Chapter 78: Demonic Calamity (2)
As soon as the web of lightning appeared, Su Chen knew that they were in trouble.
This Lightning Serpent had actually reached the level of a Demonic King.
From the many years of experience acc.u.mulated by humans fighting Demonic Beasts, a high-tier Demonic Beast had been determined to be roughly equivalent in power to a Light Shaking Realm cultivator with five Lotus Platforms. A Demonic Lord was roughly equivalent to a Spirit Burning Realm cultivator, Demonic King equivalent to a Thought Manifestation Realm cultivator, and a Demonic Emperor equivalent to an Ultimate Emperor Realm cultivator. That was also the highest cultivation level that any human had reached up till now. As for the stronger Desolate Beasts? Unfortunately, no human could take one of them on single-handedly.
The few victories where humans had defeated these Desolate Beasts were all because entire kingdoms had been mobilized, and even then it was only successful through the help of many strong individuals from other races.
At first, everyone thought that it was only a Demonic Lord; even though it was as strong as a Spirit Burning Realm cultivator, twenty or so Light Shaking Realm cultivators combined would be more than enough to take it on.
However, once they actually started fighting, they discovered that this guy had actually concealed its strength at the beginning. Its true strength was actually that of a Demonic King’s! They were in big trouble now.
As the powerful web of lightning descended, Origin Qi Scholars began falling out of the sky.
These Origin Qi Scholars were all Light Shaking Realm cultivators, strong enough to be considered cornerstones of the whole human race. Now, however, they were being swept out of the sky like pieces of rotten wood just from a single attack by the Demonic King. A few of the weaker ones were even killed immediately.
Even more columns of lightning fell onto Swallow River City, causing explosions to ring out all over the city. Millions of ferocious lightning tendrils snaked across the ground like fiery serpents, toppling countless houses and killing ma.s.ses of innocents that were in their paths.
In the blink of an eye, Swallow River City had been decimated. Blood flowed in rivers on the streets.
“Despicable!”
A furious howl echoed through the air. A ma.s.sive Soaring Serpent flew into the air, with its maw wide open towards the sky. Countless streaks of light shot forth from its mouth, filling the sky with a torrent of flames. It was still using the Flying Flower Hands, but even more powerful and imposing than when Gu Xuanmian had used it.
At the same time, changes started to appear on the western, southern, and northern sides of the city.
A ma.s.sive armored elephant, as st.u.r.dy as a mountain, began to trumpet with its thick trunk.
A Jade Sword Ape growled as it wielded its mountain-like sword. Every time it exhaled, air would ripple across the ground like a tidal wave.
A Six-Winged Flying Scorpion scuttled across the surface of the Swallow Fjord, its large stinger piercing the heavens while shooting out streams of dark purple fog at the sky.
“Ancestor!” the Origin Qi Scholars present all began to cry out simultaneously.
The people who had appeared were the ancestors of the four large clans in Swallow River City, all of them powerful existences at the Spirit Burning Realm.
The four Spirit Burning Realm cultivators attacked all together at the same time, completely encompa.s.sing Swallow River City under their awe-inspiring might. The sea of Origin Energy became turbulent, but under the control of these four individuals, the whole city was sheltered from the attacks.
“Protect the city! Activate the Origin Formation!” someone cried out in a raspy voice.
It was City Lord Hua Tingyue who had spoken.
A mystical light suddenly began to glow from the cracks in the ground, gradually forming a wall of light that reached high into the sky.
This was what was preventing the remnant waves of energy from the battle taking place above from reaching the city.
However, because the attack had come so suddenly, Swallow River City’s Origin Formation had been seriously damaged. A large part of the city was not under the protection of the formation.
What only exacerbated the situation was that Swallow River City was not a strategic town in the defense of the border. Even with the protection of the Origin Formation, its strength was far too weak to resist the energy fluctuations coming off of a battle between Spirit Burning Realm cultivators and a Demonic King.
Sparks flew off of the barrier as wave after wave of energy fluctuations crashed into it. It was obvious that the barrier wouldn’t be able to hold for long. Energy fluctuations were also able to propagate in from wherever the barrier was incomplete, ma.s.sacring any nearby innocents.
“Someone plug up those holes!” Hua Tingyue yelled out loudly.
