101: Chapter 101 Battle Begins

The sky had not yet fully brightened. A thin layer of mist drifted over the Lingxi River, as if someone had draped a piece of translucent white gauze over the water, obscuring everything churning beneath the surface.

The morning mist spread from the river to the bank, and then from the bank to the base of the defensive wall of Guangming Village, soaking the lower half of the stone wall until it looked like bread soaked in milk—damp and silent.

The runes on the defensive wall flickered with a faint blue light in the mist, like a necklace dampened by the morning fog, quietly encircling Guangming Village.

Those Dark Iron runes were carved by Rune Forgemaster Xu Mohan, who hadn't closed her eyes for three days and three nights. Every stroke was like the most devout prayer of a smith. At this moment, they stood in the thin mist like the quietest guards, waiting for the coming storm.

When Zhao Linger rushed from the East Chamber onto the defensive wall, her pace was three times faster than usual.

Her spirit vine casual wear clung to her petite body, appearing like a streak of light green light in the morning mist. Her slender waist was small enough to be grasped in one hand, but her full silhouette, amidst the surging spiritual power, seemed like a contradiction condensed by moonlight—a childish face paired with a devilish figure.

But no one noticed this now, for her large, round eyes were bloodshot. The price of maintaining Spirit Sound Affinity for an entire night was etched onto her pale, doll-like face, resembling cracks drawn by the finest brush on white porcelain.

Her lips were chapped. The throat of a Spirit Sound Master was nearing its limit after six hours of continuous monitoring, but she did not stop, because the communication frequency of the Shadow Clan had suddenly encrypted three times in the last hour, like dark clouds pressing lower and lower before a storm.

"They are here!"

Her voice was hoarse but clear, like the tremor of a string stretched to its limit. With Spirit Sound Affinity having been active for nearly six hours, her voice was no longer as crisp as usual, but every word was as precise as the most rigorous performance of a Spirit Sound Master.

"Northwest direction, Beast Tide, number exceeds three hundred, at least three above Warrior Rank 4."

Her spirit sound detection was like an invisible sound wave in the morning mist, extending toward the Savage Beast Forest, like casting a silver thread into an abyss.

That thread trembled in the morning mist, and the vibrations sent back became increasingly intense, just like a fishing line in an angler's hand being suddenly jerked by a giant fish.

"They are fast, twice as fast as normal Savage Beasts. The Shadow Clan is using Shadow Crystal fragments to drive them, the same method as the Ink-scaled Python in the Savage Beast Forest, but the scale is ten times larger."

Wang Sheng stood at the highest point of the defensive wall. The golden shoulder guards of his Holy Light Battle Armor shimmered with golden light in the dawn, looking like two miniature suns rising on his shoulders.

The ice-blue frost flower circuits operated silently in the lining. Frost Mage Lin Shiyun's frost spiritual power was like invisible armor, wrapping around his strong, sturdy body.

The Ink-scaled Python skin lining clung to his torso, and the Dark Iron rune array flickered slightly in the golden light, like the most loyal guards waiting for their master's command.

He saw it. At the edge of the Savage Beast Forest, trees were collapsing. Not one or two, but entire patches were falling, as if an invisible giant hand was brushing away all obstacles in the forest.

The earth shook. The vibration traveled up from the soles of his feet, along the stone bricks of the defensive wall, to his heels, and then along his spine to the back of his head, as if the Savage Continent itself was being pried by some force.

Flocks of birds were startled from above the forest, shooting toward the sky like black arrows. Then, after reaching a certain altitude, those birds suddenly turned back, as if they had hit an invisible wall; even the birds dared not cross over the Beast Tide.

A black tide was surging out from the forest. The Beast Tide.

It was not a scattered group of Savage Beasts, nor the sporadic Savage Beast patrols encountered on the outskirts of the Savage Beast Forest, but an army of Savage Beasts systematically driven by the Shadow Clan's Shadow Crystal fragments, with direction and a goal.

Iron-Backed Wolves, Armor-Splitting Lizards, Savage Horned Rhinos, and mutated Savage Beasts eroded by shadows—their eyes no longer held the wild luster typical of Savage Beasts, but dark purple vertical pupils, like gems soaked in shadows, without luster, without temperature, only a bottomless darkness like an abyss.

