143: An endless tide of strange beasts

The cold, digitized rules were clearly imprinted in everyone's minds, as if a framework similar to an online game had been placed over this cruel survival trial. However, the deathly silent, oppressive, and malicious environment outside the light screen reminded everyone at all times: this was not a game, it was a bloody reality! Behind every merit point and glory point, there would be a mountain of corpses and a sea of blood!

Lin Yuan stood at the edge of the light screen, his gaze penetrating that seemingly thin semi-transparent barrier to look out at the dark ruins beyond. The aura of despair was like a tangible tide, hitting the mind in wave after wave. The four great Origin Laws within his body spontaneously circulated slightly, emitting an introverted yet majestic aura that silently repelled the negative energy eroding his mind.

Right then!

"Roar—!" "Screech—!" "Gurgle..."

As if awakened by the massive energy fluctuations when the base was established, or perhaps drawn by the scent of over eight million fresh lives, countless scalp-numbing roars, shrieks, and scraping sounds suddenly rang out from the depths of the deathly silent ruins!

The ground began to vibrate, not from the myriad laws heavenly stele, but from the trampling of countless claws!

At the edge of sight, within the shadows of the ruins, it was as if the gates of Hell had opened. Black, gray, dark red, sickly green... countless hideous figures of various forms surged frantically from the broken walls, underground cracks, and purple-black vine thickets in all directions like a burst dam!

Their objective was incredibly clear—the safe base protected by the light screen!

"Exotic beast... beast tide!!" a trial-taker shouted with a trembling voice, his face as pale as paper.

Outside the light screen, less than a thousand meters away, the first wave of exotic beasts was already clearly visible!

At the very front were a large number of creatures shaped like hyenas but covered in rotting, pus-filled sores with glowing green eyes; they moved swiftly, emitting irritating low growls. Following closely behind were larger beetles covered in carapace with mouthparts like giant drills, as well as some humanoid monsters crawling rapidly on all fours while waving sickle-like bone blades. In the sky, dense black dots also appeared; those were flying creatures with bat wings and bloated bellies, emitting ear-piercing cries.

A dark mass, like a rolling wave of filth, carrying a violent aura that could destroy everything, instantly filled the entire field of vision outside the light screen! The numbers were so vast that the end could not be seen! The dust kicked up and the fishy stench emitted as they ran, crawled, and flew felt as if it could be smelled even through the light screen!

Despair, like a cold poisonous snake, coiled around the hearts of many trial-takers. Some with weaker wills even had their legs go soft and collapsed to the ground.

"Intelligence light screen update: Large-scale exotic beast activity detected! Number of nests: [Unknown]! Number of exotic beasts: [∞]! Warning: Threat Level—Extremely High!" On the intelligence light screen in the center of the base, cold text flashed with a piercing red light.

Four types of exotic beasts detected: Rank 1 Corpse Dog, combat power approximately 100 Yu; Rank 2 Earth-boring Demon Insect, combat power approximately 1,000 Yu; Rank 3 Scythe Demon, combat power approximately 10,000 Yu; Rank 4 Soul-Devouring Bat, combat power approximately 100,000 Yu!

The remaining 8.53 million trial-takers, although all the most outstanding Myriad Laws Realm prodigies of the Taichu Divine Continent, had combat power that, for the vast majority, could only rival Rank 4 exotic beasts. Looking at the overwhelming tide of beasts outside the light screen, everyone's hearts were filled with an aura of despair.

"Kill our way out! Slay the exotic beasts!" A violent shout rang out, carrying a savage aura that could destroy all. Luo Hou from the Destruction Temple, the Prodigy who had comprehended 100% of the Destruction Origin, had the black-red destruction aura around him explode like a burning flame. He stepped out of the light screen, his hands grasping the air, and a giant axe composed of pure destruction energy instantly took shape! Ten dark-gold Law Dao Patterns flashed across his body!

"Destruction · World-Severing Slash!"

The giant axe swung out, and a black-red axe light spanning hundreds of meters tore through the air, carrying a terrifying power to cut through everything, and slammed heavily into the vanguard of the surging beast tide!

Boom—!!!

The ground was plowed into a deep trench. Wherever the black-red light passed, whether it was Corpse Dogs, Earth-boring Demon Insects, or Scythe Demons, they were all annihilated into nothingness by that pure power of destruction in an instant! With one strike, at least a thousand square meters of exotic beasts were cleared! The merit point numbers on his wrist began to jump frantically!

"Eternal Bastion!" On the other side, the Saintess of the Eternal Temple, Luo Shen, spoke with a voice that was ethereal yet carried an unquestionable firmness. Milky-white Eternal Light flowed around her, and ten pure white Law Dao Patterns emerged. A massive wall of light emitting an aura of immortality unfolded before her, temporarily isolating a small area. The light wall was incredibly tough; no matter how the exotic beasts outside struck it, it remained unmoved. She protected several Temple Disciples, and sharp light spears extended from the edges of the light wall, piercing through rows of exotic beasts trying to approach.

"Spatial Cleave!" Clear Emptiness of the Time-Space Divine Temple appeared and disappeared at the edge of the beast tide. His hands formed seals as ten silver-gray Law Dao Patterns circled him, and the space in front of him silently shattered and displaced like fragile glass. Thousands of charging exotic beasts were cut into neat pieces without warning, blood and internal organs spraying everywhere. His merit points were also rising steadily.

Other top prodigies also took action: Cang Jiuyou of the Cangqiong Imperial Dynasty turned Nether Power into a vortex that swallowed life; Ji Changge of the Ji Family used Fate Threads to pull and make the exotic beasts kill each other; Sword Without Dust of the Heavenly Sword Sanctuary had Deathly Sword Qi sweeping horizontally and vertically... For a time, the brilliance of various Origin Laws lit up everywhere along the edge of the light screen, and powerful Spell fluctuations rose one after another. They were like reefs, opening up small safety zones in the surging beast tide, fighting with all their might.

However, individual bravery seemed so small in the face of the infinite beast tide. As soon as they cleared an area, more exotic beasts immediately roared and filled it back in. The Soul-Devouring Bats in the sky emitted sharp sonic waves, giving some weaker trial-takers splitting headaches and slowing their movements. On the intelligence light screen, that [∞] number of exotic beasts was like a cold mockery.

Lin Yuan watched all this calmly, like an observer standing apart from the situation. He did not explode with earth-shattering power like Luo Hou, nor did he construct a defense like Luo Shen. He simply, under the gaze of countless eyes filled with fear, gravity, or curiosity, walked alone with steady steps and calmly passed through that semi-transparent light screen.

The atmosphere inside and outside the light screen was completely different. The moment he stepped into the ruins, that viscous, foul air mixed with blood and Chaos, along with the frantic, bloodthirsty intent of countless exotic beasts, rushed toward him like something tangible.