"To Chang'an?"
The Golden-Winged Great Peng seemed to have anticipated this outcome. Offering no objection, it lowered its head, nodding in human fashion.
For ordinary people, traveling from Luoxia Valley out of the Qinling Mountains and into the city would take a great deal of time.
Yet the peng was different. Possessing extreme speed, the journey would not take it long at all.
Lu Yuan was naturally well aware of this. Otherwise, he would not have gone to such great lengths to subdue a mount in the first place. It was precisely for everyday travel and critical moments like this, allowing him to rush anywhere in a short time.
Take this beast tide, for instance. About to assault a human city and led by powerful mutated beast kings, it was virtually indistinguishable from a full-fledged army. Even if Chang'an managed to hold out, it would inevitably pay a terrible price.
Now that he possessed the power to resolve it, he would not allow such a tragedy to unfold.
Besides, Zhendan Academy had extended goodwill toward him on multiple occasions. Regardless of their motives, a bond of goodwill remained.
From every standpoint, Lu Yuan would never choose to stand idly by.
Without another word, he leaped onto the Golden-Winged Great Peng's back.
The raptor showed no hesitation.
With a slight flap of its wings, it soared straight up into the firmament and shot forward in an instant, heading directly toward the super city of Chang'an.
***
Meanwhile, in Chang'an.
Atop the towering steel ramparts, countless figures stood vigil—the soldiers of the Defense Army.
Clad in military fatigues, they aimed pitch-black muzzles into the far distance.
There were rocket launchers, machine guns, and massive-caliber artillery pieces.
Below the walls sat armored fighting vehicles, tanks, and self-propelled rocket artillery.
At this moment, virtually every piece of modern terrestrial conventional weaponry was deployed, gleaming with a chilling glint.
The defense apparatus of a super city was extraordinarily comprehensive. Backed by government resources, it could field a formidable arsenal—equipment ample enough to wage a full-scale war.
In the early stages of the global mutation, although the ranks of human Awakened had swollen dramatically, true powerhouses remained scarce.
Facing tens of thousands of mutated beasts, humanity's edge lay in modern weaponry.
Naturally, that was not all.
Both inside and outside the walls, legions of Awakened had assembled, swelling to tens of thousands. Every single one of them understood that if the city fell, utter catastrophe would follow.
Not only would none of them be spared, but more importantly, if they chose to shrink back now, what would they do next time?
This was not a squabble between men, but an all-out war between two species.
Until another solution could be found, war was the only way forward.
At this moment, in the forward command post outside Chang'an, the high command and frontline elites had all gathered.
Rather than staying safe in the rear, they had chosen to hold the very front line.
The white-robed Awakening Realm elders dispatched by the upper echelons, Dean Zheng, Commander-in-Chief Xu, Northern Emperor, and Zhu Qingyu were all present, interspersed with experts from prominent civilian factions.
"Reporting to Commander-in-Chief! A hundred li away, extremely violent signs of moving lifeforms have been detected. The fluctuations are massive!"
A soldier hurried forward, projecting the readings onto a makeshift screen.
Dense clusters of red dots appeared, tracked by specialized detection devices. The more powerful the creature, the larger its dot.
Of course, the equipment was still far from perfect and could not detect every anomaly.
"Can we pull up the visual feed?" Commander-in-Chief Xu asked immediately upon hearing the report.
"Sir, yes! However, due to the intense energy radiated by the beasts, the feed is rather distorted," the soldier replied. He keyed a few commands into the console, and the display shifted to reveal visual footage.
Certain details could be seen, but smaller targets appeared only as faint shadows. The colossal, powerful mutated beasts, however, could be roughly identified.
"The one in the lead is the White King, the sovereign of that region."
"There are others... They all seem to be mutated beast kings of the Shackle Realm!"
"That's right. Going by the feed, there are eight in total, and their target is Chang'an!"
Everyone stared fixedly at the large screen, examining it closely. The weaker beasts could be ignored for now; with their abundant firepower, wiping them out would not pose too great a challenge. The real problem lay with the mutated beast kings. Their power was simply too immense for conventional heavy ordnance to suppress, making them the most intractable threat in this beast tide.
The Shackle Realm, combined with the physical might of mutated beasts, yielded truly horrific destructive potential.
Originally, everyone had clung to the hope that even if beast kings appeared, facing only one or two would not bring such crushing pressure.
Yet now, exactly as anticipated in the previous briefing, eight of those monsters had arrived together.
For a moment, Dean Zheng, Commander-in-Chief Xu, and the rest all lowered their heads in grim silence.
Even the champions of the city's private factions could not help gulping.
Once the battle began, how were they supposed to handle the mutated beast kings?
Even someone of Northern Emperor's caliber felt tremendous pressure. Though he had reached the Awakening Realm, the gulf between him and a mutated beast king of the Shackle Realm was simply too vast.
