I established the Eternal Immortal Clan by taming beasts.

Above the main gate of Burning Bones Pass, the twilight was torn apart by spiritual light and flames.

The walls of the pass soared into the clouds, their black basalt walls gleaming with a cold, dark light under the interplay of spiritual and firelight.

The dense defensive array patterns on the wall were flashing at an unprecedented frequency, sometimes bright and sometimes dim, like the last breaths of a dying person.

On the city wall, the blue spirit armor of the defenders stretched out in a continuous line, like solidified waves, gleaming coldly in the twilight.

The crossbowmen crouched behind the crenellations, their crossbows held level, arrows pointed at the dark mass of beasts outside the city. Their fingers rested on the triggers, their knuckles white, and beads of sweat slid down their cheeks, dripping onto the crossbows and evaporating in the residual heat of the array patterns.

In the distance, from the direction of the Zhensha Secret Realm, tens of thousands of demonic beast souls are surging in.

They have no physical form, only translucent, distorted outlines, glowing with a dark, grayish-white halo in the twilight.

Some are the size of oxen, with all four hooves off the ground, running silently like a drifting will-o'-the-wisp;

Some were like mountains; as they moved slowly, the shadows they cast were enough to cover half of the pass, shrouding the defenders on the city wall in a suffocating darkness.

Most of them were incomplete, yet they still charged forward, maintaining the posture of their last moments before death, as if the bloody battle from a thousand years ago had not yet ended.

They are faster than living monsters.

In the blink of an eye, those grayish-white specks of light surged from the horizon onto the beast tide, like two torrents merging, one real and one illusory, one black and one white, covering the sky and the earth in front of Burning Bone Pass.

"The dead are coming—!" someone cried out from the city wall, their voice filled with terror.

Fang Lie stood at the highest point of the city tower, his face ashen, his hands pressed against the crenellations, his knuckles white.

His gaze swept from the distant gray torrent to the dark mass of beasts below the city wall, and then from the beasts to the rogue cultivators still struggling to survive at the city gate.

Tens of thousands of independent cultivators were trapped outside the city gates, unable to advance or retreat.

Behind him was a tightly closed door, and in front of him was an approaching horde of beasts.

"Open the city gates!" Fang Lie's voice boomed like thunder, echoing across the city walls. "Let them in! Now!"

"General! If we open the city gates now, the monsters—"

"I said, open the city gates!" Fang Lie turned his head, his gaze piercing, the resolute look in his eyes causing the deputy general to swallow the rest of his words. "If the platform on Broken Dragon Cliff isn't raised, and the formation fails, the platform will become a bridge for the demonic beasts. If anything goes wrong, I'll take responsibility!"

"But..." The lieutenant wanted to persuade the commander to be more ruthless and simply abandon the lives of those rogue cultivators below the city.

Raising the platform without regard for their lives is cruel, but military orders are absolute, and no one will say anything against it.

The lives of tens of thousands of rogue cultivators are of paramount importance compared to the survival of Burning Bone Pass; it is obvious which is more important.

Fang Lie shook his head, his voice deepening: "That won't work. There are many rogue cultivators on the defensive line, which will destabilize the morale of the troops. Moreover, so many rogue cultivators might go to extremes due to their survival instincts. We can't gamble."

The lieutenant said no more, turned and ran towards the city walls, shouting as he ran, "Open the city gates! Open the city gates now!"

The heavy city gate slowly opened, making a dull creaking sound.

The rogue cultivators outside the city surged in like a flood bursting its banks. Some fell to the ground and were trampled over by those behind them, while others carried their injured companions and staggered as they ran inside.

The guards at the city gates worked desperately to maintain order, diverting the crowds; some were directed toward the city walls, while others were directed into the city.

Just as the last group of independent cultivators poured into the city gates, the vanguard of the demonic beasts arrived.

The first to rush over were a pack of red-eyed demon wolves.

They are the size of calves, entirely black, with blood-red eyes, and when they run, their limbs hardly touch the ground, making them incredibly fast.

Instead of slowing down in front of the cliff, they leaped forward.

The cliff was about thirty feet wide, which ordinary demonic beasts could not cross. However, the red-eyed demonic wolves had a jumping ability far exceeding that of ordinary demonic beasts. The leading ones actually leaped over the cliff and grabbed the edge of the ascending platform with their front paws!

The sharp claws made a screeching sound as they scratched the rocks, sparks flew everywhere, and the platform's ascent slowed.

"Fire the arrows—!"

On the city wall, archers' arrows rained down like a storm.

The spirit-powered arrows from the Spirit-Breaking Crossbow traced eerie blue trails in the night, like a meteor shower, precisely piercing the bodies of the red-eyed demon wolves.

The demonic beast, struck by the arrow, let out a mournful howl and plummeted from mid-air into the deep valley below the cliff, kicking up a cloud of dust. Its body rolled a few times on the rocks before becoming still.

But even more monsters followed closely behind, charging forward one after another, fearless of death.

