I established the Eternal Immortal Clan by taming beasts.

The destruction of the Bone-Shattering Ape vanguard did not deter the demon army in the slightest; instead, it fueled an even more ferocious killing intent.

Those fallen kin, the blood that soaked the earth, the flesh and blood that exploded in the rain of arrows, were like some kind of burning fuse, igniting the bloodthirsty instincts of every beast in the herd.

Howls rose and fell, the fierce light in their pupils grew brighter, and even the air was filled with an almost frenzied fighting spirit.

The Iron-Armed Ape King personally led his army to the front, his massive figure standing like a moving banner at the forefront of the beast tide.

Dark gray aura surged around it, and each breath it took was accompanied by a muffled, thunderous sound, like a war engine in operation, with even the ground beneath its feet trembling slightly with each breath.

Its arms hung at its sides, its knuckles twitching slightly, making a creaking sound as it focused its gaze on the array patterns and the defenders on the city wall, quickly determining the best point of attack.

The dark pupils reflected the running array patterns, and the gaze moved across the wall as if it were a tangible object.

The second wave of attackers consisted of thousands of iron-armed apes.

This is the direct lineage of the Iron-Armed Ape King. Although they are slightly smaller than the Bone-Crushing Ape, they are faster and have more concentrated power.

Each one was covered in thick leather armor, and its arms were as hard as iron; a single blow could leave deep chisel marks on the bricks and stones of the city wall.

They no longer charged in a scattered manner, but instead formed dozens of wedge-shaped formations, like sharp knives, attempting to bypass the paths covered by the densest rain of arrows and cut into the gaps in the Spirit Trapping Array.

Although the Iron-Armed Ape King is a demonic beast, it has fought against humans many times and is familiar with human combat tactics.

If they charged straight forward like that, the death toll of the apes would definitely be very high.

The optimal solution is to use the strongest weapons to break through the defenses, approach the city walls, and draw enemy fire, turning the battle into the close-quarters combat they are most familiar with.

This time, the Spirit Trapping Array didn't hold them off for long.

The Iron-Armed Ape King was clearly prepared. After the second wave of attacks began, it suddenly leaped up from behind the beast horde, its massive body drawing a dark gray arc in the air, like a falling meteorite.

Its fists clenched, and dark gray spiritual light rapidly condensed on the surface of its fists, compressing into two tangible balls of light. Then, it slammed its fists hard onto the ground.

"boom--!"

A dark gray shockwave exploded outwards from the Iron-Armed Ape King, spreading wildly in all directions like an invisible giant wave, kicking up dust several meters high.

Where the shockwave swept, the ground cracked, the array base trembled, and the spirit patterns buried in the soil were shaken and slightly shifted.

The suppressive effect of the Spirit Trapping Array created a crack in that instant. The crack wasn't large, but it was enough for elite ape warriors to squeeze through.

The Iron-Armed Apes that had broken through the arrows squeezed through the gap, their speed suddenly doubling, like wild beasts unleashed from their shackles, charging towards the city wall.

Their eyes burned with fighting spirit, their arms left deep claw marks on the ground, and each breath was accompanied by a low roar.

But the next second, the Iron-Armed Apes' offensive was put on hold.

When they were fifty feet away from the city wall, a thick, dark black defensive array barrier blocked their way.

The barrier was as thick as iron, its surface shimmering with a dark luster, like the armor of a black tortoise, giving people a sense of "unshakeable" oppression.

The barrier's aura was solid and profound, like a sleeping behemoth looking down at the ants that attacked it.

At this moment, the defensive formation activated by Chuyang City was no longer the Jade Spirit Origin Formation used to deceive people, but the Four Symbols Returning to Origin Formation personally set up by Lin Xuanqing!

The four symbols of Azure Dragon, White Tiger, Vermilion Bird, and Black Tortoise correspond to the four sides of the city wall of Chuyang City.

The south side is envisioned to face the greatest defensive pressure, so the Xuanwu Formation, with its strongest defense, is located there.

The moment the formation was activated, the iron-armed apes crashed into the dark black formation barrier.

Their arms slammed against the barrier with a dull thud, but did not budge it an inch.

The barrier was like an invisible mountain, swallowing up all their charging force.

Some of the Iron-Armed Apes' fists cracked open, and blood dripped down their knuckles, but the barrier didn't even leave a single crack.

But the group of iron-armed apes did not panic.

He activated his supernatural powers, his arms glowing with a dark light, and slammed them towards the array barrier.

Those iron arms were like heavy battering rams, each time they fell, they created dark ripples on the surface of the barrier. But before the ripples could spread even half a foot, they were completely swallowed up by the stable power of the Xuanwu Formation.

At the same moment, the Gale Ape and Fire Mane Ape on both wings also activated their supernatural powers, unleashing a barrage of cyan wind blades and red fireballs that simultaneously bombarded the defensive barrier.

