I established the Eternal Immortal Clan by taming beasts.

As the wind swept through the hilly area surrounding Hundred Herbs Valley, it carried the scent of dust mixed with the embers of spiritual light.

The formation of the Fang family's allied forces is shrinking at a visible speed.

The horizontal barrier that the Vermilion Bird Army and the Black Tortoise Army originally deployed on the rear defensive line has been compressed from its initial four-mile width to less than two miles under the continuous attack of the main force of 800,000 demon beasts.

Fang Zhenshan stood on the tower at the edge of the Baicaogu front-line command post, his gaze passing through the battlefield in front of him, which was being covered in dust, and landing on the outline of the rear defense line that was being compressed.

He had not left the tower for two consecutive days. The surface of his dark gold battle armor was covered with a layer of fine dust that had condensed after being cooled by the night wind. Occasionally, the patterns on the armor would flash a golden reflection that still existed despite being covered by dust, when the morning light shone on them.

"Commander, the rear defense line is about to collapse." A general in charge of communication quickly climbed the tower. "The Vermilion Bird Army has lost nearly 40% of its forces on the third line of defense. The main force of the Black Tortoise Army is retreating towards the fourth line of defense. The vanguard of the main force of the demon beasts is less than 40 miles away from the outer wall of Baicao Valley."

At the current speed, they are expected to enter the firing range of the Baicaogu city wall this afternoon.

The Vermilion Bird Army's formation width has been reduced from the initial four hundred zhang to less than two hundred zhang, and the archers' arrow reserves have decreased to less than thirty percent of the normal rations.

Fang Zhenshan did not answer immediately, his fingers continuing to press on the wooden handrail at the edge of the tower.

His gaze shifted from the direction of the rear defense line to the protective array light screen in the direction of Baicao Valley, which was still in operation.

The light gray light curtain, under continuous pressure, is no longer as intact as it was at the beginning.

Although the depression in the southeast corner has been repaired, the repair marks left a lighter color difference on the surface of the light screen than the surrounding area, like a wound that has been repeatedly stitched up, with each repair increasing its visibility.

Similar light-colored marks have also appeared on several adjacent array bases. These marks are distributed intermittently in multiple locations on the light screen, presenting a different shade of gray in the morning light, like scratches of varying depths left on an old wall that has been repeatedly wiped.

"This is the seventh time." Fang Zhenshan's voice was low. "The array base in the southeast corner has shown spiritual energy fluctuations for the seventh time. The garrison of Baicao Valley is gradually depleting their reserve spiritual veins. Each repair consumes the spiritual energy reserves of a branch vein. Once those branches are exhausted, they cannot be replenished. The seventh repair has taken almost twice as long as the last one, which means that the branches they can use are decreasing."

The general did not respond; he simply stood there awaiting instructions.

Fang Zhenshan was silent for a moment, then his voice returned to its previous calm: "Notify the Vermilion Bird Army that they are allowed to retreat to the fourth line of defense. After they rejoin the Black Tortoise Army at the fifth line of defense, they should redeploy their defensive line. Notify the Azure Dragon Army and the White Tiger Army that after confirming that the Vermilion Bird Army and the Black Tortoise Army have completed their retreat, they should gradually shrink towards the walls of Hundred Herbs Valley, compressing the frontal width of the encirclement to half of its original size. We need to save time, tighten the defensive line, and reduce their room for maneuver."

"Yes." The general turned and strode down the tower. His footsteps echoed on the wooden steps for several breaths, gradually fading away before being drowned out by the distant roars of beasts.

That afternoon, the Fang family's allied forces completed a new round of formation adjustments.

The defensive lines of the Azure Dragon Army and the White Tiger Army, which originally formed an arc around the walls of Baicaogu City, were compressed into a tighter pincer shape, and the distance between the two armies' formations shrank from the initial thirty li to less than fifteen li.

The Vermilion Bird Army and the Black Tortoise Army converged on the fourth line of defense, forming a new horizontal barrier in the valley between the rear defense line and the walls of Baicaogu City.

The vanguard of the main force of the monsters slowed down significantly after breaking through the third line of defense.

Because the valley between the fourth and fifth lines of defense was gradually narrowing, the terrain they had to traverse became increasingly confined. Each advance required a more compact formation, and the compression of those formations paused briefly when passing through the narrowest part of the valley before resuming the advance at the same pace.

As night fell, the Fang family's allied forces had completed a complete transformation from an external encirclement to an internal convergence.

The Azure Dragon Army and the White Tiger Army maintained a uniformly thick arc around the outer perimeter of the Hundred Herbs Valley city wall, while the Vermilion Bird Army and the Black Tortoise Army deployed into another horizontal line of similar width on the rear defensive line. Only a narrow passage less than three miles wide was left between the two defensive lines.

