The Lava Lion King's corpse was still smoking, but the Beast Tide hadn't stopped.
There was more than one C-Rank Exotic Beast.
Lin Feng leaped down from the Lion King's corpse and looked toward the depths of the beast horde.
Three massive figures slowly emerged from behind the horde.
The first was a Two-Headed Earth-Splitting Python. Its body was as thick as a barrel, and both heads flicked their scarlet tongues.
The second was an Iron-Feather Violent Eagle, with a wingspan of over ten meters. It circled overhead, its feathers sharp as blades.
The third was the largest of them all.
A pitch-black giant ape, over eight meters tall, its body covered in thick black armor. Its arms were thicker than the stone pillars atop the city wall.
Three Exotic Beasts had appeared at once.
The city wall fell silent again.
Li Zhenguo's voice came through the communicator, much heavier than before.
"Three Exotic Beasts."
He paused for two seconds.
"I'll go myself."
As soon as he finished speaking, a figure leaped from the command tower and landed like a shooting star ten meters from Lin Feng.
Li Zhenguo.
A one-eyed veteran, at the peak of the Martial Ancestor realm.
He drew the Heavy Blade from his back. The blade was half a person wide and dark red from end to end.
"Kid, the eagle's yours. The python's for Captain Zhao and his men. I'll take the ape."
Lin Feng glanced at him but didn't argue.
Li Zhenguo was the strongest fighter on the entire Sixth Defense Line, and the Black-Armored Giant Ape was clearly the strongest of the three.
Having him take it on was the right choice.
"Understood."
Lin Feng didn't waste words. He activated Lost Trace Step, and his figure vanished on the spot.
The Iron-Feather Violent Eagle circled in the sky, diving at tremendous speed.
Its feathers could be launched as projectiles, each one as good as a Flying Dagger.
It beat its wings, sending dozens of iron feathers shrieking toward him, covering a radius of twenty meters.
Lin Feng didn't dodge.
He charged straight at them and swept Mountain Splitter across.
A Gale Wind roared out, shredding every iron feather.
Its piercing effect multiplied the Gale Wind's destructive power. The feathers stood no chance against it.
The Iron-Feather Violent Eagle let out a shrill cry and beat its wings, climbing higher.
It wanted to run.
"Trying to leave?"
Lin Feng kicked off the ground and launched himself into the air.
With the jumping power of a fifth-stage Martial Master and the acceleration of Lost Trace Step, he shot up thirty meters.
He was directly beneath the Iron-Feather Violent Eagle.
He raised Mountain Splitter high.
Mountain-Breaking Slash!
Golden Gale Wind tore from the blade, wider and more powerful than before.
It struck the Iron-Feather Violent Eagle head-on in the belly.
The piercing effect was unleashed to its fullest.
The eagle split in two down the middle, its innards and a rain of blood pouring to the ground.
[You killed a C-Rank Exotic Beast: Iron-Feather Violent Eagle ×1. Gained Martial Path Points ×500]
[Steel of the Blade: 349/500]
Lin Feng turned in midair and landed on the eagle's severed body. Using it to propel himself, he sprang off and landed steadily on the ground.
From takeoff to landing, less than five seconds had passed.
On Captain Zhao's side, four Martial Masters were locked in a fierce fight with the Two-Headed Earth-Splitting Python.
Its two heads attacked in turn, one spewing poisonous mist while the other lashed its tail. The four Martial Masters were on the defensive, barely escaping disaster.
"Move aside."
Lin Feng walked over.
Captain Zhao glanced back at him, then promptly led his men to scatter to either side.
He no longer felt ashamed.
If someone else could handle it, why insist on shouldering it himself?
Facing the Two-Headed Earth-Splitting Python, Lin Feng held Mountain Splitter out in front of him.
The python's left head moved first, opening its jaws to spit a cloud of purple poison.
Lin Feng turned aside to avoid it.
The right head seized the chance to snap at him. Lin Feng slashed at its fang, cutting the whole thing off.
The right head shrieked and recoiled.
Lin Feng chased after it, running up the python's body until he reached the fork between its two heads.
He brought his blade down.
The strike cleaved straight down from above. Thanks to its piercing effect, the blade cut into the python's spine without resistance.
The python's body stiffened.
Lin Feng twisted his blade to either side.
