53: Chapter 53 Flawless, Sweeping Across Insect Control and Corpse Cultivation

After Wang Pingan defeated Kyle, the pace of the repechage accelerated sharply.

The elimination rounds of the Seventeen-Star Joint Entrance Exam did not allow for much rest; the system only gave each qualifying contestant two hours to organize their Divine Kingdom projection.

Wang Pingan's legion suffered no large-scale casualties, so the only things that truly needed doing were replenishing medicine, replacing shields, and inspecting the Psionic Heavy Cannons and Iron Hoof Warhorses.

Wang Mu led the Cultivation Citizens to inspect the Psionic Heavy Cannons; buckets of cooling talisman liquid were poured into the barrels, and spare firing pins were returned to the storage racks.

Wang Shan led the Martial Dao Citizens to take inventory of the shields and crimson flame sabers; a few Black Iron Shields had been scorched black by energy cannon fire, but they could still be used.

Wang Pingan stood on high ground, not saying a word.

The battlefield would filter out all nonsense.

The next round's match-up appeared quickly.

"Wang Pingan vs. Luo Qianming, the Insect-Controlling genius from Qingyan Star."

As soon as this line appeared, the livestream chat room boiled over again.

The Insect-Controlling style was a rather troublesome system in novice Divine Kingdoms.

A single spirit insect was not strong, but they were numerous, fast, and could drill through armor gaps, gnaw at formation weak points, and disrupt the Artillery Battalion and Cavalry.

Luo Qianming was able to fight his way into this round by relying on an overwhelming sea of spirit insects.

In his previous matches, he didn't clash head-on with opponents; instead, he used spirit insects to wear down their stamina and spirit before sending in his main force to harvest the victory.

Against a heavily armored legion, the Insect-Controlling style seemed particularly suitable.

Thick armor could block blades, but it couldn't block tiny spirit insects.

Black Iron Shields could defend the front, but they couldn't block the insect tide beneath their feet.

After entering the battlefield, Luo Qianming did not provoke him.

He was much smarter than Wu Tie.

He had watched Wang Pingan fight Kyle and knew that verbal provocation was meaningless.

The battlefield generated was a dry, cracked wasteland.

The ground had numerous fissures, perfect for spirit insects to lurk in.

Luo Qianming opened his Divine Kingdom passage, and dense swarms of black-shelled spirit insects poured out from the fissures.

They were the size of a fist, with shiny back shells and sharp mouthparts; their numbers quickly exceeded one hundred thousand.

Immediately after, a swarm of silver-winged spirit insects took to the sky, moving extremely fast and specifically diving toward the Artillery Battalion and the command position.

Standing behind the insect swarm, Luo Qianming called out loudly, "Wang Pingan, your shield wall can block cannons, but it can't stop bugs from crawling inside."

Wang Pingan watched the insect sea spreading out in front of him, his expression calm.

He did not order the infantry to charge immediately.

He raised his hand to signal, "Artillery Battalion, scatter fire."

Wang Mu raised his flag.

Fifty Psionic Heavy Cannons adjusted their angles simultaneously; the muzzles were not aimed at the densest part of the insect swarm, but were divided into five layered zones.

The first round of artillery fire landed.

Fifty waves of fire erupted across the wasteland, and a large number of black-shelled spirit insects were sent flying directly.

Luo Qianming did not panic.

An insect sea feared a single barrage of firepower the least.

If one batch died, more would fill the gap.

But the second round of artillery fire arrived quickly.

This time, the shells did not smash into the front of the insect swarm, but landed in the middle and rear sections of the insect tide.

The shockwaves from the explosions split the insect swarm into sections; the rear spirit insects couldn't charge up, and the front insect swarm lost its numerical support.

Wang Mu waved his command flag, "Third group, lower aim, hit the fissures."

Ten heavy cannons specifically bombarded the fissures in the wasteland.

The black-shelled spirit insects hiding underground were blasted out in droves, and charred insect corpses covered the ground.

Luo Qianming frowned deeply.

He hadn't expected Wang Pingan's Artillery Battalion to have such strong counter-capabilities against the insect swarm.

This wasn't indiscriminate bombardment.

This was cutting them up according to the flow rhythm of the insect swarm.

The silver-winged spirit insects dove from the sky, attempting to bypass the artillery fire and pounce on the Artillery Battalion.

Wang Mu stared intently ahead, "Sword Qi Battalion, raise blades."

Five hundred Cultivation Citizens simultaneously swung out compressed fire beams.

White and red blade beams crisscrossed into the sky, cutting the diving silver-winged spirit insects into large patches of fragmented light.

Luo Qianming hurriedly ordered the insect swarm to disperse.

But Wang Pingan's Artillery Battalion dispersed along with them.

The heavy cannons did not chase individual targets; they only struck the insect swarm's gathering points and movement routes.

