I established the Eternal Immortal Clan by taming beasts.

As the morning light crept up from behind the ridgeline of the southern section of the Qingyun Mountains, the first roar of a beast pierced through the morning mist of the Fang family's allied forces' rear defense line.

The sound was deep and resonant, carrying a rich, refracted quality as it passed through the mist, like a vibration emanating from within the mountain, spreading outwards at a continuous frequency across the ground.

The sentries guarding the rear line initially thought it was thunder in the distance, but they panicked when the ground began to tremble visibly and gravel bounced around their feet.

Then came a second sound, a third sound, followed by a continuous roar that surged from behind the ridgeline.

The roars overlapped, overlapped, and alternated irregularly in the morning mist, eventually coalescing into a continuous low-frequency rumble within a few breaths, shattering the original silence of the valley.

At the same moment that the morning light broke through the mountain ridge, a torrent of 800,000 demonic beasts surged out from the edge of the dense forest.

The first to appear were the vanguard of the Earthshakers, who advanced down the southern slope of the ridge in dense formations, leaving footprints several inches deep in the ground with each step.

The footprints stretched from the top of the ridgeline to the bottom of the slope, forming a dark line flowing downwards in the morning light, like ink being slowly stretched and extended segment by segment on a tilted piece of paper.

Closely following behind was a formation of armored rhinoceroses, which were even larger than the Earthshakers. Their horn tips gleamed with a dark metallic sheen in the morning light, leaving a trail of tan that kept widening as they passed.

The rear defense line of the Fang family's allied forces was garrisoned by 35,000 men, consisting of a complete unit of the Xuanwu Army and two reserve battalions of the Qinglong Army.

The formation was mainly spread out horizontally, arranged along a low hill ridge, with shield-bearers in front and archers behind. The arrangement of shields and arrows formed a dark horizontal line of uniform width in the morning light. The length of the horizontal line gradually extended along the ridge, covering a frontal width of about four miles.

The commander of the rear defense line sensed the anomaly the moment the main force of the monsters rushed out of the edge of the dense forest.

He stood at the highest point of the hill ridge, and the edge of the dense forest within his field of vision was being filled with dark outlines at an extremely rapid pace, from the initial scattered black dots to the subsequent dense formations, the whole process taking no more than twenty breaths.

"Monster—!" The messenger's voice was cut off by the roar of the beast. Before he could finish speaking, the first wave of attack had already reached the front line of the defense.

The Fang family's rear defensive line was compressed to a depth of about thirty zhang in the first few breaths of the attack.

The Earthshaker's charge smashed several gaps in the front-line sword and shield soldiers' defenses. Under continuous pressure, the shields were forced from a horizontal position to an inward tilt. The joints between the shield edges separated in sections during the impact, only to be reassembled by the sword and shield soldiers who filled in from behind before the next charge.

In the first volley, the crossbowmen fired about three volleys of arrows at a sustained rate. The arrows flew in diagonal arcs through the gaps between the shield-bearers in the front ranks and landed in front of the charging monster ranks, pinning the forelimbs of several earth-shattering bears to the ground.

But the following monsters continued to advance, stepping on the bodies of their companions. Those monsters that were pinned down were continuously crushed into the mud as their kin trampled them from behind, leaving short, dark marks on the front lines.

Within half an incense stick's time after the attack, the defenders in the rear completed their first round of formation adjustments, pulling the originally horizontally spread defensive line inward by about fifteen zhang (approximately 33 meters) to fill the gaps torn open by the attack at the front with a more compact spacing.

The archers changed from volley fire to batch fire, maintaining a continuous barrage of arrows in three shifts, forming a diagonal blockade in front of the defensive line and forcing the monsters that tried to bypass the front line back to the main attack direction in the center.

However, the numerical advantage of the monsters is irreversibly changing the course of the battlefield.

Of the 800,000 demonic beasts, at least half were emerging from the edge of the dense forest in dense ranks, forming a horizontal array more than five miles wide on the open ground in front of the hills. Like a dark tide rising, the array was compressing the space of the defensive line inch by inch with its ever-increasing height.

The Fang family's allied forces' communication system completed the transmission to the Baicaogu front-line command about the time it takes to drink a cup of tea after the rear defense line was attacked.

The moment the message jade slip reached Fang Zhenshan's hands, he was discussing with the generals of the Vermilion Bird Army the adjustment plan for the new round of siege.

The spiritual light on the surface of the jade slip flickered rapidly, and automatically unfolded into a complete battle report the moment it touched his fingertips.

