"Captain, what's wrong? This Evan Chu has the same surname as you—could you two be related?" one of the soldiers joked.
Ray Chu snapped back to his senses, smiled, and said, "Actually, Evan Chu is my cousin!"
"Hahaha!"
Hearing this, all the soldiers burst into laughter.
"Captain, I didn't expect you to learn how to joke around."
"Yeah, Captain! How about you introduce your cousin to us sometime, so we can bask in his glory!" another soldier teased.
"Sure! Next time I get the chance, I'll introduce my cousin to you guys!" Ray Chu nodded solemnly, then stuffed the Soaring Dragon Register back into the soldier's arms. "I've been on patrol all night, I'm exhausted—going to get some rest!"
Lying on his bed with his eyes closed, Ray Chu found himself unable to sleep despite his exhaustion. As absurd as it seemed, he was convinced that the person ranked one hundredth on the Soaring Dragon Ranking was none other than his good-for-nothing cousin, Evan Chu.
He remembered that when he left Gracefield Town to join the army, Evan Chu was just a brat at Body-Tempering third level. Later, from his father's letters, he learned that Evan grew up to be a playboy who only knew how to eat, drink, and have fun, with his cultivation barely reaching Body-Tempering seventh level.
How could he have reached the Sigilforge Realm in just a few short months?
Just then, he suddenly realized that his father hadn't sent a letter for the past two months—whereas before, a family letter always arrived every month.
Could something have happened to the Chu Family back home?
Thinking of this, he suddenly felt a strong urge to rush back to Gracefield Town and check for himself.
But since Borderwatch City could be attacked by the Insect Horde at any moment, its soldiers weren’t allowed to leave at will. Unlike other cities, here there was no annual half-month family leave.
He’d already served in Borderwatch City for over two years. Once he hit three years, he could apply for a transfer elsewhere.
As he kept thinking, his consciousness grew more and more fuzzy.
Vaguely, he heard a sudden, urgent drumbeat.
At the same time, a slightly panicked voice rang out by his ear: "Captain, bad news—the Insect Horde is attacking in force!"
A little while later.
Ray Chu stood on the city wall, eyes bloodshot, staring down at the endless mass of the Insect Horde army below. His scalp tingled—this invasion was bigger than any he’d ever seen before.
For a moment, a thought flashed through his mind: "Can we even hold out?"
Borderwatch City only had five thousand soldiers. The ordinary troops were at Divine Strength Stage, and their commander, General Monsoon Ji, was a Sun-Soul Realm expert.
On the Insect Horde's side, most of their soldiers were only at Body-Tempering third or fourth level, but their numbers were overwhelming—at least fifty million.
Fifty million versus five thousand—a ten-thousand-fold difference in numbers.
Like the saying goes, 'enough ants can bite an elephant to death.' Even if all fifty million of the Insect Horde just stood still and let the five thousand soldiers kill them, they'd never finish the job. And of course, the Insect Horde wasn't about to just stand there.
So it wasn't just Ray Chu—most of the soldiers were thinking the same thing.
"Bzzzz!"
Just then, a deafening noise erupted. The soldiers on the city wall instinctively looked up to see a massive, moving black cloud speeding toward Borderwatch City.
"Flying Beetles!"
A soldier cried out in alarm.
A typical Flying Beetle was only the size of a fist and not very strong—about Body-Tempering third level. But inside each one was a highly corrosive fluid that exploded out when it died.
Even the city walls couldn't withstand that corrosive liquid. So the best way to deal with Flying Beetles was to shoot them down with arrows before they got close.
But this time, the number of Flying Beetles was massive—just that black cloud alone had to be at least five million.
"Archers, ready! Load Cloudburst Arrows!!"
General Monsoon Ji stood atop the city wall, his expression grim as he gave the order.
Even as a Sun-Soul Realm expert, he wasn't confident they could hold Borderwatch City.
