Stepping into the Wall of Sighs defense line felt like entering another world.
The air was thick with an inescapable stench of blood, baleful aura, and the violent residual energy of all kinds of spells.
Deafening battle cries, beast roars, and explosions rang out without end, shaking the heart and soul.
Beyond the enormous barrier of light stretched an endless sea of Fierce Beasts in all shapes and forms, crashing against the barrier wave after wave like a tide.
They were slaughtered in great numbers by the defenders' long-range methods—magic treasures, divine abilities, crossbow bolts, and more—yet countless Fierce Beasts still broke through the barrage and lunged at the barrier, madly clawing, biting, and even ramming it with their bodies, sending ripples continuously across the light screen.
Inside the barrier was a scene of frantic tension. Some cultivators sat cross-legged, rapidly restoring their mana;
others patrolled back and forth, repairing array foundations made slightly unstable by the beast tide's assault;
while even more formed battle formations, ready at any moment to charge beyond the barrier and clear out the Fierce Beasts attacking it, or deal with powerful individuals that might suddenly appear.
Li Su and Zhiwei moved along the inner side of the defense line, searching for a relatively safe observation point while sensing the direction indicated by the Bedrock Rune.
That sensation pointed toward an area slightly to the left of the battlefield's front. The fighting there seemed especially fierce. The barrier fluctuated visibly, and several small breaches had even been torn open by the Fierce Beasts. The defenders were locked in brutal close combat with the beasts that had rushed inside.
"Fellow Daoist, that place is too dangerous!" Zhiwei's face turned pale as she looked at the battlefield where flesh and blood flew through the air.
"I know. But there's something I need there."
Li Su locked his divine sense onto that area and said in a low voice, "Wait here. Don't wander off. I'll be back soon."
Before Zhiwei could reply, Li Su's bamboo body moved, turning into a streak of dark light as he shot toward the fierce battleground!
The closer he got, the more he could feel the brutal atmosphere. Severed limbs lay everywhere. The glow of spells mingled with beast blood, while roars mixed with screams.
Li Su saw a Human Race cultivator struck by the tail of a giant lizard-like Fierce Beast, his protective magic treasure shattering instantly as he coughed blood and flew backward. He also saw a burly demon cultivator reveal his true form and tear apart a wolf-shaped Fierce Beast that had charged in, only to be left drenched in blood himself.
Without the slightest hesitation, he charged directly into a small breach that had just been torn open and had yet to be fully repaired!
Outside the breach, dozens of Fierce Beasts were surging in madly!
Inside it, seven or eight defenders had formed a small circular formation and were desperately holding on, on the verge of being swallowed by the beast tide!
"Another one coming to die!" A blood-covered cultivator within the formation saw Li Su rushing over and shouted hoarsely, despair in his voice.
Li Su said nothing. His bamboo body abruptly stopped in the middle of the breach, and the nine sections of his body blazed with light!
Star Swirl Body Protection!
The intermediate Star Swirl Body Protection unfolded instantly. A dense halo glittering with countless stellar vortices firmly sealed the entire breach!
Several Fierce Beasts at the front slammed into the halo, only to have their bodies thrown off balance by the rotating stellar force. Their attacks veered aside, and some were even injured by the rebounding force!
"An array? No! It's a defensive divine ability!" The cultivators in the formation were both shocked and delighted.
"Fellow Daoists, kill the beasts that break through with all your strength! Leave the breach to me for now!"
Li Su transmitted through divine sense. At the same time, his bamboo branches swayed, sending out streaks of Soul-Devouring Dark Light imbued with the intent of stellar annihilation. They silently shot forth, precisely striking down the Fierce Beasts whose movements had become unstable under the interference of Star Swirl Body Protection!
His Soul-Devouring Dark Light was exceptionally effective against these Fierce Beasts, whose intelligence was low and souls relatively weak. Often, with a flash of dark light, a beast would stiffen, then be easily slain by the defenders.
With Li Su as powerful reinforcements, the pressure at the breach dropped sharply. The defenders' spirits surged, and they roared as they exerted themselves, swiftly clearing out the scattered Fierce Beasts that had entered through the breach.
However, the respite did not last long.
A savage roar came from behind the beast tide, followed by a powerful aura rapidly closing in!
A demon ape-like Fierce Beast more than five zhang tall came charging forward, smashing aside lower-ranked Fierce Beasts in its path. Its entire body was covered in black scales, a single horn grew from its head, and it wielded an enormous bone club! Its aura had reached the mid-stage of the Heavenly Immortal Realm!
"It's a Black Scale Demon Ape! Watch out!" the defenders cried out. The hope that had just risen was instantly crushed again.
