From a distance, flames already lit up the sky ahead. The sounds of battle intertwined with eerie screeches.
When Xu Zimo arrived at the city wall, he glanced around and saw that several thousand people were stationed here.
His gaze dropped below the wall, looking down at the battlefield outside the city.
Below, it was packed densely with monsters that resembled legendary imps.
They were entirely black-purple in color, hideous in appearance, taller than normal humans, and wielded various weapons.
Although not very powerful individually, at a glance there were easily more than ten thousand of them.
The distant horizon was filled with these imps.
“Everyone hold the line! We must not let the demons breach our city!” a man in black armor shouted in the crowd.
The pressure of the Empyrean Meridian Realm radiated from his body, making him the strongest present.
Faint golden spiritforce swirled around him. In the dark night, he was like a blazing sun, lighting up the city walls.
Battle was imminent. The imps leapt dozens of meters high, extremely agile, just two or three jumps and they were at the top of the wall.
“Kill them! Protect our Order City!”
“Don’t be afraid! These imps may be many, but they’re all weak!”
“As long as we survive this demonic disaster, Lord Hu Yan has promised to fulfill all his commitments!”
Cries rang out around the city. Those with lower strength held the walls, while others more confident in their skills leapt down to fight the demons directly.
Xu Zimo looked up. Everyone was using their own techniques, sword aura, saber intent, all kinds of elemental spiritforce exploded in the air like fireworks.
Among them, two people stood out most, they were the two Xu Zimo had seen earlier at the inn.
One was the man with the wine gourd at his waist. He wielded a long sword in one hand and held his wine gourd in the other.
His movements appeared drunk and unsteady, but his swordplay was fierce and elegant.
Invisible sword intent surrounded him. With each slash, groups of imps fell.
Thousands of flying swords followed his form as he danced, a style reminiscent of “a great river sword descending from the heavens.”
The other was the cold, aloof woman, surrounded by frigid air.
One palm strike would freeze the land for several miles, and when the ice shattered, all the nearby imps vanished.
These imps, being artificial creations, left no corpses behind, they simply dissipated into the air upon death.
Just as the battle raged, several loud explosions, “boom, boom, boom”, rang out.
Everyone looked up to see four massive demon beasts emerging from the horizon.
These four resembled minotaurs, with bull horns, thick fur covering their entire bodies, and blood-red eyes.
They attacked from four directions around the city.
“Minotaurs! Everyone be careful!” shouted Hu Yan Zhuo, the city lord of Order City.
The city’s stronger cultivators ignored the imps and went straight to intercept the minotaurs.
These creatures were extremely powerful, just a few strikes could destroy the city walls. They absolutely could not be allowed to get close.
“This is bad. Weren’t there usually only one or two minotaurs? Why are there four this time?”
Someone exclaimed in fear, “How are we supposed to defend against that?”
City Lord Hu Yan He charged toward the eastern minotaur, while the man with the wine gourd and the ice-cold woman joined forces to stop another.
Several elderly cultivators flew from the city toward the western minotaur.
“It’s the Seven Elders of Vast Mountain!” someone shouted in surprise.
“With three directions covered, all we need to do is hold back the northern minotaur until morning!”
A large number of people fearlessly charged toward the northern minotaur.
But it was like a mantis trying to stop a chariot, futile and naive.
The minotaur stood nearly 100 meters tall. Every step left a deep crater on the ground.
A single stomp could send dozens of people flying. Its skin was thick and incredibly tough.
As the minotaur charged toward the wall, City Lord Hu Yan He roared in desperation, “Stop it!”
He wanted to help, but he was held up by the eastern minotaur and couldn’t break away.
For a moment, under the cover of the imps, casualties in Order City soared, but people still did their best to hold the line.
Xu Zimo paid no attention to the chaos around him. His gaze was fixed on a young man surrounded like a star among moons.
“After all these years, I didn’t expect we’d meet again like this.”
At this moment, Xu Zimo was standing on the northern wall.
As the minotaur rampaged its way to the edge of the wall, a pile of corpses lay behind it.
It was nearly as tall as the wall. Its massive head huffed heavily as it stared at the defenders atop the ramparts.
With a furious roar, red light flashed from its horns as it charged straight at the wall.
“Run! It’s coming right at us!”
“Fall back! We can’t hold the north wall anymore!”
As most people cried out in panic, Xu Zimo sneered, “Noisy.”
He raised his right hand and slapped.
That one palm sent the colossal minotaur flying through the air.
Under everyone’s stunned gaze, the minotaur crashed heavily into the distant ground.
Its body was mangled, both horns snapped off, and foul bluish blood poured from its wounds.
This scene shocked everyone into silence.
Even the other three minotaurs stopped in their tracks, staring blankly at the wall.
At that moment, all eyes were fixed on Xu Zimo.
Including the youth surrounded at the center of the crowd, he also looked over.
The moment he saw Xu Zimo, he froze.
Then his eyes filled with fury.
“Xu Zimo,” he growled through clenched teeth.
“Tianyun, what is it?” asked a confused young man beside him. “You know him?”
“I know him, I'd recognize him even if he were reduced to bones and ashes,” the youth said coldly, filled with killing intent.
“Thank you for aiding Order City, my lord. When dawn breaks, I, Hu Yan, will surely reward you,” Hu Yan He shouted his thanks to Xu Zimo from afar.
Then he turned back to the others and shouted, “What are you all standing around for? The imps are charging again!”
The stunned crowd snapped out of it and resumed defending against the imps.
With the minotaur threat gone, things became much easier.
The young man in Daoist robes pushed through the crowd, walking step by step toward Xu Zimo.
The battle outside the city raged on. Firelight lit up the sky.
The screams of imps and the shouts of warriors blended together.
The wind howled coldly.
So did the people.
“So, should I call you the Lord of Samsara now, or the Dao Race’s holy son, Dao Tianyun?” Xu Zimo asked with a soft smile.