["Report."]
Hearing the cold order echoing in their minds, Wang Mei and Kong Huang did not dare to hesitate.
"Lord, the number of inhabitants in the camp is already very large. The sheer number of people, with impurities in their bodies, seems to be attracting more and more Shadow Beasts! We… might have to split up to reduce the attractive force," it was Kong Huang who spoke first, his face somewhat pale.
His gaze constantly drifted toward the battlefield, where the number of red-eyed shadows seemed increasingly oppressive.
They came from the ground, the underground, and the air, like a black tide seeking to devour everything.
The only thing preventing them from tearing the camp apart were those few shadow soldiers, extremely well-coordinated—especially some special individuals among them, who seemed like true kings of the battlefield.
Those special individuals were, in fact, soldiers directly controlled by Aotian with the minds of his that were not occupied. Although he could only directly control a few among the seven million, with the rest merely being coordinated under his orders, it was still enough. After all, he was who he was, and his power was beyond any doubt.
Hearing Kong Huang's advice, the Shadow King remained indifferent, emitting not a single sound.
Aotian had no intention of splitting up and retreating. After all, although the intense battle and numerical disadvantage were extremely difficult and exhausting, it was still the fastest way to grow within the limited time he had.
Before, his shadow soldiers first had to search, fight, kill, and then return across the long distances they had traveled, carrying the bodies, only then allowing him to reanimate more soldiers. But with the current attraction generated by the accumulation of cultivators in a single place drawing in Shadow Beasts, several of those steps were cut out, reducing everything directly to killing, carrying over a short distance, and reanimating.
Such a tactic was essential to him, because only with a gigantic number of shadows would he have a real chance of achieving his goal in that place.
Saving people had ceased to be merely an act of kindness and had gained great utility for Aotian. Now, he would not throw away this pot of gold unless he could no longer guarantee the safety of the cultivators present there.
As for Wang Mei, she was also watching the Shadow Beasts that seemed never to stop emerging with fear, but she never mentioned retreating.
Although it was logical to split up to reduce the attraction, she did not agree with leaving.
Outside that small sanctuary created by the Shadow King and his soldiers, she and the other cultivators would be nothing but meat on the chopping board, and it would not take long before they were devoured—either by the beasts or by the impurities in the air itself.
Thus, she judged that staying by the Shadow King's side was more reliable, and that perhaps he could even handle the situation.
After all, she was not foolish. Although the number of Shadow Beasts had grown, the number of shadow soldiers—despite many being cut down daily—was also increasing just as fast. Thus, hope was not as thin as it seemed.
And if everything went wrong in the end, at least she could fight to the death on her own terms there, rather than being devoured by impurities in a moment of carelessness as would happen outside.
The Shadow King, realizing that they had nothing useful to add, simply ignored them and refocused his attention on the field, leaving the pair to look at each other in silence, with anxious and worried gazes.
Without caring what they thought, Aotian, in the form of the Shadow King, relying on the elevated view from atop the wall, quickly analyzed the battlefield.
With such a broad view, he was able to mentally control his troops much more easily, preventing the defensive lines from collapsing.
'The troops in the northwest region are getting too stretched, a very large wave of beasts came from there. Let's correct that…'
On the field, in a certain region, thunderous sounds echoed as enormous black beasts with crimson eyes smashed the ground with their powerful paws, charging fiercely through the ranks and hurling shadow soldiers into the air as if they were mere debris, shattering them upon impact.
Roooaarrr!
Roars like thunder resounded through the air, proclaiming the dominance and cruelty of those corrupted beasts.
But in the very next instant, a squad of shadow soldiers appeared like phantoms.
Their swords flashed, and with glints in the air, the beasts' heads were separated from their bodies with ease.
The beasts were dismembered as if they were nothing, and wherever those shadow soldiers passed, only corpses and severed limbs were left behind.
They were like a force of nature, an unstoppable avalanche.
Those mere dozens of humanoid shadows, which moved very differently from their brethren—with far greater fluidity and skill—were, in fact, the elite squad. The finest shadow soldiers, directly controlled by Aotian.
Although their shadow bodies operated under some kind of different rule, preventing Aotian from displaying even thirty percent of his true power while controlling them, it was still more than enough to make a difference on a battlefield where millions of beasts fought.
Their numbers might have been small compared to the enemy, not even reaching a hundred, but their overwhelming strength made them worth more than a hundred thousand others.
Thus, under the witness of hundreds of thousands of cultivators watching from the walls, the elite shadow corps bathed the battlefield in jet-black blood without rest, as if they knew no exhaustion.
But while cutting through and advancing unstoppably, the elite soldiers, at a certain moment, suddenly froze in unison. Their purely black eyes all shifted in a single direction, toward the depths of the dark forest.
In that direction, the Shadow Beasts also seemed to sense something. Their bodies stiffened, their tails tucked in, and silently they opened a path, moving aside like well-behaved puppies.
Aotian knew what that meant. He had witnessed it before.
It was the instinctive behavior beasts displayed when encountering something stronger, of superior lineage. Something that, even after being corrupted, the Shadow Beasts seemed to have partially inherited.
The battlefield suddenly quieted with that scene.
On the walls, the cultivators held their breath and also turned their gazes in that same direction, from where the approaching wave of aura of a being made them tremble.
Soon, from the ancient forest came earth-shaking steps, felling trees so massive that even a single one would take thousands to encircle, and at last a jet-black giant emerged.
The beast boasted a thick hide, a muscular body, and a single long, sharp horn set upon its flaring nose. Its height was no less than that of a small mountain, making everything feel even more oppressive.
