In an instant, the night and darkness vanished without a trace.
The entire world was illuminated by surging waves of firelight, rising and falling in succession.
Like living things, the flames billowed outward, turning into a raging tide tearing through the settlement.
The howling heat wave vaporized the falling rain. Even across several kilometers, the scorching gale still blew against everyone's faces, stinging their stunned expressions.
"See that?"
Old Tom fiddled with his array of firearms and shrugged. "That's what happens when you don't wear your identification wristbands."
Before his voice even faded, a second salvo of rockets descended from the sky.
Piercing screeches tore through the air incessantly. Crimson hues danced across the scorched earth, searing the eyes of all who watched. Billowing flames continuously twisted and leapt, reducing everything to ash.
Instantly, every single person clutched the identification wristband against their chest a little tighter, strapping it on with absolute finality!
Before long, furious roars echoed from within the settlement.
An invisible force surged upward, and the sky full of falling rockets suddenly ground to a halt!
Twisted and crushed to pieces in midair, they showered down like a rain of fire.
Telekinesis of the Tianyuan lineage!
Yet what good did it do?
Without giving him a single breath of respite, a meteor shower of fire rained down once more in an unbroken barrage.
In fact, having detected the telekinetic field blocking the sky, the subsequent rockets altered their flight paths into mesmerizing maneuvers—pulling off more than a dozen feints every second, corkscrewing and weaving through intricate trails of exhaust. A steady stream of rockets slipped right through the net, plunging down to deliver fresh surprises to the heavily battered settlement.
The roar of vehicle engines drew nearer, roaring at a shrill pitch.
Rampaging through!
An armored truck pulverized half a wall head-on, plowed right through the sea of flames, and rammed headlong into a machine-gun bunker. After crushing the position and the heavy machine gun into scrap, the prepped raiders leapt out, commencing a straightforward extermination of every living thing in sight.
There was none of the anticipated struggle of storming a fortified stronghold. In fact, they met with virtually no decent resistance. Almost all the perimeter outposts and defenses had received Ji Jue's special attention in the first wave and were completely knocked out of commission.
The meager smattering of surviving firepower was entirely useless, serving only as background music for the intruders' operations—mere battlefield white noise.
Not to mention the Celestial Chosen, who had maxed out their defenses and paid conventional bullets no mind at all.
Billowing black smoke and swirling flames filled the air.
The moment the vehicle ground to a halt, Uncle Lin's figure had already vanished completely. All that could be seen were thick plumes of black smoke rolling outward, scattering sparks as they rose freely from the inferno.
The transformation brought about by the Regeneration tier was utterly inhuman.
Time and again, a gust of black smoke rushed forward, whistling past, and whatever fire was holding them back would abruptly vanish, leaving behind nothing but desiccated corpses charred to cinders.
He shifted fluidly between flame, smoke, and solid flesh. He had no need for weapons; a mere spray of saliva from his mouth was a destructive strike hotter than molten iron, reducing both flesh and soul to ash upon the slightest contact.
Reforming amidst black smoke and flying sparks, Uncle Lin lacked only a tail and a pair of horns to resemble a demon of legend.
Or rather, it was from the very Regeneration Forms like the one he wielded that the legends of demons were born!
At full strength, his speed was terrifyingly swift. Black smoke rolled and weaved across the field, flickering in and out of thin air so fast that even bullets failed to catch him. Even when they did, it was futile; bullets sinking into that black smoke melted into molten copper before dealing any damage.
Single-handedly, he threw their barely assembled defensive line into utter disarray.
And right behind him, advancing at an unhurried pace against the incoming fire, marched the Knights of Homecoming in formation, pressing forward head-on.
The comprehensive enhancements and sheer shamelessness of the Swarm three-piece set were on full display: bolstered by heavy defense, their regeneration speed was absurdly fast, while the lower their health dropped, the more berserk their damage became—refusing to die even when driven to the brink.
On top of that, they possessed not a shred of martial honor and absolutely refused to fight one-on-one!
Coordinating in three-man squads, even if they ran into combatants far stronger than themselves, they could hold out until Old Tom or Slan arrived with backup to shamelessly gang up on the target.
