Forty Millenniums of Cultivation, page 394
Chapter 584: Slaying the Calamity |
Sha Yulong had come to the frontline for the battle of the apocalypse, too. She examined Li Yao's body as quickly as possible and found that he was merely too exhausted and had not suffered many heavy wounds. Therefore, she simply took out the secret medicines refined out of Heavenly Materials and Earthly Treasures to help him recover his strength faster.
Together with Wu Mayan, Li Yao ascended to a temporary watch tower. They observed the situation while they rested.
Dozens of experts, including the chiefs of several tribes, had surrounded the calamity-level beast from various directions. Fireballs and blasts bombarded the calamity-level beast nonstop and practically encased it in a shell of smoke!
However, this particular calamity-level beast was extremely hard to deal with. It boasted advanced flight ability. Thanks to certain spurting organs inside its body, it could jet intense air currents when it fully opened its elytra and accelerate itself to the speed of sound within a moment. Therefore, the qi-trainers all found it difficult to lock onto the calamity-level beast.
Furthermore, the shell of the calamity-level beast was oily, slippery, and curved; whatever hit the shell would simply slide away.
Several experts had tried to jump onto its back, only to be shaken off by the calamity-level beast after several bumps.
Besides, the calamity-level beast could launch mental attacks with its antennae that targeted the qi-trainers' brains directly and spray mouthpart black beetles from its mouth that could self-detonate and trigger bizarre fire that was extremely hard to put out.
Moreover, with its enormous body size and amazing high speed, it was diving down from the sky all the time and knocking over several heavy tanks and war machines with each run. Some low-level qi-trainers were even directly torn apart by the blast when the calamity-level beast flew past them!
After dozens of rounds of fighting, after numerous casualties on the qi-trainers' side, the first crack appeared on the shell of the calamity-level beast, but it became even more daunting and crazy than before!
"The woman tied with two gold serpents riding on the white falcon is Lan Yi, the best expert of the younger generation of the Feathered Snakes Tribe.
"The one carrying two millstone-like axes who took a blow from the calamity-level beast the hard way just now is Guan Hao, the top expert of the younger generation in the Giant Axe Tribe!
"The guy who almost chopped off one antenna of the calamity-level beast is Yan Chifeng, the young expert of the Burning Sun Tribe who rose to fame in recent years. He is Yan Chihuo's elder brother. The guy is a maniac, too focused on training to care about anything in the outside world. He didn't show up when the three tribes gathered in Furious Bears City. Therefore, there's no grudge between us!"
Wu Mayan's eyes were glittering as he analyzed the participants on the battlefield for Li Yao.
He had always strived to be the strongest warrior on Iron Plateau. So, he had collected a lot of files about the experts of the other tribes, especially the younger ones, in his spare time.
"The fellow who carries guns all over his body is Gao Lang of the Heaven Wolves Tribe, and the guy wearing fancy clothes with nine swords on his back is Wen Renxiao of the Silver Moon Tribe. They are both experts above the 80th level of the Refinement Stage!
"The five of them, together with Shi Meng and Xiong Zhenzhen of our tribe, are the seven most marvelous warriors in the younger generation of the six tribes of Iron Plateau. But right now, I'm afraid that you must be considered, too. No. In my opinion, you are more awesome than any of them!"
The biggest advantage of the path of Cultivation that the qi-trainers walked on was that training was easy and convenient. As long as one could overcome the pain when one's veins and nerves were being expanded, one could surpass the 20th or even the 30th level of the Refinement Stage in less than twenty years if one trained oneself hard, thereby becoming a reasonably good warrior.
But the biggest shortcoming of such a path was that the prime years of the qi-trainers were too short and that they were always restrained by their age.
For a Cultivator who paid enough attention to fitness and practiced Soul Converging Techniques, they could burst out unparalleled strength even when they were two hundred years old.
However, since the qi-trainers were burning their soul and wielding their spiritual gas unceasingly, their bodies went downhill after they reached eighty years old, and they could not stay in their peak for very long.
