58: Sudden mutation

Clang~

A melodious sound of clashing metal rang out.

The Supersonic Mantis blocked the triangular spike attacking from underground, but it was also sent flying by the immense force.

The Poison Flame White Wolf opened its mouth to breathe fire, but it was a step too late as the triangular spike retracted.

"Retreat, quickly! That's its tail!" Xie Ning shouted hurriedly. He picked up Lan Yu, slid off the Poison Flame White Wolf's back, and ran into the distance.

On the other side, Lu Bingyun and Xiao Ya reacted quickly as well. They scrambled off the Flowing Fire Ice Lion, letting it join the fight while they rushed toward Xie Ning.

Having missed its strike, the Earth-Splitting Beast stopped pretending and stood up from the ground. It was over three meters tall, its massive frame towering over the lion and the wolf, making it look even more formidable.

Its tail pulled out from the ground and hung high in the air, looking very much like a scorpion's. However, the tip of this tail was a triangular spike, its three sharp points glinting coldly in the light.

Xiao Ya looked at the charging behemoth with shock and anger. "What a cunning fellow! We almost fell for it!"

"Thank you. If it weren't for you, we might be dead by now." Lu Bingyun looked at the deep pit left by the spike, her heart still racing with fear.

Xie Ning said, "Don't mention it. The priority now is to take this thing down."

Ignoring the surprised looks of the three girls, Xie Ning cast a Beast Taming Skill, forming a layer of elemental armor on each of the Demon Tamers Beasts.

The Demon Tamers Beasts had already charged forward.

The Heavenly Star Bird dove down, tossing the Thunderclap Rabbit onto the Earth-Splitting Beast's back before banking to the side to avoid a strike from its long tail.

Landing on its back, the Thunderclap Rabbit's fists crackled with lightning as it pummeled the Earth-Splitting Beast's neck like a machine gun. Each punch sent clumps of dirt flying.

The Earth-Splitting Beast's tail lunged at the Thunderclap Rabbit, but the Flowing Fire Ice Lion leaped up and blocked it.

By now, the Flowing Fire Ice Lion had condensed a thick layer of ice around itself. Combined with the elemental armor, it managed to withstand the Earth-Splitting Beast's tail, though it was pushed back repeatedly by the immense force. As the ice shattered, it would immediately reform. It held its ground stubbornly, refusing to retreat to buy time for the Thunderclap Rabbit.

As long as the mud armor stuck to its neck was shattered, there was a chance for victory.

The Poison Flame White Wolf also pounced from the side, putting all its strength into a blast of Poison Flame aimed right at the Earth-Splitting Beast's face. Furious, the beast turned to bite it. However, the wolf didn't fight head-on; instead, it used hit-and-run tactics, running and attacking intermittently to keep the Earth-Splitting Beast's attention firmly fixed on it.

The Earth-Splitting Beast stomped its feet in rage, roaring incessantly. Unwilling to let it go, it chased after the Poison Flame White Wolf relentlessly.

Watching their Demon Tamers Beasts from a distance, the group couldn't help but marvel at the Poison Flame White Wolf's intelligence.

Meanwhile, Xie Ning was a bit worried about the Supersonic Mantis. It hadn't reappeared since being knocked away.

What Xie Ning didn't know was that the Earth-Splitting Beast's most powerful attack was the swift strike from its tail after lying in ambush. The power of that single blow was several times more explosive than its usual attacks.

Therefore, the distance the Supersonic Mantis had been thrown was by no means short.

Finally, two figures descended from the sky. One was the Heavenly Star Bird. It flew down beside the Poison Flame White Wolf, its Star Storm swirling with the flames to form a tornado. The fire grew even more intense, forcing the Earth-Splitting Beast back, momentarily afraid to approach.

The other descending figure was the Supersonic Mantis. One of its blade-arms was covered in cracks and hung limply at its side, a result of blocking the triangular spike earlier.

It first swung one arm to deflect the Earth-Splitting Beast's incoming tail, then spun around and delivered a flying kick. Using Vibration Strike, it kicked the mud on the beast's neck. With a loud "bang," a large section of the mud shattered, revealing a patch of fine but thin scales. Just as it was about to stab down with its arm, the Earth-Splitting Beast, sensing a mortal threat, began to struggle violently.

Its body twisted frantically, resembling a crocodile's death roll.

The Supersonic Mantis quickly hooked the Thunderclap Rabbit and flew up into the sky.

The Flowing Fire Ice Lion was also thrown to the ground. It scrambled back up and charged forward again alongside the angry Poison Flame White Wolf.

