"Crack."
Xu Jie held a machine gun in one hand, and loaded bullets with the other while firing, smiling bitterly: "President, the scale of this beast tide is really quite large, isn’t it?"
"Yes, it’s the largest scale in history."
Sun Wei fired while speaking: "Prepare for close combat."
Beside him, Tu Yue, Gao Shan, and the others’ expressions stiffened at his words.
The president’s meaning was clear: the city walls of Anshan City probably couldn’t hold these beasts. Once they climb the walls, ordinary guards would find it hard to stop them. Firearms could easily cause friendly fire, only martial artists and awakeners like them had a chance in battle.
However, close combat was equally dangerous for them, a single misstep could lead to decapitation.
In another location, the remaining awakeners also wore expressions of a willingness to die.
A day ago, the president had warned them that a beast tide was imminent and Anshan City might fall. Those who wished to leave could do so immediately.
For whatever reasons, they chose to stay and thus must give their all to fend off the fierce beasts.
Though this beast tide’s scale was indeed extraordinary, even the hardest defense in the past wasn’t this bad, right?
What was even more unsettling was, through the large telescope, they noticed three commander-level fierce beasts still outside firearm range, watching intently.
If those were to come over later, holding the city would only become more difficult.
"President!"
Someone looked up towards the figure at the highest point, their eyes first showing a glimmer of hope, then turning blank.
Yes, the president was indeed an A-level awakener.
But this was a beast tide, with at least two to three hundred thousand fierce beasts. Could the president alone hold them off?
"Rumble..."
The incessant loud noises blurred the line between cannon fire from the city walls and the earth’s tremors caused by the beast tide’s trampling.
The two previously intact camps in front of Anshan City had now turned into ruins, unrecognizable.
Countless fierce beasts lay dead, their bodies trampled by those behind, blood flowing into the pits on the ground, forming small rivers and lakes.
Ordinarily, these mid to high-level fierce beasts would have succumbed to their nature, halting to feast on their companions’ corpses.
But now, they charged forward fearlessly like death warriors.
"Roar!"
The fierce beasts at the front were less than a kilometer away from Anshan City’s walls.
They seemed to know the city gates were the weak points, hence surged towards them in large numbers.
"Stop them!"
"Don’t let them near the city gates!"
Everyone was horrified, hurriedly aiming their guns downward, bullets raining.
The incoming fierce beasts fell like waves in a wheat field, collapsing in patches.
However, they soon realized a desperate fact: the fiercer they killed, the more fierce beasts there were, an endless slaughter, completely unending!
Not only at the city gates, but other places as well, with fierce beasts charging continuously.
Even though most were mid to low-level, once they piled up, the fierce beasts behind could trample on the corpses of their companions and rush up. The city wall, even if undamaged, would be useless!
"How do we fight this?"
Someone had already despaired, as if envisioning a scene of countless fierce beasts breaking through the walls and slaughtering rampantly.
"Guodong, do you think we’re really going to die here today?" Liu Yong smiled bitterly.
Having come from a small village to the city with much difficulty, they had thought they could enjoy a good life, yet just a few days in, they encountered a beast tide.
"I don’t know either."
Chen Guodong lowered his head, not daring to look them in the eyes.
Because Chen Fan had said that if it came to the day Anshan City fell, he would lead them away.
Liu Yong and Wei Tianyuan wouldn’t be so lucky.
"Oh heavens, is there really no miracle?"
Chen Guodong prayed silently.
It wasn’t just for his family, but also for his friends and even the strangers around him; he didn’t want to see anyone perish.
"It seems we can’t hold it, huh?"
Wang Lingling had somehow come to the city wall, gazing at the beast tide like a vast ocean below, her brows furrowed.
But that man surnamed Li had said that in his predicted future, Anshan City would survive.
This simply didn’t match the current reality.
"Was he lying to me? But previously, he knew I was coming and knew Qin Family’s pursuers would arrive soon. If he couldn’t foresee the future, he wouldn’t be able to do that either."
Wang Lingling was deeply conflicted.
"Whatever, that guy’s here anyway."
Her gaze fell on the highest figure, "Let’s see how he handles this."
"Sigh."
A sigh emerged, quickly drowned out by numerous other sighs.
On the city wall, watching the fierce beasts draw closer, Hua Jun was frantic, at this rate...
"It’s almost time."
Suddenly, a murmuring voice reached his ears.
"President?"
Hua Jun jolted, turning to look at Chen Fan ahead, uncontrollably asking: "Was that you speaking just now? Almost time for what?"
"It’s almost time for me to act."
Finishing his words, Chen Fan turned, addressing those behind him: "All of you move back a bit."
"?"
Hua Jun and the others were puzzled at first, then their faces lit up with excitement.
The president was about to act!
They dared not delay, retreating a few steps, hearts filled with both anticipation and anxiety, like buckets of water being drawn up and down a well.
Could the president alone really fend off this countless horde of fierce beasts?
In the next moment, Chen Fan’s Sea of Qi churned, countless strands of True Essence surged out, transforming into two to three meter long Sword Qi behind him, suspended in the air.
In just a blink, over two thousand Sword Qi had formed.
The spectacular sight stunned everyone who witnessed it.
"Oh my god, what is that? Am I dreaming?"
"Sword Qi? Like in the xianxia novels?"
"One, two, three, four... Too many, can’t even count."
Gasps and exclamations echoed.
Amidst the crowd, Elder Wang’s eyes widened in disbelief: "Heavens, a Celestial Human Realm Martial Artist?"
He looked at Chen Fan’s back like he’d seen a ghost.
If he remembered correctly, Chen Fan was a True Essence Realm Martial Artist. How could a mere True Essence Realm Martial Artist possibly condense over two thousand Sword Qi at once?
Such vast True Essence consumption, even a newly entered Celestial Realm Martial Artist couldn’t typically achieve, unless he had mastered the Supreme Sword Technique, Ten Thousand Swords Return to the Sect.
This sword technique not only enhanced the power of the executed sword techniques but also conserved a lot of True Essence.
"Could it be that he is both a Celestial Realm Martial Artist and has reached a level of mastery in Ten Thousand Swords Return to the Sect, where he can execute the Secret Technique, Ten Thousand Swords Attack, with one-fifth of its power?"
Elder Wang was stunned.
The difficulty of Ten Thousand Swords Return to the Sect was comparable to the Sacred Heart Technique, even greater in some ways, requiring an exceptionally high Sword Dao comprehension.
Such Sword Dao talent was rarer than one in ten thousand.
"No, it doesn’t seem like Ten Thousand Swords Return to the Sect."
He soon shook his head.
He had seen others perform it before; what Chen Fan did had the form but lacked the essence.
"No, wait!"
Elder Wang’s expression changed again. If it wasn’t Ten Thousand Swords Return to the Sect, the difficulty must be even higher, meaning the martial artist was using pure True Qi without the technique’s benefits, making the True Qi consumption even more staggering.
"What is this youngster’s true strength? When I previously met him, why couldn’t I sense he was a Celestial Human Realm Martial Artist at all?"
Elder Wang fell into deep self-doubt.
Could it be that this youngster’s realm was even higher than his own? Already at the Late Stage of the Celestial Human Realm?
But this, was it possible?
Was it possible?
Not far away, Wang Lingling was also stunned, standing stiffly like a wooden statue, staring blankly at the thousands of strands of True Qi in mid-air, muttering to herself:
"Is this his confidence in defending Anshan City?"