38: Chapter 38 The Second Beast Tide

On the night when Su Mengyao's Spirit Garden bloomed, the moonlight was like water, the golden sun flower shone with brilliant spiritual light, and everything was unimaginably gentle.

However, the wilderness never gives people much time to catch their breath.

Before dawn the next day, Shen Xun'er's astral divination flared with a dangerous, deep crimson.

When the High Priestess awoke with a start on the Ancestral Spirit Altar, her moon-white ceremonial robes were soaked in cold sweat, her almond eyes wide open, and the fear from the divination's vision lingered in her pupils.

A black torrent, shattered fences, dust rising to fill the sky, and a giant beast even larger than the Savage Armored Rhino King, its dual horns like two scimitars, crushing everything in its path.

"Beast Tide!" Shen Xun'er's voice pierced the night. "Stronger than last time, at least three times as strong! And there is a Barbarian Warrior Tier 3 Giant Horned Rhino King!"

Before her words had faded, Zhao Linger's Spirit Sound Technique had already captured the low, roaring tide of the distant Savage Beast herd.

It was not the disorganized howling of beasts like last time.

Instead, it was a rhythmic rumbling, as if driven by some will, like the beating of war drums, one sound heavier than the last, crushing forward from the depths of the Savage Beast Forest to the north of the camp.

"Three miles! No, two and a half miles, it's getting faster!"

Zhao Linger's baby face was pale, but her voice was surprisingly steady; the professional training of a Spirit Sound Master allowed her to accurately judge distance and quantity even in the midst of fear.

"At least one hundred and fifty! And... and there is a very heavy spiritual pressure, above Barbarian Warrior Tier 3!"

When Wang Sheng rushed out of the Chiefs Tent, the golden runes on his palms were already glowing.

He took three seconds to scan the camp; Heavenly Strategist Shangguan Xuan was rapidly drawing a formation map on the ground.

Qin Luoxi's warning array glowed with intense red light, the girls of the combat squad were donning armor and taking up weapons, and the girls of the logistics squad were moving supplies and stretchers for the wounded.

Everything was orderly, a stark contrast to the panic during the first Beast Tide.

But Wang Sheng's heart sank instead.

Because he saw the expression on Shen Xun'er's face.

It wasn't fear; it was worry. She stood on the Ancestral Spirit Altar, the silver-blue light of the Moonlight Blessing enveloping her body, her almond eyes reflecting the dark torrent surging from the direction of the northern forest.

She did not look at Wang Sheng, but her lips moved slightly, silently saying one word.

"Strong."

One word was enough.

Wang Sheng took a deep breath and roared, "All personnel, listen up!"

Sixty-two figures stopped in the faint light of dawn, all looking toward their Chieftain.

"Murong Xue, lead the combat squad to guard the front of the camp gate. This is the main defensive line; we cannot retreat!"

"Xiao Yuqing and Helan Yue will provide support from the high ground, prioritizing the elimination of any Savage Beasts that break through the line."

"Frost Mage Lin Shiyun, set up Frost Traps twenty steps behind the camp gate. Once the main force of the Savage Beasts enters the formation, freeze them with all your might."

He paused, his gaze sweeping across Frost Mage Lin Shiyun's ice-blue pupils. "Shiyun, your Frost Spell is key this time. Freeze them for as long as you can."

Frost Mage Lin Shiyun nodded slightly, her silver-white hair drifting like snow in the morning breeze.

She did not speak, but something flashed deep within her ice-blue pupils. It was not fear, but a surge of heat beneath the ice, ignited by being trusted.

"Su Mengyao, control the spirit vines to block the flanks. Zhao Linger, provide sonic support from the rear. Zheng Liuli and Chen Siqi, you are responsible for firepower output."

"Shen Xun'er, cover the entire camp with the Moonlight Blessing. Hua Jieyu, prepare for medical support."

Wang Sheng's gaze finally landed on Murong Xue. "Murong Xue, leave the Rhino King to me; you guard the defensive line. But if something happens to me—"

"It won't," Murong Xue interrupted him.

She was already fully armored, the silver armor gleaming with a cold metallic luster in the morning light, fitting her fit and tall physique, outlining the voluptuous yet powerful curves of her chest and hips.

Her brown ponytail was tied high, revealing her long, fair neck and exquisite jawline, her determined face as cold and sharp as a blade.

Yet, because of the determination burning in those eyes, it held a touch of warmth that made people feel at ease.

