The group slowly approached the Dew-Condensing Cattail.
"Wait," Lin Yan suddenly said.
"What is it?" Lei En turned to look at Lin Yan.
"Look at those stones." Lin Yan motioned toward the stones in the stream.
More precisely, he indicated several seemingly ordinary "pebbles" in the water near the Dew-Condensing Cattail's roots. Their surfaces were smooth and grayish-green, no different from the other stones on the streambed, but their positions happened to form a loose protective ring around the roots.
Lin Yan warned them quietly, a trace of wariness in his voice. "Their color... seems too uniform. And the water catches ever so slightly as it flows past them."
At his reminder, everyone immediately focused their attention there. At first glance, they were indeed just ordinary stones. But on closer inspection, the grayish-green color of those "stones" had an uncanny organic quality rather than a mineral sheen. Their placement also seemed far too deliberate.
"Could they be..." Lei En seemed to think of something, and his expression shifted slightly.
Before he could finish, something suddenly changed!
Perhaps because Lin Yan had exposed them, or perhaps because they had sensed the group's intention to draw closer, the largest "stones" abruptly moved!
Splash! Water sprayed everywhere!
Three of the "stones" suddenly shot out of the water with astonishing speed! They unfolded in midair. They were not stones at all, but three Soul Beasts about the size of washbasins, their entire bodies a perfectly camouflaged grayish-green, with thick shells and forelimbs like pairs of enormous, razor-sharp sickles!
"They're Hundred-Year Sickle Mantis Shrimp! Watch out!" Lei En roared, recognizing these exceptionally troublesome amphibious Soul Beasts. They possessed formidable camouflage and explosive bursts of speed, and their sickle-like forelimbs could cleave gold and sever jade when swung!
These three Sickle Mantis Shrimp were clearly from the same brood and worked together with exceptional coordination. Two lunged straight at Lei En, who stood at the front, while the third traced an uncanny arc around the front line, its coldly gleaming sickles chopping straight toward Ling Ren on the flank!
"First Soul Skill, Boulder Defense!" Lei En reacted extremely quickly, slamming his enormous shield into the ground. Earthen-yellow light flared, and the shield seemed to swell a size larger, securely protecting both him and Su Yun behind him.
Clang! Clang! Two piercing metallic crashes erupted! The two Sickle Mantis Shrimp's enormous sickle limbs hacked viciously into the Boulder Shield, sending sparks flying! The tremendous impact made Lei En's body shudder violently, and even the ground beneath his feet sank slightly. But relying on his cultivation as a Soul Elder and the advantage of his Defense System Martial Soul, he forcibly withstood the sudden, ferocious blows.
On the other side, Ling Ren paled in alarm at the lightning-swift attack. Though fast, he could not completely evade it on such short notice. "Second Soul Skill, Gale Flash!" His Second Soul Ring lit up beneath his feet, and he shot backward as though weightless, attempting to parry with his Wind-Chasing Dagger at the same time.
But the Sickle Mantis Shrimp's strength far exceeded his expectations, and its sickle limb struck at an exceptionally tricky angle! Rip! Although Ling Ren avoided a vital injury, the sickle's tip still sliced a long gash through the leather armor across his chest. Blood immediately seeped out, accompanied by searing pain. He grunted and staggered backward.
"Ling Ren!" Su Yun cried out, about to cast the Light of Healing in her hand. "Don't worry about me yet! Watch out!" Ling Ren hurriedly shouted. The battle had only just begun.
At the very instant the third Sickle Mantis Shrimp injured Ling Ren and was about to attack again, a figure slipped between them like a phantom! It was Lin Yan!
He had been waiting for this opportunity all along. The Sickle Mantis Shrimp's attacks were swift and fierce, but after each strike, there seemed to be an extremely brief interval as it drew back its strength.
"Ji Qiu! Bind the one attacking Ling Ren!" Lin Yan barked. At the same time, the Cold Light Sword in his hand finally left its sheath completely. Its tip trembled with a clear, ringing hum as he thrust straight toward the relatively vulnerable junction of the mantis shrimp's joints!
After their earlier sparring match and the time spent adjusting to one another along the way, Ji Qiu and Lin Yan had actually developed a trace of tacit understanding. Almost as soon as Lin Yan spoke, Ji Qiu had already released his First Soul Skill, "Entanglement." Several vines burst from the soil, not attempting to completely restrain the immensely powerful Thousand-Year Soul Beast, but precisely winding around the base of the sickle forelimb that had just completed a slash and had yet to fully retract. They yanked hard!
The pull was not particularly strong, but it disrupted the mantis shrimp's movement at precisely the right moment, slowing its attempt to draw back and block by the tiniest fraction of an instant! And for Lin Yan, that instant was enough!
His sword was as fast as lightning, yet carried a clinging, supple force. Rather than meeting strength with strength, it slipped along the inner side of the enormous sickle limb, its blade shaking and trembling! Tai Chi Sword Technique-Twining Formula! A dense flurry of light metallic chimes rang out! Lin Yan's sword seemed to transform into countless cold stars in an instant, repeatedly tapping, weakening, and guiding the force in the Sickle Mantis Shrimp's forelimb. The mantis shrimp seemed never to have encountered such peculiar force. Its violent strength was like a blow driven into a heap of cotton, then entangled and deflected by countless fine threads. Its movements became exceptionally awkward, and even its enormous body grew slightly unsteady.
