Heavenly River City, a vast river that thrusts deep into half of the Heavenly River Continent.
The river's waters roared mightily, with a tremendous force visible far away, occasionally splashing up white foam—this was the renowned Tongtian River within the borders of Zhao Kingdom.
The Tongtian River originated from the entire Demon Beast Mountains, which had even more demonic beasts and was far more terrifying than the Qingyun Mountain Range.
Therefore, the source of the Tongtian River was untraceable, but its destination was known: it cut across Zhao Kingdom, Chu Country, and flowed directly into the sea.
And it was also the Tongtian River that delineated the borders between Heavenly River State of Zhao Kingdom and Chu Country.
To the west of the river, Heavenly River City loomed like a wild behemoth, occupying the strategic Heavenly River fortress, while the east was dominated by the territories of demon cultivators and demonic sects.
As the demonic sect's army pressed on, it was the Tongtian River they were pressuring, attacking Heavenly River City. If Heavenly River City fell, the entire Heavenly River State would have no strongholds left.
At this moment, on the Tongtian River, many cultivators stood upon the city walls, gazing out over the river, their eyes filled with gloom and worry. The only comfort was the beast ring at the city's highest peak.
That was the magical treasure of the Golden Core ancestor of the Spirit Beast Sect, Heavenly Beast True Person—the Beast Taming Ring.
In a corner of the city wall, cultivators of the Lin Family gathered together.
Lin Xianzhi sat at the forefront; his face still bore the countenance of a young man, but his white hair began to split at the ends, dry and whitened, and his eyes revealed his advanced age.
Next to him, Lin Houyuan was also silent; the family had lost too many people in this national war.
However, what troubled them the most was the disappearance of Lin Shiming.
They were even beginning to regret letting Shiming come here; with his talent, he could've stayed in the family to quietly cultivate for a hundred years and surely reach the Purple Mansion.
Lin Xianzhi remembered the Minor Divine Ability Tree, the Fourth Rank Spiritual Vein, the Heavenly Spirit Fruit Tree, but at this moment, all of this seemed insignificant.
"Houyuan, Uncle Qi, Shiming will surely be alright. This old man here hasn't died yet; how could he possibly!" Lin Yuqing spoke up first from the side.
At this moment, there were only a handful of Qi Cultivators left in the Lin Family, and they all nodded in agreement.
The Spirit Pythons and demon heads went back and forth, both sides fighting fiercely and with rage. Both sides flung themselves into the high skies and directly began a Purple Mansion decisive battle.
Almost at the same time as the two entered the high skies, several Purple Mansion Cultivators appeared in the sky and began to engage in fierce combat with the Heavenly Demon Sect Cultivators.
Meanwhile, the Foundation Establishment Perfection Cultivators of the Spirit Beast Sect instantly took over command below.
This kind of great battle had been experienced countless times; every cultivator present was adept and familiar with the drill, and none of those who had survived were mediocre.
The Lin Family kept to a position neither at the front nor too far behind, with Lin Xianzhi leading the charge. His sword light flashed forth, and before even slaying a single Foundation Establishment Demon Cultivator, he saw that from the Heavenly Demon Sect's side, a Direct Disciple had emerged, locking his gaze onto Lin Xianzhi.
"Houyuan, take care of the Qi Cultivators of our family!" Lin Xianzhi instructed Lin Houyuan with a shout and then rushed forward.
Lin Houyuan nodded. In this battlefield, the Purple Mansion was where the mightiest clashed in the high skies, a thousand meters above, while Foundation Establishment was the main fray, taking place a hundred meters in the air.
And the Qi Refining Cultivators were basically fighting on formations at ground level, mostly casting spells from a distance, with even the Body Cultivators generally choosing long-range spellcasting and not entering the Demon Cultivator formation.
But don't think for a moment that the Cultivators from the Heavenly Demon Sect and Corpse Refining Sect would really pair off evenly—whenever they spotted good material for corpse refining or essence soul material, the Purple Mansion Cultivators from both sects would sometimes attack Qi Cultivators.
This was also why Lin Xianzhi had told Lin Houyuan to look after the Lin Family's Qi Cultivators.
For the Cultivators of the Heavenly Demon Sect and the Corpse Refining Sect, such occurrences were as common as daily meals, and it was one of the reasons why the Lin Family suffered heavy losses.
Even Lei Xuan at this moment had been instructed by Lin Houyuan not to reveal his lightning attribute Spirit Root.
The Qi Cultivators of the Lin Family were also well prepared in a standard manner.
Instead, it was Lin Houyuan who attracted the attention of a Foundation Establishment Middle Stage Cultivator—an individual of the Heavenly Demon Sect, holding a Heavenly Demon Banner that was a common essential for almost every one of their Cultivators. However, his banner was clearly a Third Rank Magical Treasure.
He had also just recently broken through to the Middle Stage of Foundation Establishment.
"Esteemed Zhao Kingdom Cultivator, my demon banner has just been completed. Within it lies the path to immortality; would you consider it?" The Demon Cultivator said with a strange laugh, then waved his banner. Instantly, three Third Rank Early Stage demon heads surged out from within it and charged towards Lin Houyuan.
Lin Houyuan's face grew solemn as he drew several Third Rank Intermediate Grade Flying Swords, but as only a Foundation Establishment Early Stage cultivator, he found even the Demon Cultivator alone tough to handle, not to mention dealing with the three Foundation Establishment demon heads that were proving to be extremely troublesome.