97: Backward compatibility

The Palace-Attired Beautiful Woman's clone completely dissipated, and the suffocating Emperor's Might vanished with it.

Su Chen let out a long breath, his taut nerves relaxing slightly, but the spiritual energy in his body was still violently fluctuating due to the high-intensity consumption and the fierce replenishment from the Moon Essence Jade Dew, causing a faint throbbing pain in his meridians.

He glanced at Yue Yao, who was softly leaning against him, her face ashen, and her aura extremely weak, his mood somewhat complex.

Taking Yue Yao as a spirit pet indeed created a profound and significant karma.

Recalling the tragic end of Jiang City in his previous life, which was almost wiped off the map, there now seemed to be a clearer footnote.

It was probably far more than just an ordinary beast tide; behind it, there was very likely the deep wrath and revenge of the Moon Rabbit Clan.

Before he could even catch his breath, the beast tide, which had been cowering on the ground, suppressed by the Emperor's Might, became even more frenzied and chaotic after losing the highest level of suppression!

Only the most primitive instincts of slaughter and devouring remained, like a bursting black flood, once again surging towards the only human in the field—Su Chen—from all directions, above and below!

Countless demonic beasts roared, their sharp claws and fangs glinting with cold light.

Among them, there were even some beast leaders who had developed intelligence and reached the Solid Spirit Realm; they hid behind the beast tide, spewing out various thin spiritual energy attacks such as ice cones, fireballs, and wind blades. Although their power was far less than the previous battle, their sheer number was massive, dense like a swarm of locusts, covering Su Chen.

"They've come at just the right time."

Su Chen surveyed the seemingly endless, frenzied beast tide, and instead of fear, he twisted his neck.

His gaze swept over the virtual interface, looking at the game maintenance announcement, and a glint flashed in his eyes.

"New version update, I'm just short of a lot of Merit Points to climb the rankings."

"Besides, compared to challenging higher levels, I still prefer downward compatibility."

...

The first heavy transport plane, loaded with evacuees, struggled to lift off amidst the huge roar of its engines, breaking through the smoke and demonic energy that filled the sky above Jiang City, heading towards a relatively safe area to the east.

The cabin was packed with terrified civilians.

Many still had tear stains on their faces and immense fear, and silence enveloped most people.

"What... what exactly happened?"

"How could it suddenly be like this?"

"I heard that all the demonic beasts in the entire mountain range to the west rioted, forming a super-large beast tide... Jiang City, more likely than not... can't be saved."

These words struck everyone's heart like a heavy hammer.

The atmosphere in the cabin instantly became even more somber and despairing.

Everyone understood what this meant—homes lost, loved ones scattered, and even their lives uncertain.

Low sobs began to sound sporadically.

Nan Yafu sat by the window, her hands tightly clutching the corner of her clothes.

From her understanding of her father, Nan Mingde, as the Director of the Security Department, he would undoubtedly be holding the front line at this moment, never retreating a single step.

She muttered silently, her heart clenching.

Suddenly, she thought of Su Chen.

The mysterious young man at her house whom she couldn't see through.

However, even if it were him, facing the boundless, hellish beast tide below, could he... survive?

This thought sent a chilling shiver down her spine.

In the rear of the cabin, Lu Yue leaned against the metal bulkhead, her gaze lost as she looked out the window at the city's outline, which was gradually shrinking below.

She had just been in the evacuation square, braving the chaotic crowd, frantically searching for that familiar figure again and again, but had found nothing.

Su Chen most likely went to the front line to resist the beast tide, like other conscripted cultivators.

But as an older sister, her most genuine and selfish thought at this moment was: she would rather he had fled far away long ago, to a safe place, than appear in that deathly purgatory.

Lin Yan, Ji Sisi, Zhang Qiang, and Shen Zhou, as the core talented disciples of the Daoist temple's younger generation, were also on this priority evacuation list.

They sat together, their faces devoid of their usual high spirits, replaced by humiliation, unwillingness, and clenched fists.

They knew that at this moment, their respected temple master, mentors, and all high-level cultivators in Jiang City were below, forming a defense line with their flesh and blood.

And they, these young people on whom great hopes were placed, could only flee like cowards.

"Damn it!" Zhang Qiang slammed his fist on the armrest of his seat, making a muffled sound.

Suddenly, Ji Sisi, who had been staring out the window towards the west, froze. She instinctively raised her hand to cover her mouth, her eyes wide.

"What... what is that?!" She cried out, her finger trembling as she pointed out the window.

Everyone was drawn by her words and crowded to the porthole, looking in the direction she pointed.

They saw that far below, in the center of the western district, which was already submerged by the black beast tide, an exceptionally conspicuous area of purple lightning was continuously flashing!

The area covered by the lightning was not particularly huge, but it was extremely condensed and domineering, like an efficient and merciless grinding mill.

Each time the lightning explosively expanded or contracted, it instantly crushed and vaporized hundreds, even thousands, of "pixel-sized" demonic beasts within its range!

The frequency of the lightning flashes was extremely high, appearing and disappearing; each flash inevitably cleared a large area, but it was immediately filled by more surging black beast tide, as if it would never run dry.

"This lightning..." Lin Yan's pupils suddenly contracted, his face filled with disbelief. "This color of lightning, this destructive aura... could it be Su Chen?!"

Lu Yue's heart skipped a beat, and she rushed to the window, staring intently at the lightning domain, which stubbornly flashed amidst the boundless beast tide, like a lone lamp in a storm.

She saw that each time the lightning struck, it erased a huge blank space, but then more ferocious beasts roared and rushed forward, filling that brief vacuum.

The scene was magnificent and cruel.

Her eyes instantly reddened, and tears flowed uncontrollably, blurring her vision.

"How could he really... how could he be so foolish..."

Nan Yafu also quickly looked over.

As the Director's daughter, she had seen and knew far more information than her peers.

She clearly saw that the huge defensive formation light barrier, which should have been jointly supported by her father and Director Meng, had completely disappeared.

This meant that the defense line had been completely breached, and the worst had happened.

And that lightning domain, shining alone in the center of the beast tide...

An incredible yet the only logical thought surged wildly into her mind, making her feel cold all over and her scalp tingle.

"Could it be... Su Chen... is he single-handedly resisting the main force of the entire beast tide?!"

She was startled by her own thought, her voice trembling slightly.

...

Just as this transport plane, carrying everyone's shock, worry, despair, and a faint glimmer of hope, flew further and further east, away from the beast tide.

Another uniquely shaped, bio-mimetic pterosaur-like ultra-high-altitude unmanned reconnaissance drone was silently penetrating the clouds, quietly flying directly above the Jiang City battlefield.

In a highly guarded underground command center somewhere far away.

Several middle-aged generals with prominent epaulets and solemn expressions, along with three elderly men in special uniforms with profound auras, were intently staring at the high-definition real-time footage transmitted by the pterosaur reconnaissance drone on the main screen.