Zhang Tianshi pondered silently. Reining in his aura slightly, he relied solely on the Martial Dao to block the enemy while manifesting a twenty-seven-meter-tall True Gang Dharma Body outside his physical form. This construct, known as the Celestial Lion King, possessed the majestic head of a lion.
"Kill!" the War Angel roared again, hefting its blade as it continued its frenzied slaughter.
In another direction, a smile graced Mu Tianqi’s face. "Interesting. Are these two paying homage to the Martial Dao? What a pity. The Martial Dao has long declined. It’s much more satisfying to mow down enemies like grass with powerful Skills!"
With that thought, Mu Tianqi swung his longsword. The space behind him instantly tore open in a dazzling cross of light that shone like the Celestial Divine Radiance, tearing open the gates to another world. The ethereal sounds of prayers, divine hymns, and chanting echoed from within that realm. Then, Radiant Knights galloped forth one after another. Like an endless, surging army of thousands, they charged out to reap the lives of the giant locusts.
Mu Tianqi had unleashed the Skill, Faith Divine Radiance. This technique drew upon the power of the Faith Law to pry open a radiant kingdom, summoning countless Knights of Light to the battlefield. He had reinforced this Skill dozens of times, making it his ultimate trump card. The Knights of Light charging out of the radiant kingdom had fleeting lifespans, lasting only a few dozen breaths. Yet, before dissipating, they would charge in a straight line, utterly unwavering. Moreover, the portal to this kingdom could expand to a hundred miles wide, capable of summoning billions of knights! In large-scale warfare, this move was virtually invincible.
As Mu Tianqi unleashed his ultimate technique, holy light washed over the battlefield like a torrential river, blindingly illuminating a hundred miles. The giant locusts were thoroughly suppressed, instantly losing their overwhelming numerical advantage. Watching from afar, Wang Yi felt his heart tremble. He could not help but wonder how he would ever defend his own territory if such a devastating Skill were unleashed against it.
A moment later, Mu Tianqi concluded his attack. The invasion tunnel looked as though it had been scoured clean. The previously dense swarm of giant locusts was reduced to a scattered few.
Just then, a deafening BOOM echoed from the tunnel like a thunderclap. The giant locusts vanished entirely, replaced by a massive horde of pitch-black, spider-like behemoths surging outward.
A new wave of beast invasion had begun.
These giant spiders were bizarre. As soon as they emerged, they rapidly spewed starlit silk from their maws. The threads flew forward before blooming into umbrella-like shields, specifically designed to parry incoming attacks. Wang Bushi dive-bombed them. CRASH! A nuclear explosion wiped out a massive swath of the Black Death Giant Spiders, but reinforcements swarmed in to fill the gaps in the blink of an eye.
Simultaneously, a sharp HISS vibrated through the void. Wang Bushi prepared for another bombing run, but mid-flight, he plummeted erratically like a kite with a snapped string, careening off course.
Wang Yi frowned, instantly on high alert. Those eerie hisses carried a strange power capable of damaging one’s mind.
"It’s the Mourning Sound Barrier of the Black Death Giant Spiders!" Zhang Tianshi bellowed. "Anyone under level 600, retreat a hundred miles immediately! This barrier will deal permanent damage to you and can even permanently cripple your souls!"
Hearing this, Wang Yi instantly issued a command. "Everyone, fall back for now!"
The Great Wind and Cloud Vine, the Base Fusion Insect, and the forces on Taohua Island dared not disobey. They swiftly retreated, temporarily relegated to being mere spectators. Wang Yi, of course, did not retreat. Instead, he steered his thirty-mile landscape forward.
Mu Tianqi clearly recognized this wave of beasts as well. "The Black Death Giant Spiders prioritize defense. Aside from their formidable Mourning Sound Barrier, their offensive capabilities are severely lacking. They are nothing to worry about..."