On Iron Plateau, 'the biggest fists belong to the young' was the ultimate truth. Therefore, all of the tribes attached great importance to the education of young people. In the battle of the apocalypse, the young experts were asked to fight in the front lines together with the seasoned warriors!
Li Yao observed the battle for a while and somehow felt that something was not right. He pondered for a while and realized that, although the battle had been on for a long time, Xiong Wuji, as the best warrior of the six tribes on Iron Plateau, still hadn't taken any action.
"Right, where is Father Xiong?"
Wu Mayan looked around. His eyes suddenly shone as he exclaimed, "There he is!"
Li Yao raised his head. He found Xiong Wuji standing alone on the peak of the crags, hundreds of meters high. The chief seemed to be both observing the overall situation of the battle and waiting for something to appear patiently.
Frowning, Li Yao concentrated his attention and translated what he saw into series of data, while he analyzed the activity and attack patterns of the calamity-level beast quickly.
Weakness, weakness… No calamity-level beast could be devoid of weaknesses!
Li Yao squinted and continued observing for long time. He then turned around and, reflecting on the whole plan for a while, said to Wu Mayan in a low voice, "Listen carefully. I want you to do something for me."
…
Ten minutes later…
BOOM! BOOM!
Li Yao's scorpion-like tank emanated earsplitting fulminations. Large clusters of white smoke sprayed out from every gap between the curved shells on the surface of the vehicle.
Sitting on the tank, Li Yao tested and adjusted the angle of every tube.
It was not until this moment that many qi-trainers from other tribes knew that he was the knight who rescued somebody else in the nests of the Iron Ore Worms previously. They all cheered for him!
Li Yao crouched on the tank. His Sky Scorpion Armor seemed to have melded with the tank, becoming one entity. He zigzagged for a while at the rear of the battlefield before he suddenly took a big turn and rushed at the precipitous cliff on one side of the canyon.
The moment he was going to hit the cliff, Li Yao lifted the head of the tank and made the tank perpendicular to the ground. Then he drove on the cliff and soared upward. Half a minute later, Li Yao reached the top of the canyon!
Looking down from his new vantage point, Li Yao could see nothing but smoke and dust.
However, the calamity-level beast was attacking so furiously that even someone blind could feel where it was.
Li Yao narrowed his eyes and gazed at the experts who were attacking the calamity-level beast in a group. His computational ability increased nonstop as he calculated the deadliest moment to attack.
Finally, the calamity-level beast burst into an outrage again after it was hit brutally by Guan Hao's axe. It sprayed a wave of self-detonating beetles first and then dived down from the air, snatching a war machine and tearing it apart!
"Now is the time!"
The scorpion-like tank roared like an iron beast and rushed at the edge of the cliff as if it were an arrow just released from a bow. Drawing a sharp arc in the midair, the tank aimed at where the calamity-level beast was precisely!
The calamity-level beast was feeling dizzy because of the collective attack from the experts well above the 70th level of the Refinement Stage. Escaping its attention, the scorpion-like tank managed to get right in front of it!
The antennas of the calamity-level beast shivered rapidly. It spat a mouthful of self-detonating beetles and formed a black shield in front of its body!
The scorpion-tank, however, accelerated itself by spurting large clusters of air currents and made two circles in the air before it crashed into the wall of black beetles and turned into a fireball!
At this moment, the tank passed by the left eye of the calamity-level beast.
But judging from the trajectory of the sliding, the tank was about to brush past the calamity-level beast, and there was no way that it could hurt the eye.
It was also what the calamity-level beast thought.
However, a large and thick tail pierced out of the fireball into a corner of the calamity-level beast's eye!
The tank dangled from the eye of the calamity-level beast with the stinger on the tail as the hook; so deep was the stinger that it was impossible to shake off.
