I established the Eternal Immortal Clan by taming beasts.

Before the Burning Bone Pass, the twilight was as red as blood.

The long queue snaked out from the city gate, stretching for miles.

The cacophony of voices, the howls of mythical beasts, and the rumble of wheels blended into a symphony of restlessness.

The air was filled with the salty smell of sweat, the mineral scent of spiritual materials, and the faint, decaying aroma of vegetation wafting from the depths of the Fulong Mountains.

An elderly man in a gray robe walked from the back of the line.

He walked slowly, but his steps were very steady, each step firm and solid, with the soles of his boots making almost no sound as they touched the bluestone pavement.

He wore a gray robe that had been washed until it was white, his hair was gray, his face was thin, and there was a hint of weariness in his eyes. He looked like an ordinary old man who was a wandering cultivator and would not stand out in the crowd.

He walked past one person after another in line, his pace unhurried, as if he hadn't even seen the long, winding queue.

"Hey, old man, line up!"

A rough voice exploded out.

He was a burly man with a ruddy face, a thick beard, and his leather armor, worn by members of the demon-hunting team, was stained with dried blood.

He stood for nearly two hours, flying all the way from the depths of the Fulong Mountains on his sword. His spiritual energy was almost exhausted, his legs were numb, and his knees were trembling.

The old man in the gray robe ignored him and continued walking forward.

"I'm talking to you! Are you deaf?" the burly man roared, reaching out to grab the old man in the gray robe by the shoulder.

With his five fingers like hooks, infused with spiritual power, he was a true mid-Foundation Establishment cultivator, and this single grab was enough to leave five finger holes in the bluestone.

The old man in the gray robe turned slightly to the side, and the burly man's hand brushed past his robe. His fingers grasped at empty air, and the old man staggered from the force of his own hand, almost falling to the ground.

The burly man steadied himself, his anger intensifying, and he opened his mouth to curse again.

But when he opened his mouth, no sound came out.

His pupils suddenly contracted, and he looked down to see a thin, hair-like red mark on his neck that he hadn't noticed before.

The red mark was extremely fine, almost invisible, yet it was slowly oozing blood beads.

The blood droplets gradually increased, eventually forming a thin line that flowed down the neck.

The burly man opened his mouth, making a "hoarse, hoarse" sound from his throat, like a drowning person struggling.

He wanted to say something, wanted to grab something, but his body was no longer under his control.

His legs buckled, and with a "thud," he fell straight to the ground, kicking up a cloud of dust.

The surrounding crowd gasped in surprise and retreated, like the tide receding, leaving a large circular open space.

No one saw what happened, no one saw when the gray-robed old man made his move, and no one even sensed any fluctuations in spiritual energy.

They only saw the burly man reach out to grab it, then he stopped moving, and then he collapsed.

The old man in the gray robe did not turn around, nor did he slow down his pace, as if everything that had just happened was nothing more than a leaf being blown down by the wind.

The soldiers at the city gate had already noticed the commotion.

A squad of guards clad in blue spirit armor quickly surrounded the old man, their spirit weapons drawn, gleaming coldly, blocking him outside the city gate.

The squad leader was a serious-looking late-stage Foundation Establishment cultivator whose eyes were fixed on the gray-robed old man.

His hand rested on the hilt of his knife, his voice as cold and sharp as a knife: "Halt! Who are you? What do you want?"

The gray-robed old man stopped, slowly raised his head, and looked at the squad leader with a smile on his lips.

The old man did not answer.

He simply raised his right hand, fingers spread, palm facing the city gate.

The next moment, a dark blue light surged from his palm.

That was not the light of a spell powered by spiritual energy, but a deeper, darker light, like the ghostly glow of the deep sea or the will-o'-the-wisp of the River Styx.

The light condensed into a pillar of light as thick as an arm, silently shooting straight towards the core node of the "Mysterious Heaven Mirroring Array" that was in operation at the city gate.

