Chapter 317: A Moment of Despair

On the city wall, Old Man Mo looked calm, but his heart was pounding. In the distance, a red cloud blotted out the sky—an ominous cloud formed by killing intent.

The beast tide had already arrived from afar, and soon the earth would shake and the mountains would tremble.

The people of the Longyuan Imperial Dynasty had no confidence in facing this beast tide. The previous few tides had left them a glimmer of hope, but this time there was none at all.

"Kid, if you're scared now, you can still hide. Otherwise, once the beast tide comes, hiding won't be possible," Old Man Mo said displeasedly, seeing Lin Fan standing there calmly.

This kid really wouldn't shed tears until he saw the coffin. At a time like this, he still pretended to be calm. Maybe when he saw the spectacular beast tide, he'd wet his pants in fear.

Old Man Mo had already made up his mind: if things went wrong, or if a Great Heaven realm mid-rank beast appeared in the tide, he would tear through the void and retreat immediately.

After over a hundred years of cultivation, finally reaching the early Great Heaven realm, how could he die in a place like this?

He didn't care about the title of prince of Longyuan, or even the Longyuan princess. In his heart, his own life was the most precious.

"No matter. In recent years, the Eastern Spirit Province has suffered countless deaths from beast tides. Since I've encountered the Longyuan Imperial Dynasty facing such a great calamity today, I naturally cannot stand idly by," Lin Fan said with a faint smile, then released Chick from his backpack.

"Cock-a-doodle-doo..." Chick crowed happily as soon as it came out, but when it sensed the aura from afar, it froze, then bumped its head against Lin Fan's cheek, as if to say, 'Every time you call me out, nothing good happens.'

"Heh, you're quite interesting, raising a chicken," Old Man Mo laughed loudly when he saw the chicken on Lin Fan's shoulder.

The Longyuan princess also showed disappointment when she saw the chick on Lin Fan's shoulder.

In her view, which great cultivator would keep a pet that seemed utterly useless in battle? Only ordinary people would raise such a thing.

"Cock-a-doodle-doo..." Chick crowed in protest, deeply angered at being taken for a chicken by this old man.

I am the ancient divine beast Phoenix!

Lin Fan patted Chick's head. Although Chick was a descendant of the ancient divine beast Phoenix, its genes seemed to have mutated, making it a bit strange.

It was normal that these people couldn't recognize it. Even he himself, if he hadn't seen it hatch from a phoenix egg, wouldn't have believed that this ugly chicken was a descendant of the Phoenix.

"Boom..."

The earth shook and the mountains trembled, as if the whole world were being overturned.

In the distant dense forest, trees toppled, and the roars of beasts came one after another. The powerful sound waves sent the soldiers of Longyuan tumbling several times, unable to stand steady.

The dark shadows in the distance grew denser, a line of black cutting across the entire forest, like a monstrous beast opening its pitch-black maw, ready to swallow the Longyuan Imperial Dynasty in one gulp.

Compared to today, the beast tide at Qingling Prefecture was like a small witch meeting a big one.

It seemed that someone was directing this beast tide from behind.

The Longyuan Imperial Dynasty was vast and populous, more than ten times the size of Qingling Prefecture. The mysterious force directing the beast tide must have known of Longyuan's strength, so it gathered a massive number of beasts to form a beast tide army, delivering a devastating blow to the dynasty.

Seeing the scene before them, the people of Longyuan turned pale. This beast tide was far, far stronger than any before.

The soldiers picked themselves up from the ground, but when they saw this, they trembled in fear. Some of the more cowardly ones wet their pants and crouched in a corner of the wall, weeping.

"Father, do we still have a chance?" the Longyuan princess said, trembling.

The Longyuan emperor said nothing. His bright eyes stared ahead, and the hand holding the imperial sword began to tremble.

Old Man Mo took a deep breath, also gasping at the vast beast tide before him.

He had seen beast tides before, but never a scene like this.

A million? Ten million? Perhaps even more.

But just as everyone was worrying, Lin Fan's words made them think less of him, even to the point of disgust.

"Chick, this is a rare sight, but they're just a bunch of beasts," Lin Fan said, slightly shaken by the scene.

Where did all these beasts come from? How come he had never encountered so many before?

For a beast tide to form, the beasts couldn't have come from all directions without being noticed. There must be many things he didn't know.

"Kid, that's enough. You can stop boasting now. This beast tide, even without Great Heaven realm beasts, is enough to tear us to pieces," Old Man Mo said, glaring at Lin Fan. He hadn't expected that even seeing the coffin, this kid still wouldn't shed tears, and was still bragging.

The Longyuan princess glanced at Lin Fan with displeasure. This man had become somewhat annoying. If she had known, she wouldn't have agreed to let him come.

Now, in the princess's eyes, this man probably couldn't even kill a single beast.

Lin Fan glanced at Old Man Mo, a faint smile on his lips, then stared ahead. "How strange. The leading beast is only at the minor Heaven realm great perfection?"

"What? Only minor Heaven realm great perfection?" Old Man Mo was about to say something, but upon hearing Lin Fan's words, he stared ahead in disbelief, then a bright smile spread across his withered face.

"Haha, Princess Longyuan, heaven hasn't abandoned you! The leading beast is only at the minor Heaven realm great perfection. I can try to kill it," Old Man Mo said, relieved. If it was only at that level, with his strength, he could indeed kill it.

Lin Fan watched Old Man Mo and the princess exchange words and shook his head. It couldn't be that simple. Such a vast beast tide couldn't be led by just one minor Heaven realm great perfection beast.

But no matter what cultivation level came, it was all the same in Lin Fan's eyes.

The 'Ancient Arm' might not be invincible, but in the Eastern Spirit Province, it was a domineering existence.

Just as Lin Fan was thinking about these things, Old Man Mo let out a roar, stepped into the void, and charged fiercely at the minor Heaven realm great perfection beast.

Although Old Man Mo was only at the early Great Heaven realm with a single rule chain, to these beasts, he was an invincible existence.

The thin rule chain coiled around him, and the power of rules bombarded the beasts. Although one move killed many, it was a drop in the bucket compared to the vast beast tide.

In the beast tide, the leading beast at the minor Heaven realm great perfection roared to the sky and fought with Old Man Mo.

The scattered rogue cultivators hiding in the distance watched the scene excitedly.

"Brother Mo is still vigorous in his old age! I, Big Blade Wang Wu, admire him greatly!"

"Damn, that move 'Twin Dragons Playing with a Pearl' shows the style of a master!"

"What are you blabbering about? I, Long Spear Zhao Xiaoliu, have been swinging my spear for twenty years. I saw at a glance that Brother Mo's move just now had reached the state of having no spear in hand but a spear in heart. Admirable, admirable..."

But just as Old Man Mo was fighting the beast, the situation suddenly changed.

"Not good, it's a trap! This isn't a minor Heaven realm great perfection beast!" Old Man Mo, who had been fighting fiercely, was shocked by the beast's aura.

"Bang..."

Old Man Mo was sent flying by a claw from the beast, crashing toward the city wall.

"It's over... it's over." Having barely made it back to the wall, Old Man Mo coughed up blood, his face full of terror as he stared into the distance.

He had wanted to show off, but he hadn't expected the beast wasn't at the minor Heaven realm great perfection.

At this moment, an aura of despair enveloped the people of the Longyuan Imperial Dynasty.