Before the calamity-level beast was able to grab it with its forelegs, the scorpion-like tank exploded intensely. Countless pieces of the tank immediately turned one of the calamity-level beast's eye into a hole mixed with blood and flesh!
"Hiss! Hiss! Hiss! Hiss! Hiss! Hiss! Hiss!" The calamity-level beast screamed miserably.
Li Yao, on the other hand, had leapt out of the fireball the second before the explosion.
The Sky Scorpion Armor had been stained with a lot of the thick liquids from the black beetles. It was now on fire and turning him into a man-shaped flame.
However, in light of the principles of crystal suit designs and crafted by Li Yao himself, the Sky Scorpion Armor was both tight and heatproof. The fire would not leak in any time soon.
How could the heat alone stop a monster like Li Yao?
Shua!
Li Yao splayed his hands, one sharp blade ejecting from each finger. He grasped the shell on the back of the calamity-level beast and moved forward inch by inch with his arms.
The calamity-level beast sensed that the enemy was on its back, too. Its antennae started twitching violently and launched mental attacks nonstop, and it shook crazily in the air, trying to shake Li Yao off its body.
The other experts on the ground and in the air were all dazed. They did not know how tight and heatproof the Sky Scorpion Armor was and were all stunned to see a burning man clutching the back of the irritated calamity-level beast.
A moment later, they all realized what Li Yao was trying to do. Somebody immediately roared, "Attack with full strength now. Distract its attention!"
Everybody spared no efforts, not even caring that they might die because of exhaustion after the battle, while they launched storm-like attacks!
With their cooperation, Li Yao crawled to the other eye of the calamity-level beast, which failed to get a moment of rest, slowly but surely.
The crimson eye was like ten thousand hexagonal rubies piled together. It was glittering and emitting soul-stirring brightness.
Chi!
Suddenly, intense air currents spurted out from the gap of the shell on the top of the eye and knocked Li Yao off!
However, the moment Li Yao was blown away, he had unsheathed his giant sword and stabbed it in the opposite direction of the course of his flight!
The giant sword dissected itself again and was enlengthened to more than ten meters. In a weird curve, the blade pierced into the calamity-level beast's remaining eye deeply.
Li Yao released the giant sword. Spiritual gas spurted out from the grip of the sword and pushed it forwards. Eventually, the sword was reassembled, with one third of its body buried in the eye of the calamity-level beast.
The eye of the calamity-level beast was a compound one. Even if part of the eye was damaged, it wouldn't lose all its vision.
However…
BOOM!
In the next moment, the giant sword exploded brutally just like the tank had!
There were fewer crystals in the giant sword than in the tank. But since all the damage had been aimed in one direction, not only was the eye of the calamity-level beast completely destroyed, some of the shrapnel even reached deeper into the enemy's brain and diminished its thinking and sensing abilities heavily!
Chapter 585: Best Warrior of Iron Plateau! |
The abdomen of the calamity-level beast emitted shrieks that could tear the qi-trainers' brains apart. Every stripe on the shell was glittering. The two antennae were shaking so violently that they seemed as if they could break apart at any moment. It was apparently in insufferable agony!
However, the senses of an insect were not entirely based on its eyes. This calamity-level beast was a biological weapon produced by the egg of apocalypse and had the distinctive features of many insects. Other than its eyes, it could also perceive the surroundings with its antennae.
Hating Li Yao's guts, the calamity-level beast rushed at Li Yao crazily!
Drawing a helical line of fire in midair, Li Yao fled toward the back of the battlefield and dived to the ground.
The calamity-level beast, in excruciating pain, focused all its attention on Li Yao while it pursued him.
The two parties were both amazingly fast. They hit the ground in no time.
On the ground was an iron fortress made of five or so heavy tanks and war machines!
The spiritual gas surging out of the Sky Scorpion Armor was now mixed with dazzling flames right now. Li Yao roared and crammed through the narrow gaps in the iron fortress!
The calamity-level beast was too huge, and its brain was too seriously damaged to determine the size of the object in front of it. It thought that there was merely a heavy tank in front of it and therefore crashed into the object brutally, trying to knock it over.
