“To the south gate!” Xuanyuan Xie led the way as they flew overhead of the citizens, headed to the city’s south wall.

Many people in Tianming City were discussing Tianming.

“The Imperial Son slew two ghoul kings and the Quadform Seadragon King. And now he immediately came to the front lines. I’m full of respect for him.”

“He looks so young. Is he really that incredible?” a little girl asked.

“Although the Kilostar Domain was a zone that sealed the ghoul kings’ power, a person in his twenties that could kill them is still a monster!” The little girl’s father was already a convert, and his eyes blazed with passion.

There were many such people in the city.

At the gates, Tianming looked back at the city. Before, he had actually been resisting the urge to say, “Let’s all survive this together.”

Although he hadn’t said it out loud in the end, he had still engraved those words in his heart.

“As long as I’m not dead, neither will they be.”

The more power you had, the more burdens you had to bear.

Tianming focused his attention back outside the city, already mentally prepared for what was coming next.

“We’ll leave this spot to you husband and wife. The three of us will head to the formation’s core. Hold on. Our lives are in your hands.” Yi Xingyin turned stern.

“I promise you, the formation will not fall.” Done speaking, Yi Xingyin brought Chen Changshu and Dao Yuanyi toward the core of the city.

The Sun-Moon-Star formation soon brilliantly lit up as if a starry sky had appeared, with an additional sun and moon to the south.

At the same time, the formation’s light pierced through the clouds, revealing all of the real stars clearly. All of their starlight was collected by the formation, making the starry sky even more resplendent.

“Ling’er, life is a journey. It’s our fortune to experience the majesty of life with all these people here. Our cultivation is a cultivation of the heart. It’s not about shutting ourselves away from the world and bitterly training, but experiencing things in the world. We have to meet people, do things, and learn how to live a life with a clear conscience. That’s how you become a god.

“I was fortunate to have my father and godfather show me the correct path when I was young. I don’t think I’m letting either of them down, standing here today.” Tianming knew that his current strength wasn’t enough compared to the continent’s peak.

However, he didn’t agree that was the case when it came to the cultivation of the heart. He watched as the enemy troops in the distance began mobilizing.

“The enemy has appeared. City, prepare!”

A loud drumbeat echoed out through the city.

“What is there to fear with the Imperial Son here?’

“His presence shows the ancestor is protecting us!”

A hot-bloodedness began spreading as such words filled the city. Not even Tianming was aware that his arrival had brought such encouragement.

The drum began pounding even harder.

“The corpse puppets have begun to appear. Push the Sun-Moon-Star Formation to its limits and activate the auxiliary formations!” Xuanyuan Xie’s voice was filled with boldness. His innate disposition was that of a general; everything ran like a well oiled machine under his command.

Hundreds of auxiliary formations sprang up. They had a wide variety of effects, from illusions, to traps, to spirit hazards. They covered over ten kilometers beyond the city, and invaders would need to cross that area in order to assault the city.

Tianming finally laid his eyes on the enemy.

On the horizon, a chaotic throng of men and beasts were advancing. The earth shook under their feet, and wails and moans were carried over by the wind. The starlight above allowed him a clear look at the puppets.

The corpse puppets were fallen beastmasters created by the fifth Ghoul King, Si Ling, using the forbidden art, Necromantic Metamorphosis.

They had long since died, and they lacked any intelligence, but they had a certain level of power by relying on strength that hadn’t faded yet. They couldn’t be kept for long, but they were the perfect fodder to throw at formations.

The first three hundred thousand corpse puppets were all from Pentaphase!

It was the price Pentaphase had paid for allying with Monorigin. Pentaphase was currently experiencing internal strife. If it weren’t for Nonahall continuing straight north, Pentaphase wouldn’t have been able to survive.

“If the city falls, will we become such puppets too?” Tianming looked at the shambling corpses. They originally should have been buried and laid to rest, but instead, they were being controlled. With bulging eyes, wretched moans, and flailing arms, what part of them still looked human?

The puppets crossed the distance in the blink of an eye. Some of them didn’t even have their heads, but they still continued to crawl forward. Behind the puppets was a dense crowd. It was the combined army of Nonahall and Hexapath.

Intel hadn’t determined how many of them there were, but there were at least over a million!

“Who’s that?” Tianming saw that behind the puppet horde, there was a masked woman wearing a grey skirt. She was standing atop a massive beast that had thick hind legs and a tail. Its head was very large, with a gaping red maw. Even though its entire body was made of rotten flesh, it clearly wasn’t a puppet, as there were still stars in its eyes that flickered with green fire.

And over nine hundred at that!

“The fifth Ghoul King, Si Ling. She’s the creator of the corpse puppets. The one she’s on is a necrofiend flare dragon, and she has two more lifebound beasts, the necrostyx phoenix and the necrogale qilin.

“She’s a first-rate opponent. For us, she’s an even more important target than ghoul kings Xue Yi and Zi Xiao. If she’s dead, there’ll be no more puppets,” Xuanyuan Xie said with a cold expression.

“Understood. Is killing her hard?”

“Yes. I’m not her opponent.”

If even Xuanyuan Xie wasn’t their match, what could Tianming do?

“As long as we hold out for this wave, we win!”

“I get it!”

Under Xuanyuan Xie’s command, five hundred thousand of the Fienddragon Legion and five hundred thousand of the city’s army got into formation. The tribulation elders that had come along with Tianming could reinforce them as needed.

“I won’t be able to protect you in battle, so stay safe, Imperial Son.”

“No problem.” Tianming jumped off the wall, landing in the formation’s area.

Eye-piercing starlight filled the area around him, as if he had arrived in space. Physically entering let him personally feel the tremors from up ahead, as well as the dense aura of death that was fast approaching.

Tianming took a deep breath before moving to the forefront of the defending army.

“They’re here! Everyone, kill!” Xuanyuan Xie’s order came down from above.

“Fienddragon Legion, formation six! Prepare your lifebound beasts and abilities!”

“City army, flank them!”

In a battlefield of such scale, one person was too small. Tianming knew this wasn’t the Kilostar Domain, and there was little he could personally do. All he could do and had to do was give it his all!

“If the city falls, so will Taiji Peak sooner or later!” Tianming was only an ordinary soldier here. Four lifebound beasts were by his side, but Ying Huo’s wings still hadn’t completely healed.

“Let’s go!”

Countless puppets flooded into the formation.

Tianming saw the Infinite Starnet, which was the Sun-Moon-Star Formation’s own ability. It far surpassed the hundred auxiliary formations. Strands of starlight formed a net, which sliced through all the puppets in its path.

However, the enemy’s numbers were simply too great. As more corpse puppets entered, the defenders would have to face more enemies. The puppets’ fearlessness in death would allow them to wreak great havoc against the formation!