Family Cultivation: Evergreen of the Song Family

After several twists and turns, the various groups of beasts finally succeeded in crossing the river.

Despite the significant losses caused by the [Nightmare Dragon Horn], the overall morale remained unaffected, as these monsters had long forgotten the meaning of fear.

After landing, they only rested briefly before launching an attack. Driven by blood and hunger, they showed no signs of having just suffered a blow.

In a sense, the human race's resistance this time can only be considered as having achieved half of its objective.

After all, killing was not their main objective. Song Changsheng's idea was to buy time to strengthen their defenses by demoralizing the beast tide. He estimated that they would have three days, but in reality, they only had less than a day and a half. This still had some impact on them, mainly in terms of personnel deployment.

The demon race suddenly changed its main target, leaving the Great Qi cultivation world facing the impact of two beast tides simultaneously, greatly increasing the pressure on its defenses.

Although the terrain of the Ten Thousand Mountains is complex, preventing the beast tide from advancing unimpeded, it is mostly composed of isolated mountains, lacking only a barrier like that of Broken Mountain City, with only a few small mountain ranges.

This means that their defensive lines are not only long, but also very dispersed.

For this reason, the Tianmai Sect and the Jinwu Sect decisively abandoned Cangzhou and Lanzhou, and instead retreated to Dingyuan City in Tuozhou and Linjiang City in Xinzhou.

Although Cangzhou and Lanzhou cover a vast area, they are located on the front line of resisting the demon race. Therefore, the two sects have not relocated much population and have only treated them as resource-rich states. As a result, there is little resistance to implementing a scorched-earth policy.

The new state and the Jiang state, which are also within the Ten Thousand Mountains, are different. After nearly two hundred years of development and the investment of massive resources, they have attracted a large number of cultivators to settle down. Now they are large states with populations that are no less than the original nineteen states of the Great Qi. The total number of mortals in the two states is in the tens of millions.

For a space of this size, the cost of relocation would be too high unless it were all crammed into a small world.

Moreover, if they give up, two hundred years of construction will be destroyed in an instant. Even if they defeat the demon race, the already weak Luoxia City and the Song family will experience a significant decline in strength.

Therefore, Mu Guibai built a third city, Linjiang City, in addition to Luoxia City and Dingyuan City.

Although the city was built in a short time, Luoxia City had ample experience in dealing with the beast tides. In the first expedition to the Ten Thousand Mountains, they wiped out a million demons. The cities they built were all impregnable fortresses.

Both Dingyuan City and Linjiang City were built using natural terrain barriers to firmly protect Tuozhou and Xinzhou in the rear.

However, this also means that they need to defend in two directions at the same time. If it weren't for the Golden Crow Sect and the Heavenly Vein Sect, it would be quite difficult for Luoxia City at present.

Jiangzhou's only barrier is Qixia Fortress. In addition to the original 3,000 [Demon Suppressing Guards], Song Changsheng had also dispatched 5,000 [Blazing Sun Guards], 3,000 [Formless Guards], and 4,000 members of the Song clan, totaling 15,000 men. All of them were elite combat personnel with cultivation levels at least at the late Qi Refining stage.

In addition, 15,000 people were conscripted from various subordinate forces of the prefecture and county, bringing the total number of people to 30,000, who gathered at the Qixia County fortress.

The Song family's strategic planning for its subordinate forces over the years has finally yielded results. Even with so many people being transferred to the front lines, the internal forces still possess immense war potential. If the war goes poorly, they can quickly muster another army of 10,000 to 20,000 men to rush to the battlefield.

This is a mobilization capability comparable to that of the Golden Crow Sect and the Heavenly Vein Sect, two long-established Golden Core forces.

In just two hundred years, Song Changsheng accomplished what other forces took thousands of years or even longer to achieve, and the core of this was nothing more than "concessions".

He not only ceded a large amount of profits to his subordinate forces, allowing them to develop fully, but he also gave up rare resources such as the [Breakthrough Pill].

Furthermore, it is constantly adjusting internal conflicts and preventing internal friction.

A series of measures fostered and supported dozens of Foundation Establishment forces and multiple Purple Mansion forces within a short period of two hundred years.

All of this is preparation for this battle.

While others were blinded by immediate gains, Song Changsheng had long anticipated this day!
"dong dong dong"

Before the beast tide even appeared in everyone's sight, the constantly shaking ground and the rumbling footsteps announced their arrival.

"These bastards, they actually arrived so quickly."

Song Yulong watched the herd of beasts surge forth like a tide from the distant horizon, slammed his palm hard on the cold battlements, and a cold glint flashed in his eyes.

