Boom——!
A violent thunderous sound reverberated from the distant skies, reaching the banks outside Dao City, cascading down from the lofty clouds to the heavy ground. It spread through the water vapor, permeating the thoughts and gazes of everyone present.
Finally, a tremor, seemingly originating from the depths of the earth, gradually transmitted to the surface, resonating through the soles of their feet and delivering a palpable sensation to each person's heart.
It shook the minds of all, adjusted their breaths, and resonated with the rhythm of their heartbeats.
Then, at a certain moment, when the rumbling sound abruptly ceased, everyone's breath nearly halted, their souls froze, and their thoughts were locked in place.
One breath, two breaths, three breaths...
When everyone suddenly came back to life, they gasped for air violently, but immediately after, the thick water vapor nearly engulfed their mouths and noses, causing many to cough hoarsely again.
As they looked again, the once sprawling waves in the distant sky, the heavy, almost black seawater barrier, and the monstrous serpents rampaging within that barrier...
All of it was vividly presented before everyone.
In the next moment, accompanied by a sharp shout, on the embankment, a group of Xuanjia Dao Soldiers transformed into a formation of sharp arrows, riding the waves, and in an instant, charged towards the seawater barrier.
A vast spiritual light gradually swirled from their Xuanjia, and in a flash, their auras intertwined and resonated as one. What appeared was no longer the desperate charge of weak Dao Soldiers, but rather a clash of colossal forces.
It was the collision of mountains and seas, the confrontation of majestic celestial phenomena and the path of formations!
Immediately after, before the Xuanjia Dao Soldiers' arrows could truly collide with the seawater barrier, the surface of the sea began to boil and roll like a cauldron.
Looking again, streaks of spiritual light emerged, and a multitude of monsters leaped from the water, attempting to disrupt the formation of the Xuanjia Dao Soldiers.
At the same time, the people standing on the embankment almost simultaneously took action, each forming seals and chanting spells. In the blink of an eye, brilliant spiritual lights flickered from the hands of various cultivators, slicing through the surging water vapor storm, howling towards the seawater barrier.
Spiritual lights containing different attributes and meanings intertwined in the sky, appearing like a river of stars abruptly suspended amidst the raging storm.
As the mist of water rose, gradually obscuring the view beyond the embankment, the sounds of battle still echoed in their ears, but when they looked again, they could only see the faintly visible, colorful spiritual lights weaving together like a river of stars, then howling away.
Standing on the city wall, at a corner of the thick and winding wall, Chu Weiyang gazed into the distance. This was all he could see when the calamity began.
Just then, as the mist surged up, about to sweep across the entire city wall, the jade talisman at his waist trembled slightly, and a swirl of spiritual light brought him back to his senses.
After exchanging a glance with Qing He, the two of them each held up their jade talismans, probing with their spiritual consciousness.
At this moment, the originally vague and blurry characters within the jade talisman suddenly became clear. As they probed with their spiritual consciousness, it seemed they could manipulate the appearance or disappearance of those characters with the fluctuations of Chu Weiyang's thoughts.
However, at this moment, Chu Weiyang did not carefully examine the existing characters; instead, he focused intently on the newly revealed characters that appeared along with the swirling spiritual light.
This was the first task assigned to Chu Weiyang and Qing He amidst the calamity after receiving the talisman decree from Dao City.
In fact, even before they ascended the city wall, Dan Zong's Daozi, Du Zhan, had privately conveyed the arrangements for the two of them to Chu Weiyang.
Perhaps influenced by the sounds of battle from the embankment outside the city wall, Chu Weiyang and Qing He exchanged silent nods, neither of them speaking a word.
Meanwhile, behind the parapet, Du Zhan retracted his gaze from the distant mist, looking quite worried as he walked back. Passing by Chu Weiyang and the other Dan Zong guards, he merely clasped his fists in silence and hurried away.
Behind the crowd, at the flat and wide corner of the city wall, a series of tents supported by heavy furs formed a vast area. At this moment, as Chu Weiyang turned to look, Du Zhan, with one hand on his waist, had already begun to issue orders and arrange matters in his capacity as Daozi.