The wolf and the lion stood on either side of the rolling Earth-Splitting Beast, blasting it with red and blue flames. The Heavenly Star Bird whipped up a storm, blending the two types of fire into a unique, combined flame.

At the same time, bolts of lightning struck down from high above—the Thunderclap Rabbit's Furious Thunder.

In an instant, the air was filled with continuous booming sounds. The strange fire and the falling lightning made the Earth-Splitting Beast scream in agony. Every time it tried to strike back in rage or twist away to dodge, it was forcefully blocked by the Supersonic Mantis. The impacts shattered the silver armor on the mantis's body, and streaks of blood began to drip.

The Supersonic Mantis was determined to face the Earth-Splitting Beast head-on, blocking every single attack. If the beast tried to flee, it would strike back with all its might to keep it there.

Just then, energy surged within the Supersonic Mantis.

[Ding! The Supersonic Mantis has stimulated its potential during battle. Reward: intermediate energy potion *2]

The three girls were staring at the Earth-Splitting Beast enveloped in fire and lightning, failing to notice that the Supersonic Mantis had activated its potential.

Although Awakening potential was a good thing, seeing it covered in wounds made Xie Ning's heart ache with pity.

The fire and lightning lasted for several minutes... [Ding! The Poison Flame White Wolf has successfully killed the Earth-Splitting Beast. Surpassed 14 levels and 1 rank. Gained 28 evolution value.]

When the fire died down and the lightning stopped, the Earth-Splitting Beast lay on the ground, its charred body motionless, eyes still fixed in the direction of the Supersonic Mantis.

"We... won?" Xiao Ya said, her eyes wide with disbelief.

"Evidently so," Lu Bingyun said, her voice tinged with excitement.

"The Heavenly Star Bird provided support, the Flowing Fire Ice Lion handled defense, the Poison Flame White Wolf caused interference, and the Supersonic Mantis and Thunderclap Rabbit led the attack. Their coordination was very tacit. Especially that final hybrid covering attack of dual fire and lightning, combined with the Supersonic Mantis's suppression—that's what made this possible."

Lan Yu had already taken out a pen and paper to record the entire battle process and analyze the reasons for their victory; this was her habit.

This battle had surpassed any they had experienced before.

Five Bronze Rank Demon Tamers Beasts defeating a Silver Level 7 Yao Beast—just thinking about such a feat was enough to make one's blood boil.

This wasn't just as simple as completing a College Entrance Examination task; it also gave each of them different insights and experience in Demon Tamers Beast combat.

Standing by the Earth-Splitting Beast's corpse, the smell of charred meat wafted toward them.

"How did you get hurt so badly?" Xie Ning said distressfully, looking at the Supersonic Mantis. It was covered in cracks, and its left arm had several deep gashes that revealed raw, red flesh.

The Supersonic Mantis shook its head and sent a telepathic message: "I'm fine. When I was thrown earlier, I encountered someone who knows Master calling for help, along with a wounded Soldier. They asked for Master to come and save them."

"A Soldier?" Hearing this, Xie Ning was visibly stunned.

The Supersonic Mantis nodded. Just as it was about to reply, it suddenly spun around. Its only remaining functional blade-arm danced rapidly, sending out over a dozen blade glows that brushed past the group and their beasts, resulting in a series of "bang bang bang" clashing sounds.

Xie Ning quickly turned his head and saw the blade glows shattering over a dozen fireballs, while a few remaining ones were still hurtling toward them.

"Roar!"

The Flowing Fire Ice Lion gave a roar, exhaling a blast of chilling air that extinguished those fireballs.

"Who is it?!"

Xie Ning, Lu Bingyun, and Xiao Ya looked warily toward the source of the fireballs.

Right then, Xie Ning suddenly felt a chill down his spine. Without time to think, he lunged forward. The next second, he heard a "shredding" sound and felt a sharp pain in his back as something began to flow down.

With a thud, Xie Ning fell to the ground.

"Xie Ning!"

"What are you doing?!"

Hearing the shocked cries of Lu Bingyun and Xiao Ya, Xie Ning endured the pain and turned around. He saw Lan Yu standing there expressionlessly, holding a dagger from which blood was dripping, "drip-drop, drip-drop."

This dagger was a self-defense weapon Xiao Ya had given Lan Yu outside the Secret Realm. Now, it was stained with the blood of her own comrade.

Seeing this, the Supersonic Mantis raised its arm in rage, its sharp blade-arm swinging down toward Lan Yu's head...