Archean Eon Art c1-766
Page 36
“Quick, quick.”
“Quickly enter the Dao Academy.” At the entrance of the Dao Academy, there were a group of people, such as the dean, lecturers, and many soldiers. There were eight Dao Academies, and each Dao Academy was next to a military encampment. Therefore, soldiers could immediately come and reinforce their defenses.
Swish! Swish! Swish!
Many Dao Academy disciples’ faces flushed red as they rushed to the Dao Academy with their movement techniques.
Most of the disciples from Blazing Sun Dao Academy lived in the Dao Academy. As the forts in the countryside sent many people over, they stayed in the Dao Academy since they didn’t have any other places to live in. There were quite a few locals who lived in the Dao Academy as well. After all, ordinary residences didn’t have cultivation grounds. Only a few disciples commuted to the Dao Academy daily.
However, this small number numbered nearly 1000 disciples.
The dean and the others were extremely anxious. Based on the time, 1000 disciples would be en route. Some had arrived while others were still on their way.
“Liu Qiyue, quickly go in.” When the dean saw Liu Qiyue arrive, he immediately waved his hand.
“Yes.” Liu Qiyue rushed into the Dao Academy. She turned around and saw many adults dressed in armor and wielding weapons. They quickly rushed over. Most of them were in the Marrow Cleansing realm, some were in the Mortal Shedding realm, and a few experts were in the Seamless realm. The few Seamless realm experts were each carrying a young man with an arm. There was an especially strong man who carried an additional two youths on his back. His hands were empty as he rushed in with large strides.
“Find me an axe. To run faster while carrying these two punks, I threw away my axe.” The burly man ran at surprisingly fast speeds, and quickly threw the four young men and women he carried with him.
“Brother Wang, don’t worry. There are plenty of weapons in the Dao Academy,” said the dean immediately.
“I’ll head out to save a few more.” The burly man turned around and ran out.
The dean of Blazing Sun Dao Academy and a number of the soldiers were holding bows and arrows. When the demons approached 2000-feet, the dean—who had comprehended Force—would be the first to shoot an arrow.
Swoosh.
The arrow shot through the air, leaving behind an afterimage as it pierced through an enormous elephant demon’s head, causing it to collapse.
“The demon army is here.” Liu Qiyue also retrieved her bow and arrows from her back. She also wanted to help, but with the demon’s speed, she was only confident of killing them within a distance of 1000-feet.
“Quick, quick! Everyone is to enter the Dao Academy!” The dean’s expression changed. “The demon commander is here. Quick!”
“Quick!” All the soldiers, as well as a few Seamless realm experts—who had tried their best to save more people—had a change in expression. All of them rushed towards the Dao Academy.
Having served in the military at Qinyang Pass, they knew how terrifying a demon commander was! Fighting a demon commander head on meant certain death.
…
Meng Chuan traveled at full speed.
Swish! Swish! Swish!
They deserve death. With a single glance, Meng Chuan could see the many human corpses in the distance. When the demon army came through the World Entrance and entered Eastcalm Prefecture, they quickly spread out in all directions. When Jadesun Palace sounded the alarm, quite a few humans had already perished. This was especially true for those who were too close to the demon army. Those weak humans didn’t even have the time to hide in the tunnels.
Many ordinary people—who didn’t have any talent in cultivation—were slaughtered by the demons.
Corpses were everywhere.
After passing by that area, Meng Chuan’s face darkened.
Demons deserve to be killed. They deserve death! Meng Chuan quickly rushed forward, but he couldn’t help but take in the scene around him. Suddenly, he saw something at the corner of the street.
It was a young couple who used their bodies to shield a baby. However, the couple’s and the baby’s bodies had been impaled.
Damn it! Meng Chuan’s eyes turned red. He couldn’t help but think of his parents.
His mother charged towards the demons to fend them off. His father frantically escaped with him on his back. With tears streaming down his face, he fled without turning his head. Back then, he had survived.
But the couple in front of them hadn’t managed to protect their child even with their lives.