The vanguard of the main force of the demon beasts stopped about three miles outside the fourth line of defense. They neither advanced further nor retreated, but simply maintained a stalemate with the Fang family's allied forces.

The demonic beasts that had halted their advance were scattered in the valley under the moonlight. Their low breathing formed a continuous sound in the night wind, like a suppressed tide, alternating with the sound of the Fang family's allied forces' campfire in the distance.

Lin Che stood at the bow of the flagship of the Lin family's flying boat fleet, his gaze piercing through the night and landing on the campfires that were flickering in the spiritual light within the Fang family's allied forces' formation in the distance.

"They are tightening their defenses, concentrating their forces in a smaller area, preventing the demonic beasts from using their numerical advantage to flank them, and also deterring the Hundred Herbs Valley defenders from easily leaving the city to pursue them." Lin Xuanjing stopped behind him. "Fang Zhenshan is gambling on whether the Hundred Herbs Valley's protective array will exhaust its spiritual power first, or on whether the Fang family's Nascent Soul cultivators will intervene first. If he is gambling on the former, he needs to break through the array before the defenses are completely compressed."

Lin Che remained silent for a moment, his gaze falling on the dark outline that was slowly moving in the night wind in the distance.

Those outlines were the vanguard of the main force of the demon beasts. After a day of continuous advance, they finally stopped and remained in a scattered formation in the valley less than three miles from the Fang family's allied forces' defensive line, waiting for orders.

"Fang Zhenshan is a smart man. He can see that this is a dead end. In front of them is the mountain-protecting formation of Baicao Valley, which has not yet been breached. Behind them are 800,000 demonic beasts advancing. On both sides, the Reverse Fate Demon Palace and Qingyun Sword Sect may cut in at any time. Meanwhile, our Lin family is cutting off their escape route to the northeast."

His decision to consolidate the defensive line was correct, concentrating forces in a smaller area, preventing the besieging forces from fully utilizing their advantages simultaneously, and requiring more men to fill the gaps in the encirclement.

"What if the Fang family's Nascent Soul cultivator really makes a move?" Lin Xuanjing's voice maintained a steady rhythm in the night breeze. "How do we respond?"

"Those demon lords who are manipulating this beast tide behind the scenes will also take action."

Lin Che's gaze remained fixed on the dark outline slowly moving in the night wind in the distance.

"As long as those new-faction demon clan venerables unite, the Fang family will not have any advantage in terms of the number of Nascent Soul cultivators. Since the demon clan venerables have chosen to support this plan, they must have already included the Fang family's Nascent Soul cultivators in their plans."

Lin Xuanjing nodded, his gaze also turning in that direction.

The campfires of the Fang family's allied forces flickered in the night wind, each flicker illuminating and then fading the silhouettes of those on guard again.

The main force of the demon beasts remained in a state of standby under the moonlight, showing no signs of launching a new attack or retreating.

The Lin family's airship fleet remained docked at the edge of that highland, the camouflage netting on the hulls swaying slightly in the night wind, creating a continuous, synchronized swaying frequency with the surrounding bushes.

As night fell completely, a beam of light appeared in the sky behind the Fang family's allied forces.

The beam of light moved at an extremely fast speed from the southeast horizon toward Baicao Valley, leaving a long, thin trail of light in the night sky.

The width of the light trail gradually increased as it moved, expanding from an initial line to a visible width of about two fingers. It was briefly illuminated by moonlight as it passed through a gap in the clouds, and then continued to advance in the same direction.

The campfires of the Fang family's allied forces underwent a noticeable change at the same time the spiritual light appeared.

"The Nascent Soul cultivator from the Fang family has indeed made a move." Lin Che's voice came from the bow of the main ship. "Notify all departments to take their designated positions. The airship formation will take off. Maintain distance from the Nascent Soul cultivator from the Fang family and do not attempt to intercept him."

The engines of the airship formation started running at adjusted power at the same time.

While outputting thrust at a lower decibel level than usual, they maintained a frequency similar to the surrounding night wind, so that they left almost no sound traces in the night sky that could be recognized from a distance during their ascent.

As the airships ascended, they deployed in a three-row formation, maintaining a pre-set spacing. The aura array at the bow provided basic illumination for the engines to operate at a minimum brightness.

As the approaching Nascent Soul cultivators arrived above the rear defensive line of the Fang family's allied forces, their speed decreased from an extremely fast dash to a near-suspended slow movement.

Moving forward at a pace several times slower than before, it revealed a humanoid silhouette shrouded in a continuously flowing golden aura under the moonlight.

