Chapter 84: Dividing Forces to Break the Array and the Ancient Progenitor’s Pressure
The moment the illusion array collapsed, the psychic restraints across the entire karst cave suddenly loosened.
The oppressive pain in everyone's chests vanished instantly, and their nearly shattered Sea of Consciousness barriers slowly stabilized. But the crisis had not disappeared; it had merely shifted from a "mental slaughter" back to the most brutal close-quarters bloodbath.
"Split up!" the instructor roared, his words coming in rapid succession. "Old Chen, take three squad members and hold the perimeter! Block all high-tier scaled beasts and do not let them approach the node area! I will restrain one secondary priest. Jiang Tao, Lin Yan, you two destroy the physical bodies of the four nodes at full speed!"
With the command issued, the squad instantly split, each taking on their assigned roles.
Wielding his long knife, Old Chen was the first to step forward. His blade momentum was heavy and fierce as he slashed at the first high-tier scaled beast that pounced. The cold light fell, striking heavily against the beast's thick shoulder armor. The scales exploded, and dark green blood splattered everywhere.
Three squad members followed closely behind, their long spears and short blades coordinating in an interlocking close-defense line. Over a dozen high-tier scaled beasts charged fearlessly, taking turns ramming, biting, and tearing. Claws and fangs repeatedly slammed into the defensive line, numbing everyone's arms.
The instructor fully opened his Sea of Consciousness. His fourth-tier psychic power condensed into something tangible, firmly locking onto the secondary priest on the left. He continuously deployed psychic barriers and disturbances, forcibly tangling the opponent's psychic output, preventing it from withdrawing to repair the node links.
Seizing the gap, the remaining secondary priest leaped into the air, heading straight for the nodes on the rock wall, intending to restart the four-layer continuous network.
"Don't even think about it!"
Jiang Tao stepped forward to intercept, his fourth-tier Sea of Consciousness pressing down head-on. The heavy psychic torrent collided with the priest's psychic field. Invisible shockwaves swept in all directions, causing the rubble on the rock walls to fall like rain.
The two fourth-tier Sea of Consciousness powerhouses confronted and continuously collided from a distance. Every psychic clash made the surrounding air tremble violently.
Lin Yan seized this sole window of opportunity. His figure flashed as he rushed straight toward the four psychic nodes on the rock wall.
Although the fluorescent veins of the four-layer nodes had been severed, their physical bodies remained intact. As long as the priest touched the links and re-infused psychic power, the illusion array could be restarted within a few breaths. By then, the stacking layers would only be higher, and the squad would never have another chance to break it.
Gripping the short blade in his hand, Lin Yan fully deployed his third-tier Sea of Consciousness, using his psychic threads to死死 lock onto the core crystal of the first node.
"Shatter!"
His psychic power erupted with pinpoint accuracy, piercing the core of the node from within. His short blade followed, hacking down onto the fluorescent pedestal.
Crack—
The shell of the first node shattered, the dark blue fluorescent light extinguished instantly, and it was completely destroyed.
Just as he dashed toward the second node, a vast, icy will suddenly pressed down from the depths of the earth.
The Ancient Progenitor's remote psychic suppression had descended once again!
The previously dispersed illusion fragments suddenly re-condensed. This time, there were no multi-layered illusions; it was pure psychic pressure, crashing down upon everyone's Seas of Consciousness like ten thousand meters of rock strata.
The squad members, who were in the midst of a fierce battle, all trembled violently, their Sea of Consciousness barriers instantly sprouting fine cracks.
Old Chen's tiger's mouth tore open, and his long knife nearly slipped from his grasp. He gritted his teeth and stubbornly held the formation; Jiang Tao's psychic barrier shook violently, and his suppressing force against the secondary priest suddenly weakened; the instructor let out a muffled groan, bloodshot veins appearing in his eyes.
The entire karst cave was once again locked down by the Ancient Progenitor's will.
"I gave you the chance to break the array, yet you do not know when to advance or retreat."
An ancient, hoarse, and indifferent thought echoed in everyone's minds.
"Twenty-five years, and humanity still only knows how to struggle. Today, this squad specifically designed to counter my psychic nodes shall perish here."
As the thoughts faded, over twenty high-tier scaled beasts charged out from the dark caves in the karst cave once more. The already heavily pressured outer perimeter defense instantly teetered on the brink of collapse.
"Hold on!" Old Chen roared, swinging his long knife again to forcefully withstand the pincer attack of two high-tier scaled beasts. "Lin Yan! Hurry!"
