111: The finals begin, and Behemoth's charge is unstoppable (Part 2)

The devastating opening left all the spectators speechless.

Inside and outside the virtual battlefield, there was a dead silence, leaving only the heavy breathing of the Golden Behemoth Royal Lineage and the lingering sound of the earth shattering beneath its feet.

"Too... too strong! They're not even on the same level!"

"Yuncheng No. 1 High School's defensive line was washed away like sand!"

"How can they fight this? Is Lin Zhou's tactic over before it even began?"

"The gap is too huge... Is this the foundation of Cangqiong Academy?"

Despair spread like a plague among the spectators supporting Yuncheng No. 1 High School.

On the battlefield, the Golden Behemoth Royal Lineage did not stop. Its cold gaze instantly locked onto Su Yueyao, who was retreating rapidly with her Moonlight Guardian wavering, and the core units under her protection! It could feel that the chilly Moonlight Power, which made it somewhat uncomfortable, was the key to the opponent maintaining their line and preventing total collapse.

"Roar!" It let out a low growl, raising its massive golden claws. With an Aura that seemed to tear through space, it swung fiercely toward Su Yueyao from a distance! Shattering Tear: Armor Break!

Five extremely condensed golden claw beams, containing terrifying armor-breaking attributes, descended instantly like the scythes of the Grim Reaper, crossing hundreds of meters!

This strike was more concentrated than the previous charge and stomp, its power focused entirely on a single point, vowing to tear through the Moonlight Guardian in one blow and eliminate Su Yueyao, the key point!

"Classmate Su, watch out!" Lei Huang and Yan Li exclaimed in the channel, but they were too far away and struggling to save themselves, making it impossible to rescue her in time!

Su Yueyao's expression changed slightly; she could feel the destructive energy within the claw beams, enough to easily shred her Moonlight Guardian! She pushed her Moonlight Godhead to its limit, attempting to condense a stronger defense, but the previous backlash and exhaustion left her unable to do so!

Just as the golden claw beams were about to fall—

"Law · Definition: This strike's energy dissipation exceeds the rule limit; judged as 'Invalid'!"

"School of Names · Confusion: Target lock contains a logical error; coordinate shift!"

"School of Diplomacy · Disturbance: Attack trajectory interfered with by an unknown force field!"

Lin Zhou's voice, calm to the point of being icy, rang out like a sudden storm!

At the same time, Snik, the Law Fishmen hero, who had been prepared for a long time, held up the Book of Law. The cold power of order forcibly intervened in the rules, attempting to define the claw beams as "Illegal"! Elwin, the Literary Heart Elves hero, invoked the sophistry of the School of Names, distorting the Golden Behemoth's perception and causing its lock-on for this strike to have an extremely subtle deviation! Meanwhile, the power of the School of Diplomacy invoked by Lin Zhou himself acted like an invisible barrier, attempting to deflect the trajectory of the claw beams!

The prototype of the "Domain of a Hundred Schools" was displayed in actual combat for the first time!

This was not a head-on confrontation, but interference and distortion at the level of rules!

"Buzz—!"

When the golden claw beams were only a few meters away from the Moonlight Guardian, an extremely subtle, almost imperceptible deflection and energy dissipation indeed occurred! Although Snik's "Definition" was not entirely successful, Elwin's "Confusion" only caused a shift of less than half a meter, and Lin Zhou's "Disturbance" had an even weaker effect, the small variables produced by the combination of these three played a crucial role at the critical moment!

"Rip!"

The claw beams, which should have hit the core of the Moonlight Guardian directly, grazed the edge of the light shield, tearing a huge hole in it. The residual energy impact still made Su Yueyao's blood churn, but ultimately... she held on! It wasn't directly shattered!

"What?!" Haotian, who had been watching indifferently, showed clear surprise in his eyes for the first time. He clearly felt that in that moment, the Golden Behemoth Royal Lineage's attack had been interfered with in an extremely bizarre way! It wasn't energy collision or defensive cancellation; it was more like... the rules had been briefly modified and confused?

"Indeed, there's some skill here." Haotian's eyes narrowed slightly as he set aside his last bit of contempt. "But, is that all?"

On the battlefield, Lin Zhou didn't have time to catch his breath and immediately ordered: "Continue retreating! Enter Preset Zone No. 2! Lei Huang, Yan Li, execute the 'Peeling' plan!"

Taking advantage of the brief gap when the Golden Behemoth Royal Lineage's strike missed and it seemed to show a hint of doubt and hesitation over the rule interference, the remaining forces of the Cloud City Team quickly retreated toward a more complex area in the rear, filled with massive stone forests and natural caves.

"Trying to run?" Haotian snorted coldly. "Storm Giants, Thunder Spears, suppressive fire! Silver Pegasus Knights, flank them and restrict their maneuverability! Spirit Dragons, Dream Entanglement, interfere with that Lin Zhou!"

Cangqiong Academy's full-scale offensive finally unfolded!