Before long, within those empty tents, one Dan Master after another silently moved about, busying themselves as if they were completely out of place with the distant sounds of battle.
Just then, Chu Weiyang felt the white jade poisonous snake on his wrist writhing incessantly, emitting frequent buzzing sounds to warn him.
In an instant, before the Dan Zong guards could react, Chu Weiyang and Qing He raised their hands simultaneously.
One person formed a Heart-Eating Talisman, while the other summoned a swirling demonic wind.
Just as the killing tools hung in the air, the continuous buzzing of the snake demons' tongues and the subtle sounds of friction from the climbing creatures on the city wall filled everyone's ears densely.
In a flash, some timid cultivators panicked.
Among the crowd, the harsh shouts of older cultivators rang out—
Before they could finish speaking, while everyone was still forming seals and chanting spells, Chu Weiyang and Qing He had already stepped forward.
Black arrows shot through the air, closely followed by the five-colored smoke and dust carried by the demonic wind.
This time, when the arrows struck the city wall, not even a pit was left, let alone any white marks. But immediately after, gray poisonous gas spread out, swirling with the demonic wind, carrying the five-colored smoke and dust.
In an instant, after piercing through a snake demon's vital point, a number of snake demons fell stiffly to the ground amidst the sweet and foul demonic wind. When they looked again, the once plump bodies of the snake demons gradually shriveled, and soon after, dark blood seeped from their mouths, noses, and the gaps between their fine scales.
On one side was the ruthless poison path killing technique, and on the other was the secret talisman of Baihua Tower. This cooperation between Chu Weiyang and Qing He instantly shocked many of the guards.
But soon after, it also invigorated and relaxed them.
In such life-and-death struggles against demonic beasts, the stronger the companions, the safer they felt.
With this thought, as they looked again, everyone's actions became swift and decisive, gradually forming a silent tacit understanding from the initial stumbling.
Meanwhile, Chu Weiyang and Qing He stood at the forefront, already immersed in the slaughter of ordinary snake demons.
Especially as the thick water vapor mist spread over, Chu Weiyang suddenly realized that this place seemed no different from Lingfu Island.
Although he could not use the methods of water and fire, nor could he wield sword intent or sword qi, his understanding of the Heart-Eating Talisman made his killing edge at this moment no less sharp than when he once manipulated water and fire.
Moreover, the guard's healing camp was indeed the safest place; although the task of guarding was only assigned to a group of Qi Refining Stage cultivators, it actually included the other cultivators on the city wall, those on the embankment outside the city, and those who had charged into the outer sea, all of whom were layers of invisible and nameless guards.
Even in dire straits, it was unlikely that any ferocious demonic beasts would approach the healing camp.
At this moment, the snake demons seemingly rushing towards Chu Weiyang and the others appeared like a continuous tide, but upon closer inspection, they were merely ordinary demonic beasts, with only a very few possessing the true aura of the Qi Refining Stage, and not a single peak Qi Refining Stage demonic beast in sight.
Clearly, this was the result of passing through several checkpoints, layer by layer, and the remaining ones were simply because there were too many Qi Refining Stage snake demons; the higher realm cultivators had the time to deal with them, perhaps gaining more from the same realm.
As time passed, with Chu Weiyang's continuous actions, the talismans that had only previously been understood through text became increasingly refined in his execution.
Seeing that more and more snake demons appeared, Chu Weiyang suddenly raised his hand, perhaps inspired, and with a flick of his five fingers, he instantly inscribed five talismans.
Looking again, the five talismans spun in his palm. When Chu Weiyang cast them out with a slap, the five talismans traced bizarre arcs through the air.
Though they appeared to be chaotically swirling, they remained interconnected in their auras. The traces they left intertwined, forming an impenetrable net that ensnared a large number of snake demons, only ceasing when the magical power within the five talismans was exhausted.
At this moment, the guards were still immersed in their own slaughter, with only Qing He glancing at Chu Weiyang in surprise as she acted.
