Cultivation begins in Qingfeng Market.

The alarm bells were rung before dawn.

Not just one signal, but starting from upstream, a series of beacon fires, accompanied by the mournful tolling of bells, erupted one after another from hundreds of fortresses and thousands of watchtowers along the banks of the Jinsha River! The sounds blended into a single, continuous roar.

Finally, the "Zhenyue Bell" that flows into Sands Square reverberates three times, its heavy rumbles like the heartbeat of an ancient behemoth, awakening the entire city.

Lin Zhao stepped out of the courtyard and ascended above the market almost as soon as the bell rang. He activated his Breaking Illusion Sword Eye at full power and looked north.

Then, he saw it—the Kuroshio Current.

Countless demonic beasts surged and flew in the darkness, converging into an endless moving mountain range, rolling southward along the main channel of the Jinsha River and several tributaries!

The thunderous roar of the beast tide could be faintly heard even from dozens of miles away, causing the city walls beneath their feet to tremble slightly.

What's even more chilling is the terrifying aura that hovers in mid-air above the black tide.

One, two, three... Lin Zhao's divine sense swept rapidly across the area, and his heart sank deeper.

More than a hundred! All of them are at the second tier!

At least twenty of them reached the level of mid-Foundation Establishment or above! There were also five or six auras that were fierce and powerful, faintly touching the late-Foundation Establishment stage!

This was by no means a naturally occurring beast tide. It was a premeditated and organized war.

"All cultivators! Climb the walls! All fortresses, activate all formations! Mortal troops, proceed according to Plan Number Three, take cover and support positions! Hurry!!!" The voice of the ward master Zhu Yi resounded through the formations, hoarse yet resolute.

There was no time for shock, no time for fear.

After a brief period of silence, the war machine of Jinsha Square roared into full speed again.

Lin Zhao was urgently assigned to assist in the defense of the three most forward fortresses in the south—the thirty-seventh, thirty-eighth, and thirty-ninth.

These three fortresses, arranged in a triangular shape, guard a narrow bend in the river, serving as a crucial point to prevent the beast tide from flowing downstream.

When he arrived in his flying boat, the first wave of the beast tide had already crashed heavily onto the defensive aura surrounding the fortress.

"Boom! Boom boom boom—!!!"

The deafening crashes continued incessantly. At the forefront were tens of thousands of thick-skinned "Ironclad Rhinoceroses" and "Rock Boars," who recklessly rammed their heads and bodies against the pale yellow array light shield.

The light shield fluctuated violently, and the cultivator in charge of the formation turned pale instantly, blood seeping from his mouth and nose, but he gritted his teeth and threw more spirit stones into the array's core.

In the air, the dark mass of "Ghost-faced Bats" and "Iron-feathered Birds" loomed overhead like a dark cloud, spewing acid and wind blades that clattered and slammed against the light shield.

Further away, the massive "Grey Feather Thunder Eagle," driven by a second-tier demonic beast, began to gather its innate spells, preparing to break through the formation.

"Hold your ground! Those below the late stage of Qi Refining, control your crossbows and launch a full-scale attack! Late stage Qi Refining cultivators, form an array and prepare to deal with any breaches!" Lin Zhao's voice clearly reached the ears of every cultivator in the three fortresses.

He made the first move. The Azure Lotus Sword was drawn, and seventy-two azure lotus leaves transformed into seventy-two streams of azure light, weaving and intertwining in the air as if they were alive, instantly forming a sword domain.

The sword light rained down, causing the hundreds of the fiercest flying monsters to fall like dumplings being dropped into a pot.

But this is just the beginning.

Among the beasts were also many demonic beasts with scales and blue stripes.

Under the command of those azure-scaled demonic beasts, the beasts no longer charged mindlessly, but instead split into several groups, taking turns attacking the same point of the array's light shield.

The flying monsters in the air also changed their strategy, concentrating their firepower and cooperating with the ground monsters to attack the array nodes.

