Suspended in midair, Lin Mu's expression instantly sank to its absolute limit.
An indescribable sense of urgency seized his heart in that instant.
His first reaction was even to immediately beat his wings and rush back to the Giant Lizard King's battlefield to plug the breach.
But his gaze swept over the ground below.
That Thousand Beast Deer King, like a bolt of lightning, was still roaming arrogantly down there.
The moment Lin Mu turned and left, that Rank 3 clan elder below who could still fight would absolutely not last ten rounds, and the deer herd would drive straight in like floodwater bursting a dam.
He could not leave!
Lin Mu's condition at this point was in fact not bad. Aside from a few light scrapes on his body, he had suffered no real serious wounds.
But after several consecutive days of high-intensity combat, coupled with the ceaseless channeling of Gu worms, the Flowery Silver Primeval Essence within his aperture had already been depleted by well over half.
What left him most irritated and frustrated was precisely this sense of powerlessness — knowing where he was needed, yet being unable to reach it!
Lin Mu's hand reached subconsciously toward his waist.
Hanging there was the Dragon Trap Gu that Lin Cang had handed him before departure.
But the instant this thought surfaced, he forcibly crushed it down with exceeding coldness.
"No good."
Lin Mu stared fixedly at that Deer King below, still bounding about vigorously, calculating inwardly.
"Though this Deer King has taken some light wounds, it is still nearly at full strength."
"With the Dragon Trap Gu's own binding power, there is simply no possibility of restraining a Thousand Beast King at full strength!"
"Using it rashly now would not resolve the Deer King's threat at all. It would only squander, for nothing, the single most important trump card I have at present."
The more desperate the straits, the less one could afford haste.
Lin Mu forced himself to draw a deep breath of cold air, crushing down the irritation in his heart.
He no longer blindly chased the Deer King's afterimages. Instead, the green wings at his back beat abruptly, and his figure rose higher once more.
Borrowing the vantage of high altitude, he forced himself to re-examine this three-king battlefield that had already fallen to the brink of collapse.
"There must be a way to break this situation…"
Lin Mu's gaze swept back and forth across the sea of beasts below.
Suddenly! His eyes abruptly focused.
Looking down from above, Lin Mu at last noticed a detail that had existed all along, yet had been subconsciously overlooked by everyone— the boundaries!
Though the three Thousand Beast Kings had launched their assault on Black Blood Stockade's defensive line simultaneously, they were not, in any true sense, a single beast tide mixed together!
The deer herd, the tiger pack, the giant lizard swarm — though these three enormous clans were all pushing forward, each maintained an exceedingly clear, sharply delineated range of activity between themselves.
No matter how chaotic the battlefield grew, no matter how berserk the savage beasts became, those beasts at the fringes would instinctively give way to one another, and would never easily step into another Thousand Beast King's territory.
"The territorial instinct of savage beasts…"
A thought flashed like lightning through Lin Mu's mind.
"This was originally the very reason Black Blood Stockade could deploy three separate combat groups and barely manage to pin all three down at once."
But Lin Mu stared fixedly at those sharply delineated boundaries between the beast herds, and a mad idea suddenly surged wildly up from the depths of his heart!
"Since these brutes are fundamentally incompatible with one another to begin with…"
"then why am I maintaining this false order on their behalf?!"
"What if…"
Lin Mu's gaze followed the Deer King's high-speed path of movement, extending all the way to the right.
At last.
His line of sight halted fixedly upon that unmatchedly tyrannical Thousand Beast Tiger King not far to the right, and the battlefield where the vast tiger pack it commanded held sway!
"What if I forcibly shove one Thousand Beast King into another Thousand Beast King's herd?"
The moment this thought emerged, it grew wild as weeds, no longer possible to restrain!
"Let's risk it!"
A fierce light flashed in Lin Mu's eyes, and he made his decision in an instant.
He no longer, as before, limited himself to restraint and blockade for the sake of conserving Primeval Essence.
"Listen!"
Lin Mu suddenly issued an exceedingly stern roar toward that Rank 3 clan elder below, who was still holding on with bitter effort:
"Stop trying to restrain it! Hit that Deer King with every offensive method you have left! Stop hoarding your Primeval Essence!"
That clan elder was first stunned, then a look of astonishment and hesitation appeared on his face.
While dodging the Deer King's charges with difficulty, he shouted out a hurried warning:
"Lin Mu! Have you gone mad?! The Grand Clan Elder's order was 'delay only'!"
