Chapter 44. A Beast Tide Swarms the City, the Fourth Shackle Is Shattered! (1)

While Lu Yuan was focused on the refinement process...

Thirty minutes later, a piercing alarm suddenly echoed throughout Qingyang City.

When the alarm sounded, the people dared not hesitate and rushed straight out of their homes.

Just moments ago, a devastating piece of news arrived—a beast tide was approaching from the east.

The officials of Qingyang City had already issued an emergency alert; all citizens were ordered to leave their homes immediately and seek shelter.

The news was like a bolt of lightning out of the blue. Its arrival was so sudden that the citizens had virtually no time to react.

The majority of these people were supposed to be resting, but they were forced to stay awake and evacuate. By now, all roads leading toward the west were packed with people. In fact, every major road was packed with vehicles.

The honking of car horns and the crying of children echoed incessantly among the discordant mixture of noises throughout the city. Everyone knew that a disaster was near.

There was no helping it. Since the Global Awakening, wild beasts had transformed into mutated beasts, obtaining a certain degree of intelligence as well as a huge boost in strength.

They would then charge into human cities to wreak havoc. Nowadays, beast attacks had become so common that one could hear such incidents on the news every day.

Today, it was Qingyang City's turn to experience the terror of a beast tide. Naturally, the citizens were in a state of panic, and their state of mind wasn't helping at all. Their frenzy led to chaos, which drastically slowed down their evacuation.

"Qingyu, this isn't going to work! We're running out of time. And just look at them. The beast tide isn't even here yet, but they're already panicking.

"If a stampede ends up happening, many of them are going to die," Qin Lan said with anxiety burning in her heart as she observed the chaos from a tall building somewhere in Qingyang City.

They had already contacted the city officials and had asked for their help to evacuate the citizens. However, this was their first time facing an oncoming beast tide. Without a system to handle such an incident, the chaos was bound to grow.

"There's nothing we can do here. We aren't prepared, so this is all we can do. At this point, we can only hope that the beast tide will be a bit late," Senior Brother Wu said, shaking his head. A stampede was terrible, but it was still better than a beast tide, wasn't it?

They truly couldn't do much here, and they weren't strong enough to do so as well. However, they could say for sure that they had truly done their best.

"What did the officials say?" Zhu Qingyu asked, frowning deeply. They had the backing of Aurora Academy, so even the officials of this city had to respect them.

If necessary, they could even temporarily take control of an area.

"Rescue teams have been contacted, but the nearest ones will still need five hours to make their way here," someone said. Five hours sounded long, but the massive landmass meant that five hours of travel to reach the city was actually quite impressive.

Unfortunately, they obviously wouldn't make it in time. To make matters worse, they would just be a mere drop in a bucket of water, even if they somehow made it in time.

After all, they were just rescue teams; they weren't armed forces equipped with powerful weapons.

"Is that so?" Zhu Qingyu asked. Then, she took a deep breath, as if coming to some kind of decision.

After a while, she swept her gaze across everyone and said, "Everyone, the citizens are evacuating as we speak. What we need to do is buy time for them to evacuate safely. I'm going to the eastern part of the city to resist the beast tide. If you don't want to go with me, then I will not force you."

Zhu Qingyu truly couldn't bear to abandon the panicking citizens. Even though she knew that an individual's strength couldn't possibly resist overwhelming numbers, she still decisively chose to head to where the beast tide would strike first.

"Qingyu, what are you talking about? If you're going, then we're going together." Qin Lan stepped forward, choosing to accompany her.

"That's right. If you're going, then we're all going together." The others spoke up one after another.

If they were to do nothing, hundreds of thousands of people would suffer in the face of the upcoming disaster. They were human, too. They couldn't just sit by and watch as their fellow humans were slaughtered. They resolved to do something, even if it meant paying with their own lives in the end.

"Great! You are truly worthy of your status as students of the Aurora Academy." A deep voice echoed just then.

Everyone turned, and their eyes immediately lit up.

Dozens of figures were rapidly approaching them in the distance. Once those figures were close enough, everyone saw that six of them were middle-aged men, while the others were teenagers and in their twenties.

The middle-aged man at the lead emanated an extremely profound aura. A long spear was in his hand, and his face exuded an air of authority.

"Professor Zhao!"

Zhu Qingyu and the others called out, looking delighted.

The newcomer was a teacher from Aurora Academy, and he was also known as the Divine Spear, Zhao Wuji.

Prior to the Global Awakening, he was a nationally renowned inheritor of ancient spear arts. After the Global Awakening, he managed to revive a trace of his ancestral bloodline, becoming an Awakened. Later on, he became a Foundation Realm VII expert and joined Aurora Academy as a teacher.

As for the others he brought with him, they were teachers and students from Aurora Academy who had been patrolling nearby. Upon learning of the incoming beast tide, they rushed over at breakneck speeds.

