"Roar…"

At the bottom of the city walls, numerous ferocious beasts appeared again. They swarmed in from all directions like tides, causing the enormous prefecture to be fully surrounded.

On top of the main gate, Li Xinfan and the others looked ghastly when they saw the endless beast herd below. Their minds were unusually weighed down.

"Where exactly did the beast herd come from?" Wu Haohan furrowed his eyebrows and asked, "You went through this once, so did you not learn your lesson?"

Wu Haohan was only a martial artist at the peak of Yang Grade but had a special identity. Not only was he a disciple from the imperial family, but most importantly, he was also Her Royal Highness' head guard. To him, the princess's safety was his priority. Therefore, when the bosses from Changlong County's prefecture let the beasts surround the city twice but still could not find the reason behind them, he felt that they were doing an indecent job and were disregarding Her Royal Highness's safety.

Deng Xiyuan's lips trembled as he could not justify the situation, so he turned to look at Li Xinfan.

"General Wu, I've already sent many mounted scouts to search around the city, so we have ears and eyes within 50 kilometers from here, but…" Li Xinfan forced a smile and shook his head, "The beast herd came without casting a shadow and left without a trace. By the time we noticed them, they've already gathered as a huge group, and we can't even deliver messages anymore."

Wu Haohan asked after a moment of hesitation, "General Li, what do you plan to do now/"

Li Xinfan immediately answered, "I'll defend the prefecture until the very end. I'll live if the city survives, and I'll die if the city's destroyed!"

He spoke firmly and with a fearless spirit, exciting the guts of many soldiers around him.

"We'll live if the city survives, and we'll die if the city's destroyed!"

As though they had practiced this hundreds and thousands of times, the soldiers shouted in unison.

Wu Haohan and many powerhouses from the capital looked at each other as they felt something.

The soldiers were not yelling the slogan for fun, it was a belief that had been engraved in their hearts for a long time.

Nonetheless, they shuddered with fear when they thought about what would happen if the city was wrecked.

"Hehe, General Li, you don't need to do this." Elder Universe laughed out loud and stroked his beard. "We were worried before Lil' Friend Ou came, but now… So what if the spirit beast comes? We'll attack it together with our magic tools and make sure it's slaughtered!"

Everyone else including He Liangce, who was standing behind, agreed to it.

The integration of the lost arts, which involved sacrifices, from the He family and the Ni family could unleash a strength capable of killing the spirit beast.

Nevertheless, as proud as He Liangce and the Ni family's great ancestors were, they never thought the resulting power could surmount the Supreme Great Ancestors armed with magic tools and magic armors.

In a way, the assembled power in Changlong County's prefecture was the greatest in history. If the beast tide could not be stopped with this, even Wu Yuanwei—the Humans' number one powerhouse—would not be able to turn the tide.

Despite that, Li Xinfan did not relax at all; he looked grimmer than before.

Wu Haohan asked in a deep voice, "General Li, why are you still frowning?"

Li Xinfan shook his head and asked, "Senior Universe, you're the only one among us who has experienced the previous disaster. May I ask how that disaster's scale was as compared to this time?"

Elder Universe replied with a straight face, "General Li, regardless of the scale, can we back away?"

"Thank you, senior, I learned something new," Li Xinfan responded after a moment of silence.

He turned around and said to Ou Yangming, "Master Ou, as the commander this time, I'll be coordinating everything and giving orders. Are you willing to obey me?"

Li Xinfan would not have asked so politely if he was speaking to other people, even if they were Supreme Great Ancestors from the capital. After all, since the great ancestors decided to come to the prefecture, they were bound to obey the commander's orders regardless of their statuses, and whoever violated those orders would not be spared.

Having said that, Ou Yangming's status was special. As bold as Li Xinfan was, he would not overstep the boundary.

Ou Yangming bowed and responded seriously, "General Li, rest assured that I won't hesitate at all wherever your military flag is—even if it's in a dragon's lair or a tiger's den!"

The faces of the other people changed as they cast unfriendly looks at Li Xinfan. In particular, the Supreme Great Ancestors from the capital exchanged glances and secretly decided that they would protect Ou Yangming no matter what.

Li Xinfan smiled as he was relieved. He reached out his hand and uttered, "A gentleman."

"Never goes back on his word." Ou Yangming reached out his hand too to high-five the general.