As for the "security guards" Lu Feng had brought along, they didn't even need to step onto the main battlefield; they just set up perimeters along the outskirts, mopping up any fish that slipped through the net.
What was more, artillery support poured down continuously from above. Grenade launchers, stick grenades, and machine guns had even seemingly grown legs to conduct tactical maneuvers and flanking runs! Having suffered for so many years as cannon fodder in the trenches of the Mid-Continent, when had they ever lived through such luxury?
Times were changing a bit too outrageously.
Give us more! Change faster!
In just a few minutes, more than half the settlement was reduced to scorched ruins without having mounted any semblance of a decent resistance.
Are you kidding? They were Celestial Chosen, not heaven itself.
With this absurd level of firepower, popping your head out meant instant death, or grievous injury at best. On top of that, there was a hidden sniper rifle from god knows where, acting like an aimbot spinbot, piercing through walls and locking straight onto heads—and to this moment, no one even knew where the shooter was. How many heads did you have to throw away fighting that?
Torrential rain, howling gales, blazing infernos, and thunderous explosions—the entire settlement plunged into hell in an instant, writhing in agonizing struggle.
The rumbling never ceased.
This time, even the Tianyuan adept sustaining the telekinetic field could hold out no longer.
As the only Regeneration-tier combatant in the entire camp, having exposed his position right at the start, he had received focused attention from the falling rockets. After weathering a hail of corruption-imbued alchemical bullets followed by shameless sneak attacks from Uncle Lin and Old Tom, he was trapped in a siege by the Knights of Homecoming and several White Stag adepts.
He couldn't even disengage in time...
The old man could only shout, yell, and plead for help in vain. But the subordinates who had fawned over him and groveled at his feet in normal times gave no response whatsoever now.
His heart steadily sank to rock bottom.
"Get lost—!"
His pale face snapped around. Through several kilometers, he caught sight of Lu Feng lying prone atop the truck in the pouring rain. Through the sniper scope, their gazes might have crossed for an instant.
Amidst the flashing lightning.
One cold and detached, the other furious.
Lu Feng pulled the trigger. A corrupted bullet whistled forth, turning into a streak of light screaming right at his face!
Just as he instinctively raised a hand to block, a sudden chill struck his throat—
Following Tang Qian's frontal assault, Uncle Lin emerged from the smoke right in the blind spot behind the old man. A blood-red edge flashed from his fingertips and swept across the throat, ripping open a bloody gaping wound that could never close again.
Blood gushed out!
Struggling, he stumbled backward, letting his right arm be blasted into pulp by the bullet, not even minding the surging corrupted aura spreading from the wound as he launched into the sky!
Yet rushing toward him was not just the pouring rain, but rockets that had long been circling and lying in wait. Like a hammer primed for its blow, they struck squarely against his skull. Consecutive explosions detonated, shattering his fissure-riddled repulsion shield to pieces.
Javelins shrouded in blood and fire were hurled from the hands of the Knights of Homecoming, piercing clean through his body!
In the end, a charred wreck bristling like a hedgehog tumbled from the sky.
Dead silence!
An expert secretly recruited by the Military-Industrial Union—a Regeneration-tier figure formidable enough to occupy a high post even within the Yacheng Security Bureau—had been overwhelmed and slaughtered in chaotic siege combat within this desolate settlement before even having the chance to unleash his true strength...
To the very end, he had been waiting for reinforcements.
Regrettably, none were coming...
"Uncle Lin, they all ran!"
The young man emerging from the shadows looked frantic. "I found a secret tunnel in the back that was just blown shut. I couldn't catch them."
"Spread everyone out. Find them."
Uncle Lin's face darkened instantly. "Where did they go?"
"Likely east." The young man pointed in that direction.
Uncle Lin fell silent.
For a moment, the young White Stag adept seemed to catch a glimpse of unexpected surprise on Uncle Lin's face, followed by an expected realization.
Anxiety vanished, replaced by tranquil calm.
"Go after them," Uncle Lin said with a sigh of relief, instructing, "Be quick about it, or else—"
Before his sentence finished, a soul-stirring crash erupted from the wilderness outside the settlement. Through the thick curtain of rain, howling wind, and rolling thunder, it rang out unmistakably clear.