Fang Zhenshan spent about five breaths reading the battle report. During those five breaths, the general beside him saw his fingers slowly tighten at the edge of the jade slip, his knuckles turning white. He realized that something had happened, and something big at that.

"The rear defense line has been attacked."

Upon hearing this, the generals were taken aback. Was there another problem with the supply line?

But the coach's reaction doesn't seem to be that simple.

The next moment, Fang Zhenshan revealed information that made their pupils widen.

"It's the main force of the beast tide! We've been tricked! All that the Rebellious Demon Palace did was to attract our attention; their real killing move is the beast tide!"

They secretly broke through the defenses from the southern section of the Qingyun Mountains, advancing eastward along the edge of the dense forests in the southern section of the Qingyun Mountains, and completed their assembly outside the reconnaissance range of our scouts. Now our retreat has been cut off by the main force of the beast tide.

The air in the tent seemed to freeze for a moment.

A general who was reviewing logistics accounts dropped the jade slip in his hand to the ground with a thud.

Another general stared intently at the area marked "Southern Section of Qingyun Mountain Range" on the map, looking somewhat dazed.

Everyone was shocked by the news.

To be honest, the actions of the Demon Palace of Rebellion and the Lin family were considered minor disturbances in their eyes. They might affect the battle situation, but they would never shake the course of the war. However, the current situation made them feel a chill.

"Let's split up and return to defense." After a moment of silence, Fang Zhenshan's voice rang out again.

"The main forces of the Vermilion Bird Army and the Black Tortoise Army will be withdrawn from the siege sequence to defend the rear lines. The Azure Dragon Army and the White Tiger Army will continue to maintain the siege of Hundred Herbs Valley, but the offensive will be changed to a defensive posture. They will no longer actively attack the mountain-protecting formation. They will maintain a pincer movement with the existing contact line as the boundary. The siege will be suspended until the movement of the main force of the monsters in the rear is confirmed."

"Commander, if we halt the siege now, the defenders of Hundred Herbs Valley might launch a preemptive strike to coordinate with the main force of the demonic beasts in a pincer attack." A general's voice trailed off with a brief hesitation. "Although their protective mountain array is still operational, after these past few days of continuous assaults, the array's southeast corner has already shown three observable fluctuations of spiritual energy. If we break through the array before the main force of the demonic beasts arrives, the defenders of Hundred Herbs Valley will lose their support, and we can free up more troops to deal with threats from the rear..."

"The main force of the demonic beasts has already engaged the rear defense line," Fang Zhenshan interrupted him.

"The advance of 800,000 demonic beasts from the southern section of the Qingyun Mountains means that they have completed more than ten days of covert march in the dense forest. Their choice to appear behind us at this time indicates that the timing was precisely calculated. What they want is to cut off our retreat and supply lines from the rear while we are tied down at the front line of Baicao Valley."

His gaze shifted from the marked location on the map to the sky outside the tent, which was gradually brightening in the morning light.

"If I divide my forces now to defend and find a breakthrough, the allied forces will only face 800,000 monsters. But if I continue the siege now, once the monsters break through our rear defenses, our retreat will be completely cut off, and we will face the risk of total annihilation!"

"Commander, there's also the Rebellious Demon Palace, the Azure Cloud Sword Sect, and the Lin family." Another general's voice was low. "If they break in while we're fighting the main force of the demon beasts and launch an attack from the flank, coupled with the pressure from Baicao Valley and the demon beasts from both the front and rear, it seems we're completely trapped in Baicao Valley."

Everyone fell silent again.

This looks like a dead end.

Ahead lay the mountain-protecting array of Baicao Valley, which had yet to be breached; behind them were 800,000 demonic beasts breaking through the defenses; and on either side were the flanking forces of the Rebellious Demon Palace, Qingyun Sword Sect, and the Lin family, who could intervene at any moment. Each pressure was tightening the Fang family's allied forces' operational space at its own pace.

"How's the situation with Fang Wushuang?" Fang Zhenshan broke the deadlock and turned to the intelligence officer in charge of liaison.

"General Wushuang arrived at the outer pass of Green Water Gorge two days ago. Together with the previous garrison, they have stabilized the defensive line after fighting the vanguard of the Demon Beast Alliance. Currently, the main force of the Demon Beast Alliance has withdrawn to the depths of the gorge, and the two sides are in a stalemate at the pass. Fang Wushuang has reinforced the base of the formation at the pass and is building a deep defense along the outer edge of the pass."

"Have her stay put and hold the line. Don't send her back. Even if she comes back, her small force won't be able to solve the current predicament. Her only task is to defend the pass of Green Water Gorge!"