I swear that I will kill all demons. I’ll kill them all! Meng Chuan continued to run with red eyes.
“There are humans there.” From afar, ten demons were scattered as they continued pursuing humans. A father and son duo had escaped from a residential compound while three demons chased after them.
Swoosh.
In a flash, Meng Chuan traversed hundreds of feet. With a swing of his saber, the three demons were split into two.
The fleeing father and son turned to look in disbelief.
“Senior Brother Meng.” The youth was overjoyed.
Meng Chuan turned his head to take a look and recognized that it was a junior brother from Mirror Lake Dao Academy. He nodded slightly, and with a flash, he traversed hundreds of feet again. He also passed by seven other demons. His saber glinted in the sunlight as it sliced them apart. Two saber beams pursued the fleeing demons. The seven demons were killed instantly.
Meng Chuan didn’t even turn his head to look and continued to move.
“Dad, it’s Senior Brother Meng. Senior Brother Meng saved us,” the youth said immediately.
“Yes, I know it’s Young Master Meng.” The middle-aged man was filled with excitement from surviving a calamity. He immediately said, “Let’s quickly hide and set up a trap again.”
“Yes.” The youth nodded.
The father and son quickly disappeared from the densely packed housing district.
…
Meng Chuan continued advancing.
Along the way, he saw young men and women dressed in Blazing Sun Dao Academy’s robes. They had all died. Clearly, they were on the way to the Dao Academy and had encountered demons!
Meng Chuan fell silent. At the same time, he was also searching for Liu Qiyue with great concern. Could it be that Qiyue encountered danger and fled elsewhere? Have I missed her?
He felt uneasy.
It’s also possible Qiyue has already arrived at Blazing Sun Dao Academy. Meng Chuan prayed, but the killing intent in his heart grew stronger. He was only a kilometer away from Blazing Sun Dao Academy.
Suddenly, he saw billowing smoke from a fire beacon rise up ahead of him. It was in the direction of Blazing Sun Dao Academy.
It’s smoke from a fire beacon. Blazing Sun Dao Academy has lit up the fire beacon? Meng Chuan’s heart tightened. They can’t hold out any longer?
The entire Eastcalm Prefecture City had been invaded. Unless they were in a desperate situation, the Dao Academy wouldn’t light the fire beacon.
Meng Chuan’s figure flashed twice before reaching the top of a towering tree. Looking in the direction of Blazing Sun Dao Academy, he saw a dense horde of demons surrounding it.
With just a glance, his expression changed. There are about 2000 demons. There should be two demon commanders!
Quick. Meng Chuan reeled in anxiety. With a flash, he dashed towards Blazing Sun Dao Academy.
Chapter 57
“Everyone is to enter Blazing Sun Castle,” urged the dean. Everyone in Blazing Sun Dao Academy rushed towards Blazing Sun Castle.
Blazing Sun Castle was a huge fortress in Blazing Sun Dao Academy—it was where the disciples usually lived.
“Everyone below the Marrow Cleansing realm, enter the tunnels.”
“Quick, quick, quick.”
Inside Blazing Sun Castle, a large number of disciples from the Dao Academy were split into dozens of teams and quickly ran into the
tunnels.
The construction of Blazing Sun Castle employed the best ideas gleaned from the construction of forts in the countryside, and it was much more extravagant. The Imperial Court spent a lot of money to hire high-level craftsmen to design and build it.
Thousands of Dao Academy disciples entered the tunnels.
Dong! Dong! Dong!
Every tunnel began locking down with their various traps and mechanisms.
Deactivating the traps and mechanisms could only be done from the inside. It was impossible to do so from the outside. Even if demons were to charge in, it would still take some time for them to breach the defenses.
“Prepare the ballistae!” Large ballistae were situated at Blazing Sun Castle’s windows.
One by one, the Dao Academy disciples began to turn the capstan and pinned the bolts down. These Marrow Cleansing realm disciples could exert strength greater than 500 kilograms; yet, they had to use all their strength to turn the capstan. Every single bolt was like a long spear. Walls would crumble under their impact.