"laugh--!"

The array's light barrier trembled violently, emitting a sharp buzzing sound.

The sound was like a wild beast struggling in its death throes, or like someone scratching glass with their fingernails, piercing everyone's eardrums with pain.

Cracks spread wildly outwards from the point where the beam of light landed, like a spider web, dense and layer upon layer.

The light of the array began to dim at a visible speed, and the spiritual light on the cultivators being scanned suddenly disappeared. The operation of the array came to a complete stop in an instant.

"Enemy attack—!"

The squad leader's voice ripped through the twilight, and the situation instantly shifted like a snapped string on a musical instrument.

On the city wall, the defending troops reacted swiftly.

The archers drew their bows and nocked their arrows, all pointing at the gray-robed old man. The dense barrage of arrows resembled a dark cloud pressing down, gleaming coldly in the twilight.

The crossbow began to spin, its heavy body moving slowly along the city wall with a dull creak. The giant arrow on the crossbow gleamed coldly, aiming at the gray-robed figure.

A third-tier city-breaking crossbow can kill a Golden Core demon beast with a single arrow.

At that moment, at least five crossbows simultaneously locked onto the gray-robed old man.

But the old man in the gray robe stood there, motionless.

His robes fluttered slightly in the wind, and his gray hair looked like withered grass in the twilight.

His face showed no fear, no tension, and not even a trace of emotional fluctuation.

He simply raised his hands slightly and made an unexpected move—raising his hands with his palms facing outwards.

"I surrender." His voice was not loud, and even a little hoarse, but everyone at the suddenly quiet city gate could hear him clearly.

He casually tossed something to the ground, making a dull metallic clang.

"Clang—"

It was a palm-sized, pitch-black wedge-shaped magical artifact, its surface covered with densely packed reverse array patterns, gleaming with a cold, eerie light in the twilight.

The squad leader hesitated for a moment, then waved his hand: "Tie him up! Hand him over to Lord Fang for interrogation!"

Several guards rushed forward, and the spirit lock gripped the gray-robed old man's wrist, completely sealing his spiritual power.

The old man in the gray robe offered no resistance, allowing them to bind him, and even turned around to cooperate.

The squad leader didn't give him another glance, turned and ran towards the city wall, shouting as he ran, "The rest of you, follow me to the city wall, prepare to close the pass! Hurry! Hurry!"

"Yes!" the guards responded in unison, their footsteps rapid as drumbeats, surging towards the top of the city wall.

With Gu Chaoxi's intervention, the light screen of the Xuan Tian Jian Zhen Array completely dimmed, cracks covered the entire array base, and the array's scanning function completely failed.

Thousands of independent cultivators and merchant caravans were still lined up at the city gate, waiting to enter. They were already anxious when they heard the news of the "closure of the pass". Now, seeing the formation fail and the city gate about to close, fear instantly overwhelmed their reason.

"Don't shut us in! We're still outside!" a young rogue cultivator shouted hoarsely, his eyes red-rimmed.

"Let us in! You can't do this!" An old manager of a caravan pushed through the crowd and rushed to the front, his white beard trembling in the wind.

"You're trying to kill us!"

The crowd began to stir.

Some people tried to force their way through the city gate, but were stopped by the guards' spirit soldiers;

Some people shoved and punched the guards, creating a chaotic scene.

Some people released flying swords, trying to force their way over the barrier and attempt to leap over it from the air.

The detection array failed, but the defensive array on the wall remained unaffected and continued to operate normally.

Those rogue cultivators who attempted to fly over were violently bounced back by an invisible light barrier as soon as they took off, as if they had been slapped down by an unseen giant hand.

They fell from mid-air and crashed heavily to the ground; some broke their arms, some coughed up blood, and some lost consciousness on the spot.

Chaos erupted at the city gate.

The shouts, cries, the clash of weapons, and the cracking of bones intertwined to create a symphony of despair.