However, it only ended up crashing into the iron fortress!
The several heavy tanks constituting the iron fortress were all vehicles used to carry the large True Qi artillery. When the situation demanded, they could serve as artillery bases. Therefore, they all had stabilizer feet that could pierce deep into the ground and fasten themselves.
Right now, the stabilizer feet had all been extended deep the underground as the tanks were deployed as artillery bases. The tanks were also connected with each other with thick chains and couldn't have been steadier.
The calamity-level beast struggled hard for a while. More than ten chains were broken apart, but there were still several dozen more chains that bound it to the heavy tanks.
The calamity-level beast tried again, but there was no time for that. The cannonballs piled in the iron fortress, which could almost be called an arsenal, were detonated at the same time. The fireball consumed everything within two hundred square meters nearby. The blast from the explosion even knocked several tanks a thousand meters away.
The relatively weak qi-trainers could not hear anything after a dull pain in their ears. They could only watch a giant mushroom cloud rising into the sky slowly and eclipsing the apocalypse cloud not far away, which was now at its most lackluster.
When the fireball finally died down, a giant pit almost twenty meters deep appeared on the ground. All the heavy tanks had been blown to smithereens in the previous explosion, along with the calamity-level beast. Much of the metal on the tanks had been melted and was flowing inside the body of the beast.
Swoosh! Swoosh!
Countless experts approached the calamity-level beast and gave the thrashing pest a final strike.
Insect-type apocalyptic beasts were extremely vigorous. Some of them could go on a rampage as if nothing had happened even when their heads were chopped off. Therefore, one could never rest assured until they were fully shattered!
It was the lesson learned from blood and tears in the hundreds of battles before.
But it was none of Li Yao's business now.
After running away as quickly as possible for more than a hundred meters, he took off the burning armor on his body and collapsed to the ground.
The demonic flames of the beetles were extremely weird. Despite the protection of the Sky Scorpion Armor, a lot of black and purple blisters had formed on his body. Some kind of poison seemed to be mixed in them, too, as the wounds were extremely stinky.
Hardly had he rolled on the ground to put down the flames when countless hands lifted him up high.
Countless qi-trainers of Iron Plateau were cheering for him. They were echoing the same thing.
"Sand Scorpion! Sand Scorpion! Sand Scorpion! Sand Scorpion!"
No matter who killed the calamity-level beast in the end, it was Li Yao who had given it the critical strike. Nobody would rob him of the glory. He was destined to be the most brilliant nova in this battle of the apocalypse!
Soon, cheers burst out from the front, indicating that the calamity-level beast had been unquestionably slain!
All left on the battlefield were small fries. It was only a matter of time before the final victory was secured.
Li Yao was thrown into the sky and caught by the crowd. His head was dizzy, and he was extremely excited. Yet, he had a weird feeling. Looking ahead, he discovered that Xiong Wuji was still standing on the top of the cliff hundreds of meters high. The chief's eyes were even sharper than before, as if he was searching for something.
Right when Li Yao was baffled by Xiong Wuji's odd behavior, and right when everybody was ecstatic, intense quakes came from underground!
The shaking was so strong that hundreds of cracks immediately appeared on the ground and crawled to the crags on the two sides of the canyon, reaching the top in to time.
Ka! Ka! Ka! Ka!
The cracks interconnected and spread afar like a spider net, covering the steep cliffs. Large rocks fell from the sky and triggered enormous dust when they hit the ground, as if the bottom of the canyon was a dim, yellow sky!
"What's going on?"
"An earthquake?"
"Not good. We are now at the center of the canyon. The crags on our two sides might collapse and bury us!"
"That's—"
Everyone, including Li Yao, looked at the center of the quakes behind the defense line of the Furious Bears Tribe in shock and desperation.
In less than three seconds, the ground there rose up abruptly, forming a hill dozens of meters high.
