Chapter 396.3 - Taotie's Descent
Bei Bei shook his head and said, “I don’t know, either. I heard Elder Nan Shuishui mention that Huo Yuhao had some important matters to attend to. He will return after he settles them. He should be able to guess that the soul beasts from the Great Star Dou Forest are going to retaliate. Considering his intelligence, I’m sure he’ll rush back as soon as possible, even though he’s affected by Qiu’er’s death. I believe that he has some kind of way to help us deal with this beast wave. Dean Yan, the Tang Sect can’t shirk responsibility for this matter. We are willing to use whatever strength we have to help the Academy resist this beast wave. I just hope that you can put in a few good words for us to Elder Xuan. This wasn’t what Huo Yuhao wished for. He has also been greatly affected, and he was also the passive one, too. This…”
Yan Shaozhe suddenly raised his hand to interrupt Bei Bei, stopping him from continuing further.
“What’s the point of saying all that now? Let’s force this beast wave back first. Furthermore, did I say that I’m blaming Yuhao? This can only be considered an opportunity for him! Why would we blame him for something like this? He’s already very blessed, and he’s now obtained the strength of the god beast of Destiny! He’s bound to grow even faster! We still can’t tell whether this is a good thing or a bad thing for the Academy.
“Let’s wait until he’s back. In addition, do you really think Di Tian would remain quiet, even without this thing as a trigger? The abilities of the soul beasts in the Great Star Dou Forest have been increasing significantly over these past few centuries. The number of hundred-thousand-year soul beasts has been increasing, and their overall abilities have reached a new high. The Golden Eyes Black Dragon King is a rogue. In fact, the Academy had already guessed that he wouldn’t choose to remain quiet for long!
“The death of the Emperor Beast has only accelerated this process. The death of the Emperor Beast has also greatly restricted any future enhancements to the Great Star Dou Forest. This is not a bad thing for humans! Right now, let’s see how we deal with this crisis.”
Bei Bei was much more relieved after listening to Yan Shaozhe’s words. Dean Yan’s attitude basically represented that of the Academy. As long as they didn’t blame Huo Yuhao for bringing about this calamity, Bei Bei was satisfied.
Bei Bei straightened his gaze and asked, “Dean Yan, what do you need us to do now?”
Yan Shaozhe replied, “I don’t need all of you to fight yet. Didn’t you say that you wanted to gather the Tang Sect’s strength to help the Academy? In that case, I’ll need you and your sect to bring out all the soul tools you have. The Tang Sect will be in charge of the deployment of its soul tools. Coordinate with Shi Xing regarding this!”
“Yes!” Bei Bei quickly agreed, and immediately turned around before gesturing to his comrades.
Xu Sanshi and the others had also heard what had happened to Huo Yuhao. They were also very worried about the Academy’s opinion. Right now, they felt more relieved after seeing Bei Bei’s expression. From Bei Bei’s face, it seemed like the Academy didn’t have any opinion on Huo Yuhao just yet.
“Let’s go and gather all the soul tools in the sect. Take out all our Sealed Milk Bottles and the various soul tools that we’ve just invented,” Bei Bei instructed them.
Huo Yuhao was important to Shrek Academy, but he was also equally important to the Tang Sect. He was everyone’s little junior, and had contributed greatly to the development of the sect. At this critical moment, Bei Bei only wanted to do one thing as the eldest senior of the Tang Sect: contribute as much as he and the Tang Sect could to stop this beast wave, and make amends for Huo Yuhao’s mistake.
—
The battle had well and truly begun. The soul beast army didn’t stop their attack even though they had suffered heavy casualties. On the contrary, their attacks became even more ferocious.
Shi Xing was holding the fort at the center of the southern city wall, issuing orders continuously. After firing the Zhuge Divine Crossbow Cannons again, he had no choice but to let the cannons cool down for some time. Huge numbers of soul beasts started to scale the city walls again, and the long-range attacks that came from the soul beasts had also become stronger. Shi Xing immediately changed their fighting strategy in response to all this.
“Activate our protective soul barriers and release the shock bombs!”
The soul masters who were the furthest back were each carrying a metal pole in front of them. They quickly pressed their palms against their poles and poured in their soul power.
Suddenly, a green barrier quickly rose over Shrek City, forming a strong isolation barrier. The soul beasts that were about to reach the top of the city walls suddenly realized that they weren’t able to grab hold of anything with their sharp claws, and immediately slid back down the walls. The long-range attacks that hit the barrier were immediately dispelled.
A hole suddenly opened at an inconspicuous spot on the south city wall. Balls of silver light instantly spread out from it.
Intense shockwaves started to surge outwards, and all the soul beasts that were climbing the city walls were engulfed in a net formed by these balls of silver light. Their bodies started to shine with silver light as they fell off the city walls.
