With Mount Ziyang as the center, the counties were spread out in an area of 3,000 miles, with a population of more than two million. Among these two million, more than one million people belonged to the Lu clan.
After 1,000 years of reproduction, the descendants of the Lu clan had grown to as many as one million. Due to the chaos of Demon Beasts, evil cultivators, or natural disasters, there was a great loss of population. Otherwise, the population of the Lu clan would be even greater.
As for the remaining millions of people, they were mainly foreign people. They relied on the protection of the Lu clan to survive in the world.
It was difficult for mortals to survive. If they did not have the protection of cultivators, they might be reduced to the food of Demon Beasts or be sacrificed by demonic cultivators.
Those villages and towns that did not have the protection of cultivators would be destroyed in less than ten days.
The towns would be guarded by early-stage Qi Refinement cultivators, while the county towns were guarded by late-stage Qi Refinement cultivators. A county would definitely be guarded by a Zifu disciple.
Without the existence of powerful cultivators, it would be impossible to protect those mortals.
Cultivators were also willing to protect those mortals. It was not that cultivators were kind-hearted, but that mortals were the foundation of cultivators. The more mortals there were, the more cultivators would be born.
...
The flying boat was flying at a fast speed, reaching a speed of 100 meters per second. At a height of 300 meters, it was flying rapidly toward a nearby village.
The village was located in the middle of the mountains, in a small river valley.
The village was built on a small hill.
In the river valley, there were patches of farmland. The crops were green and lush. There were also some farmers walking among them, using hoes to remove weeds.
At the entrance of the village, a group of children was playing. The mountain village appeared quiet and peaceful.
When they arrived, the entire village was shocked.
Lu Xuanji walked into the village, found the village chief, and greeted the villagers.
In less than two hours, more than 500 villagers boarded the flying boat. Some were unwilling to leave their homes.
However, under the orders of the 'Immortal Leaders', they had no choice but to board the flying boat.
The flying boat moved forward. After about three hours, when it reached the foot of Mount Ziyang, the villagers came down one after another.
Some cultivators of the Lu clan came forward and began to guide the villagers.
Lu Xuanji took the flying boat and left again. He went to another village to fetch more people.
In just one day, he went back and forth five or six times, transporting about 3,000 people.
Back and forth, countless airships landed near Mount Ziyang, transporting ordinary people. Over time, people gradually gathered near Mount Ziyang, and the population grew larger and larger. With the Lu clan's cultivators guiding and maintaining order, there was no big mess.
Whoosh! Whoosh!
As the airships moved forward, Lu Xuanji stopped in front of a village and began to greet the people. More people boarded the airships.
The flying boat set off towards the Lu clan.
The flying boat was actually extremely simple and crude. A regular flying boat had a defensive formation, an offensive formation, and an extremely fast speed. It had a terrifying defensive power and could be said to be a weapon of war.
However, the flying boat that Lu Xuanji used to transport the people was an extremely simple flying boat.
The defensive power of such a flying boat was weak. It could be split open by a flying sword and was an easy target in the air. Its flying speed was also slow. It was only 100 meters per second. Even a Foundation Establishment cultivator riding a flying sword could fly faster than this boat. As for its offensive weapons, there were almost none. To cultivators, they were practically useless.
However, such an airboat was cheap. A single one was only ten spirit stones, but it could transport a large number of civilians.
Just like that, the task of transporting civilians ended in about a month's time.
About 2.5 million people gathered in an area of less than ten square kilometers near Mount Ziyang. It was too crowded, but under the arrangement of the Lu clan cultivators, they were distributed in an orderly manner.
Standing at the entrance of the cave abode, Lu Xuanji felt his heart go numb as he looked at the densely packed Mount Ziyang.
...
In the meeting hall of the Lu clan.
