The members of the Cloud Shadow Sky were still chatting.
In the place where the members of the Silver-winged Hall stood, the mood was a little down. Zhong An, their branch hall leader, was not a talkative man. He just stood there, looking rather aloof and detached. His subordinates were murmuring in low voices.
Even they didn’t know that Zhong An was already a Yuan Ying Realm cultivator.
Among these people, Mo Wen and the other elves were the ones who looked most ill at ease.
“We can’t go away, nor can we go into the secret realm. We’ve become Hu Zhiqiang’s targets, alas.”
Mo Wen felt that he had turned more grey-haired in the past few hours.
He was quite edgy.
“Uncle Mo Wen, since this is already the case, there is nothing we can do. I figure those forces may get into a fight very soon. When the Seventh Princess comes out, perhaps we can take advantage of the chaos and find a way to escape.”
“But there are so many mechanical troops. Our chance is dim.”
Mo Wen sighed again and looked up at the sky.
The key was that Hu Zhiqiang still had a fleet of dozens of warships.
It was hard to fight against them. The feeling of being put at other people’s mercy was too tormenting.
At this moment, at the edge of the swamp inside the secret realm—
When the group returned to the ground, Zhang Mu had already comprehended a lot of things that he had not discovered before during his stay in the Black Evil Source. However, to make further progress, he still needed to go back and do closed-door cultivation to digest these insights.
This time, he had had a big haul in the secret realm. After all, he was a brilliant cultivator who was about to enter the Yuan Ying Realm.
It was just that his journey to the Yuan Ying Realm was a little rough.
When Zhang Mu was being enlightened in the Black Evil Source, the second team of Yuan Ying Realm Cultivators found them with an unknown method.
As a result, Zhang Han attacked again. The energy in this swamp seemed to have made Zhang Han stronger. He felt that his might had doubled here.
What was even more surprising was that Tiny Tot cast a spell and controlled the tens of thousands of Yin Spirits, which caused huge trouble for the five Yuan Ying cultivators and trapped them in the swamp. Thanks to this, Zhang Han easily killed them all.
As soon as Zhang Han and the others returned to the ground, they encountered the third team.
Zhang Han fought again. It only took him 10 minutes to finish off these five.
“Honey, if we run into more enemies, you deal with them,” Zhang Han looked in the direction of the exit of the secret realm and remarked unhurriedly.
He was a little tired after fighting three big battles in a row. The battles had consumed a large amount of his spiritual force and soul sense. Even though he had taken two pellets, he had only recovered about fifty percent of his energy.
His words instantly stunned Nina.
“Is Mengmeng’s mother also a cultivator in the Yuan Ying Realm?
“But she hasn’t shown it, has she?”
“These people were all coveting our treasures. That Hu something hasn’t come in yet. He must be waiting for us outside,” Dong Chen reminded them.
“His name is Hu Zhiqiang.” Nina came back to her senses and said, “He is a mechanical martial artist at the Yuan Ying Realm Early-Stage. He is very famous. The mechanical troops under his command are very high-end. Those troops are countless numbers and of a wide range. What we should pay more attention to is that he has brought a fleet of dozens of warships here, including a main vessel. It carries a heavyweight weapon. If things went so far as to drive Hu Zhiqiang insane, he would definitely use it. He also has mechas that can fight those in the General Realm, so his defense is freaking strong.”
“At the Yuan Ying Realm Early-Stage…” Zhang Han muttered. Then, he shook his head slightly and stopped talking.
He looked ahead and said, “Let’s go out of the secret realm and meet those people.”
“Let’s go!”
After leaving the swamp, without Mengmeng’s instruction, Tiny Tot voluntarily transformed back into a penguin and climbed into Mengmeng’s schoolbag to continue its sweet dreams.
It would take some time to get from here to the exit.
During this time, the void in the universe above the Lost Continent was bustling with activity!
Bang, bang, bang, bang, bang!
Spaceships flew out of the secondary space and appeared in the nodes above the Lost Continent. There were dozens of them.
