92: Chapter 92 Lying Down

Almost at the same instant, within the beast tide, the intricate patterns on countless beasts suddenly lit up, flashing with strange light.

Multicolored barrier walls appeared out of thin air, blocking tightly in front of the tiger-shaped beast.

Wherever the long halberd passed, the barriers were pierced through one after another, shattering into pieces.

However, the number of barriers was overwhelming, and as it pierced through them one by one, the might of the long halberd was weakened layer by layer in the process.

By the time the long halberd finally reached the front of the tiger-shaped beast, it no longer possessed the mountain-toppling, sea-draining power it had when it was first unleashed.

Seeing this, the tiger-shaped beast nonchalantly raised its front paw and swiped casually, easily knocking the long halberd flying.

The long halberd traced an arc in the air, landing heavily on the distant ground with a "clang".

This sound completely extinguished the Battle Intent that had ignited in the hearts of Xiang Tian and Zhong Haoran.

They were, after all, too young and lacked experience.

They did not understand what a beast tide commanded by a beast with intelligence truly meant.

Just to have their attacks reach the Beast King, they needed to exhaust all their strength.

At this moment, the corners of the tiger-shaped beast's mouth curled into a playful smile.

It could easily command the beast horde to construct a perfect offensive and defensive system to instantly slaughter these two humans.

It had let them flee until now solely to toy with them slowly, enjoying the process of playing with its prey.

Now, the time was ripe.

The tiger-shaped beast lowered its head slightly and let out a low, long roar, as if transmitting a signal.

In an instant, the seemingly chaotic beast horde's movement patterns changed abruptly.

They were no longer a rabble fighting on their own, but began to cooperate with each other like a well-rehearsed army.

They launched attacks simultaneously from all directions, with offensive maneuvers tightly connected and without any flaws.

In the gaps between close-quarters pouncing and biting, long-range attacks were also interspersed at the right moments.

Beams of light containing powerful force poured down upon Zhong Haoran like raindrops, leaving him exhausted as he struggled to cope, unable to parry effectively, and gradually finding it difficult to hold his ground.

On the other hand, Xiang Tian, having just exhausted all his strength to unleash that fatal blow, was already physically spent, his True Qi depleted, and he was at the end of his rope.

Having also lost the long halberd he relied on for combat, he could only face the surging beast horde with his bare hands.

If not for Zhong Haoran always giving his all to cover him, he would likely have been eliminated under the crazy siege of the beasts long ago.

"It seems this is the end."

Zhong Haoran gasped for breath and smiled bitterly.

Xiang Tian, ignoring the intense pain from his body, forcibly twisted off the head of the beast biting his abdomen with his bare hands.

He clung to his last shred of consciousness, turned his head to look at Zhong Haoran, who was fighting in a pool of blood beside him, and spoke in a weak but persistent voice:

"I have a question that I must ask now."

"What?"

Zhong Haoran had no time to turn back, exhausted from parrying the surrounding beast horde.

"How... how has your ranking always been above mine?"

Xiang Tian exhausted his last bit of strength to struggle out these words.

The reason he had desperately attacked that tiger-shaped beast was because, after frantically fighting his way up to Poyun Peak, he had checked his own ranking and found himself still in second place.

However, after saying this, Xiang Tian's body swayed, and he collapsed onto the ground, unconscious.

Zhong Haoran caught a glimpse of this from the corner of his eye and dashed toward Xiang Tian in a single bound.

The cold light of the long sword in his hand flashed repeatedly, slaying the beasts that took the opportunity to approach.

Knowing that there was no hope of escape, Zhong Haoran continued to fight with all his might to slay the beasts, trying to raise his score as much as possible.

This way, even if he were eliminated, he would not be easily overtaken by those who came later, and he could at least maintain a top-ten ranking.

Protecting Xiang Tian was entirely out of the mutual respect between rivals; he simply could not bear to watch the other party be mercilessly torn apart by the beast horde before his eyes and suffer a tragic end.

"I'll kill a few more. When I am completely exhausted, rather than being torn to pieces by these beasts, I might as well end it myself so I can leave with some dignity and not be too pathetic."

Zhong Haoran pondered to himself, having already made his decision.

However, Xiang Tian's perplexing words just now couldn't help but make him ponder.

"My ranking has always been above his... what does that mean? Hasn't he been in first place ever since we reached Poyun Peak?"

Recalling the intense process of fighting his way up to Poyun Peak, he had never had the chance to check his own ranking.

At this moment, taking advantage of the gap after repelling another wave of the beast horde's crazy offensive, Zhong Haoran quickly recited the command to view his ranking in his mind.

The next second, the ranking information appeared in his mind, and his eyes widened instantly, his face full of astonishment.

"How can this be? I am actually... third place? Then who is the one in first place?"

Even with him and Xiang Tian fighting beasts like this, could there actually be someone in this Secret Realm with a score higher than theirs?!

Just as Zhong Haoran was stunned and lost in thought, a cunning beast seized the moment of his Divided Soul and pounced forward, biting firmly onto his ankle.

"Damn it!"

He had been able to hold on until now entirely by relying on his near-Perfection movement technique.

Now that his leg was being bitten firmly, his movement was severely restricted, and naturally, his movement technique could no longer be utilized.

And the tiger-shaped beast commanding the overall situation naturally would not let this opportunity pass.

It gave an order, and the surrounding beasts' attacks became even more ferocious, vowing to tear Zhong Haoran to shreds.

At this moment, an indifferent voice suddenly rang out.

"Lie down."

These two simple words seemed to carry the weight of a thousand jun, echoing and vibrating in the air.

An unparalleled spiritual pressure instantly enveloped the entire beast horde with the force of a mountain-toppling sea.

This pressure was like a physical substance; wherever it passed, beasts fell over in droves, foaming at the mouth and fainting straight away.

The incredibly fierce beast tide disintegrated instantly under this spiritual impact.

Zhong Haoran was also within this spiritual pressure and felt as if his brain had been struck by a heavy hammer.

Although it was only the aftermath, he was already exhausted from the long battle with the beasts, his body and spirit both teetering on the brink of their limits.

Zhong Haoran felt his vision go black, and his consciousness instantly became blurred.

"This feeling... a Martial Arts Grandmaster?"

The trial-takers in the Spirit Gathering Secret Realm were all young Martial Artists around twenty years old.

He and Xiang Tian, with their cultivation at the ninth stage of the Tiangang Realm, were already in a league of their own, hailed as Martial Arts Prodigies rare in a century.

Apart from Xiang Tian, he hadn't even heard of any other peers who were at the same level as him.

How could there be a Martial Arts Grandmaster?

At the last moment before his consciousness dissipated, Zhong Haoran instinctively raised his head to look for the source of the pressure.

What met his eyes was a black-haired youth wearing the uniform of some unknown school.

The youth was leisurely hovering high in the air, his body exuding an otherworldly aura.