The archers of the defending army were already in position, their arrows pointed at the crowd, but faced with tens of thousands of panicked cultivators, they dared not fire their arrows easily.

Fang Lie, the commander of Fen Gu Pass, stood on the city wall with his hands behind his back, his face ashen.

His gaze swept from the chaotic crowd to the darkening horizon in the distance, and then from the horizon to the gray-robed old man bound hand and foot at the city gate.

He didn't have time to deal with the spy.

"Pass down the order: repair the formation with all your might! Engineers, immediately repair the core nodes! Backup formation, prepare to activate!" His voice was hoarse but steady, like a pillar of strength, suppressing the panic among the soldiers on the city wall.

"Yes!" The logistics team accepted the order and left. More than a dozen array masters rushed to the damaged array base, their hands forming hand seals, their spiritual light flashing, trying to repair the spreading cracks.

Just as chaos erupted at the city gates, countless eyes lit up in the twilight from the dense forests of the distant Fulong Mountains.

Those were pairs of crimson, golden, and eerie green eyes, densely packed and layered, emerging from the depths of the tree canopy like stars in the night sky, yet even more terrifying than stars.

They were silent, without roaring or howling, simply watching Burning Bone Pass like a pack of wolves waiting for their prey.

When the first batch of monsters appeared in their sight, all the guards on the city wall were stunned.

Not one, not ten, but—a deluge.

From the horizon, a black line is slowly advancing.

That's not a line, it's a beast tide.

Tens of thousands of demonic beasts marched side by side, their hooves thundering, causing the ground to tremble slightly.

Dust billowed, obscuring the sky and the sun, resembling a moving desert in the twilight.

"Where...where did these monsters come from?" The lieutenant's voice trembled.

The sensing array of Burning Bone Pass extends for thousands of miles, layer upon layer, interlocking, so that any unusual movement of a demonic beast can be detected immediately.

But these monsters appeared silently in the wall's field of vision, as if they had emerged from the ground.

No one could answer his question.

Before anyone could continue speculating, a tremendous roar resounded throughout the entire Burning Bone Pass.

"boom--!!!"

The roar came from the southeast, causing the walls to tremble slightly. Many cultivators lost their footing, and some were even knocked to the ground.

The restless crowd fell silent in that instant.

Everyone turned their heads and looked towards the southeast.

There, the gray-yellow sky was being swallowed up by a thick darkness.

Tens of thousands of translucent, twisted demonic souls surged from the horizon like a flood bursting its banks, covering the sky and blotting out the sun.

Their bodies glowed with a dark, grayish-white light in the twilight. Some were the size of oxen, some the size of mountains, some were incomplete, and some remained in the posture of their last moments before death.

"That's... the Demon-Suppressing Secret Realm!" someone exclaimed.

"Something's happened at the Demon-Suppressing Secret Realm! All the souls inside have been released!" Another voice was even sharper, carrying a deep-seated fear.

The Zhensha Secret Realm is a sealed place that the Fang family spent hundreds of years and invested countless manpower and resources to create.

It contains the souls of monsters that died in battles during countless beast tides over the past thousand years.

Those souls, carrying a thousand years of resentment and bitterness, would have unimaginable consequences if released.

The horde of beasts behind them drew ever closer, their hooves thundering, and the ground trembling more violently.

Two torrents, one to the east and one to the south, are converging on Burning Bone Pass at an alarming speed.

"The beast tide is coming—!" someone shouted, their voice filled with despair.

The independent cultivators at the city gate were completely devastated.

Some people burst into tears, their vision blurred by the tears;

Some people knelt down and begged for mercy, kowtowing to the guards on the city wall, their foreheads hitting the bluestone, blood streaming down their faces;

Some people frantically rammed the city gate, using their fists, shoulders, and heads, their palms pounding until they were bloody and mangled;

Some people turned and fled into the wilderness, but stopped after running a few dozen steps, because the wilderness was full of monsters, and everywhere those terrifying eyes were flashing.

