Chapter 81

Not long after, everyone heard a loud roar from the left front, and Nunu immediately let out a soft cry.

"That's the cry of the river turtle! Young scholar, is it the voice of that demon turtle?" Chen Xibi turned to ask.

An Chengcai immediately replied, "Reporting to the general, it is the voice of that demon turtle, I remember it clearly."

"Prepare to slay the demon!"

The soldiers lit their torches, which had a limited burning time and were not used much for the journey, but were essential for fighting demons, as the night vision of the demon race was far superior to that of ordinary soldiers.

Fang Yun hurriedly took off the longbow on his back, drew an arrow, and placed it on the bow, pointing it at the ground, ready to shoot at any moment.

The atmosphere before the battle was incredibly oppressive.

Fang Yun observed his surroundings; the soldiers still had a cold demeanor, while the three classes of scholar students were much more nervous, breathing heavily, their chests rising and falling, as if they had encountered a strange bird demon.

Fang Yun's palms also began to sweat. The last time he killed a demon was just a minor test, slaying only demon soldiers and civilians, without even seeing a demon general. But this time, they were attacking a demon turtle with strength close to that of a demon commander, which was a hundred times more dangerous than the last time.

A cold wind blew, and everyone shivered involuntarily.

County Magistrate He wrote a poem on his board, composing an inspiring poem and a strengthening poem. Then, the licentiate Chen Xibi wrote "With You in the Same Robe," which, like Mr. Wang's, had a poetic soul and was even stronger, giving everyone a layer of transparent essence armor.

No one found it strange; Chen Xibi was over forty and had been fighting on the battlefield for a long time, so it was normal for him to have a couple of battle poems with poetic souls.

"Let's go!"

Everyone moved toward the place where the demon turtle roared.

Soon, they saw a group of patrolling demon civilians. Without the two licentiates wasting words, the military scholars drew their bows and shot, killing over a dozen demon civilians with one arrow each, extremely accurately.

Fang Yun nodded inwardly. Scholars had limited talent, and once their talent was exhausted, they couldn't just stand by; they could continue to fight with bows and arrows. The physical fitness of scholars far exceeded that of elite soldiers and young scholars, so it could be said that any scholar who had been a soldier was a good archer.

More than four hundred people continued to charge forward, and over a hundred demons suddenly attacked.

All the licentiates and candidates did not act, and after several rounds of arrows from the military archers, all the demons were killed. Under the effect of the licentiates' strengthening poems, the demon soldiers were no match.

Fang Yun once again recognized the power of battle poetry. The combined strength of the marching poems, inspiring poems, and strengthening poems made these unorganized demon soldiers and civilians mere live targets.

Fang Yun had read in books that most demons were only good at close combat, and demon savages only formed organized long-range attack units during large-scale battles, with power exceeding that of the human race's catapults.

The sounds from the front grew louder, and Fang Yun stopped analyzing the battle, instead remaining on full alert, following Mr. Wang's advice to prioritize survival.

Nunu suddenly jumped onto Fang Yun's board tray, pointed to the direction of the battle sounds, then rolled on the tray, straightened her body, and began to crawl like a snake, swaying without using her legs. If the situation weren't so urgent, Fang Yun would have laughed.

"Are you talking about the snake demon? What's wrong with it?" Fang Yun asked.

Nunu nodded, then widened her eyes and opened her mouth to bite down, making a threatening gesture toward Fang Yun.

"Are you saying the snake demon is very powerful?"

Nunu nodded, then pointed to Mr. Wang with her left paw, placed it in the air, and pointed to the place where the snake demon was fighting with her right paw, placing it higher than her left paw.

Fang Yun immediately understood and was surprised. "Is that snake demon a demon commander?"

Nunu nodded again, then suddenly fell down, clutching her chest with her paws, looking very painful.

"Is it an injured demon commander?"

Nunu nodded again.

"Which is more powerful, the snake demon or the turtle demon?"

Nunu placed her right paw, representing the snake demon, in the air, then placed her left paw below and above her right paw, and finally placed both paws on her head, making a gesture like a rabbit with big ears.

Fang Yun asked, "Are you saying that although the demon turtle is just a demon general, it has pseudo-dragon blood and is now more powerful than the injured demon commander?"

Nunu nodded.

At this moment, someone suddenly shouted, "That's the demon commander!"

Fang Yun hurriedly looked at the battlefield ahead. They were approaching the mountaintop, and within hundreds of meters, the trees had been broken, cleared by a powerful force, leaving a large open area. On the ground, broken trees and the bodies of many demons lay scattered.

Everyone saw a house-sized demon turtle leading four demon generals and hundreds of demon soldiers and civilians attacking a snake demon.

The snake demon was about fifty feet long, with a body as thick as two people could embrace, with red and black rings, and a blood-red fleshy crest on its head, looking extremely terrifying.

"Coronet Snake Demon! That's the demon commander with the defiled text of a Great Scholar!" someone couldn't help but say softly.

"Kill it! We must kill it!" a scholar angrily shouted; this demon snake had slaughtered two villages.

"It turns out the demon commander used demon magic to change its appearance. General, report to the state governor; we must not let the defiled text of a Great Scholar disappear from our sight."

Chen Xibi nodded. "Tear three official seals, and within an hour, the state governor will surely bring reinforcements. If anything happens to us, tear four and seek help from Sword Brow. However, a severely injured demon commander and a demon general turtle are not enough to injure us. Capture that snake demon and obtain the defiled text of a Great Scholar, and you will all be greatly rewarded! Everyone will be promoted!"

