"Is it coming?"
Yan Shaozhe gazed up at the sky, watching the dark energy constantly rising, almost devouring the light. A hint of unconcealed bitterness touched his lips.
He had always known that Di Tian could never remain a spectator.
Once this Beast God who commanded the Star Dou Great Forest made a move, it would surely be a devastating strike capable of shattering cities and destroying kingdoms.
However, they had nowhere left to retreat—behind them was Shrek City, and millions of commoners who trusted and relied on them.
Even if death lay ahead, they had to step forward and endure this blow.
As the dark energy grew increasingly violent and surging, the celestial phenomena above the battlefield underwent a terrifying change.
The dense dark clouds, which had merely obscured the sunlight before, were now a heart-palpitating, pitch-black, as if splashed with ink.
Countless thick, purple lightning bolts frantically darted and exploded within the clouds. Electric snakes writhed, making the entire sky flicker between light and dark, like the end of the world descending.
Immediately after, a terrifying dragon claw, with a diameter exceeding a hundred meters, slowly reached out from the churning, inky cloud sea.
This dragon claw was condensed from the purest, most primordial dark element. Its surface was shrouded in a thick black mist capable of corroding space, and each claw joint shimmered with a bone-chilling cold light, like black crystalline diamonds forged by the heavens and earth.
As the dragon claw moved, space warped and trembled, bringing with it the supreme, world-destroying might, and reached down to seize the Titled Douluos, led by Yan Shaozhe.
"Caw—!"
A resounding and resolute Phoenix cry tore through the sky. Yan Shaozhe did not hesitate, and a golden light erupted around him, instantly releasing his Radiant Phoenix Martial Soul True Body.
A brilliant Golden Phoenix, with a wingspan over a hundred meters, suddenly appeared above the battlefield. Every feather burned with an unquenchable Holy Flame of Light. Like a golden scorching sun rising from the earth, carrying the intense heat to incinerate all things and the sacred aura to purify all evil, it fearlessly collided with the dark dragon claw pressing down from the firmament.
"BOOM—!!!"
The golden scorching sun and the dark dragon claw fiercely clashed. The resulting intense light instantly blinded all living beings on the battlefield.
Light and darkness, two diametrically opposed, ultimate attributes, violently intertwined and annihilated each other in mid-air. The resulting terrifying shockwave spread outward fiercely, like a world-destroying tsunami.
The charging tide of Soul Beasts below and the defending forces on the city wall were struck as if by an invisible giant hammer. Those with weaker cultivation directly spat blood and collapsed powerlessly.
However, the gulf in power between Yan Shaozhe and "Di Tian" was simply too vast—after only a few breaths of stalemate, the dark dragon claw completely enveloped the golden scorching sun, as if crushing a delicate glass ball in its palm.
The Radiant Phoenix let out a mournful cry. The Holy Flame around it visibly dimmed rapidly, and the brilliant golden feathers cracked and shattered, turning into countless spots of light that scattered and vanished.
"Shaoze!"
Cai Mei'er was utterly terrified, crying out in alarm.
A cold, mocking sneer came from the clouds, as if ridiculing Yan Shaozhe's overestimation of his own strength.
"Caw—!!!"
Just as despair gripped everyone's hearts, a Phoenix cry, carrying an unyielding will and a blood-curdling intensity, rang out across the battlefield once more.
In the rapidly dissipating golden light shower, a faint flame suddenly reignited in the void.
The flame grew in the wind, rapidly expanding, and in the blink of an eye, Yan Shaozhe's figure reformed.
Though his aura was clearly weak, and fresh blood still stained his lips, he had miraculously survived.
This was Yan Shaozhe's ultimate trump card for survival: Phoenix Nirvana.
By virtue of his top-tier Beast Martial Soul's characteristics, he could be reborn from the flames once when on the verge of death, essentially gaining an extra life.
However, this technique came at a great cost and could not be used again in a short period.
Though forced to use his final resort after only one encounter, he had managed to endure Di Tian's fatal strike, securing a precious moment of respite for Shrek City.
"Oh?"
A slight sound of surprise clearly came from within the clouds.
Fallen Star, the mastermind controlling everything, had clearly not anticipated that this human possessed such a peculiar ability to preserve his life.
But this surprise was instantly replaced by an icy killing intent.
In the next second, the dark dragon claw, obscuring the sky and the sun, pressed down fiercely from the clouds once more. This time, the power it contained was more violent and ferocious than before. It was clearly intent on utterly erasing Yan Shaozhe, along with the Shrek City wall below.
"We attack!"
Time Douluo Shi Xing and Elder Lin, a Level 97 Super Douluo, exchanged a look and roared in unison.
Two incomparably powerful auras shot skyward, each releasing their formidable Martial Soul True Bodies, transforming into streaks of light and resolutely flying toward the descending dragon claw of destruction.
Yan Shaozhe also forcefully summoned his remaining Soul Power. The golden flames around him, though not as vigorous, flared up with an unwavering intensity once more, joining the two elders in facing the attack.
He knew clearly that he could never block Di Tian alone, and even with the addition of the two Super Douluo, Shi Xing and Elder Lin, they likely couldn't hold out for long.
