77: Chapter 77 Besieged on All Sides

Aside from the twenty-five hundred people who had just entered, the plain was empty, and the silence was somewhat eerie.

"Is this the interior of the secret realm?" Lin Tian looked around, his eyes filled with surprise.

Lin Yin had already moved swiftly to a position slightly ahead and to his side, her gaze scanning every direction of the plain like a hawk, her bowstring pulled taut.

Lin Feng immediately commanded the army to quickly form a defensive formation, protecting Lin Tian, Lord Su Wan, and the others in the center. Under the command of Aelia, the elves also began to chant in low voices, casting natural protective and buff spells for the Heavy Armored Spearman in front.

Just as everyone had steadied themselves and were still observing the environment.

A grand, ancient voice, seemingly coming from above the nine heavens and echoing directly in the depths of everyone's soul, suddenly resounded throughout the entire plain space:

"Welcome to — the Secret Realm Challenge Space!"

The voice held no joy or sorrow, yet carried an unquestionable majesty.

"The challenge rules are as follows:"

"One, the challenge consists of nine stages, conducted one by one."

"Two, after each stage ends, there is a half-hour rest period."

"Three, upon successfully passing each stage, the reward for that stage will be issued immediately."

"Four, during the challenge, you may choose to abandon subsequent stages and leave at any time."

"Five, if you fail any stage, all challengers will be immediately teleported out of the challenge space."

"Now, the first stage of the challenge, [Besieged from All Sides], begins!"

Boom!!

No sooner had the grand voice finished speaking than black dust, blocking out the sky and sun, rose simultaneously from the horizons in the east, west, south, and north at the edge of the plain!

Following that came terrifying roars and stomping sounds, like ten thousand drums beating in unison or ten thousand beasts stampeding, moving from afar to near, sweeping towards the center of the plain from all directions like a tide of death!

Everyone looked toward the sound and saw that from every direction, dense, diverse, and foul-smelling corrupted monsters exuding madness were emerging!

Rotten giant wolves, deformed magic leopards, bloated rot-worms, crawlers waving bone spurs... Their eyes were scarlet, drool flowing, like a black flood breaking its dam; the sheer number was enough to make one's scalp tingle!

A rough estimate showed over twenty-five hundred in each direction; added together from all four sides, it was well over ten thousand!

What was even more heart-stopping was that the aura of these monsters was generally not weak. Using the Detection Spell to look, their quality was uniformly Rare-grade, with levels ranging from black iron five or six stars to high-level Bronze. The dozens of exceptionally ferocious monster leaders charging at the very front had auras that had clearly reached Silver 1-star!

Ten thousand Rare-grade corrupted monsters, surrounding them from all four sides! Even the elite subordinates of Lin Tian, who had experienced many battles, could not help but feel a hint of pressure when facing such a quantity and quality of enemies, as well as this classic "Besieged from All Sides" kill formation.

However, in the center of this suffocating encirclement, after his initial shock, Lin Tian's eyes suddenly ignited with blazing fighting spirit. Far from being afraid, he licked his slightly dry lips and revealed a smile mixed with excitement and ruthlessness:

"Besieged from All Sides? Heh, just in time! Let's see whether their teeth are harder or our spears are sharper! Lin Feng!"

"Here!"

"Change to circular formation! Defend!"

"Lin Yin!"

"Here!" Lin Yin's cool, clear voice rang out. She had already drawn her bow and nocked an arrow, moonlight flowing on the bowstring, her gaze locked onto the fastest Silver-grade magic wolf charging from the east.

"Free hunt, prioritize taking out those Silver-grade leaders!"

"Yes!"

"Lord Su Wan, please have your elves focus on healing and purifying negative status effects!"

"Understood!" Lord Su Wan also set aside her gentleness, her expression becoming serious and focused as a soft green light lit up on the wooden staff in her hand.

The battle was on the verge of breaking out!

"This is only the first stage... and it's already playing this big?" He clicked his tongue, his gaze quickly sweeping over the monsters emitting foul auras and roaring hideously. "Fortunately, the quality is only Rare, and the levels are mainly black iron and Bronze, with not many Silver bosses. If the following stages increase in proportion like this..."

It was unimaginable what kind of terrifying scene the ninth stage would be. Perhaps Gold-grade would be everywhere, and Platinum-grade would be as common as dogs?

He subconsciously glanced at Lord Su Wan beside him.

This gentle female lord's pretty face was slightly pale at the moment, her emerald-like eyes filled with gravity and lingering fear.

Clasping her natural staff tightly, the "ambush from all sides" kill formation before her, and the terrifying momentum of these ten thousand monsters, far exceeded her expectations.

She had originally estimated the dangers of the secret realm, but reality still dealt her a heavy blow.

"Fortunately... fortunately I chose to form an alliance with Lin Tian, rather than rashly using the token alone..." Lord Su Wan felt full of relief, and even a chill of lingering fear.

If only she and the five hundred elves who were not good at frontal combat had stepped in here, facing this beast tide surrounding them on all sides, they probably wouldn't even be able to withstand the first wave of impact and would be instantly submerged.

She would have wasted this precious Gold Treasure Chest token in vain, and might even have suffered heavy losses. Looking at the two thousand Heavy Armored Spearman standing silently like mountains in their strict armor, and the two figures with astonishing momentum standing at the front of the formation, she felt for the first time how precious the sense of security brought by a powerful ally was.

On the battlefield, there was no time for more thought.

Lin Yin had long since stood with her bow drawn, positioned slightly ahead in the center of the circular formation.

Her moon-white holy robe swayed gently in the wind of the plain; on her exquisitely beautiful face, there was not a trace of fear in the face of ten thousand troops, only a calmness and focus like a frozen lake surface.

When the vanguard of the beast tide in the east, several Silver 1-star corrupted magic wolves, first entered the three-hundred-meter range, she moved.

She did not use the highly consuming "Full Moon Judgment"; for dealing with these numerous enemies that were not top-tier individually, area clearing was more efficient.

Closing her eyes for a brief moment, the cool moonlight around her suddenly became dense, as if an invisible vortex was spreading out with her at the center, madly absorbing the free-floating energy in the space. When she opened her eyes again, her pupils had turned a pure silver-white color.

"Silver Moon... Arrow Rain."

Her red lips parted slightly, her voice clear and resonant like jade striking stone.

What was nocked on the string was not an arrow, but a wisp of extremely condensed silver moonlight that seemed to want to constantly divide and multiply! She raised her longbow high, aimed at the sky where the beast tide in the east was densest, and released the bowstring.

Hum!!!

There was no shrill whistle, only a strange, grand reverberation as if a tide of moonlight was surging! A thick pillar of silver light burst from the bowstring, shot into the sky, and after rising to a height of one hundred meters, exploded with a roar!

In an instant, like a galaxy breaking its dam in the night sky, countless thin yet condensed, substantial silver streams of light turned into a magnificent rain of death covering a diameter of over one hundred meters, pouring down towards the surging beast tide in the east!

Each stream of light was an energy arrow containing the moon's power to break magic, sharp, swift, and continuous!

Pfft, pfft, pfft, pfft!!!

The arrow rain fell into the beast herd, and immediately a sound of teeth-aching piercing and purification rang out!