Cultivation: But Not a Game

At this moment, the BOSS has already besieged the city, with eight super BOSS positioned in eight directions.

The lowest level 214, is a Horned Demon Essence.

The highest level 273, is an extremely rare Demon Chapter BOSS, its massive body suspended in the air, with eight tentacles of varying lengths, at least twenty to thirty kilometers long, with the longest few reaching nearly forty to fifty kilometers, thrashing madly against the City Defense Array, producing booming thuds.

Inside the city, there was no resignation to fate; nearly three hundred Loose Immortals were gathered under the light of the City Defense Array, seemingly ready to unite and besiege the BOSS, probably just as they previously besieged the seven super BOSS within the Red Tide one by one.

Su Yu observed for a while, then ordered the team to come closer via the channel, speaking in a deep voice:

"In a moment, one squad will follow me to intercept the Essence; the others should stay hidden here and not take any action without my order."

"No problem."

"Alright."

With tasks assigned, the team fell silent again.

After nearly a quarter of an hour, over three hundred Horned Demon Loose Immortals inside the city were ready, one after another transforming into light and rushing out of the City Defense Array to attack one of the besieging BOSS.

"It’s time."

The Celestial Ghost’s body shook and reverted to its true form, then shook again transforming into four heads and eight arms, its formidable aura leaking out, immediately attracting the surrounding Red Tide Essences. A team of ten Loose Immortals immediately took action to intercept and blast away the surrounding Essences.

Su Yu beckoned with his hand, the Sea-Suppressing Pearl in hand, a full million mana burned, the Sea-Suppressing Pearl rapidly expanding into a large sun burning with blue flames, supported in his hand.

"Immortal treasure!"

Everyone looked at him in astonishment; he flung his hand, and the large sun flew out, rapidly expanding, instantly transforming into a large sun with a diameter of a thousand meters, descending upon Chixia City.

The Horned Demon Loose Immortals, busy arranging troops to attack the BOSS, felt their scalps tingle, an unimaginable terror rapidly closing in:

"Someone is ambushing, prepare to defend, team one get ready to fight, team two....."

"Boom!"

The terrified voice abruptly stopped, a one-kilometer-diameter azure sun already crushed down, instantly turning the commanding Horned Demon into meat paste, vanishing into nothingness.

With one strike, over three hundred Horned Demon Loose Immortals were dead, leaving only twenty or thirty who happened to be outside the bombardment range of the Sea-Suppressing Pearl.

"Intercept them."

At Su Yu’s command, over a hundred human Loose Immortals rushed out from their hidden magical treasures, surrounding and fiercely attacking the twenty-seven Horned Demon Loose Immortals who had just regained their senses.

"It’s humans!"

At this moment, Chixia City was in an uproar, at least a million people witnessed this terrifying scene, and some quick-witted ones immediately thought of something and shouted:

"It was the human who destroyed Misty City earlier."

"It’s him, it was that blue treasure that blasted open the City Defense Array."

Panic spread within the city, and some Horned Demon players with revival points in other cities were already considering fleeing.

In the center of the city, the Horned Demon Earth Immortal stationed there wore a grave expression, but his voice was loud and forceful:

"Everyone, do not worry. Misty City was breached because the Guardian Junior General was careless and got killed. I will guard the city along with all Loose Immortals to defend it. They cannot breach Chixia City."

Standing beside him, the Vice-General of Chixia City asked worriedly:

"Can we really hold it?"

The Horned Demon Junior General took a deep breath and said:

"We have no other choice but to hold firmly."

Fact proved they couldn’t hold it, not even with an Earth Immortal stationed there.

Su Yu still used the tactics he once used to breach Misty City, hidden inside the Red Tide, unleashing a wave of bombardments with the Sea-Suppressing Pearl every minute, then retreating and bombing from a different direction.

He never showed himself, hiding deep within the Red Tide and never revealing his face.

He wasn’t afraid of ambushes either; the Star Shifting Technique was the strongest heavenly secret technique, bar none. Unless a Celestial Immortal adept in heavenly secrets personally took action to suppress, no one could ambush or calculate against him.

With the Red Tide outbreak, the Horned Demon Celestial Immortals on the Fallen Star Islands each had important duties, and it was impossible for them to come to encircle him.

If they dared leave the main city they were guarding, the Celestial Immortals of humans and the Six-Ear Tribe would definitely seize the opportunity to take action, breaking at least one main city even if it required joining forces.

The so-called unwritten rules hold as long as there’s no opportunity. If there’s a chance to significantly weaken an opponent, the unwritten rules automatically become invalid.

A main city is not just called such because many players are gathered there.

A main city is a crucial core hub location, where earth veins converge, and is also an important spatial node, from which people can teleport to other areas of civilization.

In the human territory of Fallen Star Island, South Sea Turtle Island is the core of the entire South Sea. There is a pivotal spatial node here, allowing direct teleportation to main cities in other territories of human civilization.

Although the teleportation requirements are very high, and not much can be transmitted at once, with this teleport node, several Immortals can be sent over from human heartlands at a critical moment, instantly changing the battle situation.

It’s worth noting that when the Red Tide breaks out, most teleport functions become unusable, including the Teleportation Divine Talisman.

Thus, during a Red Tide outbreak, it’s the most dangerous time for all races, and the Celestial Immortals of each race will only guard several main cities, never leaving, no matter the losses outside, until the Red Tide end.