"Everyone, I know this is daunting, but we must face this battle! No matter the cost—even if we fight to the last person—we cannot choose to retreat!" Commander-in-Chief Xu stepped forward, his eyes burning with resolve.
He was a soldier, and in Huaxia, what was a soldier's duty?
To safeguard the lives of the people to the utmost limit.
Whether in the old era or this New Era of today, that conviction had never wavered.
Commander-in-Chief Xu sensed the apprehension weighing on their hearts. As the supreme commander of this campaign, he had to speak up.
Of course, such a burden could not be forced upon anyone, so he added, "However, if anyone wishes to leave, it is only natural. I will not stop you, nor will I hold it against you."
Eight mutated beast kings leading a beast tide surpassed anything seen before. No one could predict the battle's outcome.
Yet one thing was certain: many would die. Perhaps none of the leadership gathered here would survive.
If someone was afraid and chose to walk away, Commander-in-Chief Xu would not blame them.
"The Commander-in-Chief is joking. If Chang'an falls, none of us will escape unharmed."
"Indeed. This battle must be fought no matter what. Since we came, we have no intention of leaving."
"What of mutated beast kings? Even if we die, we'll tear a layer of hide off them! Besides, behind us are countless citizens."
One after another, they voiced their stances. Fear was inevitable, but fear solved nothing.
Chang'an was one of the five super cities, perhaps even the Huaxia people's final bastion. If it fell, the repercussions would be catastrophic. Right now, the entire country was watching.
This was the first formal war between humanity and mutated beasts. If they could successfully hold Chang'an, the significance would be profound. In the future, when facing beast tides again, they would possess the necessary experience.
"Thank you, everyone." Commander-in-Chief Xu took a deep breath and nodded slightly.
Just as they had said, the nation's people and the highest authorities were watching closely. Under such scrutiny, retreat was completely out of the question.
Without further words, Commander-in-Chief Xu began issuing a series of orders, overseeing the final preparations.
Meanwhile, the beast tide threatening Chang'an sparked frenzied discussions across the internet.
Everyone understood that this would likely be the bloodiest clash since the dawn of the New Era.
Humanity had adapted, mobilizing heavy weaponry and rallying Awakened to wage war against the beasts. No one knew how many would perish, and no one could foresee the outcome.
In truth, if the combined strength of all Huaxia were concentrated here, the odds of repelling the beast tide would be very high. But if that happened, what about the other super cities? If their forces were consolidated in one place, defenses elsewhere would be critically weakened.
Thus, each super city had to rely on its own might to hold the line. This would serve as the ultimate test of whether the super city strategy was viable.
Inside Chang'an, countless citizens offered silent prayers.
They could not see the battlefield directly, yet the solemn, suffocating atmosphere pervading the city grew heavier with every passing second, felt by all.
"Report! The beast tide is approaching rapidly. In approximately two hours, it will reach the area fifty li from Chang'an!" the monitoring soldier at the command post reported, relaying the latest intelligence.
No one spoke; they only stared intently at the screen.
Their prearranged strategy was to open fire once the beasts crossed the fifty-li perimeter. At that range, carpet bombardment with heavy conventional arms would wipe out the weaker beasts to the greatest extent possible, drastically reducing the pressure when close combat inevitably began.
"Report: an hour and a half remaining!"
Another update tightened the suffocating tension in the room.
Everyone braced themselves; they had been preparing for this moment for a long time.
"One hour remaining!"
"Half an hour remaining!"
The monitoring soldiers grew increasingly nervous, their throats parched.
Commander-in-Chief Xu, Dean Zheng, and the others watched the screen, their palms slick with cold sweat.
*Thud, thud, thud...*
*Thud, thud, thud...*
As the distance closed, everyone present could feel the ground trembling beneath their feet.
This alone demonstrated the staggering scale of the beast tide—that its tremors could reverberate all the way here.
A crushing pressure weighed upon every heart.
The real war was about to begin.
"Everyone." Commander-in-Chief Xu turned, his gaze razor-sharp. "Countless citizens stand behind us. We have nowhere left to retreat. Only by fighting to the death can we carve out a slim hope of survival! The entire nation is watching us!"
His words served as the final mobilization before battle, as well as a declaration of his own resolve.
Indeed, when disaster struck, the lives of ordinary people were extraordinarily fragile. In times like this, someone had to shoulder the burden.
"Fight to the death!"
"Fight to the death!"
The crowd roared in unison, devoid of hesitation. Even knowing they might pay with their lives, some duties could never be shunned.
Zhu Qingyu was also intensely nervous, even though this was not her first time confronting a beast tide. The harrowing scenes at Qingyang Town remained vivid in her memory, and her thoughts inevitably drifted to that thunder-clad arrow that had slain the Giant Wolf King.