The wind blades sliced ​​shallow marks on the barrier, and the fireballs exploded on the barrier's surface, creating patches of crimson light. But those shallow marks healed in an instant, and those patches of light extinguished in the blink of an eye.

The spiritual light on the barrier's surface flowed like a living thing, smoothing out the wounds one by one, like ripples on water that leave no trace after they pass.

"Boom boom—!"

A constant rumbling sound echoed across the plain below the city walls, like endless thunder, enveloping the entire city wall in a deafening symphony.

The defenders on the city wall were initially nervous when they saw the elite monsters charging up, and their palms, gripping the metal parts of their longbows, were already sweating.

After witnessing the powerful defensive capabilities of this formation with their own eyes, they felt no fear whatsoever.

Lin Xuanjing's order came at that moment: "All personnel, switch to spirit crossbows!"

The distance was now close enough; it was time for the spirit crossbow to shine.

The crossbow is faster, more accurate, and consumes less spirit energy than the bow, making it suitable for dense attacks at this distance.

As soon as the order was given, the defenders on the defensive line immediately took out their crossbows from their waists, loaded them with arrows, put their fingers on the triggers, and kept their eyes locked on the approaching figures, waiting for the order to be given.

"Ready...to launch!"

Thousands of spiritual energy arrows were fired simultaneously, raining down on the demonic beasts in front of the defensive barrier.

The arrows pierced through the gaps in the array patterns on the barrier's surface, accurately striking the eye sockets, throats, joint gaps, and chests and abdomens of the demonic beasts attacking the barrier.

Those were the weak points that the garrison had repeatedly trained on and knew by heart.

Then came the second wave, and the third wave.

The crossbow was three times faster than the bow, and in the same amount of time, the garrison had already completed three volleys!

The iron-armed apes, who were attacking the barrier with all their might, had no time to dodge. Dense arrows pierced through their defenses and struck their vital points.

Some had arrows pierce their eye sockets and exit through the back of their heads; their bodies stiffened for a moment before they collapsed to the ground.

Some had their throats pierced by arrows, making a hoarse sound as blood gushed from their wounds, staining the ground beneath them red.

Some were riddled with arrows, like hedgehogs, yet they still pounded against the barrier until the last arrow pierced their heart, finally collapsing with a thud.

A large number of Iron-Armed Apes fell to the ground, their weak points pierced through, and they were no longer alive.

Their corpses piled up in front of the barrier, forming a low, dark red hill, their flesh mangled and bones shattered. Dark red blood soaked the land, forming small streams that accumulated in the craters to create dark red shallows.

What is the Lin family most familiar with?

It is undoubtedly a demon beast.

Now that we know who the enemy is, how could we not prepare in advance?

One of the most important training programs for the garrison is to master the weaknesses of all the ape-like monsters in Red Ape Territory.

Those weaknesses were engraved on wooden plaques, drawn on blueprints, and repeatedly practiced on the training grounds; every garrison monk could recite them with his eyes closed.

The Iron-Armed Ape's weak point is in the gap between the second joint of its neck; the Bone-Crushing Ape's weak point is one inch below its eye socket; the Gale Ape's weak point is at the junction of its wing roots; and the Fire-Mane Ape's weak point is below the third scale on its abdomen.

At this moment, this training has undoubtedly been extremely effective.

Guided by the cultivator's divine sense, each arrow landed exactly where it was meant to be.

At the same time, Iron-Armed Apes kept pouring in through the gaps in the Spirit-Trapping Array opened by the Iron-Armed Apes King.

However, the defensive barriers blocked their path, preventing them from getting close to the city walls at all.

They crowded in front of the barrier, like a flood blocked by an invisible wall, unable to break through no matter how hard they tried.

It did manage to delay the enemy's long-range firepower and draw their attention, but the rate of casualties was rather rapid.

The iron-armed apes lined up in rows in front of the barrier. As the ones in front fell, the ones behind took their place, then fell again, and took their place again, like a meat grinder that was being ground to death one after another.

Upon seeing this, the Iron-Armed Ape King's face darkened.

Its fingers clenched, making a cracking sound, and its eyes blazed with fury.

Those who fell were all its own kind, its direct descendants, and its old subordinates who had been with it for over a hundred years.

Every dead Iron-Armed Ape is like someone has ripped a piece of flesh out of its heart with a knife.

Without further hesitation, the only option was to employ the tactic that would result in the greatest casualties.

"All troops, listen to my command! Charge!"

The Gale Apes and Firemane Apes on the flanks, the Bone-Crushing Apes in the vanguard, and the Iron-Armed Apes in the middle, had no time to wait and rushed towards the city wall at full speed.

The sounds of hooves, footsteps, and roars blended together, like a flash flood, overwhelming everything.

