“Hold the fort!”

Soon, all the combatants inside the fortress had gathered. The four grandmasters stood on the wall, staring at the cloud of snow and dust churning and approaching in the snowfield ahead, making no attempt to conceal itself.

"It's the Chidi (Red Earth) Demon General—ha, he actually didn't wait for the three demon generals to gather, but instead led his troops to pursue us alone, attempting to attack the fortress?"

Feeling the scorching heat and bloody aura, rolling in with murderous intent, Li Daoran chuckled, a hint of anger at being underestimated, "Thinking that after injuring Brother Weilie, he only needs to deal with me and Brother Han to conquer the fortress? How arrogant!"

"The existence of Grandmaster Su will definitely surprise him!"

"Indeed." Han, the grandmaster next to him, stroked his beard, his usual expressionless face now showing a hint of displeasure—even an old man in his seventies is still a man, still a grandmaster, and how could he not react to being looked down upon like this?

Soon, the snow and dust roared as a team of men in black rushed out of the mountain path in the snow. White clothing was standard for the demon soldiers lurking locally, but this troop of demon soldiers was pursuing the escort team, wearing the black cotton armor that was standard for An Dynasty demon soldiers.

Su Zhou stood on the wall. Aside from the excitement of being able to kill evil and satisfy his interests, there was also a sense of satisfaction that he had finally encountered a target after so much hard training—you know, he hadn't even used his full strength yet! The escort team led by Zhou Buyi and the probing of the three grandmasters could only be said to have revealed his conventional combat power, at most a corner of 'Dragon Serpent Might'.

But the 'Heavenly Human Cycle', a talent that could only发挥 (fā huī - bring into play) its maximum effect in a spiritual energy world during long and great battles, had not yet been brought into play.

"Come on, come on!" Holding a bow, Su Zhou was like a child expecting a toy, waiting for the other party to enter his attack range, then he could shoot randomly—whether he hit or not was up to fate, the main thing was to enjoy the process.

But the next scene made his smile freeze, his expression suddenly turning from joy to cold, and his brows furrowing.

Because those demon soldiers were also dragging many civilians, who were obviously ordinary people, casually held in their hands.

"Damn these jackals, worse than beasts!"

Zhou Buyi roared with grief, his eyes wide with anger, his knuckles white as he pressed on the hilt of his sword, while Li Daoran, expressionless, raised his hand to block his disciple, signaling him to calm down—this kind of beastly violence was standard for demon soldiers, it was just a pity for those ordinary people hiding in the deep mountains, who could not escape the massacre even when hiding in the snow.

But it could be seen that even Li Daoran's eyes were burning with raging anger, and behind him, whether it was Fang Hui, Liu Xizhao, or Mo Ganxiu, all the craftsmen were silently accumulating their anger.

Being used to it didn't mean they were accustomed to it. Even after so many years, that anger, that fiery anger, burned in the hearts of every righteous soldier at all times!

—This was the war between morality and immorality!

A glance revealed a total of seventy-nine demon soldiers, almost all of them carrying a civilian at random. Their black clothes were soaked in blood, as if they had just carried out a massive massacre in a gathering place. Although these demon soldiers looked like humans on the outside, they had no qualms about such behavior, and some of them seemed unable to restrain themselves, directly turning their five fingers into wooden roots and plunging them into the back of a thin and exhausted man.

This thin man had originally fainted—how could ordinary people endure the strong winds, heavy snow, and extreme cold in the mountains? Even martial artists had to be immune to cold and heat to ignore it. At this time, he only had his last breath left.

But after the demon soldier's five fingers, transformed into wooden roots, plunged into his back, the man suddenly opened his eyes, opened his mouth, and let out a terrified scream... But this scream weakened in an instant, because the flesh and blood at his chest and spine were visibly collapsing, and the man couldn't even struggle, his head tilted, and he died.

"Ah—爽快 (shuǎng kuài - satisfying), 爽快 (shuǎng kuài - satisfying)!"

At this time, the demon soldier who had 'eaten' a person let out a hearty laugh. His joints could be heard cracking, and his whole body actually swelled up a circle, and his inner strength surged by 20%. He was actually temporarily strengthening his power with the flesh and spiritual energy of one person, and also increasing his regenerative reserves for the upcoming battle!

