"Brother Han, you've only mastered the third layer of the Vajra Arts, right?" Zhang Kui suddenly asked.
"Why do you ask, Brother Zhang?" Han Li answered his question with one of his own.
"Well, it's just that I don't think a normal body refinement warrior who has mastered the third layer of the Vajra Arts can force a demonic wolf into retreat. Looks like you truly are destined for great things, Brother Han!" Zhang Kui gave Han Li a final meaningful look before departing.
Han Li looked on at his departing figure, and stroked his chin as a faint smile appeared on his face.
Zhang Kui was clearly implying something with his words. Not long after this, a large group of An Yuan City soldiers was led by a low-level military official as they scaled the city wall. The members of the Heavenly East Enterprise were finally relieved of their duties.
However, they naturally couldn't return to the inn. Instead, they were organized to stay in a cluster of stone cabins near the plaza where they had gathered several days ago.
Almost everyone fell asleep as soon as they entered the cabins. Han Li wasn't tired at all, but he still stayed in his cabin and meditated on his bed.
A tranquil and uneventful night passed by.
The next morning, thunderous beastly roars erupted in the distance once again. Not long after that, the second day of battle commenced on the city walls.
This battle seemed to be even more fierce than the one that had taken place the day before, raging fro early morning all the way into the night. Groups of backup soldiers were summoned out of the stone cabins one after the other, then hurriedly dragged onto the city walls to provide reinforcements. Within the span of a single day, three or four groups had been taken from the area of the plaza that Han Li was situated in alone.
The beast hordes only retreated when night fell once again.
When Han Li emerged from his stone chamber that night, he was greeted by the sight of the soldiers who had just been relieved of their duties and were returning to the plaza.
It appeared that around 70% to 80% of all of the troops deployed had been killed in battle, and the small proportion that remained were all covered in blood. Most of them were carrying injuries, and some were even missing limbs.
They were in a much more sorry state than Han Li's group from the day before.
By this point, many other people had also made their way out of the nearby stone chambers, and they were also stunned by what they saw. Some of them immediately began to enquire about what had taken place during the battle earlier today, and only then were they informed that a type of small wolves that resembled leopard cats had appeared among the wolf pack attacking the city today.
Not only were they extremely nimble and agile, they were capable of blasting their fur through the air like porcupine quills. These strands of fur were infused with lethal poison, and one would quickly lose the ability to move after being struck by them. If timely treatment wasn't administered, the victim's condition would then quickly deteriorate, ultimately leading to death.
No one had ever seen or even heard of these small wolves before, so they were most likely a new breed of mutated azure wolf beasts. Such occurrences weren't common during Beast Torrents, but they weren't considered to be overly remarkable, either.
Every time a new breed of mutated beasts appeared, the humans would be caught off guard by their unique attributes, and suffer heavy casualties as a result. However, these new breeds of mutated beasts would be eliminated very quickly through natural processes. Otherwise, there would be far more breeds of mutated beasts in the wolf pack than there actually were.
These small mutated wolves had appeared large numbers during the battle that had just taken place, killing most of the troops that had been deployed to guard the city wall. If it weren't for the fact that the group of spirit-tool-wielding body refinement warriors, known as the spirit squad, had intervened on numerous occasions, it was quite possible that all of the troops deployed today would've been completely wiped out.
Everyone listened with heavy hearts to the harrowing recounts delivered by the soldiers who were fortunate enough to have returned alive.
Everyone was struck by the impression that this Beast Torrent appeared to be far more perilous than past Beast Torrents had been rumored to be. In the face of such fearsome beastly foes, their confidence was beginning to waver.
Han Li looked with narrowed eyes for a while before returning to his stone cabin. His expression remained completely unchanged throughout this entire process.
In reality, he was feeling just as unfazed as he looked.
Even if An Yuan City really did fall, it wouldn't be an issue for him to escape from the Beast Torrent with his two Immortal Vanquishing Beads.
As for the other people in the city, he wouldn't be able to save them even if he wanted to, so he certainly wasn't going to try to be a hero and bite off more than he could chew.
However, with the ferocity of the assaults that these beasts were launching against the city, it would perhaps be their turn to guard the city wall again soon.
As things turned out, Han Li was spot on with that guess. On the morning of the third day, when the sun had just barely risen over the horizon, all of the members of the Heavenly East Enterprise were summoned to gather on the plaza.
When Han Li appeared on the plaza in a calm manner, he discovered that there were several hundred other burly men already present on the palace in addition to the members of the Heavenly East Enterprise. A small portion of these men were body refinement warriors, and there was no lack of individuals among them who were carrying spirit tools such as spirit rings or spirit bracelets. All of the knights on their wolf steeds were also present at the scene.
These people clearly comprised the most powerful troops this city had to offer.
Han Li's brows furrowed slightly before he joined the crowd in an unhurried manner.
A short while later, close to 1,000 people had gathered on the plaza, and the person who had summoned them was none other than that middle-aged military official clad in silver armor.
He delivered an address to everyone, informing all of the warriors present that the situation on the other battlefronts was quite dire, and that their services were required in order to reinforce the city walls.
This piece of news came as quite a surprise to everyone.
They were aware that the azure wolf beasts had been very troublesome to handle during the past couple of days, but who would've thought that the situation on the other battlefronts would be even more dire? Thankfully, all of the people gathered were seasoned warriors and they were able to quickly compose themselves before climbing onto the beast-drawn carriages that had been prepared for them in advance, which then sped toward the other side of An Yuan City.
