Chapter 677

Before long, a streak of sword light flew out from the main hall, heading straight for a high mountain on the west side of the market, where it arrived before a cave dwelling wreathed in a faint mist.

After the sword light vanished, a man in white robes, around thirty years of age, descended from mid-air; then, with a flicker of spiritual light in his hand, a cyan sound-transmission talisman flew into the cave dwelling before him.

"Yuanli, come in first!"

A moment later, a voice came from within the cave dwelling, and the white mist swirling around it automatically parted to the sides, revealing the hidden entrance; seeing this, Song Yuanli hurriedly lifted his legs and walked inside.

Upon entering the cave dwelling and seeing Song Qingming and Huang Siyuan sitting there, Song Yuanli hurriedly bowed and offered a salute, then handed the red sound-transmission talisman in his hand to Song Qingming.

"Seventh Grand-Uncle, Yuanhao just sent word back from Wuyun Ridge; they have already spotted the vanguard of the demon beast army heading south, and it is estimated that they are now less than five hundred li away from Jin Shan Market."

After taking the talisman and giving it a quick glance, Song Qingming immediately stood up.

"Go and notify all Foundation Establishment cultivators in the market to gather at the council hall in half an hour. Also, have Xuanfeng take a few people to help meet up with Yuanhao and the others to ensure their withdrawal, in case any accidents occur over there."

Upon hearing Song Qingming's instructions, Song Yuanli hurriedly acknowledged the order and then turned to leave.

Half an hour later, in the council hall of Jin Shan Market, more than forty Foundation Establishment cultivators in various attire were already standing in the main hall.

Among these people, aside from the four Xiaoyao Sect cultivators guarding Jin Shan Market, they were basically all members of the Foundation Establishment families from Pingyang and Qinghe counties.

In addition to the couple Song Qingming and Huang Siyuan, the Song family also had five Foundation Establishment elders present—Song Yuanli, Song Yuanhao, Song Changlin, Song Xuanting, and Song Xuanqing—as well as nearly two hundred Qi Refining stage cultivators from the clan; more than half of the family's strength had already arrived at "Jin Shan Market."

A hundred years had passed, and many of those who had participated in the previous demon beast turmoil were no longer among the crowd, replaced by many new faces that Song Qingming was not very familiar with.

Over these hundred-plus years, Pingyang County had also undergone many changes; ever since it had directly relied upon the great tree that was the Song family, the cultivation environment in Pingyang County had become much more stable than before, and the numerous cultivation families within its borders had all achieved significant development.

Today, there was one more Foundation Establishment family in Pingyang County than there had been a hundred years ago, bringing the total to eight major Foundation Establishment immortal clans; however, the most powerful remained the Cao family, where Cao Rongxue resided, which possessed a total of five Foundation Establishment cultivators.

After scanning all the Foundation Establishment cultivators present, Song Qingming, who was sitting at the head of the main hall, finally spoke to the crowd:

"I presume you all know that the demon beast army has already headed south, and the vanguard is not far from here. It is estimated that in about two hours, they will arrive here at our Jin Shan Market.

The sect has entrusted the defense of Jin Shan Market to us, and I hope that everyone here can work together with me to block the demon beast army, prevent our human kin from being slaughtered, and help the sect survive this crisis.

In this battle, those who fight bravely will be heavily rewarded by me; those who dare to delay or neglect their duties, thereby missing the opportunity for battle, will be dealt with by the law enforcement team according to military law."

"We will strictly follow the ancestor's orders!" As soon as Song Qingming finished speaking, the many Foundation Establishment cultivators standing below hurriedly shouted in unison.

Compared to a hundred years ago, the strength of the human cultivators here at "Jin Shan Market" during this demon beast turmoil was clearly much stronger; just the cultivators from Pingyang and Qinghe counties who had already arrived at the market numbered nearly two thousand.

This time, because the strength of the cultivators guarding the market was relatively sufficient, the Song family did not, like last time, recruit a large number of rogue cultivators to help guard the market from the very beginning.

The first batch of cultivators gathered in "Jin Shan Market" were basically elite cultivators sent out by each family; whether in terms of combat power or battlefield discipline, they were much stronger than those rogue cultivators who had come to participate in the great war for spirit stones back then.

