Martial Cultivator

The cultivators operating the divine crossbows looked at the demonic clouds in the distance and merely fell silent for a moment. They did not turn the divine crossbows toward them, but kept them aimed at the area before the city wall.

Ordinary divine crossbows were all but incapable of harming great demons, and they had no intention of wasting crossbow bolts on something meaningless.

Behind the city wall, only now did several divine crossbows slowly raise their aim.

Unlike the ordinary divine crossbows, these few possessed an exceedingly terrifying aura, completely different from that of the ordinary ones.

The cultivators operating these divine crossbows were also clearly much stronger than those operating the others.

In fact, all of them were in the Great Beyond Realm.

As early as more than two hundred years ago, when the founding emperor of Great Liang resolved to build the Great Wall to resist the demon race, he had already considered one problem: those powerful demons relied on their high cultivation realms, and no matter how tall the wall was, it could never stop them.

Thus, the divine crossbow came into being. By engraving runes onto the crossbow carriage and having cultivators of considerable cultivation infuse it with their qi, each fired crossbow bolt was the equivalent of a daoist talisman.

The craftsmen of the Ministry of Works used this method to create divine crossbows powered by a cultivator's qi, capable of matching the power of some talismans written by daoist cultivators.

However, to create divine crossbows of even greater power required not only rarer materials, but also operators of higher cultivation. Thus, while ordinary divine crossbows could be found everywhere along the Northern Frontier Great Wall, those capable of threatening even great demons were exceedingly few.

In fact, even these few divine crossbows had only been obtained because Emperor Taizong had traded a great many things with the foreign lands back then.

Naturally, the divine crossbows on the city wall had been improved generation after generation. But regardless of how much they were refined, everyone understood one thing: every shot from one of these crossbows nearly exhausted the operator's qi. The Great Liang Dynasty had many cultivators accompanying its armies, but those who had reached the Great Beyond Realm were exceedingly few.

Therefore, the number of bolts these crossbows could fire did not depend on how many bolts there were, it only depended on how many cultivators there were.

The cultivator standing before those few divine crossbows nodded, took a deep breath, and the several divine crossbows silently aimed toward the sky.

Even with the enhancement of the divine crossbows, allowing every bolt to carry the power of a Nepenthe cultivator's all-out attack, a crossbow bolt was ultimately an inanimate object, while a great demon was alive. Hitting those powerful demons had never been an easy task.

So they merely held their breath and concentrated, making no haste to fire those bolts.

But the demonic clouds had already spread over, and a towering demon figure appeared in the sky.

The moment he appeared, a crossbow bolt shot out from the city wall without any warning. At the instant it was fired, the face of one cultivator turned deathly pale. Trembling, he took a medicinal pill from his robes and swallowed it. The moment he had taken it, soldiers helped him down from the divine crossbow and seated him on a chair nearby.

Meanwhile, that crossbow bolt continued streaking through the sky...

The great demon's expression remained unchanged. A screen of demonic qi condensed before him, but he had no intention of forcefully receiving the bolt. This was not his first siege, and he naturally understood a simple truth that was also easily forgotten - that showing off one's might on the battlefield was not true ability.

The true first-rate ability in this world was leaving a battlefield alive.

After avoiding the first crossbow bolt, a second one soon shot out from the city wall, carrying a terrifying aura as it targeted the great demon.

The cultivators on the city wall had worked together for many years and were already perfectly coordinated. They knew exactly when to fire, and which timing was best.

The great demon narrowed his eyes. Before he could make a move, another great demon had already appeared not far away.

Those crossbow bolts were troublesome, but if there was more than one great demon, then they no longer seemed so formidable.

The third crossbow bolt was just about to be fired from the divine crossbow when the wrist of the cultivator operating it was suddenly held down. It was the old sword immortal Gan Tang, who had already appeared atop the city wall earlier. Smiling at the middle-aged cultivator, he said, "Save them for now. Let this old man go first. If you see that I can't hold them off later, then fire the bolts. I'll do my best to drag as many of them as possible into their path."

The cultivator was taken aback, then shook his head. "Sword Immortal Gan, how can this do?"

Gan Tang's elderly face was full of smiles. "Why can't I? Before this old man dies, killing at least one or two great demons shouldn't be a problem, right?" "Then if I drag another one or two great demons down with me, that means this old man will take at least three or four great demons with him. Nepenthe Realm, just a Nepenthe Realm, achieving such a record, this old man can say 'who else?'"

The cultivator remained silent, not knowing what to say.

"But I still wanted to see the end of Nepenthe. 'Great sword immortal' is just one extra word beyond 'sword immortal,' yet this old man spent his whole life and still couldn't pick up that one word."

Gan Tang sighed, but after saying that, this old sword immortal of the Sword Sect turned around, gripped the flying sword that had accompanied him through countless springs and autumns, and thrust out a sword.

In an instant, a dazzling sword light tore across the sky above the city wall.

The old sword immortal Gan Tang smiled faintly as his figure shot forward like a streak of sword light, instantly drawing a white line across the city wall.

Sword qi followed closely behind that white line.

That sword strike was aimed directly at the two great demons before the city wall.

The two great demons exchanged glances, both somewhat disdainful. But when that sword reached them, they finally felt the razor-sharp edge contained within its sword qi.

Over the past years, the most renowned sword immortal in the Northern Frontier had not been the Sword Sect Master, the greatest sword user in the world, but a sword immortal who had never stepped into the realm of great sword immortal - Liu Banbi.

As for why...

The reason was simple.

One slew demons atop the city wall. The other remained in secluded cultivation within the Sword Sect.

These two great demons had fought that Sword Immortal Liu before and naturally knew how terrifying his killing power was. But after sensing the sword qi of this old sword immortal, they no longer dared underestimate him.

Because his sword seemed even sharper than Liu Banbi's.

But these two great demons were unconcerned, because more figures were continuously appearing not far away.

Since the entire demon race had marched south, there could not be only one demon powerhouse appearing here.

As he thrust out his sword, Gan Tang thought of many things.

Every generation produces its own outstanding talents, each leading the era for several hundred years. That was an indisputable fact. Once old fellows like them stopped walking the world, and once younger sword immortals who acted with greater boldness appeared, it would only take a few years before old fellows like them were forgotten.

Making way for the younger generation was nothing to worry about. But to be completely forgotten while he was still alive?

This old sword immortal felt that would not do.

That was why, some time ago, he had slain Liu Xiang with a single sword strike. And now, if this was to be his final battle, then he would certainly die in a blaze of glory!

"Fellow Daoists, slay the great demons alongside with me!"

Gan Tang burst into laughter, his sword never ceasing, while several streaks of sword light appeared behind him at the same time, accompanied by peals of laughter.

"To fight alongside Sword Immortal Gan is the fortune of three lifetimes!"

"There's no need to remember this old man's name, but remember the name of this old man's flying sword - Ink Mountain!"

"Having trained in the sword for over a hundred years. At last, today, I may draw my sword and sever a demon's head!"

"This Han will go on ahead. Follow after me, all of you!"

"Don't forget to bring the alcohol!"