*Will he appear?*
On second thought, that person was very likely Lu Yuan. He was indeed extraordinarily powerful, but what they faced today were genuine mutated beast kings; even if he came, he would not be able to turn the tide.
"They've reached fifty li away!" a voice announced, snapping everyone to attention.
Commander-in-Chief Xu raised his hand, poised to give the order to fire.
"Wait, Commander-in-Chief! We've detected another powerful life force approaching at extreme speed!" the soldier cried, pointing at the screen, his expression shifting.
A massive red dot had appeared, signifying terrifying strength.
Could it be yet another mutated beast king?
"Pull up the feed!" Commander-in-Chief Xu commanded. If another beast king joined the fray, their situation would become even more dire.
The pressure mounted heavier on everyone, their eyes darkening. Yet when the feed materialized on the screen, astonishment swept through the room.
It was a raptor in flight, and atop it stood a human silhouette.
Yes, an unmistakable human figure.
Though blurry, they could all clearly see it: a person riding a mutated beast king, closing in at breakneck speed!
*What is going on?*
*Are they reinforcements? But we never heard of such an ally!*
Such was the thought racing through everyone's minds.
"Hold fire and observe for a moment," Commander-in-Chief Xu reacted swiftly, deciding to watch the situation unfold.
Just as the climactic clash between humanity and mutated beasts was about to ignite, someone had suddenly arrived astride a mutated beast king. The situation had completely defied all expectations.
***
Meanwhile, fifty li outside Chang'an.
Tens of thousands of mutated beasts surged forward, kicking up towering clouds of dust.
At the very front, the eight mutated beast kings led by the White King had eyes glinting with cold ferocity.
Their presence was immensely heavy; every step they took gouged deep furrows into the earth, and any trees or boulders in their path were instantly pulverized into gravel. This was a true army of mutated beasts, their collective aura coalescing into an overwhelming wave that seemed to shake the mountains and rivers.
"A familiar, powerful aura is approaching."
Suddenly, the advancing White King halted and looked back.
At the same time, the vanguard ground to a halt. Some of the weaker beasts could not help trembling—a primal terror rooted deep within their bloodlines.
Even the other seven mutated beast kings could not resist turning their heads.
*Skreee—!*
Accompanied by a piercing cry, the Golden-Winged Great Peng burst through the clouds, swooping down at tremendous speed.
Upon reaching a certain altitude, it hovered in midair. At the same time, a figure emerged into view on its back—it was none other than Lu Yuan.
"Golden-Winged Great Peng? A human?" Seeing this, murderous intent flared in the White King's massive eyes.
"My master has a few words for you all," the Golden-Winged Great Peng spoke, circling high above.
Its words sent a chill through the hearts of all the mutated beast kings.
*Master?*
*The Golden-Winged Great Peng, bearer of a mythical bloodline, has recognized a master?*
*And from the look of it, a human at that!*
In an instant, chilling hostility radiated from virtually every beast. To them, humans were their mortal enemies; for the Golden-Winged Great Peng to submit to one was nothing short of treason.
*Roar—!*
The White King let out a guttural roar, silencing the restless horde. Then, fixing its gaze upon Lu Yuan atop the peng's back, its eyes turned solemn.
With its power having severed ten shackles, it actually sensed a faint prickle of danger from this human.
"Human, are you here to stop us?" it spoke, its voice booming like rolling thunder.
Coiling its massive form, it resembled a snow-white mountain ridge, concealing boundless power within.
"I merely hope you will stop here, before things spiral into consequences that cannot be undone."
Lu Yuan's voice was calm and even. He was in no hurry to strike, choosing courtesy before force. If he could persuade the beast tide to withdraw peacefully, that would be ideal. After all, mutated beasts could never be eradicated entirely, and as fellow denizens of this world, they would all have to face far greater crises together in the future.
Of course, if they refused to listen, he would show no mercy.
"Hahaha! Laughable!"
The White King laughed like a human. "For how many ages have humans fed on birds and beasts to stave off hunger? Especially over the past century, as your technology flourished, you showed not the slightest restraint. How many species have been driven to extinction by mankind?"
"Now the world has changed, and heaven's favor has granted us the lead. Yet now you tell me to stop here?"
"Let me tell you: this era is one where the strong devour the weak, where only the fittest survive!"
"We will show you what the law of the jungle truly means, and what cruelty is!"
The White King was extraordinary; it did not merely think like a human. More importantly, it possessed a deep understanding of the world, unlike other beasts who remained muddle-headed. If it evolved further, it would certainly rival the great arch-demons of myth. Even now, it could articulate such reasoning.
Were it anyone else, they might have found it difficult to refute, for it spoke the truth.
Yet when Lu Yuan heard this, he only shook his head slightly.
"I didn't come to reason with you. I only came to notify you."
Chapter 66