PCJ – Chapter 772 The Great Battle Begins

“Attack! Don’t let them get close!” Wen Xiaoqun suddenly shouted.

All the anti-air cultivators of the Battle Hall immediately launched their ranged attacks. Countless attacks surged toward the dense flock of Iron-Feathered Griffins like a violent storm.

With the amplification of their spirit weapons, the Battle Hall’s cultivators could attack from outside the griffins’ own attack range. Although the Iron-Feathered Griffins were also mostly at the mid to late Qi-Refining to Spirit-Transformation stage, their offense was strong while their defense was weak. They were accustomed to staying high in the sky, outside of their opponents’ attack range, so defensive ability was never important to them.

But today, the situation was reversed—they were the ones being attacked.

The griffins were completely unprepared for this reversal. They didn’t slow down at all, still charging forward. The result was miserable. One after another, the Iron-Feathered Griffins fell from the sky like autumn leaves.

“Chirp—!”

A sharp cry sounded.

The flock of griffins suddenly retreated. In just one moment, half of them had already been shot down. If not for the fact that many among them had not yet entered the Battle Hall’s attack range, the entire flock might have been wiped out.

“Pity. They actually retreated. Otherwise we could’ve kept them all here,” Wen Xiaoqun said regretfully as he watched the griffins fly farther and farther away.

“Woohoo!”

The Battle Hall cultivators who had repelled the first wave of spirit beasts began to cheer loudly.

“Look! The main spirit beast army is coming! Prepare for battle!”

“Prepare for battle!!”

The commanding officers shouted loudly, signaling everyone to brace for the assault. At this time, another massive wave of flying spirit beasts approached overhead—their target was obvious: the Battle Hall’s ranged attackers. The flying spirit beasts were trying to draw fire and distract the defenses so that the ground army could reach the city walls.

“Ranged units, attention! First Ranged Attack Unit focuses on air defense! Second Ranged Attack Unit targets ground forces! The First Unit’s attack power is weaker but fires more rapidly; the Second Unit hits harder but fires slower. Exactly suited to different types of targets.

“Flying beasts generally have weak defense but come in large numbers—so the First Unit’s rapid-fire attacks are enough. Ground spirit beasts usually have stronger defenses—so we need the Second Unit’s heavy firepower to break them.”

The First Ranged Unit was commanded by Elder Li Wei. Seeing the flying beasts closing in, Li Wei shouted: “First Ranged Attack Unit, listen to my command! Do not fire yet! Wait until more than half of the flying beasts enter our range. This time we must make sure none escape alive!”

The Second Ranged Unit was commanded by Elder Zhao Qi. His orders were different: “Second Ranged Unit, listen! Once a ground beast enters range, focus on precise strikes—aim to kill in one shot! Also watch for beasts trying to destroy our barriers. Once they group up in the kill zone, unleash full bombardment! We must keep the enemy outside the defensive perimeter!”

The ground beasts had appeared earlier, but compared to flying beasts, their advance was slower. When the flying spirit beasts entered firing range, the ground beasts still had not yet reached the designated kill zone.

However, the Second Ranged Unit had already started sniping them. This unit was equipped with long-range Sniper Crossbows—high-grade spirit weapons with extremely long range and devastating power, though each shot targeted only one enemy.

Zhao Qi himself wielded a powerful Sniper Crossbow. He didn’t need to manually channel spiritual energy into it—his divine sense guided the weapon, and spirit stones powered the shot. The arrows themselves were refined spirit artifacts with tremendous penetrating power. Even a late-stage spirit-transformation beast would die instantly if its vital point were struck.

Zhao Qi’s current target was a Saber-toothed Tiger leader—at the late Qi-Refining to Spirit-Transformation stage, one of the stronger beasts in the horde.

Zhao Qi locked onto the beast with his divine sense and fired. The arrow shot forward like a streak of black lightning.

The Saber-toothed Tiger leader was no ordinary beast. It sensed danger and shifted aside, trying to hide behind its underlings. But the black lightning arrow suddenly curved mid-air and still struck toward its vital point—because Zhao Qi had attached a mark of divine sense onto it, allowing it to track the target even after changing direction.

ROAR—!!

The tiger let out a miserable scream as its massive body flew into the air, smashing several nearby beasts. The arrow had pierced from beneath its neck and into its heart.

The Saber-toothed Tiger struggled on the ground, blood spraying like a fountain, before going still. A late-stage beast had been killed instantly by a mid-stage cultivator. In the past, such a feat was unthinkable—Ning Yi could not help but feel jealous.

“Elder Zhao, that Sniper Crossbow of yours is really something. Lend it to me for a bit?” Ning Yi asked.

“Haha, sure, no problem. But Sect Master said these crossbows are only assigned to the Ranged Attack Unit. If you’re willing to join our Ranged Unit, I’ll immediately assign one to you.” Zhao Qi laughed.

“Borrow it, I said borrow it! Who asked you for a lecture? Forget it, I don’t care. You think only your ranged unit can fight from a distance? Brothers! Let Elder Zhao see—we of First Battle Squad are not just close-combat fighters!”

Ning Yi raised his spirit sword. With a Sword-Control Technique, his sword turned into a streak of light, flying toward the Blade-Horned Bull leader—also a late-stage beast.

The bull did not panic—instead, it retaliated, swinging its two razor-sharp horns toward the sword. Ning Yi’s sword avoided direct collision and darted around. The bull’s horns were powerful, and its defense was extremely tough—ordinary swords couldn’t harm it.

But Ning Yi’s sword flicked, and the sword tip stabbed into the bull’s nose. The nose was the weak point of Blade-Horned Bulls. The beast screamed and went berserk, thrashing wildly and smashing its own allies. One Saber-toothed Tiger nearby was impaled and killed instantly.

Although Ning Yi had not killed the bull, the chaos he caused was even more effective, causing disorder in the spirit beast ranks.

Retrieving his sword, Ning Yi grinned smugly: “Elder Zhao, does the long-range combat ability of our First Battle Squad meet your standards?”

“Impressive, impressive. You’re almost catching up to our ranged unit,” Zhao Qi replied casually, as he promptly sniped another beast leader dead.