On the periphery were all defensive ships that were hundreds of meters long. In the center of the fleet, there was a two-thousand-meter-long giant ship. It was the main vessel carrying the heavyweight weapon. It had been painted entirely red. The bow of the ship was like a huge shark’s head, looking fierce and ferocious.
Not far away from the fleet, Yue Wuwei was drinking tea and lazily watching the scenes that were occurring in the secret realm, including the situation in the canyon.
“Tut, tut. More than half of these people will be done away with in one go.”
“That wily Zhang Hanyang is not easy to deal with.”
“Eh? Their fleet is coming?”
Yue Wuwei looked up at the front.
At first, he didn’t pay much attention to it. Packs of small aircraft entered the Lost Continent from the gap in the storm, but Yue Wuwei didn’t do anything to stop them.
However, when the larger battle warship prepared to pass through the gap, they were blocked by waves of energy.
The slightly heavyweight ships were denied entrance.
At first, Yue Wuwei thought they wouldn’t go in. But he didn’t expect that they were this audacious.
“No way!”
Seeing that more than a dozen defensive ships were firing all kinds of light at the gap, trying to make it larger, Yue Wuwei was a little taken back.
He then scolded, “Sh*t, are they trying to court death?”
As his mind force spread, the enormous storm that surrounded the Lost Continent suddenly trembled. Energy surged from the gap and absorbed all of these attacks.
To his surprise, after the first round of attacks—
Buzz, boom, buzz!
The second round soon arrived.
Yue Wuwei slightly raised his eyebrows and muttered, “Even the fleet wants to go in and join in the fun? Are you kidding me?”
With a wave of his hand, he dissolved the attacks.
Then came the third round, the fourth round…
After the tenth round of attacks, the fleet finally accepted that they couldn’t blast their way in.
In a heavy voice, the fleet captain of the Tiger Talisman Royal Family said, “The intense energy fluctuations have kept breaking down our attacks. I think it’s time to use the main vessel’s Dark Magnetic Energy Cannon.”
“Yes, sir. The Dark Magnetic Energy Cannon is in preparation. Start the charging process. The massive attack will be launched in two minutes.
“The charging begins.
“…”
Feeling the energy fluctuations on the main vessel, Yue Wuwei was stupefied.
“Well, well, well.”
Yue Wuwei suddenly frowned.
“Very good. How dare you run amok in my territory?”
Yue Wuwei’s mind force dashed out with an overwhelming momentum and converged with the huge blue storm.
Just as he was about to put up the defense, Yue Wuwei withdrew his mind force.
He stretched his neck and flexed his muscles.
His bones cracked loudly.
“It’s been many years since I entered a battlefield in person. Having watched that wily Zhang Hanyang fight so many enemies, my fists are getting a little itchy. Never mind, I’ll take this matter into my own hands.”
Yue Wuwei left the boat and stepped directly into the void of the universe.
After entering the Yuan Ying Realm, one was able to travel in the void without any equipment for a short time.
But Yue Wuwei was crossing the void with such ease…
If Zhang Han saw this scene with his own eyes, he might amend his estimation of Yue Wuwei’s strength again.
He would say something like, “Yue Wuwei is a real big shot who pretends to be a rookie.”
On the main vessel, many mechanics were quickly making preparations for the imminent launch.
“The charge is over. The cannon will fire in 60 seconds. The countdown begins.
“Sixty, fifty-nine, fifty-eight… Thirty.”
When there were only 30 seconds left, the man next to the captain suddenly pointed to the front and exclaimed, “There is a man!”
Swoosh, swoosh, swoosh!
In an instant, many people looked over.
“He is wandering in the void without any equipment? That means he is at least in the Yuan Ying Realm.”
The captain of the main vessel narrowed his eyes.
“What is he doing?”
The people around frowned and said, “He appeared in front of the main vessel at this precise time. Does he want to fight against us?”
“Fight against the main vessel head-on? That’s impossible. No Yuan Ying Realm cultivators dare to do that when they encounter our Tiger Talisman Royal Family’s main vessel.”
“If he makes his moves, will it affect our attack? If we can’t expand the gap, our higher-end fleet can’t enter the Lost Continent.”
