The Beast Tide

After several days of adapting, Wang Ji had mastered his newly acquired power. So, aside from setting aside 40 Essence Sources, he added the rest all at once.

"Strength: 7,610 kg, Speed: 72 m/s"

He was just a little short of reaching War General Level.

South Gate, Wilderness Zone. Wang Ji began heading out through the South Gate and into the true Wilderness Zone. The trees here were thicker and more densely packed. He followed the old highway. Though it had crumbled and weeds had overgrown it, the roadbed had been built with more than half a meter of construction material. As a result, the weeds growing on the highway were noticeably shorter and sparser. Martial artist teams liked to travel along roads: they were less likely to get lost, and the low vegetation made it easier to avoid unexpected attacks.

"Rustle!" A small pack of Scavenger Dogs suddenly entered Wang Ji's field of vision. Canine monsters were the most common kind, but generally weren't very strong. These Scavenger Dogs looked like they were all Beast Soldier level.

"Roar!" The pack barked excitedly. A lone human! Meat!

"Whoosh!" Wang Ji charged straight at them. "Whoosh! Whoosh!" With Spiritual Force to help him, it was as if he had countless eyes, and his sense of distance was many times sharper.

With his Micro-level footwork, he was completely in his element. The pack of six Scavenger Dogs didn't even come close to touching him before he had killed them all. It was effortless! Unfortunately, killing monsters in the real world didn't earn him Essence Sources.

Wang Ji quickly collected the Scavenger Dogs' teeth and claws, then continued on.

Beep beep beep! His smartwatch suddenly flashed red and emitted an urgent beeping.

"What's going on?" Wang Ji hurriedly checked it.

"Emergency alert: A small-scale beast tide may be approaching Military Base No. 8! All martial artists within 50 kilometers of Military Base No. 8, return immediately! Martial artist teams more than 50 kilometers away, find shelter or return to Base City from another forward fortress."

A beast tide! Wang Ji panicked, but quickly calmed down. Luckily, he'd been cautious. He had only just left the military base and hadn't even gone 10 kilometers.

He had to get back, fast! Wang Ji pushed himself to his top speed, accelerating to 75 m/s. It wasn't enough! He used his Spiritual Force to assist him, and his speed surged to 85 m/s.

In just two or three minutes, Wang Ji had made it back to the military base.

The entrance and plaza of the military base were in complete disarray.

"Move! All non-martial-artist visitors, get to the underground shelter! All martial artists, follow the instructions on your smartwatches and enter your martial artist level. The central computer will assign your defensive positions and tasks! Hurry!" A loudspeaker blared out the instructions.

The troops stood ready atop the walls. The martial artists had also prepared themselves in teams, following their assigned tasks and defensive positions.

"They're here!"

"Caw! Caw!" A vast black cloud drifted across the sky. It wasn't a cloud, but countless flying monsters!

"Rat-a-tat-tat..." As soon as the flying monsters entered a five-kilometer radius, the anti-aircraft machine guns opened fire. The monsters dropped from the sky like dumplings falling into a pot. The flying monsters picked up speed and began diving in from different directions.

Three or four kilometers was less than half a minute's flight for the monsters. In an instant, countless flying monsters swooped down from the sky to attack. They were everywhere, above and below, all around. That was what made flying monsters more troublesome than land monsters. In no time, inexperienced martial artists were thrown into chaos.

Wang Ji, however, was completely in his element. With his Spiritual Force, he could scan everything within 30 meters. He could clearly sense every movement of the flying monsters' wings. Combined with his Micro-level footwork, he moved in a flash. A pigeon-like monster the size of an eagle had its neck severed by his blade. He retreated half a step to dodge the claws of a crow-like monster, then flicked his blade, slicing through one wing at its base. The monster instantly lost its balance and could only flap helplessly on the ground.

"Caw!" An Iron-Feathered Eagle, its feathers gleaming like metal, dived toward Wang Ji. He acted as if he hadn't noticed it. Excitement flashed in the eagle's eyes.