Her right hand held a silver spear, the tip pointing obliquely at the ground, and her left hand rested on the hilt of the sword at her waist.

The silver armored waist belt cinched her lean and powerful waistline, and below the waistline were breathtaking curves, her hips wrapped in round, perky silver armored skirt plates.

Beneath the skirt plates, a pair of long, powerful legs were revealed, her calves bound in silver greaves with tight, smooth lines, standing there like an unshakable silver god of war.

"Nothing will go wrong," Murong Xue repeated, her brown eyes fixed on Wang Sheng. "Because I am here."

Wang Sheng looked into her eyes, the corners of his mouth curling slightly. It wasn't a smile, but the tacit understanding between warriors, the most concise expression of the three words "I trust you."

"Take your positions!"

As the first glimmer of dawn appeared on the horizon, the Savage Beast herd arrived.

The Savage Beasts surging from the northern forest were a black, overwhelming mass, their hooves and claws pounding the ground like dense drumbeats, making the earth tremble. Iron-Backed Wolves, Savage Horned Deer, Giant Spined Lizards, Savage Armored Rhinoceroses—

All the species that had appeared in the last Beast Tide were present, and their numbers had more than tripled.

Even more terrifying was that there were many Savage Beasts in the herd that hadn't been seen before: ox-sized Red Flame Pigs that spat fire from their entire bodies;

Earth-Splitting Bears with four front claws, each swipe of their claws plowing deep trenches into the ground;

And dozens of black-furred, tusked Shadow Wolves that did not charge, but roamed the edges of the herd, their vertical pupils flashing with eerie green light.

"Shadow Wolves!" Liu Ruyan's voice came from the darkness. She was hidden in the shadows of the camp, her Phantom Assassination Technique completely concealing her presence, her smoky, misty eyes sharp as blades at this moment.

"They are observing! These aren't ordinary Savage Beasts; they might be related to the Shadow Clan!"

Wang Sheng's heart sank. The Shadow Clan. The underground stronghold of the Shadow Clan discovered at the Myriad Races Market hadn't even been thoroughly cleared yet, and Shadow Wolves had already appeared in the Beast Tide? Was this a coincidence, or...

There was no time to think.

The Savage Armored Rhinoceros herd was the first to crash into the camp gate fence, wood shattering and giant stones flying!

The spirit array set up by Qin Luoxi lit up with a blue light screen behind the fence, blocking the first wave of impact, but cracks rapidly spread across the spirit array under the continuous crashing of the Savage Armored Rhinoceroses.

"The spirit array won't hold for three waves!" Qin Luoxi shouted urgently, her classical beauty's face full of tension, her fingers rapidly drawing repair array patterns in the void.

Murong Xue thrust her spear out; the golden spear tip pierced the throat of the first Savage Horned Deer to break through the spirit array, and with a sweep of the spear, the shaft smashed the skull of the second Iron-Backed Wolf.

Behind her, the girls of the combat squad followed closely; Situ Shuang's longsword, Gongsun Yao's spirit bow, Linghu Xue's ice spikes, and Nangong Yue's qi blades—various attacks wove together into a web of death at the camp entrance.

Xiao Yuqing drew her bow from the high ground, her spiritual power arrows never missing their mark. Her dashing short hair flew in the morning breeze, the lines of her arms tensed into beautiful curves as she drew the bow, her figure heroic and dashing beneath her sports vest.

Beside her, Helan Yue was as calm as ice, her ice arrows accurately shooting into the eye sockets of the Savage Beasts, never missing.

Frost Mage Lin Shiyun closed her eyes and focused on the high ground behind the camp gate, her silver-white hair drifting like snow.

She pushed her hands forward, and ice-blue cold air surged violently; the Frost Trap was triggered!

The herd of Savage Beasts charging into the camp gate had their front hooves instantly frozen, and frost spread across the ground, sealing half of the passage into an icy river.

The following Savage Beasts stepped onto the ice and slipped, their formation thrown into chaos.

Her silver-white hair danced in the ice mist, snowflakes drifting in her ice-blue pupils, and her tall, slender figure stood in the morning light like a sculpture of an Ice Goddess.

Her mage robe was blown tight against her body by the cold wind, outlining the astonishing proportions between her waist and hips, the slender waist and full chest forming breathtaking curves.

Her fingers trembled slightly, a sign of high-load spellcasting, but the light in her ice-blue pupils did not waver in the slightest.