Chapter 197: The Blade Falls Upon the Sea of Consciousness
There was no deafening roar, no visible wave of light.
Yet, across the entire wasteland sky, an invisible, crushing psychic weight collapsed abruptly.
The overlapping psychic impact, accumulated by the Sharp-Sense Ancient Being for so long and amplified through synchronization by both the Spiderweb and Illusion Ancient Beings, was unleashed explosively the instant it reached its peak. A torrent of consciousness, sharp as tens of thousands of blades and carrying swirling spiral illusions, pierced through the gray fog and slammed directly into the Sea of Consciousness defense array positioned between the oscillation pillars.
The senior cultivators on the outermost layer, who bore the brunt of the assault, arched their bodies violently, as if struck in the chest by a heavy hammer.
Some let out stifled groans as fine beads of blood instantly seeped from their ear canals; others saw endless, swirling spiral patterns explode before their eyes. The illusions rode the impact straight into their Seas of Consciousness, causing their minds to shake violently and shattering their previously stable resonance links.
"Hold steady! Cluster and synchronize! Don't scatter!" the defense captain roared hoarsely, expending every ounce of his strength to spread his own Sea of Consciousness outward, linking up with his comrades beside him.
But the intensity of this strike far exceeded their estimates.
The layered streams of psychic blades continued to slice and weave, shattering the outer defense line en masse. A Level 4 cultivator convulsed violently, eyes wide open, as blood gushed simultaneously from his nose and mouth. He fell straight backward, his Sea of Consciousness torn open by massive wounds from the composite impact, losing consciousness on the spot. The two cultivators beside him were caught in the chain reaction; their synchronized resonance collapsed in tandem. Clutching their heads, they dropped to their knees, trembling uncontrollably from the agony.
In a matter of mere breaths, the outer defense line was largely obliterated.
The collapse of the Sea of Consciousness power instantly fed back into the resonance barrier.
The pale blue light membrane trembled violently. At the left flank breach, which had barely been forced shut, cracks began to spread like wildfire once again. The energy output fluctuated wildly, the load curves on the instrument panels jumping frantically as alarm sirens wailed incessantly.
"Barrier resonance is in chaos! Energy is unstable!" an engineer roared, violently pushing the power control lever. The backup energy modules overloaded to their maximum capacity to supply power, and blinding orange-red warning lights ignited one after another across several pillars.
In the shadows of the rift, the Beast Commander, who had been waiting for the perfect moment, immediately seized the opportunity.
Its heavy, commanding consciousness swept across the buffer rock hall. The scaled beast herd, which had previously slowed its charging pace, erupted into a frenzied assault once more. The pitch-black beast tide stepped over the piled corpses of their kin and hurled themselves at the barrier again. Wave after wave of impacts slammed mercilessly against the already tottering energy membrane.
Boom! Boom! Boom!
The sounds of the collisions were unceasing, blending with the overloaded hum of the barrier.
The light membrane on the left flank caved inward drastically. The breach that had been painstakingly sealed was forced open once more under the dual assault of the beast tide's continuous ramming and the absence of psychic support. This time, it was even wider than before. Four or five third-tier scaled beasts took the lead, screeching as they tore through the barrier and landed heavily on the wasteland soil inside.
"The breach has reopened! It's bigger than before! Third-tier scaled beasts are breaking through!"
Ignoring the wound on his ribs that was still bleeding, Old Zhou grabbed his oscillation stinger and led his men forward once again. Only four members of the reserve squad remained; they sprinted forward with him, their stingers erupting with blue light as they clashed head-on with the charging beasts. The oscillation energy detonated, causing the scaled beasts to roar in pain as black blood splattered. Yet, more ordinary scaled beasts continued to pour endlessly out of the widened breach.
The firepower in the trenches was unleashed at full capacity. The piercing cannons roared, and metal rods continuously pinned the beasts' bodies. But there were simply too many of them; the fallen corpses could no longer stem the subsequent charges.
The Illusion Ancient Being also struck amid the chaos.
The illusion domain outside the breach expanded outward, its twisted幻境 (illusions) shrouding half of the wasteland near the gap. Several infantrymen who had attempted to flank the charging beasts stepped into the foggy zone. Instantly, their vision was swapped. The flat wasteland beneath their feet transformed into a bottomless, downward-spiraling staircase, and their ears were filled with the low, ancient whispers. Their footsteps faltered, and they nearly sprinted directly toward the rift. The non-commissioned officer trailing behind them threw himself forward desperately, covering their eyes and forcibly dragging them back behind cover.
"Stay away from the fog zone! The illusion domain is expanding!"
In the command hall, red warning dots were densely packed, and the incoming reports grew increasingly dire.