As he spoke, Fang Zhenshan looked at the assembled generals.

"The battle hasn't even begun! As commanders, we can't afford to be so easily defeated. How can we lose our fighting spirit before the fight has even started! Everyone, begin marching according to my instructions. It's not the final moment yet; there's still room for maneuver. Don't forget, we still have people holding the line above us!"

Everyone suddenly realized that their Fang family still had two Nascent Soul cultivators.

The two Nascent Soul cultivators were the Fang family's last trump card, and also the fundamental reason why Fang Zhenshan was able to remain calm even in the most critical moment.

Once a Nascent Soul cultivator makes a move, the battlefield situation may change fundamentally in a very short time. Although the number of demonic beasts is huge, their numerical advantage will be greatly offset by the difference in the laws when facing the power comparison at the Nascent Soul level.

As long as the battle progresses to the point where it is impossible to win, the Fang family patriarch will definitely take action personally to stop the Fang family coalition from losing!

…………

The first day that the Fang family's allied forces began to retreat.

The main forces of the Vermilion Bird Army and the Black Tortoise Army withdrew from the front line of Hundred Herbs Valley and advanced backward along the supply line, redeploying their formation outside the rear defense line.

The formation of the Fang family's allied forces was in a state of constant flux during that period.

The original three-layered encirclement, which was mainly for attacking the city, is being readjusted into an arc-shaped defensive line. The Azure Dragon Army and the White Tiger Army are maintaining a pincer movement around Baicao Valley, but they are no longer launching attacks.

The Vermilion Bird Army and the Black Tortoise Army formed a horizontal barrier on the rear defensive line, blocking the vanguard of the beast tide at the outer edge of the rear defensive line.

The defenders of Baicao Valley did not take immediate action after noticing the change in the pressure of the siege.

They spent about half an hour confirming the actual range of changes in the Fang family's allied forces' formation.

From the city wall, we observed the retreat routes of the Vermilion Bird Army and the Black Tortoise Army, as well as the shift in the attack rhythm of the Azure Dragon Army and the White Tiger Army from continuous pressure to intermittent probing.

Their city wall commander did not choose to launch an attack, but instead ordered his troops to remain on standby inside the city walls.

Only a small number of archers maintained a constant aiming posture on the city wall, neither allowing the Fang family's allied forces to completely relax their vigilance, nor revealing their intentions prematurely due to changes in the enemy's formation.

The next day, after breaking through the first line of defense of the Fang family's allied forces, the main force of the demon beasts advanced to the edge of the hilly area surrounding Hundred Herbs Valley.

During that period, the Fang family's allied forces transformed their formation from a circular encirclement to an arc-shaped defensive line. The Azure Dragon Army and the White Tiger Army served as a pincer force, remaining on the outskirts of Hundred Herbs Valley, while the Vermilion Bird Army and the Black Tortoise Army, together with the rear defense forces, gradually deployed their defenses along the path of the main force of the demon beasts.

The Fang family's allied forces' supply lines had been completely cut off. After confirming the fall of their rear defenses, the guards scattered in Qiansongpo and the northern section of Fengye Ridge began to move towards the Xuanwu Army's defenses, which replenished the Fang family's allied forces to some extent during that period.

On the morning of the third day, the Lin family's flying boat fleet arrived at a high ground about fifty miles east of the hilly area surrounding Baicao Valley.

Here you can observe the entire formation of the Fang family's allied forces.

The colors of the Azure Dragon Army and the White Tiger Army's spirit armor formed a continuously flowing arc in the morning light.

The Vermilion Bird Army and the Black Tortoise Army deployed to form another shorter horizontal barrier on the rear defensive line, leaving a gap of about thirty miles between the two defensive lines, which was the direction in which the main force of the demon beasts was trying to break through.

Those gaps were being filled, compressed, and reopened at a continuous pace by both sides' battle lines, with each adjustment pushing the Fang family's allied forces' operational range further inward.

Lin Che stood at the bow of the flying boat, his gaze passing through the open space that was being covered in dust, and landing deep within the formation of the Fang family's allied forces.

"Pass down the order: the airship formation takes off, the Dawn Army deploys its advance array on the ground, and the spirit beast legion follows."

His voice came from the bow of the main ship and spread at a fixed frequency to the receiver of every spaceship on the communication array.

"Target the eastern side of the Fang family's rear defense line, without directly contacting the main force of the demon beasts. Maintain a presence on the flank of their advance path to cut off the Fang family's retreat route to the northeast. After this battle at Baicao Valley, they will not be able to leave."