So it turns out I'm the demon!

As the saying goes, "Where the willows are dark and the flowers are bright, the secluded valley naturally exudes fragrance."

In an instant, Jiang Mu felt a dizzying sensation, as if she had fallen into a cluster of cold roses blooming in an extremely cold place.

The cool fragrance was so strong that it caused a brief period of oxygen deprivation in his brain.

However, before she could fully appreciate the fragrance of the flowers, the woman suddenly vanished into thin air.

Jiang Mu was taken aback and turned to look.

Ji Hongyuan had already appeared several feet away at the foot of the courtyard wall.

The normally incomparably alluring zombie queen now stood with her arms crossed, her chest rising and falling slightly, her expression shifting between anger and uncertainty as she coldly stared at him. A few streaks of lingering sunset-like blush graced her beautiful, cold face.

It seems that the woman has sobered up from her drunken stupor.

Jiang Mu coughed lightly and said calmly:

"What kind of evil kung fu are you practicing? It has quite a strong aftereffect."

Ji Hongyuan stared at him without saying a word.

Just when Jiang Mu thought the female zombie was about to explode, she suddenly smiled:

"I almost forgot, Brother Jiang isn't exactly a gentleman who can remain unmoved by women. After all, back in Huzhou City, you were quite the playboy who frequented brothels."

You dragged me over here because you were in heat, and now you're trying to talk to me about being a gentleman?

Jiang Mu silently complained to himself.

He didn't argue with her, but bent down to pick up the high heels that had fallen to his feet and walked up to Ji Hongyuan.

Ignoring the wariness in the woman's eyes, he squatted down and grabbed her ankle.

She naturally lifted her small feet gently and put her high heels back on her toes.

"If I were to truly transform into a beast and take advantage of your momentary lapse of consciousness to force myself upon you, you would be unhappy once you regain your senses, and might even come after me with your life."

Jiang Mu clapped his hands and said.

Ji Hongyuan looked down at the man putting on her shoes, somewhat stunned.

But they did not try to avoid it.

From this angle, she could see the top of the man's hair, which she had just messed up, and the faint dents on his shoulders from her heels. She lightly bit her soft lower lip, her tone nonchalant:

"It doesn't matter, it's just an avatar. If you really have the guts, consider it a reward from me."

Jiang Mu gave her a strange look.

He now seriously suspects that this so-called "clone" is not a clone in the conventional sense.

It's probably formed directly from a soul.

It is connected to the body's soul; if one is damaged, the other is damaged; if one is itchy, the other is itchy.

Ji Hongyuan seemed unwilling to linger on this awkward topic. She straightened her skirt and said sweetly:

"Alright, I'm not going to waste my breath on you, you little lecher. I'm going back to take care of your few delicate little wives, so that if anything goes wrong, you won't complain that I took the deposit and didn't do anything."

Having said that, she lightly touched the ground with her toes, which were wrapped in black silk, and gracefully leaped onto the wall, turning into a wisp of red smoke and disappearing into the night.

Jiang Mu stood there, stunned.

Recalling the moment he was lured into the abyss, he touched the tip of his nose and muttered to himself:

"Isn't it said that facing the sea brings spring flowers... but it doesn't seem to have the smell of the sea at all, it's more like a sea of ​​roses."

Just as Jiang Mu was still savoring the moment, the night sky above her head suddenly darkened abruptly.

Jiang Mu thought it was because dark clouds were obscuring the moonlight.

But when he looked up at the sky, he froze on the spot.

A black dog appeared in the bright, full moon high in the sky.

And the dog was gnawing and tearing at the moon.

Tengu eclipses the moon? !

Jiang Mu's head buzzed.

With each bite the black dog took, a piece of the moon was missing, and the gnawed area turned a scarlet red.

It was as if the moon's skin had been peeled off, revealing the bloody flesh beneath.

The crimson moonlight shone down, shrouding the city in a sinister, blood-red filter.

The strange phenomenon of a celestial dog eclipsing the moon quickly attracted everyone's attention.

Some people exclaimed in surprise, some knelt down and kowtowed, and some children were so frightened that they cried loudly, creating complete chaos.

The soldiers guarding the city walls looked up at the strange phenomenon and began to discuss it amongst themselves.

"Little Jiang..."

Shui Miaozheng was clearly awakened by the noise and red light outside.

She hurriedly put on her dress, not even tightening the belt, revealing glimpses of her voluptuous and alluring mature figure.

