Chapter 216 Encountering the Demonic Tide
"Ancient Battlefield? Why does this place look so much like the Demon Realm Battlefield in the Southern Region?"
As soon as Li Bai stepped onto this desolate ancient land, he felt that the surrounding environment was similar to the descriptions he had seen before.
However, he had never been to the Demon Realm battlefield and knew nothing about the specific situation there; he only had suspicions.
"You're not saying these scenes are all simulations, are you? It's probably just an illusion, right?" Yunxi guessed from the side.
Although she felt it was all too real, she still trusted the elders' words completely; there was no reason for those seniors to deceive them.
Only Lan Yue stared thoughtfully at the system map display.
Both the elders of the Northern Ridge Holy Land and the Southern Spirit Sect say this place is a secret realm, but what she shows here is the southern border!
Perhaps the elders wanted to test them? Or perhaps they wanted them to come here for training?
If it were really said that this was the Southern Battlefield, I'm afraid many people would be too scared to come over.
Since that's the case, Lan Yue didn't say anything, and instead nodded in agreement: "It could indeed be an illusion."
Looking at the thick, dark gray clouds piled up in the distance, and the white smoke rising not far away, everyone truly felt a desolate atmosphere that was completely different from before.
"Once you're here, everything depends on yourselves. Right now, all of you are just soldiers guarding the city. You need to hold the line. For every demon you defeat, you'll receive points. These points are calculated based on the demon's level."
The voice from behind them rang in their minds, and then the ancient and desolate towering stone gate in front of them opened.
"Has another batch of new recruits arrived to provide support?"
"The delivery of these men was timely. The demons' minions just happened to be attacking. Now it's time to see how you perform!" The general guarding the city looked at the group of men with great satisfaction.
"Looks like quite a few people have come this time. Newlyweds, cherish your last moments of peace!"
The general had naturally been instructed beforehand, so upon arriving, he led them into the ancient city in a very formal manner to collect their clothes.
However, when it came to Lan Yue and the other little ones, the general got stuck.
"Are you ten years old?" He held a dark green outfit in his hand, looking at the little ones with some difficulty.
He knew that the group of talented young people who came to compete might be quite young, but no one had told him that there were even little kids around ten years old!
Are kids this young already fighting on the southern battlefield of the Demon Realm?
Lan Yue was taken aback when she was asked the question. She blinked her round eyes and explained, "Uncle General, I'm already twelve years old, and I'll be thirteen in another month!"
She's just short, not really a tiny little bean!
"Thirteen? That's still very young. Never mind, give me your identification tags, and I'll keep a closer eye on you." General Shi memorized the identification tags of the little ones, so he could use them to locate them in case of emergency.
The little ones obediently handed over their ID tags and then accepted the clothes that were distributed to them.
Everyone used magic to quickly change their clothes, and soon the crowd gathered at the edge of the city wall.
There were many soldiers in the same uniform stationed here. Their eyes were calm, and they stared into the distance without blinking, like motionless puppets.
However, at the slightest sign of trouble, these people would quickly draw their weapons, archers would draw their bows and be ready at any moment, and soldiers wielding scimitars would be even more on high alert.
Lan Yue sensed the auras of these people and found that most of them were at the Foundation Establishment stage, some generals had Golden Core cultivation, and the aura of General Shi whom she had encountered before was even more unfathomable.
Occasionally, a few low-level demons would crawl out of the black mist from the opposite side. The aura of these demons was erratic, and they seemed to have no consciousness at all, only knowing how to charge forward blindly.
However, they couldn't even get to the edge of the defensive line before being struck by a barrage of flaming arrows, pinning them to the ground with sharp screechs.
Seeing this, Lan Yue completely understood why the final competition between the two domains was held here: because the difficulty wasn't too high, so that these guys wouldn't be left with nowhere to start.
Lan Yue searched her mind for a while, and soon the black clouds opposite her spread out again. Something seemed to be brewing inside the clouds, shaking wildly.
In an instant, hundreds of ferocious armored demons rushed out. They were dark green all over, had thick limbs, and ran as fast as the wind.