He raised his hand, and the deacon behind him immediately blew the horn in his hand.

The horn sounded loud and clear, spreading throughout the entire fortress in an instant.

Upon hearing the horn, the garrisoned monks ascended the city wall in an orderly fashion.

Every hundred feet along the city wall, there was a small crystal cannon, and every ten feet there was a [Demon-Hunting Crossbow], powerful enough to pierce through the flesh of a demon. The garrisoned cultivators held bows, nocked arrows, and stood in a staggered formation on the city wall, the arrows standing like a forest gleaming with a chilling light in the sunlight.

This fortress is armed to the teeth.

The only weakness of Qixia Fortress is the lack of a fourth-order spiritual vein. The operation of each array and celestial artifact requires a large amount of spiritual energy. If it relies entirely on spirit stones, even if the Song family has a strong foundation, it cannot withstand such consumption.

In addition to the original third-order spiritual veins of Qixia Peak, Song Changsheng migrated three more third-order spiritual veins from the East Sea in preparation for fusing them into a fourth-order spiritual vein, but there wasn't enough time.

The spiritual energy generated was barely enough to meet the needs, but the Heavenly Craft Hall sent over two energy-consuming behemoths, namely the fourth-order crystal cannons that had shone brightly in Broken Mountain City.

If the Sky Ship is the culmination of the Sky Craftsmen's skills, then the Crystal Cannon is the most powerful killing weapon they have ever created.

Theoretically, its power is limitless, provided that the material strength and energy consumption are adequate.

Tianchen Steel represents a major breakthrough for Song in materials.

Due to limited production capacity, Li Ban originally only planned to build seven Tier 4 Crystal Cannons, three for Tier 4 Sky Ships and four for the Twin Islands and Tenglong Islands, respectively, to defend against the sea creatures.

Later, he discovered a large number of urgently needed [Star Cores] in the Wutong Small World, so he worked day and night to build five fourth-tier [Crystal Cannons] and sent them to Cangmang Peak to strengthen the clan's defenses.

Without saying a word, Song Changsheng dismantled them all. Two were sent to Duanshan City, two to Qixia County Fortress for remodeling, and the third was placed in the cultivation world of Lu State.

In his view, it was a waste to leave such a deadly weapon on Cangmang Peak; it could only unleash its full power on the front lines.

"boom--"

"Boom boom—"

With a series of roars, warships rose into the air from the fortress, their dark entrances also pointing towards the approaching beast tide. The Black Star Ship and the White Star Ship, one black and one white, stood out conspicuously among the dozens of warships surrounding them.

Now that the Song Clan has annexed the Brocade Banner, it possesses multiple celestial warships, including even a fourth-tier celestial warship. However, the status of these two celestial warships in the hearts of the Song Clan cultivators will never be shaken.

During the rise of the Song family, these two celestial warships made indelible contributions.

After the Tiangong Hall upgraded its technology, it immediately carried out extensive modifications. The two Tier 4 [Crystal Cannons] of Qixia County Fortress were placed at the bows of these two celestial ships, serving as mobile attack platforms that were more flexible and safer than the fixed positions in Duanshan City. The drawback was insufficient energy supply, which needed to be compensated for with spirit stones.

Once everyone was in position, Song Yulong raised his right hand and slashed down. In addition to the two fourth-tier [Crystal Cannons], the skyship in the air launched the first round of long-range attacks on the beast tide.

"bang bang bang"

Hundreds of pure white beams shot out, traversing hundreds of miles and falling into the vast tide of beasts.

Although demon kings and great demons intervened, large numbers of low-level demon beasts were still wiped out. However, this loss was insignificant compared to the massive beast tide. As soon as one demon beast fell, several more with red eyes quickly filled the gap.

In fact, when facing such an heavily armed fortress, the best approach is for small groups of monsters to launch continuous attacks in stages and batches. This can control losses while quickly depleting the fortress's defensive equipment. A mass charge would be the option that maximizes losses.

Human cultivators would never make such a mistake.

This is the difference between humans and demonic beasts. The limited intelligence of low-level demonic beasts is simply insufficient to execute any decent tactics. After being affected by the Nightmare Dragon Horn, their already limited intelligence is reduced to zero, leaving only the instinct to charge.

The losses were significant, but the advantage was fearlessness and extremely high efficiency in advancing.

The warships fired three salvos in batches before entering the energy storage period.

At this time, the vanguard of the beast horde had entered within 300 li of Qixia Fortress, which was also the comfort zone of the small crystal cannons on the city wall. Compared with the large-caliber crystal cannons mounted on warships, they had a shorter range and less power, but they had the advantage of being numerous, and each shot could pierce through multiple low-level monsters.

