The thing in the river wasn't something to be provoked.
At least for now, there was no need for Xie Litang to court misfortune.
Still, it wasn't as though there were no other options; after being raided once by the Peacekeeper Bureau, the black market had established itself anew.
Regardless of the demon beasts' ranks, Xie Litang purchased demon beast blood at a rate of 200 yuan per barrel.
She bought over twenty thousand barrels of blood; calculating at two hundred liters per barrel, that came to over four million liters of blood.
As for whether this would draw attention...
...that was beyond Xie Litang's scope of concern.
The people in the black market didn't care about such things either.
All the blood barrels were hauled over a hundred kilometers upstream along the great river.
"Detonate them."
With that command from Xie Litang...
...the blood inside over ten thousand barrels was detonated in the river, instantly dyeing the once clear, rippling waters a foul, crimson red.
The remaining several thousand barrels were detonated along the riverbank, extending a trail of blood deep into the mountains.
One day later.
Fumu City was crawling with Gray Immortals.
There were at least several thousand of them packed densely together, interspersed with a considerable number of demon beasts from the other Immortal clans.
Yet Xie Litang's gaze remained fixed on the great river until, finally... the river water began to turn turbid as a colossal entity within moved upstream.
'Shua, shua~'
Chen Linling's voice came through the earpiece: "Sis, the river monster has left. At its current speed, it will reach upstream in two hours."
"Even if you lure it deep into the mountains, if it insists on returning, you'll have twelve hours at most—less, even."
Xie Litang pressed her earpiece and said, "That's enough."
At the same time, she notified Yang Yiyi's side that they could begin.
A commercial satellite in low Earth orbit zoomed in on Fumu City, the camera feed crystal clear.
Hundreds upon thousands of demon beasts were broadcast live before the eyes of the public.
Stock market institutions were the first to react.
【That looks like Fumu City.】
【Oh crap, the rumors are true! A beast horde really might strike Jianghai City!】
【Those damned Jianghai City enterprises concealed something this important just to protect their stock prices! They deserve to burn!】
【Sell all Jianghai City stocks immediately! Right now!】
First came institutional sell-offs.
Then came panic among the public, triggering a stampede.
In just a few short hours, stock prices for companies and enterprises across Jianghai City plummeted across the board.
And a few hours earlier, Yang Yiyi had already set up short positions, reaping a massive harvest.
Under the live satellite camera:
In addition to the initial wave of demon beasts...
...somehow, countless more demon beasts suddenly burst forth from underground. In any case, Fumu City had now been completely overrun by demon beasts.
Chen Linling reported remotely, "A total of 426 detained demon beasts have all been released."
"Currently, Fumu City is estimated to hold over two thousand demon beasts. Sis, you can start killing."
Xie Litang wiped her blade.
A surge of blood flames flared up around her.
"Kill."
Locking onto her target: Sweeping Blade.
With nearly every swing of her sword, a demon beast shattered directly under her terrifying power.
"Sweeping Blade."
"Sweeping Blade."
"Consecutive Sweeping Blades..."
The more monsters there were, the happier she became.
The entire Old Era pedestrian street filled with monsters? How was that any different from a lane packed with minions from your friendly Nexus all the way to the enemy Nexus? She could dash smoothly from her own Nexus all the way to the enemy's.
In reality, this meant she dashed and slashed her way from the pedestrian street all the way to Commercial Street East.
Don't ask if her eyes were dry from not blinking.
All she felt right now was pure joy.
And don't ask if she had enough mana—Yasuo doesn't use mana.
'Rumble~'
'Squeak, squeak~'
A roaring rumble echoed down the street ahead as hundreds upon thousands of rats—each larger than an old cat—piled over one another in an advancing wave, surging forward to drown Xie Litang.
Under the low Earth orbit satellite live stream feed:
Gasping comments flooded the bullet-chat stream.
【It's over! She finally carved a path out, only to run right into a rat tide!】
【She's strong and badass, but this is where it ends.】
【She's so unlucky. Must've stepped out without checking her horoscope to run into a beast horde like this.】
【With at least a thousand rat beasts, even the City Defense Force would take a long time to clear them out.】
【Now there won't even be ashes left of her.】
【Why isn't she running?!】
【Is she an idiot? Why is she still standing there?】
【I bet she's scared stiff. I've seen way too many arrogant fools like this who think they're hot stuff when they're actually complete dumbasses.】
In reality, however...
...Xie Litang didn't run at all.
Instead, she lowered her posture slightly as a surge of sword qi gathered upon her blade.
"Wind-Style Sword Qi!"
A blade storm capable of destroying everything crashed toward the overwhelming swarm of rat beasts.
Paving stones along the sidewalks on both sides were kicked up by the sword qi, trees were sliced through, and everything in the path of the sword qi was torn apart and destroyed.
'Slash!'
That was the sound of flesh being sliced and bones being severed.
'Thud!'
The sword qi slammed into the building's wall, tearing open a massive hole before finally coming to a halt.
As for the previously wave-like rat tide, a complete vacuum had been sliced straight down its center line.
【Gold Coins +1.】
【Gold Coins +1.】
【Gold Coins +3.】
Listening to the system notifications, Xie Litang couldn't help cursing under her breath, "What trash. They're only worth this much gold?"
It was almost the same as her encounter when hunting Skin Corpses.
A hundred-year Skin Corpse only yielded 20 gold coins. As for these Gray Immortal rats, despite being as large as old cats, they weren't actually very old—far too many were little rats under ten years of age.
Still, one shouldn't be too greedy.
As long as gold coins were trickling in, that was enough.
Xie Litang turned around.
The surrounding demon beasts froze for a moment.
Even the viewers watching the live stream froze.
【Wait, what is she doing?】
【Holy crap, why is she dashing back in?!】
【Pure idiot certified! She finally carved out a gap, but she ran the wrong direction and headed right back in! If that's not a dumbass, what is?】
【You're the dumbass! How do you know she was trying to run away in the first place?】
【Isn't that obvious?! That's a beast horde! Even the smallest beast horde is still a horde, something no human force can withstand! Don't tell me she's actually going to fight her way through the horde!】
【Actually... she might just do that.】
【Bullshit! If she can solo-clear the beast horde in Fumu City, I'll eat crap live on stream!】
Debates raged in the chat.
Yet the live stream video remained constant: Xie Litang really was fighting her way back.
She chopped her way from Commercial Street East all the way back to the pedestrian street, looking almost... joyful?
Though her figure was dashing back and forth, and despite how powerful and awesome she looked slaughtering demon beasts...
...for some reason...
...she just looked extremely punchable.
After dashing in and out several times, wherever Xie Litang passed, nothing remained but the corpses of demon beasts.
Suddenly:
"Enough!"
"Human, this ends now! Today, you die!"
A hedgehog as tall as a two-story building and as massive as a heavy truck leaped down from out of nowhere, causing the ground to tremble violently.
The quills covering the hedgehog stood completely erect, gleaming with a chilling light. Their color appeared as tough as specialized alloy—clearly a demon beast specializing in defense.
The surrounding demon beasts burst into cheers.
"Great! An eight-hundred-year Great Demon has stepped in! We're saved!"
"Ancestor is invincible!"
"Human, kneel at once!"
"My parents blew up, and all my aunts and uncles are dead! Ancestor, I beg you to spare me a piece of her flesh! I want to drink her blood and eat her flesh!"
"I want a finger!"
"Just give me a fingernail!"
"..."
The corners of Xie Litang's mouth twitched.
She wanted to laugh.
But she had to hold it in.
Rate on N.U.
