196: Chapter 195 Reunion with an Acquaintance
The four of them didn't continue along the coastline until their spiritual power had fully recovered to its peak.
The silver-white pillar of light grew closer and closer, changing from being as thin as a hair to as thick as a tree trunk, and then from a tree trunk into a massive curtain of light, identical to the gate from the first layer.
When they were less than a kilometer away from the light curtain, Lin Fan stopped in his tracks.
A golden beam of light shot into the sky from behind a hill in the direction of the light curtain, exploding into a shower of golden specks that scattered like fireworks.
This was followed by a low rumble accompanied by a metallic vibration, with a frequency so high it almost pierced their eardrums.
"There are sounds of fighting ahead," Ye Wushuang said, looking toward the hill.
On Ye Qing's right ear, the silver scales of the Dew-Condensed Clear Moon Fox lit up one by one, as her Moon-Listening Insight captured every faint sound from the distance.
After a few breaths, she opened her eyes, her expression somewhat complex.
"There are three people."
Xu Ziyan leaned in. "Should we go take a look first?"
Lin Fan didn't answer, but quickened his pace and ran toward the hill.
Behind the hill was a flat expanse much wider than the coastline; the grayish-white rocky soil was covered in furrows and pits of varying depths, as if it had been repeatedly plowed by some force.
At the end of the flat ground was that silver-white light curtain. It rose from the ground, its silver-white radiance enveloping the entire battlefield in a cold halo of light.
In front of the light curtain, three people were locked in a struggle with a massive butterfly-shaped Armor Beast.
The butterfly was astonishingly large, its wingspan reaching ten meters wide. The wing surfaces weren't covered in scales but were instead semi-transparent golden membranes.
The membranes were covered in dark red patterns, flowing slowly like a precise map.
Its body was deep purple, with sharp talons at the ends of its six slender legs.
On its head were two curved antennae, each tipped with a golden orb of light that flickered like two small lanterns in the gray light.
Information popped up in Lin Fan's left eye.
[Race]: Fairy Butterfly Emperor
[Rank]: Rank 68
[Aptitude]: High-grade imperial spirit
[Attribute]: Illusion
[Status]: Enraged, abundant spiritual power, no significant damage sustained.
[Evaluation]: A high-grade imperial spirit Armor Beast, renowned for its illusionary attacks. The golden membranes on its wings can reflect most physical and elemental attacks, making it an Armor Beast with extremely high defense. It excels at creating illusions and Mental Shock.
[Weakness]: The golden orbs at the tips of its antennae are its mental core; shattering them will significantly weaken its Mental Energy.
Rank 68, high-grade imperial spirit.
It was indeed ridiculously powerful.
But what made Lin Fan freeze wasn't the butterfly, but the three people in the battle.
It was none other than Shen Shuang's trio.
She wore a form-fitting ice-blue tactical suit, her long hair tied in a high ponytail, and the stray hairs on her forehead were wet with sweat and stuck to her face.
Rank 61 Armor Sovereign.
Logically, for a Beast Armor Master of this Rank to deal with a Rank 68 high-grade imperial spirit Armor Beast, while not easy, they shouldn't be suppressed to this extent.
However, on Shen Shuang's left abdomen, her tactical suit had been torn open, revealing the inner armor beneath.
The inner armor was also broken, and the wound was deep. Dark red blood seeped out from the tear in her tactical suit, staining the ice-blue fabric with a shocking patch of darkness.
Every time she raised her arm to parry, the wound on her abdomen would be strained, causing the blood to flow faster.
Yu Nian stood to Shen Shuang's right.
The transparent wings of the Mystic Light Dragonfly on his back were fully unfurled, their high-speed vibration producing a hum that echoed throughout the battlefield.
Thunderous light from the Swift Thunder Eagle on his left arm condensed in his palm; every lightning strike accurately hit the weak points of the Fairy Butterfly Emperor's wing membranes.
But the reflectivity of the golden membranes was too high. Most of the lightning's power was reflected back, striking Yu Nian's own Mystic Light Dragonfly shield and exploding in ripples of bluish-white light.
The Shadow Entanglement from the Shadow Viper on his right arm wrapped twice around the Fairy Butterfly Emperor's legs.
But the Shadow Viper was only Rank 50. To the Rank 68 high-grade imperial spirit Fairy Butterfly Emperor, that small amount of binding force was almost negligible.
Relying on the Armorization of the Wind-Feathered Pheasant on his left leg and the Thunder-Patterned Leopard King on his right leg, which provided him with sufficient mobility, he darted back and forth through the golden beams reflected by the Fairy Butterfly Emperor's wings.
But his spiritual power consumption was visibly fast; after each dodge, the time he took to catch his breath was longer than the last.
Xu Tao stood slightly behind and to the left of Shen Shuang, responsible for cover.
The giant pincer of the Mountain Giant Scorpion on his right hand had already gripped one of the Fairy Butterfly Emperor's antennae, pulling down forcefully.
But the giant pincer kept slipping against the golden orb of the antenna, unable to maintain a grip at all.
He could only spit out a blast of earthy-yellow breath to strike the Fairy Butterfly Emperor's wings.
But just like Yu Nian's lightning strikes, most of the power was reflected back by the golden membranes.
The three were in a triangular formation, with Shen Shuang at the front as the main attacker, Yu Nian roaming the flanks to harass, and Xu Tao in the rear providing cover and support.
There was nothing wrong with the formation itself, but once Shen Shuang was injured, the gap at the front of the triangular formation could no longer be plugged.
Every vibration of the Fairy Butterfly Emperor's wings released a ripple of golden Mental Energy shockwaves, which spread to the spiritual power shields on the three people's bodies, causing fine cracks to burst open.
The situation for the three of them was not optimistic.
Especially Shen Shuang; as she lost more blood, her face grew increasingly pale.
Just as Shen Shuang was knocked back by the Fairy Butterfly Emperor's golden shockwave for the second time, nearly failing to stand up.
Lin Fan dove down from the ridge, the silver-white battle armor of Little Rabbit on his right leg exploding with a burst of blinding light under the moonlight.
The three pairs of small light-wings on his ankles fully unfurled. The six wings, as thin as a cicada's, flapped frantically in the moonlight, each flap leaving a pale golden afterimage in the air.
His speed was so fast that he left only a silver-white streak across the gray sky; the three-hundred-meter distance from the ridge to the battlefield was covered in less than two seconds.
The Fairy Butterfly Emperor sensed the threat.
Its wings flapped violently, abandoning its pursuit of Shen Shuang.
Its entire body flipped in the air, the golden patterns on its wings lighting up entirely, and the two golden orbs at the tips of its antennae simultaneously locked onto Lin Fan's direction.
A golden beam of light shot out from the orbs, heading straight for Lin Fan's face.
Lin Fan didn't dodge. He
raised his right leg while at full sprint, knee bent and toes pointing toward the sky.
Holy Radiance Prison!
The moment his right foot kicked out, a silver-white ball of light detached from his body and shot into the air half a meter above its head.
The light ball exploded in mid-air, turning into a silver-white light curtain nearly ten meters in diameter, hanging above the Fairy Butterfly Emperor's head like a giant mirror.
The blinding effect of Holy Radiance Prison—it wasn't about blinding the eyes, but blinding the senses.
The moment the light curtain exploded, silver-white Holy Light spread in all directions, enveloping the entire battlefield in a vast, white halo.
The Fairy Butterfly Emperor's two golden orbs simultaneously lost their target.
The Holy Light interfered with its perception of spiritual power fluctuations.
In its perception, Lin Fan's spiritual power fluctuation changed from a clear point to countless ones, spread throughout the entire battlefield.