The woman gazed at the strange phenomenon in the sky, her face filled with astonishment and unease:

"What is this now? Could it be that the demon army has come up with some new siege tactics?"

Jiang Mu stared at the dripping crescent moon, her brows furrowed into a deep frown, a bad premonition creeping up her spine.

"Let's go to the city wall!"

He grabbed Shui Miaozheng's wrist and pulled her along as they sped towards the city wall.

At the same time, the demon army outside the city was also stunned by this strange phenomenon.

Outside the tent, Nan Zhi looked up at the blood moon in astonishment and asked, "What the hell is that? Who's casting a spell?"

The other demon kings around them exchanged bewildered glances.

Although they live a long time, this blood moon phenomenon is something they have never seen before.

For a moment, everyone was filled with doubt and uncertainty.

Only Xu Chen, gazing at the moon being devoured by the celestial dog, had a solemn look in his gentle eyes.

"Eating the moon...eating people...eating demons...devouring the spiritual energy of heaven and earth, bringing calamity upon all living beings..."

"This is Mars!"

He was startled and turned to look in the direction of the city of Fazhou.

Tian Wenyuan's star position is [Yinghuo], one of the Five True Lords, which is Mars.

It governs killing and wields the "fire of world-destroying change".

The most prominent signs of this celestial position are the eclipse of the moon by the Heavenly Dog and Mars guarding the heart.

In other words, Tian Wenyuan was preparing to break through at this moment!

"Attack the city!"

Xu Chen suddenly roared, startling all the demon kings around him.

"Immediately launch a full-scale attack on the city!"

Xu Chen pointed at Fazhou City, his face contorted in a grimace.

"Tian Wenyuan is attempting to break through to the twelfth realm! Once he succeeds, all of us here will become mere firewood under his 'Firework' technique, with absolutely no hope of victory!"

Having said that, he soared into the sky and flew towards the city.

Twelve Realms!

Xu Chen's words caused the expressions of all the demons to change.

Several powerful demons instinctively wanted to follow Xu Chen's orders and charge into battle.

However, a few demon kings felt retreat and fear upon hearing the term "Twelve Realms".

Hesitant about whether to continue getting involved in this mess.

After all, the twelfth realm and the eleventh realm are completely different dimensions.

How formidable was the demon army back in Yancheng?

As a result, Mo Huaisu, the leader of a Daoist sect at the twelfth realm, descended from the sky and instantly reversed the course of the battle.

The Peacock Demon King was severely injured on the spot and fled.

If Tian Wenyuan truly breaks through to the twelfth realm, and with the blessing of the city's incense offerings, even Xu Chen, at the eleventh level, might not be able to withstand him, let alone these demon kings.

Going to invite trouble now is practically suicide, isn't it?

Nan Zhi saw the retreat in their eyes and said sternly:

"If you retreat now, all the troops you invested will be wasted, and you will gain nothing."

What's more, he hasn't even broken through yet.

The Heavenly Dao provides a return of support, and the moment of breaking through a realm is also the time when a cultivator's energy is most chaotic. If we join forces now to interrupt his breakthrough, Tian Wenyuan will inevitably suffer a backlash from the laws of Heaven.

At that time, he will be severely injured, if not killed, just like Shangguan Luoxue, the garrison commander of Huzhou City.

"Kill Tian Wenyuan! This is our only chance!"

Upon hearing Nan Zhi's words, the demon kings who were still hesitating exchanged glances, then stopped hesitating and rushed towards the city.

When Jiang Mu and Shui Miaozheng climbed onto the city wall, the demon army outside the city had already launched another all-out attack.

Moreover, this offensive was incredibly fierce.

This is completely different from the previous way of dragging things out.

At the same time, Xu Chen's figure appeared in mid-air.

The black compass behind him was several times larger than before, and a massive giant sword slowly emerged from the center of the compass.

"The city is about to fall."

Jiang Mu's face was grim.

Shui Miaozheng looked up at the crescent moon, which had been torn apart by the "Heavenly Dog" and was now only half intact, and suddenly realized:

"I understand! Tian Wenyuan is about to break through!"

"breakthrough?"

Jiang Mu was stunned.

Is this guy crazy?

As the strongest fighting force in the city, why choose to break through at this time?