After the first volley of arrows, at least a hundred red-eyed demon wolves were shot dead, but dozens of them still managed to leap over the cliff and reach the ascending platform.

They recklessly jammed their bodies into the gears of the rising platform, their flesh and bones shattered, yet they refused to let go or loosen their grip, using their last breaths to firmly hold the platform in place.

Many red-eyed demon wolves leaped over the cliff, grabbed the base of the barrier wall with their front paws, and climbed upwards to draw fire for their companions who were stuck on the platform.

The defensive array patterns on the wall suddenly lit up, and a dark blue arc of electricity shot out from the array patterns, striking a climbing demon wolf. The demon wolf convulsed, its fur stood on end, and it fell off the wall, smashing to pieces.

But more monsters stepped over the corpses of their companions and continued to climb upwards.

On the city wall, swordsmen and shieldmen stepped forward, followed by spearmen.

The swordsmen's shields pressed against the crenellations, pushing back the monsters that were about to climb up. The shields were covered with earthen-yellow array patterns, and each impact produced a dull thud.

The spearmen's spears emerged from the gaps in the shields, like venomous snakes spitting their tongues, piercing the heads, eye sockets, and throats of the monsters, killing them instantly.

Swords clashed with claws, spiritual light mingled with blood, and screams, shouts of battle, and the clash of weapons blended into a deafening symphony.

"The Ironback Bear is coming from the northeast!" someone shouted.

Fang Lie turned his head to look.

To the northeast of the cliff, a dozen or so of the largest iron-backed bears stood on the edge of the cliff.

They placed their forelimbs on the opposite rocks, using their own bodies to build a bridge of flesh and blood.

Those giant bears were as big as mountains, covered with thick, iron-gray hides, and their claws were like iron hooks, deeply embedded in the crevices of the rocks.

Their backs were bent, bearing the weight of the monsters behind them, their bones creaking and groaning as if they could break at any moment, yet they did not fall.

The iron-backed bear behind stepped on its companion's back and quickly crossed the cliff.

The heavy footsteps pounded on the bridge of flesh and blood, making a dull "thump-thump" sound, each step causing the giant bear that built the bridge to sink.

The last Ironback Bear stepped over its companion's body and grabbed the ascending platform. Its entire body glowed with a dark red light, which was its innate supernatural power, "Berserk Power," which could increase its strength several times over in a short period of time.

With a deafening roar, the giant bear exerted force with both arms, abruptly halting the ascent of the platform.

A V-shaped bridge of flesh and blood was thus constructed.

"Breakthrough crossbows! Aim at those bears building the bridge! Shoot them down!" Fang Lie shouted, his voice trembling.

The five city-breaking crossbows turned simultaneously, and the acceleration array patterns on the crossbows suddenly lit up. A dark blue spiritual light flowed along the crossbow arms, enveloping the entire crossbow in a halo.

The enormous arrow tore through the air, emitting a piercing shriek, a sound like the howling of ghosts and wolves, sending chills down one's spine.

The arrows struck the bodies of the iron-backed bears that were building the bridge with pinpoint accuracy.

The power of the Tier 3 city-breaking crossbow was on full display at this moment.

The bear's body was pierced, and blood gushed out, splashing onto the rocks and making a hissing, corrosive sound.

But they still did not fall. Their forelimbs remained firmly planted on the opposite rocks, and the monsters behind them stepped on their bodies and continued to charge forward.

"Shoot again!" Fang Lie's voice changed.

As the second wave of arrows fell, the iron-backed bears finally gave way and collapsed with a crash.

The massive body plummeted from the cliff, crashing into the deep valley below with a dull thud, raising clouds of dust.

But just as they fell, at least fifty enormous monsters had already crossed the bridge of flesh and blood and rushed onto the platform.

They roared and howled as they charged toward the city wall.

On the city wall, Fang Lie's face was ashen; they no longer had time to worry about the platform.

Because the spirits of the dead have come.

Tens of thousands of demonic souls surged from the south. They had no physical form, yet they were more terrifying than any living demonic beast.

Their bodies glowed with a dark, grayish-white light in the night; some were the size of oxen, some the size of mountains, and some were incomplete.

They were silent, yet they carried a thousand years of resentment and murderous intent. Wherever they passed, the air became icy cold, and even the light of the spirit lamps dimmed.

"The souls of the dead from the Demon-Suppressing Secret Realm... have arrived." The lieutenant's voice trembled.

Fang Lie drew his long sword from his waist, the blade gleaming coldly under the lamplight.

"Activate the defensive wall formation—Full power!"

The array patterns on the city wall suddenly lit up, and a golden light shield surged from the wall, enveloping the entire Burning Bone Pass.

That was a defensive array, the culmination of generations of array masters from the Fang family, a fourth-tier superior-grade array, which had been continuously reinforced and perfected over hundreds of years, making it the most solid barrier of Burning Bone Pass.

Runes flowed across the surface of the light shield, with layers of illusory mountains and rivers, giving a sense of immovable solidity, as if an invisible mountain was protecting the entire fortress below.