Besides this, there were also cultivators from Jiangling and Liuyang counties on their way, totaling nearly another thousand people; the overall number of cultivators guarding "Jin Shan Market" was already more than thirty percent higher than it had been a hundred years ago.

According to the news Song Yuanhao brought back from his reconnaissance at the front line, the vanguard of the demon beast army that had arrived outside "Jin Shan Market" this time was not very large, consisting of fewer than three hundred demon beasts, and no traces of third-tier demon beasts had been found among them.

In order to give those Qi Refining cultivators who had never participated in such large-scale battles against demon beasts more opportunities for experience, Song Qingming did not personally participate in this battle, but only sent a dozen Foundation Establishment cultivators to lead and command this first fight.

More than two hours later, clouds of dust suddenly rose on the north side of "Jin Shan Market," and immediately after, an army composed of hundreds of demon beasts appeared before everyone's eyes.

The many Qi Refining cultivators standing on the city walls preparing for battle, although they were people who often went out to hunt beasts, were seeing such a large-scale beast tide for the first time; seeing the earth-shaking roars and cries, many could not help but feel a sense of fear in their hearts.

There was not much time for them to slowly adapt before the demon beast army rushed to the front of the market and touched the "Jin Shan Market" mountain-protecting formation.

"The demon beasts have invaded our human territory and harmed our kin; how can we cultivators let them have their way? Everyone, follow me and kill our way out to drive these demon beasts out of our territory!"

After the mountain-protecting formation thwarted the initial momentum of the demon beasts' first wave of attacks, Song Yuanli, standing at the front of the city wall, let out an angry roar and was the first to charge out of the formation, his flying sword slicing two low-tier demon beasts in front into several pieces with a single strike.

The many participating cultivators, encouraged by this, immediately followed Song Yuanli out of the formation and took the initiative to kill the demon beast army outside the market; the earth-shaking sounds of battle instantly resounded throughout the entire battlefield.

The vanguard of the demon beast army that had attacked this time consisted of only three hundred demon beasts, with only six second-tier demon beasts in the lead.

However, the human cultivator side at "Jin Shan Market" had sent a total of fourteen Foundation Establishment cultivators and more than seven hundred Qi Refining stage cultivators; the participating cultivators were more than twice the number of the demon beast side, so the result of the battle naturally would not have any major surprises.

After more than an hour of slaughter, the demon beast side, having lost nearly half of its strength, finally began to collapse, and under the leadership of a few second-tier demon beasts, they turned and fled toward the north.

"The demon beasts have retreated! We defeated them! Hahaha..."

Seeing that the demon beast army had been defeated and retreated, the many human cultivators who were still watching the battle from the city walls immediately let out bursts of cheers.

The "Jin Shan Market" cultivator army, which had already fought a bloody battle with the demon beasts on the battlefield below, naturally would not easily let go of the good opportunity to pursue and kill the retreating demon beasts to earn merit, and they all boosted their spirits and scrambled to chase after them.

The crowd chased for dozens of li before, reminded by the law enforcement team, they ceased their pursuit and returned to "Jin Shan Market," beginning to count the materials harvested from the demon beasts killed in the just-concluded battle.

According to the post-battle statistics from the law enforcement team, in this battle, the "Jin Shan Market" cultivators killed a total of more than two hundred low-tier demon beasts and four second-tier demon beasts, while their own side lost fewer than twenty Qi Refining stage cultivators; it could be considered a great victory.

Sitting in the cave dwelling, Song Qingming nodded with great satisfaction after seeing the battle report handed over by Song Xuanting, who managed the battlefield law enforcement team.

He also instructed the market law enforcement team to quickly calculate the merits of the cultivators who had performed meritorious service on the battlefield, so that rewards could be distributed to those with outstanding contributions as soon as possible to encourage the other cultivators.

The great victory in the first battle quickly encouraged the many Qi Refining cultivators in "Jin Shan Market," helping them quickly overcome the immense pressure they felt in their hearts when facing the demon beast army.

Especially when they saw those cultivators who had been rewarded for their meritorious service in battle, the onlookers all showed expressions of envy, and in their hearts, they all looked forward to being the next ones to receive awards.

However, just as the many human cultivators in "Jin Shan Market" were rubbing their hands and preparing to show off their skills, it turned out that for more than ten consecutive days, the demon beasts that came to invade the market were all scattered groups of dozens, or fewer than a hundred.

