Second Patriarch: Rise Of The Liu Clan

As the sound of horns spread throughout the village, Liu Zhu woke up from his uneasy sleep and stumbled out of bed. He hurriedly got dressed and grabbed his weapon, preparing for battle. As he did so he listened for another set of horns, but after the first set of horns ended the night returned to its relative silence. He let out a sigh of relief upon noticing this, and his preparations slowed ever so slightly. One set of horns indicated that a large wave of beasts had been spotted, two meant that the entire horde was imminent, and three meant that Wolfden Village was indefensible and called for an immediate retreat.

Within a couple of minutes Liu Zhu had reached the Eastern Wall of the village, which Feng Jun had designated as the meeting place for his squads ahead of time. It was hard to look around on the crowded wooden walls, but fortunately Liu Zhu was able to catch sight of Feng Jun and a couple of his squad members shortly after arriving. He met up with them and sat down, waiting for everyone to arrive. As he did so he stared out into the distance, which looked oddly calm given that there were supposed to be hundreds of vicious beasts charging towards them.

As Liu Zhu stared out into the distance, trying to make out shapes through the inky darkness, Feng Jun spoke, breaking his concentration. "It's a bit sudden, but someone I know arrived here yesterday. He needed to join a group and my other two squads are at 9 and 10 men, so I need you to add him to your squad. You lost a member anyways, right?" Liu Zhu quietly responded, running through how this would affect him in his head. The squad was working together much better than a week ago, but the balance was fragile and a new member could affect that. Still, he needed the numbers. Overall it should be a positive rather than a negative. Plus, he could view it as gaining a bit of Feng Jun's recognition. If he hadn't been viewed as competent over the last week, there's no way this would've been asked of him. The new member would've been moved somewhere else, whether they already had 10 members or 20.

Over the next five minutes Liu Zhu met up with his squad members, including the new one, and gathered with Feng Jun's other squads. Although not all of their hearts were calm, at this point they were ready for battle. They were simply waiting for the command from the village's army. There were more than a few battle maniacs who would have ignored what the villagers said and charged out early to gain merits, but the strength of the scattered cultivators and the village were about equal. Since the cultivators were just scattered grains of sand, while the army assembled from the nearby villages were a monolith, maintaining order wasn't a problem.

20 minutes after the horns sounded out, the first beasts could be seen from the village wall. They were approaching from the east and north, and numbered at least a thousand. This group was merely the first wave, and their numbers would only grow from this point onwards. At first they'd come in waves, but later on they'd flow out from the nearby mountains and forests continuously, taking down everything in their path.

As the beasts neared, coming into the sight of the less exceptional cultivators, a booming voice filled the walls. The source of it was a muscular, tattooed old man who was standing on top of a tower. Liu Zhu couldn't see through his cultivation at all, and it was likely that he was at Dantian Creation or even Acupoint Opening. "Comrades. Wolfden Village, Kinship Village, Tirhut Village, and several others among us have been thrown into crisis! This is a fight for survival, and if we fail, we'll simply be wiped off the map before Border City or some other major force cleans up the mess. In the process, your friends and family will die. The lands of our ancestors will be tramped over, and their spirits will be unable to rest in peace. We cannot let this happen! Charge out with your life on the line and help forge a legend that our people will never forget!"

The forces of the nearby villages loudly cheered after this announcement, and a few of the cultivators who came cheered along with them, caught up in the mood. As this was happening the familiar sound of a horn sounded out, and orders to charge were screamed by commanders throughout the wall. After a middle-aged man with a scar over his guy yelled to charge, Feng Jun gestured for everyone to move forward, and so Liu Zhu led his squad off of the wall. The three squads Feng Jun controlled began separating, taking positions around 100 meters from each other. The other two squads took the left and center, while Liu Zhu's squad took the right area where the beasts were less crowded. For the time being Feng Jun would sweep from side to side, clearing out any beasts that might put the squads in danger. These arrangements had been discussed beforehand, and once everyone was in place they began to move forward, putting themselves on the frontlines.

The mass of cultivators pushed forward until they had some space to move around, and then suddenly stopped. Many of them, especially those related to the villages, were eager to wipe out the beast horde. Still, pushing too far forward would spread themselves too thin and lead to them being caught up in it, trampled by the wave of vicious beasts. Time slowed moved forward as the sides grew closer, the dripped maws and sharp claws of the beasts coming into sight. Unlike normal animals they looked enraged, their eyes bloodshot and breath heavy. Liu Zhu was curious about what caused this, but didn't have time to mull over this as the two sides began to clash.

Liu Zhu led his squad forward, slashing out in all directions with his guandao and slaughtering vicious beasts left and right. The ones at the front weren't his match, and morale was high as his five group members covered him. Most of them struck out in concert, their teamwork having improved over the past week, but the new member was mostly isolated. He hadn't trained with the others so he couldn't strike out in time with them, and the pressure on his side ended up being a bit heavier as a result. After noticing this, Liu Zhu focused on their side, trying to lower the amount of beasts he had to face so that he had time to get adjusted. Hopefully by the time the main beast horde arrived they'd be ready to attack and retreat as a group.

As the fighting continued the beasts grew stronger, and the pressure on Liu Zhu's squad grew. Whereas they were easily able to slaughter the beasts they encountered before, at this point it was taking several rounds of combat for them to clear out their opponents. Luckily Feng Jun was protecting them from the bulk of the dangerous enemies, and the first wave wasn't terribly strong. Otherwise they'd be forced to fall back, forcing the defensive line closer to the village walls.

As the first battle drew to an end, the situation stabilized. The villages had levied many cultivators at Strength Rendering or Flesh Tempering to be archers, and their arrows began to rain down continuously, the archers arranged into several lines on the wall so that the barrage never stopped. They had very little training and couldn't aim well, but it didn't matter. The beasts were crowded together, and one arrow shot was one more injury. At the same time the front lines steadied, the tribesmen bracing their shields against the waves of beasts, holding them at bay. They steadied the formation, while the hired cultivators slaughtered the beasts, reducing the pressure on them further.

The first wave was completely wiped out within half an hour. Only scattered beasts came, and the stragglers were easily wiped out by a few squads on lookout. The rest of the cultivators cleaned up the battlefield, carrying the dead animals into the village. While the beast horde was dangerous, it also served as an opportunity. The vicious beasts were strong enough to threaten cultivators, which also meant that the animals were made up of comparably valuable materials. Pelts that could make armor, tendons used in bows, and other such rarities were scattered across the battlefield. Rich cultivators like Liu Zhu wouldn't pay much attention to it, but who was rich in the Northern Wastes? The vast majority of the cultivators there were working because they needed to, not because they wanted to. How else could they pay for resources to advance their cultivation? Even if they didn't use pills, there were plenty of other things that needed to be paid for. Techniques, cultivation manuals, expensive training equipment, they increased food consumption, and so on and so forth. Raising an able cultivation wasn't a cheap matter.

As both sources cleaned up the battlefield, everyone let out a collective sigh of relief. The first wave was over with, and it had severed as a valuable training opportunity. Everyone was prepared for the final battle, and the forces of the nearby villages knew how to fight. Still, as the confidence of the newbies was raised, a few people looked on with solemn expressions. A beast horde wasn't that easy to deal with.