Chapter Ninety-Three: Earth and the Beast Tide (Thirty-Four)

As his speed was cut in half, Sun Meng had to devote far more attention to the attacks rising from the ground. Fortunately, the monsters below were much like the fixed turrets in a stage-clearing game: most of them relied on ranged attacks, and very few were truly powerful. So long as he kept watch, there was no real danger.

Then, all at once, he spotted a figure racing toward him from the ground.

That woman looked like an unstoppable war chariot, battering the monsters in front of her aside with sharp blows to the left and right. That pale green assault, those whip-like tendrils... somehow, it felt familiar.

"Hey! You're Sun Meng, right? Looks like I'm not slow either," the woman called, raising her head toward him.

"Ussara, you're not flying?" Sun Meng asked, looking at the sturdy woman before him.

"No. Walking on the ground suits me better, and these things can't really hinder me anyway. On the contrary, they're a fine trial. After all, the rewards are much greater this way." As she spoke, the whip extended from the idol in her hand sent another monster flying as it tried to ambush her.

Her attacks chiefly struck at the monsters' souls, so with every blow, unless the opponent possessed domain abilities, they would suffer grievous damage. For her, this vast swarm of beasts on the ground was truly nothing to fear.

"Shall we move on together? The monsters in the sky keep harassing me, and it's irritating," Ussara said.

Sun Meng casually shot a bird-like monster through and through. "No problem."

His own speed was not especially high at the moment anyway. Their abilities complemented each other perfectly.

"You seem to have grown stronger again, but I don't sense your domain. Are you not using it?" Ussara asked, looking at Sun Meng. For a moment, he felt her gaze grow strangely heated, and he became a little uneasy.

The two of them advanced at a steady pace, one handling the enemies above, the other the ones below. Their speed remained quite brisk.

Glancing at his minimap, Sun Meng saw quite a few other contestants. By rough estimation, they could not be far behind.

Suddenly, he looked toward the sky not far away. More than a dozen enormous fire meteors were plunging down from above. Ever since Yi Gang over there had awakened his sunflame bloodline, Sun Meng had become even more sensitive to fire-based attacks. The power of those meteors had already reached the peak of the second tier. What kind of crisis had the people over there encountered?

"We're almost at the mountain range," Ussara said. "The god tells me the danger ahead is even greater."

"No matter how dangerous it is, we still have to go, don't we?" Sun Meng looked at her. "For our civilization."

"For civilization, I will cut through every thorn and flatten every obstacle." As she spoke, the idol in Ussara's hand transformed into a suit of armor that settled over her body. The pale green whip-like tendrils also turned dark green, carrying not only assaults upon the soul but a far stronger blow to the flesh as well.

Sun Meng's bow and arrows likewise took on solid form. Their speed increased once more, and soon they reached the foot of the mountain. Ahead of them, several contestants were already joining forces against two monsters.

Three mid-second-tier fighters, and two late-second-tier fighters. How had they gotten here faster than we did?

Ussara looked at the people ahead in confusion.

Sun Meng was puzzled as well, but the facts were before him, and there was no time to investigate further.

Drawing his bow, he loosed a fiery-red arrow that instantly blew the head off one of the monsters.

Ussara roared as she charged forward, leaping into the air and lashing the other monster hard with the whip in her hand. A shockwave of soul force spread outward, and even the five people nearby were caught in the impact.

"What do you think you're doing!" Among the five, only one man could still remain standing. His gaze at Ussara was full of hostility. "We're about to finish them off, and you're stealing our prey!"

"Though I help others without seeking reward, my god will never forgive those who repay kindness with enmity!" As she spoke, the tendrils had already coiled around the five of them. Soul shock burst at point-blank range, and all five let out shrill screams.

"It seems your souls are full of impurities. I truly can't understand how you made it this far." Once she finished speaking, the suckers on the tendrils lit up, and Sun Meng watched as the five people vanished amid agonized cries.

"You..." Sun Meng flew over and looked at Ussara, keeping his distance.

"Though I do not know what means they used to reach this place, as the weak, they were always destined to be eliminated. You don't pity them, do you?" Ussara asked.

Sun Meng shook his head. "No. To be honest, this is the first time I've seen a contestant die right before my eyes. I've always known it could happen, but actually seeing it still leaves me at a loss."

"It seems that although your strength is great, there are still flaws in your spirit. Would you like to undergo my god's trial? It can make your soul purer." Ussara's tone and manner were wholly sincere.

Sun Meng shook his head again. "Forget it. I'd rather deal with my own problems myself. Let's go."

With that, he dropped to the ground and headed into the mountains.

On Earth, Little Rabbit had been keeping vigil by Yi Gang's side all this time.

"This state has already lasted more than forty-eight hours. Fortunately, the invisible pressure radiating from him has also kept those monsters at bay. According to the energy readings, it is very likely the awakening of a powerful bloodline, so I cannot yet determine how long this state will last. But I can say for certain that there is nothing wrong with him. You can rest easy," Xu Xiao said to Little Rabbit.

"There will be an elite squad here specifically to protect him. You stay as well."

With that, Xu Xiao left. The crisis on Earth was far from over, and there were many other matters he needed to handle.

Within the mountains, Sun Meng shot down a bear-like monster as it lunged at him. Deeper in the woods, the number of monsters had decreased, but their average strength and ability to conceal themselves had increased.

Relying only on his instincts to judge their attacks was becoming more and more difficult.

That was what Sun Meng was thinking, but Ussara on the other side remained as relaxed as ever. He knew that this was one of the effects of a domain: within its range, the moment those monsters appeared, she could sense them, unless their own domain abilities happened to counter hers.

"Someone's coming," Ussara said, lashing out with a whip. The trees ahead were instantly reduced to ash.

A cannon of energy shattered the tendril, and then a cloud of smoke appeared, rapidly swallowing the surrounding area.

"Humph. Cheap tricks!" Ussara said, clenching both fists and hammering the ground. Within a radius of ten meters, the earth all turned the color of her tendrils. Then dozens of slender whip-like tendrils burst forth from that patch of ground, launching indiscriminate attacks into the smoke.

Sun Meng sensed everything around him and caught a figure moving rapidly through the haze.

A red arrow exploded, and then another appeared around him like a protective ring. He was certain that if the other side truly intended to attack, they would be pierced through the body before they ever got close.

By the time the smoke dispersed, they still had not seen the person's face.

"Coward. We'll meet again," Ussara said.

Sun Meng looked at the minimap. The light point representing the hidden assailant had disappeared. Among contestants, within a certain distance, their light points only appeared once contact had been made. Since the other had abandoned the attack and left, he naturally could no longer be seen. Only if that person came within five kilometers again would the point reappear in Sun Meng's field of vision.

"It looks like a lot of people are planning to strike at others here," Sun Meng said. He had thought this time would be like the previous ones, focused mainly on the monsters. He had not expected that he would need to guard even more carefully against ambushes from other contestants. There were only one hundred spots available. No one wanted to give up the reward, and no one would willingly abandon the chance to break through to the third tier.

Pressing onward, Sun Meng and Ussara both grew more cautious. As more and more people entered the mountain range, the surges of combat energy grew increasingly frequent.

The final gathering point was the same spaceship Sun Meng and the others had seen before. At this moment, the entire vessel was wrapped in a luminous barrier. There were only ten entrances, and each entrance allowed only ten people. Once the quota was filled, the gate would automatically close.

After sending back to the main city the three late-second-tier contestants who had charged at him, Sun Meng looked ahead.

They had finally reached their destination.