Outside the city gates.

BOOM!

A colossal beast crashed to the ground.

The cataclysmic impact crushed a large swath of the advancing Star Beasts. A mountain of flesh formed a wall, creating a makeshift defensive barrier.

Countless Star Beasts were crushed to death beneath it.

Mournful cries filled the air...

"It’s down! It’s down!"

"The King Level Star Beast is dead!!"

"The Commander is incredible!!!"

Standing on the battlements, the people cheered wildly. Their gazes fell upon the Pear Blossom Needle Tube in the Commander’s hands, and they were all struck with profound shock.

How immense was that King Level Star Beast just moments ago?

That mountain-like body, yet before this needle tube...

It didn’t even have a chance to resist!

That was a King Level Star Beast...

"The King Level Star Beast has been slain! Everyone, continue defending the city!!"

The Commander withdrew the Rainstorm Pear Blossom Needle. Standing tall on the city wall, he ignited the troops’ morale with a booming voice, his gaze sweeping over the other King Level Star Beasts.

Suddenly, several streams of malicious intent stabbed at him like needles to the brow.

’They’re coming.’

After one of their own had fallen, the other colossal beasts fixed their stares on the Commander. A ferocious aura enveloped them as their gazes converged on him.

He had drawn all their hatred!

"Good, good... You pack of animals, come and get me!"

The Commander’s voice trembled as he sprinted along the edge of the battlements, following the rehearsed route to the southeastern corner of the city wall.

A few breaths later,

A terrifying pressure washed over the area.

RUMBLE!

All the King Level Star Beasts converged on the southeastern corner, preparing to tear him to shreds.

With Star Beasts before him and the city wall behind him, there seemed to be no escape. Mountainous beasts descended upon the Commander.

’This is the place...’

The Commander came to a stop and murmured to himself. He looked up at the Star Beasts, as tiny as an ant before them.

Killing intent loomed. It was a dead end.

...

"This is bad! We have to save the Commander!"

Seeing this, some of the other Loose Cultivators grew anxious and were about to rush in the Commander’s direction. But just as they started to move...

SWISH—

A series of strange sounds suddenly erupted!

From the city wall behind the Commander,

Bricks tumbled away!

The ambushing forces of the Police Chief all acted at once. A hundred Rainstorm Pear Blossom Needles emerged from hidden holes, aimed squarely at the converging King Level Star Beasts.

Perfectly synchronized,

It was a perfect ambush!

"Fire!!!"

The Commander roared, quickly dropping to the ground and covering his head. They had rehearsed this ambush hundreds of times, all for this very moment.

The next second,

SWISH!

Beneath the night sky, a rain of pear blossoms fell! A silver gleam exploded above his head as if a meteor shower streaked across the sky, blasting into the skulls of the King Level Star Beasts!

Piercing through!

PFFT—

One after another, the King Level Star Beasts collapsed, piling up into mountains of flesh. The wails of a thousand beasts echoed across the field!!

In an instant, the surging Beast Tide fell into disarray. They scrambled to avoid the toppling King Level Star Beasts, creating a scene of utter chaos below the city walls!

Countless Star Beasts were crushed to death.

It was a bloody tableau!

High up on the walls, the crowd looked down at the carnage, their eyes fixed on the colossal bodies of the fallen beasts.

A thousand emotions surged through their hearts.

Their immense size, once a source of pride, had instead turned them into living targets for the piercing Rainstorm Pear Blossom Needles.

The next moment,

On a high platform, a live broadcast relayed the images to the internet.

From the very beginning of the defense, the entire nation had been watching this battle. The internet was already in an uproar, with a constant stream of bullet comments scrolling across the screen.

"The Commander acted as bait himself! What a hero!!"

"Killing King Levels in one hit?"

"The Jianghai Defense had this up their sleeve!"

"Wait, dude? One Star Artifact is understandable, but you’re telling me they have them in bulk? That’s insane!!"

"Yes, yes, yes! Heaven hasn’t abandoned Jianghai!"

Countless different comments were sent at the same time, until at the final moment, they coalesced into a single, unified cheer.

...

"We’ve won!"

...

「The villa district.」

On the 4K television screen, a King Level Star Beast crashed to the ground. The visual impact was unparalleled, every pore magnified, delivering a shock no less intense than a blockbuster movie...

"Huh??!"

Xiaobai sat on the sofa, hugging a bag of popcorn, watching with great interest.

But when this scene appeared...

Her eyes went wide in an instant!

’They’re dead just like that!’

’The King Level Star Beasts are actually dead just like that?’

’These were beings capable of leading a Beast Tide, massive as mountains, capable of crushing humans like ants. And they were slaughtered like dogs?’

"Whoa! What the heck is so powerful?!"

Seeing this, Xiaobai couldn’t sit still. She scrambled off the sofa, remote in hand, and hurried to the TV. She rewound the video a few seconds, her eyes glued to the object in the Commander’s hands.

The next moment,

The Rainstorm Pear Blossom Needle came into view.

An inconspicuous appearance, shaped like a black pen holder, with a dense, honeycomb-like array of needle ports...

’That familiar shape...’

"Huh? Isn’t that the thing Master gave to Xia Yang? What was it called... the Rainstorm Pear Blossom Needle?"

Xiaobai frowned in thought, hugging her budding chest as she glanced at Qin Yang outside.

She felt a little uncomfortable.

A chill.

Ever since the battle started, Qin Yang had been standing watch outside, seemingly with nothing to do...

The wind kept gusting into the house.

...

"Master, stop standing in the wind!"

Hugging the remote, Xiaobai pattered over to the balcony. She nudged Qin Yang’s waist with her little head, desperately trying to pull his hand and drag him inside.

"Come on, get inside with me!"

"Hurry, Master! It looks like you humans are about to win!"

Her words fell.

Qin Yang remained unmoved.

He still leaned against the railing, gazing at the light in the distance. The cool night wind blew past, and the roar of cannon fire echoed from the direction of the city wall.

’These King Level Star Beasts are just the beginning.’

"The real show is about to start."

...

...

「At the same time.」

Behind the main army of the Beast Tide.

Within the pine forest of the Da Li Mountain Range.

Two black figures stood in the woods, silently observing the strange situation at the distant city wall. The hordes of beasts avoided them, leaving a hundred-meter radius devoid of life.

In the distance, at the city wall, the King Level Star Beasts had collapsed...

"A bunch of trash!"

one of the black figures said impatiently. "After raising them for so long... they can’t even get over the city wall."

"Venerable Lord, please calm yourself,"

the person beside him consoled in a low voice. "We didn’t expect this small Coastal City to possess such a powerful weapon. It was indeed a miscalculation."

"A Magical Artifact that can instantly kill a King Level Star Beast is an extremely rare existence."

But as his words fell,

he received no reply, only another command.

"That’s not my concern! You know what to do next!"

"Yes, rest assured, Venerable Lord!"

"As an Emperor Level being, it is my duty to correct the mistakes of those low-level wastes."

With that, the black-robed man slowly walked out of the mountain forest.

Step by step,

he headed toward the border of Jianghai City’s outskirts.

The next moment,

he shed his black robe, revealing feathered plumes. A great roc spread its wings, blotting out the sky and the moon.

The man had transformed into an enormous roc. It soared straight up, stirring the bloody rain and gore of the Star Beasts below. The grinding of flesh and bone seemed to play a mournful dirge...