“It will take two hours for the main vessel’s energy cannon to charge before its every fire. But according to the message Hu Zhiqiang sent us, we have to get in there immediately.”
Upon hearing his subordinates’ words, the captain of the main vessel pondered with a frown. Two seconds later, he issued a series of orders.
“The first, second, and third defensive ship, fire at the man in front of the main vessel.”
“Copy.”
“The target is 3,523 meters away.”
“Defensive Ship Number One’s Trapping Ice Cannon is fully charged. The shooting time is in 10 seconds. The countdown begins.”
“Defensive Ship Number Two’s Blasting Flame Cannon is fully charged. The shooting time is in 13 seconds. The countdown begins.”
“Defensive Ship Number Three’s Suppressing Cannon is fully charged. The shooting time is in 15 seconds. The countdown begins.”
“The main vessel’s Energy Cannon will fire in 20 seconds.”
The whole fleet was in action.
“We’ve detected intense energy fluctuations from the enemy.
“The first layer of energy defense has been activated.
“The second layer of energy defense has been activated.
“The third layer…”
Seven layers of energy defense quietly spread out from the main vessel.
The defensive ships only had three layers of defenses.
Countless cannons began to charge, ready to attack the Yue Wuwei standing in the front.
“Well.”
Yue Wuwei stretched and flexed his muscles again.
Boom! Boom! Boom! Boom! Boom…
The Trapping Ice Cannon fired first. More than 10 jets of light streaked through the void. After traveling thousands of meters, they blast within a kilometer around Yue Wuwei.
After the explosion, crystal icy lines released from the bombs connected with one another and formed a big net, trapping Yue Wuwei in it.
“The Trapping Ice Bombs successfully trapped the enemy.
“Blasting Flame Cannon has fired.
“The Suppressing Cannon has fired.”
The second and the third round of attacks arrived consecutively.
The Blasting Flame Bombs set the void within a kilometer around Yue Wuwei on fire. The Suppressing Bombs even released the auras of various formations to ceaselessly compress the flames. The energy in the flames was also being compressed. As the compression went on, the energy became more and more violent.
“No more life energy can be detected. We’ve successfully eliminated the enemy.
“The main vessel’s Energy Cannon will fire in three seconds.
“Three, two, one!”
Boom!
The aura of some strong energy suddenly rose from the huge and pitch-black muzzle of the Energy Cannon on the main vessel. A beam of light, which was a hundred meters wide, shot straight downward.
At this time, the captain of the main vessel had already put on a victorious smile.
However, what happened next made everyone tremble both physically and mentally.
Rumble!
When the energy cannon passed by the place where the flames had been compressed, it seemed to be completely devoured by some unknown energy.
What was going on?
Given the energy resources they carried here, the main vessel’s Energy Cannon could only fire three times at most. One could imagine how powerful that kind of energy blow was.
For hundreds of years, no one could ever fight the Energy Cannon on the main vessel. One could only survive its bombardment by fleeing desperately. This cannon was also one of the high-tech forces that the Tiger Talisman Royal Family had relied on to dominate the world and maintain the position of an overlord.
But now, the blow of the Energy Cannon just launched had been swallowed by something. What was that thing?
All the members of the fleet couldn’t help holding their breath. They were staring nervously at the screen in front of them without blinking.
One second, two seconds, three seconds…
After a good 30 seconds, the flames slowly dissipated from where the bombs landed.
The scene they saw next made them feel as if they had fallen into an icehouse.
“He is still alive?”
“How is this possible!”
“Good heavens! Is he a demon that can’t be killed?”
At this moment, even the captain of the main vessel was at a loss.
He was baffled. “How did that man manage to block the attack of the Energy Cannon? Could it be that someone has found a way to fend off the domineering main vessel’s super powerful Energy Cannon?
“Is he a top-notch mechanic?”
After he was done with the stretching, Yue Wuwei flicked his clothes as if dust had landed on them.
“You’ve launched your attacks. Now it’s my turn, isn’t it?”
Yue Wuwei looked in the direction of the main vessel and stroked his beard.
