After waiting for nearly half an hour more.
A piercing bird cry came from the southern sky, and a huge black eagle flew over.
"Old Black, you're too slow! You made me and Daoist Zhang wait so long!" Old Man Fire Spirit shouted when he saw the black eagle.
"My apologies for the wait." A hearty laugh came from the black eagle. A skinny old man in colorful clothes, looking like a beggar, sat on the head of the huge black eagle.
But his cultivation was extraordinary. This was Black Eagle Celestial of the Beast Taming Sect.
The black eagle circled in the sky, not landing. "Fellow Daoist Zhang, Old Man Fire, please come up. With my black eagle leading the way, we can save some spiritual power."
"Hehe, you even brought this mutated Black Wind Eagle. With this spirit beast, we won't be delayed much." Old Man Fire Spirit chuckled, turned into a streak of fire, and rushed into the sky, landing on the black eagle's back.
Zhang Ling, wrapped in yellow light, also landed on it.
With a long cry, the black eagle flapped its wings and flew directly towards the west. Its speed was extremely fast, covering hundreds of feet in the blink of an eye, not inferior to the escape light of a Core Formation Initial Stage cultivator.
Zhang Ling curiously examined the black eagle. Its wings spanned nearly thirty feet, and its black feathers shone in the sunlight. It was surrounded by wind spirit energy, a wind-attribute avian demon.
He thought to himself, the Beast Taming Sect indeed has some impressive things.
"Fellow Daoists, what do you think of this mission we've been assigned?" As the giant eagle flew, Black Eagle Celestial asked without hesitation.
"What can we think?" Old Man Fire Spirit scratched his head and chuckled bitterly. "We can't disobey the order. We are all cultivators with sects. Even if we don't want to fight, if the alien demons break through the Twelve Immortal Cities, our territory will also suffer."
"Hehe, Old Man Fire, I didn't expect you to be so righteous." Black Eagle Celestial chuckled mockingly.
Old Man Fire Spirit didn't seem to mind and continued, "Our sects are connected. Although we are only a small force, I wonder if we will be sent to Black Wind City.
I heard the situation in Black Wind City is terrible. It's best not to act alone when we get there. If we encounter a strong enemy, the three of us can join forces and protect ourselves." He looked at Zhang Ling and the other.
"That's natural." Black Eagle Celestial nodded, his smile disappearing.
Zhang Ling also responded, "I haven't been to Black Wind City yet and know very little about the situation there. It would be best to act together."
Old Man Fire Spirit laughed heartily. "I stayed in Black Wind City for a while and know a thing or two about it."
"Black Wind City isn't as big as our Yanhsia City. It ranks behind Yanhsia City among the Twelve Immortal Cities. The city is controlled by the Demon Cloud Sect. Although the Demon Cloud Sect is a demonic sect, it has four Nascent Soul elders, which allows it to control the city alone…"
Old Man Fire Cloud was quite talkative, introducing many details about Black Wind City.
They traveled quickly!
Two days later, they finally entered the Eastern Yu Kingdom and approached the Continuous Cloud Mountains where Black Wind City was located.
The three of them did not immediately enter Black Wind City because they discovered that the area within a thousand miles of Black Wind City was swarming with alien demons.
These guys moved in groups of three or two, or teams of more than ten. Of course, there were also many human cultivators, also in small teams, hunting each other.
Many small battle groups were formed.
The three of them could easily deal with low-level alien demons.
But after all, Black Wind City had just been besieged by seven Nascent Soul elders. They had to be careful and did not pay attention to these small battle groups to avoid alerting higher-level alien demon cultivators.
They had anticipated this situation.
They traveled secretly for a distance and arrived at a small mountain a few hundred miles outside Black Wind City.
The three of them landed in a dense forest in the mountain. Old Man Fire Cloud took out a red jade talisman and crushed it with a bang.
Zhang Ling and the other were not surprised. They each had several such jade talismans.
This was a special communication talisman, issued by Sky Curtain City on the day they received the demon extermination order, specifically for the Nascent Soul cultivators who responded to the call.
This communication talisman had been specially refined. They even dripped a drop of their essence blood on it on the day it was issued. Only the owner could use it.
Even if the alien demon Nascent Soul elders obtained these communication talismans, they could not use them.
After waiting for the time it takes to brew a cup of tea, the three of them sensed a Nascent Soul cultivator's aura suddenly appearing in the mountain.
The three of them exchanged glances and took out their magical treasures to guard against enemies.
Then they heard a voice transmission entering their ears. "Are you Fellow Daoist Fire, Fellow Daoist Black Eagle, and Fellow Daoist Zhang?"
With the voice transmission, the Nascent Soul cultivator's aura stopped not far from the three of them. Next to a large tree, where it had been empty, a layer of cyan spiritual light rose, and a middle-aged man suddenly appeared.
