The people on the city wall watched the retreating Star Beasts, their eyes filled with joy and surprise.

Chu Chen shook Father Chu's shoulder to confirm, "Dad, has the beast tide retreated?"

Hearing this, Father Chu snapped out of his immense delight.

"Yes, the beast tide has retreated, we held firm."

Father Chu's voice was loud, clearly showing his extreme excitement at the moment.

His words were like a stone thrown into a calm lake, rippling outwards in waves.

"We held firm."

"We won."

"Haha, we don't have to die now."

"I want to go home."

Excited chatter erupted at the top of the city wall, turning the space into a lively marketplace.

Chu Chen gazed curiously at the butterfly hovering in mid-air.

The white butterfly had a wingspan of about ten yards, with wings devoid of any dazzling patterns. Its two jet-black eyes were the size of millstones, and every flap of its wings emitted a pure, holy light.

Judging from the aura it emitted, its realm was at least King Level.

Chu Chen was certain because, firstly, its aura was much stronger than the Beast King they just faced.

Secondly, it was due to the conversation between the elder and the unknown Star Beast.

Chu Chen summoned the Slaughter Atlas and examined it carefully.

The other's realm had reached King Level Five, and it was called the Holy Light Butterfly, a very rare Light Element Guardian Beast. What shocked him most was that it was even a Healing Element Guardian Beast.

The attack it just used wasn't an attack skill but an auxiliary skill, the Holy Light Purification.

If it were an attack-type Guardian Beast, perhaps a single strike could have killed the Beast King.

As for the elder on the back of the Holy Light Butterfly, Chu Chen recognized him; it was Elder Zhang, whom he had met once before.

Originally, Chu Chen thought he was a Soul Master Level Beast Master, but now it seemed he underestimated him. The elder was a true Soul King Level powerhouse, and yet he was just Zhang Yuyan's old servant.

Thinking about this, Chu Chen couldn't help but marvel at how low-key the elder was.

All those Beast Taming Armors and specially made Starburst Bombs, what he revealed might just be the tip of the iceberg.

Wang Haichuan came over to Elder Zhang's side and respectfully said, "Thank you for your intervention; otherwise, Celestial Star City would have been doomed."

Upon hearing this, Elder Zhang waved his hand and said, "The situation arose because the other side broke the agreement initially; otherwise, I couldn't have intervened."

"The one you were conversing with earlier, was it the Netherworld King from the Nether River Forest?"

"Yes, indeed it's that Old Flood Dragon. The Undead Crystal was given to that stupid snake by it."

Hearing this, Wang Haichuan nodded and asked, "Elder Zhang, can the Undead Star Beasts truly enhance their realm by devouring souls?"

Elder Zhang smiled and shook his head, "It's not that simple. Devouring souls comes at a cost. Every soul carries its own memories. A small amount of devouring, then refining, can indeed enhance one's realm, but the process is extremely lengthy. If it devours souls recklessly like that stupid snake, even if it reaches King Level, it would be driven insane by the chaotic memories. The Old Flood Dragon only wanted to use the foolish snake to slaughter the city. If I'm not mistaken, it probably aimed for Yu Yan."

Wang Haichuan's expression changed upon hearing this, realizing that amidst the fighting, he hadn't even figured out whom he needed to protect.

Seeing Wang Haichuan's reaction, Elder Zhang patted his shoulder and said with a smile, "Don't worry, once the master receives the news, he won't let you suffer."

Wang Haichuan beamed at that, hurriedly expressing, "Then I'll rely on Elder Zhang to say a good word."

"Yes, I'm feeling tired, so I'll head back to rest first."

"Take care, Elder Zhang."

After seeing Elder Zhang off, Wang Haichuan regained his usual dignity.

"Fei Yang, arrange for people to quickly clean up the battlefield and also compile a count of the casualties from this battle."

Ye Feiyang promptly responded at the instruction.

Seeing this, Chu Chen and the others went down from the city wall to assist the Corpse Clearing Team in clearing away the bodies.

The aftermath efforts lasted the entire night before reaching preliminary completion.

It was estimated that around 120,000 Star Beasts were killed this time, of which over eighty percent were Servant Level and War General Level Star Beasts. About fifteen percent were Commander Level, less than five percent were Lord Level, and there was only one Monarch Level Star Beast.

On the human side, about ten thousand Beast Masters were lost, most of whom were Soul Warriors, with a smaller number being Soul Master Level. There were also some Great Soul Masters, but their number was relatively small.

This was arguably the largest toll on city defenses since the establishment of Celestial Star City.

Don't think the casualty ratio was too disparate, as it was due to the contributions of the City Defense Crossbow and Star Core Cannon.

These two powerful defense weapons eliminated at least sixty percent of the Star Beasts.

Although the number of beasts in the tide far outnumbered the human side, most of the excess were only Servant Level and War General Level Star Beasts, while the high-end combat strength on both sides wasn't far from matching, otherwise, the casualties could have doubled, leaving the defense of Celestial Star City uncertain.

This city defense battle posed a significant consumption for the City Lord's Mansion; the costs of the arrows fired by the City Defense Crossbows alone amounted to tens of millions. Many Crossbows used frequently this time have sustained damage and require rebuilding or repair.

The consumption of the Star Core Cannons was even more frightening because they use a massive number of Star Cores as energy.

The Defense Array was also a huge money drainer.

The expenditure on these three alone consumed only fifty percent of the financial resources.

The remaining fifty percent was spent on Elixir Pills. Even though the association provided them at a very low price, the consumption of medicines by tens of thousands of people was still a staggering figure.

Although they harvested 120,000 Star Beast corpses this time, it's still uncertain whether this can fill the financial hole.

Firstly, there's the sale. Celestial Star City cannot fully absorb this much meat and materials, so the challenge arises. These goods need to be sold to be valuable, and transporting them between cities which are separated by forests is a major issue. Also, to maximize the value of these goods, they cannot be sold to just one city.

Hence, the City Lord's Mansion needs to cooperate with various trading companies, which requires a large number of people to achieve, and the initial investment is substantial. Although upfront costs are covered by the trading companies, these are loans from the City Lord's Mansion, which need to be repaid later.

Secondly, there are maintenance costs. Although the walls weren't breached, it doesn't mean they weren't damaged, and then there are the arrays, city defense equipment, and so on, which don't account for much of the expenses.

Finally, there's the expenditure on personnel, divided into three parts.

The first part is rewards; those who made outstanding contributions in this city defense battle need to be rewarded. Otherwise, enthusiasm will likely drop significantly in the next defense battle.

The second part is treatment; the treatment costs of those injured in the city defense must be covered by the City Lord's Mansion.

The third part is compensation, which requires the most funds. The death toll is as high as ten thousand, each requiring at least hundreds of thousands of Alliance Coins for compensation. If they have family, the compensation amount would multiply.

If you find any errors ( broken links, non-standard content, etc.. ), Please let us know < report chapter > so we can fix it as soon as possible.