Family Cultivation: My entire family are Villains
Chapter 837 - 837: 367. Breaking Seven Cities, Chan Sect Reality and Illusion (Part 1)

The earth trembled endlessly, the clouds in the sky dispersed, and a wave of thick blood-red mist, stretching over forty to fifty li, surged from afar towards the east gate of Jiuchi County City. The scarlet torrent, like a swift arrow, arrived below the city walls in an instant, spanning dozens of li.

"A blood-red cloud stretching forty to fifty li, that must be an army of five hundred thousand!"

"Where... where did such an army come from?"

"No wonder we were just notified to guard the Sifang City gates."

"It's useless, useless! We can't hold them off!"

"The blood energy of this army is so intense, their soldiers' cultivation far exceeds ours."

"Where are the mages Wu Ping and Wu Jin? Why aren't they here yet?"

"Could they... have escaped?"

...…

Above the city gate, the soldiers of the Huang Chan Army focused their eyes on the rapidly approaching scarlet army, their expressions showing horror regardless of their cultivation levels. Their bodies trembled uncontrollably, uncertain whether it was due to fear or the tremors of the earth causing a chain reaction.

Voices of fear and panic spread rapidly among the defending soldiers, who were all martial artists and could clearly see the army charging towards them. Some high-ranking officers sensed that none of the incoming enemy soldiers had cultivation below the Ten Layers of Body Openings, and some were even beginning to lose their resolve.

Suddenly...

A swift palm wind slashed down from mid-air, instantly killing the person who had just questioned the escape of mages Wu Ping and Wu Jin. Then, a voice filled with penetrating power echoed instantly at the west gate.

"I, a mage, have been ordered to guard Jiuchi County City. If the city stands, so do I; if the city falls, I perish. Anyone who dares to speak nonsense and shake our army's morale will meet the same fate as this person!"

Mage Wu Ping's face was filled with fury, and even in the deep of night, his gaze, as if ready to devour people, was enough to intimidate the hundreds of thousands of soldiers on the city wall.

Everyone looked at the person just killed, who had turned into a cloud of blood mist, and were shocked in their hearts. Instantly, the entire city wall fell silent.

Seeing that his brother had intimidated the army, Wu Jin hurriedly softened his tone, speaking in a deep voice: "Though the enemy is strong, our five hundred thousand Huang Chan Army is not weak either. Besides, we have the Golden Bell Array left by the Mystic Realm Masters of the temple. As long as we work together, holding Jiuchi County will not be a problem."

"The mages are right, brothers, there's nothing to fear!"

"Can five hundred thousand Huang Chan Army not hold a Prefectural City?"

"The enemy only seems intimidating; with the Golden Bell Array, we will surely hold the city, and reinforcements from the temple will arrive soon."

...

With a large army, solving morale issues isn't so difficult. Wu Ping played the bad guy, Wu Jin the good, and added some loyal followers to chime in appropriately. Suddenly, the army was filled with excitement and morale recovered significantly.

Even if some clever ones remained uneasy in their hearts, they dared not jump out and seek death under the two mages' might.

Seeing the morale issue resolved, Wu Ping immediately turned to look outside the city. The massive scarlet torrent was only less than a hundred meters from the gate. His pupils contracted slightly as he took a string of golden Buddha beads from his chest, then turned and shouted to the army: "Hold the line and defend the city; any deserter will be executed without mercy. We must not let the Hexi scoundrels breach the city!"

"Your subordinate obeys!"

"Release the crossbow arrows..."

"Hold the frontline of the wall, prevent the enemy from scaling!"

"Prepare the boiling oil and fire lacquer, quickly!"

...

Dozens of Yuan Dan Realm commanders answered in unison, then returned to their troops, issuing a series of orders swiftly. The front-line soldiers on the wall were the first to shoot their prepared crossbow arrows at the army below.

Whoosh whoosh whoosh whoosh whoosh...…

The sound of crossbows tearing through the air instantly echoed over the city gate. The Leiyin Temple, with vast resources, had equipped even the Huang Chan Army with ten-stone powerful crossbows. Under a volley of tens of thousands of arrows, even Yuan Dan Realm martial artists dared not face them head-on.

Wu Ping's expression eased somewhat. He didn't expect these crossbow arrows to solve many Hexi soldiers, only to delay their arrival at the city wall as much as possible.

Unfortunately, even this simple request wasn't met.

Whoosh whoosh whoosh whoosh whoosh...…

The charging Hexi army, facing the black sky filled with crossbow arrows, did not slow their war horses. Instead, they mirrored the Huang Chan Army on the wall, releasing innumerable crossbow arrows themselves.

Clang clang clang...…

The crossbow arrows intersected mid-air, colliding fiercely and creating countless brilliant sparks, illuminating inside and outside the gate.

As the defending side, the Huang Chan Army used the wall as a barrier, suffering only a few casualties from the arrows. Conversely, below, many soldiers of the Red Flame Army were directly hit.

The crossbow arrows were too fast for the soldiers to dodge. They either had to change direction or continue forward bearing the arrows. With hundreds of thousands of soldiers charging, slowing down or retreating was akin to seeking death.

Technically, this round of crossbow dueling should favor the defenders.

However, Wu Ping's expression soon changed.

The ten-stone crossbows took a long time to reload. With the hundred-meter distance, the soldiers managed to fire only one round, leaving only a few arrows shot from the wall. Meanwhile, the Red Flame Army below kept firing upwards without stopping, advancing round by round.

"They've spread five hundred thousand troops evenly, while we can only fit a hundred thousand soldiers on the wall. Our crossbows can't match theirs, and the army is being suppressed!"

"I know, activate the array, or the gate will be breached."

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