[Simulated Scenario... Ended.]
The cold electronic voice echoed within the cabin. The surrounding light and shadows dissipated completely, and Tendo stood once more inside the holographic simulation pod of the Research Zone.
He slowly opened his eyes. The battle intent in his pale blue pupils had yet to fade, and the residual fluctuations of laws around his body gradually settled into tranquility.
"The Infinity trait has completely stabilized. All that's left is to refine it through actual combat."
He murmured softly, turning to leave the Research Zone.
[Half a month later, Martial Heaven Capital, inside Tendo's personal cultivation room]
"Tendo, emergency! The border city of Rock is facing a massive beast tide assault. The numbers exceed a hundred thousand, and two Calamity-class Star Beasts have appeared!"
"Three breaches have already been torn through Rock's defensive lines, and the Envoy Association has suffered heavy casualties. They need support immediately!"
Jing Liuli's voice came through Tendo's data terminal, her background noise a chaotic mix of piercing alarms and distant explosions.
She had originally only gone to Rock to hold a concert according to her contract, but who could have expected to run into this. Even more unexpected was the appearance of two Calamity-class Star Beasts at once. It was rare for Calamity-class beasts to ever cooperate.
Hearing this, Tendo's gaze turned instantly cold.
Since the dawn of the Star Source Era, beast tides had remained the nightmare of the New Federation's populace. The appearance of Calamity-class Star Beasts, in particular, was enough to cause a border city to fall completely.
Without a moment's hesitation, Tendo's figure flickered. He transformed into a streak of pale blue light, bursting through the dome of the Research Zone and hurtling toward Rock City at breakneck speed.
Two hours later, Tendo arrived within a hundred kilometers of Rock. With his Star Eclipse Eye fully deployed, even though he hadn't reached the city yet, the tragic state of Rock was already vividly etched into his mind.
Rock City, once one of the most prosperous trade hubs on the New Federation's border, had been reduced to a living hell on earth.
The alloy walls on the outskirts had been torn open with massive gaps, and obsidian-colored Star Beasts poured in like a rising tide. They came in various forms: some resembled giant lizards spitting scalding acid; some possessed razor-sharp limbs that could easily shred hardened alloy; others were the size of small mountains, each footfall causing the earth to tremble violently and crushing entire blocks of houses.
On the streets, collapsed buildings, burning vehicles, and splattered blood were everywhere. Dark red stains soaked the pavement, mixing with dust into a viscous gore that made a sickening "squelch" sound when stepped upon.
The screams and cries of ordinary citizens rose and fell, only to be quickly drowned out by the roars of the beasts.
A pair of young parents held their child tightly beneath them. The father used his arm to desperately brace a broken door panel. Outside the door, the claws of an Star Beast scratched frantically. Amidst flying wood chips, his arm was slashed open by a claw, a wound so deep the bone was visible through the mangled flesh. Blood surged from the wound like a fountain, flowing down his arm and staining the child's small face bright red.
The mother covered the child's mouth firmly, tears mixing with blood as they slid from her eyes. Her gaze was filled with despair, yet she remained gritted-teeth, using her frail body to shield against the impending fatal strike.
Not far away, an elderly man was doing his best to retreat while pushing a wheelchair. His paralyzed wife sat in the chair, while a hyena-like Star Beast closed in step by step behind them, drool dripping from its sharp fangs. The old man tremblingly raised his cane to swing it, but it only elicited a more ferocious roar from the beast. The cane was swatted away with one claw, and as the beast lunged, its sharp teeth instantly snapped the old man's arm, spraying blood onto his wife's pale face. The old man shrieked, desperately shielding his wife behind him as he closed his eyes. In the next second, the beast's claws tore open his chest, spilling entrails and blood across the ground.
Simultaneously, several Envoys in Association uniforms were fighting to the death. Their Star Source light was dim, their bodies covered in wounds that exposed raw flesh. Their Star Weapons were cracked, yet they did not retreat a single step, buying time for the citizens behind them to evacuate.
Splat!
The claw of an Star Beast plunged directly into an Envoy's chest. As the claw was ripped out, bringing warm organs with it, blood and bits of flesh sprayed everywhere. The Envoy stumbled and fell, his pupils rapidly dilating. Before dying, he used the last of his strength to toss an Star Energy grenade into the pack of beasts. In a thunderous explosion, several low-level beasts were blown into a bloody mess, their severed limbs flying everywhere, but they were quickly replaced by even more monsters.
Near where the Envoy fell, a teenage boy huddled behind a trash can. His leg had been snapped by falling rebar, the broken bone piercing through his skin. Blood soaked his pant leg. He bit his lip hard, watching a beast bite a neighbor in half; the upper body flew out and slammed against a wall, dragging intestines across the ground. The neighbor's scream cut off abruptly. The boy bit his lip until it bled but dared not make a sound. Fear coiled around his heart like a cold snake, and his body shook uncontrollably.