One Origin Qi Scholar after another charged towards these holes and used different kinds of Origin Skills to block the energy trying to force its way in through these holes.
These people were all below the Light Shaking Realm. They had no way of partic.i.p.ating in the actual fight in the air, but they could at least stay on the ground and try to protect the civilians.
At this moment, whoever was a hero and whoever was a coward was made crystal clear. Origin Qi Scholar after Origin Qi Scholar charged towards the gaps in the barrier to face the energy falling down in torrents from the sky head-on. The Light Shaking Realm cultivators teamed up with the Spirit Burning Realm cultivators to drive back the giant snake. Since they were on the front lines, they were also the ones who received the brunt of the attacks.
Lightning flashed across the sky repeatedly, each streak carrying with it the frightening numbness of death.
Boom!
One of the streaks of lightning slammed into a Light Shaking Realm cultivator, completely bypa.s.sing his magic barrier. That cultivator immediately seized up and began trembling uncontrollably. Three more streaks of lightning snaked towards him, shattering his Lotus Platform. He died on the spot.
“HISS!”
The Lightning Snake hissed in delight. It weaved in and out of the clouds, lightning dancing between its iridescent scales as everything it touched disintegrated into dust.
The four Spirit Burning Realm cultivators were clearly having a hard time keeping the ma.s.sive Lightning Snake at bay.
The difference in strength was just too great!
“Master, are we still not going to do anything?” Iron Cliff asked as he stared at Su Chen, worry clearly showing all over his face.
From the moment the Lightning Snake had appeared until now, Su Chen had only watched; he hadn’t made any moves at all.
Of course, Iron Cliff knew that Su Chen was not the Demonic King’s opponent, and he didn’t even dare dream that Su Chen could kill the snake with a single blow. However, he hoped that Su Chen would at least be able to do something, and not just stare at this beast in a daze.
Su Chen, however, remained calm. “Don’t be so anxious. I’m watching carefully.”
“What else is there to watch?” Iron Cliff didn’t understand.
Su Chen replied, “I know that you’re worried, Iron Cliff. But trust me, I’m not afraid; I’m just thinking.”
“Now is the time when we urgently need to do something.”
“The more urgent the issue, the calmer you need to be and the more you need to avoid making mistakes,” Su Chen replied.
He stared at the sky, traces of suspicion flas.h.i.+ng across his eyes. “I know that Demonic Kings are very powerful, but don’t you think it’s strange that this Demonic King would choose to attack Swallow River City? This city isn’t small and has four major Bloodline n.o.bility Clans, four Spirit Burning Realm cultivators, and a handful of Light Shaking Realm cultivators. Even if it is a Demonic King, it would have to expend a lot of energy and pay a significant price to destroy this place on its own. What I’m trying to say is, every Demonic King should be quite smart, right? The reason these beasts can run rampant across human territory and kill countless experts isn’t just due to its strength. More importantly, they should understand the principle of preying upon the weak and avoiding the strong. Since that’s the case, why would it insist on attacking a place like Swallow River City?”
“Why would itt?” Iron Cliff asked, somewhat dazed.
Su Chen said, “Perhaps because it still has backup?”
As he spoke, he closed his eyes.
He stopped using his physical eyes to observe his surroundings and instead began to probe the surroundings with his consciousness.
His consciousness energy had reached around 420 points, and the Nine-Eyed Jade Serpent Sash supplemented him with another four hundred.
Someone with eight hundred points of consciousness power could already be considered a consciousness master.
Under these circ.u.mstances, Su Chen’s consciousness silently spread across the entire city.
This consciousness web allowed Su Chen to sense the locations of the countless lifeforms in the city, and even their moods, which was represented by a color. Perhaps it was because they were panicked, but most of the lifeforms showed up as a red color representing fear.
Even so, at this moment Su Chen could sense an even more powerful lifeform off in the distance. Its mood was black.
Shadowy, dark, and full of killing intent.
Su Chen extended his consciousness over towards it. The black lifeform suddenly trembled, as if it sensed something. It opened its mouth wide and immediately swallowed up the consciousness tendrils that Su Chen had extended in its direction.
Su Chen cried out as he spat out a mouthful of blood. He had been immediately thrown out of his consciousness-sensing state.
He lifted his head and yelled out loudly, “Careful! There’s another Demonic Beast hidden nearby!!!”