Shui Miaozheng was also unable to understand, and biting her pale red lips, she said urgently:

"At this critical juncture, he actually wants to break through; I don't know what he's thinking. The most taboo thing for high-level cultivators breaking through is being disturbed by the outside world. Once the great formation is broken, the breakthrough will fail due to the pull of the energy, and they will suffer serious injuries and backlash."

At that point, he'll be nothing more than a fish on the chopping block, completely at the mercy of others!

Jiang Mu stared in the direction of the underground palace, her eyes flashing.

wrong!

Tian Wenyuan is definitely not that stupid.

This old fox who once plotted to wipe out the entire population of Yancheng, killing Yuan Qianfan and attempting to refine all the city's inhabitants, would never do something without certainty. Unless, of course, he was absolutely certain he could break through.

Recalling Tian Wenyuan's actions in Yancheng, a terrifying thought popped into Jiang Mu's mind.

"Aunt Shui, is it possible...?"

Jiang Mu slowly spoke, "He's preparing for the sacrificial offering."

Shui Miaozheng was stunned for a moment, then her face turned pale.

Before the two could think further, a loud bang came from mid-air.

Behind Xu Chen, a massive black sword, hundreds of feet long, had fully extended from the enormous black compass. Like an inverted mountain, it descended with tremendous force.

This time, the giant sword pierced straight into the light barrier.

Centered on the point where the giant sword pierced through, cracks rapidly spread in all directions.

Seeing this, the monsters below became even more frenzied, charging forward over the corpses of their companions.

Xu Chen groaned, and a large amount of blood spilled from the corner of his mouth.

His originally domineering aura weakened slightly, and his face turned as pale as paper.

As the foundation of a state, the city-protecting formation, in addition to its defensive capabilities, naturally possesses a powerful passive counter-damage mechanism.

The more damage you inflict on the barrier, the greater the backlash from the array will be returned to you.

This is why, in siege battles, the great demon kings always prefer to hide in the back, driving those low-level soldiers to charge into the formation and deplete its spiritual energy. The demon kings won't even flinch if thousands or tens of thousands of cheap cattle and horses die.

Anyway, there are plenty of these kinds of monsters in the desolate mountains and wilderness.

But if a great demon dies, there will be one less to go.

Especially for a commander like Xu Chen, there is no room for any difference between him and Tian Wenyuan; any loss could become a fatal flaw in the final battle.

But at this moment, he obviously couldn't care less about any of that.

Under Xu Chen's all-out attack and the onslaught of ten thousand demons, the city's protective barrier finally gave way and shattered completely.

"You three come with me!"

As soon as the formation was broken, Xu Chen didn't linger for a moment. He called out to the three strongest demon kings who had followed behind him.

Without even glancing at the panicked guards on the city wall, he headed straight for the underground palace of the garrison commander in the city center.

Clearly, the three demon kings who were named also understood.

Now is not the time to covet the flesh and blood of these low-level demon slayers on the city walls.

At this critical moment of Tian Wenyuan's breakthrough, rushing into the underground palace to kill him is the only way to survive and the greatest opportunity.

With the departure of top combatants such as Xu Chen, the city's defenses were completely breached.

Thousands upon thousands of small and medium-sized monsters, stepping over the remains of their companions, surged toward the city gates and the top of the city walls.

"Hold the line! We cannot let these beasts break into the inner city!"

Shui Miaozheng shouted sharply and delicately.

At her command, the well-trained city guards began pouring boiling blood oil, throwing celestial explosive talismans, or setting off rolling logs and boulders...

Large plumes of white smoke rose from below the city wall.

The monsters climbing the city wall were burned by the scalding hot oil poured down from the crenellations, their skin torn and their flesh ripped open, and they fell with screams of agony.

The talismans and ritual implements were continuously smashed into the demon horde, exploding into bursts of fire.

However, there were simply too many monsters.

Soon, the first batch of extremely fast, agile monsters leaped onto the city wall using the ramp formed by the corpses of their companions.

"kill!"

Ming Cuicui roared, drew her long sword, and charged into the horde of demons leaping onto the city wall.

The other demon slayers also drew their swords and charged forward, forming small strangulation formations to kill the demons more effectively. Limbs and severed bodies flew everywhere.

In the distant mountain valley.

Lin Anchang and the others, who were secretly observing the city's movements, naturally noticed the strange phenomenon of the celestial dog eating the moon.

Immediately afterwards, the protective array of Yunzhou City was seen to shatter.

Everyone was shocked.

