Chapter 210: Beast Tide (2)

After a quarter of an hour, all mortals had entered the Cloud Net Mountain Range, and Master Liaoru and the others all let out a sigh of relief; during this period, no one suffered casualties.

Tie Lanshan, who was stationed at Heavenly Gang Peak, immediately activated the Heaven-Thunder Earth-Fire Grand Formation as soon as all mortals and cultivators had entered the Cloud Net Mountain Range.

The current Heaven-Thunder Earth-Fire Formation has been remodeled, its power comparable to that of late Golden Core.

The formation itself hasn't changed much, but the materials used to set it up are extremely precious; these were personally arranged here by the Alliance members after the War Lord's visit, solely to protect the War Lord's disciple's safety.

"Senior Wang, greetings!"

"Senior Wang!"

As Wang Ping walked along, all Foundation Establishment cultivators successively addressed him as Senior, which is the ancient rule of the cultivation world.

As long as the other party's cultivation level is higher than yours, even if they are a ten-year-old child, you must still call them Senior.

However, with Tie Lanshan and his companions, such formality isn't necessary, but they now harbor a certain degree of fear toward Wang Ping.

Standing on the summit of Heavenly Gang Peak, Wang Ping gazed into the distant deep night and asked:

"Any news from the Western Regions lately?"

Tie Lanshan's face was solemn; he likewise gazed at the distant night and said heavily:

"It's not optimistic. Since the day the heavenly change roared, hundreds of millions of demon beasts surged out of the Black Strange Mountain Range; the highest rank among those discovered so far is third-rank, with over a thousand known. But I estimate that more lie hidden in the depths."

Nowadays, the major powers either band together or form alliances; some hold cities, some occupy strategic terrain, and all cultivators are using every method to resist the demon beasts' invasion.

He paused, his face growing even graver, and continued: "However, the situation is still grim. In the Western Regions today, there are too few Golden Core True Persons, yet too many third-rank demon beasts; any power lacking a Golden Core True Person to garrison will meet a dire fate…"

Having said that, Tie Lanshan fell silent; Wang Ping suddenly realized that even without Tie Lanshan speaking, he could guess that cultivators lacking Golden Core strength who encounter third-rank demon beasts would meet an obvious end, and if cultivators were gone, what would become of the mortals?

Thinking of this, Wang Ping couldn't help but feel a twinge of regret: if he hadn't drawn the Single-horn Heaven Thunder Beast here, would none of this disaster have happened?

Such a thought merely occupied Wang Ping's mind for a brief moment before he dismissed it; without the Single-horn Heaven Thunder Beast, the Spirit Realm might already have been seized by the hidden master into an Immortal Treasure. Now, Wang Ping gazed into the high heavens, where surely an unimaginable great battle was unfolding.

Since humanity has already appeared, a turning point will surely come. Wang Ping firmly thought to himself!

Whooo—!

An utterly terrifying howl suddenly burst forth, jolting Wang Ping from his reverie!

"Based on that sound, it must be at least a third-rank demon beast!"

"I don't know what kind of demon beast it is."

"Don't worry! We have a third-rank grand formation protecting us, plus a third-rank spirit vein as its power source, and Wang Tianjiao is here—we'll definitely be fine!"

"Exactly! Wang Tianjiao has already broken through to Golden Core; he will surely be able to slay a third-rank demon beast!"

A beast's roar sounded, causing the cultivators below to murmur in discussion.

Wang Ping narrowed his eyes, looking toward the direction where the beast's roar had just come from; there it was pitch black, and with the demon beasts galloping, demonic qi soared to the heavens, so even Wang Ping could not see very far.

"Sir! Demon beasts are attacking the grand formation from the west!"

"Sir! The north as well!"

"Sir! The south as well!"

In a short time, aside from the east, the other three sides were all under attack by demon beasts on the grand formation.

Wang Ping's gaze remained calm; his opponent was the third-rank demon beast lurking in the shadows, while the rest would be handled by Tie Lanshan and his companions.

Wang Ping believed that, in this regard, Tie Lanshan was more suited to the role than himself!

Tie Lanshan stood on ceremony no longer; he immediately gave orders, mobilizing personnel to reinforce the remaining three directions.

In an instant, the atmosphere of the Cloud Net Mountain Range grew suddenly tense; although first-rank demon beasts could not shatter the third-rank grand formation, each of their attacks would drain its power—perhaps one or two, a hundred or a thousand would be no problem, but when hundreds of thousands or even millions of demon beasts attack together, even the third-rank grand formation could not hold out for long!

Therefore, Tie Lanshan and his companions must slay as many demon beasts attacking the formation as possible.

This time, the Qi Refining cultivators gathered in the Cloud Net Mountain Range numbered over thirty thousand, the Foundation Establishment cultivators two thousand, the Qi Refining Great Perfection cultivators over ten thousand, and the rest were at or below late Qi Refining.

This constitutes a formidable fighting force; if used properly, Tie Lanshan is confident they can hold out for half a month without issue.

"Kill! Kill! Kill!"

"Kill these demon beasts! Otherwise we're all doomed!"

"The western second section of the formation has a breach; immediately send personnel to reinforce!"

"I'll go!"

"Me!", "Me too!"

For a full three hours, all cultivators aside from Tie Lanshan and Wang Ping participated in the resistance.

With the third-rank grand formation as a barrier, after three hours, aside from cultivators suffering serious injuries, there were no fatalities!

At this moment, light appeared on the horizon; soon the sky would brighten, and the demon beasts' attack ceased.

All cultivators sat cross-legged on the ground, seizing the time to rest.

Everyone knows that the night's fighting was merely an appetizer; the real battle lies ahead.

After an hour, the sky was fully bright, but demonic qi permeated the vicinity of the Cloud Net Mountain Range, actually forming a thick demonic cloud that blocked the sunlight from descending from tens of thousands of feet aloft.

"Hiss! How many demon beasts are there! It must be tens of millions!"

Wang Ye stared at the endless horde of demon beasts and sucked in a breath of cold air!

Upon hearing this, others widened their eyes; when they saw the boundless horde of demon beasts, a tinge of despair rose in their hearts—so many demon beasts, even a Nascent Soul True Lord coming couldn't stop them!

"Brother Wang, something's off! The Western Regions are so vast—how could we possibly gather this many demon beasts here at once? I estimate it's at least over ten million; this simply couldn't happen naturally—unless?"

At this moment, Tie Lanshan walked over, his face showing doubt, and said.

Wang Ping took up his words, saying: "Unless someone deliberately lured these demon beasts here, and their motive is probably just because of me! Someone wants me to die in this beast tide!"

Tie Lanshan nodded, saying nothing; he shared the same thought.

This is the only possibility!

"Should I go inspect? Perhaps there are cultivators here who would like to see you dead!" Tie Lanshan said.

Wang Ping nodded, saying: "We must station reliable personnel near the formation's eye. I fear that once the true battle begins, someone might secretly sabotage the formation's pivot!"

Tie Lanshan nodded, saying: "Rest assured! I will station reliable personnel to guard the formation's eye, and I will order everyone to stay away from it."

Just then, the beast's howls that had echoed at night sounded again, and it no longer hid but strode out.

Wang Ping narrowed his eyes, looked over, and saw a golden ape about ten zhang tall, like a moving small hill, walk out.

Beside the ape were a snow-white giant wolf with only its four hooves azure, and an astonishingly huge black serpent!

Regarding demonic beasts, Wang Ping didn't know much, but cultivators below already exclaimed:

"Vajra Violent Ape!"

"Silver Moon Frost Wolf!"

"Black Rock Python!"