Zhang Ling glanced over and saw the middle-aged man's face clearly. The middle-aged man had a sallow complexion, thick eyebrows, and large eyes, with a smiling face. He was wearing a long shirt and looked like a Confucian scholar. A faint layer of black evil spiritual light surrounded him, indicating that he cultivated an obvious demonic art.
"Oh, it's Fellow Daoist Xue. I didn't expect you to be the one receiving us." Old Man Fire Cloud seemed to recognize the middle-aged man and immediately walked over.
"Hehe, it's indeed Brother Fire. The three of you have kept us waiting. This is not a place to talk. Follow me. I'll lead you into Black Wind City." The middle-aged man also sized up the three of them and said with a smile.
The man's surname was Xue. Zhang Ling thought for a moment and remembered that this person seemed to be the Second Elder of the Demon Cloud Sect, whose real name was Xue Hao.
The three of them followed the man, flying low, and entered a stone wall not far away. There was a hidden small teleportation array in the mountain belly.
The group passed through the teleportation array and were directly teleported into Black Wind City.
…
Inside Black Wind City, the corresponding teleportation array was also hidden in a small teahouse on a street corner. The group came out of the secret room where the teleportation array was located and walked directly into the backyard of the teahouse.
At this time, two Nascent Soul cultivators, one tall and one short, were waiting in the backyard.
As soon as they saw the group arrive, the tall, gray-haired old man smiled and sized up the three of them. "Welcome, three fellow Daoists, to support our city. Fellow Daoist Fire, it's been a long time. This must be Fellow Daoist Black Eagle of the Beast Taming Sect. But this young fellow Daoist is quite unfamiliar."
The man spoke politely, and his cultivation was the highest present, a Nascent Soul Middle Stage cultivator. He stared at Zhang Ling as if trying to identify him.
"Hehe, it's no wonder Brother Zhao doesn't recognize Fellow Daoist Zhang. Fellow Daoist Zhang is the newly promoted Elder of the Hao Yuan Sect, and his cultivation is extremely extraordinary." Old Man Fire Cloud introduced with a smile.
"So it's a fellow Daoist from the Hao Yuan Sect." The tall old man looked Zhang Ling up and down and remembered that he seemed to have heard that the Hao Yuan Sect had recently recruited a Zhang a few years ago.
Their Demon Cloud Sect had some understanding of the cultivators in the nearby countries. Such information was naturally collected.
However, he heard that he was a young man who had just formed his Nascent Soul, but the youth in front of him seemed to have reached the peak of the Nascent Soul Initial Stage.
But since his identity was correct, there was nothing to worry about. Higher strength would be beneficial to Black Wind City now.
"Zhang's cultivation is not worth mentioning and is far inferior to Fellow Daoist Zhao." Zhang Ling cupped his fist and said casually.
The identity of this Nascent Soul Middle Stage old man was self-evident. He was the person in charge of the Demon Cloud Sect, and Black Wind City, City Lord Zhao, Zhao Guangming.
After chatting for a few words, everyone had a mutual understanding. The other middle-aged cultivator, shorter by a head, was an elder sent over by Sky Curtain City, surnamed Sun.
Zhao Guangming led the group to a hall in the backyard and spoke solemnly about the current situation in Black Wind City.
"The three fellow Daoists have come at the right time. The alien demon army is stationed a hundred miles west of the city. Although they did not break through Black Wind City three days ago, our situation is very bad. The many small array nodes outside the city have been completely removed by these guys. They seem to intend to directly break through my Black Wind City…"
The Black Wind City Demon Cloud Sect had four Nascent Soul cultivators stationed there, and this Zhao Guangming was also a Nascent Soul Middle Stage cultivator. In addition, before the war, Black Wind City had been dispatched two other Nascent Soul elders to reinforce it.
In total, there were six Nascent Soul elders fighting. It should have been no problem to defend Black Wind City in theory.
Most of the other immortal cities had this configuration.
Of course, in the main city where Sky Curtain City was located, it was said that more than thirty Nascent Soul elders had gathered for battle.
But the alien demon's attack was not just about attacking cities and seizing territory.
Therefore, many cultivators on both sides were fighting guerrilla warfare.
After all, the human race also had to guard the small array nodes distributed on the Continuous Cloud Mountains in addition to the immortal cities. Therefore, many high-level cultivators were acting alone to guard those small array nodes.
Three days ago, Black Wind City heard that several small array nodes had been broken, and several other array nodes were being besieged by a large number of alien demon cultivators and were in imminent danger.
The small array nodes were also related to the large array. Once they were all removed, the defense of Black Wind City would be greatly weakened.
Black Wind City mobilized the two Nascent Soul cultivators stationed there to take action. Originally, the Nascent Soul cultivators' action should have quickly resolved the crisis.