These demon beasts were generally not very strong, and not long after approaching the market, they were immediately defeated by the elite cultivators sent out by "Jin Shan Market," turning and scattering to flee toward the north.

During this period, the large-scale demon beast army like the one before never appeared again, which made the many "Jin Shan Market" cultivators who were prepared for a great battle against the demon beasts feel somewhat disappointed.

It was not until one morning more than half a month later that the sound of a roaring demon beast army marching suddenly rang out outside "Jin Shan Market."

The cultivators guarding the market on the city walls, seeing the dust that suddenly rose in the north and blotted out the sky, hurriedly sent word to notify the Foundation Establishment cultivators who were on duty in the market's council hall.

Soon after learning the news that the main force of the demon beast army had arrived, the many cultivators of "Jin Shan Market," under the command of the numerous Foundation Establishment cultivators, arrived one after another near the city walls, preparing to defend against the demon beast army's attack.

The two Jin Dan cultivators, Song Qingming and Huang Siyuan, had also left their cave dwelling and arrived above the "Jin Shan Market" mountain-protecting formation, observing the surging demon beast army before them.

"Looking at the scale of these demon beasts, it seems there are only two or three thousand of them. The number of demon beasts this time is not large, but I wonder how many demon kings are hidden inside?" Huang Siyuan scanned the demon beast army in front and said with a calm expression.

"Hmm! It looks like the situation here is better than I had imagined before. I estimate there are at most only one or two demon kings coming. In this battle, we should have no major problems defending Jin Shan Market."

Today, more than two thousand cultivators had gathered in "Jin Shan Market," and the cultivators from Jiangling and Liuyang would soon arrive here as well. In terms of the number of cultivators, "Jin Shan Market" was already not losing to the demon beast army before them.

As long as the number of demon kings in the opposing demon beast army was not large, "Jin Shan Market" definitely had the ability to block this wave of the demon beast army's attack.

Just as the many cultivators here at "Jin Shan Market" were waiting nervously, the demon beast army in the north, accompanied by a thunderous roar, finally rushed to the front of the market's mountain-protecting formation. "All Flying Cloud Crossbows ready, fire!"

When the fierce demon beast army in front approached to within less than a hundred zhang of the market's formation, Song Yuansue, who was in charge of command above the city wall, suddenly gave an order.

More than a dozen sharp arrows wrapped in golden spiritual light instantly flew out, directly piercing through the dozens of low-tier demon beasts rushing in the front, sending them flying more than a dozen zhang backward before they fell to the ground, only to be trampled into meat paste by the demon beasts rushing up from behind.

The "Flying Cloud Crossbows" deployed above the city walls, except for the four that were originally configured for "Jin Shan Market," were mostly those that Song Qingyu had collected from the sect's Merit Pavilion a few months ago.

These second-tier and above "Flying Cloud Crossbows" were very useful weapons for defending the city; they only needed two Qi Refining cultivators to operate them to exert the attack power of half a Foundation Establishment cultivator, making them very useful for dealing with those low-tier Qi Refining demon beasts.

Just as the "Flying Cloud Crossbows" began their attack, those second-tier demon beasts with stronger strength in the demon beast army immediately rushed out of the beast herd and flew into mid-air to begin attacking the mountain-protecting formation before them.

A dense sheet of various high-tier spells with immense power rushed directly toward the market; many of the lower-cultivation Qi Refining cultivators of "Jin Shan Market" standing near the city walls, seeing such a large-scale attack that blotted out the sky for the first time, could not help but be frightened and take half a step back.

Even some of the more timid cultivators responsible for operating the "Flying Cloud Crossbows" were so shocked that they stood still, forgetting to operate the "Flying Cloud Crossbows" before them to face the enemy.

"What are you panicking about? With the mountain-protecting formation here, even if a third-tier demon king attacks, it won't be able to break the formation for a while. Everyone, stand firm and do your duty! Anyone who dares to retreat again will be immediately taken down by the law enforcement team!"

Seeing a commotion in front, Song Xuanting, who was in charge of leading the market's law enforcement team, immediately stepped on his flying sword and arrived in mid-air, letting out an angry roar at the many cultivators in front, which finally stabilized the situation on the scene.