In residential buildings further away, families had nailed their doors and windows shut, but they could not withstand the impact of the beasts. As the walls vibrated, a wooden door was smashed open. Several beasts swarmed in, and the house was instantly filled with shrill screams. Soon, the screams went silent, replaced only by the "crunch" of beasts gnawing on bone and flesh. Blood seeped through the door crack, forming a small stream on the floor.
Survivors broke down in tears; some folded their hands in prayer, while others picked up kitchen knives or rolling pins to make a final stand, though their trembling hands betrayed the terror in their hearts.
However, in this earthly purgatory, there were a few places that maintained a final sense of "order." One was the Rock Envoy Association, where the highest concentration of the city's Envoys was gathered. The other... was the stadium where Jing Liuli was holding her concert.
Relying on her unique "Daydream" Star Source and her own formidable strength, although she had not yet reached the Calamity-class, she was one of the children of the stars most capable of facing many enemies alone. She had, almost single-handedly, blocked a massive wave of beasts, allowing the more than one hundred thousand spectators inside the stadium to remain safe until now.
After confirming that Jing Liuli's side was fine, Tendo immediately shifted his gaze.
In the central plaza of the city, two terrifying auras rose into the sky—the two Calamity-class Star Beasts.
One resembled a giant wolf, covered in dark purple scales. Its eyes flickered with a crimson glow, and it was surrounded by dense corrosive energy. Wherever it passed, the ground and buildings were dissolved into black slime. This was the Calamity-class beast, the "Corrosive-Scaled Wolf."
The other was a giant spider over a hundred meters in size. Its eight legs were like massive steel pillars, and its abdomen constantly sprayed white silk. The silk was incredibly tough; once entangled, whether it be an Envoy or a building, they would be instantly crushed. It was known as the "Sky-Rending Spider."
Two Calamity-class Envoys from Rock City were struggling against them but were completely at a disadvantage. The domain of one Envoy was being constantly eroded by the wolf's corrosive energy, the domain barrier covered in cracks, and blood leaked from the corner of his mouth. The other Envoy was tightly ensnared by the spider's silk, his Star Source circulation sluggish; he could only barely fend off the strikes of the spider's legs, his face full of pain and despair.
"It's over... everything is over..."
A surviving citizen sat paralyzed on the ground, watching the approaching beasts with hollow eyes, muttering to himself. His wife and child had just been devoured by a beast, leaving only a blur of flesh and a child's small shoe on the ground, bits of shredded clothing mixed in the gore. He reached out wanting to grasp something, but only caught a handful of viscous blood-mud; the sensation made him gag uncontrollably.
Similarly, the surrounding citizens fell into despair. Some gave up running and were instantly torn to shreds upon being caught. Some wept while cradling the mangled corpses of loved ones; one corpse's head was missing, the stump of the neck still seeping blood, the crying sounding as raspy as a broken gong.
A young couple clung to each other tightly. The girl had just looked up to cry out when her cheek was slashed open by a beast's claw, the flesh flapping and blood flowing freely; her sobbing instantly turned into a piercing shriek. The boy, his eyes red, shielded her behind him and swung a steel pipe, only for his arm to be snapped by a single claw. The pipe fell, the boy collapsed, and the beast pounced, its sharp teeth crushing his skull.
At a gap in the city's defensive line, several workers responsible for guiding the evacuation were surrounded. They had only ordinary energy pistols, which posed no threat to the beasts. One worker was hit by the wolf's acid; his skin instantly festered, exposing the white bone beneath. He let out a heart-wrenching scream, rolling on the ground until he quickly fell silent. The others retreated step by step until there was nowhere left to go, the light in their eyes fading as they awaited the fate of being torn apart.
Right at that moment, a brilliant streak of pale blue light sliced through the horizon, descending above Rock City like a savior.
As the light fell, Tendo's figure appeared not far from the Corrosive-Scaled Wolf and the Sky-Rending Spider. His pale blue Vector Field expanded instantly, spreading across the entire city and enveloping all the low-level beasts that were slaughtering the populace.
"Vector... Reversal."
Tendo shouted softly. The Vector Field erupted, and a terrifying repulsive force expanded outward from the center. The low-level beasts within the field were struck as if by an invisible giant hand, sent flying into walls and buildings, dying instantly. The dense piles of beast corpses rose like mountains. The noisy, desperate city suddenly fell into a profound silence.
"That is..."
The surviving citizens looked at Tendo's figure, and a light of hope instantly burst from their eyes. Desperate wails turned into excited shouts.
