Chapter 61 - 58: What Kind of Trick Is This?!

Chapter 61: Chapter 58: What Kind of Trick Is This?!

Luozhou City, East City Defense Zone.

By the time Liu Zimo arrived, the Red Leopard Demon that had brutally murdered Li Zhicheng had already leaped over the defensive wall and invaded the city proper. However, contrary to Liu Zimo’s expectations, the Red Leopard Demon did not run rampant, destroying buildings and slaughtering humans. Instead, it had been suppressed and tamed by someone, kneeling on the ground like a submissive lapdog.

The person who had tamed it stood right on top of its head. He was a young soldier in his twenties, wearing a steel helmet and a camouflage uniform. His facial features were clearly illuminated against the backdrop of the blazing red fires.

"Zhao Qian! Zhao Qian!"

"Zhao Qian! Zhao Qian!"

On the surrounding walls, the surviving officers, Warriors, and volunteers erupted into cheers, chanting the name of the young soldier standing atop the Demon Beast. Their eyes burned with the same feverish excitement that the Warriors in the Xicheng District had shown when looking at Liu Zimo moments ago. Worshipping the strong and revering heroes was a perfectly understandable human instinct. But that was only assuming this Zhao Qian wasn’t a fraud, and was genuinely a respected powerhouse or hero!

Since arriving at the East City Defense Zone, Liu Zimo had been hovering in mid-air, keeping his gaze firmly fixed on the young soldier. The white Shadow Lock hovering above Zhao Qian’s head was also unmistakably clear. This was exactly why Liu Zimo felt so suspicious. How could a young man with only Ordinary Martial Dao talent, who hadn’t awakened any Superpowers, manage to single-handedly subdue a Regiment Level Demon Beast at the peak of the Iron Bone realm in such a short Time?

Under normal circumstances, Liu Zimo knew from personal experience just how agonizingly difficult it was for an Ordinary person with average talent to step onto the Martial Dao and cultivate to the point of battling a Regiment Level Demon Beast. During the thirty years of the Post-Apocalypse, Liu Zimo considered himself hardworking and diligent. From the day he formally began practicing martial arts, he had never slacked off, nor had he ever missed a single day of cultivating the Martial Dao and his Breathing Technique. Yet, even after thirty years of bitter training, by the time he reached fifty, he was still nothing more than an Ordinary Martial Artist at the initial stage of the Iron Bone realm. With that level of Martial Arts Cultivation, let alone fighting a Regiment Level Demon Beast one-on-one, he wouldn’t even be guaranteed a win against a solitary Battalion Level Demon Beast!

Yet the young man before him looked no older than twenty-five or twenty-six. Although he had a sturdy build and seemed energetic, his radiating Qi and Blood Power was only slightly stronger than that of a normal person. With just a single glance, Liu Zimo could tell with absolute certainty that this Zhao Qian was just an Ordinary Warrior who hadn’t even crossed the threshold of the Martial Dao. How could he possibly possess the strength to subdue a Regiment Level Demon Beast? It was highly abnormal!

In fact, if it weren’t for the Shadow Lock floating above the man’s head, Liu Zimo would have started suspecting whether Zhao Qian was even human at all, or perhaps a shapeshifting Demon Beast in disguise.

"Don’t worry, everyone! With me, Zhao Qian, here, the eastern frontline will not fall! Not a single one of those Demon Beasts outside the city will cross this wall!" Zhao Qian declared, standing tall atop the Red Leopard Demon’s head and delivering an impassioned speech. "Starting today, this leopard is my Pet Beast, and it will also become the Guardian Divine Beast of our Luozhou City! Together, we will protect the safety of the entire city!"

As he spoke, the Red Leopard Demon beneath his feet cooperatively stood up, elevating him to a height of over twenty meters so he could look down upon his surroundings.

ROAR!

The moment Zhao Qian finished speaking, the Red Leopard Demon let out a cooperative roar toward the outside of the wall. In an instant, the thousands of advancing Demon Beasts were frightened back, not daring to take another step forward!

BUZZ!

Seeing this, the emotions of the Warriors and volunteers on the city wall completely erupted, breaking into an unprecedented wave of cheers.

"Zhao Qian! Zhao Qian!"