The facts were indeed as Song Xuanting had said; those high-tier spells that filled the sky looked very fierce, but after falling onto the mountain-protecting formation before everyone, they were immediately absorbed and dispersed by the formation, only causing ripples to appear.

Seeing that these attacks before them were all blocked by the market's mountain-protecting formation, the many "Jin Shan Market" cultivators on the city walls finally felt much more at ease, and the tension on their faces vanished.

The "Thick Earth Jin Guang Formation" guarding "Jin Shan Market" was originally only a second-tier top-quality mountain-protecting formation.

Before Song Qingming went to the "Donghuang Kingdom" cultivation world, in order to improve the safety of the family territory, he had spent some time and materials to upgrade it to third-tier low-quality; today, the power of this formation was no longer comparable to what it had been a hundred years ago.

However, although the power of the market's mountain-protecting formation had increased significantly, the spirit vein of "Jin Shan Market" was still only second-tier top-quality; forcibly operating a formation of third-tier or above meant the spiritual energy was slightly insufficient, and "Jin Shan Market" still needed to provide a significant amount of extra spirit stones to fill the gap.

Not long after the mountain-protecting formation at "Jin Shan Market" was activated, those low-tier demon beasts in front had also rushed to the front of the mountain-protecting formation, and a series of fierce collision sounds instantly rang out in front of the "Thick Earth Jin Guang Formation."

Watching the ripples spreading across the "Thick Earth Jin Guang Formation," the many "Jin Shan Market" cultivators staying within the formation were also nervous to the extreme, fearing that this mountain-protecting formation would not be able to withstand the attack of these thousands of fierce demon beasts.

However, the power of this "Thick Earth Jin Guang Formation" before everyone was also not to be underestimated; facing the simultaneous attack of so many demon beasts, although it kept shaking, the light on the formation remained very bright, and there were no signs of it being broken by the demon beasts.

Seeing that this formation had withstood such an impact from the demon beast army and remained as stable as Mount Tai, the cultivator army in the market finally let go of their hearts and began to try to attack the demon beasts that were attacking the formation from a distance using spells and talismans through the formation.

Seeing that the demon beast army in front was blocked and had failed to break through the market's mountain-protecting formation for a long time, the demon king who had been hiding in the back and controlling these low-tier demon beasts also could not sit still.

With a fierce long roar, a green flood dragon dozens of zhang long suddenly flew out from the demon beast army and headed straight for the Jin Shan Market mountain-protecting formation.

"Not good, a Jin Dan demon king has come!"

As soon as this green flood dragon appeared, the many "Jin Shan Market" cultivators standing in the market immediately recognized that the opponent was a Jin Dan demon king and could not help but let out bursts of exclamations.

"Husband, looking at the appearance of this flood dragon, it should be the sect's old rival, the Nine-Patterned Flood Dragon demon king, right? Shall I go and meet it first?"

Seeing that the Nine-Patterned Flood Dragon in front had already rushed over, a trace of fighting spirit also appeared in Huang Siyuan's eyes; she took the initiative to take out the magic treasure on her body, wanting to go up and fight it.

"Not bad. This demon is good at using illusions to confuse the opponent's mind. You must be careful of this move later." Seeing that Huang Siyuan wanted to go up and trade blows with the Nine-Patterned Flood Dragon first, Song Qingming nodded without stopping her, only carefully reminding Huang Siyuan.

"Hmm! I know how to deal with it." After Huang Siyuan nodded and acknowledged, the spiritual light on her body flickered, and she turned into a streak of red escape light, flying out of the market's mountain-protecting formation.

The "Nine-Patterned Flood Dragon" that had approached the mountain-protecting formation opened its bloody mouth and had just spat out several transparent water blades with immense power when a golden tripod immediately appeared in front of it, directly gathering a burst of red light to easily block the Nine-Patterned Flood Dragon's attack.

"If you want to break through the formation, you'll have to get past me first!" Before the Nine-Patterned Flood Dragon could find the owner of the golden tripod, Huang Siyuan, dressed in white, had already appeared before it.

After seeing Huang Siyuan's figure, the "Nine-Patterned Flood Dragon" was somewhat annoyed and immediately moved its huge body to begin its attack on her.

Huang Siyuan had also summoned her own natal magic treasure, the "Purple Gold Seal," to face the enemy, and the two sides instantly broke out into a fierce Jin Dan battle above the battlefield.

