Lin Mu clasped his fists, his voice resounding.
"This subordinate is willing to follow the Grand Clan Elder to intercept the Thousand Beast Kings!"
"This subordinate possesses the Rank 3 Green Wing Gu. My mobility ranks among the foremost of all the clan elders present, making me best suited for high-altitude reconnaissance and rapid support between the three beast king battlefields."
"Furthermore…"
Lin Mu paused.
"A few days ago, this subordinate personally exchanged blows with that Crimson Armored Giant Lizard King."
"Regarding the hardness of its scaled armor, its attack methods, and the old wounds on its body, this subordinate is more familiar with them than any other colleague."
The moment these words were out.
No small number of the weary clan elders around him cast looks of approval his way.
In the eyes of everyone present, this was a righteous act — this newly promoted clan elder Lin Mu, at the moment of the clan's life or death, disregarding his own safety and stepping forward of his own accord to shoulder the most dangerous duty.
Lin Cang, too, nodded slightly.
He was quite satisfied with Lin Mu's performance at this moment.
But beneath this veneer of "righteous and dignified" resolve, within Lin Mu's heart there was another calculation entirely.
Three separate Thousand Beast Kings…
For Black Blood Stockade, this is naturally a catastrophe of annihilation.
Lin Mu lowered his eyelids.
Yet within his mind, that one requirement from the Black Bone King's incomplete inheritance slowly surfaced.
The second trial— capture a Thousand Beast King alive.
Until now, this had been all but an impossible problem, one he had no means of even beginning to approach.
But now.
Three Thousand Beast Kings.
A great number of Black Blood Stockade Gu Masters.
Lin Zhen, a Rank 3 peak stage powerhouse, personally leading the force.
The bloody battle about to erupt between both sides…
Every condition had, for the first time, truly begun to converge.
If even a chaotic situation such as this could not be exploited, then who knew how long he would have to wait for the next opportunity.
"Good!"
"Lin Mu, you're in!"
Lin Zhen did not hesitate in the slightest and settled it on the spot, adding Lin Mu to the core team tasked with intercepting the beast kings.
"Hold on."
Just as Lin Mu and the others were about to turn and rush to the battlefield.
Lin Cang, who had been standing upon the steps all along, suddenly spoke and called them back.
Then he turned and walked into the side hall.
A moment later.
There was now an exceedingly archaic jade box in Lin Cang's hand, its surface covered with fine, dense sealing patterns.
He walked up to Lin Mu.
"Take it."
Lin Mu's heart stirred slightly, and he accepted it with both hands.
"Open it."
Click.
The jade box opened.
The aura of a Rank 3 Gu worm immediately spread out from within.
At the bottom of that jade box, lying quietly, was a strange Gu worm, dark gold throughout, shaped like a miniature chain with head and tail joined together, slumbering.
A Rank 3 Gu worm— the Dragon Trap Gu!
Lin Mu's gaze narrowed slightly.
He had once seen records concerning this Gu in the clan's Gu worm compendium.
"This is the Gu worm I once used deep within Black Wind Ridge, in order to capture alive that Blood Jade Python later used as a trial trump card."
Lin Cang looked at Lin Mu.
"The Dragon Trap Gu on its own cannot trap a Thousand Beast King in its full prime."
"But if the target is first gravely wounded and suppressed, and this Gu is then channeled, there is a chance of forcibly binding it."
Lin Cang raised his hand and pointed toward the three beast herds closing in from afar.
"Three separate Thousand Beast Kings."
"Killing them all within a short span of time is unrealistic."
"A head-on slugging match will only grind our own foundations to death."
His voice sank.
"So do not force a kill."
"Cripple what you can cripple."
"Stall what you can stall."
"Whichever one is first beaten to the point that it cannot resist—"
Lin Cang looked at the green wings behind Lin Mu's back.
"You take the Dragon Trap Gu over to it."
"Of the three battlefields, you are the fastest."
"So long as one of them can be nailed down first, the threat of the Thousand Beast herd under its command will be greatly reduced."
"Yes!"
Lin Mu answered in a low voice.
He accepted that Dragon Trap Gu, his face still maintaining the solemn expression of one obeying orders.
Yet deep in his heart, there was a faint tremor.
The Dragon Trap Gu.
Capture a Thousand Beast King alive.
The second trial, which had originally offered him almost no point of entry.
At this moment— it was at last no longer merely an unreachable thought.
...
The tactics were settled.
The two great fronts formally divided their forces amid an exceedingly brutal, murderous atmosphere.
Lin Cang led Kuang Xu and a portion of the combat clan elders, along with the greater half of Black Blood Stockade's main force of Gu Masters, wheeling around brazenly like a great torrent.
Facing those White Bone horns that spanned the heavens, they charged straight for the White Bone Alliance's frontal battlefield.
Today.
He would stand at the very front himself.
And with Rank 4 fists, smash Li Mang's offensive to pieces!
And on the other side.
Grand Clan Elder Lin Zhen led several Rank 3 clan elders including Lin Mu, along with over a hundred handpicked elite Gu Masters, and went without turning back to meet those three frenzied Thousand Beast tides.
Upon the earth.
Black Blood Stockade's low-rank Gu Masters had already begun forming their arrays.
One temporary defensive line after another was swiftly erected, prepared to intercept those ordinary beast herds swarming the mountains and fields with nothing but bodies of flesh and blood.
And high in the air.
"Hmmm—!"
The Green Wing Gu behind Lin Mu's back unfurled thunderously.
His entire person became a streak of jade-green light, instantly rising dozens of zhang into the sky.
Looking down from on high.
Overlooking the vast expanse.
Among the mountain ranges below.
Those three scalp-crawling Thousand Beast herds were drawing closer and closer.
The grey-green Deer King swept through the dense forest like a bolt of lightning.
Its massive antlers knocked aside layer upon layer of canopy, branches and trees snapping in its wake.
The Crimson Armored Giant Lizard King kept its enormous body low, like a crimson mountain slowly pressing forward.
With its heavy footfalls, the earth transmitted muffled tremors again and again.
And that incomparably ferocious Tiger King strode openly at the very front of the beast herd.
Low roars carried across the mountain wilds time after time.
Its ferocious aura bore down on all.
The mountain wind howled, setting Lin Zhen's robes snapping and flapping.
This Grand Clan Elder, who had spent half a lifetime at war for Black Blood Stockade, stood at the very front of the entire defensive line.
He did not look back.
He only gazed at the three ever-closing beast tides, and in an exceedingly calm tone, issued his final order.
"Each man hold his position."
"Remember the Patriarch's words."
"Do not covet merit."
"And do not think of killing right from the start."
Lin Zhen slowly raised his hand.
The Flowery Silver Primeval Essence of Rank 3 peak stage was already surging endlessly within his aperture.
"First, these three brutes—"
"Hold them for me!"
The next moment.
"ROAR—!!!"
The three Thousand Beast Kings let out deafening bellows almost in unison.
The three enormous beast herds, at a distance of less than a hundred zhang from Black Blood Stockade's defensive line— thunderously accelerated!
The earth shook.
The mountain forest rocked.
That beast tide, like three great torrents, came smashing down upon Black Blood Stockade's defensive line with a force that would crush the rotten and shatter the withered!
"Here they come."
Lin Zhen's eyes narrowed slightly.
Sharp light burst forth from their depths.
Rank 3 peak stage Primeval Essence at last surged out of his aperture in this moment, without the slightest reservation!
The next instant.
Lin Zhen raised his hand.
And struck out with brazen force!
BOOM—!!!