Twenty meters! Ten meters! Five meters! The Iron-Feathered Eagle was almost upon him!

"Go!" The dagger at Wang Ji's waist shot toward the eagle's wing root. Though his Spiritual Force was only a little over 800 kg, he could still control the dagger at high speed. It was also positioned right in the eagle's flight path, making it seem as if the eagle had flown straight into it.

"Caw!" The Iron-Feathered Eagle beat its wings desperately to dodge, its movements instantly thrown off.

"Whoosh!" Dust and sand suddenly rose from the ground and shot straight at the eagle's face! A cloud of grit billowed up, completely blocking its vision. The debris couldn't hurt it, but it robbed the eagle of most of its sight and awareness.

An improved Lime Throwing Technique!

"Whoosh!" In the instant the Iron-Feathered Eagle floundered, Wang Ji's blade tore open its chest and abdomen, spilling its guts.

"Caw! Caw..." The Elementary Beast General Level Iron-Feathered Eagle flapped about before finally dying.

Wang Ji thought, So this use of Spiritual Force is quite effective. Later, I could switch to smoke bombs—custom-made, egg-sized ones that I could detonate whenever I wanted with my Spiritual Force. I could add capsaicin and irritating toxic smoke, too, to make them more effective and give them a chemical attack... Yes, that's a good idea. In battle, you still have to rely on your wits!

The attacks by ordinary flying monsters were usually just the prelude to a beast tide. Sure enough, as soon as the flying monsters finished their first assault, the beast tide arrived.

"Boom!" An Armored Tank Beast, a wild boar monster at least Lord-level, slammed into the wall. Even the reinforced steel-rebar concrete wall shook, and a crater one or two meters deep and four or five meters across was smashed into it.

"Whoosh, whoosh, whoosh..." A series of sharp whistles rang out. These were specialized armor-piercing rounds designed to deal with high-level Beast General monsters. They were the most powerful specialized bullets available, each costing 100,000 yuan on the open market!

But when the rounds struck the Armored Tank Beast, they only embedded themselves in its hide.

"Whoosh, whoosh, whoosh..." Finally, after a relentless barrage, a patch of hide on the Lord-level monster's belly was torn away, and the bullets shredded the flesh beneath it.

It was only a minor injury! The Armored Tank Beast truly lived up to its name. Its defense was among the best of all monsters!

"Whoosh!" A middle-aged man with the rank of senior colonel suddenly drifted down from the wall like a phantom. In a flash, his sword struck the Armored Tank Beast's wound.

The Armored Tank Beast did everything it could to dodge, leaving afterimages in its wake, but it was nowhere near as agile as the military-clad God of War who had suddenly appeared.

"Whoosh!" "Whoosh!" "Whoosh!" One sword strike after another landed on the wound. What had been a minor injury rapidly deepened and widened. Finally, with the last strike, a gash more than a meter long split open the belly of the wild boar-like Armored Tank Beast, reaching its innards!

"Whoosh, whoosh, whoosh..." While the God of War kept the Armored Tank Beast occupied, a hail of bullets hit the enormous wound at just the right moment. The bullets drilled through the gash and turned its innards into a mangled mess. The Armored Tank Beast lived up to its name on the outside, but its organs were another matter.

Perfect teamwork! A killing blow! The person in charge of the heavy weapons was clearly an expert, too. Ordinary martial artists' reflexes couldn't keep up with a battle of this caliber. Whoever was operating the heavy weapons had to be at least War General Level.

The military's tactics were as sharp and efficient as ever. When it came to teamwork, they were leagues ahead of other teams.

Even the wall's dense array of firing positions couldn't stop every invading monster. One after another, monsters broke through into the military base. Fortunately, this was a military base, and all its buildings were built like fortresses.

The firing positions inside the base, working with the martial artist teams, were more than enough to hold back and kill these scattered monsters.

"Roar!" A Beast General-level Silver Wolf led more than ten Azure Wolves toward Wang Ji.