"It's the Flying Armor Demon Clan! These demons are among the most troublesome of the low-level demons! Archers, get ready!" With a roar, arrow after arrow flew across the battlefield, turning into streaks of fire that illuminated almost half of the battlefield.
It was because of this bright light that everyone discovered that behind these few hundred low-level demons, there were countless other demons hidden in dense clusters. These demons had different forms, but each one was shrouded in black mist.
At this moment, all the soldiers looked extremely grim. They had actually encountered a demonic tide that might not occur even once every few decades!
"Activate the highest level of defense!" As General Shi's calm voice rang out, a semi-transparent protective array lit up high above the entire ancient city.
"Deploy the trap array!" "Archers, prepare again!"
One command after another was issued, and every participating cultivator standing on the wall felt an immense shock.
It turns out that there's such a powerful demonic tide even in the remote border region! They always thought the cultivation world was relatively peaceful, but all of this was brought about by the border warriors!
Fortunately, this was just a simulated illusion, not a real scene. If it were a rare demonic tide, how difficult it would be for the border region!
However, some clever people have already realized that what they are seeing is not an illusion, but a real scene.
These people took a deep breath, gripped their magical artifacts tightly, and stared intently at the scene in the distance.
Countless arrows were shot down, and trap arrays were thrown down one after another, but these could only stop a portion of the demons' advance. Behind them, black mist still surged, seemingly endless.
Later, the ancient city's trap array was exhausted, and the arrows burning with gunpowder had burned out. One by one, the city's guards jumped down to fight against the crazed demons.
"This match may test not only the points you've earned, but also your performance in defending the city. But no matter what, don't push yourself too hard, because you're still young and will have many more opportunities to participate in matches..."
Jiang Li, who was not far away, gave some pointers to the little ones. Soon, he also jumped down and landed in the boundless siege demon tide.
More and more participating cultivators jumped down, after all, they wanted more points, while the demons in front of them were just there to deliver takeout.
"Junior brothers and sisters, take care!" Qingzhu held a dark green oil-paper umbrella and floated down lightly. With just a gentle turn of the umbrella handle, a light rain began to fall in the surrounding area.
The rain was originally transparent, hidden in the night and rarely detected by the demons. However, when the demons were drenched in the rain, plumes of green smoke rose up behind them.
The green smoke even contained poisonous gas, causing the advancing demons to slow down.
Seeing Senior Sister Qingzhu take action and wipe out a large number of low-level demons, Lan Yue gave her a thumbs up. As expected of Senior Sister who often wins first place in martial arts competitions, she is always so amazing!
"Let's go down too." Lan Yue and her friends jumped down together. After all, they still needed to earn points, and staying on the wall would definitely not lead to victory.
After Lan Yue jumped down, she did not immediately activate the nine-layer array tower. Instead, she took out the treasure gourd given to her by the Supreme Elder, gently shook it to enlarge it, and then swung it at the demons, hitting them accurately with every blow.
Needless to say, Silver Snow didn't need Lan Yue's command or use at all. It plunged headlong into the endless tide of demons, like a fish swimming happily in the sea.
Soon after, a series of demon bodies were brought in, and these bodies were neatly arranged next to Lan Yue. Before Lan Yue could use her identity token to record these points, the Silver Snow Ancient Sword had already disappeared.
Not only that, even Xiao Hei, whom they had brought out from the secret realm of Desperate Island, was very capable. With a few flicks of its silk, it entangled a bunch of low-level demons and then, just like Yin Xue, brought those demons over.
There was even a rootless fruit tree sapling. This little guy, perhaps because of its excellent diet, was fed top-grade spirit stones and various thousand-year-old spiritual herbs from time to time, and has now successfully grown into a huge tree.
Then it stretched out its branches and poked at the group of demons, and soon the branches were covered with demons.
Lan Yue, who still planned to work hard on her own: "..."
She felt a little guilty, but also a little self-righteous. Before the competition, who said she couldn't rely on her own spirit pet?