Chapter 368 – Fourth-Order Powerhouses as Common as Rain

Crimson beams converged like flowing fire, crashing down with such force that the entire section of the City Walls trembled violently. Panicked cries erupted from the young Elven recruits.

Each of these Elven recruits possessed at least Second-Order Elite Tier Rank and considerable combat skills, along with some battlefield experience.

Yet, the vast majority had never engaged in life-or-death struggles against monsters, let alone faced the most ferocious and violent monster tides.

Just moments ago, they had been effortlessly slaughtering monsters in an advantageous position, but in the blink of an eye, the situation had turned into a critical struggle for survival.

The young Elf recalled his instructor’s harsh admonitions—how one must never panic or close their eyes in such a Battlefield. He suddenly remembered that he seemed to have been directly hit by the crimson light, so why was he still alive?

He opened his eyes.

Before him shimmered a radiant golden light, resembling a pair of soaring wings, yet also evoking the protective embrace of a mother cradling her children.

The golden wings spanned over ten meters, firmly blocking the bloody beam spewed from the giant’s mouth.

Crimson streams of light splattered in all directions. Where they struck the City Walls, they sizzled and hissed, while a nearby watchtower was even blasted and corroded, losing a corner.

It was evident how terrifying the crimson beam had been.

Yet, it had been steadily blocked by the golden wings. Was their human defense captain for this section of the frontline really this formidable?

“Recruits, why are you still standing there dumbfounded? Return fire! Return fire now!”

The sharp reprimand jolted the young Elf back to his senses. He saw many human warriors fighting the monsters with high morale, steadily sniping at the oncoming tide. In contrast, some of the Elves stood frozen, gripped by fear and confusion, much like he had been moments ago.

Compared to the humans’ bravery, the Elves appeared like timid cowards.

This was unacceptable!

They were, after all, the Elite of Nature’s Garden. Nature’s Garden was a renowned force among living beings.

“Ah—”

The young Elf roared, drawing his War Bow to a full moon shape. The arrow nocked on the string began to swirl with increasingly dense emerald-green radiance.

The emerald arrow shot forth, piercing accurately into the eye socket of a blood-colored giant standing eighty meters tall a kilometer away. It shattered the giant’s eyeball, blasting open a palm-sized gap.

Yet, the blood-colored giant neither staggered nor roared. Within its eye socket, fleshy tendrils rapidly grew and converged, restoring the damage completely in the blink of an eye.

“Recruit, focus on other monsters! You cannot destroy such war machinery! Don’t waste your strength on it!”

An older Elf bellowed.

But he understood that this war machinery needed to be destroyed as soon as possible. Otherwise, the entire City Walls would become as fragile as a sandcastle, crumbling into pieces under the enemy’s assault.

The older Elf gripped two sharp blades, his gaze sharp as he scanned the charging monster horde for a viable path to reach the Blood Giant.

“At least three or four experts of my level would need to coordinate to have any chance of crossing that kilometer and taking down the Blood Giant.””

And even that was merely a possibility.

As he contemplated this, he caught sight of a human wielding a Heavy Halberd leaping down from the City Walls.

The older Elf prepared to coordinate with this human.The human expert, however, caught hold of a passing Grey Bird and soared through the sky in the blink of an eye, plummeting down from above the crimson giant.

Heroic Leap Strike!

The heavy halberd descended.

The giant’s massive head exploded into fragments.

Hovering mid-air, the heroic war commander struck again, this time with a brilliant halberd flash that cleaved the giant’s body in two, reducing it to a puddle of foul liquid.

Two strikes, and the giant was slain.

Grasping the claws of the Grey Bird, the heroic war commander swiftly returned to the city walls, having effortlessly completed a mission to strike and eliminate the enemy.

At this moment, the old elf was still pondering tactics and strategies. After a long daze, he let out a simple:

“Huh?”

……

Ordinary soldiers had limited vision and were constantly engaged in combat with monsters, only able to see the colossal figures that appeared nearby.

However, Mu Yuan, who had entered the Lord’s perspective, along with heroes like Deadbone and Lu Liu, could see one massive shadow after another emerging from the tide.

Crimson war elephants;

Large blood-serpent conglomerates;

Crimson giant artillery platforms;

One colossal figure after another revealed themselves, steadily advancing toward Tianyuan City.

“Previously, I mainly set up defensive lines and structures on the northern side, but now, the southern wall is bearing the brunt of the impact.”

He felt helpless.

How could he have predicted back then that his territory would shift? With the Wolfhead Mountain Fortress to the north, the southern side had become the enemy’s most suitable point of breakthrough.

He had no choice but to deploy more defenders on the southern side.

