"Which state are you from? There's something familiar about your techniques."

"…"

Yang An was certain the man was speaking to him and instinctively thought, 'This is bad.'

He had used the Great Brightness Buddha Golden Zen Spell from Great Virtue Temple. Although he had only unleashed two rays of Golden Radiance, he never thought it would draw anyone's attention. 𝓯𝙧𝓮𝓮𝒘𝓮𝙗𝙣𝒐𝒗𝒆𝓵.𝓬𝓸𝒎

'Did this guy recognize that I used Light Magic? Or did he realize this technique is connected to Great Virtue Temple?'

'He's not going to mistake me for another spy from Great Virtue Temple, is he?'

Yang An couldn't be sure, so he gave a vague answer that carefully avoided the main point.

"Greetings, Senior. I am a Cultivator from Zichuan State."

A hint of doubt flickered in the hunchbacked man's eyes. He seemed to recall something, but then shook his head.

"You're quite skilled. Don't waste time on trivial matters within the city. The wall is Ten Directions City's first line of defense, and it must not be neglected. Don't delay—get over there and provide support at once."

"…"

Seeing that the man hadn't discovered anything and didn't press the matter, Yang An breathed a silent sigh of relief. He nodded, then turned and headed for the city wall.

Now that he was inside Ten Directions City, he was just one Cultivator among many. Having blended into the ranks, he had no choice but to follow their orders while gathering as much information as he could.

Yang An quickly headed toward a different section of the wall, staying far away from the spot where he'd had his previous encounter.

As he watched Yang An's departing figure quickly merge into the crowd, the hunchbacked Cultivator couldn't help but scratch his head.

"That was Light Magic, wasn't it?…"

"State Lord, bad news! A huge number of Demon Fiends are breaking through from the southeast!"

A voice calling from far behind him immediately brought the hunchbacked Cultivator back to his senses.

"What's the panic? They're nothing more than a bunch of rabble."

He snapped, already rushing toward the southeast.

Yang An soon arrived atop the city wall. He deliberately chose a spot where the Cultivators were packed together, planning to blend into the chaos.

And yet, when he stood atop that high perch and saw the scene outside Ten Directions City, he couldn't help but feel shaken.

Demon Fiends… There were so many!

Outside Ten Directions City, vast hordes of Demon Fiends were attacking. They were a sprawling, dark mass, and their advance made the very heavens and earth tremble, as if the ground itself were quaking.

Among the Demon Fiends were the tall and the short, the humanoid and the beastly, the grotesque and the foul-stinking. Some were even incomparably massive—every bizarre shape and form imaginable was present.

To make matters worse, within Yang An's spiritual sense, the countless auras of varying Cultivation Levels mingled with other energies, overwhelming his senses and making it impossible to gauge the Demon Fiends' true strength.

At that moment, the true horror of the demonic scourge dawned on Yang An. Though Ten Directions City was filled with Cultivators, their numbers were paltry compared to the Demon Fiends.

'How can we fight this?'

Unless a true Great Power intervened, Yang An couldn't even think of a way to resolve the current situation. The Demon Fiends' assault was ferocious.

He glanced along the walls of Ten Directions City. He suspected he wasn't the only one who had realized this; many other Cultivators were clearly just as stunned by the sheer number of invading Demon Fiends.

'To lose heart before the battle even begins… a cardinal sin in warfare!'

If even one person took the lead and deserted, the Cultivators' morale would utterly collapse.

'This is no longer a battle… it's a war!'

'If things go south, I'll have to find a chance to make a run for it!'

Yang An's eyebrow twitched. While scanning his surroundings to memorize the layout of Ten Directions City, he was already plotting his escape routes in his mind.

'Of course, that's assuming someone else runs first. I have no intention of sticking my neck out.'