Escape? Where can you escape to?

Standing atop the city wall, the commander Fang Lie's face was contorted with rage, veins bulging on his forehead, his fists clenched so tightly they cracked, his nails almost digging into his flesh.

He took a deep breath, suppressing all the anger and panic in his heart: "Quickly! Send a message to the Southern Camp! The Zhensha Secret Realm has been destroyed, and demonic beasts have launched a sneak attack on Burning Bone Pass. We request reinforcements from the Southern Camp!"

"Yes, sir!" The messenger accepted the order and ran like the wind to the communication tower.

Fang Lie turned around again, his gaze falling on the two approaching torrents in the distance.

"Order all garrison troops to ascend the city walls, and reserves to take up positions. Load all crossbows, and bring up all arrows, spirit stones, and elixirs. Prepare to defend Bone Pass to the death."

………………

Zhennan Camp, Council Hall.

On the long, narrow rosewood conference table, a huge military map of the southern region was spread out.

The map was densely marked with the locations of Burning Bone Pass, Listening Wind Pass, Demon Slaying Pass, Dragon Locking Pass, and Mountain Guardian Pass, as well as the troop deployment, material reserves, and backup reinforcement routes of the garrison troops at each pass.

Fang Wushuang stood before the map, his silver-white general's robe gleaming coldly in the light of the spirit lamp.

She stood with her hands behind her back, her back ramrod straight, like a javelin.

Her hair was pulled up high, revealing her smooth forehead, with a few stray strands falling beside her ears, making her cold and stern face appear even more sharp.

Her finger touched the location of the Burning Bone Pass, her gaze as firm and unwavering as iron.

"Issue my orders! White Tiger Battalion, immediately reinforce Burning Bone Pass; Azure Dragon Battalion, garrison Burning Bone City and take over its defenses; Vermilion Bird Battalion, take to the skies for reconnaissance and closely monitor the movements of the demonic beasts. No one may attack without my orders; Black Tortoise Battalion, remain at the main camp and stand by at any time."

She paused, her gaze sweeping over the commanders of each battalion present, and raised her voice slightly: "Each battalion must assemble within one hour. Those who delay will be punished according to military law!"

"Yes!" The battalion commanders clasped their fists in unison, their voices booming so loudly that the windows of the council hall vibrated.

"And another one." Fang Wushuang's gaze fell on the location of Black Wind Ridge on the map, where the locations of the Rebellious Demon Palace and the Xuan Kui Sect were marked.

"The early arrival of the beast tide and the destruction of the Zhen Sha Secret Realm are no accident. Order the Rebellious Demon Palace and Xuan Kui Sect of Black Wind Ridge to immediately close their gates and strictly investigate all personnel entering and leaving. Anyone suspicious shall be killed without exception."

"At the same time," she said, turning her gaze back to the map, "we sent an urgent report to the Fang family headquarters, informing them of the current situation."

The commanders of each battalion accepted the order and quickly left.

Footsteps, the clanging of armor plates, and the sound of orders mingled together, echoing down the corridor before quickly fading into the distance.

Fang Wushuang stood alone in front of the map, silent for a moment.

She turned around and walked towards the training room. Her steps were quick, her silver-white robe fluttering in the corridor, and the soles of her boots making crisp, rapid sounds on the bluestone floor.

The current situation is completely different from usual.

The century-old beast tide has arrived ahead of schedule, and the secret realm of suppressing evil spirits has been broken.

Her intuition, honed over years of command, told her that someone wanted to unleash a storm in the Southern Region that would sweep through Burning Bone Pass, and possibly even the entire Fang family.

Tie Wushuang stopped in front of the training room, clasped his hands in a fist salute, and bowed, his voice clear and respectful.

"Commander, something has happened at Burning Bone Pass. We request that you emerge from seclusion and take charge!"