Chapter 1621: The Fangs Beacon Tower

The deacon cast a glance at Li Yan and Mu Guyue. Seeing their composed expressions, he realized that Elder Zhou must have briefed them thoroughly beforehand, sparing him the need for further explanation.

“There is no time to lose. I have already covered the primary objectives with you. When you conduct the handover, simply follow the established protocols we discussed. Now, I shall take you to the barracks. A group of cultivators who arrived recently is waiting there. You will have three days to familiarize yourselves with them.”

The deacon paused, his expression turning solemn. “After that, your squad will be teleported directly out of here. Once you reach the other side of the teleportation array, the guards stationed there will direct you to your final destination.”

Elsewhere, the landscape was dominated by jagged, black mountains. The very earth and stone had turned a somber ash-grey. Li Yan and Mu Guyue were currently leading a squad of cultivators through the air.

They had just emerged from an underground chamber beneath a mountain peak. The guardian cultivators there, after meticulously verifying their jade slips, had pointed them in their current direction and urged them to depart quickly.

Li Yan and Mu Guyue flew at the front, followed by a squad of solemn, Green-Armored Soldiers. Perhaps due to the Moji Dao Sect’s perpetual state of warfare, these men were well aware of the gravity of their situation. They harbored no resentment toward Li Yan and Mu Guyue; they recognized only military orders. Furthermore, the cultivation bases of their two leaders were indeed higher than their own.

However, the four Nascent Soul cultivators in the squad occasionally betrayed hints of anxiety. Though they were part of the newly rotated batch, they had done their research. The environment here was far from optimistic—it was, in fact, incredibly harsh.

When they looked at Li Yan, who was concealing his true strength, and Mu Guyue, who openly radiated the aura of an initial-stage Spirit Transformation cultivator, they couldn’t help but feel a sense of trepidation. They knew that many Beacon Towers were guarded by late-stage Spirit Transformation experts, yet even those outposts frequently changed hands during defense.

To them, this spoke of nothing but a terrifyingly high casualty rate. Without a truly powerful expert to protect them, their chances of survival were slim. Nevertheless, they kept their fears to themselves. No matter how powerful the Moji Dao Sect was, it was impossible for them to station a high-level Spirit Transformation cultivator at every single post.

This was precisely why subordinate sects were required to contribute Spirit Transformation and Void Refining cultivators, granting these individuals significant authority. At the very least, if Li Yan wished to execute any of them, he could find a dozen valid reasons to do so.

A pale, sickly sun hung in the sky, yet the world below was smothered in thick, black mist that seemed to be a permanent fixture of the region. It made the sunlight flickering through feel weak and ineffectual, like the chill of a midwinter morning.

Li Yan looked up at the sun’s position; it should have been noon, but in the dim, greyish-white light, there was an oppressive sense of an impending storm. Below them, the ground was covered in coarse, grey and black gravel. Violent gusts of wind frequently whipped the dust into the air, creating choking clouds.

The sparse, needle-like vegetation clung desperately to the ground with their remaining roots, as if terrified of being carried away by the relentless gale. Only the skeletal stems and leaves remained, swaying back and forth in the wind and emitting strange, whistling moans.

Woo, woo, woo…

Shiu, shiu, shiu…

Sha, sha, sha…

Combined with the freezing temperatures, any damp patches on the ground had long since frozen into layers of jagged ice crystals. Emerging from the underground cave felt like stepping onto the edge of the Underworld. They could still see the sun, but they felt a chill that penetrated to their very marrow.

After flying for a hundred li, they hadn’t seen a single beast, let alone a demonic creature or another cultivator. As they progressed, the wind grew even more piercing, slicing against them like invisible blades. The sun above began to resemble a hazy, full moon obscured by clouds in the dead of night.

Li Yan and Mu Guyue maintained their position at the lead. Everyone was now clad in standard-issue green armor, their Divine Senses constantly scanning their surroundings.

According to their briefing, the Mocha Palace’s offensive on the western front could not directly reach Broken Ghost City. There were three layers of defensive lines guarding the city’s perimeter. However, because Li Yan’s squad had been teleported in, they had bypassed those three lines and arrived at the absolute front line—the vicinity of the Beacon Towers.

The Beacon Towers served three purposes: first, to observe enemy movements; second, to serve as a resupply point for friendly scouts; and third, to defend against sudden sneak attacks from ghost cultivators, acting as a buffer zone for the main forces.

The Beacon Towers were the true first line of defense. On a daily basis, they repelled small groups of enemies. However, if a large force attacked, their primary duty was to send word back immediately. When that happened, this place would become the site of a truly brutal slaughter.

This strategy was born of necessity. The Moji Dao Sect had to defend the east, west, and north simultaneously. Their battle lines were stretched so thin that if they spread their forces evenly along the entire perimeter, they wouldn’t have enough men to hold even a single side.

The main army was divided into three wings and stationed in batches across the three rear defensive lines. These outposts were staggered, leaving numerous gaps between them. Due to the lack of manpower, the forward Beacon Towers were left with only a small garrison. Once an enemy offensive was detected, the Beacon Tower would use its defensive arrays to hold out for as long as possible. During that interval, the rear reinforcements would arrive via massive flying magical treasures in the shortest time possible.

The tower Li Yan’s squad was heading toward was one point on a long line of connected outposts. It was located in a place known as the “Fangs.” Two vertical mountain ranges jutted forward like tusks, separated by over five hundred and forty li, and were linked by a long defensive array.

Each Beacon Tower controlled a portion of this array. Li Yan was quite familiar with this type of formation; back when he was with the Tianli Clan, he had personally arranged a grand formation composed of multiple sub-arrays to defend against wind beast attacks.

These two locations were the most forward outposts among all the western Beacon Towers. The two protruding mountain ranges curved slightly inward at their tips, resembling two long, outstretched fangs. Consequently, the soldiers referred to them as the Southern Fangs Beacon Tower and the Northern Fangs Beacon Tower.

Li Yan was headed for the Southern Fangs. Guarding a defensive line spanning several hundred li would be impossible for a few dozen mortal soldiers, but for cultivators, even a Core Formation expert’s Divine Sense could easily cover such a range—to say nothing of the assistance provided by the grand array.

The group flew with extreme caution. The cultivators guarding the teleportation array had warned them that although the Moji Dao Sect maintained a defensive screen, scouts from the Mocha Palace frequently infiltrated the area. These scouts didn’t always act alone; they often moved in groups. If they found an opportunity to ambush a squad of cultivators, they would show absolutely no mercy.

Thus, Li Yan and his men had to be careful not to fall before their mission had even truly begun. The enemy was always prepared; regardless of whether their initial strike succeeded, they would vanish across a thousand li in an instant. If one pursued them, they would likely find themselves lured into a series of deadly traps.

In the midst of the freezing wind, the squad of several dozen flew silently, appearing like a line of lonely desert travelers flickering in and out of the black mist.