They were not running, but being driven. The Shadow Crystal fragments were like invisible whips, injecting pure desire for attack into their nerves. Pain made them berserk, fear forced them forward; there was no retreat, only forward—toward Guangming Village.

At the very front, a Savage Horned Rhino King, the size of a small hill, was crushing everything with the brute force of a Warrior Rank 5. The dark purple Spirit Runes on its two horns were like wriggling maggots—traces of shadow erosion. The Shadow Crystal fragment was buried deep in its skull, like an invisible rein, twisting its wildness into a pure desire for attack.

With every step it took, the earth cracked, as if the Savage Continent was groaning beneath its feet. Behind it, over three hundred Savage Beasts surged toward Guangming Village like a black flood.

A system prompt popped up in Wang Sheng's field of vision:

═ ═ ═ ═ ═ ═ ═ ♦ Beast Tide Warning ═ ═ ═ ═ ═ ═ ═ [Scale]: Large (300+ Savage Beasts) [Rank Distribution]: · Warrior Rank 1-2: Approx. 200 · Warrior Rank 3: Approx. 80 · Warrior Rank 4: Approx. 15 · Warrior Rank 5: 2 (Savage Horned Rhino King × 1, Shadow Iron-Backed Wolf King × 1) [Erosion Status]: 30% of Savage Beasts contain Shadow Crystal fragments [Estimated Arrival]: 3 minutes ═ ═ ═ ═ ═ ═

Three minutes. Wang Sheng's heartbeat sounded like a war drum beating in his chest, but his voice was steadier than the war drum, like a boulder at the bottom of the Lingxi River.

"Everyone, battle positions!" His voice spread to every corner of Guangming Village through the communication spirit stones. A silver-blue shimmer flashed simultaneously across ten communication spirit stones.

"Beast Tide, arriving in three minutes. Main force on the west side, everyone in position!"

Defensive Wall · North Gate. Murong Xue was already mounted on a tamed Savage Horned Horse.

Her silver armor was like a flowing silver mirror in the dawn light. The Holy Light Resonance runes of the upgraded silver armor glowed faintly on her, like a silver galaxy flowing across the surface of the armor.

The Dark Iron rune arrays at every joint of the silver armor looked like the most precise gears. The Ink-scaled Python skin lining clung to her fit body, as soft yet tough as a second layer of skin.

She gripped her Holy Light Spear, the silver holy light at the spear tip appearing like a cold star in the morning mist. Her brown ponytail was tied high, and there was not a trace of fear on her determined face, as if the silver armor never feared blades.

The Savage Horned Horse stamped its hooves restlessly beneath her, its sturdy limbs leaving deep hoof prints in the mist by the Lingxi River. Murong Xue's long, powerful legs clamped the flanks of the Savage Horned Horse, the leg armor fitting against the horse's undulating muscle lines like a silver river flowing over its grayish-brown fur.

Her body rose and fell slightly with the restlessness of the Savage Horned Horse. The abdominal muscles faintly visible beneath the waist armor looked like the most exquisite dark patterns of the silver armor. Her posture while riding the Savage Horned Horse was like a statue of a war god forged in silver light, her tall and fit figure standing half a head higher than the horse's back.

The silver armor clung to every inch of her curves. The chest plate rose and fell slightly with her breathing, like silver mountains breathing in the morning breeze. The full, upright silhouette beneath the silver armor was like two mountains rimmed with moonlight; every breath caused the silver armor to tremble slightly. The waist armor cinched into a slender curve, like a silver willow branch bending but not breaking in the wind, highlighting her fit and powerful waist like a silver bowstring, every inch brimming with strength. The leg armor wrapped around her long, powerful legs, the silver metal covering every inch of skin like a second layer of skin; the curve of her thighs was like meticulously carved ivory, and the lines of her calves were like the curved blade of a new moon.

She looked back. Behind her were twelve Elf Archers and five female combatants riding Savage Horned Horses. The spirit power bows of the Elf Archers shimmered with a verdant light in the morning mist, and the Savage Horned Horses of the female combatants snorted restlessly.

"Cavalry unit!" Murong Xue's voice was like a silver spear being drawn—clear, sharp, and unstoppable. "Follow me, charge!"