Chapter 289: First Defensive Line
The moment the words "Beast Tide" left the warrior’s mouth, Wei Chen unconsciously turned to stare at Yun Feng.
"What?" Yun Feng reacted, feeling the accusing look directed at him.
Ximen Hao stood up, his expression turning solemn.
"Where are they? How strong is the beast tide? And when will they reach us?" Ximen Hao fired off three questions in quick succession at the warrior who had come to deliver the report.
"According to our scouts, they are about one week away from the outskirts of the first city outpost if they continue traveling at their current pace. As for their strength, our rough estimate is around ten million fierce beasts. Their cultivation varies greatly. The strongest we’ve detected are Nascent Soul Realm beasts, but the vast majority appear to be in the Qi Refining Realm."
"Based on their numbers, we believe they are being led by a King Beast. Otherwise, a beast tide of ten million would not be possible if it were led by only an Alpha Beast," the warrior concluded.
"Where did they come from? Why are we only learning about this now?" Ximen Hao asked with a frown.
The Beast Tide early warning system was something many cities had invested heavily in to safeguard their citizens. The Ximen Clan, in particular, had poured enormous resources into the city’s defenses, as Cloud City was one of the primary sources of the clan’s immense wealth.
The Ximen Clan had built numerous hidden observation posts staffed by scouts. They were similar to park ranger watchtowers, except their sole purpose was to monitor the surrounding wilderness for any signs of danger, especially an approaching beast tide.
Normally, these observation posts would provide months of advance warning, not merely weeks. If the threat could be dealt with early, the clan would dispatch field agents or issue bounty missions to send experts to eliminate it before it became a disaster.
For example, if an Alpha Beast was on the verge of breaking through and becoming the catalyst for a beast tide, it would be eliminated the moment the observation post detected it.
Because of this policy, Cloud City had never once suffered an invasion by a beast tide.
This was the Ximen Clan’s standard when it came to protecting its assets.
For most cities, receiving several weeks of advance warning would already be considered excellent.
For the Ximen Clan, however, it was a serious failure.
"Young Master, about a week ago, the observation posts we established reported a sudden and unusual energy fluctuation coming from the direction of the Emerald River. Shortly afterward, the aura of a King Beast appeared near the outer edge of our early warning perimeter."
"At first, we followed protocol and dispatched several scouting teams to investigate, but none of them returned. By the time we were preparing to escalate our response, the beasts had already gathered into an army large enough to form a beast tide," the warrior reported truthfully.
"Suddenly appeared? Are you sure this wasn’t caused by negligence? Or perhaps corruption drained the coffers so we couldn’t afford competent mercenaries to investigate the situation?" Ximen Hao asked, his eyes turning sharp as they fixed on the warrior.
"That... that will be investigated further, Young Master."
The warrior spoke with sweat beading on his forehead. He was merely the captain of one of the observation posts who had come to deliver the report. He had no involvement in whatever happened at the management level. Although he felt it was a little unfair to be on the receiving end of such scrutiny. But after all.... that was simply part of a messenger’s job.
"Bro... do you need any help?" Wei Chen offered.
Ximen Hao looked at his good brother.
"Of course I need help. Ten million fierce beasts aren’t something my clan can handle alone." Ximen Hao replied with a wry smile.
Did this guy seriously think he and his clan could deal with ten million fierce beasts by themselves?
Do you think we’re the Hidden Ancient Force, or are you?
Duh...
Ximen Hao thought as he shot Wei Chen a judgmental look, as if Wei Chen had just asked a stupid question.
Seeing that expression, Wei Chen chuckled. He had only asked just in case Ximen Hao was the type to let pride get in the way and refuse help. But it seemed that, in this case, Ximen Hao no longer cared about personal pride, as this was a problem far beyond what he could handle alone.
Thinking about it, this guy really did seem to be growing up.
He could see the bigger picture now.