Unexpectedly, they fell into an ambush. As soon as the two Nascent Soul cultivators left,
A large number of alien demon troops appeared under Black Wind City, and five Nascent Soul elders of alien demons appeared in a row, launching a fierce attack.
Black Wind City defended desperately. Although relying on the large array in the city, it was not broken through, but it also suffered heavy casualties.
Several Nascent Soul elders fought fiercely in front of the city. Originally, the situation was deadlocked, and there were many low-level cultivators in the city, which still had a certain advantage.
But suddenly, two hidden alien demon Nascent Soul elders appeared and joined the battle. Suddenly, there were seven Nascent Soul enemies.
Because two Nascent Soul cultivators were dispatched, Black Wind City only had four elders left.
Suddenly attacked, the Demon Cloud Sect's Fourth Elder, surnamed Zhang, was ambushed and fell, and even his Nascent Soul did not escape, and died on the spot.
Even Zhao Guangming, who had Nascent Soul Middle Stage cultivation, was injured. If it weren't for relying on the large array and retreating back to the city to defend it,
This city would have been broken through.
As for the two Nascent Soul cultivators who were sent out, one was the Demon Cloud Sect's Third Elder, surnamed Wang, and the other was a Nascent Soul cultivator sent by the nearby Small Rain Kingdom to reinforce them.
But by this time, nearly three days had passed, and neither of them had returned. They had lost contact and were probably in danger.
Fortunately, the Demon Cloud Sect had Elder Wang's life tablet, knowing that the Third Elder had not fallen.
The two of them did not return to Black Wind City, possibly because they were injured and hidden, or were chased by the enemy to another place and could not return for a while.
This kind of situation was very common at this time.
At this time, including Zhang Ling and the other three, Black Wind City now only had six Nascent Soul cultivators. Outside the city, there were still seven Nascent Soul elders in the alien demon army.
Fortunately, the alien demons also suffered a lot in the battle a few days ago. Because the Demon Cloud Sect's Elder Zhang desperately counterattacked before falling, he also seriously injured two of the Nascent Soul cultivators.
This was a major reason why the alien demons retreated three days ago.
As for why they did not activate the teleportation array and directly transfer a large number of Nascent Soul cultivators from the main city, Sky Curtain City, to guard it.
Because the teleportation array had been closed, unless the alien demons were repelled, the teleportation array between the immortal cities would not be temporarily opened.
This involved some special circumstances.
The alien demons had launched wars many times. In the past, alien demons had broken several cities in one day.
They relied on breaking through one city, using the teleportation array between the immortal cities to attack other immortal cities, and destroying the core array of the Continuous Cloud Mountains, causing significant losses.
Therefore, in this case, the teleportation array between the immortal cities was closed to prevent this from happening again.
Of course, the situation where the three of them entered the city through the hidden small teleportation array outside the city was not included.
Because the small teleportation array had many restrictions, and the teleportation distance between each other was mostly within a thousand miles.
Unlike the teleportation array in the teleportation hall set up between the Twelve Immortal Cities, which was a long-distance teleportation array, it could cross tens of thousands of miles in an instant.
Understanding these situations, Zhao Guangming also specially took Zhang Ling and the other three to inspect the city and introduced the core areas of the city.
Black Wind City was built on a flat mountain in the Continuous Cloud Mountains. The area it occupied was not large, less than a hundred miles. It did not look as magnificent as Yanhsia City.
Let alone Sky Curtain City.
However, the entire Black Wind City was a stone city built entirely of black-cyan giant rocks. The city alone was thirty to forty feet high.
In addition to the mountain height, it was two hundred feet above the ground. It was divided into inner and outer cities.
In the City Lord's Mansion, a towering black pillar of light pierced the sky, forming a black cloud in the sky, covering most of Black Wind City.
The inner city was very stable, with teams of black-armored guards stationed everywhere. These cultivators were mostly disciples of the Demon Cloud Sect.
When the group inspected the outer city, the scene was very different.
As soon as Zhang Ling arrived at the outer city, he saw that many parts of the outer city were broken. Many low-level cultivators were sitting or lying on the streets, resting.
There were even many mortals shuttling among them.
These were mostly disciples of sects in nearby countries, as well as loose cultivators dispatched from the immortal city. It looked quite chaotic and messy.
This was actually considered good.
Loose cultivators and disciples of various families were somewhat at odds, and the cultivation techniques of cultivators were also very different. Some cultivators were also extremely eccentric. It was quite disciplined to arrange these people into teams.
Of course, the high-level cultivators in the city were much better and were assigned independent residences.
These people were defending the city with such difficulty, naturally, to earn Immortal City merits, using them to exchange for cultivation resources, hoping to reach even higher cultivation levels.
