Da Xuan Martial Saint

Along the way and without venturing too far south, the team led by Xu Hongyu directly encountered the messenger coming to report the news. That person was a member of the Black-Clothed Guard, seemingly having run at full speed the entire journey. When he arrived in front of Xu Hongyu, he was already gasping for breath.

Chapter Find:

"My lord... there's been unusual activity towards Nangou Mountain in the south, a large number of monsters, seemingly converging from all directions, with hundreds of them, including both Third Rank and Second Rank. They are fighting amongst themselves, and currently, they have not advanced northward..."

Hundreds of monsters!

Xu Hongyu's gaze instantly sharpened upon hearing this. No wonder there had been three blasts of the whistle. In a normal village, such a congregation of monsters was very rare, even during a severe drought, because monsters, unlike humans, do not form orderly societies. When hundreds of monsters gather together, they often end up fighting each other to the death first.

However, since such an unusual gathering of hundreds of monsters had occurred, it was highly possible that they would cause chaos and then attack from the north. Indeed, it was necessary to mobilize reinforcements in advance to respond to the situation.

"Keep moving."

Xu Hongyu, after receiving the report, immediately spoke in a deep voice.

The team continued on its journey southward, traveling about seven or eight more miles before encountering another messenger. This time it was a runner from the County Government, so out of breath he could hardly get his words out and pale-faced. Upon meeting the team, he gasped out:

"My lord... monsters, from the south, they're attacking..."

"Let's go!"

Xu Hongyu maintained a calm demeanor and continued forward.

Finally, after traveling another two or three miles, they reached the top of a high slope. Looking towards the south, they saw a vast expanse of gently rolling land, upon which a large number of bizarrely shaped monsters were charging from afar.

Although they weren't organized into troops and maintained a fair distance from each other, at a glance, the area was swarming with them, and to say there were hundreds was by no means an exaggeration.

"All units, follow me to meet the enemy. Do not spread out your forces, focus on breaking their strength one by one!"

Xu Hongyu's cool voice resonated across the wilderness.

The scale of monsters was indeed large, numbering in the hundreds. Even the First Rank ones were quite few, with the majority being Second Rank, and upon a closer look, a significant number of Third Rank could be seen. If they were to completely gather and crash together like an army, Xu Hongyu's forces would be at least two to three times outnumbered and completely unable to contend with them.

But, after all, the monsters did not form an orderly formation; their ranks were scattered, and the distances between them were great.

Even with a modicum of intelligence, it was not high, and despite the deficiency in troops, as long as they could concentrate their forces locally to fight from a position where there were more of them against fewer of the enemy, they still had the chance to gradually shatter the monsters' ranks.

"Yes!"

The many experienced demon slayers from the Demon-Slaying Office, both Green-Clothed and Black-Clothed Guards, all responded with a deep voice at this time. However, there were also some without experience, those facing a monster attack for the first time, who felt somewhat uneasy at the sight of monsters covering the mountains and plains.

Fight!

Xu Hongyu, dressed in white, stood at the forefront atop the high slope and charged down towards the nearest Second Rank monster. With a flash of her sword, she decapitated it with a single strike.

The group of followers behind her, including the maidservant Xiao He, the Green-Clothed Guard Ding He from the Demon-Slaying Office, and others, also charged down. They quickly collided with the incoming monsters on the wilderness.

The importance of decisive action was indisputable at this moment.

If one were to disperse their troops in an attempt to stretch into a line, aiming to block all the monsters' paths and create scattered skirmishes, they could only obstruct temporarily. They would quickly be thoroughly routed. However, Xu Hongyu's command to concentrate superior forces to strike where they had the advantage allowing to quickly take down many monsters one by one.

And those monsters at a great distance, not in the path of their blockade, did not take this opportunity to cross the defensive line on the high slope. Instead, they all noticed the battlefield where Xu Hongyu and the others were and began to converge from all directions voluntarily, making it unnecessary for her forces to divide and confront them.

Soon.

In no great amount of time, after a fierce battle, Xu Hongyu's team, though having sustained some casualties, had lost less than one-tenth of their number, while the losses on the monsters' side were several times higher. At least fifty or sixty Second Rank monsters and more than a dozen Third Rank monsters were slain, with quite a few others wounded and fleeing.

