206: Chapter 206 Defensive Pressure

Liu Jiang had no choice but to adjust his strategy, changing the three Formation Restrictions that were originally maintained at all times to intermittent activation—only when the tide of corpses truly approached within a hundred zhang would the Spirit Burning Formation and the Qi Splitting Formation suddenly activate, turning the corpse puppets that stepped into the Formation area into flying ash.

The rest of the time, they could only rely on the Cultivators' conventional methods to fend them off in turns.

Although this adjustment greatly saved the consumption of Spirit Stones, it also heavily increased the pressure on the defending Cultivators. After every wave of impact, the Cultivators who rotated down were all drained of true essence and pale-faced, and even the time to sit cross-legged and recover became increasingly short.

By the twentieth day, five out of the nineteen Foundation Establishment Cultivators on Chimang Ridge had already been injured.

Among them, a Foundation Establishment Initial Stage Cultivator from the Three Sabers Sect had his left arm grabbed by a charging silver-armored corpse puppet in the melee. The corpse poison had eroded too deeply, and by the time he was treated, his entire arm was in a state of bluish-black decay, forcing him to amputate it at the shoulder.

Although this person reluctantly saved his life, his combat power plummeted by more than half, and he could only retreat to the rear to regulate his breath.

At the same time, the casualties of Qi Refinement Stage Cultivators and Innate Martial Artists also began to expand significantly, and suppressed groans came day and night from the hastily erected wounded camp.

When Liu Jiang transmitted the latest battle report back to the county town, his wording remained calm and restrained, but words like "Spirit Stone shortage", "medicines exhausted", and "rotation falling behind" interspersed every few lines uncontrollably leaked a trace of anxiety between the lines.

When the war reached the third month, Hongshi County had completely closed all entrances and exits, and the city gates were shrouded in layers of restrictive light screens all day long. Without Master Xuanyue's command, no one could leave half a step without authorization.

At the beginning of the third month of the war, when the county town was completely sealed off, Li Changqing had already handed over thirty-three Tier 3 Talismans to Master Xuanyue.

Because these two types of Tier 3 Talismans were ones he had never been exposed to before, even with a large amount of Talisman Making experience as a foundation, the failure rate remained stubbornly high.

Out of one hundred portions of Tier 3 Talisman Materials, he only successfully made sixty-five Talismans in total, falling a short bit short of the seventy percent success rate. The remaining thirty-two naturally entered Li Changqing's own Storage Pouch.

For more than two months, the battle situation in the frontline defense zone was just as Li Changqing had expected, with the Chimang Ridge mountain pass bearing the greatest pressure.

The Corpse Puppet Sect initiated one to two attacks almost every day, driving hundreds of corpse puppets to roar and pounce at least, or thousands converging into a grayish-white turbid stream at most, interspersed with sudden sneak attacks from Demonic Path Cultivators, the silent erosion of corpse poison, and the penetration of sky-obscuring black mist. The tricks were varied and endless.

In the span of over two months, the first defense line of Chimang Ridge was breached once. That was when the black mist was thick in the middle of the night, and a large number of corpse puppets poured in from the gaps in the collapsed palisade walls.

The second defense line also nearly fell. In the end, Liu Jiang of the Tianxuan Sect spared no cost and personally detonated an extremely precious Tier 2 Formation Plate. The bursting flame tore apart and forced back the corpse tide that had rushed into the defense line within dozens of zhang, only then stabilizing the footing.

In that battle, a Foundation Establishment Cultivator from the Huang Family of Qingyang Prefecture died on the spot, and a Foundation Establishment Cultivator from the Three Sabers Sect also died with another heavily injured. Severed limbs and shattered Magical Artifacts were scattered all over the ground, which could be described as extremely tragic.

The three defense zones along the southern bank of the Falling Star River presented yet another scene—they hardly engaged in battle at all.

The Corpse Refining Sect obviously had not yet intended to launch a frontal assault from the waterway. The naturally wide river barrier of the Falling Star River, coupled with the densely packed water-system Restrictions along the bank, greatly increased the difficulty of attack, allowing that side to temporarily enjoy peace in a corner.

As for the county town defense zone, during these three months, it was simply peaceful to the point of being boring.

Except for daily routine patrols, drills, and making Talismans, members of the Li Family could hardly feel any sense of urgency from the war.

