Staying Alive Cautiously in the Celestial Realm and Becoming the Strongest

Creak~

Rows of heavy crossbows on the walls of Town Sand Pass were simultaneously cocked, then the battle cultivators manning them adjusted the shooting angles.

Sharp crossbow arrows pointed towards the firmament.

All of these city-defending heavy crossbows were first-tier magic artifacts, requiring cultivators to control their firing. With a long range and formidable power, they could easily penetrate black iron armor within a thousand steps and possessed the ability to break spells.

A single heavy crossbow wasn't terrifying, as the shot crossbow arrows could even be evaded by ordinary monster beasts.

But when their numbers soared to hundreds or even thousands, the killing force of their volley fire was undoubtedly extremely dreadful.

For hundreds of years, untold numbers of Sand People met their end under such heavy crossbows.

However, today the battle cultivators of Dayi were facing an innumerable swarm of giant locusts.

Faced with a sky-blanketing horde of insects, more than three thousand heavy crossbows seemed sparse. Find more to read at My Virtual Library Empire

At the same time, several God-Slaying Cannons were swiftly rolled out by the battle cultivators, their crimson cannon covers removed, revealing dark muzzles that emanated a faint luminescence.

These were the real trump weapons of Town Sand Pass, reputed to blast decay for ten miles and possess the might to eradicate Golden Core magical treasures!

There were a total of twelve God-Slaying Cannons, arranged on specially-made cannon towers, and the gunners were all cultivators at the pinnacle of Qi Cultivation.

Usually, the God-Slaying Cannons were only deployed when Dayi City faced grave danger.

The activation of the God-Slaying Cannons now, with the Locust Army yet to arrive, indicated that the grand commander, Kou Shihai, deemed it necessary.

And this made the battle cultivators stationed on the walls noticeably tense.

Everyone was silent, waiting.

The atmosphere was heavy to the extreme.

At this moment, tens of thousands of locust vanguards were approaching Town Sand Pass through the sky.

The buzzing sound of millions of wing flaps, like demonic chants filling the brain, battered the ears of the cultivators!

Thud!

A giant locust at the forefront crashed into the mana barrier, immediately bursting into a bright flame, then disintegrated into a whiff of blue smoke.

The protective array of Town Sand Pass was the most crucial component of the City-Protecting Array of Dayi City, not only possessing unparalleled protective abilities but also able to reflect and cause damage to the enemies' attacks.

This giant locust was like a moth to flame, only it was a forest fire instead.

The result was without any surprise.

However, hundreds, thousands, tens of thousands of giant locusts followed in quick succession, swarming towards and crashing onto the mana barrier.

Some were struck dead and burst open, some caught fire and burned fiercely, but many more clung onto the semi-transparent barrier, spreading their mandibles and desperately clawing and biting before the force of the array struck back and destroyed them.

Countless locust carcasses, along with their ashes, fell from the sky.

It was as if a black rain had begun to fall!

But this was merely the beginning, as these locusts had no sense of reason to speak of; they pressed on relentlessly, oblivious to the demise of their own kind, with one batch perishing only for the next to surge forward.

They seemed endless!

Compared to the city-defending array, the strength of a single giant locust could be said to be as insignificant as dust.

Yet, when their numbers reached a certain magnitude, the pressure on the mana barrier began to increase, showing even a slight sign of instability!

It was at this juncture that the battle cultivators stationed on the walls made their move.

Thousands of battle cultivators waved their hands in unison, and thousands of scorching fireballs flew into the sky at the same time.

The blazing spheres passed through the mana barrier without any delay, exploding amidst the Locust Army.

In the sky, blossoms of flame opened up!

Countless locusts were shattered and set aflame, falling to the ground one after another.

The battle cultivators' attacks came in wave after wave, clearing a large area of the sky without using the heavy crossbow weapons.

But the number of locusts was simply overwhelming, and soon both sides descended into a war of attrition.

The battle cultivators were clearly in complete control, as they could comfortably cast spells from the city walls to strike their opponents, whereas the locust army couldn't break through the array barrier and thus failed to harm the cultivators at all.

This was the powerful aspect of the city-protecting array, granting the defenders a significant advantage.

However, as time went on, the first group of cultivators who acted soon exhausted their mana and were forced to retreat to take pills and recuperate.

The second wave of battle cultivators continued to hold the line.

At this moment, a new swarm of locusts appeared.

The new locusts were smaller in size, with a color leaning towards black and red, but they flew faster and more nimbly.

Alarmingly, they possessed a certain level of intelligence, being able to dodge the fireballs cast by the battle cultivators with extremely agile movements.

This greatly reduced their own casualties and increased the burden on the battle cultivators.

Their target was always the city-protecting array, upon which they fervently bit and tore in attempts to destroy, accelerating the consumption of the array.

For a while, the battle fell into a stalemate!

At the same time, atop the Seven-Star Pavilion, Wang Chen saw Kou Shihai hurrying over.

Previously, Wang Chen had been observing without taking any action.

As his duty was to guard the Seven-Star Pavilion, without the command of the grand commander, he couldn't take action on his own.

Otherwise, it could easily disrupt the opponent's arrangements and lead to unpredictable consequences!

He hadn't expected Kou Shihai to come personally.

The grand commander got straight to the point, "Junior Brother Wang, I need your help."

Without a moment's hesitation, Wang Chen replied, "Speak."

The two could not be considered true allies, but they had already established a good relationship, and mutual support and assistance were only right and proper.

Kou Shihai spoke solemnly, "I suspect there are locusts inside the city."

"Locusts?"

Wang Chen was momentarily stunned, "You mean the locusts of the locust army?"

That name was certainly odd.

"Exactly!"

The creatures currently attacking Town Sand Pass with frenzy were a type of monstrous locusts that inhabited the desert.

They were known as: Sand Locusts.

These monstrous locusts were rather large, and every dozen or so years they would erupt en masse, attacking and destroying oases in the desert.

Afterwards, they would lay their eggs deep into the sand, waiting for a decade or more before emerging anew.

Thus the cycle continued.

It was said that Sand Locusts could survive for a long time by feeding on sand alone; they were originally the greatest threat to the Sand People, but later, the witches of the Sand Tribe found a way to control them and used them against their enemies.

Town Sand Pass was not facing the assault of the Sand Locusts for the first time!

Before launching an attack, the Sand Tribe would send a carefully nurtured "locust" to infiltrate Dayi City.

This "locust" was akin to a humanoid decoy, which, upon triggering its bloodline power, could attract countless Sand Locusts to swarm in, thereby creating an assault.

Based on previous battles, Kou Shihai deduced that the Sand Tribe was playing the same trick again.

If they could not root out this locust, the Sand Locusts would fight to the very last one and never cease.

Erecting Dayi City with such tactics was wishful thinking, but the cost to Dayi City was also considerable.

The most troublesome aspect was that the Hunter Cultivators of the Sand Tribe would seize the opportunity to bypass Town Sand Pass and sneak into the West Sea Spirit Domain, raiding the rear of Dayi City.

Once the forces of Dayi City were engaged, the destruction caused by the Hunter Cultivators would be substantial!

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The second update is here.