Enduring the Ancient Progenitor's remote heavy pressure, Lin Yan's cranial cavity throbbed with splitting pain, and his recently healed Sea of Consciousness once again transmitted the stinging pain of psychic damage.
But his mind remained unshaken.
The more desperate the situation, the more stable his ancient martial arts mind-guarding technique became. Even if the world outside was collapsing, his mind remained as still as undisturbed water, unaffected by any interference.
He knew very well that the Ancient Progenitor's remote pressure seemed terrifying but had a fatal flaw—it was too far away.
This psychic suppression could only broadly suppress and disturb the mind; it could not form a precise, lethal psychic impact. As long as he guarded his true heart, he would not be instantly destroyed.
Lin Yan no longer cared about the consumption of his Sea of Consciousness. He fully opened his third-tier Sea of Consciousness, and his psychic threads pierced into the second and third nodes like a rainstorm.
Two consecutive shattering sounds rang out.
The second and third nodes collapsed simultaneously. Large areas of dark blue veins went dark, and the psychic pressure within the karst cave instantly diminished by thirty percent.
Only the last node remained, barely clinging to life, weakly maintaining the diffusion of scattered toxins.
Seeing this, the secondary priest went completely mad. Disregarding Jiang Tao's psychic restraint, it forcibly burned its own psychic origin, erupting with a pitch-black psychic spear. Abandoning everyone else, it aimed solely to kill Lin Yan!
This was a life-risking strike from the priest. It was incredibly fast, piercing through the air and arriving at the back of Lin Yan's head in the blink of an eye.
"Watch your back!" Jiang Tao roared, unleashing his psychic barrier with all his might to intercept it, but it was already too late.
Lin Yan did not look back; his mind condensed to its absolute extreme.
He was long accustomed to life-and-death clashes in a split second. The moment the psychic spear approached, his ancient martial arts footwork suddenly shifted sideways. Simultaneously, his Sea of Consciousness expanded an ultra-thin psychic web on its side.
Puff!
The psychic spear grazed his Sea of Consciousness barrier, pierced the rock wall, and blasted a small crater.
The aftershock still struck Lin Yan. His shoulder went numb, a wave of dizziness hit his head, and a trace of blood overflowed from the corner of his mouth.
But his footsteps did not stop. He leaped into the air and fiercely thrust his short blade into the core of the last node!
Rumble!
The last node shattered completely.
All four linked nodes were rendered useless!
The dark blue fluorescent light in the entire karst cave was completely extinguished. All sources of toxin release were uprooted, and the lingering psychic illusions and remote pressure suffered a cliff-like decline. The Ancient Progenitor's psychic network shrouding the entire area snapped instantly.
Far away, in the underground resonance cave.
The Ancient Progenitor's massive body suddenly stiffened. Its dark gold vertical pupils contracted sharply, and a sky-high rage churned in its eyes.
It had watched with its own eyes as Lin Yan stubbornly destroyed its meticulously arranged four-layer illusion array and poison source nodes.
The continuous killing trap, built at the cost of massive computing power, was shattered once again.
Inside the karst cave, the pressure suddenly eased.
The squad members, who had been desperately holding on at the perimeter, instantly breathed a sigh of relief. The burden on them vanished, and the pressure of the slaughter sharply decreased.
Deprived of the nodes' support, the secondary priest's power plummeted drastically. It was hit squarely by a heavy psychic impact from Jiang Tao, its body trembling violently as it staggered backward, dark green blood overflowing from its mouth.
"All nodes destroyed! The poison source has been completely eradicated!" the instructor shouted loudly. "Mission accomplished! Everyone, break out and retreat!"
But in the next second, the entire karst cave shook violently.
The rock strata roared, and rubble fell like rain.
The destruction of the four nodes had triggered a chain collapse of the underground rock strata. The entire No. 3 Rift karst cave was collapsing!
"Run! The cave is collapsing!"
Everyone's faces changed drastically. There was no time left to tangle with the enemy. Old Chen immediately led the team to shake off the scaled beasts. Everyone turned around and sprinted with all their might toward the rift exit.
Large areas of the rock walls behind them collapsed, and massive boulders crashed down, sealing off the passage behind them. The remaining high-tier scaled beasts and the severely injured secondary priest were all buried beneath the collapsed rock strata.
Countless rocks and dust surged, chasing after the footsteps of the squad.