But the dead souls are not demons or beasts.

They have no physical form, no weight, and certainly no fear.

They surged in like a tide, crashing against the golden light shield with a hissing, corrosive sound, like cold water being poured onto a scorching hot iron plate.

The light shield trembled violently, the runes flickered, and cracks spread outwards from the point of impact.

On the city wall, the array masters were pale-faced, their hands forming hand seals with lightning speed, their ten fingers flying, spiritual energy flowing from their fingertips like threads and being injected into the array base.

The stored spirit stones began to be consumed in large quantities. The mountains of spirit stones dimmed at a visible speed, and some even shattered into powder.

"Hold on—!" Fang Lie shouted hoarsely.

But there were too many dead souls.

The resentment accumulated by tens of thousands of demonic beasts over thousands of years was released at this moment, like a flood bursting its banks, frantically assaulting the defenses of the fortified wall.

Each impact caused the light shield to tremble, and each tremor made the array masters paler.

Most importantly, the army of remnant souls also includes the remnant soul of a Nascent Soul Demon Emperor!

Those were demon kings who died in the various beast tides. The one with the highest cultivation level had once reached the peak of the fourth rank, only one step away from the fifth rank.

Although they are dead, their resentment has accumulated for thousands of years, making them even more terrifying than when they were alive.

The three remnant souls of the Nascent Soul staged their attack simultaneously, their grayish-white soul power transforming into three enormous pillars of light that slammed into the golden light shield.

The frequency of the light shield's vibration suddenly increased, and the speed at which the cracks spread was more than three times faster.

The array masters coughed up blood, some of them fainted on the spot and collapsed to the ground;

Some people struggled to their feet, wiped the blood from the corners of their mouths, and continued to pour spiritual energy into the array base, but they had very little spiritual energy left.

Without the support of Nascent Soul cultivators, the formation ultimately lasted only six hours.

From dusk till night, and from night till dawn, by the time the first rays of sunlight shone on the gate wall, most of the array masters had already fallen.

Seeing that the formation was about to break, Fang Lie immediately ordered, "Activate the formation at full power and eliminate those few Nascent Soul remnants!"

Following his command, the remaining array masters poured their last bit of power into the array base.

The energy of the formation began to converge, and golden spiritual light surged from all directions toward the center of the formation, condensing into a pillar of light as thick as a beam.

"boom--!"

The beam of light shot out, instantly piercing through the few Nascent Soul stage remnant souls in mid-air.

Their bodies twisted violently, emitting mournful howls, and grayish-white soul power gushed wildly from their wounds, like punctured balloons.

They struggled and twisted, finally exploding in the air and turning into countless points of light.

But also after this energy was released—

"boom--!"

With a loud bang, the defensive array on the wall shattered.

The golden light shield exploded, turning into countless points of light that dissipated in the night wind.

The array masters coughed up blood and collapsed to the ground; some of them fainted on the spot and were unconscious.

Some people struggled to their feet, their hands trembling as they tried to reactivate the array patterns, but their fingers would no longer obey their commands.

"The formation can't hold! Quick, activate the backup defensive runes!" The lieutenant's shout was drowned out by the roar of the monster.

The backup defensive runes are emergency measures engraved on the bricks of the fortified wall. They are far less powerful than the main formation, but at this moment, having them is worse than having none.

But the dead will not give them time.

A large number of the dead poured into the gate.

They passed through the city walls, through the arrow towers, and through the bodies of the soldiers.

The cultivators who were passed through by the spirits of the dead froze instantly, their faces turned deathly pale, blood flowed from their seven orifices, and some collapsed on the spot, their breaths gone.

Some had unfocused eyes, as if they had lost their souls, and stood there motionless, letting the monsters tear them apart.

"Use talismans to ward off evil! Use protective qi! Don't let them get close!" An old cultivator rushed out from the group of rogue cultivators, holding a golden talisman high in his hand.

The talisman exploded, and golden light spread in all directions, forcing the approaching ghosts back several feet.

That was a third-tier "Golden Light Evil-Repelling Talisman" that he had treasured for many years, worth tens of thousands of spirit stones, which he kept to save his life.

He used it without hesitation at that moment, because he knew that if the Burning Bone Barrier was broken, keeping those talismans would be useless.

More independent cultivators realized what was happening and began to use their warding-off-evil beads, soul-driving banners, and soul-suppressing talismans.

The warding-off bead emitted a ghostly blue light, keeping the dead at bay; the soul-driving banner fluttered in the wind, each wave repelling any approaching dead soul.

The soul-suppressing talisman was placed on the ground, and the souls within a radius of several feet instantly froze, like butterflies frozen in place.

The Evil-Repelling Bead requires spiritual power to activate, the Soul-Driving Banner requires divine consciousness to control, and the Soul-Suppressing Talisman can only last for a short time.

Every breath was being consumed, and many people's spiritual energy was rapidly depleted, making them move slower and weaker.

Finally, someone's protective bead dimmed, its spiritual power depleted, and the dead souls swarmed towards it.