Several Storm Giants raised their hands, and violent wind and thunder power condensed in their palms into massive Thunder Spears leaping with destructive electric arcs. With ear-piercing whistles, they rained down like a meteor shower over the Cloud City Team's retreat path!

The Silver Pegasus Knights turned into streaks of silver light, sweeping out at high speed from behind the flanking mountains, their Holy Light spears pointing directly at the weak points of the Cloud City Team's formation!

Meanwhile, those elegant Spirit Dragons flapped their transparent wings and let out ethereal cries. Ripples of invisible dream waves spread out, attempting to plunge Lin Zhou and his subordinates into a brief sleep or confusion!

Facing this multi-dimensional and precise strike, the Cloud City Team's situation became even more critical!

"Swift as the Wind!" Lin Zhou invoked the Daoist Concept, buffing the entire army and increasing their retreat speed.

"Vast Righteous Qi, cleanse the demonic atmosphere!" Elwin led the Literary Heart Elves, using the Righteous Domain to counter the erosion of the dream ripples. Although they couldn't be completely immune, it significantly reduced the impact.

"Tiangong Ballista, intercepting fire!" Bronzebeard commanded the dwarf ballistae, ignoring accuracy to perform suppressive interception, attempting to block some of the Thunder Spears and interfere with the approach of the Silver Pegasus Knights.

"Now's the time! Yan Li!" Lin Zhou shouted in the channel!

Yan Li, hidden in the forest on the right flank, had been waiting for this exact opportunity! Just as Cangqiong Academy's attention was drawn to the retreating main force, while the Storm Giants were casting spells with all their might, and the Silver Pegasus Knights were attempting to flank—

"Phoenix Dance of the Nine Heavens: Heart-Burning Flame!"

A highly condensed, nearly pure white Phoenix flame shot out from the depths of the dense forest like a counter-attacking meteor! Its target was a Storm Giant currently channeling a large Thunder Spear! This strike contained all of Yan Li's remaining Divine Power and Phoenix Origin; its speed was at the limit, and it locked onto the core where the opponent's energy was most active and defense relatively weak during spellcasting!

"Pfft!"

The pure white Phoenix flame accurately hit the chest of that Storm Giant! Terrifying purification and penetration properties erupted, and the lightning shield around the Storm Giant melted like snow under sunlight. It let out an unwilling roar as its massive body began to collapse and dissipate under the burning of the Phoenix flame!

A successful strike! One key Storm Giant spellcasting unit was successfully eliminated!

However, Yan Li also exposed her position because of this!

"Seeking death!" A Cangqiong Academy member roared. Several Silver Pegasus Knights immediately turned around, their Holy Light spears raining down on the forest where Yan Li was located! Simultaneously, another Storm Giant's Thunder Spear also redirected its target, blasting toward that area!

"Yan Li, retreat quickly!" Lin Zhou said urgently.

Yan Li's Phoenix let out a clear cry, attempting to take to the skies to dodge, but the siege of the Silver Pegasus Knights and the coverage area of the Thunder Spears were too wide!

"Boom!"

The forest was swallowed by violent thunder and fire. After defeating one Storm Giant, Yan Li's Phoenix ultimately failed to completely dodge the subsequent retaliatory strikes. It let out a mournful cry, its surrounding flames dimming. Having suffered heavy damage, it was forced to withdraw its power and flee backward in a sorry state, temporarily losing its combat effectiveness.

The Cloud City Team lost another general! Only Lin Zhou and Su Yueyao still maintained relatively complete combat power.

But their sacrifice was not without value. Successfully killing a Storm Giant weakened Cangqiong Academy's long-range suppression fire to some extent and bought precious time for Lin Zhou's main force to retreat.

In the end, the remnants of the Cloud City Team, with Lin Zhou and Su Yueyao covering the rear, paid a considerable price but finally managed to retreat perilously into that complex area filled with massive stone forests and caves—Preset Zone No. 2.

The Golden Behemoth Royal Lineage let out an impatient roar, destroying all obstacles along the way as it chased to the edge of the stone forest. However, its massive size was clearly restricted in this area of jagged rocks and narrow passages, and it could no longer charge as recklessly as before.

Cangqiong Academy's Silver Pegasus Knights and Spirit Dragons tried to follow, but they were effectively blocked by Lin Zhou's prepared ballistae and the Literary Heart Elves' long-range attacks, utilizing the stone forest terrain.

The first wave of fatal impact was finally endured by the Cloud City Team at a heavy cost.

The two sides formed a brief standoff across the complex stone forest.

Haotian looked at the stone forest that was easy to defend but hard to attack, then at his teammates who were slightly agitated because an important unit had been killed, and his gaze turned completely cold.

"Do you think hiding in a rat hole will be useful?" He slowly raised his hand and pressed it onto the back of the Golden Behemoth Royal Lineage. A more ancient and terrifying Aura began to emanate from him.

"It seems I need to let you truly see what... absolute power is."