40: Chapter 40 Holy Light Explosive Fist

Within those two seconds, Murong Xue did three things: First, she yanked out her stuck spear, the silver tip striking sparks against the left horn of the Giant Horned Rhino King.

Second, she sidestepped, clearing a path for the person behind her to reach the Giant Horned Rhino King directly.

Third, she glanced back at Wang Sheng. In that look, there was no fear, no hesitation, only a single message: "You can do it."

Wang Sheng stood up.

He wiped the blood from the corner of his mouth; his movements were slow, but steady.

The turbulence in his chest had settled, and the constitution of a Holy Light Warrior allowed him to recover most of his combat strength in a very short time.

More importantly, he saw the back of Murong Xue standing before him.

Her silver armor was shattered, her brown hair disheveled, her spear held horizontally, her feet planted like nails—that silhouette etched a mark onto his retina more scorching than any Power of Holy Light.

At that moment, something exploded within his chest once more.

It was not the Wrath of Protection from the previous Beast Tide; it was deeper, more intense, and unstoppable.

It was the feeling of one's soul being torn apart and reshaped, like erupting magma, upon seeing someone you care about stand on the line of life and death for you.

The Power of Holy Light surged violently.

Golden light poured from every pore of Wang Sheng's body—not the Power of Holy Light gathered in his palms as before, but a total, uncontrollable eruption. His fists blazed with golden light like two small suns, and his sleeves shredded under the impact of spiritual energy, revealing golden Spirit Rune patterns etched onto his arms.

This was a Deep Awakening mark that had never appeared after a Holy Light Warrior's awakening!

"Barbarian Warrior Rank 3?" Wang Sheng raised his head, his golden pupils like two burning suns, the blood at the corner of his mouth making him look savage and wild.

"Then let's see if you can withstand this punch!"

He took one step, and the ground shattered.

Two steps, and the air was torn asunder.

Three steps, and his speed was so fast that only a golden afterimage remained!

The Giant Horned Rhino King had just broken free from the frost binding and was lowering its horns to charge, but Wang Sheng's right fist was already crashing toward its face.

It was not a Holy Light Slash. It was not a Shield of Light. There were no flashy techniques.

Just a punch.

But this punch carried all of his Power of Holy Light. It carried the sound of Murong Xue's silver armor shattering as she blocked the charge for him.

It carried Frost Mage Lin Shiyun's insistence, her fingers trembling yet never ceasing as she froze the Giant Horned Rhino King. It carried the trust of sixty-two girls looking toward him in the dawn's twilight.

"Holy Light, Explosive Fist!"

The golden fist collided head-on with the Giant Horned Rhino King's forehead armor.

In an instant, the world changed color.

A golden shockwave radiated from the point of impact in all directions. Savage Beasts within a thirty-step radius were overturned by the shockwave, and a five-meter-wide crater of cracked earth appeared on the ground.

The water of the Lingxi River was kicked up into three-meter-high waves by the shockwave, and the pebbles from the riverbed churned to the surface.

The Giant Horned Rhino King's deep gray shell—that layer of Barbarian Warrior Rank 3 armor that even a Holy Light Slash could not break—began to spiderweb with cracks, spreading from the point of impact under the bombardment of the golden fist!

The eerie red Spirit Runes flashed frantically, attempting to repair the cracks, but the Power of Holy Light was like magma pouring into ice, seeping into the shell along the cracks and scorching the very foundation of the Spirit Runes!

The Giant Horned Rhino King let out a scream like never before; it was not a roar of a Savage Beast, but the terrified screech of a high-level Savage Beast facing death.

The eerie light in its dark red vertical pupils flickered violently, and the spiral Spirit Runes on its horns began to shatter.

Wang Sheng did not give it a chance to breathe.

He unclenched his right fist, spread his fingers, and pressed his palm against the Giant Horned Rhino King's shattered forehead armor, pouring the Power of Holy Light into it like a waterfall!

Golden light poured into the Giant Horned Rhino King's body along the cracks, shining blindingly through the gaps in its shell, as if a sun were burning inside this behemoth!

