The Juque umbrella shattered, the Flood Dragon Boat fell.
For the Snow Domain Heavenly Pond, the battle had reached an extremely dire state.
Huang Tingyu sighed, and a spiritual body appeared on the north city wall, holding a phantom yet solid ceremonial sword, Amber, with sword intent surging all over him. He faced the great demons Chen Feng, Ji An, and others. However, Huang Tingyu's own combat power was inferior to theirs, and his demonic energy was suppressed. For a time, he was in dire straits, with one spiritual body after another being cut down on the north city wall.
This was all he could do to continue delaying the demons' advance.
Inside the city, at the Lotus Wind Academy.
Several young scholars, stepping on the imprinted books of their cultivated artifacts, some wielding long swords, others holding Confucian jade pendants, hurled their offensive techniques at the distant demon crowds from a safe distance, contributing their part to the Snow Domain Heavenly Pond.
Gu Lingyu, in a grey long gown, stood on the roof of the Lotus Wind Academy, his brow furrowed. Confucian and Daoist literary fortune swirled around him as he released golden scrolls, helping to protect the precarious Snow Domain Heavenly Pond.
...
North of White City.
Outside a city gate, densely packed demon soldiers launched a fierce assault. A group of powerful bear demons swung their claws, continuously scratching at the city gate. Even colossal mountain demons repeatedly slammed into the gate, causing its resilience to constantly decrease. If this continued, it would not hold for much longer.
"We must hold the line!"
Inside the city gate square, the Heavenly Origin martial cultivator Mu Gua bore the responsibility for one flank. He gritted his teeth, his eyes bloodshot. This was a matter of life and death. Holding a broken Heaven-grade ceremonial sword, his eyes were filled with furious rage.
"Even if we all fall, we must never let the demons enter the city!"
"Yes, sir!"
Thousands of Snow Domain cavalry responded, some desperately bracing the city gate from the inside, others hefting strong bows and quivers to charge onto the city wall, constantly aiming and shooting arrows into the weak points of the demons. Blood splattered, and the battle on the ground had entered a complete white-hot state.
"Tch!"
In the distance, an eleventh-realm great demon, clad in marshal's armor, was the commander of a military camp. With arms crossed, his eyes narrowed as he looked at the thick, sturdy city gate of White City from afar. He waved his hand slightly and said, "Little ones, there's no need to go to such lengths to gnaw at this hard bone. Let the Umbrella Heart Demons loose. Their heart flame can burn everything. What's a mere steel city gate compared to that?"
"Yes, sir!"
A group of demon soldiers dispersed. Immediately, wisps of fireflies flew towards them, pouncing on the city gate outside the city. Instantly, crimson flames illuminated the city gate. Hundreds of Umbrella Heart Demons revealed their true forms as fire seeds, continuously eroding and burning the city gate. Outside the city, Umbrella Heart Demons holding paper umbrellas helped to deflect the arrow storm from the sky.
Although Umbrella Heart Demons were just the most basic tribe among the heart demon legions, their combat power was not weak. In the human realm, the combat power of these Umbrella Heart Demons ranged from the tenth to the eleventh realm. Their heart flames were all-pervasive, and ordinary human soldiers were no match for them. Even the elites among the Snow Domain cavalry found it difficult to contend with them.
Therefore, with the departure or sacrifice of those in the higher realms like Su Qingjiu, Tang Guangjun, and Zhu Zhi, there were fewer and fewer people in the Snow Domain Heavenly Pond capable of killing Umbrella Heart Demons. Even if hundreds of ordinary soldiers surrounded and attacked a single Umbrella Heart Demon, they might not be able to kill it. Moreover, there were still hundreds of thousands of Umbrella Heart Demons from Mount Wuwang, which was the most despairing aspect for the human world.
At the city gate, the sizzling sounds were incessant. The steel that formed the city gate was reaching its melting point under the burning and erosion of the Umbrella Heart Demons, continuously melting. Under the high temperature, the Snow Domain cavalry inside, bracing the city gate, let out agonizing screams. Some were directly submerged into the city gate, melting together with the molten steel.