As he spoke, a sudden anomaly erupted within the invasion tunnel. From right behind the spider horde, two colossal tentacles abruptly shot out. The limbs were slick and slimy, looking as though they had just been dredged from a vat of oil, and were covered in countless white spikes. They extended with lightning speed, instantly ensnaring a Celestial Lion and dragging it violently back into the tunnel.
"Here comes the real trouble!" Mu Tianqi exclaimed. "If I’m not mistaken, those tentacles belong to one of the Twelve Pinnacle Bloodlines—the Tangled Beard Giant Beast. To think such a thorny bastard would show up this early!"
Zhang Tianshi frowned at the revelation. "The Tangled Beard Giant Beast? I’ve heard its tentacles can regenerate endlessly and rapidly absorb the energy of the Chaos Star Sea to grow. We have to drag its main body out and beat it to death as quickly as possible!"
Mu Tianqi cupped his fists. "Then we’ll have to rely on your methods, Tianshi!"
"Alright. I’ll drag it out, and you kill it!"
Zhang Tianshi agreed, throwing a punch with his right hand to unleash a golden Celestial Lion Fist Seal. The attack flew straight into the body of a Celestial Lion. The beast immediately let out a deafening roar as the flames wreathed around it turned a dark crimson. A pair of horns swiftly sprouted from the crown of its head, its massive frame bulged even larger, and a pair of wings tore out from its back.
In the blink of an eye, the transformed Celestial Lion charged into the invasion tunnel. Ferocious roars and snarls instantly shook the void. Barely five breaths later, the giant lion reemerged. Its jaws were clamped fiercely around a tentacle. Thrashing its head and throwing its massive shoulders back, it hauled its quarry outward.
A multitude of other tentacles elongated, whipping furiously against the lion. Yet the Celestial Lion possessed staggering strength. Weathering the relentless barrage, it dragged with all its might until it finally yanked the behemoth completely out of the tunnel.
It was an utterly grotesque mass sprouting countless tentacles. The colossal beast resembled a headless toad with four stubby legs. Coated in thick slime, it exuded a bloated, morbidly obese aura.
Wang Yi narrowed his eyes as a fragment of the creature’s information materialized in his vision.
[Tangled Beard Giant Beast: Pinnacle Bloodline, Infant Stage. Possesses tremendous vitality and growth potential. Capable of absorbing cosmic energy to mature????]
"A formidable one did show up after all!" Wang Yi braced himself.
Right on the heels of that thought, the giant Celestial Lion that had pulled the beast out was whipped into a flash of white light by the thrashing tentacles. The Tangled Beard Giant Beast let out a guttural roar, its bloated body suddenly swelling a full size larger.
"We can’t let it keep growing!" Mu Tianqi shouted. "Make your move, Tianshi!"
"Got it!" Zhang Tianshi bellowed, launching himself at the Tangled Beard Giant Beast like a human cannonball.
The Black Death Giant Spiders immediately moved to guard the behemoth. They spewed thick silk, weaving a massive web to intercept the attack. But the giant web could not stop Zhang Tianshi. He tore straight through the barricade, crashing into the Tangled Beard Giant Beast. Wang Yi had no idea what technique the man used—he only heard a deafening CRACK before the beast’s colossal body was cleanly cleaved in half straight down the middle.
However, the two severed halves rapidly morphed into slightly smaller versions of the beast. They wriggled toward each other at top speed, clearly attempting to fuse back together.
Zhang Tianshi vaulted back from the invasion tunnel, and the pack of Celestial Lions immediately formed a protective wall in front of him.
"The rest is up to you! I need a moment to catch my breath!" he called out as he sat cross-legged in the void, closing his eyes to regulate his breathing.
"Rest easy, Tianshi! Watch us handle this!"
Mu Tianqi struck next. Stowing his longsword, he drew a starlight-wreathed whip. With a sharp flick of his wrist, he lashed out at the smaller Tangled Beard Giant Beast in front of him.
He then hollered at Wang Yi. "Yi! If you have the means, obliterate the other one!"