45: Chapter 45 Dimensional Reduction Attack, Points Soar

The third wave of monsters surged out from the underground fissures. There were over ten thousand of them, charging toward the Immortal Martial Legion's front line while wrapped in a thick aura of the Abyss.

Wang Pingan did not even raise an eyelid.

Fifty Psionic Heavy Cannons fired first. Three rounds of salvoes blasted a sea of fire at the forefront of the monster horde, tearing three gaps in their charging formation.

Wang Shan led five hundred Heavy Cavalry to cut into the largest gap from the flank. The Iron Hoof Warhorses crushed the rubble on the ground, and their lances pierced through the bodies of one abyss monster after another. After carving through the flank of the monster horde, the five hundred cavalrymen burst out from the other side, leaving behind a bloody path paved with remains.

The central shield wall advanced in synchronization, and the Xianwu Meat Grinder Array of one thousand Extreme Realm elites fully deployed.

The front row channeled Qi and blood into their shields, crashing forward.

The middle row compressed spiritual energy into fire rays, grinding and killing.

The small formations on both flanks cut out to seal off the area.

The rear Artillery Battalion provided continuous output, covering the area.

The four stages locked together seamlessly. The monster horde was peeled away, crushed, and cleared layer by layer, with an absurdly fast rate of advance.

From the five thousand in the first wave to the over ten thousand in the third, the Immortal Martial Legion had cleared most of the monsters in this abyss ruins area in less than two hours.

The battlefield was filled with charred craters and piled-up shell fragments, and a heavy, burnt stench permeated the air.

The points leaderboard for the Seventeen Stars hung on every viewer's live broadcast interface, updating in real-time.

Wang Pingan's name jumped from ninth to seventh, then from seventh to fifth.

After the fourth salvo of the Artillery Battalion landed, his points jumped another spot to fourth.

After Wang Shan completed the second full-scale Cavalry charge, he jumped another spot to third.

Ranked in the top two were two seeded players from Xuanwu Star and Qingluan Star—one followed the Body Refining Grandmaster path, the other the Spiritual Formation Crowd Control path; both were recognized top geniuses of the Seventeen Stars.

Their points had been at the top for the first hour of the competition.

Then, they watched helplessly as Wang Pingan's point count shot upward at an astonishing speed.

Third.

Second.

Wang Pingan's Artillery Battalion blasted open a collapsed temple in the deepest part of the abyss ruins. A group of giant elite-level abyss guards surged out from within, each possessing combat power at the D-rank intermediate level.

If other contestants encountered such elite monsters, they would mostly waste a lot of time consuming them one by one.

Wang Pingan's strategy had only one word: Push.

Fifty Psionic Heavy Cannons focused fire on the temple entrance, blasting the surging elite guards into disarray right at the doorway.

Wang Shan led the Cavalry to flank from both sides of the temple, blocking any escape routes.

One thousand Extreme Realm infantry marched into the temple, stepping over the embers of the artillery fire. The compressed fire rays of the crimson flame saber exerted even more terrifying lethality in the narrow space. The abyss armor of the elite guards was sliced open by the high-density spiritual energy in a single strike, without even a chance to counterattack.

The points for the elite guards in this temple were extremely high. After clearing them, Wang Pingan's total score directly surpassed the second place.

First.

First on the Seventeen Stars leaderboard.

And it was not a narrow lead; it was a cliff-like gap.

Second place was Zhou Yan from Liumang Star, the very A-rank genius who had mocked Wang Pingan's zero logistics on the public channel earlier.

Wang Pingan's points were more than double his.

The barrage in the live broadcast room went crazy.

The viewer area for Tianhai Star in the virtual plaza erupted with roars and cheers one after another. Some people jumped up and waved their fists, while others shouted Wang Pingan's name with red eyes.

Zhao Yang stood in the spectator seats, his voice already hoarse from shouting, but he still could not close his mouth.

Old Li stood in the teacher's area with his arms crossed. There was no expression on his face, but the curve of his mouth could not be suppressed.

Zhou Mingyuan held a teacup, but the tea had long since gone cold. He did not take a sip, his eyes fixed on the golden "First" on the leaderboard.

On the Seventeen Stars official commentary stage, three senior commentators were scrambling to switch camera angles while watching the replay.