In an instant, beams of light rained down from the sky, and a large number of demonic beasts fell on their way to the charge. But this only further fueled their ferocity, and their charge became even more frenzied.

Each of their trampling actions was like an earthquake, causing the entire fortress to tremble.

"It's really strange that these demonic beasts are so frenzied today." On the city wall, Song Yulong frowned. Having dealt with demonic beasts for so many years, he had never seen them so frenzied. They seemed like puppets that only knew how to kill.

"The crystal cannons have stopped attacking because the spiritual energy supply is running low. We'll wait for the beast tide to get closer before using crossbows to wear them down. We must reserve enough spiritual energy for the attack and defense formations."

The two celestial warships remained on high alert, ready to eliminate any demon king who appeared on the battlefield!

"Governor, look quickly."

At this moment, a deacon pointed ahead and saw a long, huge shadow moving through the layers of colorful clouds, with clouds constantly forming wherever it passed.

“That’s… a demon king!” Song Yulong’s eyes narrowed slightly. These demon kings finally couldn’t sit still any longer. The beast tide was about to approach the city. If they didn’t take action soon, they would inevitably suffer a saturation attack.

That's exactly what he wanted. If he could severely injure or even kill a demon king in the first battle, it would greatly boost morale.

He secretly issued an order, instructing the fourth-tier [Crystal Cannons] on the two spaceships to prepare.

"Boom!"

After the crystal cannons stopped firing, the beast tide had no further obstacles and approached the walls of Qixia Fortress.

"Fire arrows!"

Nearly a thousand Demon-Hunting Crossbows and tens of thousands of stationed cultivators on the city wall simultaneously drew their bows, unleashing an extremely dense rain of arrows that pierced the sky and poured down from the city walls.

"boom--"

At this moment, the demon race's counterattack finally arrived. A huge, hundred-zhang-long, one-horned white dragon suddenly descended from the sky. The moment it appeared, the temperature of the entire battlefield began to drop sharply. With one mouth, it spewed out a blast of icy breath that could almost cover half of the fortress.

The moment the arrow rain and the icy breath came into contact, they were instantly frozen into powder by the extreme low temperature, almost completely wiped out.

"Now!"

Song Yulong suddenly gave the order, and the fourth-tier crystal cannons mounted on the bows of the Black Star Ship and the White Star Ship launched an attack at the same time, targeting the head and abdomen of the unicorn white dragon respectively.

At this moment, the one-horned white dragon was releasing its icy breath. Faced with this sudden attack, it had no time to react, and its protective protective aura instantly melted away.

At the critical moment, a peculiar scale on its seven-inch spot suddenly lit up, blocking one of the attacks, but another still struck its body, piercing through it and leaving a huge bloody hole.

Seeing this, Song Yulong decisively ordered the activation of the fortress's [Nine Stars Shining Sun Formation].

In an instant, nine enormous fireballs condensed in the sky above the fortress, like nine small suns, radiating astonishing heat and dispelling the chill of the battlefield.

The white dragon with the unicorn writhed violently in the air, feeling the threat emanating from the great formation. It glared at the two celestial ships in the sky with hatred, then endless clouds surged from the gaps in its scales, preparing to escape under the cover of the clouds.

Before it could escape, nine "suns" fell from the sky one after another, and the clouds that condensed there vaporized directly under the influence of the high temperature.

"Boom boom boom"

The one-horned white dragon naturally wouldn't sit idly by and wait to die. It unleashed its extreme cold breath once more, directly destroying three fireballs. Then, it deployed a special ice barrier, doing its utmost to resist the remaining fireballs.

However, the [Nine Stars Shining Sun Formation] was a fourth-order top-grade formation personally set up by Song Changsheng. Even as a high-grade demon king in his prime, he might not have been able to escape unscathed, let alone in his current severely injured state.

In a short while, the ice barrier shattered, and the remaining three fireballs crashed into her body like meteorites, leaving three charred craters. The fire spread throughout her meridians, causing her unbearable pain, and extremely cold energy continuously leaked from her body.

"Oh no, it's trying to escape!"

At this point, how could Song Yulong let the other party escape? He ordered that they be captured at all costs.

Just as he was about to grit his teeth and activate the second attack formation, he heard a crisp bowstring twang. A three-foot-long arrow shot out of the bowstring, transforming into a rainbow in the air and tearing through the air to strike the heavily wounded, fleeing unicorn white dragon.

"Swish"

That wasn't all; the man fired several more arrows, each one tracing the same path as the next.

Every arrow hits its mark.

To everyone's astonishment, the massive body of the one-horned white dragon suddenly plummeted from the sky...

...(End of this chapter)