Eternal Life: Talent Grows with Age

This makes things seem a bit odd.

"This kind of Black Wolf Demon is rather rare. I wonder what breed it is—"

Fellow Daoist Yang thought to himself, then his eyes widened, a trace of disbelief flashing across his face.

He saw the Wolf Demon in front of him, while he was distracted, retreating dozens of feet away. Then its huge wolf jaws opened wide, belly contracting continuously.

Yang sensed the danger and frantically closed the distance, but he was a bit too late. The Black Wolf Demon suddenly spat out a beam of light straight at Yang’s face—with a clang, it smashed into the magical shield protecting Yang.

A ripple of light spread out like water. Both Yang’s body and that beam of light were knocked back, but he instinctively sensed something, and his face changed dramatically.

"Everyone, get over here and hold down this Be Demon!"

Be Demon?

Pairs of eyes were drawn by Yang’s shout, and then, on the battlefield above, they spotted a petite demon beast that had appeared out of nowhere. Its whole body was drenched, like just fished out of water, even a bit bedraggled, its aura unstable. But no matter how you looked at it, it was nothing a Qi Cultivator could handle.

This was another Foundation Establishment demon.

At the South Gate, a third Foundation Establishment demon had appeared unexpectedly!

Fellow Daoist Heishi and the Fox Demon were barely evenly matched. Yang, facing the Black Wolf Demon, held a considerable advantage, but it wasn’t enough to let him handle two Foundation Establishment demons at once.

Moreover, there was no guarantee that the Be Demon would choose to target Yang himself, a Foundation Establishment cultivator.

Sure enough, the Be Demon, steadying itself, glanced past Yang and turned its gaze to the many late-stage Qi Cultivators atop the city wall.

······

"They really are in cahoots. Never thought I, Du Xuan, could overlook such high-level demon beasts!" Over the West Gate, several mid-stage Foundation Establishment demons tightly entangled Du Xuan.

Even though there were six of them, they couldn’t gain the upper hand against him.

Among the many elders of the Supreme Profound Sect, Du Xuan was top-tier, second only to the Sect Leader.

Thus, it was no surprise he could hold his own while being besieged by six demons of equal rank.

Unfortunately—

Watching a nearby Black Wolf Demon suddenly spit out a Foundation Establishment Be Demon, Du Xuan instantly realized what he’d previously overlooked.

It was the Black Wolf Demon.

There weren’t many Foundation Establishment-level Black Wolf Demons, but most had been sent to the North and South Gates. Clearly, the demons wanted to use this strategy to exploit the weak points at the other gates.

Du Xuan hurriedly dispatched people to support, but reaching the South and North Gates would still take time. Even Foundation Establishment cultivators would struggle to make it in time. Plus, the demons seemed to have anticipated this: when the Black Wolf Demons on the ground exposed the Be Demon secret, mobs of demon beasts crazily blocked Foundation Establishment cultivators trying to leave the West Gate.

Not even the most powerful Foundation Establishment master dared ignore those reckless late-stage Qi demon beasts.

"Let’s hope we minimize the losses."

Du Xuan thought to himself.

Black Wolf Demons and Be Demons living together are exceedingly rare, so no wonder he’d overlooked this.

With his Dharma Eye cultivation, even demon beasts swallowed up shouldn’t have escaped his notice—but Be Demons were peculiar.

The two were said to be symbiotic, sharing very similar aura signatures. That’s how the existence of the Be Demon evaded his Dharma Eye.

Du Xuan’s face was grim—being played by demon beasts was deeply humiliating to him.

······

At the South Gate, Yang’s shout didn’t have much effect—even Gu Feng hesitated.

For Foundation Establishment level, the danger was simply too high compared to Qi cultivators. It was all too easy to lose your life.

Even a master like Red Cloud Daoist, at the very peak of Qi cultivation, only survived Foundation Establishment encounters because of his various unusual escape techniques.

"Fellow Daoist Gu, even if we run, we’ll be held accountable afterwards."

"Plus, with your skills, can you really guarantee you’ll survive the Be Demon’s pursuit?"

Gu Feng snapped out of it at this.