"Ling Ren! Attack its eyes!" Lin Yan shouted again. Ling Ren endured the pain, his gaze sharpening as the ferocity of an Agility Attack System Soul Master was stirred within him. "First Soul Skill, Wind-Breaking Thrust!" He lunged forward again like a whirlwind. Soul Power gathered on his Wind-Chasing Dagger, forming an exceptionally sharp point of cold light. Seizing the instant when Lin Yan's swordplay left the mantis shrimp off balance and briefly exposed an opening, he thrust straight toward the pair of protruding compound eyes on its head!
Squelch! A soft, teeth-grating sound rang out! Ling Ren's dagger pierced one compound eye with pinpoint accuracy! Thick green fluid spurted out! "Scree-!" The Sickle Mantis Shrimp let out a sharp, piercing shriek of pain. Its enormous body thrashed wildly, and its remaining eye instantly turned blood-red as it flew into a berserk rage!
"This is bad! It's gone berserk!" Ji Qiu cried out as his vines were easily snapped apart. "Brother Lei!" Lin Yan, however, remained exceptionally calm. He used the momentum to retreat, avoiding the wildly swinging sickles while looking toward the main battlefield.
Lei En was under immense pressure. Facing the ferocious attacks of two Hundred-Year Soul Beasts at once, his Boulder Shield had already developed faint slash marks. Though it remained sturdy, the drain on his Soul Power was enormous. He tried to counterattack with his Second Soul Skill, "Rock Shock," but the two perfectly coordinated mantis shrimp interrupted him with alternating attacks, leaving him able only to defend.
"Ji Qiu, disrupt the one on the left! Slow it down!" Lin Yan quickly made his judgment. At the same time, his footwork shifted, and he circled toward the mantis shrimp on Lei En's right as though shifting form and exchanging shadows.
"Understood! Second Soul Skill, Poison Thorn Lash!" Ji Qiu caught his meaning. Vines covered in purple thorns lashed like whips at the left mantis shrimp's jointed limbs and eyes. Although they could not inflict fatal wounds, the stinging pain and harassment from the poisonous thorns successfully drew part of its attention, disrupting the flow of its attacks.
Meanwhile, Lin Yan seized the instant after the mantis shrimp on the right hacked the shield with all its strength, when its old force was spent and new force had yet to arise! "Now!" His figure seemed to melt into the wind as he silently closed in! No dazzling Soul Power light shone from the Cold Light Sword, but its tip held a point of utmost sharpness and a restrained, vibrating force! Tai Chi Sword Technique-Thrusting Sword Form: Penetrating Force!
Whoosh! Sword light flashed and vanished! With unerring precision, it pierced a tiny gap at the junction between the mantis shrimp's head and chest armor! That was a relatively weak point in its defenses!
Lin Yan withdrew his sword immediately after the thrust, without lingering in the slightest. The mantis shrimp abruptly stiffened, and its half-raised sickles drooped limply. Its outer shell appeared intact, but Lin Yan's penetrating sword force had already entered its body, destroying its central nervous system or vital organs! Its enormous body swayed twice before crashing down, sending up a spray of water.
With one eliminated, the pressure dropped sharply! Lei En felt the weight against his shield ease. Roaring, he seized the opportunity. "Second Soul Skill, Rock Shock!" He slammed his shield into the ground, and a powerful shock wave spread outward with him at its center! The mantis shrimp on the left, which Ji Qiu's vines were harassing, and the berserk mantis shrimp with one blinded eye were immediately shaken off balance, their movements slowing.
"Ling Ren! Ji Qiu! Work together and finish the blinded one!" Lei En ordered. At the same time, he shoved his shield sideways, firmly blocking the left mantis shrimp's lunge. "Right!" Ling Ren and Ji Qiu answered. Ling Ren used Gale Flash again, sticking to the enraged mantis shrimp like a maggot clinging to bone, targeting its wounded head and joints. Ji Qiu's vines constantly emerged from the ground, binding its legs and restricting its movement.
Lin Yan, meanwhile, stood shoulder to shoulder with Lei En against the last Thousand-Year Sickle Mantis Shrimp. In a one-on-one fight, the outcome was no longer in doubt for the Defense System Soul Elder Lei En and Lin Yan with his extraordinary swordsmanship. Lei En met it head-on, drawing its attacks, while Lin Yan roamed like a ghost. Every flash of his sword left a bone-deep wound in a gap in its shell or at a joint! His swordsmanship was far too exquisite. He always found the most suitable angle, inflicting the greatest damage with the least expenditure.
Within moments, the last mantis shrimp was covered in wounds under their combined assault, its movements growing slower and slower. On the other side, with Ji Qiu's support, Ling Ren finally found an opening against the blinded mantis shrimp. A precise "Wind-Breaking Thrust" drove all the way into its brain through the wound in its eye socket, ending its life.
When Lei En knocked the last Sickle Mantis Shrimp to the ground with a mighty, heavy shield bash and Lin Yan followed with a finishing sword strike, silence returned to the valley. Only the group's heavy breathing and the murmuring stream remained.
The corpses of the three Hundred-Year Soul Beasts lay scattered around them. Then three richly colored Yellow Soul Rings appeared, floating above the stream.