On the high-definition screen, the captain of the main vessel sensed great danger from the look of the other party.
“Turn round! Turn round! We gotta leave! Jump into the secondary space and go back to the Dal Star. Now!”
The order was issued.
But it was too late. As Yue Wuwei had decided to take action, how could he give them a chance to escape?
Beams of bright light flashed across his eyes.
Crack, crack, crack…
“The first layer of defense has dissipated. The second layer… Beep, beep, beep. Warning! The main vessel is breaking down…”
The unsensible attack was dissecting the main vessel with unstoppable momentum.
It happened so fast that even the computer system had no time to report these changes.
The computer system’s last warning was that the main vessel was breaking down.
Afterward, there was no more reaction.
Under the gazes of the people on the dozens of defensive ships, the main vessel seemed to have been sliced by space and reduced to densely distributed metal pieces that floated in the void of the universe.
“Our, our main vessel has been destroyed?”
Just as this thought entered many people’s minds—
Crack…
“Warning—”
The dozens of defensive ships were also disintegrating. In an instant, they turned into countless pieces of ice-cold metals.
The Tiger Talisman Royal Family’s fleet that held everyone in fear had been annihilated.
“How dare you misbehave in my territory, humph!”
Yue Wuwei flicked his sleeves and leaped back to his small boat. Once again, he concealed himself in the void of the universe.
Buzz, buzz, buzz!
The aura of energy once again emerged from the space node.
Five flying warships appeared.
“The reinforcements are here.”
There were quite a few cultivators on this fleet. They were looking at the Lost Continent with cold eyes.
When their leader was about to give an order…
“Umm… E-Elder, look at the back.”
Swoosh, swoosh!
Everyone looked backward.
“Hiss!”
“Pfft…”
“What happened?”
All they could see was the drifting metal pieces of warships. It was a mess.
“There is such a large amount of debris. Could it be the Tiger Talisman Royal Family’s fleet? How could this happen? Which force destroyed it?”
Just as everyone was in shock—
Buzz, buzz, buzz!
Energy fluctuations spread out from the space node again.
A group of three large spaceships appeared and saw the scene in front of them.
The newcomers were stunned as well.
The reinforcements of different forces arrived one after another. They were originally valiant and spirited. But when they saw the scene, they instantly became deflated.
“Is there someone who doesn’t allow us to enter?”
“What should we do? Shall we still go in?”
“Let’s wait and see how the others will act. Don’t make a move when the enemy hasn’t.”
In the end, all the people in charge of the major fleets came to the same conclusion.
“We shall not make a move when the enemy hasn’t.”
As a result, all the ships just floated here. The people aboard stared at one another and did nothing. No one was willing to be the spearhead to go to the Lost Continent below.
Even the Tiger Talisman Royal Family’s fleet was no match for that unknown enemy. They all knew that their poor fleets could not even put up a fight against that enemy.
“You wimps,” taunted Yue Wuwei, who was leaning on his chair and eating grapes in the distance.
He squinted at those fleets for two minutes and then turned to observe the situation on the Lost Continent.
Eventually, Tiger Talisman Royal Family managed to send part of its reinforcements there.
A large number of assorted aircraft zoomed to the canyon and thronged around it.
The captain of those aircraft flew to Hu Zhiqiang’s side and greeted him with a hold-fist salute.
“The reinforcement is here.”
“Yeah, here we are. We are the first group, and there are more coming down in moments.”
“Good.”
At those words, Hu Zhiqiang completely relaxed.
Now the help had arrived, what was there for him to be afraid of?
He cast a seemingly inadvertent glance at Mo Wen, a royal member of the Elemental Elf Clan.
“Your clan’s Seventh Princess is in the secret realm. By far, fifteen Yuan Ying Realm cultivators have entered it. Aren’t you worried at all?” Hu Zhiqiang said with a hint of sarcasm.
His remark made Mo Wen’s face fall.
“I can’t go away, nor can I go in. It’s all because you’re watching me with hostility on my side, giving me the murderous look.
“Well, one has to be humble when trapped in a helpless situation.