They had won the battle for the poison source, yet they still found themselves in a deadly situation.
End of Chapter.
The oppressive pain in everyone's chests vanished instantly, and their nearly shattered Sea of Consciousness barriers slowly stabilized. But the crisis had not disappeared; it had merely shifted from a "mental slaughter" back to the most brutal close-quarters bloodbath.
"Split up!" the instructor roared, his words coming in rapid succession. "Old Chen, take three squad members and hold the perimeter! Block all high-tier scaled beasts and do not let them approach the node area! I will restrain one secondary priest. Jiang Tao, Lin Yan, you two destroy the physical bodies of the four nodes at full speed!"
With the command issued, the squad instantly split, each taking on their assigned roles.
Wielding his long knife, Old Chen was the first to step forward. His blade momentum was heavy and fierce as he slashed at the first high-tier scaled beast that pounced. The cold light fell, striking heavily against the beast's thick shoulder armor. The scales exploded, and dark green blood splattered everywhere.
Three squad members followed closely behind, their long spears and short blades coordinating in an interlocking close-defense line. Over a dozen high-tier scaled beasts charged fearlessly, taking turns ramming, biting, and tearing. Claws and fangs repeatedly slammed into the defensive line, numbing everyone's arms.
The instructor fully opened his Sea of Consciousness. His fourth-tier psychic power condensed into something tangible, firmly locking onto the secondary priest on the left. He continuously deployed psychic barriers and disturbances, forcibly tangling the opponent's psychic output, preventing it from withdrawing to repair the node links.
Seizing the gap, the remaining secondary priest leaped into the air, heading straight for the nodes on the rock wall, intending to restart the four-layer continuous network.
"Don't even think about it!"
Jiang Tao stepped forward to intercept, his fourth-tier Sea of Consciousness pressing down head-on. The heavy psychic torrent collided with the priest's psychic field. Invisible shockwaves swept in all directions, causing the rubble on the rock walls to fall like rain.
The two fourth-tier Sea of Consciousness powerhouses confronted and continuously collided from a distance. Every psychic clash made the surrounding air tremble violently.
Lin Yan seized this sole window of opportunity. His figure flashed as he rushed straight toward the four psychic nodes on the rock wall.
Although the fluorescent veins of the four-layer nodes had been severed, their physical bodies remained intact. As long as the priest touched the links and re-infused psychic power, the illusion array could be restarted within a few breaths. By then, the stacking layers would only be higher, and the squad would never have another chance to break it.
Gripping the short blade in his hand, Lin Yan fully deployed his third-tier Sea of Consciousness, using his psychic threads to死死 lock onto the core crystal of the first node.
"Shatter!"
His psychic power erupted with pinpoint accuracy, piercing the core of the node from within. His short blade followed, hacking down onto the fluorescent pedestal.
Crack—
The shell of the first node shattered, the dark blue fluorescent light extinguished instantly, and it was completely destroyed.
Just as he dashed toward the second node, a vast, icy will suddenly pressed down from the depths of the earth.
The Ancient Progenitor's remote psychic suppression had descended once again!
The previously dispersed illusion fragments suddenly re-condensed. This time, there were no multi-layered illusions; it was pure psychic pressure, crashing down upon everyone's Seas of Consciousness like ten thousand meters of rock strata.
The squad members, who were in the midst of a fierce battle, all trembled violently, their Sea of Consciousness barriers instantly sprouting fine cracks.
Old Chen's tiger's mouth tore open, and his long knife nearly slipped from his grasp. He gritted his teeth and stubbornly held the formation; Jiang Tao's psychic barrier shook violently, and his suppressing force against the secondary priest suddenly weakened; the instructor let out a muffled groan, bloodshot veins appearing in his eyes.
The entire karst cave was once again locked down by the Ancient Progenitor's will.
"I gave you the chance to break the array, yet you do not know when to advance or retreat."
An ancient, hoarse, and indifferent thought echoed in everyone's minds.
"Twenty-five years, and humanity still only knows how to struggle. Today, this squad specifically designed to counter my psychic nodes shall perish here."
As the thoughts faded, over twenty high-tier scaled beasts charged out from the dark caves in the karst cave once more. The already heavily pressured outer perimeter defense instantly teetered on the brink of collapse.
"Hold on!" Old Chen roared, swinging his long knife again to forcefully withstand the pincer attack of two high-tier scaled beasts. "Lin Yan! Hurry!"
