The Mantis Stalks the Cicada, Unaware of the Oriole Behind

The dragon soul remained locked in a standoff with Zhang Heng's group. Every time a heavy, powerful ice pillar slammed into the shield, He Taining's body jolted violently, and his once-rosy complexion gradually turned pale.

He was only a Silver-rank Greatshield Knight, and there was already an enormous gap between him and the dragon soul. If not for his class's defensive advantage and the blood from earlier restricting the dragon soul's strength, he would have been unable to hold on long ago.

Inside the shield, Zhang Xiaohua had bitten her lips until they bled. She had already drunk three bottles of secret medicine that stimulated her bodily functions, barely managing to sustain the surging flames.

Meanwhile, the dragon soul on the other side had clearly entered a desperate, life-or-death state. Steam continually rose from all over its body. Even after exhausting all its strength, it still could not break free from the chains' restraint, leaving it no choice but to increase its magical output.

But the more it did so, the faster its stamina was depleted. And the lower its stamina became, the less able it was to break free from the chains constantly eroding its body. Both sides had fallen into a vicious cycle!

Roar!

Crack, crack, crack!

After remaining deadlocked for more than ten minutes, Zhang Xiaohua bit down hard on her lip, a trace of determination flashing through her eyes. She downed the remaining potion at her waist in one gulp. The excessive stimulation made her face twitch in pain.

As the potion went down her throat, traces of black began to emerge from the crimson flames on the chains, while the surrounding temperature abruptly rose by several degrees!

The black flames entered its body. The dragon soul, which had still been struggling desperately, froze for a moment before letting out a pained wail. Cracking sounds began to ring out from its entire body!

Sizzle, sizzle, sizzle!

As streams of vapor spread around the dragon soul, it stopped moving amid the white mist. The powerful magic array in midair vanished instantly, and its entire form began to fade.

Roar!

Another anguished roar rang out. The dragon soul's entire body shattered in an instant, its chunks of ice reduced to nothing beneath the terrifying heat.

Seeing this, Zhang Xiaohua revealed a miserable smile. Her body went limp, and she collapsed onto the ground.

"It worked!"

Though Zhang Heng and the other two had all reached their limits, they could no longer suppress the excitement on their faces. The dragon soul's disappearance meant that everything in this nest would become their spoils of war.

At the side, He Taining also lowered his shield and panted heavily.

Whoosh! Whoosh! Whoosh!

Just as the three of them finally relaxed, several air-piercing sounds suddenly came from beside them. Before He Taining could react, nine black shadows instantly wrapped around him and dragged him violently backward!

"Watch out!" Zhang Heng, who was in the best condition, saw this and his pupils constricted sharply. He hurriedly summoned two humanoid machines to provide support, only for two tiger silhouettes to flash past and strike with brutal hammer blows, sending both humanoid machines flying!

Having done this, the two tiger silhouettes did not hesitate. They lunged straight at Zhang Xiaohua!

"Ah!" Zhang Xiaohua rolled away to evade the Three-Headed Demon Tiger's attack, but a black spell had somehow entered her body. Already weakened, she felt as though all her strength had been drained away. She could only let the Three-Headed Demon Tiger seize her right shoulder and hurl her away viciously!

Seeing this, Zhang Heng hurried forward to intercept, but the black shadow in the sky made his heart skip a beat!

A massive toad descended from above. If that enormous body struck him, he would likely be flattened into a meat patty in an instant!

Boom!

The Abyss Toad crashed heavily toward where Zhang Heng stood, producing a deafening boom as it collided with the ground!

Buzz, buzz, buzz!

The Abyss Toad had barely steadied itself when a gigantic robot appeared in midair and smashed down viciously at its body!

Boom!

Another tremendous crash rang out. The Abyss Toad had vanished from its original spot, while the giant machine's strike left a two-meter-wide crater in the ground!

"Who are you people?"

Zhang Heng's furious voice came from within the giant machine. His two companions were being beaten so badly by the suddenly summoned creatures that they could not fight back at all, yet he could not go support them. The giant toad was right in front of him, and atop that monster's head stood a young man looking at him with a cold sneer.

Cao Xiaochun had been observing the situation from the very beginning. When the dragon soul was on the verge of giving out, he had already summoned the nine Flying Head Gu.

Once the dragon soul vanished and He Taining lowered his guard, Cao Xiaochun knew the moment had come. The Flying Head Gu's attack went smoothly; all nine heads struck their target at once. He Taining had become a dead man at that instant.

Xu Laoba's Weakening Spell had also hit Zhang Xiaohua directly. With Li Hanyi's demons holding her back, she no longer posed much of a threat. Now, Cao Xiaochun only needed to deal with Zhang Heng!

"The people here to take your life!"

Cao Xiaochun slowly exhaled, then stopped wasting words. He pressed his palms together before him, and the White Jade Gourd appeared. Endless black shadows flew out, shooting toward the giant machine in a suicidal assault!

Finally, red and blue streams of light shot forth and scattered into the air. Two graceful figures flashed past, a fire dragon entwining an ice dragon as they blasted forward along the Killer Bee Gu's line of attack!

Buzz, buzz, buzz!

Zhang Heng moved a finger inside the machine, and arcs of electricity suddenly spread around the giant mechanism. The Killer Bee Gu were turned into charred lumps the moment they approached!

But when Zhang Heng clearly saw the two women in midair, he immediately let out a terrified shout!

"The Binuoxiu sisters!"

Zhang Heng was utterly shocked. Why were the two lords of the Dark Forest here? And judging by the situation, they were actually under that young man's control!

Although the sisters were only Bronze-rank, even at his peak, taking them down would require some effort. Yet he had just used ninety percent of his power to restrain the dragon soul, and his mechanical equipment was nearly depleted. The giant machine he was riding in simply could not withstand the sisters' powerful assault!

[Initiating emergency escape procedure!]

As the fire dragon and ice dragon drew closer, Zhang Heng gulped down a potion and gritted his teeth.

Boom!

The instant the machine collided with the twin dragons, a thunderous crash erupted. Half of the terrifying mechanism melted away at a visible speed, while the other half was directly frozen and shattered by the near-absolute-zero cold!

A blue sphere ejected from the back of the machine's head. Seeing this, the Abyss Toad spewed out a cloud of poisonous mist, instantly enveloping the sphere.

"Ah!"

Piercing screams immediately rang out from within the sphere as it hurtled fiercely toward Zhang Xiaohua.

"Li Hanyi, leave first!" Cao Xiaochun shouted in warning.

Hearing Cao Xiaochun's words, Li Hanyi glanced into the air, then recalled the Three-Headed Demon Tiger and the Succubus before rapidly retreating.