Others, with bloodshot eyes, still used their shields, armor, and flesh and blood to brace the city gate. More still shouted and, holding a battle axe, charged out of the burnt city gate, killing into the crowd of Umbrella Heart Demons, eventually being surrounded and burned to a pile of charcoal.
"..."
Mu Gua, holding his chipped long sword, his eyes filled with despair and anger, knew this city gate could not be held. What then should he, Mu Gua, do?
This rather unsightly man's eyes welled up with tears. He suddenly felt a sense of realization as he approached death.
First, his beloved disciple Chen Ben died. Then, his most respected Lin Zhao also died. After that, Xiao Jiu'er and Tang Guangjun died, and even Zhu Zhi was heavily wounded and his fate was unknown. At this moment, Mu Gua's heart was filled with rage. For the Snow Domain Heavenly Pond, for the Great Chen Dynasty, he, Mu Gua, was like a tiny firefly, his strength too weak.
"Let them in!"
Mu Gua's eyes turned blood red. He abruptly broke his long sword and a surge of intense fist intent erupted from him. He roared, "Brothers, form ranks! We'll kill as many as come in!"
"Yes, sir!"
Thousands of Snow Domain cavalry responded, forming battle formations within the city. Instantly, a dense aura of military killing intent drifted above the crowd. Mu Gua stood in front of everyone, his fist intent surging. He watched as countless demon soldiers and Umbrella Heart Demons flooded into White City.
This White City was the painstaking effort of Lin Zhao, the painstaking effort of the descendants of the Great Chen Dynasty, and even the vanguard of the human world. In truth, Mu Gua had never imagined that White City would ever be breached. This was something he could not accept. But now, with the demon army before his eyes, there was no room for disbelief. Thus, he raised his fists, his body speed surging.
"Bang!"
With a heavy punch from the sky, Mu Gua, with a single casual punch, slammed a tenth-realm Umbrella Heart Demon into the ground. Then, with a kick imbued with true qi, he stomped on the demon's head, killing it instantly.
Behind him, arrows flew like rain. A group of strong archers from the Snow Domain cavalry continued to shoot, turning the group of demon soldiers who had just entered the city into porcupines. Mu Gua, surrounded by a surge of powerful fist energy, suddenly shifted his body horizontally and punched towards an eleventh-realm Umbrella Heart Demon that had just entered the city.
"Heh?!"
The Umbrella Heart Demon let out a sneer, instantly retracted its paper umbrella, and horizontally placed it before its chest. With a loud bang, Mu Gua retreated several steps, while the Umbrella Heart Demon floated backward, its body hitting the city wall. A smile grew in its eyes. "I thought you'd be much more powerful. The eleventh-realm martial cultivators under Lin Baiyi are nothing more than this. A piece of trash!"
"Is that so?"
Mu Gua laughed heartily. Disregarding the attacks of the other Umbrella Heart Demons, he suddenly ignited a divine speed talisman. His body flashed and disappeared, appearing above the opponent's head. He unleashed his martial arts, delivering three consecutive punches directly to the Umbrella Heart Demon's head. At the same time, two other Umbrella Heart Demons attacked from the flanks, stabbing their umbrella branches into Mu Gua's arms. The heart demon flames began to corrode and spread, burning Mu Gua's flesh.
Heart demons were most terrifying in this aspect. They could not only erode the state of mind and fiercely attack the human cultivators' hearts but their heart demon flames could also ignite human flesh, instantly turning a human mountain cultivator into a pile of charred bones.
However, Mu Gua ignored it, trading injury for life. His body erupted with extremely blazing true qi. After five consecutive punches, he actually blasted the head of that eleventh-realm Umbrella Heart Demon into a pile of debris. Then, with a horizontal kick, he cut it in half at the waist. An eleventh-realm Umbrella Heart Demon thus met its end under Mu Gua's fists.
...