Even if their limbs become heavy and their steps become slow after stepping into the Spirit Trapping Array, they will not hesitate.

Because the Iron-Armed Ape King was right behind them, if they retreated, they might die even faster!

And so, as their kin fell one after another beside them, the monsters continued to charge forward.

Those fallen figures were trampled over by their companions, and those stagnant corpses were pushed forward by the surging beast tide. The entire beast tide was like a meat grinder that spared no expense, filling the road leading to the city wall with layer upon layer of flesh and blood.

Some of the monsters were shot through the legs by arrows during the charge, fell to the ground, and before they could get up, their spines were crushed by their companions behind them.

Some of the monsters had their hearts pierced by arrows, and their bodies tilted forward, but they were still pushed and slid for several feet by inertia, leaving a dark red trail.

A large number of demonic beasts arrived in front of the defensive barrier, unleashing their full power and supernatural abilities to bombard the array barrier.

The pillars of the army, the third-tier demonic beasts, also arrived in front of the formation at this moment, and their ferocious attacks, dozens of times stronger than before, began to fall.

The roaring and howling sounds, along with the rain of arrows, never ceased; the sounds merged into one, like the fury of heaven and earth.

The air was thick with the pungent smell of blood and burnt food, mixed with dust and the aroma of burning, making one's throat tighten.

But it was as if a Xuanwu (a mythical tortoise) was really standing in front of them, and the barrier showed no sign of being shaken.

No matter how they attacked, the barrier remained perfectly still, like a reflection in water, and would instantly recover from each impact.

Each time they slammed down, the barrier only trembled slightly before settling back down.

That thick, dark barrier became an insurmountable chasm for them.

The battle continued for four hours.

From the first light of dawn to the blazing sun, and from the blazing sun to the setting sun, the monsters beneath the city walls came and went in waves, and the corpses piled up layer upon layer in front of the barrier.

The corpses piled up higher and higher, like a dark red hill, slowly rising on the plain in front of the city walls, changing the shape of the originally flat terrain.

But the dark black barrier still stood firmly, like an ancient mountain, unmoved no matter how the beast tide surged.

The garrison troops also began to rotate shifts.

The first batch of archers who came up were now drinking water, swallowing pills, and rubbing their sore shoulders in the rest area behind the city wall.

The second long-range battalion, which had been replaced, was lying behind the battlements, accurately firing at the surging monsters.

The third long-range battalion was waiting below the city. They were already dressed in armor, their crossbows were cocked, their eyes were fixed on the city wall, their breathing was steady, and their expressions were calm.

…………

The demon kings who had been watching the whole thing from the sidelines stared wide-eyed.

The Lava Lizard King's mouth was wide open, its dark red vertical pupils filled with disbelief, and its tail stood stiffly behind it, motionless.

He glanced at the barrier, then at the mountain of monster corpses piled before it, his Adam's apple bobbing. "Is this... is this still the Chuyang City we attacked? The city we besieged for so many days?"

"No..." The Ironbacked Bear King's voice was dry. His gaze shifted from the barrier, then returned to it, as if confirming he hadn't misread it. "Is this... us acting, or is the City of Chuyang acting?"

"This defensive formation is terrifying! And that formation that can block us..." The voice of the Jade-Eyed Golden Toad King carried a sense of relief at surviving a disaster, and his emerald green eyes were filled with lingering fear.

"Thank goodness, thank goodness. If we hadn't listened to Old Fox back then, we'd probably be skinned alive and turned into magical artifacts by humans!" He shrank back as he thought of his surviving subordinates and his tribesmen who were still idling in the camp.

The other demon kings nodded repeatedly, their eyes filled with lingering fear.

Those elite troops of the Red Ape Territory, those loyal followers who usually acted arrogantly in front of them, were now falling one after another under the city walls, powerless to fight back.

If they hadn't listened to the Blue-Faced Fox King's advice, they would probably be among the corpses beneath the city wall by now.

The Blue-Faced Fox King, who witnessed the whole thing, was also somewhat surprised.

He narrowed his eyes slightly, his amber pupils reflecting the dark barrier, and his assessment of the Lin family rose even higher.

He really hadn't expected that the Lin family could build such a strong defensive array system in Chuyang City.

The direction of those array patterns, the distribution of energy, and the arrangement of nodes—every detail was far more ingenious than he had imagined, and far superior to many array masters he had seen in Burning Bone Pass.

His gaze swept across the battlefield, landing on the defenders still calmly firing from the city wall, then on the still unmoving barrier, before slowly withdrawing his gaze, a faint smile appearing at the corner of his mouth.

It seems the Demon Emperor's test can be completed ahead of schedule.

Moreover, the Lin family has not yet shown any signs of its true strength.

He believed that the final result would definitely surprise the Demon Emperor.