When the night wind approached within about ten feet of him, it began to automatically circulate around him, forming a ring-shaped void in the air that was almost invisible to the naked eye.

His figure remained at a steady height under the moonlight, neither descending nor ascending, like a golden marker fixed in the air, continuously radiating a steady light in the darkness of the night.

A powerful pressure from a Nascent Soul cultivator enveloped the entire battlefield.

Fang Zhenshan's voice came from the array plate and spread to all armies along the communication network within the Fang family's allied forces: "The Venerable One has arrived on the battlefield. All armies should maintain their existing defensive lines and prepare to receive the main force's withdrawal."

The orders, compressed in form, traveled along the array plates to the various units of the Fang family's allied forces in the night wind.

Within a few breaths, the arc-shaped defensive line of the Azure Dragon Army and the White Tiger Army outside the Hundred Herbs Valley city wall narrowed inward by nearly ten zhang, and the horizontal line of the Vermilion Bird Army and the Black Tortoise Army on the rear defensive line also completed its inward contraction at the same moment with a similar magnitude.

The Nascent Soul cultivators of the Fang family's allied forces slowly descended within that layer of spiritual light, landing in the rear ranks of the Fang family's allied forces, and then disappeared into the boundary where night and dust intertwined.

Then two points of light appeared on the horizon.

Two auras of Nascent Soul cultivators emerged.

The Venerable Ones from the demon beast side also arrived, clearly to prevent the Fang family's Nascent Soul stage cultivators from bypassing the battlefield and directly interfering in the battle.

After that, no more Nascent Soul cultivators from the Fang family appeared, clearly indicating that they had no intention of engaging in a true life-or-death battle with the demon race's venerable one.

The situation on the battlefield remained in the same equilibrium as before for the next half hour.

The Fang family's three-tiered defensive line remained operational, while the vanguard of the main force of the demon beasts remained outside the fourth defensive line without advancing further.

The night flows slowly forward in this constant balance, covering all sounds under the same dark blanket.

After several days of fierce fighting, the Fang family's allied forces finally broke through the defenses at a heavy cost, and Fang Zhenshan decisively ordered a retreat.

To ensure the main force could successfully withdraw, he left a rearguard to hold off the pursuers, while he himself insisted on staying behind at the very end.

This rearguard completed the final defensive line setup in the hilly area surrounding Baicao Valley, spreading out in the morning light into a longitudinal line less than a mile wide, blocking the vanguard of the main force of the demon beasts outside the hills.

The main force of the Fang family's allied forces and Fang Zhenshan successfully withdrew from the battlefield in the night along the northeast direction.

The rearguard lost more than 60% of its strength in two days of fierce fighting, and only withdrew when Fang Zhenshan successfully reached the border of the Southern Plain.

In this battle, the Fang family's allied forces suffered nearly half their losses, almost all of their logistical supplies were lost, and their original prestige was severely damaged.

In the short term, the Fang family will no longer have the strength to unify the Southern Region, and the chaos in the Southern Region will continue for a long time, which is exactly what all the participating forces expected.

The Fang family also needs time to digest the territory they have gained, recover their lost troops, and readjust their strategy.

When the news reached Green Water Gorge, Fang Wushuang was inspecting the reinforcement of the base of the second line of defense outside the pass.

She stood there, holding the communication jade slip, and remained silent for a long time.

When she looked up, her gaze was darker than usual: "Pass down the order: the garrison at Green Water Gorge shall go into defensive mode, block the pass, and no one shall leave the defensive line without authorization until the safety of the main force is confirmed."

Meanwhile, after completing the blockade of the evacuation route to the northeast, the Lin family's airship fleet began to advance northward, returning along the eastern edge of the Fulong Mountains towards the South Camp.

Lin Che stood at the bow of the main ship for a long time, his gaze passing through the outline of the Hundred Herbs Valley battlefield that was gradually receding in the morning light, and falling on the edge of the clouds that was gradually being illuminated by the sunlight in the distance.

The post-war period of rest and recuperation has begun.

The Lin family needs time to digest the three key nodes of Burning Bone Pass, Burning Bone City, and Southern Camp; they need time to continue developing the new urban area south of Qingfeng Gorge; and they need time to nurture the new batch of spirit beasts that have just hatched in the secret realm.

In a more distant view, through the gaps between the clouds and the mountain ridges, he saw a southern region that was about to be redefined.

The Fang family was no longer the absolute ruler, and Baicao Valley and Qingyun Sword Sect regained some breathing room.

The Demon Palace of Rebellion is reshaping its position as a Nascent Soul sect.

For the first time, monsters played a crucial role in influencing the outcome of this long struggle between humans and monsters.

For the Lin family, the game in the Southern Region has only just begun.

……