"Lord Commander, the city is broken!"

One of the hall masters asked urgently, "Should we rush over to provide support now?"

Lin Anchang's expression was uncertain, his eyes filled with conflict.

Just then, Chang Dawei, accompanied by several personal guards, rushed in from the rear of the army, roaring, "Commander Lin, the city has fallen! Stop cowering here, come with me to provide reinforcements!"

Lin Anchang looked troubled and said:

"General Chang, calm down. We only have so few people right now, while the demon tide on the other side numbers in the tens of thousands."

Rushing in now would be like a drop in the ocean; perhaps... we should wait for reinforcements from other states?"

Chang Dawei angrily said:

"Wait my ass! If we keep dawdling, the city's residents won't even have any bones left!"

Let's set off quickly, following the plan I just mentioned. Your Demon Slayers, with their high cultivation, will hold the line in front and protect our army formation, while our main force will suppress them from behind using the Demon-Slaying Crossbows.

Don't worry, as long as you do as I say and advance in formation, you can at least help relieve the pressure on the city and delay it for three hours without any problem.

"Moreover, I have received definite news that other reinforcements from the Demon Slayer Division are arriving soon. We just need to hold out for these three hours." Lin An glanced at the dark, surging demon army towards the city walls in the distance, and finally shook his head with difficulty.

"General Chang, there's no point in rushing in now. Let's wait and see. We mustn't act rashly."

"damn it!"

Chang Dawei flew into a rage and grabbed Lin Anchang by the collar.

"Lin Anchang, you are a high-ranking official of the Eighth Realm in Daqing, receiving a generous salary from the imperial court. How come you're so cowardly at this crucial moment, even less capable than a woman? Are you just going to stand by and watch hundreds of thousands of people in the city suffer?"

Lin Anchang's face darkened when he was grabbed by the collar in public.

He shoved Chang Dawei aside and said coldly:

"General Chang, please show some respect. I am the commander of a city and have my own judgment!"

I'm not afraid of death; I'm just responsible for the lives of my two hundred-plus brothers in the Yuancheng Demon Slaying Division! To knowingly walk into a bottomless pit of death is utterly foolish!

He turned to look at the silent deputy general Chen Xuan beside him and said in a deep voice:

"General Chen, you are a wise man. Even if the demons enter the city, they cannot possibly slaughter hundreds of thousands of people in a short time, especially since there is a garrison commander stationed inside the city. If we go there now, we will only be sacrificing ourselves in vain."

Chen Xuan frowned and turned to Chang Dawei to advise him:

"General Chang, what Chief Lin said makes sense. If we rush in now, our forces will not be able to turn the tide of the battle, and we will only lose these five thousand elite troops."

"Why don't we stay here and wait for the main reinforcements from the Demon Slayer Division to arrive? Then we can all attack together; actually, not many civilians will die." "Two cowardly cowards!"

Chang Dawei was so angry he felt like his lungs were about to explode. He pointed at Chen Xuan's nose and started cursing.

"Chen Xuan, back when we were suppressing the rebellion in Yancheng, you always liked to hide in the back like a coward. Now that we have a formidable enemy, you're still acting like a spineless coward!"

Fine, if you two want to stay here like turtles and cower, then stay here!

"I'll lead my own troops!"

Having said that, Chang Dawei snatched the cloak, turned around angrily, and strode away, shouting at the top of his lungs as he went:

"Messenger, get the brothers in formation, prepare to attack! I refuse to believe we can't take down these beasts!"

Seeing Chang Dawei's stubborn and unyielding demeanor, Chen Xuan's face darkened, and she let out a cold snort.

Fearing that Chang Dawei might trick his troops into going to their deaths, he quickly followed with a grim face.

Watching Chang Dawei's departing figure, the former hall master said with some worry:

"My lord, if Yunzhou City truly falls, and we remain here motionless, failing to provide support... what if the Grand Commander holds us accountable later...?"

"What's the panic? You need to assess the situation carefully."

Lin Anchang stood with his hands behind his back, looking at the distant firelight, and said...

"It's not that we don't want to provide support, but we are outnumbered and simply can't. Once the battle has calmed down a bit, we'll circle around the perimeter a few more times and kill a few more lone monsters."

"If they ask, just say we encountered fierce resistance from the main force of the demon army and fought a bloody battle. These heads are enough to satisfy our demands." The leader opened his mouth, but ultimately said nothing.