Zhao Wuji looked at Zhu Qingyu and the others. He looked thoroughly gratified as he said, "The word 'Aurora' was what the West called our Huaxia during the Han and Tang Dynasties.

"An aurora is a 'natural light display in the sky, illuminating all under heaven,' and it represents both hope and light. Hence, the Aurora Academy was founded with the goal of resisting the crises of the new era.

"Qingyu, you and your fellow students have decided to face extreme danger without hesitation instead of retreating in the face of it. You possess a righteous heart; hence, you are truly worthy of the word, 'Aurora.'"

Every teacher and student from Aurora Academy present took a deep breath upon hearing that.

In addition to reaching a higher level of evolution, hadn't they decided to join the academy for the sake of contributing their strength for humanity's sake?

"We understand what must be done, Professor Zhao." Zhu Qingyu nodded in response.

"Great." Zhao Wuji said, "The most important thing that we can do at this point is to buy more time."

"I've sent a report to the academy, and I've already contacted the troops stationed in Chang'an. They'll come here with weapons to support us. Moreover, teachers and even the vice dean from the academy's branch in Chang'an had left just minutes ago to support us!"

Armed troops were coming?

Qin Lan and the others looked invigorated upon hearing that.

𝒇𝒓𝙚𝒆𝔀𝓮𝓫𝒏𝓸𝙫𝓮𝓵.𝓬𝙤𝙢

A beast tide was indeed terrifying, but the majority of such mutated beasts couldn't really withstand the power of firearms. If it weren't for that fact, it'd be impossible to handle them by relying solely on the Awakened from the Aurora Academy.

After all, a beast tide had already become a common incident these days.

More importantly, several vice deans from the academy's branch in Chang'an were coming to support them.

With that in mind, the only thing they needed to do was buy time. Once the armed troops were here, the pressure on them was sure to lessen. Combined with the reinforcements coming in later, the approaching beast tide would surely be quelled.

Rumble!

Rumble!

Just then, rumbling noises resembling booming thunder reverberated across Qingyang City, extinguishing everyone's excitement.

Moments later, a distinct aura wafted out of the forest located east of the city.

The beast tide was here!

"Follow me! Let's go and meet them outside!" Zhao Wuji commanded. Then, he took the lead, leaping from rooftop to rooftop to head east of the city. Many citizens were still in the city, so they had to buy time while minimizing casualties at the same time.

The difference between mutated beasts and ordinary people was so massive that the latter stood no chance against them at all. When it came to mutated beasts, only those who had evolved—the Awakened—stood any chance against them.

Despite the fact that they numbered fewer than twenty, they still followed behind Zhao Wuji and made their way outside the city.

They stood still, waiting for the beast tide. At the same time, everyone drew their weapons and unleashed their abilities.

Some of them grew scales across their bodies; some revealed eyes that radiated a mesmerizing light; and some grew bigger, reaching several meters in height.

Everyone was ready, and they quietly stared at the forest not too far away.

Despite having made up their mind, the students remained nervous, as evidenced by their sweaty palms. Meanwhile, the teachers present appeared to be calm and composed.

Heavy footsteps could be heard from within the dense forest east of Qingyang City, indicating that there was a large number of mutated beasts in the beast tide. A conservative estimation was at least over a hundred mutated beasts.

The rumbling noises were getting closer; the beast tide was fast approaching.

Just as everyone raised their guard to the highest level, shadowy figures appeared in the distance. Moments later, one beast after another emerged from the forest, accompanied by terrifying roars.

The beasts were running forward at extreme speeds.

Zhu Qingyu and the others finally saw what the mutated beasts looked like.

There was a huge variety of mutated beasts; there were monkeys covered in golden fur; wild boars looking like armored vehicles; white snakes with figures as thick as wooden barrels; and birds with wings spanning dozens of meters.

They all looked different, but they all had one thing in common—the bloodlust and dangerous auras emanating from their figures. Though their species differed, they all shared the same target, and there were hundreds of them.

They were formidable beasts that had embarked on the path of evolution; they were not to be trifled with. Fortunately, they weren't particularly strong, as the majority of them were Foundation Realm I or II beasts.

Some hadn't even made any progress on the path of evolution just yet, merely being a bit stronger than ordinary wild beasts.

Qingyang City wasn't surrounded by any great mountains or rivers. In other words, even if there were mutated beasts outside, they wouldn't be that strong. If Qingyang City were neighbors of the Qin Mountains or the Taihang Mountains, they wouldn't be able to do anything other than wait for their demise.

However, their sheer numbers were indeed a bit overwhelming.

There were about ten times more mutated beasts than allied troops.

Is it about to begin?

Everyone swallowed hard and crouched slightly.

They were ready to fight.

However, the mutated beasts came to a sudden halt about a thousand meters away from Qingyang City.