And most importantly… it was 爽 (shuǎng - exhilarating)! This feeling of rapid strengthening was the most extreme beauty, and the people around him were all nourishment. Once you couldn't resist the temptation to 'use' it once, you could never go back!

And seeing that someone had already done this, the other undead demon soldiers also laughed and 'ate' these ordinary people in various ways—some grabbed their heads, tree roots seeping into their seven orifices and entering their brains, while others directly gouged out their hearts and chewed their livers, just like man-eating beasts... Screams of grief continued one after another, most of them stopping within a few seconds.

—This kind of flesh and blood augmentation technique didn't last long, and killing people on the spot in this way could also打击 (dǎ jī - undermine) the morale of the defenders.

The demon general in the lead carried a purple-gold thick-backed broadsword, wearing scarlet mountain-patterned armor. His body was tall, exceeding two meters, and his entire face and body were covered in a full-coverage helmet and armor.

But it could be seen that the exposed hands had completely transformed into an entangled combination of cyan wooden roots, completely unlike humans.

It didn't kill anyone in front of the formation, apparently the secret technique had no effect on grandmasters, but this mountain-patterned armor was covered with blood scabs, and God knows how many civilians he had killed in the mountains.

"Form ranks—"

Without saying much, the Chidi (Red Earth) Demon General's low voice came from behind the helmet, "Prepare..."

—飕 (sōu)!

Before he could speak, an arrow crossed hundreds of meters, hitting the snow with a whistling sound!

轰 (hōng)! With a loud bang, a sound like an explosion rang out in the demon army's formation, and the air waves spread in all directions. The accumulated snow on the snowfield rolled, and the aftermath brought a strong wind, causing several demon soldiers within two meters to roll around in a sorry state!

The snow dust was lifted and fell, and what appeared on the ground was a long arrow with the arrowhead already submerged in the ground, the arrow shaft shattered, and a small pit nearly ten centimeters deep!

"What?!"

Shocked, he raised his head and looked at the distant fortress wall—Chidi (Red Earth) had originally thought that by crippling one of Weilie's arms, he wouldn't have to encounter his disgusting rigid shooting method when attacking the fortress. In that case, even if his qinggong (lightness skill) was good, there would be no threat.

But now, with his eyesight pushed to the limit, he saw a handsome, expressionless young man drawing his great bow for the second time, aiming at his formation from hundreds of meters away.

—飕 (sōu)!

Another arrow exploded in the formation.

But after the snow dust dissipated, this terrifying arrow didn't kill any of the demon soldiers, it was just a false alarm. The Chidi (Red Earth) Demon General narrowed his eyes, looked at the pit, and then laughed loudly, "Shooting arrows with brute force, what if the power is great? If you don't hit, there's no damage! Prepare, charge!"

But the third arrow had already been fired.

—飕 (sōu)!

"What?!"

With a loud alarm in his heart, the Chidi (Red Earth) Demon General immediately raised his hand and, with a sense of 'clear mind', directly cleaved his knife forward—and with a violent bang, a white air wave, like a shock wave, vibrated in the air, and a fragment of the war knife's blade, along with the completely shattered arrowhead, spun in the air and fell into the snow.

The arrowhead, heated by air friction, sizzled as it sank into the snow, and the entire demon army's charging momentum suddenly stagnated.

—Coincidence?

The Chidi (Red Earth) Demon General silently raised his trembling hand to raise his knife—it could be seen that a small opening had shattered at the front edge of the purple-gold thick-backed broadsword.

Taking a deep breath, he raised his head again and looked intently at the fortress wall.

And at this moment, on the city wall.

Under the stunned gaze of everyone, the young man, exuding a stern aura, drew a long arrow from the quiver next to him.

—Ling bow quick shot, force fourteen *shi*.

—Heavy chenmu (沉木 - heavy wood) arrow, one hundred and twenty-eight grams.

—Archer, acquired grandmaster, born with divine strength, Su Zhou is also.

Blue-purple spiritual energy rose from his back and abdomen, converging on the arrow and his arms.

A light-emitting flame burned on the arrowhead, like a crosshair, aimed at the red-armored demon general who was dragging his sword and roaring as he charged, like a war chariot.

Silence, dead silence.

The battlefield, originally filled with blood and grief, was now plunged into a chilling silence.

In this silence, only the sound of the bowstring stretching and creaking could be heard.

Once again, Su Zhou drew his great bow again!