Beneath the warm sun, some people even began to discuss privately, feeling that the war was just like that and far less terrifying than imagined, saying that the tragedy of the front lines was nothing more than exaggeration.

After hearing these discussions, Li Changqing gathered all Family members that very night, lit bright torches in the courtyard, and read the roster of Cultivators who died in the Chimang Ridge defense zone from beginning to end in front of everyone.

When every name on the roster was read out, it was like a pebble dropped into stagnant water. The number of deaths in three months: four hundred and ninety-seven Qi Refining Cultivators and Innate Martial Artists, and two Foundation Establishment Cultivators.

Li Changqing put down the roster of the fallen, and the courtyard was filled with silence, leaving only the crackling sound of burning torches and the wailing of the night wind sweeping over the top of the wall. After that night, no one in the Li Family dared to utter the word "boring" again.

However, changes in the war situation never shifted based on individual will.

In the middle of the fourth month of the war, a blood-stained expedited message came from the Chimang Ridge mountain pass—Liu Jiang was heavily injured.

The news arrived in the early morning. Liu Jiang detailed the battle situation in the Jade Slip. The handwriting towards the back had become slightly cursive, clearly showing he was barely maintaining a sliver of lucidity: Over the past four months, the Chimang Ridge mountain pass had cumulatively killed over thirty thousand corpse puppets, exterminated seven silver-armored corpse puppets, and slain four Demonic Path Foundation Establishment Cultivators.

However, the casualties of the defending forces were equally tragic—two Foundation Establishment Cultivators from the Xiao Family suffered one death and one severe injury, the Dadao Sect lost yet another Foundation Establishment Cultivator, and multiple other Foundation Establishment Cultivators were wounded.

The casualties of Qi Refinement Stage Cultivators and Innate Martial Artists were approaching forty percent. If the rear had not gritted its teeth and continuously replenished low-tier Cultivators and Martial Artists, the entire defense line would have completely collapsed long ago.

The transmission Talisman turned into a green light in Master Xuanyue's hand. Dark clouds were densely gathered between his brows, and he sat alone in the quiet room for about the time it takes to brew half a cup of tea, immediately issuing three mobilization orders in succession.

The first order commanded Xiao Family head Xiao Yuanzheng to immediately lead one hundred Qi Refining Cultivators personally from the county town defense zone to reinforce Chimang Ridge.

The second order urgently transferred a Foundation Establishment Disciple of the Tianxuan Sect guarding the ferry pier in Qingyang Prefecture to move closer to Chimang Ridge to fill the flank vacancy, leaving only low-tier Disciples at the ferry pier to hold their ground relying on the Formation.

The third order commanded the Li Family to dispatch a Foundation Establishment Cultivator carrying fifty Family members of the Li Family, setting off fully equipped at the Mao hour the next day to support the western defense line of Chimang Ridge.

When receiving the order, Li Changqing read the mobilization order word by word, then raised his head and asked the transmitting Cultivator, "How is Fellow Daoist Liu's injury exactly?"

The transmitting Cultivator's expression was solemn as he lowered his voice and said, "The corpse poison has entered his viscera. Master Xuanyue has personally taken action to temporarily seal his Meridians, but he will have absolutely no capability to fight again within three months."

After the transmitting Cultivator left, Li Changqing sat alone in the quiet room, his fingertips gently tapping three times on the cold mobilization order Jade Slip.

The western defense line—he remembered that Li Xuanji had carefully analyzed the terrain of Chimang Ridge before the battle: the western mountain path of Chimang Ridge was located on the flank of the main mountain pass, with dangerous terrain and jagged rocks. It was not the main attack direction of the Demonic Path, and the risk was relatively lower, but it was narrow and steep, requiring a division of troops to guard three mountain peaks in total.

This place was originally garrisoned by a Foundation Establishment Late Stage Cultivator of the Tianxuan Sect leading Cultivators of the Yuan Family from Huangfeng Prefecture. After fierce battles until now, a Foundation Establishment Middle Stage Cultivator of the Yuan Family had been forced to retreat due to severe injuries, leaving only two Foundation Establishment Cultivators desperately holding on to the western defense line. The line of defense was already leaking everywhere, and the situation was in extreme peril.