"Viewers, please look at this replay!"

The main commentator swallowed hard. He froze the footage on a panoramic shot of the Immortal Martial Legion's advance.

"Tianhai Star Wang Pingan's legion has not stopped once since landing an hour and a half ago!"

"No rest, no supply gaps, no defensive transitions; his troops are just pushing forward!"

The screen cut to a close-up of the Psionic Heavy Cannons firing in unison. Fifty beams of light slammed into the monster horde, blasting fragments into the sky.

The co-commentator looked at the data panel, his tone shocked: "The firepower density of this Artillery Battalion does not look like a configuration for the Divine Being stage at all. Theoretically, a Qi Refining Stage 9 gunner cannot maintain this output intensity for more than three rounds, but his Artillery Battalion has already fired twelve consecutive salvoes!"

"How is their spiritual energy not exhausted yet? How do these subjects manage to have such spiritual energy reserves?"

The screen cut to a close-up of the Extreme Realm elite infantry.

The fire rays on the crimson flame saber were compressed into narrow, deadly white linear blades. With one slash, the shell of a D-rank elite guard was cut open, creating a wound deep enough to see the bone.

The main commentator's voice rose an octave: "Is this Qi Refining Stage 9? The output of this blade energy is wrong. The spiritual energy density of Qi Refining Stage 9 cannot produce this kind of cutting effect. This... this is armor-piercing power that only Foundation Establishment early stage should have!"

"But the system panel is clearly marked; these subjects are indeed all Qi Refining Stage 9 and Body Forging Stage 9. None of them have broken through to Foundation Establishment or Blood Condensation."

The third commentator took a deep breath: "This is a dimensional strike."

"His subjects' cultivation level has not exceeded the limit, but their combat power has."

"No matter what method he used, the actual combat power of this legion far exceeds the realm level shown on the panel."

"Among the same rank, I do not think any newbie legion can withstand this kind of advance."

The scrolling speed of the barrage in the live broadcast room was too fast for the naked eye to identify individual content; one could only see a dense waterfall of text rolling upward.

[Tianhai Star is awesome!!!]

[Zero logistics reckless brute? Whose face hurts?]

[Where is that Zhou Yan from Liumang Star? Come out and say something!]

[To those who said they would not last three days, it has only been an hour and a half, and they are already first!]

The various star contestants who had previously mocked Wang Pingan were all quiet now.

Zhou Yan was entangled with a group of C-rank aliens in his own plane fragment. His points were rising very slowly. Seeing Wang Pingan's numbers on the leaderboard constantly jumping, he only felt a tightness in his chest, his lips pressed into a thin line.

Wu Tie also saw the leaderboard.

He stood on the high ground of a wasteland in his own fragment. Behind him was his Iron-Spined Wolf Cavalry Legion, and three hundred Iron-Spined Warwolves lay on the ground, growling low.

Wu Tie's gaze fixed on the name at the top of the list, his pupils slightly contracting.

He was not going to attack Wang Pingan just for the Lin family.

The Lin family's favor and Source Energy were just catalysts. The real reason he decided to take action was that Tianlang Star and Tianhai Star had always had a competitive relationship regarding federal resource allocation. If Wang Pingan took first place, Tianlang Star's share would be compressed.

The conflict of interest was real.

But looking at Wang Pingan's tireless legion flattening everything in the abyss ruins, a trace of uncertainty emerged in Wu Tie's heart for the first time.

That legion was stronger than what he saw in the intelligence reports.

Stronger to an abnormal degree.

Inside the abyss ruins area, the advance of the Immortal Martial Legion continued.

Wang Mu stood at the highest point of the Artillery Battalion. The command flag signals and drumbeats were coordinated flawlessly, and the artillery coverage area and the infantry's advance rhythm were perfectly matched.

Wang Shan had just completed his third Cavalry charge. The five hundred Heavy Cavalry were regrouping among the remains of the monsters. The warhorses snorted, their horseshoes stained with black blood.

The points were still rising.

On the leaderboard, Wang Pingan's number was already two and a half times that of the second place, and the gap was continuing to widen.

Wang Pingan stood on the high ground in the rear, looking at this legion that crushed everything in its path, his expression calm.

Fifty years of honing had not been in vain.