The sudden attack left the demon beast horde in a passive defensive state. Without their leader's command, the beasts were hesitant. Attacks from the Misty Sect's inner disciples landed, tearing through the hides of some weaker demons, leaving them bloody.
The demon beasts hadn't anticipated the Misty Sect's thorough preparation. Only a few hundred demon beasts had come to attack. The first wave of the Misty Sect's inner disciples comprised a thousand strong. Each demon beast was faced with three to four disciples. Some disciples didn't even get a chance to strike before their teammates had already forced the opposing demon beast to retreat.
"Roar—Roar roar—Roar roar roar—"
The black bear leading the pack, seeing the human cultivators deviate from their usual tactics, felt it was being bullied. A rhythmic roar erupted from the demon beast horde. Instantly, the demon beasts, who had been retreating, became energized as if injected with blood. They raised their heads, their blood-red eyes coldly surveying the human cultivators opposite them.
"ROAR—"
The demon beast horde let out a synchronized roar that was deafening. The thousand inner disciples of the Misty Sect facing them bore the brunt of the sonic assault. Some spat blood, clearly suffering internal injuries from the roar.
"No way, these demon beasts are actually organized and disciplined in their attacks."
At the second wave, Zhang Ergou and a few others huddled together, their expressions grave. Having fought demon beasts in the secret realm, they could sense the difference in this horde. Not only did the recent roar have a group-attack effect, causing some disciples to suffer soul damage, but what troubled Zhang Ergou and the others most was that this attacking horde was not chaotic. Instead, they were a planned, organized, and disciplined group of demon beasts. This was no good news; a commanded demon beast horde and an uncommanded one were on entirely different levels of threat.
As Zhang Ergou, Lin Yichen, and Chen Gong discussed this, the tide of battle had already shifted. The demon beast horde, which had been on the verge of retreat, quickly counterattacked under the black bear's command. Under the bear's direction, the horde began an orderly assault, with thick-skinned, highly defensive demon beasts leading the charge. Though they couldn't attack from a distance, the magical attacks from the Misty Sect's inner disciples caused them little harm. Most of the disciples' attacks were absorbed by these beasts, significantly reducing the impact of those that followed. Behind these tough beasts were demons with ranged attack skills. Various ice arrows and fireballs shot out from the gaps between the leading beasts.
The human cultivators, disoriented by the demon beasts' roar, had momentarily lost their focus. By the time they recovered, the first wave of attacks had already hit them, catching some directly. The offensive momentum of the Misty Sect's inner disciples was abruptly halted, panic spread through their ranks, and their formation became chaotic.
"Senior Brother Tiandao, if this continues, I fear these disciples won't last much longer?" Chunyang Sanren had already engaged the demon beast horde in two waves of combat and was familiar with their attack methods. However, Tiandao Laoren had instructed him not to reveal the demon beasts' tactics, citing it as an exercise for the inner disciples' adaptability. Cultivators not only needed to cultivate and improve their combat prowess but also to resolve unexpected situations promptly. Yet, the performance of the thousand disciples in the first wave left Chunyang Sanren with some concern. Although these disciples were all paragons among the Misty Sect's disciples, their previous cultivation had been too peaceful and monotonous, making them appear overwhelmed when facing sudden changes.
"It's nothing, keep watching," Tiandao Laoren smiled faintly, showing no urgency as Chunyang Sanren did. Instead, he watched the battlefield with keen interest.
"Fellow disciples, don't attack these beasts in front of us; their defense is too hard to break. Concentrate your firepower on the group behind them." In the midst of the confusion, someone finally stepped forward and shouted.
"Everyone, don't panic. Let's emulate the demon beasts. Brothers of the earth element, please move to the front and build a defensive wall for us." Seeing that his words calmed the disciples who were passively taking hits, the speaker continued to issue commands. Earth-element disciples quickly withdrew to the front of the formation, casting spells to erect thick earthen walls in front of the human cultivators.
"Disciples of the metal element, listen to me. Condense sharp weapons and hide behind the earth element disciples' wall, thrusting your weapons through the gaps in the earthen wall." The speaker continued to direct. Metal-element disciples immediately acted upon hearing this.
"Who is this? He has quite a bit of influence!" Zhang Ergou pointed at the handsome young man in blue robes who was impressively directing the crowd and asked Chen Gong.
"No way? You don't even recognize this person?" Chen Gong, Li Yao, and a few disciples brought by Chen Gong looked at Zhang Ergou with a sense of novelty.
"Uh? Is this person famous?" Zhang Ergou rubbed his nose, perplexed as to why they were all looking at him like that.
"Famous! You don't even know the renowned Senior Brother Wang Tao of the inner sect, and you wonder what you've been doing for over a year since entering the inner sect." Chen Gong and Li Yao shook their heads repeatedly, finding it inconceivable that Zhang Ergou didn't know Wang Tao, a famous figure on the Inner Sect's Renown List.
"Never heard of him." Zhang Ergou stated truthfully. After entering the inner sect, he had spent over a year solely focused on cultivation. This was partly because many disciples in the inner sect harbored grudges against him, forcing him to cultivate desperately. Furthermore, as the sole disciple on Lingyu Peak, no one told him inner sect gossip. Consequently, he knew very little about the prominent figures of the Misty Sect's inner sect. Judging by Lin Yichen and the others' calm demeanor, they clearly knew this Senior Brother Wang Tao.
"Senior Brother Wang Tao is a prominent figure on the Renown List. Surely you don't even know about the Renown List?" Seeing Zhang Ergou's bewildered look, Chen Gong and the others looked at him like a country bumpkin. When Zhang Ergou nodded truthfully, they exchanged glances and were utterly taken aback.
"I only heard of an Inner Sect Ranking. When did a Renown List emerge?" Zhang Ergou was even more confused. No one had ever told him about a Renown List after he joined the inner sect.
"The Inner Sect Ranking is a list created by the inner sect for disciples who are confident in their cultivation and are under five years in the inner sect, allowing them to challenge each other."
"The Renown List's value is far higher than the Inner Sect Ranking. Even the lowest-ranked individual on the Renown List cannot be challenged by the top ten on the Inner Sect Ranking."