Gathering the late-stage Qi cultivators guarding the surrounding walls meant there was still some hope. But if they turned to flee now—even if they escaped today, the Supreme Profound Sect probably wouldn’t forgive them.

Unless they used this chance to abandon Immortal City and become loose cultivators elsewhere.

"I was overthinking it," Gu Feng said with a bitter smile.

Lu Chang’sheng shook his head with a smile, more worried about Gu Feng bolting. Without the help of this ninth-layer Qi Cultivator, he couldn’t be sure of holding the Be Demon at bay.

Otherwise, he’d have to flee, and at that point, the risk would be enormous.

Lu Chang’sheng formed a technique, and the massive body of Mountain Nether Puppet Beast moved instantly.

"Boom!"

The Be Demon, just freed from Yang’s entanglement, had a clear target and shot straight for Gu Feng.

"So the Be Demon knows to capture the leader first," Lu Chang’sheng thought, face serious.

Gu Feng broke out in a cold sweat, feeling grateful to Lu Chang’sheng—without his warning, if Gu Feng had turned and fled, it would have sparked others to do the same.

As the cultivator here with the highest cultivation, the Be Demon naturally picked him as its primary target. Without help from the others, he wouldn’t last long.

The nearest, Fang Shan and others, kept casting magic, easing the pressure on Gu Feng.

Everyone barely withstood one wave before being forced to retreat step by step, nearly driven off the city wall—when Lu Chang’sheng’s Mountain Nether stepped in front.

With raw strength, it blocked the Be Demon’s charge head-on.

"Excellent!"

Gu Feng’s eyes lit up; he hadn’t expected Lu Chang’sheng’s newly-forged puppet beast to be this powerful. Clearly, it was a huge boon for their situation.

The others were ecstatic too, unleashing spells to try binding the Be Demon.

The Be Demon knew its advantages, dodging spells as much as possible. Seeing Mountain Nether blocking its way, it simply changed direction and attacked elsewhere.

Light streaks flashed as the Be Demon broke two late-stage Qi cultivators’ mana shields in succession, spraying blood everywhere.

"Mountain Nether is only a bit faster than a ninth-level Qi cultivator, but for Foundation Establishment tier, that’s still a glaring weakness."

"Where Mountain Nether’s true parity with Foundation Establishment lies is in defense and strength."

Of course, Lu Chang’sheng knew that the full mastery of Puppetry Technique was in using spiritual sense, so in small areas, he could barely manage to keep up with ordinary Foundation cultivators.

But once the area broadened, that was no longer possible.

Realizing this, Lu Chang’sheng had everyone gather toward Mountain Nether Puppet Beast, and gradually, the casualty rate stabilized.

With their lives less at risk, the many Qi cultivators freely unleashed magic, trapping the Be Demon so it couldn’t escape easily.

Finally, a beam of light streaked in from afar—it was Zhang Qing, arriving to help.

Seeing the situation, he was startled. He’d assumed there’d be at best one Foundation Establishment cultivator left alive—but not only were both Foundation Establishments alive, there were still plenty of late-stage Qi cultivators on the wall.

Of course, because the late-stage Qi cultivators from other stretches of the wall had come to help, plenty of lower-level demon beasts managed to rampage through Immortal City.

Luckily, as long as no one died, cleaning up later wouldn’t be a huge problem.

With Zhang Qing joining the fray, it didn’t take long—the Black Wolf Demon was the first to fall, its head severed by Zhang Qing, strange object dug out.

Fellow Daoist Heishi still had energy left while restraining the Fox Demon, so the pair turned to attack the Be Demon. By combining the strength of two Foundation Establishment experts, the Be Demon—itself weaker than the Black Wolf Demon—was swiftly slain.

The Fox Demon didn’t make much of a stir either; soon it fell to Yang’s hand.

The West Gate battle wasn’t over, so the three Foundation Establishment cultivators didn’t stay. They turned into streaks of light and left, but before they departed, Lu Chang’sheng and the others saw Yang glance their way, a look of approval in his eyes.

"Who would’ve thought the breakthrough of this demon calamity siege wasn’t at the West Gate or North Gate, but at the South Gate? After this, the two Daoist friends are sure to be rewarded."

On the way to the West Gate, a smile broke out on Zhang Qing’s face, his mood clearly uplifted.