The grind of steel, friction, and savage screeches.
At the same time, viscous bloody light geysered into the sky, dyeing the boundless curtain of rain and half the firmament blood-red, twisting bewitchingly.
Such a magnificent sight sent shivers down everyone's spines!
In the brief dead silence, Uncle Lin merely shrugged and sighed ruefully:
"...Or else, they might all be dead."
***
"One, two, three, four, five... There are actually seven?"
When the bandit gang's high-ranking members and Celestial Chosen crawled out from the end of the secret passage—having fled the entire way while swallowing their humiliation and rage, before even figuring out how to pass the buck afterward or answer to their paymasters—they heard a voice outside the mine tunnel.
As if someone were counting.
Holding an umbrella as though on a casual spring outing, the young man looked up, taking in their appearances as he counted on his fingers, tallying his catch and spoils.
Two Calling, four Metamorphosis, and one at the peak of Metamorphosis who had half a foot into Regeneration...
"Very good."
Ji Jue smiled and nodded in approval. "All fine, uncut jade."
In the sudden dead silence, only the faint rumble of thunder and the echoes of howling wind and torrential rain remained.
Within this endless night and gloom, only the firelight in the eyes beneath the umbrella flared up violently. Beneath his streaked long hair, that undeniably handsome face now bore a smile that sent people plunging into an icy abyss!
"Please, everyone."
Ji Jue nodded politely and told them, "Stop dawdling. I'm on a tight schedule."
A thunderous roar erupted!
Shockwaves whistled as sharp blades lunged forward.
The moment they sensed the eerie anomaly, the Celestial Chosen—having no way left to retreat—cast aside all hesitation and unease, staking everything on a desperate last stand!
At the very front, a burly man covered in facial scars swelled instantly into a giant. His speed was terrifyingly swift; in the snap of a finger, he crossed over a dozen meters. Heavy carapace and bone spurs erupted across his entire body, and talons extended from his five fingers, tinged with a dark green hue. Even before contact, a pungent stench of putrefaction could be smelled!
Boom—the giant claw ground to an abrupt halt in midair.
Paused.
Unable to advance a single inch further.
From beginning to end, Ji Jue did not make a single move, merely looking up to inspect the raw material before him at his leisure. Behind him, the silent armored off-road vehicle underwent a sudden transformation in that very instant. A creation of dragon blood that had undergone multiple rounds of corrupted alchemy, it merely reached out a beast-like claw with effortless ease and blocked the full-strength blow of the Vortex-lineage Celestial Chosen.
The towering, half-human, half-beast frame over three meters tall did not waver in the slightest.
As steady as a mountain.
No matter how hard the opponent struggled, he could not break free.
Until a faint, rueful sigh broke the silence.
"This one's rather mediocre. Nothing here is worth a blessing," Ji Jue said. "Let's just recycle the waste."
At those words, the hideous monster—part dragon, part beast—pulled its lips into a soundless grin, blazing light erupting from its eyes.
"ROAR!!!"
The final shackles were unlocked.
Immediately following, a bloody hue surpassing the boundless darkness erupted from the layers of steel and dragon blood bonds.
A sharp, resonant clang rang out from the metal, playing a trembling echo that sent shivers of terror through every living thing.
It was only for an instant!
Gone in a flash.
Beneath the giant claw, the hulking, armored giant froze stiff in place, making no further move, unable even to scream or react.
Like grains of sand washed over by the ocean tide.
Amidst a bone-chilling dread, he collapsed into grayish-white dust, vanishing without a trace in the pouring rain.
Yet no one was paying attention to him anymore. No one was even looking at Ji Jue. At this moment, every gaze was drawn involuntarily to the space between Little Niuma's massive claws—to that broken blade, rising slowly from beneath layers of unsealing Quicksilver seals, finally embedding itself into the monster's palm!
Boundless bloody light surged forth like a rushing waterfall, piercing the wind and rain across the sky and dyeing half the firmament blood-red. From within its bonds, it screeched savagely, ravenous with hunger.
Thirsting for more death and sacrifice.
Ninth Form of the Elephant Sword—known as Pan Ying!
Chapter 343