What's even more troublesome is that there are several Foundation Establishment level demonic beasts hiding deep within the beast tide.

"Something's not right..." Alarm bells rang in Lin Zhao's mind.

The monsters are far too organized, abnormally so.

The battle lasted from dawn until noon.

The three fortresses, like reefs in a raging storm, were repeatedly battered by an endless tide of black beasts. The array's protective light flickered erratically.

Lin Zhao had lost count of how many demonic beasts he had killed.

The sword light of the Azure Lotus Sword became concise, efficient, and deadly.

The Eight Desolate Ancient Seal was unleashed twice, shattering two waves of attacks led by early Foundation Establishment stage demonic beasts.

But the pressure is increasing.

If the situation in Sanbao, which he was in charge of, was like this, one can only imagine the situation in other sections of the nearly 100-mile-long defensive line.

In the afternoon, the first piece of bad news arrived—the formation of the "Twenty-Three" fortress upstream had been broken by three mid-Foundation Establishment stage demonic beasts working together, and all four hundred cultivators and two thousand mortal soldiers had been wiped out.

Immediately afterwards, bad news flew to Jinsha Palace like snowflakes.

"Nineteen fortresses have fallen! The formation master has died from exhaustion!"

"The Greedy Wolf Demon Hunting Team was ambushed while reinforcing Forty-Five Fortresses, suffering more than half its losses!"

"The Third Battalion of the mortal army was attacked by aerial monsters and was completely wiped out..."

More and more gaps began to appear in the defense line.

Like a flood bursting its banks, the monsters poured in through these breaches, beginning to divide and surround the still intact fortresses.

Lin Zhao received an urgent message from Zhou Xun: "Lin Zhao! Can you hold out? Four fortresses near you have already fallen. The magistrate has ordered you to hold out until at least sunset! Buy time for the rear to reorganize the defenses!"

Sunset? It's only just past noon.

Lin Zhao glanced at the three fortresses beneath his feet. The formation of the thirty-seven fortresses had developed multiple cracks, and the old man in charge of the formation was bleeding from all seven orifices, clinging to life only with the help of pills.

The thirty-eight fortresses were already locked in close combat, with cultivators and mortal soldiers mingling together, using their flesh and blood to block the breaches. The situation at the thirty-ninth fortress was slightly better, but more than half of the spirit stones had already been used up.

"I can defend it," he replied with just two words.

He put away the communication jade talisman, took a deep breath, and a resolute glint flashed in his eyes.

We can't hold back any longer.

He leaped into the air above the center of the Three Fortresses, held his hands in a gesture of respect, and the "Five Spirits Returning to the Void True Technique" within his body circulated at an unprecedented speed.

Within his dantian, the phantom of the Ruins Furnace suddenly appeared, frantically absorbing the chaotic spiritual energy between heaven and earth, and even began to forcibly plunder the mixed blood energy and demonic power dissipated by the beast tide below!

"Four Elements Formation... Activate!"

The array, which was neither silk nor cloth, unfolded in mid-air, and the four-colored spiritual light surged, instantly enveloping the three fortresses and the surrounding five miles!

The power of earth, fire, wind, and water was forcibly integrated, transforming into a pure torrent of spiritual energy, which was injected into the crumbling defensive formation of the Three Fortresses!

The light shield, which was on the verge of breaking, suddenly lit up as if injected with a stimulant, and its thickness increased by 50%!

At the same time, the Sword Dragon and the Yinglong roared out from the array diagram, no longer limited to attacking, but like two huge spiritual energy nodes, subtly connecting the array power of the three fortresses to form a tough triangular defensive array.

This array was originally prepared for those mid-to-late Foundation Establishment stage demonic beasts, as long as he could use the array to kill these second-tier demonic beasts in one fell swoop.

The battle on his side could be temporarily ended, but unfortunately they only sent a large number of first-tier demonic beasts to attack.