The Black Scale Demon Ape's scarlet eyes locked onto Li Su, who stood blocking the breach. Clearly, it considered him the greatest obstacle. With a furious roar, it swung its enormous bone club at Li Su, the vicious wind tearing through the air!
This strike was immensely powerful, enough to split mountains and shatter stone!
Li Su's bamboo body did not move. He drove Star Swirl Body Protection to its limit and took the blow head-on!
Boom!!
The massive crash was deafening! The halo of Star Swirl Body Protection shook violently, its countless stellar vortices flickering in and out, and even a faint crack appeared!
Li Su's bamboo body also sank slightly, and the ground around his roots cracked apart!
What terrifying strength! A mid-stage Heavenly Immortal truly was no small matter!
But he had blocked it!
The Black Scale Demon Ape froze, seemingly unable to believe that this inconspicuous bamboo could withstand its full-force blow.
Enraged, it raised its bone club again.
But how could Li Su give it another chance?
At the instant after it had delivered the blow, when the demon ape's old strength had been exhausted but its new strength had yet to rise, Li Su unleashed the killing move he had prepared long ago!
He had not merely relied on Star Swirl Body Protection to defend passively! While his bamboo body endured the attack, his bamboo roots had already silently spread across the ground, setting up a trapping and killing array that combined the Minor Chiliad Array Analysis with his own traits—the Nine-Section Sky Locking Array!
"Array, rise!"
Buzz!
Nine phantom bamboo roots flickering with starry baleful dark light burst from the ground around the demon ape, instantly intertwining into a temporary cage that trapped it within!
The power of the array not only bound its movements, but continuously eroded its Demon Energy and Blood Qi Essence!
At the same time, more than one-third of the leaves on Li Su's bamboo body fell at once, transforming into over a hundred blades flowing with starlight and dark radiance. Like a torrential storm, they shot toward the trapped demon ape!
These bamboo leaf blades did not attack at random. They specifically targeted relatively weak points in its defenses—its eyes, throat, armpits, joints, and more!
And that was not all! A point of Soul-Devouring Dark Light, condensed from Li Su's current strongest soul force, struck later yet arrived first, ignoring physical defenses as it shot directly toward the demon ape's brow!
Bound by the trapping array and faced with such dense, precise attacks, the Black Scale Demon Ape was immediately thrown into disarray. It wildly swung its bone club, blocking most of the bamboo leaf blades.
Yet countless wounds were still carved into its body. Its scales shattered, and blood streamed everywhere! As for the most lethal Soul-Devouring Dark Light, it failed to evade it completely!
Sizzle!
The dark light sank into its brow! The demon ape's huge body suddenly stiffened, and it let out an incomparably shrill howl. The light in its eyes instantly dimmed, and its movements became incredibly sluggish!
Now!
Li Su's bamboo body flashed like lightning as he surged forward. The foremost section of his bamboo body shone with unprecedentedly sharp starlight, like an indestructible divine spear. Seizing the instant when the demon ape's soul was badly wounded and its movements rigid, he pierced its throat with incomparable precision!
Splurt!
Starlight erupted! The demon ape's scream came to an abrupt halt, and its enormous body crashed to the ground, kicking up dust that filled the sky!
For a moment, the world seemed to fall silent.
The defenders at the breach, along with nearby cultivators who had noticed the scene, all stared dumbfoundedly at the jet-black bamboo and the mid-stage Heavenly Immortal demon ape corpse lying at his feet.
A late-stage Earth Immortal had slain a mid-stage Heavenly Immortal demon ape through an array?! What kind of combat power was that?!
After the brief silence came earthshaking cheers! The defenders at the breach were invigorated, launching a frenzied assault on the remaining Fierce Beasts.
Li Su's bamboo body swayed slightly as he retracted his branches and swiftly absorbed the demon ape's dissipating soul power, converting it into Evolution Points, along with part of its Blood Qi Essence.
In the battle just now, he had nearly exhausted every method at his disposal. Only through the combination of array and divine abilities had he barely managed to quickly kill the demon ape, and the expenditure had been considerable.
But he had no time to rest, because the Bedrock Rune's sensing came precisely from the direction the demon ape had charged from!
His divine sense swept fiercely in that direction. Piercing through the chaotic beast tide, he finally locked onto something—a fist-sized, unremarkable dark yellow stone half-buried in scorched soil, radiating a Dao aura of the same origin as the Bedrock Rune, yet far older and heavier!
That was it!
Li Su's bamboo roots moved as he prepared to step forward and claim the treasure.
Suddenly, a sharp sword light shot out from the side, reaching first and sweeping toward the dark yellow stone! At the same time, an arrogant voice rang out:
"Hmph! I didn't expect an unexpected gain! This item should belong to me!"
Before you continue