Aside from a few knights who were on patrol, there was not a single pedestrian to be seen on the streets within the city.
As such, the beast-drawn carriages didn't have to contend with any traffic congestion, allowing them to travel full speed ahead. After just over two hours, the carriages had arrived at the foot of the city wall on the other side of An Yuan City, following which everyone quickly disembarked.
There were already a dozen or so military officials waiting for them nearby, and they immediately swooped on Han Li and the others like hungry vultures, squabbling with one another as they fought to choose the best warriors for themselves. After all of the warriors were split up, they were led to their respective watchtowers.
Thus, all of the members of the Heavenly East Enterprise had naturally also been split up. There were only seven or eight normal guards from the Heavenly East Enterprise who had been assigned to Han Li's group, while Zhang Kui, Du Xiao, and all of the other powerful body refinement warriors had been all been split up.
The man leading Han Li's group was a heavily-bearded middle-aged military official. From the silver armor that he was wearing, it appeared that he was an official of the same rank as the man whom Han Li had been tasked with protecting three days ago.
This man was very benevolent and hospitable toward body refinement warriors like Han Li. In particular, he treated the three spirit-tool-wielding warriors in their group in an extremely respectful manner, and it was quite clear that he was relying heavily upon them.
Aside from the few members of the Heavenly East Enterprise in the group, no one else was aware of how powerful Han Li was, so he naturally didn't attract the attention of the military official.
Han Li obviously wasn't going to strut around boasting about his own powers, either. He merely followed everyone else in silence as they climbed up onto the city wall.
The scenes that greeted everyone up there were quite distressing.
The smooth city wall had been completely ruined, as had the watchtower they had been assigned to, and everyone wore grim expressions as they appraised the carnage around them. What was even more disconcerting was that azure ground had been completely stained black, and a putrid rotten smell was wafting through the air, striking everyone with the urge to empty the contents of their stomach! A man wearing a spirit bracelet inspected the inky-black substance on the ground with a grave expression before remarking, "This is snake venom."A bitter smile appeared on the heavily bearded military official's face as he confirmed, "That's right, it is indeed snake venom. Over 400 of our soldiers have already lost the ability to battle due to the effects of this snake venom."
"If I recall correctly, crimson python beasts don't possess any venom, isn't that right?" an elderly man who was also carrying a spirit tool asked with a perplexed look.
"You're also correct, Brother Li. Normal crimson python beasts are indeed devoid of venom, but a mutated breed of winged pythons have appeared this time. They're around the same size and appearance as a normal crimson python, but they're able to fly for short periods of time using their wings, and they can blast this type of black venomous mist out of their mouths. As soon as anyone comes into contact with this venomous mist, their skin and flesh will immediately rot away. The venom is even strong enough to dissolve through rock and stone. I've already sent people up here to wash away the venom several times. Otherwise, even breathing would be a health hazard up here," the heavily-bearded military official explained.
"Crimson python beasts all possess immense strength; now that they can also breathe venomous mist, they'll be very troublesome to deal with," someone within the crowd mused with a concerned expression.
"If it weren't for the fact that these crimson python beasts are so formidable, the higher-ups wouldn't have deployed all of you here. I heard that a new breed of mutated wolf beast also seems to have appeared among the azure wolf pack." The military official stroked his beard with a grave expression.
"Why aren't those cultivators taking care of the azure wolf beast? All of them specialize in unleashing large scale attacks that can wipe out large hordes of beasts at once. In the past, they've always formed the backbone of our resistance against these Beast Torrents?" someone else in the crowd asked.
"Don't forget that those Leocon Beasts haven't appeared even once yet during this Beast Torrent. Those cultivators have to be reserved for combating more demon beasts that are more fearsome. If those demon beasts appear after they've expended all of their magic power on lesser beasts, then there would be no hope left for our An Yuan City," the military official gave a forlorn reply.
Everyone began to look at one another with concerned expressions after hearing this reply. It appeared that An Yuan City's future wasn't a very optimistic one.
The military official could see the pessimism creeping into his troops, and he immediately offered some words of encouragement. "Alright, there's no need to be overly concerned, everyone. The mutated winged pythons are only able to expel one blast of venomous mist at a time. After that, they have to rest for a while. Furthermore, from our observations during the past couple of days, we've deduced that those mutated pythons have lost almost all of their ability to battle. The instructions I received from my higher-ups were to ask all of you to focus most of your firepower on those mutated giant pythons. It's very difficult for normal soldiers to harm them at all, and all of the damage done to this city wall have been inflicted by them. If you can hold off those giant pythons, we're confident in our ability to combat the normal crimson python beasts."
"Hehe, seeing as we've already come here, we'll naturally be sure to lend you our assistance. However…" The man with the spirit bracelet was just about to say something, when a loud cry suddenly erupted in the distance. The cry sounded like a mix between the crow of a bird and the roar of a beast, but also resembled neither of the two at the same time. It was an extremely unsettling cry that caused the listeners' blood to churn within their veins.
The man's words came to an abrupt halt as a strained look appeared on his face.
The same expression also appeared on everyone else's faces.
"The Leocon Beasts are finally here!" a body refinement warrior murmured to himself as he unconsciously tightened his grasp around the weapon in his hand.
At this moment, Han Li was standing alone in a corner, inspecting a low-grade spirit stone that was sitting in his hand. His expression was extremely tranquil, as if he hadn't heard that unsettling cry at all.
