What was happening?!
In an instant, golden light blazed across the sky, not only obliterating that vulture but nearly blinding every beast present.
The eerie melody abruptly cut off, and the Medicine Clan head, Elder Sheng, and the old Beast Clan elder all stood frozen, mouths agape—let alone their disciples.
And the beast horde’s movements, too, halted the instant the music stopped.
Soon, the golden light faded, revealing… revealing Baili Weisheng, his whole body radiant with brilliant gold light, a shimmering golden-scaled illusion summoned around him. He hovered in midair, and if one ignored his terrified, nearly-crying expression, he could easily have passed for a divine being descending from the heavens.
“Golden Jiaoren!”
The old Beast Clan elder blurted out, overwhelmed with shock and disbelief, a lump lodged in his throat that refused to go either up or down.
Golden Jiaoren!
It was actually golden Jiaoren!
So golden Jiaoren still existed in this world after all!
Heavens, this was the king of Nanzhao’s Jiaoren clan, the true king of the vast seas!
Golden Jiaoren had appeared!
Everyone on Nanzhao’s side stood frozen in shock, while Ziqing and her group had long since grown accustomed to Baili Weisheng’s golden-scaled illusion.
The beast tamers stood stunned, the beast horde stood stunned—this was their chance!
Husband and wife shared an unspoken understanding; mother and son shared an unspoken understanding too; and even the poison beasts and their master shared an unspoken understanding.
Without a single word exchanged, in that instant of silence, almost simultaneously, Xiong Xiaobao clasped his hands behind his back and shot up from the forest, charging straight at the massed beast horde. Jun Beiyue and Ziqing, one wielding a dagger, the other a longsword, moved like two darting dragons, weaving through the beast horde. The Dumb Bear and the four great poison beasts all charged in as well, pouncing on the horde!
Meng Duo’er, the archers, the shadow guards—every single one followed close behind.
Such a sudden, massive commotion startled the beast horde badly, and with no one commanding them at that instant, they seemed to lose all control, charging straight at Baili Weisheng instead!
“What exactly are you all trying to do! This isn’t how you’re supposed to play this game!”
“Help!”
“This is terrifying!”
Baili Weisheng was scared out of his wits, somehow drawing two daggers from who-knows-where, their sharp edge nearly rivaling flowing light itself.
“Don’t come any closer!”
He shouted, stabbing forward with one blade, thrusting backward with another, instantly killing two poison beasts—no wait, two ordinary beasts—with a swordsmanship so precise it was uncanny.
“Help! This is terrifying!”
He shouted again, sweeping both blades left and right, instantly felling a whole swath of creatures.
“Taking life is wrong, this humble scholar never kills!”
He said, wielding both daggers together, then delivered a kick that sent an entire row of flying beasts flying backward.
Seeing this, the flying beasts charging in from behind hesitated—only for him to scare himself, crying out, “Ahh… I’ve killed someone!”
But then, immediately catching himself, he quickly corrected, “Ahh… I’ve taken a life!”
“I’ve taken a life! Heavens!”
Baili Weisheng looked practically ready to cry, yet with a casual flick, he delivered two more slashes, blood splattering across his face. He wiped it away hastily, spun around, and thrust both daggers forward simultaneously—another massive flying eagle sacrificed.
Meanwhile, Xiong Xiaobao, who had pushed Baili Weisheng onto the battlefield, had already positioned himself right at the city gate. Any creature attempting to slip past and invade the border was instantly absorbed into his Qiankun pouch.
With Xiong Xiaobao guarding the border, everything was foolproof—no worries, no fear of invasion—leaving Ziqing and the others free to fight without distraction, unleashing their full strength.
Even though the Beast Clan’s beast tamers had recovered and begun playing their beast-commanding melody once more, it was already too late.
No matter how they tried to command the beasts, in the end, none of them would make it back alive.
Ziqing and Jun Beiyue fought side by side—Ziqing wielding both her flowing-light blade and finger-flicked wind blades, Jun Beiyue his longsword, each sweep of his blade clearing away entire swaths of beasts like a landslide.