And at this moment, Xian Lin'er, Cai Meir, and others were fiercely entangled by ferocious beasts like Bear Lord (Xiong Jun) and Myriad Beast King Yao Ling, completely unable to break away and assist—Shrek City had fallen into the most perilous desperate situation it had faced in its ten thousand years of history.
"Should we help?"
On the towering top-floor terrace of the Jade Chamber in the center of Shrek City, Ganyu gazed at the distant battlefield, where energy was raging and murderous intent was soaring. Her gaze was particularly focused on the air space where the clouds were densest and the pressure was most terrifying. Her cool tone held a hint of inquiry.
The beautiful longbow in her hand had already subtly condensed an ice-blue arrow. Extreme coldness lingered around the arrow shaft, instantly freezing the moisture in the surrounding air into fine ice crystals.
As long as Ningguang nodded, this arrow, imbued with the power of extreme cold, could instantly pierce the sky, at least temporarily hindering Di Tian's offensive and relieving some of the pressure on Shrek Academy's side.
Ningguang crossed her arms over her chest, the hem of her luxurious, gold-patterned qipao gently swaying in the wind.
However, her gaze was not directed at the tragic battlefield. Instead, it traveled over the layers of rooftops, toward the northern part of Shrek City.
There, countless commoners, helping the old and leading the young, were moving along the routes already planned by the academy, slowly but orderly evacuating outside the city, like migrating ants.
Clearly, the high-level officials of Shrek Academy had foreseen that the situation could deteriorate to this extent. They had begun arranging the transfer of citizens right from the start of the Beast Tide.
However, the pace of ordinary people was ultimately limited. More time was needed for them to fully evacuate the danger zone and escape the disaster.
She was silent for a moment, an expression of shifting thoughts on her beautiful face. Finally, she spoke slowly, her voice carrying a hint of subtle gravity.
"First, try to probe with a long-range attack. More importantly... the being in those clouds is likely not the real Beast God Di Tian."
Ningguang had already received urgent information passed on by Lu Jingming through special channels, knowing that the mastermind behind this sudden Beast Tide was the terrifying existence representing Destruction—the Lord of Destruction, Fallen Star.
The imposing Di Tian before them was merely a powerful puppet controlled by her power.
With the current strength of herself and Ganyu, facing Fallen Star head-on was completely hopeless.
Lu Jingming's intention was also clear: for them to quickly gather their forces and evacuate. Herta would use the Aetherium to facilitate cross-spatial rendezvous and safely bring them back to Haiyuan City.
Ningguang withdrew her gaze from the retreating crowd in the north and fixed it back on the battle-crazed battlefield. Her eyes sharpened.
"Both our Jade Chamber personnel and these evacuating commoners need more time."
Throughout the streets and alleys of Shrek City, numerous employees in Jade Chamber uniforms were orderly emerging from various branches and converging toward the main Jade Chamber building, according to their emergency plan.
Most of them were essential staff responsible for maintaining the operation of the Jade Chamber's vast commercial system. Though not combat personnel, they were an indispensable part of the Jade Chamber.
Ningguang looked at the figures striving to reach the headquarters, her eyes filled with absolute determination.
She had to safely lead all of them away, without losing a single person. This was her undeniable responsibility as the Head of the Jade Chamber.
At the same time, the sight of the commoners—helping the old and leading the young, trudging wearily in the north of the city—prevented her from hardening her heart and immediately retreating.
Every second gained could potentially save dozens, even hundreds, of innocent lives.
Ganyu nodded knowingly, saying no more.
She steadily raised the longbow in her hand. The ice-blue arrow was precisely nocked onto the bowstring. The Soul Power around her began to converge like a vortex toward the arrowhead. An ultimate chill capable of freezing the soul quietly permeated the air.
The arrow tip pointed directly at the terrifying dragon claw that was emerging from the clouds once more.
The extreme coldness began to condense wildly at the arrowhead, yet, strangely, not a single trace leaked out. It was all precisely compressed within the ice-blue arrow by Ganyu's microscopic level of control.
The high concentration of energy caused the air around the arrow to slightly warp, as if unable to bear the imminent eruption of this mighty power of extreme cold.
This was the manifestation of a Water-attribute Soul Master's absolute mastery over their own power, and it was her undeniable confidence as a Level 99 Limit Douluo.
Even though the Jade Chamber was more than a dozen kilometers away from the main battlefield, her impeccable control over her power and precise spatial perception of the battlefield were enough to ensure that this arrow, imbued with the power of extreme cold, could accurately hit the target hidden in the dark clouds.
As the charge continued, the ice-blue light at the arrowhead grew deeper and more internalized, as if the coldness capable of freezing the ocean had been condensed into that single point of chilling light.
The surrounding air began to drop uncontrollably. Layer upon layer of fine ice crystals, like carved crystal, rapidly condensed on the luxurious white jade railing at the edge of the terrace. The free-floating moisture in the air was directly frozen into countless tiny ice particles that refracted a faint blue light. They hovered around Ganyu like stardust, making her appear like a Goddess of Ice and Snow.
A look of admiration flashed in Ningguang's eyes. Ganyu was different from a non-combatant like herself. Besides being a perfect secretary, she was also extraordinarily capable in a fight.
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