Roaring sounds were everywhere on the wasteland; before the sea of spirit insects could even charge to the shield wall, it had already been whittled down by more than half.

Wang Shan gripped his blade handle, his fighting spirit high, "God Lord, shall we charge?"

Wang Pingan gazed at the battlefield, "Wait until the insect swarm gets a bit thinner."

Hearing this, Luo Qianming's face tensed.

This was the first time he had encountered this style of fighting.

The opponent was not impatient, not greedy, and not afraid of attrition.

Every soldier carried medicine, the Artillery Battalion had complete spare parts, they swallowed Qi Recovery Pills if their spiritual energy was insufficient, and they rotated cooling if the cannon barrels got hot.

The Insect-Controlling style was best at stalling.

But now, it couldn't stall the opponent to death.

Half an hour later, the number of the insect swarm was suppressed to less than thirty percent.

Only then did Wang Pingan raise his hand, "Wang Shan, clear the field."

Five hundred heavy Cavalry deployed from the flank.

They did not chase the insects, but instead charged toward Luo Qianming's core insect nest.

Luo Qianming hurriedly recalled the spirit insects to protect the nest.

Wang Mu immediately ordered the Artillery Battalion to fire in unison, directly blasting the returning insect swarm apart.

Wang Shan led the heavy Cavalry and charged into the periphery of the insect nest; their Blood Qi and aura exploded, and the Iron Hoof Warhorses smashed through one insect egg tower after another.

Luo Qianming's face showed shock.

"Stop him, quickly stop him!"

But the insect swarm had already been cut apart by the artillery fire.

The infantry shield wall pressed up from the front, the Cavalry gouged in from the flank, and the Artillery Battalion blocked the return routes.

In less than a quarter of an hour, the main insect nest tower was slashed to pieces by Wang Shan's blade.

The system's judgment sound rang out.

[Luo Qianming's core insect nest destroyed, combat loss imbalance.]

[Wang Pingan wins.]

The Insect-Controlling style exited the arena.

Wang Pingan still had zero combat losses.

The barrage in the livestream chat room had just started scrolling when the next round's match-up already appeared.

"Wang Pingan vs. Yin Jiuhe, the Corpse-Cultivating genius from Minghe Star."

As soon as this name appeared, the atmosphere changed again.

The Corpse-Cultivating sea was even more disgusting than the Insect-Controlling style.

Refined corpses did not fear pain, did not fear ordinary baleful aura, and corpse poison could also contaminate the battlefield.

In his previous matches, Yin Jiuhe had relied on over ten thousand low-tier refined corpses to forcefully wear two A-tier contestants down until they collapsed.

More troublesome was that his main force was not ordinary corpse soldiers, but twelve Iron-Armored Corpses.

Each Iron-Armored Corpse possessed defensive power close to the peak of the ninth layer of Body Forging and could withstand a large amount of magical bombardment.

After the battlefield generated, the surroundings turned into a gray-black wasteland of mass graves.

Yin energy churned, and the stench of corpse aura was pungent.

Yin Jiuhe stood on a bone platform, with the twelve Iron-Armored Corpses lined up beside him.

He stared at Wang Pingan and said coldly, "Your flesh-and-blood legion is strong, but living people will always get tired, whereas corpse soldiers will not."

Wang Pingan stared at that sea of corpses and spat out two words: "Open formation."

The Immortal Martial Legion did not retreat.

Five hundred Martial Heavy Armor units pressed forward with shields raised; supreme Yang Blood Qi surged from their bodies, forcefully pushing back the surrounding corpse aura.

The legion's baleful aura tiger manifested above the great formation, the blood-colored tiger shadow lowering its head to look down upon the sea of corpses.

The movements of those low-tier refined corpses clearly faltered.

Yin Jiuhe's pupils constricted slightly.

Corpse soldiers did not have normal consciousness, but the residual Yin soul instincts within the corpse-refining arts would still be suppressed by the Yang-strong Blood Qi and the legion's baleful aura.

Wang Shan grinned, "This match is handy."

He was the first to charge out.

Blood Qi churned on his crimson flame saber; he slashed into the group of corpse soldiers, and the supreme Yang Blood Qi exploded along the blade's edge, shattering over a dozen low-tier refined corpses on the spot.

Corpse poison splashed onto the Black Iron Shield, making a sizzling sound, but it was blocked by the spiritual energy light screen.

Wang Mu immediately ordered the Cultivation Citizens to follow up with Purifying Spirit Fire Beams.

The fire beams swept across the ground, burning a clear path through the corpse aura.

Yin Jiuhe hurriedly drove the Iron-Armored Corpses to press forward.

The twelve Iron-Armored Corpses stomped the ground simultaneously, forcefully pushing against the baleful aura as they charged toward the shield wall.

Their defense was indeed strong.

The first round of crimson flame saber strikes left only a few deep marks, failing to sever them directly.

A look of joy flashed in Yin Jiuhe's eyes.