"If we burn through all our Primeval Essence now, what do we use to hold off the rest of the beast herd afterward?! What do we do later?!"
"Do as I say!"
Lin Mu had neither the time nor the patience to explain slowly.
The green wings at his back beat abruptly, and his entire body dove down forcefully like a stooping falcon.
His voice carried a resolve that brooked no doubt:
"People have already died on the giant lizard side! The line is about to collapse!"
"If we keep dragging this out at a crawl—"
Lin Mu stared fixedly at that clan elder.
"then there won't be any 'later' for us at all!"
"Hit it, now!!!"
Along with Lin Mu's thunderous roar—
"Let's risk it!"
That clan elder was a ruthless character in his own right. Spurred on by Lin Mu's words, he too understood that this was now a moment of life and death.
He clenched his teeth, and the Primeval Essence within his aperture erupted thunderously with no reservation whatsoever!
Boom, boom, boom!
All manner of powerful Rank 3 attack Gu worms poured madly down upon the Deer King, like raindrops that cost nothing!
And in midair, Lin Mu cut loose completely.
"Shwah! Shwah! Shwah!"
The Metal Sever Leaf Gu was channeled to its utmost.
He no longer bothered to predict the Deer King's movement trajectory. Instead, he sent those golden leaf blades hacking one after another at the Deer King's head and face, its eyes, and the bases of that enormous pair of antlers!
Shhk!
One Metal Sever Leaf grazed past the corner of the Deer King's eye, leaving a bloody gash deep enough to expose bone.
Bam!
Another leaf blade hacked viciously into the base of the antlers it took such pride in, producing a muffled detonation.
Lin Mu's purpose was exceedingly clear.
He had never expected these attacks to gravely wound a Thousand Beast King that specialized in speed.
What he wanted was to enrage it completely!
He wanted to draw this Deer King's hatred entirely onto himself!
Sure enough.
After suffering such a fierce assault, like a raging gale and sudden downpour, this Thousand Beast Deer King was at last thrown into absolute fury!
It let out an exceedingly shrill, ear-piercing cry of rage.
Those beast eyes, which had until now remained relatively calm, were now wholly overtaken by tyrannical crimson.
Its massive frame abruptly crouched low, its enormous antlers aimed straight at that human in midair who had been provoking it all along.
Boom!
Its four hooves surged with force, and four great craters exploded into the ground in an instant!
The Deer King transformed into a bolt of grey-green lightning of death, carrying a terrifying, unstoppable momentum, and — even ignoring the attacks of the clan elder below — charged madly straight at Lin Mu in midair!
"It's charging at you! Dodge!"
Seeing this, the clan elder below paled in alarm and subconsciously moved to channel a defensive Gu worm.
"Stop! Let it come!"
Yet Lin Mu in midair, far from panicking, roared at that clan elder with exceeding severity.
Because from this moment on, he needed this Deer King to charge, and the faster it charged, the better!
The Green Wing Gu at Lin Mu's back beat rapidly.
He continuously adjusted his altitude and position, seemingly retreating and dodging in utter disarray.
But in truth, he was like the most skilled — and most insane — of bullfighters, keeping himself precisely less than several zhang in front of this enraged Deer King the entire time!
It was an exceedingly dangerous distance.
If Lin Mu were even half a beat too slow, or if the Green Wing Gu faltered for even a moment from insufficient Primeval Essence, he would be instantly run through by that enormous pair of antlers and smashed into a pile of mangled flesh on the spot!
Whoosh—!
Several times the Deer King abruptly accelerated.
Those enormous antlers, sharp as the branching limbs of withered wood, more than once howled past by the barest margin, grazing the hem of Lin Mu's robes, the vicious gale they stirred up even scraping fine bloody lines across Lin Mu's cheeks.
Yet Lin Mu kept his teeth clenched tight the entire time, refusing to truly break free of the Deer King's attack range!
Just so, using his own life as bait, he drew this enraged Thousand Beast King along.
One man and one beast, locked in an exceedingly perilous chase between life and death.
And in the course of this mad pursuit, their position was gradually deviating, bit by bit, from the deer herd's original path of advance.
"Almost…"
Fine cold sweat already covered Lin Mu's forehead, and the Primeval Essence within his aperture was being consumed at an exceedingly terrifying rate.
When, from high in the air, he glimpsed out of the corner of his eye that he and the Deer King had drawn infinitely close to the edge of that vast beast horde on the right, a madness never seen before suddenly blazed out from the depths of Lin Mu's eyes!
The opportunity was about to arrive!