Both heads of the Two-Headed Earth-Splitting Python drooped at once. It fell silent.
[You killed a C-Rank Exotic Beast: Two-Headed Earth-Splitting Python ×1. Gained Martial Path Points ×500]
[Steel of the Blade: 350/500]
Captain Zhao stared at the python's corpse and fell silent for a long while.
One of the Martial Masters beside him whispered, "Captain, the four of us fought it for five minutes without killing it. He took care of it alone in thirty seconds."
Captain Zhao's face remained expressionless. "Shut up."
Elsewhere, Li Zhenguo and the Black-Armored Giant Ape's fight had already reached a fever pitch.
The giant ape was monstrously strong. Every punch it threw blasted a pit ten meters wide into the ground.
Li Zhenguo's Heavy Blade could pierce its armor, but the ape's recovery was astonishing. Its wounds healed before their eyes.
"Tough bastard." Li Zhenguo gritted his teeth and swung again.
The giant ape threw a punch. Li Zhenguo braced his blade across it, but the blow sent him skidding back more than ten steps, his feet carving two deep furrows in the ground.
Lin Feng walked over.
"Need a hand?"
Li Zhenguo looked at him, a complicated emotion flashing through his one eye.
He was the commander of the Sixth Defense Line, a Martial Ancestor at the peak of his realm, and had guarded this line for twelve years.
He had always been the one helping others. When had he ever needed a new recruit, who'd arrived less than three days ago, to help him?
But reality was reality.
The ape's defense and recovery were simply too monstrous. On top of that, his own age had caught up with him and his strength had long since declined. If he kept fighting alone, it would become a battle of attrition.
"Together."
Li Zhenguo spat out the two words.
They charged at the ape at the same time.
Li Zhenguo took the brunt of its attacks, bringing his Heavy Blade down again and again on the ape's armor and drawing all its attention.
Lin Feng circled behind it.
This was the opening he'd been waiting for.
Behind the ape, Mountain Splitter gathered power.
Mountain-Breaking Slash, full force!
At close range, the burst of power was fiercer than ever.
He brought the blade down.
Gale Wind tore into the giant ape's nape.
The piercing effect stacked with Armor Piercing.
Its armor split open, and its spine was severed.
The colossal body froze for a second.
Then it toppled like a mountain.
[You killed a C-Rank Exotic Beast: Black-Armored Giant Ape ×1. Gained Martial Path Points ×500]
[Steel of the Blade: 351/500]
All three C-Rank Exotic Beasts were dead.
With their leaders gone, the Beast Tide began to collapse.
The remaining D-Rank and E-Class Exotic Beasts scattered in every direction, chased down by the firepower on the city wall and the Martial Artist squads below.
Dawn broke.
The sun rose in the east, casting blood-red light across the battlefield strewn with corpses.
Lin Feng stood amid a heap of Exotic Beast carcasses, drenched in blood, with blood still dripping from Mountain Splitter in his hand.
On the city wall, several thousand guards spontaneously began striking their weapons together, the clangor ringing out.
It was the highest honor of the Northern Territory.
Reserved only for living heroes.
Li Zhenguo sheathed his blade and walked over to Lin Feng, looking him up and down.
"That old Chen Lie really did send me a treasure."
Lin Feng wiped the blood from his face.
"Commander Li, can I dig out the Magic Cores myself?"
Li Zhenguo froze for a moment, then threw his head back and laughed.
"Hahahaha! Of course! You killed them, so dig out as many as you want!"
Lin Feng crouched down and began digging out the Magic Cores.
The three C-Rank Magic Cores were heavy in his hands, each glowing with a different light.
Each one was worth at least several hundred thousand.
And that was before counting all the D-Rank and E-Rank Magic Cores scattered across the ground...
As Lin Feng dug, the corners of his mouth lifted without him noticing.
This haul had made him a killing.
Just as he was enjoying himself, Zhang Qian's urgent voice suddenly came through the communicator.
"Sergeant Major Lin! A group of people has arrived at Base Camp!"
"Who?"
"People from the Zhao Family of Qing Prefecture! Their leader is the Second Elder of the Zhao Family, a Martial Ancestor! They say... they're here to investigate the cause of the Young Master of the Zhao Family's death!"
Lin Feng's hand paused as he dug out a Magic Core.
The Zhao Family.
They were here.
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