But even so, those on the battlefield like Xu Hongyu and Xiao He did not show the slightest relief or joy but instead became even more solemn as the battle went on.

Because.

The number of monstrous creatures that were dead, injured, or fleeing had surpassed a hundred. Yet, upon the barren wilderness sprawled out before them, the approaching horde of creatures seemed nearly unchanged from the outset of the battle—it was as though they constantly emerged from all directions.

This was by no means just over a hundred; the number was at least two or three hundred or more!

"How can there be so many?!"

With another sword strike, Xu Hongyu killed a Third Rank monstrous creature with the cooperative restraint of Xiao He and the others. Her chest rose and fell slightly, and for a moment, she caught her breath while gazing at the distant wilderness, a hint of incredulity in her eyes.

The accumulating numbers were undoubtedly too many. Most bizarrely, the creature she had just killed was a type that would typically become frenzied from the stimuli of severe cold. Yet, at present, it was clearly a time of drought, and yet this creature also seemed to be in a frenzied state as it emerged.

Something was off!

Xu Hongyu instinctively felt that something was wrong, but for the moment, she could not determine the cause. Looking at the creatures that continued to swarm in as before, her heart grew increasingly heavy.

The situation was dire.

Even though the creatures lacked order, their side maintained a numerical advantage in focused combat, always keeping up the tactic of attacking in greater numbers. But the problem was that such intense fighting was incredibly draining.

After this fierce battle, she was still capable of fighting on, but for some of the Martial Men who were merely in the Body Refinement Realm, their Qi-Blood was severely depleted, and their physical strength was clearly on the decline.

To defeat over a hundred creatures while suffering less than ten percent casualties was one thing, but another hundred would definitely not yield the same figures.

It was even questionable whether they could withstand another wave.

Thud!

Ding He was covered in bloodstains, his knife piercing through the body of a Second Rank creature, he then took two heavy breaths, letting out a thick white mist, and glanced at the distance with a somewhat ugly expression. Retreating quickly, he moved back a bit and approached Xu Hongyu.

"My lord, the number of creatures is overwhelming. Continuing the battle could be disadvantageous. Shall we retreat for now?"

In such a scenario, failing to retreat and regroup for a respite meant that casualties would inevitably rise steadily, and the situation would undeniably get progressively worse, possibly leading to a complete collapse.

At this moment, Xu Hongyu's gaze flickered. The closest village had already been preemptively instructed to evacuate, so there was indeed room for a brief retreat. However, the current circumstances allowed little chance for rest, even if they did retreat, as the creatures continued to pour in relentlessly; retreating would merely push the frontlines back.

Ding He probably meant to temporarily forgo resistance, letting all the creatures through, waiting for reinforcements from the County Government to arrive before counterattacking. But that would have a significant impact; with over a hundred creatures scattering into the countryside, at least several villages would be ravaged, and even the town could fall into disaster.

But if they did not retreat, it was hard to say how much longer they could hold on.

As Xu Hongyu's eyebrows knit together, unable to make an immediate decision, Xiao He suddenly reached out and poked her.

Xu Hongyu was startled, then followed Xiao He's gaze and noticed on the high slope in the distance, a figure clad in Green-Clothed attire coming from the east, a Fine Iron Knife in hand, casting a long shadow under the setting sun, appearing to step over rivers and wearing mountains on his head as he descended from the high slope, arriving at the frontlines.

"Ran into some trouble and got held up a bit, but it looks like I've still made it in time."

Chen Mu arrived at the front of the battle line, nodded lightly to Xu Hongyu, and then stepped forward.

Watching Chen Mu's figure advance towards the frontline to meet the unending tide of creatures, a trace of light flickered in Xu Hongyu's clear eyes. She then glanced at Ding He beside her and said, "No need for panic, continue to engage the enemy."

"But..."

Ding He was taken aback, about to argue further, but noticed Xu Hongyu had already charged forward again.

Just moments before, Xu Hongyu had considered retreating, so why the sudden change of heart? Could it be because of the newly arrived Chen Mu? But at this point, even if Chen Mu possessed a degree of strength, how much could one man's reinforcements...

His thought abruptly stopped.