Cloudburst Arrows were a special kind of arrow crafted by artificers. Each one cost three silver taels; when it hit its target, it exploded, making it the best weapon against flying insect hordes—one Cloudburst Arrow could kill a hundred beetles at once.
But their supply of Cloudburst Arrows was running dangerously low—less than ten thousand left.
Even so, General Monsoon Ji ordered their use—if the Flying Beetles reached the city walls, the destruction would be catastrophic.
"Fire!"
When the 'black cloud' was just five hundred meters from the city wall, General Monsoon Ji finally gave the order to fire.
"Whoosh, whoosh, whoosh, whoosh, whoosh!"
The black cloud was such a huge target that all one thousand archers' Cloudburst Arrows hit their mark.
"Boom! Boom! Boom!"
Explosions erupted nonstop, and swathes of Flying Beetles dropped from the black cloud, along with torrents of corrosive liquid.
One volley of Cloudburst Arrows killed at least two hundred thousand Flying Beetles.
"Keep firing!"
General Monsoon Ji ordered in a low voice.
"Whoosh, whoosh, whoosh!"
Another volley of Cloudburst Arrows soared out, and another two hundred thousand Flying Beetle corpses rained down.
In the blink of an eye, ten volleys had been fired. Two million Flying Beetles had been shot down, but three million remained, now less than a hundred meters from the city wall.
"General, we're out of Cloudburst Arrows!" a messenger reported to General Monsoon Ji.
General Monsoon Ji's face darkened. Three million Flying Beetles remained, and they were out of Cloudburst Arrows. If those beetles reached the city wall, even if they managed to kill every last one, the damage to the wall would be immense.
General Monsoon Ji gave the order: "Transmit my command—all Sigilforge Realm warriors, attack!"
Receiving General Monsoon Ji's order, thirty-four Sigilforge Realm warriors flew off the city wall and launched their assault on the Flying Beetles.
"Boom! Boom! Boom! Boom!"
The thirty-four Sigilforge Realm warriors attacked together, creating an overwhelming spectacle.
Dozens of cultivators' attacks merged into a single wave, instantly engulfing a section of the black cloud and blasting it apart.
This round of attacks killed at least three hundred thousand Flying Beetles.
"Keep going!"
The thirty-four Sigilforge Realm warriors knew full well the danger if the Flying Beetles reached the city wall, so they didn't dare pause for even a moment—they kept attacking from a distance.
"Boom! Boom! Boom! Boom!"
With a series of explosions, the black cloud was finally wiped out when it was just ten meters from the city wall.
Seeing this, the soldiers atop the city wall breathed a sigh of relief.
But just then, a sharp-eyed soldier pointed into the distance and shouted, "Look! More Flying Beetles are coming!"
The soldiers looked and saw ten more black clouds flying in from the horizon, each one as large as the swarm they'd just destroyed.
For a moment, the thirty-four Sigilforge Realm warriors' faces turned grim.
Long-range attacks consumed enormous amounts of energy.
Even if they managed to wipe out all ten incoming clouds, they'd likely be exhausted.
But with no other choice, they didn't wait for General Monsoon Ji's command—they split into ten squads and flew toward the ten black clouds.
Seeing this, General Monsoon Ji felt a faint sense of unease, but he didn't stop the thirty-four Sigilforge Realm warriors from attacking the Flying Beetles.
A short while later—
The thirty-four Sigilforge Realm warriors encountered the ten swarms of Flying Beetles a kilometer from the city wall.
Without a word, they launched their attack.
"Boom! Boom! Boom! Boom!"
Waves of light exploded, killing huge numbers of Flying Beetles.
At that moment, General Monsoon Ji seemed to sense something. His face changed dramatically as he shouted, "Fall back, all of you!"
At the same time, he turned into a streak of light and shot toward the thirty-four Sigilforge Realm warriors.
But just as he left the city wall, three beams of light shot skyward, blocking his path—three bizarre-looking Insectoids.