In a battle at the Jin Dan level, the mere aftermath of the fight was enough to kill ordinary low-tier demon beasts in seconds; after a few unlucky demon beasts near the battlefield were affected and died, the surrounding demon beasts immediately took the initiative to clear a battlefield for them.

"The demon beasts' momentum has been thwarted; it is time for us to strike. Everyone, follow me and kill our way out to help the ancestor drive away the enemy!"

Just as Huang Siyuan began to trade blows with the "Nine-Patterned Flood Dragon," Song Yuanli and the others standing in the mountain-protecting formation, seeing that quite a few second-tier demon beasts had already surrounded Huang Siyuan, hurriedly let out a loud shout and rushed out of the mountain-protecting formation, taking the initiative to kill toward the demon beast army.

Those demon beasts that were constantly attacking the formation, seeing the human cultivators inside rush out, immediately shifted their targets and began a great melee with the "Jin Shan Market" cultivator army.

High above in the sky, the Jin Dan cultivators' battle sent sparks flying everywhere; below, the Foundation Establishment and Qi Refining human cultivators and the demon beast army were also flying everywhere with all kinds of spells.

The sounds of magic treasures colliding and miserable cries were endless; outside Jin Shan Market, it had become a Shura battlefield in an instant, and in just over half an hour, the ground was already covered with the corpses of various demon beasts and human cultivators.

The "Nine-Patterned Flood Dragon" was a demon king that had attained the Dao for thousands of years, and its cultivation had already reached the mid-stage of Jin Dan; its strength was still much higher than Huang Siyuan's, who was at the second layer of Jin Dan.

However, among the many Jin Dan demon kings, this demon, besides being outstanding in casting illusions, had relatively average attack capabilities; back when Song Qingming had just formed his core and his cultivation was only at the first layer of Jin Dan, he had held it off for a long time in the battle at "Purple Star Market."

Today's Huang Siyuan, whether in terms of cultivation or the magic treasures on her body, was much stronger than Song Qingming had been at that time; although she could not gain the upper hand in the battle against the "Nine-Patterned Flood Dragon," she did not let this demon king take too much advantage of her either.

The two sides had fought for nearly two hundred rounds with give and take; although the scene was fierce with sparks flying, they still could not produce a result. Seeing that they had fought for so long and he still could not take down his opponent, the "Nine-Patterned Flood Dragon" also had a plan in mind and began to use his own methods.

Taking advantage of the gap while Huang Siyuan was dealing with his spell attack, the "Nine-Patterned Flood Dragon" suddenly spat out a burst of transparent white mist from its mouth; soon, the white mist followed the wind forward and directly arrived beside Huang Siyuan, who was not far away.

Seeing the increasingly thick white mist beside her, which gradually blocked her vision, Huang Siyuan immediately realized that the opponent had used his specialty, illusion arts.

Seeing this, Huang Siyuan let out a cold snort and had long been prepared to take out a third-tier cyan talisman, which turned into a light shield to protect her in front.

Immediately after, she controlled the golden tripod beside her to blow a gust of strong wind in front of her, directly blowing away the thick white mist before her.

A moment later, Huang Siyuan's eyes brightened, and a man dressed in cyan suddenly appeared before her with a smile.

"Husband, why did you come over?"

Seeing Song Qingming before her, Huang Siyuan's expression changed instantly, revealing a trace of doubt.

"Hehe! Wife, why don't you retreat first and let me deal with this demon!"

After being distracted by the light laugh of Song Qingming in the distance, Huang Siyuan's spiritual sense, which was spread around her, suddenly felt several killing intents attacking from her side, and she hurriedly turned sideways, wanting to dodge this strike.

However, just as she made a move, the "Song Qingming" before her suddenly flashed and arrived before her, throwing a heavy punch with a cold face, sending Huang Siyuan, who was caught off guard, flying with one blow.

Huang Siyuan, who had suffered a loss from being hit, finally realized that the "Song Qingming" just now was an illusion created by the opponent, and she could not help but feel a bit more annoyed.

Although Song Qingming had reminded her beforehand, Huang Siyuan had still underestimated the opponent's illusion arts.

"Siyuan! Find a way to lure it to the east, and we will strike together to deal with this scoundrel." (End of chapter)