"Great! I'll give my first order now," Li Xinfan announced loudly with bright eyes, "Master Ou, no matter how intense the battle is against the beast herd, you mustn't get involved at all. If the prefecture falls, please protect Her Royal Highness and escape."

Ou Yangming was stupefied, and he looked at Li Xinfan in disbelief.

He could not imagine the experienced elder would give such an extreme and strange order.

However, it was then that he heard sighs of relief from the people around him.

"General Li, I totally agree with you!"

"I admire you for taking the big picture into consideration, General Li!"

"You have a well-deserved reputation, General Li. No wonder His Majesty assigned you to such an important position…"

The praises were ear-piercing to Ou Yangming.

Just as he was about to object to the order, Li Xinfan spoke again in a deep voice, "Master Ou, I know you're eager to fight and aren't willing to hide at the back, but let me ask you a question—how many ferocious beasts can you kill if you fight alone?"

"Plenty," Ou Yangming answered honestly after some thought.

Li Xinfan could not help but laugh. "What if you smith more magic tools for the powerhouses on the battlefield and manage to save their lives through those tools? How many ferocious beasts can they kill?"

Ou Yangming's eyelids twitched. He wanted to defend himself but only to find that he was lost for words.

What he smithed were not ordinary pieces of equipment, but magic tools.

The young fellow knew better than anyone else how mighty magic tools were. What more, he had smithed magic tools with skills.

Perhaps a magic tool could only allow a person to kill freely or could save a person's life during a crucial moment, but what if there were a hundred of them, would the quantitative change resulted in a qualitative change?

Ou Yangming was struck with a thought when he looked at the people around him.

He seemed to have become an important figure who must be protected.

While he did not want this to happen at all, even the Ni family's Three Great Ancestors agreed with the general's order.

Seeing as Ou Yangming looked troubled, Li Xinfan asked with a straight face, "Master Ou, this is my first order. If you don't obey it, how am I going to lead the army?"

Ou Yangming was taken aback. He had experienced life in the military camp, though he was only a helper, throughout several years, thus he knew military orders must be obeyed and executed without fail. Once an order was given, it must be carried out regardless of the excuses.

If everyone acted as they wished and regarded military orders as child's play, the military would not need to resist the beast herd at all; they could simply surrender and be killed.

The young fellow inhaled deeply and took half a step back, then he cupped his hands and bowed. "Yes, I'll accept your order."

Whether Li Xinfan was doing this to protect Ou Yangming or to take the opportunity to build his reputation, the young fellow could not refute the general.

"Alright, since you agreed to this, I hope you'll keep your promise." Li Xinfan beamed.

"You have my word, general." Ou Yangming nodded.

Li Xinfan sighed a breath of relief, then he began to give orders to the other people.

With Ou Yangming as an example, the other people including the Supreme Great Ancestors from the prefecture and the capital executed the general's orders without negotiating at all.

They did not want to seem stubborn and arrogant in front of Ou Yangming.

It was evident that Li Xinfan was well-prepared for the war, hence he carried out his job systematically. Ou Yangming was not familiar with the organization of the city's defense, but he was in awe of the general when he listened to the orders given.

He sighed and thought, 'Everyone has their shortcomings and merits. It's best to leave professional work to the experts.'

Once Li Xinfan was done, he turned to look at Ou Yangming again.

Ou Yangming felt his scalp tingle, and he smiled embarrassedly, "General Li, you're…"

Li Xinfan questioned sternly, "Master Ou, why haven't you gone back?"

"Go back?" Ou Yangming asked in shock, "Where should I go back to?"

"To the Ni residence, of course. I don't want you to stay here," Li Xinfan noted without any hesitation.

"General Li, do you think I can't smith magic tools here?" Ou Yangming quickly came up with an idea, and he grinned mysteriously. "I'm actually staying here to feel the killing intentions from the battlefield because I'm going to smith a unique divine weapon."

Li Xinfan was startled. He did not buy it, but he could not disprove the young fellow.

Ou Yangming was certainly the best in smithing art in the world at the moment. As such, nobody could expose him even if they knew he was lying.

The general and the young fellow stared at each other for a long time before the formed sighed and stated, "Fine. If that's that case, you can stay here. You mustn't leave the city at all."

"Yes, sir." Ou Yangming nodded.

Cold lights were seen in his eyes. While Li Xinfan and the others were preparing to go against the beast herd around the prefecture, he was anticipating a peculiar battle involving mental powers.