“Fire!” a soldier ordered.
The soldiers in charge of launching the ballistae were all experienced soldiers or veteran soldiers who had experience in using ballistae during their military service. As for the disciples in the Marrow Cleansing realm, they were mainly doing manual labor, such as rotating the capstan and delivering ammunition.
With the issued command, large bolts shot out one after another. Any ordinary lesser or greater demon that was hit would have a hole through their bodies.
However, the demons were also dodging frantically. They crossed Blazing Sun Dao Academy’s walls and charged towards the distant Blazing Sun Castle.
“Breach the Blazing Sun Castle.” A two-stories tall ox demon held a trident. It wasn’t eye-catching in the demon army, but it was the strongest. It was the commander of this demon army, Commander Ox.
With Commander Ox’s command, all the lieutenant commanders immediately led the charge as a large number of demons poured towards Blazing Sun Castle.
Swoosh.
An arrow beam streaked across the sky, faster than the ballistae bolts. A demon lieutenant commander tried his best to dodge but still had an arm shot off.
“Eh?” There were only ten lieutenant commanders in this army. Although the power of those ballistae was tremendous, the bolts themselves were extremely large. They were like spears, and their speed wasn’t too exaggerated. At the very least, lieutenant commanders could easily dodge them.
However, the power of this arrow was no less than the ballistae. Its speed was ten times faster, and in an instant, it appeared right in front of them. The lieutenant commanders found it hard to dodge.
“Human sharpshooter.”
“Be careful.” The demon lieutenant commanders noticed the threat.
The person who shot the arrow was none other than Blazing Sun Dao Academy’s dean, Zhong Qianhe. He was the only Seamless realm sharpshooter in Eastcalm Prefecture that had grasped Force.
“Humph.” Commander Ox snorted coldly and charged forward.
“Fire!” Dean Zhong immediately bombarded Commander Ox with arrows and directed thirty percent of the ballistae bolts to be shot at him.
Bam! Bam! Bam! Bam! Commander Ox held his trident with both hands as he brandished it to block the arrows, but it was exhausting. At the same level, the relentless attacks of a sharpshooter were terrifying! Dean Zhong’s barrage of arrows was enough to match Meng Chuan’s close-range saber art. As a result, Commander Ox could only try his best to protect himself.
…
With the sharpshooter—Dean Zhong—restraining the commander, Blazing Sun Castle was able to withstand the demon army’s crazy attack.
However, very quickly, everyone’s expression changed.
“More demons!”
“Another demon army!”
Atop Blazing Sun Castle, they could see a dense horde of demons charging towards them from afar. Clearly, it was another demon army.
With the arrival of a new demon army, the demons’ morale was greatly boosted! After all, they had fallen into a stalemate. They had lost many demons.
“Poison Wyrm, quickly help me. Help me kill that sharpshooter,” Commander Ox roared.
“It looks like an ox demon like you still needs my help?” Commander Wyrm moved extremely quickly. He took on a humanoid form. His body was covered with green dragon scales. He had sharp claws and strong legs! He also had a dragon tail.
He was extremely fast as he headed straight for Commander Ox.
“We’re doomed.” When Dean Zhong saw this, his expression changed. It was already impressive that he could barely pin down a commander. But if two demon commanders worked together? And a group of demon lieutenant commanders? Once these demons were to ascend Blazing Sun Castle, the human casualties would be horrific.
“Hold them back.”
“Stall for time.”
“As long as the Godfiends win, we can win.” The soldiers were roaring angrily. They continued to shoot the ballistae with livid expressions. At the same time, they urged the frantic Dao Academy disciples, “Quickly turn the capstan. Don’t just stare blankly.”
As a sharpshooter, Liu Qiyue was together with 12 other sharpshooters.
These 12 archers were either soldiers or veterans who had returned from military service. Most of them were at the Seamless realm. Liu Qiyue was the only Dao Academy disciple. She was at the late-stage Mortal Shedding realm and had comprehended the secret technique. Thus, she was put in their squad.