"Iron-Armored Corpses, tear them apart!"

The twelve Iron-Armored Corpses raised their black corpse claws and slammed them fiercely onto the Black Iron Shield wall.

The shield wall shook violently, and several Martial Dao Citizens in the front row slid backward.

But that was all.

Wang Shan had already charged to the very front.

He stared at an Iron-Armored Corpse, Blood Qi erupting from the depths of his bones, the muscles in his right arm bulging as he slashed his crimson flame saber toward the opponent's neck bone.

The first slash cut in three inches.

The second slash poured in fire beams.

The third slash sent the corpse's head flying.

Wang Shan kicked over the headless corpse and laughed wildly, "Iron armor? It's just a matter of two extra slashes."

The morale of the Martial Dao elites soared.

They surrounded the Iron-Armored Corpses in groups of three; one person held the shield to resist the claws, while two focused on hacking at the knee bones and neck bones.

Wang Mu ordered the Cultivation elites to concentrate their firepower, using compressed fire beams to specifically target the corpse aura nodes.

The most troublesome thing about Iron-Armored Corpses was their corpse aura circulation.

Once the nodes were broken, their defense would drop rapidly.

Yin Jiuhe waved his Soul Banner repeatedly, wanting to let the sea of corpses suppress Wang Pingan's formation.

But with the legion's baleful aura tiger pressing down from above, the low-tier corpse soldiers found it difficult to form a dense charge.

When they rushed to the front of the formation, they were first scattered by the supreme Yang Blood Qi, then shredded by the crimson flame saber beams.

The most terrifying thing about the Corpse-Cultivating sea was its endless attrition.

But Wang Pingan's legion was not afraid of attrition.

Every citizen swallowed medicine to recover, rotating to advance; for every ten zhang the shield wall moved forward, it cleared a clean patch of ground.

Yin Jiuhe realized that the corpse sea tactic he relied on was being forcefully steamrolled by the opponent.

This was not just being countered a little.

This was his system being broken through head-on.

After ten Iron-Armored Corpses fell, Yin Jiuhe could no longer sit still.

He personally stood on the bone platform, attempting to urge the main Corpse King to counterattack.

That Corpse King, standing two zhang tall, had just walked out from the corpse mist when Wang Mu's Artillery Battalion locked onto it.

Fifty Psionic Heavy Cannons fired in unison.

As the artillery fire landed, half of the Corpse King's body was directly blasted to ruin.

Wang Shan seized the opportunity and led fifty Peak-tier Martial Dao Citizens to charge onto the bone platform.

Yin Jiuhe was shocked, "Stop them!"

But the corpse soldiers beside him could no longer keep up.

Wang Shan slashed off the arm of the last Iron-Armored Corpse, then stepped onto the bone platform, heading straight for Yin Jiuhe's Divine Core projection.

Yin Jiuhe still wanted to use his Soul Banner to protect himself.

Wang Mu's compressed fire beam cut the Soul Banner first.

Wang Shan's blade fell.

The Divine Core projection shattered.

The system prompt resounded across the battlefield.

[Wang Pingan wins.]

[Yin Jiuhe, eliminated.]

With this, the half-bracket where Wang Pingan was located had been completely punched through.

The Mechanical Ascension style, the Insect-Controlling swarm-building style, and the Corpse-Cultivating sea tactic all fell one after another at the feet of the Immortal Martial Legion.

And Wang Pingan's record remained dazzling.

All wins.

Zero combat losses.

Outside the arena, no one in the Tianhai Star spectator seats could sit still.

Zhao Yang jumped up, his face turning red from shouting, "The only seedling! Pingan has become the only seedling!"

Once these words were spoken, many people finally reacted.

Wang Jincheng had been eliminated.

Wang Qingyan had also encountered a strong-offensive style contestant in the previous round, and her logistics-based Divine Kingdom couldn't withstand the frontal assault, stopping at the top sixteen.

The rest of the Tianhai Star contestants had been eliminated even earlier.

Now, the only person still standing at the door of the Seventeen-Star Joint Entrance Exam's grand final was Wang Pingan.

Old Li watched the big screen, his fingers gripping his teacup, not having taken a sip for a long time.

Zhou Mingyuan also stood up, his gaze as bright as a torch.

Tianhai Star had not reached this step in the Seventeen-Star Nova Assessment for many years.

Let alone the fact that Wang Pingan hadn't barely qualified.

He had steamrolled his way through.

In the Seventeen-Star livestream chat room, Wang Pingan's name hung at the very top of the final qualifying list.

Everyone who had mocked his zero-logistics had shut up.

Everyone who believed that a flesh-and-blood civilization couldn't withstand mechanical firepower had also shut up.

Now there was only one question left.

Could he win the championship?

Wang Pingan stood in the center of the battlefield, watching his citizens clean up the projection battlefield, his expression still calm.

But the entire Tianhai Star had already placed its last hope on him alone.