Chapter 1162: Chapter 1161: Man-Made Beast Tide

The city gate guards looked at Lu Yang as if they had seen a ghost. The descriptions from the students suggested that Lu Yang faced a situation where death was almost certain. Could this be explained by having just enough life-saving measures?

Lu Yang returned to Muxue City, accompanied by the students, but his presence was out of sync with the tense atmosphere of the city.

As the beast tide approached, Muxue City prepared for war, all cultivators were conscripted.

Before entering the martial arts hall, Lu Yang told his classmates to go home, declaring that today’s extracurricular activity had been very successful.

The martial arts hall was empty. Lu Yang inquired nearby and learned that the City Lord had gathered all the cultivators in the city to combat the beast tide, and Murong Da Ye and the others, as cultivators, had all been summoned.

"Speaking of which, who exactly triggered this beast tide?"

Lu Yang lay on his bed, recalling the remnants of a beast taming technique within the bodies of the Four Great Demon Kings, and murmured to himself.

This meant that the beast tide was not the natural disaster outsiders believed it to be, but a genuine man-made calamity.

"Is it to overwhelm Muxue City with the beast tide?"

Controlling the Four Great Demon Kings with a beast taming technique, the practitioner must definitely be a Pass Tribulation Cultivator. For a Pass Tribulation Cultivator, destroying Muxue City would be an easy task.

"Do they not want to make a move personally, or is there another agenda?"

Suddenly, there was a commotion in the martial arts hall.

"Did you see Vice City Lord Ma’s expression? Laughable, I thought he could only scowl, turns out he has other faces too."

"Alright, alright, keep your voices down. If Vice City Lord Ma’s people hear us, we’re finished."

When Lu Yang went outside, it turned out Sect Leader Murong Da Ye and his disciples had returned.

"Little Lu, you’re okay? I heard you took the kids outside the city to hunt demons and scared me to death," Murong Da Ye said with concern.

"Just lucky, didn’t encounter any powerful demon beasts."

"Hey, that’s why I say your luck isn’t just bragging; it’s real good. When you went out, the beast tide struck; had you encountered it, it would have been the end."

"Yeah, yeah, it was a city-destroying level beast tide. Even the City Lord had no answers," the inner sect disciples chattered, having encountered the legendary beast tide for the first time in their lives.

Lu Yang remained silent with a smile.

"I heard from a neighbor that you all were called by the City Lord to deal with the beast tide?"

"Exactly, I thought I was almost gone for good this time," Murong Da Ye said, still shaken, slapping his thigh.

"Don’t worry, sit down and take it easy," Lu Yang said smilingly, getting things organized. "I caught a few wild rabbits outside the city, let’s roast and eat them together."

"Ah, that’s wonderful," Murong Da Ye beamed with joy, his disciples also thrilled. In the barren Extreme Northern Lands, having a barbecue was one of the few forms of entertainment.

Lu Yang expertly set up the grill and listened to Murong Da Ye tell stories as he roasted the meat.

"At first, when Vice City Lord Ma summoned us, we were very scared. After all, it’s a beast tide. What could we, who are just at the stages of Qi Refinement, Foundation Establishment, and Golden Core, do? We were clearly going to our deaths."

"That Ma fellow even feigned concern, saying it was all for the continuation of Muxue City, asking us to hand over our cultivation resources for centralized allocation. If he’s so capable, let him charge at the beast tide first. It’s all nonsense, I think he just wanted to embezzle things. If the city were breached, he’d be the first to grab stuff and flee!"

"After a lot of persuasion, Vice City Lord Ma, seeing that we were unwilling to hand over our cultivation resources, started getting agitated. That’s when Vice City Lord Yao arrived, saying there was no need to worry about the beast tide anymore."

"A Supreme Power slew the Four Great Demon Kings with a single sword strike, killing tens, if not hundreds of thousands of the Demon Race, directly resolving the source of the beast tide."

"At first, Ma still said Vice City Lord Yao shouldn’t spread false military information and shake the army’s morale. But once he led a team out of the city and returned, he was utterly demoralized, talking about how it couldn’t be possible, and he was also seriously injured, hurt by the residual Sword Qi."

The apprentice chimed in longingly, "I also heard that the City Lord himself inspected the situation and said that someone at the peak of Sword Dao Supreme made their move."

"Sword Dao Supreme, if I ever get the chance to meet this Sword Dao Supreme, my life would not be in vain."

Lu Yang served four grilled rabbit legs and joked, "What’s so great about a Sword Dao Supreme?"

The apprentice said with a chuckle, "Daoist Lu, you wouldn’t know, but what if the Sword Dao Supreme took a liking to me and passed me a few sword techniques? Then I could walk sideways through Muxue City."

Murong Grandpa took a bite of grilled rabbit leg, his eyes lit up, "Hey, Little Lu, your cooking skills are impressive. You could open a shop with this—In Muxue City, I’ve eaten barbecue for nearly a hundred years, and none is better than yours!"

"You’re exaggerating, exaggerating."

...

Ma Family estate.

Ever since Vice City Lord Ma returned home, he had secluded himself, not even meeting his own family.

Vice City Lord Ma sat cross-legged on a straw mat, eyes closed, gritting his teeth, his hands cupped, as beads of sweat trickled down from his forehead, across his chin, down his cheeks, and dropped onto the ground.

The Sword Qi of the Sword Dao Supreme remained in his body, and he tried various methods to expel it quickly but could only wear it down bit by bit.

But that was not his concern. He suddenly opened his eyes, murmuring to himself, "This can’t be, this can’t be..."

"What can’t be?" A weathered voice resounded in Vice City Lord Ma’s ear.

"Who is there?"

Vice City Lord Ma tensed up. This was his cultivation place, absolutely safe; even the City Lord couldn’t just barge in.

"How is it, still have a trace of my Sword Qi inside you and don’t recognize me?"

Vice City Lord Ma’s pupils dilated, his voice filled with agitation, "It’s you, no, it’s You!"

It was the Supreme Sword Master who had slain the Four Great Demon Kings with a single sword strike!

"Vice City Lord Ma thinks something is impossible? Is it that you thought the beast swarm that was supposed to attack the city was halted by me?"

Vice City Lord Ma felt the Sword Master’s oppressive presence and fell to his knees with a thud, beads of sweat the size of soybeans forming on his forehead.

"No, that’s not what I mean," Vice City Lord Ma stammered.

Sword Master withdrew his oppressive presence, noticing Vice City Lord Ma was also a Sword Cultivator. Faced with an overwhelming Sword Cultivator’s pressure, it would be impossible for him to lie.

"I... I never imagined a Sword Cultivator could cultivate to such a level," Vice City Lord Ma said bitterly. As a Sword Cultivator, he knew all too well the chasm between him and the Supreme Sword Master.

Yet he refused to accept this, recklessly touching the Sword Qi left in the Great Demon King’s body, sustaining heavy injuries.

He realized that there was an insurmountable chasm between himself and a true Sword Cultivator, and he would never be able to reach across it in this lifetime, plunging into despair.

Sword Master sneered, "As a Sword Cultivator, yet impure in thought, facing the beast swarm you only thought of abandoning the city, spineless. Yet you aspire to climb to the pinnacle of Sword Dao, laughable."

"In your life, have you ever wielded your sword against someone more powerful than yourself?"

Vice City Lord Ma felt as if struck by lightning.

The Sword Master withdrew the Sword Qi from Vice City Lord Ma’s body and vanished.

Lu Yang appeared outside the Ma Family estate, shaking his head, "It seems he has nothing to do with the beast swarm incident."