Weiyuan Immortal City.

DONG! DONG! DONG!

The majestic, ancient chimes of the Emperor’s Awakening Bell reverberated through the Immortal City.

For a moment, every other sound in the sprawling, hundred-mile expanse of Weiyuan Immortal City was silenced. Only the tolling of the bell resounded through the air!

"The Emperor’s Awakening Bell is ringing... Damn it, three chimes!"

"Goddammit, and I just put in for my vacation..."

In the inner city, a scruffy, middle-aged cultivator emerged from his room with a cigarette dangling from his lips, cursing resentfully.

"Hah..." He took a deep breath, tossed the cigarette butt, and ground it out with his boot.

He turned and went back into the house.

He took out his treasured Magical Artifact, opened his wardrobe, and changed into a clean, crisp white City Guard Army uniform!

With his cape unfurled behind him, the middle-aged cultivator was just about to leave!

Just then, a small, sweet voice called out from behind him.

"Dad!"

"Didn’t you say you were going to stay home and play with me for a few days?"

The middle-aged cultivator froze. He turned around, his expression softening into a look of resignation.

A little girl in a green dress with her hair in pigtails walked up to him.

"I’m sorry, Yue’er..."

"Something’s come up. Next time... I promise, next time!"

"It’s always ’next time’..." The little girl in green pouted.

"That’s enough, Yue’er. Your father has important things to do..."

A dignified woman with her hair in a high bun gently pulled the little girl to her side.

"Go on," she said to him. "I’ll take care of things here."

"Mmm..." The middle-aged cultivator’s eyes met his wife’s, and he nodded.

He turned away, his expression grim and resolute. His back was as straight as a ramrod as he marched toward the city wall.

"Chen Zheng, Captain of the Fourth Team, Vermilion Bird Camp of the City Guard Army!"

Viewed from high above,

countless cultivators in the uniform of the City Guard Army could be seen hurrying through the streets of Weiyuan Immortal City, rushing toward the walls.

The City Guards converged, their white uniforms forming brilliant streams that flowed through the streets and merged at the city wall!

Before long, the ramparts, its many watchtowers, and the battlements were all packed with cultivators!

Su Ye followed the stream of people and arrived at the wall.

According to his agreement, he was not required to participate in the defense against the Beast Tide.

However, Su Ye still planned to observe the Beast Tide’s situation for himself.

"It’s Mr. Su! Please, come right this way!"

The few Late-stage Qi Refining cultivators in charge of this section of the wall looked at Su Ye with eyes full of reverence.

Su Ye gave a slight nod; these cultivators had all participated in the Reverse World clearance.

He reached the top of the tower, infused his eyes with Magical Power, and activated his Spiritual Eye Skill to gaze into the distance.

GASP! Seeing the spectacle outside the Immortal City, Su Ye’s pupils contracted.

So many!

There were far, far too many demon beasts!

On the sea outside the Immortal City, not a hint of the ocean’s blue was visible.

As far as the eye could see, there was nothing but a countless horde of demon beasts!

The dense, pitch-black Beast Tide surged forward like an overwhelming tsunami, crashing toward the majestic walls of the Immortal City!

Even the sky was blotted out by innumerable flying beasts, whose piercing shrieks sent a chill down one’s spine!

This apocalyptic sight made countless cultivators’ faces pale, and they couldn’t help but gasp in shock.

"Heavens... How can there be so many demon beasts?!"

"Wait, am I seeing things? Is that a Dragon-beard Whale?! Dozens of them... How can such a rare type of demon beast be gathered so densely?!"

After observing the sheer number and power of the beasts in the tide, the expressions of the Immortal City’s cultivators on the wall changed dramatically!

’Still... as numerous as these demon beasts are, they aren’t the true threat...’

Su Ye’s gaze shifted. He swept his Divine Sense toward the rear of the Beast Tide, sensing the concentrations of demonic aura and probing carefully.

A magnificent, ethereal blue light flashed in his eyes and was gone.

He had activated the [Heart of the Vast Sea]!

Finally, after a long moment, his heart leaped. He’d found something.

At the very rear of the Beast Tide, three terrifyingly powerful fluctuations of Demon Power were mixed in with the endless demonic aura!

One was high in the sky, moving rapidly.

A grayish-blue demon bird with a wingspan of over fifteen zhang, capable of summoning a hurricane with a single flap as it soared through the heavens!

The other two were on the surface of the sea.

A monstrous sea demon brandishing thousands of tentacles covered in suckers and fangs, powerful enough to drag a spirit ship to the bottom of the sea!

A creature part crocodile, part dragon, as massive as a mountain and shimmering with a rocky luster. A crystallized protrusion on its head resembled a crown—a giant crocodile dragon!

’The Evil Celestial Auk, the Thousand-legged Sea Demon, and the Rock-Crowned Crocodile Dragon... Three Demon Kings!’

Su Ye’s eyes narrowed. He sensed a deeply familiar aura coming from the three Demon Kings.

The aura of the Sea Successor Remains!

’I can be certain now. The Beast Tide is the work of the aboriginals...’ Su Ye sighed softly.

’In fact, I could have confirmed it through simple logic.’

’After all, the Beast Tide’s route was far too strange.’

’It had ignored every human settlement along its path—unless it was directly in its way—and made a beeline for Weiyuan Immortal City!’

’It arrived outside the Immortal City in an impossibly short amount of time!’

’More than half the cultivators who came for the grand auction hadn’t even had time to leave the Immortal City after it ended...’

’With this kind of behavior... even a six-year-old could guess someone was pulling the strings!’

"Then... if we include Navasen... that makes four Crystal Core-level combatants!"

Su Ye muttered to himself.

「At that moment.」

Lightning flashed and thunder roared across the clear sky!

Sikong Xin descended from the sky, his gray-white Daoist robes wreathed in dazzling lightning and electrical arcs.

Canghai’s first disciple arrived at the wall, leading more than twenty Foundation Establishment cultivators!

Bai Xiuying was among them.

The combined aura of a Crystal Core Master and over twenty Foundation Establishment cultivators invigorated the spirits of the other cultivators!

Su Ye, however, frowned slightly.

Seven or eight of these twenty-odd Foundation Establishment cultivators had been fighting alongside him in the Reverse World not long ago.

’So Weiyuan Immortal City is short on manpower, too...’

Even without using his Divine Sense, Su Ye could sense their fatigue and weakness.

After all, not every cultivator possessed an astonishing level of Body Refining like he did.

The battles in the Reverse World had taken a severe toll on their Magical Power and mental fortitude.

Of course, you could probably count on one hand the number of cultivators on the wall who could perceive that these Foundation Establishment cultivators were not in peak condition.

Therefore, the boost to morale was still quite significant.

After stabilizing the defenders’ morale, Sikong Xin posted a list of rewards for contributions to the battle.

"The Beast Tide is upon us! Weiyuan Immortal City is recruiting Loose Cultivators..."

It offered cultivation resources like Spirit Stones, Magical Artifacts, Spiritual Objects, and elixirs to entice the city’s Loose Cultivators into battle.

To this end, Weiyuan Immortal City had made many rare resources available, even offering the chance to exchange for a Foundation Establishment Elixir!

This was enough to make the hearts of many Loose Cultivators pound, and they eagerly signed up to fight!

...

On a street corner.

He Muyun, dressed in pink, was lost in thought. ’A Beast Tide, is it...’

She walked to a secluded corner, and with a slight movement of her fingers, she inscribed a simple Magical Power sigil.

It was a secret sigil of the Cyan Profound Sect, and its meaning was simple: call for backup.

...