Enduring the Ancient Progenitor's remote heavy pressure, Lin Yan's cranial cavity throbbed with splitting pain, and his recently healed Sea of Consciousness once again transmitted the stinging pain of psychic damage.
But his mind remained unshaken.
The more desperate the situation, the more stable his ancient martial arts mind-guarding technique became. Even if the world outside was collapsing, his mind remained as still as undisturbed water, unaffected by any interference.
He knew very well that the Ancient Progenitor's remote pressure seemed terrifying but had a fatal flaw—it was too far away.
This psychic suppression could only broadly suppress and disturb the mind; it could not form a precise, lethal psychic impact. As long as he guarded his true heart, he would not be instantly destroyed.
Lin Yan no longer cared about the consumption of his Sea of Consciousness. He fully opened his third-tier Sea of Consciousness, and his psychic threads pierced into the second and third nodes like a rainstorm.
Two consecutive shattering sounds rang out.
The second and third nodes collapsed simultaneously. Large areas of dark blue veins went dark, and the psychic pressure within the karst cave instantly diminished by thirty percent.
Only the last node remained, barely clinging to life, weakly maintaining the diffusion of scattered toxins.
Seeing this, the secondary priest went completely mad. Disregarding Jiang Tao's psychic restraint, it forcibly burned its own psychic origin, erupting with a pitch-black psychic spear. Abandoning everyone else, it aimed solely to kill Lin Yan!
This was a life-risking strike from the priest. It was incredibly fast, piercing through the air and arriving at the back of Lin Yan's head in the blink of an eye.
"Watch your back!" Jiang Tao roared, unleashing his psychic barrier with all his might to intercept it, but it was already too late.
Lin Yan did not look back; his mind condensed to its absolute extreme.
He was long accustomed to life-and-death clashes in a split second. The moment the psychic spear approached, his ancient martial arts footwork suddenly shifted sideways. Simultaneously, his Sea of Consciousness expanded an ultra-thin psychic web on its side.
Puff!
The psychic spear grazed his Sea of Consciousness barrier, pierced the rock wall, and blasted a small crater.
The aftershock still struck Lin Yan. His shoulder went numb, a wave of dizziness hit his head, and a trace of blood overflowed from the corner of his mouth.
But his footsteps did not stop. He leaped into the air and fiercely thrust his short blade into the core of the last node!
Rumble!
The last node shattered completely.
All four linked nodes were rendered useless!
The dark blue fluorescent light in the entire karst cave was completely extinguished. All sources of toxin release were uprooted, and the lingering psychic illusions and remote pressure suffered a cliff-like decline. The Ancient Progenitor's psychic network shrouding the entire area snapped instantly.
Far away, in the underground resonance cave.
The Ancient Progenitor's massive body suddenly stiffened. Its dark gold vertical pupils contracted sharply, and a sky-high rage churned in its eyes.
It had watched with its own eyes as Lin Yan stubbornly destroyed its meticulously arranged four-layer illusion array and poison source nodes.
The continuous killing trap, built at the cost of massive computing power, was shattered once again.
Inside the karst cave, the pressure suddenly eased.
The squad members, who had been desperately holding on at the perimeter, instantly breathed a sigh of relief. The burden on them vanished, and the pressure of the slaughter sharply decreased.
Deprived of the nodes' support, the secondary priest's power plummeted drastically. It was hit squarely by a heavy psychic impact from Jiang Tao, its body trembling violently as it staggered backward, dark green blood overflowing from its mouth.
"All nodes destroyed! The poison source has been completely eradicated!" the instructor shouted loudly. "Mission accomplished! Everyone, break out and retreat!"
But in the next second, the entire karst cave shook violently.
The rock strata roared, and rubble fell like rain.
The destruction of the four nodes had triggered a chain collapse of the underground rock strata. The entire No. 3 Rift karst cave was collapsing!
"Run! The cave is collapsing!"
Everyone's faces changed drastically. There was no time left to tangle with the enemy. Old Chen immediately led the team to shake off the scaled beasts. Everyone turned around and sprinted with all their might toward the rift exit.
Large areas of the rock walls behind them collapsed, and massive boulders crashed down, sealing off the passage behind them. The remaining high-tier scaled beasts and the severely injured secondary priest were all buried beneath the collapsed rock strata.
Countless rocks and dust surged, chasing after the footsteps of the squad.
They had won the battle for the poison source, yet they still found themselves in a deadly situation.
End of Chapter.