Whoosh! Whoosh! Whoosh! Liu Qiyue and the 12 sharpshooters were the trump cards. Their arrows were extremely fast and posed a huge threat to the greater demons.
Usually, three sharpshooters needed to work together to kill a greater demon. In the blink of an eye, more than fifty greater demons had died at their hands.
However, their arrows posed little threat to the demon lieutenant commanders, much less the two commanders.
Not good. Liu Qiyue was anxious.
The demon numbers had doubled.
Previously, they were in a stalemate, but now, they were completely overwhelmed. Under the two commanders’ leadership, a large group of demon lieutenant commanders roared angrily as a dense horde of demons charged.
I can’t hold them off any longer. I can’t hold them off any longer. Liu Qiyue shot out arrows crazily. She even attempted to shoot at the demon lieutenant commanders. The weakest among them could release demonic aura. Some had even condensed their demon cores. They easily blocked her arrows.
Liu Qiyue was in despair as the demons got closer and closer to Blazing Sun Castle.
Why are there two armies here? Dean Zhong felt despair as well. His arrows were blocked by Commanders Ox and Wyrm. They continued advancing.
In fact, there were only 18 demon commanders in this invasion. Some had gone to slaughter humans; others attacked the Godfiend family clans. The rest attacked the imperial government’s office. Although the eight Dao Academies were important, most of them were attacked by one demon army. Only three Dao Academies were each attacked by two demon armies. Blazing Sun Dao Academy was one of them.
No. Liu Qiyue’s eyes turned red as she watched the demons approach.
Whoosh.
Flames began to rise in her eyes, literally. Flame-like wisps of Quintessential Energy erupted from her hands. The flaming Quintessential Energy fused with her arrow.
Swish. An arrow shot out. A flaming streak moved at unbelievable speeds.
Boom!
The flames tore through a greater demon and penetrated two greater demons and three lesser demons behind it. After the demons were struck, the flames continued burning until they were reduced to ashes.
That one arrow led to a fiery death. All six demons were reduced to ashes. Many demons noticed this scene, and the two demon commanders noticed it as well.
“A human with a phoenix bloodline?” Commander Wyrm was alarmed.
“Phoenix Divine Body?” Commander
Ox glanced at the distant sharpshooter. It was a young girl whose eyes seemed to be burning with flames.
Qiyue has a Phoenix Divine Body bloodline? Dean Zhong was shocked as well.
There were many types of Godfiend bodies for humans. Some Godfiend bodies could be slowly cultivated, while others were very special. They couldn’t be obtained through cultivation. For example, the Phoenix Divine Body was a very special type of Godfiend body. It was passed down by blood.
The demon commanders all had bloodlines of pinnacle demon monarchs. However, Liu Qiyue’s Phoenix Divine Body bloodline was even stronger than theirs.
“Qiyue, quick. Work with me to deal with the two demon commanders. Stop them,” Dean Zhong immediately ordered.
“Yes.” Liu Qiyue felt her body heat up as well. A powerful might arose in her body, causing her Quintessential Energy to undergo a qualitative change. With flaming eyes, she shot at the two demon commanders without hesitation.
Swoosh.
Her arrow was like a flaming stream of light. It was in no way inferior to Dean Zhong’s arrow. Dean Zhong also fired arrows at full strength.
Under the barrage of arrows, Commanders Ox and Wyrm could only block.
“Poison Wyrm, our chance is here.” Commander Ox turned rather excited as he sent a voice transmission. “A human with a Phoenix Divine Body bloodline has actually appeared. As long as we capture her alive, we will gain more credit than destroying a handful of Dao Academies.”
“Hehehe, this human girl is still young. Her Phoenix Divine Body bloodline is also very weak. As long as we breach this castle, we can easily capture her alive.” Commander Wyrm was filled with anticipation as well.
Chapter 58
With a flash, Liu Qiyue appeared beside Dean Zhong Qianhe. They joined forces to pin down the two terrifying demon commanders.
“Dean,” Liu Qiyue said in a low voice. “The special flame is very draining on my Quintessential Energy. I can only fire another 80 arrows at most.”