23 Foundation Establishment cultivators were sitting on chairs, with Lu Fuming sitting in the center.
The Patriarch of the Zifu clan said, "The Dan Yang Sect has issued a summoning order, and the Beast Tide is about to arrive. A passive defense approach will only lead to the loss of defense everywhere. It's best to take the initiative to attack and stop the high-level Dmon Beasts at Iron Ridge Pass. According to the old rules, the clan will send half of its cultivators, which are 12 Foundation Establishment cultivators. I myself will go to the front line."
"As for who will be sent, it will be decided by drawing lots. Life and death will be decided by fate, and wealth and honor will be decided by the heavens!"
As the Zifu Patriarch spoke, he took out a cylinder and placed 23 straws inside.
"Everyone, you may inspect the apparatus."
The cultivators went forward to check on the drawing apparatus. After confirming that there was nothing fishy about it, they began to draw straws one after another.
"Go down and prepare!" the Zifu Patriarch said.
"After half a day of preparation, let's go to Iron Ridge Pass!"
The cultivators agreed in unison.
...
Soon, a flying boat appeared in the air.
The flying boat was ten meters long and three meters wide. It did not look very big on the whole, but it was made of black iron and was emitting a black light. On it, there were mysterious formation patterns. A layer of faint light appeared outside the flying boat. On the boat, there were three Rune Cannons.
This was the Grade 3 flying boat, it was called 'Flood Dragon'.
Flood Dragon could activate a defensive formation and turn into a Rune Light Shield to block attacks from peak-level Zifu disciples. On the boat, there were three Rune Cannons. Their attacks were comparable to an attack from an early-stage Golden Core cultivator. At its fastest speed, it was comparable to an early-stage Golden Core cultivator's escape technique.
On the flying ship stood Zifu Patriarch Lu Fuming, as well as 12 Foundation Establishment cultivators from the Lu clan.
Whoosh!
The flying ship flashed and flew out of Mount Ziyang, disappearing into the distance.
"Mother, where did the Patriarch go?" Lu Xuanji asked.
"The Beast Tide is about to arrive. It's just a passive defense. Relying on Mount Ziyang's Great Protective Formation isn't good enough. If we defend for too long, we'll definitely lose. Only by taking the initiative to attack can we alleviate some of the pressure... The Dan Yang Sect has summoned the cultivators of the various great clans to head to the defensive line to defend against the great demons!" Ye Xinlan said, her expression somewhat worried.
Every time the Beast Tide attacked, there would always be Zifu disciples dying, and there might even be Golden Core cultivators dying on the battlefield.
...
Dong dong dong!
A loud sound rang out, and with the sound, many Demon Beasts appeared on the distant horizon. There were Cat Demon Beasts, Pig Demon Beasts, Rat Demon Beasts, Goat Demon Beasts, Wolf Demon Beasts, and so on. They came densely like a tide, drowning everything.
The Demon Beasts that formed the Beast Tide mainly had low-level bloodlines. They were mainly first-level Demon Beasts. Many of them had just been born with shallow intelligence. They were in a muddle-headed state, but they were the most brutal.
Lu Xuanji watched this scene and felt his scalp go numb.
A single Demon Beast was very weak. A cultivator at the first level of Qi Refinement stage could kill it with a single sword strike.
However, when tens of millions, hundreds of millions, or even billions of them gathered together, the Beast Tide was enough to drown everything.
No need to mention Foundation Establishment cultivators, even Zifu disciples would be overwhelmed. If there were too many ants, they could bite an elephant to death.
Moreover, within the Beast Tide, there were also some tier-2 and tier-3 Demon Beasts hidden within them, ready to ambush humans at any time.
Wherever the Beast Tide passed, it was like a flood that submerged everything, destroying villages, cities, and spirit fields. Many spiritual herbs and spirit grains were all looted, and spirit fields were destroyed.
Many villages were submerged by the Beast Tide, and a moment later, they were reduced to ruins.
Some human civilians did not have the time to hide in Mount Ziyang, and were attacked by the Beast Tide. They were instantly submerged, and when they reappeared, only skeletons remained.
There were also some itinerant cultivators who did not have enough time to hide. Under the overwhelming attack of the Beast Tide, they could only hold on for a short while before losing their life force.