DOOM...
WOOOO...
Deafening sounds echoed across the sky.
From the east, west, and north, the Demon Race swarmed out in full force, slowly marching toward Beichen City.
To the southwest of Beichen City, a torrent of demons surged forth—a rough count put their numbers at thirty to forty thousand.
"This is bad!"
The faces of the generals paled.
Songg Yunjing and Zhou Chunfeng exchanged a glance and began issuing orders, arranging for Soldier Generals to go defend the South City Gate.
Once everything was arranged, Zhou Chunfeng led Li Qingxian to a deserted corner of the city wall and said in a low voice, "I miscalculated this time. I never expected three Demon Kings to gather at Beichen City. This is going to be a bitter battle. Once our strength is depleted, those three Demon Kings will surely strike without hesitation. When that happens, I’ll use a Wooden Eagle to send you, Songg Baige, and Zhou Henn away. Don’t go to the Divine Capital. Go to Wusu City. Our Zhou Family has been established there for a century, and the Songg Family also has some influence. Tang Enxuan won’t be able to touch you there."
"What about you?" Li Qingxian asked.
Zhou Chunfeng smiled faintly. "Don’t you worry about me. If Yunjing and I want to escape, a mere three Demon Kings can’t stop us."
Li Qingxian gave Zhou Chunfeng a skeptical look. "Alright, I’ll listen to you, Uncle Zhou. By the way, I have a... a Cultural Treasure of mine. I can’t figure out its use, and I don’t know What Grade it is, but it seems extraordinary. It just so happens you can use it."
As he spoke, he took out an ancient-looking Water Buffalo Head White Stone Brush Washer from his Qiankun Bracelet. It appeared quite ordinary, except its surface was exceptionally smooth and lustrous.
Zhou Chunfeng took it and examined it closely, then exclaimed with delight, "A Third-Grade Cultural Treasure! You truly are a lucky star! Yunjing, catch! Qingxian is lending this to you!"
Zhou Chunfeng tossed the Water Buffalo Brush Washer over. Songg Yunjing caught it, studied it, and nodded with a faint smile. "Good! Good! Good!"
Zhou Chunfeng called Songg Baige over and warned the two of them not to act impulsively.
Songg Baige just nodded.
Watching Zhou Chunfeng leave, Songg Baige lowered his voice. "Do you think those two will choose to die with the city?"
"Can’t you say something more auspicious?" Li Qingxian retorted.
Songg Baige said, "My father and Uncle Zhou together can take on two Third-Grade Demon Kings. With our other forces, fighting three isn’t out of the question. But that King Shujiao is no ordinary Third-Grade... Sigh..."
"Just be ready to leave. I trust that nothing will happen to the two of them," Li Qingxian said.
"We do our best and leave the rest to Celestial Fate. I’m going to go work on my Battle Poem again. If I can revise it and break through a grade, advancing from Junior Seventh Grade to Sixth Grade, I can at least kill a few more from the Demon Race." As he spoke, Songg Baige took out a brush and paper and began to write and scribble.
Li Qingxian took out some Spirit Talismans and distributed them among the various Cultivators.
Xiong Zhenghao of the River Guard Army, Lü Biao of the Five Armies Commander’s Mansion, and others accepted the Spirit Talismans and thanked him profusely.
After Li Qingxian had distributed some of the Spirit Talismans, the Demon Race armies from the three directions converged, howling as they began their assault on the city.
Li Qingxian stood at the very back of the city wall, frowning slightly.
’If I were to advance to Middle Grade or even Upper Grade, I could consolidate a Great Trend Formation for the entire county, mobilize the Dragon Veins of the land, shatter a Demon King’s Fate Grid, and even draw upon the National Fortune.’
’But my Cultivation is too low, and with the National Fortunes of the two races clashing, it’s difficult for me to intervene.’
Li Qingxian sighed softly. He stood behind the Daoist Cultivators, Literature Cultivators, and Puppet Cultivators, a Spirit Talisman in hand, preparing himself.
The Literature Cultivators began chanting Battle Poems. All manner of creations condensed from Literary Qi—warriors, blades, thunder, and fire—rained down upon the front.
Every time a Battle Poem was unleashed, it would form a rainbow-colored light with a varying number of layers.
Li Qingxian listened carefully to the others’ Battle Poems, but in the end, he could only shake his head helplessly.
Some sounded vaguely familiar, but they were all different from the poems in his memory.
Human Race Literature Cultivators could only rely on the Scriptures of All Saints to enhance their Literary Qi and advance in Grade Level.
Battle Poems, however, were half dependent on oneself.