Therefore, despite the high bounty issued by the Horned Demon for Su Yu, it was only some Loose Immortals who accepted the bounty, the strongest being Tianjiao and Absolute List contestants, and not many at that, since compared to bounties, city security was still more important.

"Boom!"

The azure sun pierced through the Red Tide and struck the City Defense Barrier. The terrifying power of the Immortal treasure created a large dent, reducing the defense by tens of millions.

Su Yu reached out to retrieve the Immortal treasure, glancing at a spot not far away, and said:

"There are people over there. Yu, take five squads to intercept them."

Yu Chengyun glanced at the seemingly empty spot but, recalling his prior three detections of infiltrating Horned Demon People, decisively sent five squads over.

Sure enough, everyone cast large-scale magic spells toward the spot, quickly flushing out the hidden Horned Demon People squad.

"Retreat!"

After breaking their invisibility, the Horned Demon People immediately retreated, diving into the depths of the Red Tide amidst the dense attacks from the essences around them.

Most of the Red Tide consisted of ordinary essences with limited attack power. The invaders had strong defenses and could freely move unless they provoked the BOSS. The Red Tide could do nothing to them.

The BOSS would not abandon the city of several million for just a few invaders.

They had no desire to engage with the Horned Demon experts. Once exposed, they would run away, repositioning every minute to continue their work.

One was in the open, the other in the shadows. With only about three hundred Horned Demon Loose Immortals, they could barely hope to catch Su Yu.

The Guardian Earth Immortal, who could pin him down, stayed in the city, refusing to come out.

Su Yu speculated that this was to avoid the fate of the fallen general of Mist Wave City.

This cat-and-mouse game continued as the defense of the City Defense Array slowly decreased, wearing down by about a third before the Young General could no longer bear it. He ordered over a million Horned Demon People to charge out against the Red Tide, hoping to reduce the pressure and restore the city’s defenses.

"A desperate gamble!"

This scene was identical to what happened at Mist Wave City.

The only difference was that Chixia City had an Earth Immortal in residence, which meant the City Defense Array would last a little longer, but the outcome would not change much.

After two days of back and forth, nearly half of the Horned Demon People dared not leave the city, and inside the city, their number had dwindled to just over four million. The remaining eight to nine million had other resurrection points and after expending their efforts for their race, did not revive in the city again.

With such a reduction in defenders, the defenses of Chixia City crumbled even quicker, and by the third day, they were on the verge of collapse. Groups of Horned Demon People began to flee.

The invaders did not intercept them. The Red Tide was raging outside, filled with essences. Those without enough strength could not escape far.

Su Yu loudly reminded them in the channel:

"Brothers, the time for harvest is near. Get ready for the enemy’s counterattack."

"Be careful not to be targeted by an Earth Immortal. It’d be a massive loss to perish at this final stage."

"Haha, I’m on high alert now, just waiting for them to come out."

Everyone’s tone was relaxed, but they were all on high alert, including Su Yu.

Once the city fell, unable to hold the line, the Earth Immortal stationed inside would surely come out driven by self-interest. Eliminating a few would bring them some satisfaction, especially Su Yu, who was a thorn in their side, targeted for sure.

Though he had the protection of an Earth Immortal Spirit Puppet and the tenth-tier divine treasure Cyan Cloud Cover, which was immune to all skills, surprises were not impossible. What if the Earth Immortal had Immortal methods?

"Boom!"

A great sun fell like a meteor, and the City Defense Array, now thin as paper, finally gave way. The Sea-Suppressing Pearl penetrated the shattered barrier, crashing into the city, instantly annihilating a large group of Horned Demons.

Many of these Horned Demons had their life spans exhausted and perished completely with this strike, flooding the experience pool with a vast amount of killing experience and cultivation.

Within the city, the remaining two million Horned Demon People scattered as the city fell, quickly enveloped by the surrounding Red Tide of essences.

"The Earth Immortal hasn’t shown up yet; don’t go down."

At this moment, Su Yu transformed into a Celestial Ghost, becoming a Horned Demon Essence mixed within the Red Tide, drifting along with it.

Most others hid outside the city, though some, emboldened or using Celestial Ghost Transformations, surged into the city to plunder its resources.

Su Yu had no objections to this; advising any further risked offending people.

However, he soon felt something was amiss. After drifting through the city for nearly half an hour, he still had not seen the Horned Demon Guardian Earth Immortal appear.

But the celestial warning from the Star-Shift Technique in his mind made him aware that the Guardian Earth Immortal had not left but was lying in ambush somewhere inside the city.

No guesswork was needed; surely this ambush was set for none other than himself, the main culprit.

"Interesting. Let’s see how long you can hold out," Su Yu said in the channel immediately:

"The Guardian Earth Immortal is still around, but you guys needn’t worry. I’m his target. Stick to the plan and harvest resources and heads."

"No problem, as long as you stay hidden, we’ll handle the rest."

Excitedly, the crew roamed the city, clear on their roles, with some looting the warehouses of the City Lord’s Mansion and various shops and guilds, while others camped at resurrection points to harvest heads.

These were all players whose life spans were nearly exhausted; each kill rewarded millions or even tens of millions of killing experience and massive cultivation.

Silently watching, Su Yu occasionally glanced at the ever-increasing killing experience and cultivation in the experience pool, a broad smile on his face.