It was an enormous black rhinoceros, with powerful fluctuations of a sixth-level beast, equivalent to a cultivator at Void Refinement, which made it a king among beasts.
This time, complete silence fell over the battlefield, and fear, despair, lack of will, among other emotions, settled into the eyes of all the cultivators on the walls, as if there were no hope left if they remained there.
A being at Void Refinement was basically unbeatable to any realm below.
They could enter, carry out a massacre until they exhausted all their energy, and then leave hidden within the void with the same ease with which they had arrived, with no one able to stop them, no matter the numbers.
They were in a completely different league.
But although everyone was afraid, Aotian was not.
Taking a deep breath, without hesitation, he controlled his soldiers to attack fearlessly, like ants trying to kill an elephant.
Those taking the lead among the soldiers were the elites, directly controlled by him, fighting both to kill and to buy precious time. This was not a moment to hesitate or conserve combat strength.
The Shadow King also no longer seemed indifferent and immediately looked at the two humans by his side, issuing an order without hesitation.
["You two!"]
The cold command jolted the saint son and daughter out of their stupor and fear.
Swallowing hard, the two bowed, awaiting the orders of the monster beside them, who was only slightly less terrifying than the one on the battlefield.
["You will take the cultivators and hold the eastern line, where the beasts' strength is weaker, while I withdraw three hundred thousand soldiers from there to fight on the northwestern field and bring down the Rhinoceros King."]
The two widened their eyes in shock upon hearing the command.
They had thought they were about to be ordered to run in all directions, abandoning the stronghold with the arrival of such a powerful enemy, relying on luck to survive. But from the Shadow King's words, it seemed that he truly intended to fight, and with so few soldiers.
Exchanging glances, Wang Mei and Kong Huang hesitated for only an instant before nodding and running off to contact the cultivators of the camp.
Aotian paid no attention to what they would actually do.
He had made it clear that the eastern line was the weakest, so he assumed that even those who intended to flee would pass through there.
And those who would not abandon their savior would also go there following orders.
Either way, his objective would be achieved, which was to prevent enemy troops from invading his camp while he dealt with the sixth-level beast.
Yes, he already expected many of his "allies" to flee. But even if they did, the most they would do was draw one or two beasts—perhaps even more—away from the camp.
If they did that, it would already be a gain for Aotian. As for what happened to them afterward, well, the well-being of traitors was not his concern.
Those who chose to stay would still be protected by his shadow soldiers on the battlefield, and casualties should be minimal, very different from what awaited those who left.
The Shadow King then closed his eyes, taking a deep breath.
In his main body, Aotian, lying on the grass and staring at the sky of the small world of the Mahayana mansion while waiting for the others to finish learning the spells, felt a growing solemnity in himself.
'Those who chose to stay and fight, I bear some responsibility for you. Hold on tight—this rhinoceros won't last much longer.'
With firmness in his eyes, he also closed them, this time focusing all his free minds on that single battlefield.
It was time for the fiercest battle of his entire life.
Thus, after a single exhalation, when he opened his eyes, he was no longer Long Aotian.
He was the Shadow King, standing atop the majestic wall, where outside, millions of his soldiers fought.
Spinning the black spear in his hand with flexibility, he stopped it with the tip pointed toward the ground, the shaft running along his arm and back like a ruler measuring his posture.
Then, with firm steps crushing the stones of the wall, he walked to the parapet and climbed onto it. His two guards followed his movement closely, remaining at his rear.
Next, without hesitation, he took a single step forward.
Thus, a shadowy body simply fell upright from the wall, dropping at high speed and quickly impacting the ground below.
Rumble!
Violent tremors echoed across the field with the impact.
Such agitation drew the attention of the rhinoceros beast, which had just crushed a thousand shadow soldiers with a single charge. Its paws still dripped with the black liquid that was the blood of its enemies, whose bodies were falling in chunks into several trenches.
But now its gaze shifted to the cloud of dust from the Shadow King's fall, from which his figure slowly emerged.
After only a few steps, the king drove the shaft of his long spear into the ground and lifted his gaze. The two enemies met each other's eyes, cold.
Both recognized the threat in the other.
A gentle wind passed over the chaotic field, as if wishing to calm the conflict.
But, as if unable to agree to such peace, with a push of their feet, beast and man charged toward each other.
Like blurs, they closed the distance in an instant — one like a moving giant of a tank, the other a seasoned martial artist.
At that moment, the Shadow King's spear suddenly blazed a vivid red, radiating an intense spear intent.
Then, with a leap, he spun his body and swept the spear toward the Rhinoceros King, who had already arrived at his side like a blur, narrowly dodging the fierce swing of its sharp horn.
CLINK!
BOOMMM!
Sparks flew into the sky as the spear passed over the steel-like hide of the black beast, leaving only a long, shallow cut.
As for the horn's strike, even though it was avoided by the Shadow King, it by no means lost its power.
A slash of light was emitted from that horn, traveling a great distance, cutting through everything in its path across the camp, until it pierced through to the other side of the battlefield, annihilating several Shadow Beasts and Shadow Soldiers who failed to evade in time, leaving behind only a long ravine ten meters deep.
Even the void itself still trembled and warped slightly from the ferocious blow.
The Shadow King, who had descended to the ground and was circling the beast, did not look at the immense destruction, which had even destabilized the camp's Feng Shui, weakening the protection against impurities it generated.
At that moment, he had eyes only for the Rhinoceros King, seeking to kill the beast as quickly as possible, for only then could he prevent it from causing even more damage.