Chapter 958

Fengfeng City, one of the northern gates of the Fufeng Divine Dynasty.

For years, the Southeastern Expeditionary Envoy of the Unsurpassable Demon State, Yin Wu Jiu, commanded the great army and launched a full‑scale offensive against the Fufeng Divine Dynasty. Fengfeng City bore the brunt, being frenziedly attacked by the vanguard legion of Yin Wu Shuang, resulting in extremely heavy casualties.

If it weren't for Yin Wu Shuang suddenly taking command of the army and running off to Wuguo to cause trouble, given his offensive intensity, in a little over a month Fengfeng City would surely have fallen.

Having changed into a coarse hemp long robe, dressing as a shabby scholar, Wu Tie lifted a small bundle, held up an oil‑paper umbrella, and jogged all the way to the outskirts of Fengfeng City.

A fine drizzle floated in the sky; the northern plain of Fengfeng City had long been reduced to a mess by years of bitter fighting, the black‑red ground bore no vegetation, rain turned the ground into a mire, and the air carried a faint stench of blood and rot.

Years of bitter fighting—who knows how many lives the vanguard legion of Yin Wu Shuang has lost beneath the city; the corpses of the fallen soldiers have already been reanimated, yet their blood has soaked into the earth.

Trudging through thick mud, Wu Tie mingled with a crowd of refugees and stood outside the dilapidated gate of Fengfeng City.

A group of burly body cultivators shouted in unison, hoisting a gate ten‑some zhang high, five‑six zhang wide, and a full three chi thick with alloy bars as thick as a bowl's rim; they slowly carried it out from inside the city.

Dozens of sturdy men swung great hammers, battering the ruined gate down from the city wall piece by piece; skilled weaponsmiths and formation masters busied themselves on the gate, reinforcing the wall where the gate stood, drawing formations, and resetting the door hinges and the like.

Dozens of gaunt soldiers, reeking of blood, their armor and weapons battered and notched, stood outside the gate and loudly shouted at the incoming refugees.

"Don't panic, don't panic, come one by one to register here."

"Report your origins and background, register your cultivation, and receive an identity waist token before you may enter the city."

"Let me be blunt: if any demon spawn tries to sneak into the city, get lost at once."

"If you're discovered inside the city to be a demon spawn spy, you'll wish you could die but won't be able to!"

Beside the busy main gate under repair, beneath a breach in the city wall, dozens of officials in blue robes and small caps sat behind a row of wooden tables, while a throng of refugees crowded before the tables, shouting hoarsely.

A bronze mirror flashing with faint spiritual light hovered above the wall breach; its moonlight‑like glow continually swept over the refugees loudly declaring their origins before the tables.

Under the mirror's light, the refugees' bodies occasionally flickered with various colors.

Wu Tie queued among the crowd; with his cultivation, slipping past these petty officials and the soldiers at the gate to enter the city should pose no difficulty.

But Wu Tie keenly sensed that within Fengfeng City there existed an aura that gave him a faint sense of threat.

That aura was vast, rich, and blazing like the proud sun; it was not the breath of living beings, but a fluctuation of a heaven‑earth‑born spiritual treasure, and this fluctuation subtly united with everyone inside the city, guarding the whole city flawlessly.

To withstand the Unsurpassable Demon State's frenzied assault for so long, Fengfeng City—or rather the Fufeng Divine Dynasty—must certainly have some trump card.

Even the Blazing Dynasty still has the Great Array of the Eternal Flame, so Wu Tie dare not underestimate the depths of the Fufeng Divine Dynasty's foundation.

Therefore Wu Tie restrained his aura, posing as a refugee, and step by step joined the line until he reached the wooden table.

Having just listened to several refugees recount their origins, this batch of refugees were all fortunate escapees from a prefecture north of Fengfeng City that had been swept clean by the demon state's army.

Wu Tie also remembered a few place names, and relying on his vast spiritual consciousness, he quickly learned the refugees' dialect in a short time.

He casually fabricated an origin as a loose cultivator clan, and faintly released a wisp of Buddhist aura.

In the mirror hanging above the wall breach, a warm gleam of gold flashed across Wu Tie's person.

The clerk recording Wu Tie's origins suddenly lifted his head and gave Wu Tie a deep look: "Buddhist cultivation method?"

Wu Tie cupped his hands to the clerk and said calmly: "Fortunately, I obtained a Buddhist scripture deep in the mountains, gaining some cultivation."

These officials had been issuing the other refugees' identity waist tokens made of iron‑wood, but upon hearing Wu Tie admit he had cultivated Buddhist methods, the clerk recording his information produced a copper waist token, clenched a seal signet, and stamped the two characters "Wu Tie" onto it.

Handing the copper token to Wu Tie, the clerk's numb, stiff face showed a faint hint of a smile: "Buddhist cultivation method, plus a fetal‑storage realm cultivation—excellent…… Fengfeng City needs someone like you."

"If you have no livelihood, or wish to avenge your kin, consider joining Fengfeng City's garrison."

"With the nation in peril, the garrison carries great risk, but the pay is extremely high, and as long as you earn merit, top‑grade spirit pills and elixirs will be issued to aid your cultivation, letting you advance a thousand miles in a day—no problem."

Wu Tie took the copper token, said nothing to the clerk, and walked toward the city‑wall breach leading inside.

The clerk turned again, looked at Wu Tie, and said in a low voice: "Remember, you outsiders, after entering the city you may only reside in the refugee camp at the northeast corner; if you wander about recklessly and are discovered, you'll surely be charged with being a demon state spy."

"With the nation in peril, seeing your vigorous build, you're likely a fine young man… joining the army might not be a bad path."

Shaking his head, the clerk turned and looked at the few men pushing up behind Wu Tie.

He said solemnly: "If the war turns unfavorable, you too will be forcibly conscripted, but the treatment of conscripted soldiers cannot compare to that of volunteers."

Wu Tie weighed the copper token, feeling a faint fluctuation of magical power within it, and without turning back said: "Understood, thank you, sir; I'll consider it… Goodness, is the war really that unfavorable for us?"

The clerk, along with a few of his nearby colleagues, heard Wu Tie's words.

They simultaneously grinned, letting out a silent bitter laugh.

Shaking their heads, they returned to their tense work. The line of refugees grew longer, and in the distance one could still see more refugee columns slowly trudging toward Fengfeng City.

"The times are harsh." As Wu Tie entered the city, standing beside the wall breach and continually sizing up the incoming refugees, a low‑ranking officer— a big man missing an arm— murmured softly.

Inside Fengfeng City, soldiers patrol the streets and alleys.

Such outsider refugees like Wu Tie are overseen by auxiliary troops who forbid them from wandering; instead they are guided along a specially designated broad road to gather in the northeast corner of Fengfeng City.

This place had once been a vast residential area, but the fires of war have leveled it to flat ground.

Millions of refugees have gathered here; the ground is littered with hastily erected wooden and grass shacks, everywhere filled with low sobs and groans.