Reinforcements from Nature’s Garden and Boulder Mountain Ridge were also stationed on the southern wall.

Though the numbers from these two factions were small, they were indeed elites, with the weakest being at least Second-Order Elite Tier and proficient in multiple skills. They could also resonate to form a fragmented army soul.

The elf elites, excluding those in the Legendary Realm, numbered four hundred, with twenty-seven Fourth-Order Experts among them. However, some of the elite vanguard squad members were injured and undergoing treatment, unable to fully restore their combat capabilities.

The giant elites, excluding those in the Legendary Realm, numbered two hundred, but they had even more Fourth-Order Experts, with a total of thirty-one.

Among the over one hundred elites brought by Shen Linglong, there were also six Fourth-Order Experts.

No matter where they were, Fourth-Order Commander Tier experts were formidable figures, a lifelong goal for many professionals that remained unattainable.

In one-on-one combat, they had the ability to obliterate a large war machine or easily eliminate hordes of monsters.

But the monsters were far more numerous.

The number of Fourth-Order BOSS-level monsters in the tide was far beyond just a few dozen or even a hundred.

These high-tier monsters, shielded by the war machines, had already begun to reveal themselves, advancing with overwhelming force.

“Activate: Thousand-Prism Mirror Reflection!”

A shield composed of countless water mirrors materialized in an instant, intercepting beams of light shooting from all directions—east, west, north, and south.

The earth trembled, and Tianyuan City shook.

The water-mirror barrier blocked and reflected the beams one after another. These crimson rays annihilated large numbers of monsters near the walls, but more surged forward almost immediately. Meanwhile, the distant large war machines continued their steady advance, causing the aqua-blue light curtain enveloping the city to ripple violently, as if on the verge of shattering at any moment.

Crack—

In one area, a hidden high-tier monster, clutching a World-Breaking Stone, pressed its entire body against the light curtain.Even as its body shattered, it continued to grin ferociously. Cracks rapidly spread outward from it as the center.

The entire water mirror barrier grew even dimmer.

“It can’t hold, it simply can’t hold.”

An old elf had just breathed a sigh of relief when the sound of cracking, like a death warrant, exploded beside his ears.

The barrier, rumored to be capable of withstanding the Legendary Realm for a period, seemed unable to last even a short while.

Mu Yuan understood clearly that this was the power of the monster tide and monster weapons.

Tianyuan City was also far larger than Wolfhead Mountain.

At this moment, the water mirror barrier not only endured immense pressure constantly but also, due to the extensive city walls, could not prevent high-level monsters from using the World-Breaking Stone.

“Continue using the skill: Thousand Vines Myriad Trees.”

As the Lord, Mu Yuan controlled the Scepter of Heavenly Authority structure, activating the second large-scale defensive spell and designating its range: two meters beyond the walls of Tianyuan City.

Tiny specks of green light drifted down from the sky like rain, snow, or seeds, falling into the earth.

The ground trembled even more violently, bulging like waves.

Thwip—

Dark green roots burst forth from the soil, lifting nearby monsters directly into the air.

Soon, outside the Blackrock Wall, a dark green wall woven from vines and wood rose in an instant, standing firm upon the earth.

The roots took hold in the ground, drawing upon the earth’s energy and converting the corpses of surrounding monsters into nourishment, continuously regenerating.

Monsters gnawed incessantly, while the roots recovered just as constantly.

The roots were not dense; by any measure, they could hardly be called a wall capable of stopping the tide, and their defensive capability was far inferior to the water mirror barrier.

Yet, they could still draw some of the monsters’ attention, alleviating the pressure on the defenders.

They could also absorb a large number of monster corpses to prevent them from piling up and forming a ramp.

Moreover, they penetrated deep into the earth, preventing burrowing monsters from bypassing the defenses underground and breaking into Tianyuan City.

Most importantly, they could also…

The dozen-meter-tall dark green roots suddenly grew and surged once more, transforming into a tree-like form with countless vines hanging down, ensnaring, crushing, and draining monsters one after another, then growing anew.

This move was the signature of the Tianyuan Territory’s Treant Legion.

Sustaining war through war.

During the defense of Wolfhead Mountain, the Treant Legion had played a limited role, with little presence. This time, however, the treants not only prepared early, taking root in the earth, but the Lord also unleashed a large-scale spell to lend them a hand.

Deep within the Treant Forest, ancient, gnarled trees began to roar.

The entire forest roared.

“This time, it’s our turn, the treants, to prove ourselves!”

“Our Treant Legion is one of Tianyuan Territory’s three elite legions—we are elites too!”

“We will never allow monsters to defile the land of our Tianyuan Territory!”