Others were unaware, but she could clearly see that when Chu Weiyang acted this time, the five talismans swirling in the air distinctly carried the essence of the Qianyuan Sword Sect's sword techniques, exuding a majestic aura akin to the sword qi soaring into the sky!
Moreover, the fleeting arcs of the talismans even revealed traces of the "Springtime Sword."
Among the most interesting things in the world, there must always be such a scene, whether it is pulling a good family into the water or persuading a prostitute to reform; it is a spectacle that never fails to entertain.
At this moment, Chu Weiyang employed the techniques of the Xuanmen Sword Sect while casting the poison path talismans of the Yuanmen loose cultivators, almost causing both factions to denounce such rebellious actions.
Meanwhile, Chu Weiyang was unaware of Qing He's subtle psychological changes.
The moment the five talismans fell, it was as if a new world had opened up for him, revealing a splendid new vista.
In the next moment, as Chu Weiyang acted again, his hands shook in the air, and in a frenzy, nine talismans transformed into black arrows that sped away.
One black arrow hung in the center, perfectly aligned, but upon closer inspection, it seemed to sway with the wind, as if it would suddenly whirl and land elsewhere in the next moment.
The other eight arrows still traced chaotic paths, but upon closer inspection, they were different from before; within the entangled trajectories, there was clearly some formless formation evolving the innate Eight Trigrams.
This was akin to the use of a talisman formation, but the principles contained within belonged to the true essence of the Nine Faced Xuan Turtle Taiyi Spell.
The same water attribute methods, the same poison path principles.
This was not merely a simple overlay of two techniques, but rather a kind of thickening enhancement, and even due to the flow of the innate Eight Trigrams' aura, the consumption of the talismans after piercing through the demonic bodies was significantly reduced compared to earlier.
This time, the nine talismans transformed into sharp arrows, piercing through a multitude of snake demons until they finally collided with the cold stones of the city wall, producing a few crisp sounds before instantly transforming into wisps of faint poisonous gas, merging into the water vapor mist.
Until this display of power concluded, the crowd behind Chu Weiyang finally awoke from their immersed state, gazing in shock and fear at the thick layer of snake demon bodies sprawled across the ground before Chu Weiyang.
Thick black blood flowed on the ground, and an increasingly heavy stench gradually spread, yet due to the surrounding water vapor, it lingered here, unable to dissipate for a long time.
Perhaps due to the spreading scent of blood and the accumulation of the dismembered demonic bodies, even the snake demons that had crawled over the city wall towards the healing camp had suddenly decreased significantly.
However, these demonic bodies, though bloody, were seen as treasures by the cultivators.
In place, some had hesitated to step forward, but their feet shuffled in place, unable to move. At this moment, Chu Weiyang first turned back to glance at the crowd, and as he faced the overwhelming results of his battle, when he met Chu Weiyang's hollow, cold gaze, nearly everyone felt a chill in their hearts.
In a silent survey, when they turned back, Chu Weiyang raised his hand, and the precious light enveloped the Mountain River Cauldron, illuminating it. In an instant, it spun, wrapping the snake demon bodies in black light, which then fell into the Mountain River Cauldron.
Perhaps due to a lack of control over his magical power during this action, it was not as precise as when he cast the talismans; the black light spilled out in large swathes, not only gathering the snake demons that Chu Weiyang and Qing He had slain but also sweeping outwards in a large circle, collecting more than half of the remaining bodies.
Having completed this on his own, the people behind Chu Weiyang merely watched, yet no one dared to speak.
Strangely, there was a brief silence.
Soon after, Chu Weiyang's hoarse voice broke the quiet.
Until Chu Weiyang's voice fell, steady footsteps sounded behind him.
As a figure passed by Chu Weiyang, he turned to glance, only to see the middle-aged man who had previously warned him. His figure had become somewhat hunched, and his hair was now mostly white.
Yet he still stood firmly before Chu Weiyang, half-bowing his head, not even daring to look at Qing He, merely raising his clasped fists to his forehead.