“I’m in this tight spot because I have no alternative. How could do you have the face to ask me that?”
Mo Wen felt very put out. He didn’t want to talk to Hu Zhiqiang at all, so he looked away.
Although he was cross, the dominating sensation he had was the feeling of anxiety.
In the face of a strong enemy like Hu Zhiqiang, he was already under a lot of pressure. Now that Hu Zhiqiang’s reinforcements had arrived, it could be said that he had no chance to fight against them at all.
He could only hope that the Tiger Talisman Royal Family might show some leniency to them.
“Seventh Princess, what kind of people are you with on earth?”
Mo Wen was deeply worried. He was the leader of this exploration, who did not object to Nina making friends or forming a team with other contestants. Now that such a thing had happened, he could only wait and see how things would turn out before he took action.
“I guess things will come to a close soon.”
Staring in the direction of the entrance of the secret realm from a distance, Li Mu slowly said, “Even if those people come out with sixth-tier treasures, they still may not be the final owners of those treasures.”
“When it’s necessary, we shall also make our move. At present, Hu Zhiqiang’s force is the strongest. Let’s just wait and see.” Yi Hou glanced around the countless mechas in the surroundings. He seemed to be calculating if he had any odds against Hu Zhiqiang.
On the other side, Zhong An from the Silver-winged Hall was also brooding.
“I’ve just advanced to the Yuan Ying Realm. I’m still way behind them in terms of strength. Thus, I’d better not step into the troubled waters this time.”
He had been a cautious person all along. By this time, he seemed to have faintly smelt danger in the air.
As for the hundreds of people gathered in the surroundings, they were all discussing the matter in the distance.
“Why haven’t Elder Nu and the others come out yet?”
“They all clearly stated they knew the rules. But then none of them followed the rules. The third group who went in last has been made a fool of, hasn’t it?”
“The 15 forces will probably get into a fight if they can’t find a fair way to distribute the treasures among themselves, not to mention that Hu Zhiqiang is also here waiting for his share.”
“There is bound to be a big battle here. Geez, I’m already getting a little nervous. This is horrifying. Which one do you think will be the winner? The Tiger Talisman Royal Family or the Cloud Shadow Sky? I figure the Silver-winged Hall would not join in the battle. No matter what, Yi Hou can fight against Hu Zhiqiang, and there are still 15 Yuan Ying Realm masters in the secret realm. If the three parties really started a fight among themselves, I’m afraid that many would die.”
“…”
The hours of waiting did not lessen their anticipation at all. The atmosphere on the scene was actually becoming increasingly tenser.
“They’re out!”
Suddenly, Doane, who was next to Hu Zhiqiang, shouted in surprise.
Swoosh, swoosh, swoosh, swoosh!
Everyone’s eyes, though showing different emotions, were all focused on the entrance of the secret realm. The fog was still lingering around the entire secret realm. It could not only blur the vision of the naked eyes but also keep out the soul sense.
All of a sudden, everyone saw a group of people slowly walking out from the entrance.
“They finally came out!”
Hu Zhiqiang’s eyes narrowed slightly. The ring on his right hand began to shine a faint, colorful radiance. He was exercising control over his mechanical troops. This was a sign that he was about to attack.
“The show is about to begin.”
Li Mu snapped his fingers. He looked unflustered at all.
“Wait. Only 15 people have entered the secret realm. But the number of the ones who came out has exceeded 20. Why is that?” Yi Hou narrowed his eyes.
This discovery made Li Mu’s expression freeze in place.
“Aren’t they the 15 people who went in?”
The others also seemed to have noticed that something was wrong.
The whole canyon became quiet. Even the sound of a needle falling could be heard.
“Who else could it be but the 15 masters? It can’t be the group of cultivators who went in for exploration before, can it?”
Doane deeply furrowed his brows. He was not happy to see this.
“At this moment, how could those unrelated people dare to swagger out like this?”
“It’s them! Oh my God, it’s them!”
The figures soon stepped out of the fog. The moment Li Mu caught clear sight of them, his face paled drastically.