Meng Duo’er, the archers, and the shadow guards worked in coordination—sealing and trapping portions of the beast army in an instant, letting the archers and shadow guards slaughter them at will. Though their movements weren’t as fast as Ziqing’s and Jun Beiyue’s, nor as swift as that madman Baili Weisheng’s, they still cut down beast after beast, wave after wave.
On the ground, the four great poison beasts and the Dumb Bear went on a rampage of their own—especially the Dumb Bear, which one could hardly tell was slaughtering ferociously or simply indulging its enormous appetite, specifically hunting down the Medicine Clan head’s poisonous insects, devouring them one by one, nest by nest.
Watching from a distance, the Medicine Clan head’s heart practically bled with anguish.
How could this be happening!
The situation had completely reversed, a full three-hundred-and-sixty-degree turnaround. Across heaven and earth, flying and land creatures grew fewer and fewer, while the stench of blood grew thicker and thicker, staining the very sky red.
Ziqing and the others fought with increasing exhilaration; even though they’d been battling for so long that their bodies were utterly exhausted, no one felt tired at all—if anything, they felt more exhilarated than ever.
As for the beast horde, they too had fallen into panic; by this point, their resistance was perhaps no longer under anyone’s command, but pure survival instinct.
Ziqing swung her dagger, executing a graceful spin to dodge the flying beasts closing in from all sides, and was about to strike when Jun Beiyue drew close, pulling her into his embrace. Together they spun in an equally graceful turn, his longsword sweeping in a wide arc—blade cutting down those close, wind blades striking those far—another sweeping wave of destruction, truly magnificent and awe-inspiring.
Watching this, every single Beast Clan member present felt their hearts bleeding—these were beasts they’d spent so much painstaking effort raising!
“Elder Sheng, perhaps… perhaps we should retreat for now!”
Finally, the old Beast Clan elder could bear it no longer—at this rate, this entire generation of beasts might well be wiped out completely.
Before Elder Sheng could respond, a nearby disciple suddenly cried out in alarm, “Look over there, why are so many flying beasts missing!”
Following the direction the disciple pointed, they saw… they saw flying beast after flying beast simply vanishing into thin air the moment they came near Xiong Xiaobao!
“How could…”
The old Beast Clan elder’s mouth hung open wide, too stunned to speak for a long moment.
“What’s happening?” Elder Sheng too looked utterly bewildered, staring from a distance at the child standing atop the city gate—Jun Beiyue and Han Ziqing’s son, Da Zhou’s sole young prince, Jun Buli.
The boy stood with arms crossed, high and mighty, and despite his young age, he carried a noble presence impossible to ignore.
He truly hadn’t done anything at all, yet whatever creature approached him—fierce vultures, ferocious eagles, small poisonous insects, or great soaring rocs—every single one simply vanished into thin air upon getting close!
“No, retreat is not permitted! They came prepared for this!” the Medicine Clan head declared firmly. Faced with a situation offering absolutely no advantage whatsoever, Elder Sheng no longer dared delay, urgently giving the order, “Withdraw the troops, retreat immediately!”
The moment Elder Sheng gave the command, the Medicine Clan head immediately recalled his poisonous insects, and the old Beast Clan elder hastily led the disciples in calling back the flying and land creatures.
The moment the order was given, the entire army began retreating!
Perhaps the beast horde had truly been terrified out of their wits by Ziqing and her group—the moment the retreat order came, even beasts right on the verge of attacking, practically within striking distance, abruptly halted, abandoning everything to turn and flee.
Of the roughly five hundred thousand beasts, more than half lay dead or wounded, and the remaining half all turned and fled at once.
Ziqing and Jun Beiyue let out a breath of relief. Under their original plan, they would have pursued the retreating enemy to press their advantage—but Xiong Xiaobao had taken so long to arrive that they too had been considerably worn down. If they pursued any further, chasing all the way into Nanzhao’s territory, and the enemy brought in reinforcements, they might find themselves at a serious disadvantage.
As the saying went, one must know when to bend and when to stand firm—the same principle applied to warfare: know when to press forward, and when to hold back.
But just as Ziqing and the others were preparing to withdraw, Baili Weisheng suddenly grabbed hold of a vulture’s wing, shouting furiously, “You think you can just leave? Not that easily!”
Uh… Scholar, what’s wrong with you?