Chen Xibi's personal guard took out three official seals and tore them simultaneously, and the official seals immediately burned.

The demon snake and demon turtle suddenly stopped fighting, slowly retreating and looking at the human side.

An Chengcai suddenly walked behind a tree, as if hiding from something.

No one noticed him except Nunu.

Chen Xibi did not attack, as the longer the delay, the more advantageous it was for him.

The demon snake and demon turtle communicated in demon language for a moment, then suddenly led the demon soldiers and civilians to charge over.

The demon turtle was entirely dark green, with a shell that was not smooth but had small mountain-like protrusions. This demon turtle, though seemingly clumsy, moved faster than a human running at full speed.

A red demon wind formed around it, filled with a powerful pressure.

Its green eyes glowed with a strange light, as if they could evoke the deepest fears in humans, making anyone who saw them feel weak in the limbs.

Many people instinctively took a step back, and Fang Yun felt as if he was enveloped in a nightmare, his body powerless. Then his literary gallbladder moved, and he immediately returned to normal, while others were still trembling with fear.

"What a terrifying demon! An ordinary demon general would never intimidate me like this. This demon turtle must have a pseudo-dragon pearl, with strength approaching that of a demon commander," Fang Yun thought.

Chen Xibi shouted, invoking the power of his literary gallbladder. "Not good! They have joined forces! County Magistrate He, join me to block the turtle and snake. Everyone, quickly kill those demons, then assist us. Attack!"

Chen Xibi's voice woke everyone up, and Fang Yun, along with all the archers, began to shoot with all their might.

The demon turtle showed a contemptuous smile, opened its mouth, and took a deep breath. After three breaths, it suddenly roared.

"It's demon magic! Find trees for cover!"

As soon as the words were spoken, a terrifying wave fifty feet long, ten feet high, and five feet wide formed in front of the demon turtle and rushed over at an incredible speed.

"This power is no less than that of a demon commander's magic or a licentiate's battle poetry. Be careful!"

Chen Xibi finished speaking and, along with County Magistrate He, spat out a talent sword. The two swords instantly pierced through the wave and attacked the demon turtle.

The wave exploded, losing its magical power, but the water still rushed over, though it was no longer a significant threat.

The two talent swords simultaneously stabbed the demon turtle, but instead of retracting its head, the demon turtle suddenly moved forward, slapping Chen Xibi's talent sword with one claw and biting County Magistrate He's talent sword with its head.

There was a crack, and County Magistrate He's talent sword was shattered by the demon turtle, exploding into a cloud of white mist, while Chen Xibi's talent sword was knocked away.

Chen Xibi's talent sword showed a crack, and the demon turtle's claw had a large wound, but it healed in the blink of an eye.

Many people who saw this drew a sharp breath.

"An ordinary demon commander would never reach this level, nor would a demon commander turtle. This demon turtle must have extraordinary blood, and its pseudo-dragon pearl is probably stronger than we imagined. No wonder it dared to attack the snake demon commander!" Li Yunchong exclaimed.

The talent sword was connected to the user's talent, and County Magistrate He's body shook, and blood flowed from his nose.

Chen Xibi made a quick decision and shouted, "This demon turtle not only has a pseudo-dragon pearl but is about to become a demon commander. If we fight, there will be heavy casualties. Tear four official seals and seek help from Li Daren! All scholars, retreat three feet immediately! All candidates, be careful."

The demon turtle suddenly grinned, speaking in imperfect human language. "We knew Li Wenying was stationed in Yuhai City, and it would take at least two hours to get here. Otherwise, I wouldn't dare to leave the Yangtze River. In less than two hours, in one hour, I can kill all of you! I'm just a demon general, and according to tradition, even if I kill all of you, Li Wenying won't come to the Yangtze River to find us!"

Chen Xibi sneered. "I have two licentiate literary treasures, so you can't kill me. Besides, tradition? When has Li Daren ever followed tradition? Hand over the defiled text of the Great Scholar, and we'll leave immediately."

The demon turtle angrily said, "The defiled text of the Great Scholar belongs to my Dragon Palace. Why should I give it to you?"

"Because the original text was written by a Great Scholar of our human race, it should belong to us," Chen Xibi said.

"I don't want to offend Li Wenying, but I must have the defiled text of the Great Scholar! With this merit, I can go to the Dragon Ascension Platform! I can't kill you two licentiates, but what about the candidates? What about the scholars? I can exchange their lives for the defiled text of the Great Scholar, you..."

Suddenly, the snake demon opened its mouth and bit the demon turtle's hind leg, its fangs piercing the leg and injecting a large amount of venom into the demon turtle's body.

In an instant, the snake demon suddenly sprang up from the ground and glided away.

"Bad! The defiled text of the Great Scholar is in the snake demon's possession!" County Magistrate He shouted.

"You go intercept the snake demon. I'll block it here. We must not let the snake demon escape with the defiled text of the Great Scholar!"

County Magistrate He, who had a poem for swift movement, immediately circled around the demon turtle and chased after the snake demon.

"Let's kill the snake demon first..."

"Roar..." The demon turtle suddenly roared, its originally green eyes turning blood red, and blood and poison flowed from all over its body. Any demon civilian or soldier that touched the poison mist died immediately.

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