Falling off the city wall wasn’t fatal for these soul beasts, considering how tough their bodies were. The shockwaves only temporarily stopped them, too. However, they crashed into the soul beasts underneath them as they fell off the city walls. The pulse that came from the shock bombs could be passed on. Suddenly, a huge number of soul beasts beneath the city started to gather together, and they were all affected by the shock bombs, causing them to temporarily lose their offensive abilities.
“Throw!” Shi Xing’s shouted with an emotionless look on his face.
Balls of fire were then rapidly thrown into the air by ordinary soldiers. These fireballs weren’t ordinary, though. They were mixed with some medicine using special formulas to increase their combustion effect and viscosity.
Incendiary bombs!
They were specially invented by Shrek Academy, and were only used for defending the city. Most importantly, they just needed to be ignited before use, and would explode the moment they contacted something else. After exploding, they would turn certain regions into seas of fire, and these fires would continue to burn for a long time.
Most soul beasts were afraid of fire. Even though these flames weren’t enough to kill them, their instinctive fear would still cause them to panic.
These incendiary bombs could also be used by ordinary soldiers. In an instant, countless Incendiary Bombs were thrown down from the city wall, creating a huge sea of fire.
The soul beasts that were gathered beneath the city wall started to roar wildly. They struggled in this sea of fire, and didn’t even care when they hurt other soul beasts. The rest of the soul beasts charging from behind couldn’t help but be deterred by the extremely high temperature.
While Shrek City wasn’t as large as Radiant City, and didn’t have a Soul Engineering Legion, they had the most outstanding soul masters in the entire continent, and possessed an army with the greatest fighting strength.
When the Incendiary Bombs landed, Elder Song’s attacking intensity increased. While she was encircled by several hundred-thousand-year soul beasts, she still managed to pester Bi Ji enough that she was unable to use her area of effect healing-type soul skill.
These soul beasts’ long-range attacks weren’t weak, but it was a pity that there were too many types of soul beasts in the Great Star Dou Forest, and they hardly lived together as a species. Under such circumstances, they weren’t able to coordinate with one another. Even the long-range attacks by the hundred-thousand-year soul beasts weren’t able to cause too much damage to the protective soul barrier on the city wall, as they didn’t coordinate and strike at the same time.
Shrek Academy was still waiting, while adopting a strict formation. Their current advantage didn’t mean anything. The beast wave that was coming still seemed to be endless. Furthermore, the truly strong soul beasts from the Great Star Dou Forest had yet to enter the fight!
——
The soul beasts continued to charge maniacally towards the city, while the Shrek City Defense Army continued to defend the city resolutely. The fight had entered a stalemate.
The soul beasts were using their lives to drain Shrek City’s resources!
The Zhuge Divine Crossbow Cannons had limited lifespans. Even with sufficient time to cool down, their internal formation arrays would still be damaged after they were fired a set number of times.
Stationary soul cannon shells had yet to be utilized. They were Shrek’s trump card.
Those from the Tang Sect were the busiest right now. They received the help of a five-hundred-man team assigned to them by Shi Xing. A huge amount of resources were being transported from the Tang Sect to the southern city wall right now.
After the fight had gone on for an hour, Shi Xing saw a pile of stationary soul cannon shells behind him, and finally smiled for the first time since the fight had started. The Tang Sect has a strong foundation, and they are willing to offer everything for us to use! I heard that they only grew to this scale because of the Academy’s support. The Academy definitely made a worthwhile investment.
The soul beasts had attacked for some time, but they weren’t able to reach the top of the city wall, as they were suppressed by soul tools.
The beast wave continued to surge strongly, but Shrek remained resolute. No matter how ferocious these soul beasts were, they still managed to resist them!
However, Elder Song seemed as if she was unable to hold on anymore. No one from Shrek went to reinforce Elder Song, including the Martial God Douluo Xian Lin’er, who was Elder Song’s biological daughter. It was because no one could match her speed.
With Elder Song’s cultivation, she could leave the battlefield anytime she wanted to. However, she couldn’t last forever. Once a person was locked on by too many soul beasts, they would find it very difficult to escape.
Green light flashed, and that dazzling green ray appeared in the sky again. Elder Song had returned to the top of the city walls, and revealed her form.
She looked as if she was fine. However, on closer observation, it was evident that she was slightly out of breath.
The moment Elder Song left the battlefield, Bi Ji’s mass healing immediately took effect. A huge patch of azure light engulfed the front portion of the beast wave, and greatly reduced the losses that the soul beast army incurred.
The soul rays from the top of the city walls were still firing strongly, and temporarily suppressed the beast wave. The shock bombs weren’t used very often, only when the soul beasts were near the top of the city walls.
Elder Song was also shocked when she saw the huge number of stationary soul cannons that were massed at the top of the city walls, and asked Shi Xing, “Did the Academy prepare all these?”
Shi Xing laughed softly, and shook his head. He said, “No, they were sent here by the Tang Sect.”