When a new Battle Poem appeared in the world, others could not use it directly. If another Literature Cultivator wanted to use it, they had to modify it to form a ’Child Poem and Verse’ before it could be cast.
The original creator of the poem held a special privilege.
The creator could directly use any Child Poems and Verses based on their own Battle Poem, even if the power of the Child Poem and Verse surpassed that of the parent poem.
This gave rise to a group of people who specialized in helping creators modify their poems: the Poetry Masters.
Li Qingxian understood this practice. After all, being a high-ranking official or a Grand Scholar didn’t mean one was skilled at poetry and verse.
Those great scholars of the classics, renowned ministers of the Imperial Court, and masters of political intrigue were often not skilled at poetry, with only a few exceptions.
Poetry abhors a successful fate; the smoother a person’s life and career, the harder it is for them to write good poetry and verse.
Ninety-nine percent of the famous poets and lyricists in history lived arduous lives, full of ups and downs.
Li Bai, Du Fu, Su Dongpo, Luh Youu, Li Qingzhao... and so on, were all like this.
The reason the famously talented Jiangyan’s creativity ran dry was because he rose through the ranks with ease, eventually becoming Minister of the Ministry of Personnel and even being granted a marquisate. He had neither the time nor the energy to write poems and essays.
The High-Grade scholars of Daqi were the same. They either dedicated themselves to governance and politics or immersed themselves in the Scriptures of All Saints, only studying Battle Poems in their leisure time.
’Besides, Battle Poems could be used after a few modifications anyway.’
Li Qingxian considered this. ’Never mind that I can’t recall many of the poems completely. Even if I could, and even if they were powerful new poems, everyone would still have to modify them before use. In a critical moment like this, they’re far less useful than existing Battle Poems.’
Ultimately, Li Qingxian extinguished the thought of saving the city with poetry and began to carefully ponder his Fate Skill.
An exhausted Songg Baige walked over, staring blankly as he recovered his Literary Qi.
"You’ve been defending the wall this whole time. What’s your take on the situation?" Li Qingxian asked in a low voice.
Songg Baige’s gaze flickered, and he whispered, "I just communicated secretly with my father for a moment. We have only one way to survive: defend the city to the last and wait for reinforcements from Upper Three Grades experts. But... I’m afraid they won’t make it in time."
"Is the Imperial Court’s efficiency that low?" Li Qingxian asked.
"The Imperial Court is inefficient, yes, but the real problem is a lack of manpower. The Demon Race began their massive invasion in the fourth month, and it’s been going on for over a month now. All available Upper-Grade Experts have already been dispatched. Think about it. My father has some renown in the Scholarly Community, with old acquaintances and friends all over. But after all this time, apart from a few Middle-Grade friends who came to help, where is everyone else? It’s not that they don’t want to come—they have their own duties and simply can’t."
"Can’t they transfer people from the south?" Li Qingxian asked.
"Those small nations to the south are all behaving themselves right now, so it wouldn’t be difficult to reassign people. But the north and south are separated by tens of thousands of miles. That’s why we have to hold out."
"This Beichen City... is the Imperial Court truly willing to abandon it?" Li Qingxian asked.
Songg Baige sneered. "They were willing to abandon all of Xidu State, so what does little Beichen City matter? Those High Rank Uncles in the Imperial Court, of course they prioritize their own interests, their Clan’s interests, and their faction’s interests. Only at the very end do they consider the interests of the nation. Whether to save Beichen City, how to save it, and when to save it—none of that is our decision. It’s all decided by their interests. If a Spirit Gold Ore mine were discovered under Beichen City right now, believe me, they’d be fighting desperately to come to our aid."
"Then all we can do is wait. Hopefully, the three Demon Kings won’t attack directly."
"They won’t. It’ll be their usual tactic. First, they’ll have the Little Demons exhaust our strength, forcing my father and Uncle Zhou to take action and expend their Literary Qi. Once we’re weakened enough, the three Demon Kings will strike."
"The Demon Race is that cowardly?"
"The bold ones are all dead! In the past, the Demon Race thought the Human Race was weak and easily bullied. They charged recklessly without any strategy or tactics. They had the upper hand at first, but as the Human Race grew stronger, we quickly developed countermeasures. As the war dragged on, the demons noticed their casualties were suddenly soaring. Only after careful observation did they realize we were far stronger than they’d imagined. After decades of fighting, both sides have learned their lesson. The Human Race no longer scoffs at the Demon Race’s brute force, and the Demon Race no longer considers the Human Race weak. Wearing us down before striking is now the Demon Race’s standard tactic."