"Zhao Qian! Zhao Qian!"

Their worship, fanaticism, and boundless support made it seem as if they had genuinely met their Savior.

Liu Zimo’s gaze naturally fell back onto Zhao Qian. After probing him from a distance, he still failed to detect any anomalies. It was utterly bizarre and baffling.

However, regardless of the strange circumstances, the crisis on the eastern frontline was temporarily resolved. Although it was riddled with suspicious points, now was not the time to dig for answers or conduct a detailed investigation. Liu Zimo didn’t linger. With a flash of his silhouette, he rushed toward the southern defense zone, which had also just reported major issues.

To his immense surprise, the exact same situation from the eastern frontline was unfolding in the south! Only this time, the person controlling the Regiment Level Demon Beast wasn’t a Warrior, but a civilian Martial Artist with a Copper Skin realm cultivation. It was the same mass adulation, the same passionate speech, and the same sight of a single beast holding the pass while thousands of others retreated.

Next was the northern frontline.

Similar to the eastern and southern fronts, the Regiment Level Demon Beast here had also been successfully subdued. However, the person who had tamed it was neither a soldier nor a Martial Artist, but an Ordinary citizen who had seemingly popped out of nowhere. The Regiment Level Demon Beast he had subdued acted exactly like the previous two, crouching outside the northern defense line and intimidating the surrounding Ordinary Demon Beasts like a guard dog!

At this point, Liu Zimo was completely dumbfounded. Outside the four main checkpoint defense lines in the east, south, west, and north, four Regiment Level Demon Beasts had suddenly appeared at the same Time. Yet, aside from the Vajra Beast on the western frontline that he had preemptively slain, the other three fronts had somehow staged almost identical Beast Taming scripts.

"What kind of demonic trickery is this?!" Liu Zimo muttered.

Having lived two lives, Liu Zimo had never once heard of a Demon Beast above the Regiment Level being tamed by humans! But right now, right before his very eyes, three Regiment Level Demon Beasts were prostrating themselves at the feet of humans, willingly allowing themselves to be ordered around. It was simply too bizarre, too abnormal!

If the people subduing these Regiment Level Demon Beasts were Martial Arts Grandmasters or Martial Saints, or if someone had suddenly awakened a Beast Taming Superpower and accidentally subdued one, he might have been somewhat inclined to believe it. But that wasn’t the case. The people standing on the heads of these three Regiment Level Demon Beasts were either Ordinary Warriors who hadn’t entered the Martial Dao, low-level Martial Artists with only Copper Skin realm cultivation, or Ordinary citizens who had appeared out of thin air. It was like a sick joke!

"Is this an illusion, or some other insidious scheme?" Liu Zimo wondered.

He stimulated his Divine Soul, circulated the Spiritual Essence Technique, and silently chanted the Soul Suppressing Spell, yet he found no signs of being trapped in an illusion. Now that his Martial Arts Cultivation had reached the Fetal Breath realm and his Divine Soul Cultivation had broken through to the Spirit Communication realm, his Martial Dao Will and Divine Soul strength were incredibly robust and perfectly unified. It would be exceedingly difficult for any Illusion Technique to ensnare him silently.

If it wasn’t an illusion, it had to be a conspiracy!

A harsh glint flashed through Liu Zimo’s eyes. As someone who had lived through the apocalypse before, no one in this world understood the cunning and ruthlessness of those Outer Realm Demon Beasts better than he did. Those three Regiment Level Demon Beasts would absolutely not be so kind as to help the human race quell the Demon Calamity and drive away their own kind! For them to act so docile and obedient right now meant they definitely had ulterior motives—and massive ones at that!

With that thought, Liu Zimo’s mind stirred. He teleported directly in front of the Red Leopard Demon—the strongest of the three Regiment Level Demon Beasts—and stood shoulder-to-shoulder with Zhao Qian, who was still perched atop its head.

WHIMPER!

Sensing the danger, the Red Leopard Demon beneath Zhao Qian’s feet was just about to throw its head back and roar, but Liu Zimo stomped it flat into the dirt with a single kick. Its four limbs sank into the ground, its body went rigid, and the roar in its mouth was violently suppressed back into its chest before it could even be voiced.