"Then tell me where you plan to make your stand against the beast tide. I’ll help. But if I need to call in my people to assist with the defense, it’s going to cost you. As long as you can cover our supplies for this defensive mission, I don’t mind giving you a friendly discount," Wei Chen said.
Hearing the word *discount* from Wei Chen, Mo Xingyao did not know why, but she suddenly felt as though she had lost out on a great opportunity.
A missed opportunity.
Although, when she thought about it, these were Wei Chen’s forces, not hers.
But still...
If it had been her, she could have squeezed much more out of Ximen Hao.
All that money..... the pain..... It’s sting.....
Wei Chen noticed Mo Xingyao’s hard-to-read expression and asked,
"What’s wrong with you? Why are you making a face like you’re constipated?"
Mo Xingyao immediately responded by smacking him hard on the shoulder.
"You’re constipated! Your whole family is constipated! Don’t use that word on a lady like me! I’ve never been constipated!" she retorted in embarrassment, repeatedly hitting Wei Chen on the shoulder to hide how flustered she was.
(Author’s Note: While writing this, I have my own constipation problem. It’s been two days since my torpedoes last came out.)
After the two finished messing around with each other, the group followed Ximen Hao to a high-speed flying ark, which immediately set off toward the first defensive line.
— Cloud City’s First Defensive line —
The flying ark sped through the clouds as fast as it could. In about two hours, it had already arrived at the first line of defense of Cloud City.
The flying ark descended through the clouds toward the sky docking yard below, but from the window of the flying ark, Ximen Hao saw the negligence of the first defensive line with his own eyes.
What he saw was a construction team still in the middle of makeshift repairs, along with the unfitness and lack of vigilance of the people guarding the first defensive line.
The sight made his anger rise. The cause of his anger was not just the negligence alone, but also the corruption at the management level, as he could clearly see that many places were in a sorry state of disrepair.
The white walls, built from Spirit Cloud Marble that was both as beautiful as a work of art and durable enough to withstand the full power strike of a Nascent Soul Realm cultivator, had been severely neglected.
Their once pristine surfaces had darkened with corrosion from years of poor maintenance, greatly diminishing both their durability and their beauty compared to their former glory.
The black gates, forged from Black Steel mixed with many precious and durable metals, were covered in rust. Some areas even showed clear signs of scraped-off metal, while the gate’s mechanisms were visibly corroded, something that was apparent even from the sky.
The weapons had also been replaced. Instead of at least Earth-grade weapons, the guards were now equipped with ordinary mortal-grade weapons, and even those had been poorly maintained.
All of this severe negligence was witnessed by his good brother, Wei Chen, and Yun Feng. Especially Yun Feng, to whom Ximen Hao had bragged about this defensive line countless times. Now it felt as though someone had dragged his face through the mud and trampled it beneath the soles of their boots.
The moment the flying ark docked at the sky docking yard, Ximen Hao immediately jumped off the ark and landed on the platform.
"Who the f*ck is responsible for this defensive line? Get your ass out here!" Ximen Hao roared in fury, using the full force of his cultivation.
His voice carried his wrath to everyone who heard it.
After a moment passed, a bloated man was dragged over by his own subordinates. Even on the way here, he was still roaring at them for interrupting his enjoyment of women and food.
"Why did you bring me out!? If this isn’t something important, all of you should prepare to receive a thousand strokes of the cane!" the bloated man roared at the warriors escorting him.
"Commander! This is really important... it’s... it’s Young Master..." one of the warriors tried to explain.
"Oh? Is it Young Master Ren!? Why didn’t you say so!"
With those words, the bloated man used what had once been his profound qinggong to leap toward Ximen Hao. However, with his bloated body and weight, he could only manage short hops. Instead of looking like a man using qinggong, he looked more like a bouncing ball.
"Huh? Y... Young Master Ximen Hao? Why are you here? Wasn’t this place under Young Master Ximen Ren?" the bloated man blurted out the moment he got a clear look at Ximen Hao.