The roars of the treants went unheard by the defenders.

But the elves and giants could see more and more trees growing and spreading, threatening to form a lush forest outside Tianyuan City.

Even they had to reposition when shooting, choosing areas unobstructed by trees.

Some high-level monsters were even grabbed, impaled, and drained on the spot by the roots.

“Is this the backup plan Tianyuan Territory prepared?!”

The giants widened their eyes in astonishment.

Just moments ago, the situation had been precarious, but with the formation of this tree realm, the crisis was immediately alleviated.Many of them initially had reservations about assisting humans in defending the city, but now they understood that without the layers of defensive measures set up by humans, they would have long been devoured by monsters.

Humans truly lived up to their reputation as a race adept at defensive warfare.

The elves widened their eyes in even greater astonishment.

After all…

It was a tree—a tree, for heaven’s sake!

They were the elves, the favored children of nature, yet they couldn’t create a giant tree barrier of this scale.

They began to doubt whether they were truly orthodox elves.

Could it be that the true masters of nature were humans?

The elves didn’t dwell on this self-doubt for long, as the war continued and the crisis was far from over.

A flesh-colored giant transformed into a cannon turret, its bloody beams capable of obliterating vast swathes of sturdy giant trees;

A massive Snakemen conglomerate over a hundred meters tall advanced with an overwhelming presence;

The entire front line remained precarious as ever.

“Whoosh—”

A human expert stood on a sniper tower, drawing a War Bow, yet there was no arrow on the string.

A nearby elf archer was puzzled when ripples appeared in the surrounding space, and one, two, three… up to nine arrows of at least rare quality materialized on the bowstring.

The Nine Stars Aligned arrows shot forth abruptly.

It was extravagance!

But the results were remarkable. Each of these nine-linked arrows bypassed obstructing monsters as if teleporting through space, precisely piercing nine vital points of the flesh cannon giant—its eyes, mouth, abdominal maw, and others—simultaneously exploding upon impact.

The flesh cannon giant burst apart like an overinflated balloon, shattering with a thunderous roar.

More and more arrows gleaming with starlight were launched!

Only a few of these arrows originated from the sniper towers along the southern city defense line; most came from within the city, tearing through the sky with sharp whistles.

Their firing range was incredibly long, spanning at least three to four kilometers.

Their arrows were exceedingly expensive, with hundreds of rare-grade arrows already expended in a short time.

Their archery skills were so refined and profound that even the elf archers felt inferior.

These… were all top-tier, super archers! And there were at least several, if not dozens!

Was Tianyuan City most renowned for its archer units?

The prowess of the Polar Star Arrows managed to suppress some of the flesh cannon giants.

But at the same time, giant weapons like the massive Snakemen conglomerate and crimson war elephants had moved up to the tree barrier, engaging in close combat with countless giant trees and vines.

Rip—

Large numbers of giant trees were uprooted.

These trees, standing twenty to forty meters tall, seemed as insignificant as blades of grass before the war machines.

“Roar!”

A giant roared, its body swelling repeatedly until it transformed into a ‘small giant’ twenty to thirty meters tall. It fiercely grappled a crimson war elephant, upending it to the ground.

An elf hunter darted between the colossal palms slamming down from the Snakemen conglomerate, mustering all its strength for a strike that finally severed one of the conglomerate’s long serpentine arms. Yet, the large aggregate still possessed over a dozen such arms.

From the moment they entered the fray, they were at an absolute disadvantage.

Meanwhile, high-level monsters emerged from the shadows of the war machines, launching assaults.

Ding-ling!

A Ghost General appeared, wielding a bell-like equipment to trap a Fourth Order BOSS in an Illusion. Simultaneously, it swung a Ghost Claw burning with eerie black flames, annihilating the dazed Fourth Order BOSS.

Several Ghost Generals materialized one after another.Halt!

Bone Two stepped forward, one hand supporting the Undead Territory, with skeletal wings spread wide behind it. It approached the immobilized Snakemen conglomerate, its bone Greatsword sweeping through the air as resilient serpentine arms thudded to the ground one after another.

It unleashed a hundred-meter-long black sword aura, cleaving the Snakemen conglomerate in two from top to bottom with a single strike.

Roar!

A Dragon Swordmaster roared, transforming into a Dragon mid-air as it descended upon the scene.

A Fearless Warchief raised a massive shield, propping up a golden light screen that seemed to hold up the heavens.

Lord Cold Frost stood atop the castle, solitary and cold as snow, summoning an icy tide that engulfed the sky and earth.

At this moment, the powerful figures of Tianyuan Territory emerged one after another.

Numerous as clouds and rain.

(End of Chapter)