Chapter 456: The Arrival of the Beast Horde

Ye Feng looked up at the sky. The weather was as usual, with no abnormalities, but he sensed a faint sense of oppression. It was indescribable—like the gloom that precedes a thunderstorm, but this gloom was not physical but psychological.
According to the information they had received earlier, this day should be when the beast horde would attack.
Early in the morning, Ye Feng and his group got ready, waiting patiently.
News of the approaching beast horde spread across most of the city on the same day Ye Feng and the others learned of it, and by the next day, everyone in the city was aware of it.
City Lord Lin Xu did not stop the city residents from fleeing; instead, he provided assistance to those who wanted to leave. This made Ye Feng and the others view the city lord a bit more favorably.
Ye Feng and his group also noticed that many experts had suddenly appeared in the city lord’s mansion a few days ago, including some as powerful as imperial deities. However, after the lesson from Xiao Bei earlier, they did not come to cause trouble again. Ye Feng wasn’t sure whether they were truly intimidated or too busy preparing for the beast horde to take revenge, but either way, it was a good outcome.
“Although the weather is normal today, it feels very unusual,” Long Tian said, frowning slightly. “There’s a strange sense of oppression.”
“Haven’t you noticed that there’s not even the chirping of birds or insects today?” Pearl, being a woman, paid more attention to such details. “Apart from human voices, all other sounds have disappeared. Even the wind is much softer than usual.”
“Now that you mention it, it’s true…” Ye Feng listened carefully and finally identified the source of the abnormality. It was too quiet—not only was half the city’s population gone, lacking its usual noise, but most notably, there was not a single sound from birds or insects.
“The beast horde must be nearby…” Ye Feng gazed into the distance but saw nothing.
After a while, dark clouds appeared in the sky far away.
“How did the clouds arrive so quickly?” Long Tian looked up at the direction of the dark clouds.
“They’re Black Sparrows, a type of social beast. They’re predators that eat almost any living thing and can move at high speeds over short distances,” Bernard shared the relevant information from his inherited memories. “Normally, these beasts only reach the level of divine beings, but they’re very dangerous. They like to surround their prey and eat them in groups. Any prey they target ends up with nothing but bones left.”

“What are the weaknesses of these magical beasts?” Ye Feng frowned slightly. According to Bernard, these beasts were essentially an upgraded version of man-eating ants—capable of flying and quite large in size.
“They fear fire, not ordinary fire, but flames derived from extreme fire elements.” Bernard’s inherited memories contained detailed information, which saved Ye Feng and the others a lot of trouble.
“Look, over there!” Long Tian suddenly pointed in a certain direction.
Ye Feng and the others glanced at the ground beneath the Black Sparrows. Dust billowed there, and dark shadows could be faintly seen writhing in the dust—likely the army of magical beasts.
At that moment, Ye Feng and the group also sensed the ground beneath their feet trembling.
“They’re coming…” Ye Feng gazed into the direction of the beast herd. “In this battle, I, Xiao Bei, and Xiao Yu will be the main attackers, while the rest, led by Brother Long, will form the formation we practiced in the Training Realm these past few days. Don’t act on your own—just follow Brother Long’s commands on the battlefield.”
Over the past few days, to allow Zhenzhu and the others to participate in the battle without getting hurt, Ye Feng came up with the idea of using formations. His mastery of formations was already quite high, so he quickly taught them several simple yet practical formations—forms that Long Tian had already fully understood. With Long Tian as the core and the others as supports, they would form a mobile fortress on the battlefield. To prevent accidents, Ye Feng even had them train in the Training Realm for some time.
The effect of the formations was surprisingly good. Under Long Tian’s control, the twelve of them could even withstand the attacks of a herd at the level of an Imperial God. Although this was within Ye Feng’s expectations theoretically, the actual results were so good that it still took him by surprise.
On the other hand, City Lord Lin Xu and his group reacted quite differently.
“They’re really coming…” As the swarm of magical beasts approached rapidly, panic flashed in Lin Xu’s eyes. It was the first time he had encountered such a large-scale attack by magical beasts. Although he had many powerful allies on his side, seeing the vast herd made him doubt whether they could survive this challenge.

Yet deep in his heart, he was secretly relieved that most of the residents had fled, with less than 10% remaining. Though he never considered himself a good person, his own misfortunes since childhood made him more understanding of the suffering of ordinary people. In the eyes of the commoners, he was undoubtedly a competent city lord, but in the eyes of his own family, he was nothing but a good-for-nothing without any talent for cultivation, with the vile blood of ascendants flowing in his veins.

Ximen Chun watched as the beast herd gradually approached, and memories from his childhood surged back: those massive beasts let out terrifying roars, mercilessly tearing apart the people who rushed at them. Bodies fell from the sky, turning the earthy-yellow ground crimson…

The scene shifted— a valiant-looking woman was knocked into the ground by a giant magical beast, blood streaming from her mouth as she lay on her deathbed.

“Grandma…” A six- or seven-year-old boy cried out toward that direction, tears streaming down his face…

“Chun’er… be good, listen to grandma… hide… in those bushes… don’t make a sound…” A gentle voice reached the boy’s ears.

The boy wiped away his tears before turning and running away…

The sound of the beasts’ hooves came from afar, pulling Ximen Chun back from his memories. Looking at the beast herd before him, his body trembled slightly, but he clenched his fists tightly, his eyes burning with deep hatred.

“Are everyone ready?” Lin Xu turned to look at the residents who had stayed behind. “Today, we shall share fate with Pompeii!”

“We’re ready!” The crowd’s enthusiasm flared instantly.

“Then let’s go to war with these beasts!” Lin Xu’s voice was hoarse from shouting. His clenched fists trembled slightly—not from fear, but from excitement.

This battle might completely change how my family sees me, he thought, but he received no answer.