High-level martial arts: Long spear with black flames to suppress demons.

Before Lion's furious roar had even subsided, the Golden Lion Clan's battle formation had already advanced.

Golden spear beams rained down one after another, forcing the cultivators from the Gu, Xiang, and Baili families to retreat continuously. The spells they had originally prepared to capture people were now all used to defend against the demon race's attacks.

Some attempted to escape amidst the chaos of the demonic tide, but were locked onto by the Sky Roc clan members patrolling overhead. They were forced back as soon as they broke free of the battle lines. Further away, three True Name Species once again activated the stone slabs, unleashing even more demons from beneath the sea to clash with the arriving royal demon army.

Lu Qingyan stood on the warship, his command flags falling one after another, sending the arriving demon army to different positions in batches.

Du Yue then took back control of the Xuan Yuan Zhen Hai Seal and the Heavenly Chapter, and the golden-red Phoenix True Fire illuminated the sea surface.

The entire Northern Sea has been completely turned into a meat grinder.

......

Dozens of miles away from the battlefield, behind a hillside, several figures remained who had not yet participated in the fighting; these were Pei Zhao and his companions.

Pei Zhao slowly raised his right hand, put two fingers together, and pressed them against his brow.

A sliver of light was drawn from between the fingers, initially only as thick as a hair, but it quickly faded after leaving the body, almost blending into the surrounding mist.

It rose along the cliff face, bypassed several colliding streams of spiritual energy, and finally came to rest in the high-altitude clouds.

Through a gap in the clouds, an eye slowly opened.

There was no flesh or blood around the eye sockets, only layers of overlapping transparent light patterns. The slender pupils moved, looking over the churning demonic mist below, towards the sea area where the twelve Zhenhai Cities were located.

A blurry scene then appeared in front of Pei Zhao.

Golden-red flames intertwined with pitch-black demonic energy, and the enormous true form of the demon race occasionally swept across the screen, completely obscuring the already unclear view.

Pei Zhao frowned and pressed his fingertips down slightly.

The eyes in the sky then shifted, avoiding the most intense battleground at sea, and slowly searched along the array surrounding Zhenhai City.

A moment later, a section of the city wall finally appeared in the frame.

A man lay on the stone platform, with two women guarding him, and a golden flame slowly burning on his chest.

Pei Zhao's gaze stopped.

"Found it!"

Upon hearing this, the other three also moved closer.

The figures in the picture were not clear, and only their outlines could be barely discerned. However, the missing arm of the person on the stone platform, and the Murong sisters standing guard on either side, were enough for them to confirm their identities.

"They're still alive? They can't even die?"

Adrian squinted.

Via also saw the gradually brightening golden flame.

"That phoenix must have treated his injuries; if it drags on any longer, he might recover."

Pei Zhao continued to manipulate the eye high in the sky, shifting the view to outside the city.

The cultivators from the Gu family and several other families were retreating continuously, while the great demons of the Golden Lion Clan were scattered around, blocking their path to Zhenhai City with battle formations.

One of them had just tried to dodge from the side when he was forced back by the falling golden spear light.

"It seems we can't count on the Gu family or those other families."

Pei Zhao released his hand from between his eyebrows.

The demon reinforcements were more numerous than they had anticipated, and the various factions, each with their own agendas, hindered each other and missed their best opportunity.

"The demon race is now on guard, so it won't be easy to take people away from them."

Adrian nodded: "In that case, why don't we do it ourselves? That kid's only half alive now, killing him shouldn't be difficult."

"The difficulty is not in killing the person, but in getting the body into the Gu family's hands."

Pei Zhao stroked his chin.

"You should all know the master's instructions. Shen Chang'an must die, but his body cannot be destroyed beyond repair, and it must ultimately fall into the hands of the Gu family."

At this point, he raised his hand and pointed to Zhenhai City in the picture.

"Although Phoenix has returned to the sea, there are still garrison troops inside the city, and royal demon troops are waiting outside to support us. Once our intentions are exposed, we will immediately become their target."

They were not afraid of ordinary demon race experts, but the current Northern Underworld had gathered too many eighth-realm demons, and several clan leaders were also in charge.

Once surrounded, let alone taking Shen Chang'an's body, even escaping successfully would be a problem.

Via shifted her gaze from the screen to the distant coastal mountains.

"The Zhou family has remained silent until now, they're quite patient."

Pei Zhao followed her gaze.

The Zhou family has indeed not shown up yet, but they do not believe that the Zhou family has not sent anyone.

Now that the Gu family has been forced to retreat, other families are not gaining any advantage either. If they want to take Shen Chang'an away from the demon race, the Zhou family will have to take action sooner or later.

Thinking of this, Pei Zhao finally put away the light and shadow in front of him.

"Keep waiting."

"If the Zhou family doesn't move, we won't move either. We'll wait for them to make a move to attract the attention of the demon race, and then we'll find an opportunity to approach Shen Chang'an."

"Remember, don't get entangled with those families, and you don't need to fight against the demon race for them."

"Our only target is Shen Chang'an."

Herbert nodded, offering no objection.

Although Shen Chang'an on the stone platform had lost an arm, the golden flame on his chest showed signs of reigniting.

That bizarre ability to recover is truly frightening.

They had already witnessed Shen Chang'an's strength.

If he really recovers, it might not be so easy for him to find such an opportunity again.

Pei Zhao glanced one last time in the direction of Zhenhai City, a cold glint in his eyes.

No matter what, we cannot let him leave Beiming alive.

......

Deep in the Northern Sea, a massive abyss gate lies across the darkness.

The shattered seals were scattered around the door frame, and a few dragon patterns that had not yet extinguished were still slowly flickering. But whenever a dense demonic aura surged out from behind the door, the golden light would be suppressed and dimmed even more, and even the last few interconnected array patterns began to flicker intermittently.

Three distinct lines extend upwards along the entrance.

One of them was as fine as a net, while the other two were respectively scale-like and sharp-edged. They overlapped each other, confining the ever-flowing demonic energy within a wide channel that led straight up to the sea.

Beyond the passage, the waters of the Northern Sea remained heavy.

Seawater kept trying to squeeze in, but was blocked by the flowing demonic energy. As soon as a few weak points caved in, more demonic energy poured in from the abyss, reopening the passage.

The roars of beasts came one after another from behind the door.

A colossal beast with bony armor on its back was the first to step out of the abyss gate. Its four thick limbs stood on the broken stone platform below, and there was a row of dark red eyes on each side of its head.

It raised its head to determine the direction, then used its hind legs to propel itself upwards along the passage.

Behind it, hordes of wolf-like monsters surged forth, their shoulders and backs arched, and their sides adorned with bony limbs capable of propelling themselves through water.

They huddled together, climbing up stepping on the backs of their kind in front of them. Occasionally, smaller monsters would be squeezed out of the passage, their bodies twisting violently under the immense pressure of the Northern Darkness.

But even more beast-like monsters are still rushing out.

A six-legged giant lizard with hooked claws, a horned beast with a head covered in keratin, and a monster with a long, narrow body and countless tiny legs extending from between its scales.

They didn't need to know what was above; they simply followed the will of the three True Name Species and continued to ascend along the demonic energy channel.