Extreme North, the supreme ruler of ice and snow—the Snow Empress.
When they first thought of this, the two Tianhun Worships felt their vision go dark, their minds nearly going blank.
Just the two of them? How were they supposed to fight?
They would probably be slapped to death by the three Heavenly Kings of the Extreme North in one move.
So, without another word, they requested reinforcements from His Majesty.
After all, if the beast tide they imagined was truly launched, even with them guarding the city, plus the large number of soul tools and fixed soul cannon shells they brought, with Ji Bei City's current defenses, they'd be lucky to hold out for an hour or two.
"The blizzard is getting stronger and stronger."
The sweeping gale and blizzard made one Tianhun Worship's face look even worse. The other Worship, standing shoulder-to-shoulder with him, took up the thread, "That means the beast tide is coming."
At this moment, the wind filled the tower before the mountain rain arrived!
...
Nine Treasures Glazed Tile Sect.
"Sect Master! An emergency request for aid from the Tianhun Empire!"
The distance between Heaven Dou City and the Nine Treasures Glazed Tile Sect was not far, so when the Tianhun Emperor sent out requests for aid to all top-tier powers, the message was the first to arrive in Ning Bowen's hands.
As soon as he heard it was an "emergency request for aid," Ning Bowen didn't dare to be negligent. But when he unsealed the letter and the six large characters, "Extreme North Beast Tide," met his eyes, his pupils suddenly contracted.
His thoughts raced in his mind, and he instantly understood the consequences, reaching a conclusion that was entirely consistent with the Tianhun Emperor's.
Clap—
He closed the letter with a clap of his palms, his tone without hesitation. "Go and gather the eight Elders, as well as Chen Junting and Huo Yuhao."
"Yes!"
It didn't take long for the few of them to gather in the great hall.
Before they could even sit down, they heard the first sentence, "A massive beast tide has been stirred up in the Extreme North."
The word "massive" was heavily emphasized.
At this moment, everyone's expression turned grave.
"How is this possible!?" ×2
But before they could speak, two cries of astonishment rang out in the great hall at the same time. Three streams of light also suddenly shot out from the bodies of Chen Junting and Huo Yuhao, transforming into three different figures.
They were none other than the Snow Empress, the Ice Empress, and the Skydream Ice Worm. But without exception, anxiety was contained in the eyes of all three of them.
It was just a matter of how much.
Because the word "massive" symbolized the identity of the instigator of the beast tide. To launch a beast tide of such a scale, ordinary ten-thousand-year soul beasts wouldn't do, and even hundred-thousand-year soul beasts were still a step short.
Only ferocious beasts, existences at the Beast King level, could launch such a thing.
And currently, at the Beast King level, those who had crossed the threshold into becoming a ferocious beast were only two existences. One was the Snow Empress's "good son"—Xiao Bai, and the other was the youngest of the Extreme North's Three Heavenly Kings—Ah Tai.
At this moment, whether it was the Snow Empress or the Ice Empress, they both knew clearly that after the two of them had irresponsibly abandoned everything to choose the path to godhood, the burden of the Extreme North had been forced onto the shoulders of the Titan Snow Devil King and the Ice Bear King. If anything happened to them, no matter how harsh the environment of the Extreme North was, it would begin to decline.
This wasn't just because of humans, but also because without a being to suppress them, the soul beasts of the Extreme North would follow the law of the jungle, leading to endless turmoil.
As for why the Snow Empress and Ice Empress were so pessimistic?
It could only be said that after staying in human society for so long, they had come to understand the great power of humanity. The forces of the Extreme North might seem ferocious, but in the end, they were like grasshoppers in late autumn—their days were numbered.
So they had to stop it!
They must stop it!
Otherwise, they would have to be pessimistic about the Extreme North's future.
And the appearance of these three was not unexpected to Ning Bowen. Or rather, this might have been his very purpose in including Chen Junting and Huo Yuhao, who were still in the process of selecting and recruiting soldiers.