White City North City Wall, Main Gate.
A graceful, undulating figure, clad in exquisite armor and wearing a golden cloak, was Yu Wan Ning. She had donned the battle attire of the female war god of the ancient Shu Kingdom from the Hundred Flowers Era, appearing exceptionally valiant.
However, the main gate had already been shattered by the Demon King Liu Bai's Azure Wave Mace, and countless demon cultivators and Umbrella Heart Demons had flooded into the city.
Yu Wan Ning, leading nearly ten thousand Snow Domain Heavenly Pond warriors, stood at the city gate without yielding an inch. Her body was surrounded by intense fist intent. In terms of cultivation, Yu Wan Ning's martial cultivator foundation was more solid than Chu Yu's or Mu Gua's, and considerably more so. After all, her mental state was higher, and her background and experiences destined her to have an extremely broad vision. Once her mental state broke through, she would naturally be divinely aided.
For a time, Yu Wan Ning swung her fists, her "Crossing the River on a Reed" movement technique incredibly agile. She continuously weaved through the crowds of demon cultivators and Umbrella Heart Demons, her fist energy erupting, turning the bodies of powerful enemies into fragments. The bloodstains on her armor accumulated, and the wounds on her body also increased. In this fierce battle, no one on the human side could escape unscathed.
Between punches, Yu Wan Ning glanced at Mu Gua's location. She saw the man looking as if he had just been pulled from a pool of blood, already covered in wounds, yet his fighting spirit remained undiminished, his true qi circulating incessantly, seeming as if he could still hold on for a while.
North Section, East City Gate.
Chu Yu, covered in blood, her fists flying, continuously repelled the demon cavalry that had breached the city wall. Her punches held no reservation; every punch was delivered with full force. Consequently, the demon cavalry that entered the city turned into a rain of blood in swathes. Furthermore, as Chu Yu was also a sword cultivator, her two natal flying swords killed invisibly, making her even more formidable.
Outside the city, the demon cavalry grew in number, and along with them, more and more Umbrella Heart Demons surged into the city. Even if Chu Yu was strong, she could not hold the line alone. Soon, the injuries on this great general of the Snow Domain Heavenly Pond continued to increase, especially the dense volleys of crossbow bolts from the demon cavalry, which caused Chu Yu's true qi to be consumed at an extremely rapid rate.
...
However, on the Snow Domain Heavenly Pond, apart from Chen Ben, these three strongest martial cultivators seemed to have divine assistance today, as if they had inexhaustible strength within their bodies. All of this came from the glazed jade shards they had refined, and from the backlash to the Snow Domain Heavenly Pond after Su Shanjun's charge.
That day, when Su Shanjun died, he had intended to bestow a great gift upon the "not too strong, not too weak" martial cultivators of the Snow Domain Heavenly Pond, allowing them to obtain opportunities they might never have had in this lifetime.
Having eaten and drunk for free at the mountain peak villa for so long, it was considered a small token of reciprocation!
...
"Screech!"
As Mu Gua fiercely punched and killed a tenth-realm Umbrella Heart Demon, a large opening appeared in his defense. Instantly, an eleventh-realm Umbrella Heart Demon, with an arrogant smile, retracted its oil-paper umbrella and directly thrust the tip of the umbrella into Mu Gua's abdomen, causing blood to gush out.
"Waaah..."
Mu Gua let out a pained cry and retreated several steps. Holding the head of an Umbrella Heart Demon, he looked down at the oil-paper umbrella stuck in his abdomen. His eyes were filled with furious rage. At this moment, Mu Gua had only one obsession.
If his disciple fought bravely, how could his master be a coward?!
In an instant, his mind cleared. The glazed jade shards within Mu Gua's body seemed to ignite. A vast surge of true qi directly broke through the realm. The next moment, golden martial fortune spanned the sky, transforming into golden dragons that all lunged towards Mu Gua's body.
He had broken through!
Mu Gua, the second Reborn realm cultivator of the Snow Domain Heavenly Pond!