"Boom!"

The Giant Horned Rhino King's massive body stiffened. The cracks on its deep gray shell expanded to their limit, shattering piece by piece to reveal the muscle tissue inside, scorched charred black by the Power of Holy Light.

Its horns broke off at the base and slammed into the ground, kicking up two clouds of dust.

The eerie light in its dark red vertical pupils extinguished completely.

It collapsed with a thud.

The earth trembled.

The moment the Giant Horned Rhino King's corpse hit the ground, the shockwave flattened everything within a ten-step radius.

Its massive body lay on the ground like a small mountain, the golden afterglow still flickering where the shell had shattered, like dying embers.

With the Beast King dead, the Savage Beast horde instantly scattered.

The pack of Shadow Wolves disappeared first; as if recalled by some will, their eerie green vertical pupils swept the battlefield one last time, then they melted into the darkness of the forest like shadows.

The remaining Savage Beasts lost the command and pressure of the Beast King and fled in all directions, disappearing into the Savage Beast Forest in the dawn.

The battle was over.

Wang Sheng knelt on one knee beside the corpse of the Giant Horned Rhino King, gasping for air. The golden light slowly faded from his arms, and the Deep Awakening mark gradually receded beneath his skin.

Every part of his body ached; at least two of his ribs were cracked, and the finger bones in his right fist might have been fractured too, but the constitution of a Holy Light Warrior was rapidly repairing these injuries.

System notifications popped up in his field of vision one after another,

"Killed 127 Savage Beasts, obtained 127 Savage Beast Cores (including 1 high-rank), and a large amount of Savage Beast meat and hide."

"Killed Barbarian Warrior Rank 3 Giant Horned Rhino King! Obtained 1 high-rank Savage Beast Core × 1, Giant Horns × 2, and a large amount of Savage Beast shell!"

"Power of Holy Light significantly increased during battle. Level up: Barbarian Warrior Rank 3 → Warrior Rank 4.

Holy Light Slash power +15%, Shield of Light strength +20%."

"New skill awakened: Holy Light Explosive Fist, focusing all Power of Holy Light into a single point for an explosive, devastating blow to a single target. Cooldown: 24 hours."

Wang Sheng took a deep breath and slowly stood up.

His gaze first found Murong Xue.

The Holy Light Knight, her silver armor shattered, was half-kneeling on the ground, leaning on her spear. Her brown ponytail was completely disheveled, strands of hair sticking to her sweat-covered forehead and cheeks.

Though the color had drained from her determined face, the corners of her lips were slightly upturned; she had witnessed the moment the Giant Horned Rhino King fell.

The crack in her silver chest armor extended from her left shoulder to her waist, revealing the white undergarment beneath and a patch of skin scratched by shell fragments.

The wound was not deep, but blood trickled down the lines of her toned abdominal muscles, staining half of her undergarment red.

A piece of her silver tasset was also shattered, revealing a section of her fair, strong thigh. There was a shallow abrasion on the outer thigh, with beads of blood seeping out like red plum blossoms adorning white porcelain.

Her brown eyes lit up the moment she saw Wang Sheng stand up—not with the eerie light of a Savage Beast Core, but with the warm, reassuring light of dawn piercing through the clouds.

"Are you okay?" Murong Xue's voice was so hoarse it was almost inaudible, but her first words were for him.

Wang Sheng walked over to her, crouched down, and reached out to press his hand against the wound where her shoulder armor had shattered. The Power of Holy Light seeped from his palm, gently repairing her injuries.

"Are you okay?" His voice was also hoarse, but his tone held an undeniable gravity. "From now on, you are not allowed to do this."

Murong Xue was stunned for a moment.

"Not allowed to do what?"

"Not allowed to stand in front of me."

Murong Xue was silent for two seconds, then shook her head—a small but firm movement.

"I can't do that," she said, her brown eyes locking onto Wang Sheng's. In those eyes, there was exhaustion, pain, the fading embers of battle intent, and a hint of something she herself might not have realized,

"You are the person I must protect. This is my choice; it has nothing to do with whether you allow it or not."