After all, if they were really just going to block the beast tide, even with the Snow Empress and Ice Empress still in the Extreme North, the Nine Treasures Sect would only need to send one Limit Douluo. At worst, they could add a few more Supreme Elders.
Why would they need to send the young ones to take that risk when they had enough powerful people?
This time, Ning Bowen simply wanted to use the Ice Empress and Snow Empress's influence in the Extreme North to quell the beast tide without bloodshed.
"We can give it a try."
After Ning Bowen explained his thoughts, the Snow Empress and Ice Empress only thought for a moment before they had an idea in mind.
They just didn't know what the effect would be.
Little did they know that the sky outside Ji Bei City... was "changing"!
The blizzard that had enveloped all of Ji Bei City began to lessen.
No!
It wasn't lessening, but receding.
And with this retreat of the blizzard, everything in the distance of the Extreme North was no longer obscured from view, all presented before the two Worship. Their hearts immediately tightened.
The black, oppressive mass of soul beasts from the Extreme North was slowly, but surely, approaching Ji Bei City. Their speed was not fast, but it was very orderly. They advanced in a fan shape, almost in sync with the returning blizzard. Faintly, accompanied by the cold wind, waves of chilling air swept towards Ji Bei City.
Seeing a beast tide of such a massive scale, the two Tianhun Worships couldn't help but twitch the corners of their eyes, secretly sucking in a cold breath of air.
Just then, a heaven-shaking roar suddenly sounded not far away. The two Worship clearly saw two figures charging towards Ji Bei City at astonishing speed.
One of them was over a hundred meters tall. Each step it took leaped over the soul beasts below, like a snow peak moving across the land.
Its cyan-gray skin was covered by long, snow-white hair. It had a green face with protruding fangs, and its forehead was wrinkled like ravines. Its long arms swung, and the raging blizzard howled. With every step it took, the earth trembled.
The other was an exceptionally large ice bear. This ice bear charged over, its huge body simply like a small mountain. Even on all fours, its height exceeded fifteen meters. Its massive body was covered in thick fur, and a faint, bright silver color emanated from its white hair.
With the appearance of these two soul beasts, the two Worship first felt a surge of worry, but then immediately breathed a sigh of relief.
Although they were two ferocious beasts over a hundred thousand years old, only one of the Extreme North's Three Great Heavenly Kings had appeared. At least it represented that the other two, the Snow Empress and Ice Empress, had no intention of taking action.
And with the appearance of the two Beast Kings, the beast tide also completely erupted. Countless soul beasts from the Extreme North surged forward!
Facing the onslaught of the beast tide, the two Worship immediately gave an order.
"All soul tool units, open fire at your positions! All soul masters, prepare!"
Boom boom boom—
With the order, after all the mounted fixed soul cannon shells had their sealed milk bottles installed, they instantly roared to life! Balls of intense light continuously flared up, dyeing Ji Bei City a bright white color!
Straight beams of light carved trails through the air, bombarding the distant beast tide army. As they plunged into the soul beast horde, they immediately stirred up a terrifying storm of energy.
This energy storm was like a storm of death. For a moment, the violent explosions covered the front half of the battlefield. The screams, roars, and hisses of soul beasts filled the battlefield at this moment.
And this first volley, with a large number of soul beasts bombarded to death, was like a dam breaking a flood, forcibly creating a gap in the beast tide. The originally surging beast tide momentarily paused.
Immediately after, a strange scene appeared:
One after another, soul rings, mostly white and yellow, rose from the sites of the explosions. From the dense number of soul rings, one could vaguely see just how many soul beasts had been killed or injured in this first round.
And this, in turn, ignited the morale of the people inside the city.
But at the same time, the fury of the two Beast Kings was also thoroughly ignited by this round of cannon fire, and they began to launch an attack towards the city!
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