"It's support from headquarters! We're saved!"
The two Calamity-class Envoys who were struggling also saw Tendo. Joy flashed in their eyes, and their depleted Star Sources seemed to regain a spark of vitality.
Sensing the terrifying aura from Tendo, the Corrosive-Scaled Wolf and the Sky-Rending Spider halted their attacks. They turned to stare at Tendo, their eyes filled with wariness and bloodthirsty desire. They could feel that this human's strength far exceeded their previous opponents.
The Corrosive-Scaled Wolf snapped its jaws open, and a dark purple corrosive beam shot toward Tendo. Wherever the beam passed, the air hissed with the sound of erosion.
[Attack Suffered: Corrosive-Scaled Wolf · Corrosive Beam]
[Energy Intensity: 1.2 × 10^? Joules]
[Does not exceed current storage limit (1.53 × 10^? Joules). Storage limit not refreshed.]
Tendo's gaze was flat. He did not dodge, instead allowing the corrosive beam to blast into him. Right as the beam was about to strike, he willed it so, activating the "Infinity" trait to replicate the previously stored Taotie's Breath at 60% intensity.
A dark gold beam shot from his palm, colliding with the dark purple corrosive beam.
Boom!
The two beams collided violently. The dark purple corrosive energy and the dark gold devouring energy fought frantically in mid-air, erupting in a terrifying energy shockwave. The shockwave, like an invisible tidal wave, uprooted ruined buildings within a hundred meters. Fragments of walls and rebar mixed with dust to fly across the sky.
A circular crater was forcibly pressed into the ground. The corrosive beam tried to erode the Taotie's Breath, but was instead pulled back by the latter's innate devouring property. The two energies neutralized and annihilated each other, eventually turning into energy debris that sizzled across the sky. Where the debris fell, the charred earth was further pitted with countless small holes. The air was thick with the pungent smell of acid and scorching heat.
The already broken streets became even more of a mess under the impact. Broken lampposts and twisted billboards were thrown several meters away, crashing into the remaining skeletons of buildings with ear-piercing sounds.
Seeing this, a hint of surprise flashed in the wolf's eyes; it clearly hadn't expected its attack to be so easily blocked.
Beside it, the Sky-Rending Spider seized the opportunity. Its abdomen contracted sharply, and dozens of white silks shot toward Tendo like a torrential rain. The silk contained terrifying binding force and carried tearing rules; once hit, one would be instantly crushed.
[Attack Suffered: Sky-Rending Spider · God-Binding Silk]
[Energy Intensity: 1.3 × 10^? Joules]
[Does not exceed current storage limit. Storage limit not refreshed.]
Facing the spider's attack, Tendo remained suspended in mid-air, motionless. His pale blue Vector Field was like a flowing film of light, reflecting a cold luster under the sun, forming a sharp contrast with the blood-soaked streets below.
In the next second, the pale blue vector lines around him wove into a net, locking onto the incoming silk with precision. With a slight tug, he altered the trajectory of the silk, letting it fly past his shoulder to entangle a broken wall behind him. With a "crack," the reinforced concrete wall was crushed into powder, and rubble fell.
Then, Tendo raised his left hand. A golden fist shadow, carrying the blurry image of Enite, suddenly split into six paths. These fist shadows were like six streaks of golden lightning slicing through the gloomy sky, precisely striking the nodes of the silk. Each hit was accompanied by a muffled explosion.
Boom!
The silk snapped at the sound. White fluff drifted through the air, burning small holes into the blackened, corroded ground the moment they landed.
Immediately after, both dark gold and pale gold lights lit up in his right palm simultaneously. The scalding airflow of the Taotie's Breath and the violent energy of the physical impact intertwined, forming a translucent energy barrier. The air around the barrier distorted from the high temperature, and the light from burning vehicles in the distance reflected off the barrier in flickering spots. The remaining silk hit the barrier and was instantly melted away by the high temperature, vanishing as green smoke into the blood-scented wind.
Having two consecutive attacks easily neutralized, the Corrosive-Scaled Wolf and the Sky-Rending Spider were completely enraged. They exchanged a look and attacked simultaneously. The corrosive energy around the wolf surged frantically, forming a massive corrosive domain that crushed toward Tendo. The spider sprayed silk again, this time in greater numbers and thickness, also carrying potent poison. It coordinated with the corrosive domain to form an airtight net of attack, completely enveloping Tendo.
[Attack Suffered: Corrosive-Scaled Wolf · Corrosive Domain + Sky-Rending Spider · Poisonous Silk Net]
[Combined Attack Energy Intensity: 1.5 × 10^? Joules]
[Does not exceed current storage limit. Storage limit not refreshed.]