The psychic defense group had lost over half its personnel. Less than a third of the cultivators remained capable of maintaining the resonance, and those left all bore varying degrees of trauma to their Seas of Consciousness, making it nearly impossible to sustain the barrier for long. The breach continued to widen as the beast herd poured in endlessly, locking the defense line in a death grip. Meanwhile, the Spiderweb Ancient Being had restarted its harassment. Two more missed anchor points within the city were ignited, leaving the remaining healing squads completely overwhelmed. Requests for reinforcements kept flooding in.
Inside the rocky hill observation shed, Lin Yan clenched his jaw, the fine threads of his Sea of Consciousness firmly locked onto the signals of the five ancient beings in the cavern.
After unleashing that heavy strike, the Sharp-Sense Ancient Being's fluctuations had weakened slightly; clearly, the move had been immensely taxing, and it could not replicate an attack of the same magnitude in the short term. However, it did not stop. It continued to output fragmented cutting blades, relentlessly harassing the surviving Sea of Consciousness cultivators, denying them any chance to catch their breath and regroup.
The Beast Commander's consciousness orchestrated the battle with ease. A portion of the scaled beasts continued to assault the breach, firmly tying down the frontline forces, while another squad was dispatched to quietly maneuver along the far northern end of the barrier, intending to ambush the thinly defended flank.
The Illusion Ancient Being maintained the expansion of the illusion domain, continuously creating blind spots and psychic traps. The Spiderweb Ancient Being managed both fronts, keeping a close watch on the city's anchor points while subtly adjusting the resonance frequency to amplify the cascading negative effects of the barrier's instability.
At the center, the supreme ruler's consciousness remained as calm as still water.
It was evaluating the results of this round of attacks, sensing the remaining strength of the defense line, and determining whether it was worth committing more trump cards. It had not ordered the dormant reserve beast herds in the depths to fully press the attack, nor had it personally unleashed an original-source attack. It continued to let its four kin coordinate, retaining the initiative to escalate or hold back at any moment.
The fissure in Lin Yan's Sea of Consciousness burned with agonizing pain. The perception threads of the five ancient beings swept back and forth across the rocky hill; every time he probed, he exposed himself to the gaze of multiple ancient consciousnesses.
"Scholar Su, the Sharp-Sense Ancient Being has entered a cooldown after this massive strike and cannot unleash another composite attack of the same level anytime soon," Lin Yan reported urgently. "But our Sea of Consciousness defense forces have suffered catastrophic losses, and the barrier cannot withstand prolonged, continuous pressure. The beast herd is splitting its forces to maneuver toward the far north. That area is thinly defended and highly vulnerable to a second breach."
"Received," Scholar Su replied, his voice heavy with suppressed tension. "Dispatch second-line infantry to reinforce the northern defenses. All remaining Sea of Consciousness cultivators are to retract and consolidate their forces to defend the barrier section corresponding to the main breach. Abandon全域 (global) resonance; prioritize plugging this gap. Notify medical teams to prioritize rescuing cultivators who can still fight."
The orders were relayed down the chain, and the frontline urgently adjusted its deployments.
The surviving Sea of Consciousness cultivators abandoned their resonance across the entire barrier. Everyone clustered near the pillars corresponding to the left flank breach, twisting their remaining psychic strength into a single, concentrated force to reinforce this damaged point. The barriers in the other sectors could only rely on pure mechanical energy to hold out; if they encountered high-intensity impacts, they would shatter much faster.
Old Zhou and his men fought a bloody, desperate battle at the breach. He smashed his oscillation stinger into the skull of a third-tier scaled beast, shattering it, but was immediately swept across the shoulder by the bone spur of another beast beside him. His armor split open in a long gash, blood instantly soaking his outer combat suit. He staggered, bit down to steady himself, and roared as he continued to intercept the enemy.
Above the wasteland, smoke and gunpowder churned together with the gray fog.
Scaled beasts poured endlessly from the breach. The illusion domain lay quietly to the side, its traps wide open, while the surviving cultivators struggled desperately to prop up the crumbling barrier. Deep within the rift, the five ancient beings resonated in harmony, calmly harvesting the frontline's vital forces.
Staring at the continuously multiplying thermal signatures on the screen, Lin Yan knew in his heart: this round of overlapping impacts had crippled the West Bastion's psychic defenses. The time left for them to regroup was pitifully short.
End of Chapter.
Yet, across the entire wasteland sky, an invisible, crushing psychic weight collapsed abruptly.
The overlapping psychic impact, accumulated by the Sharp-Sense Ancient Being for so long and amplified through synchronization by both the Spiderweb and Illusion Ancient Beings, was unleashed explosively the instant it reached its peak. A torrent of consciousness, sharp as tens of thousands of blades and carrying swirling spiral illusions, pierced through the gray fog and slammed directly into the Sea of Consciousness defense array positioned between the oscillation pillars.
The senior cultivators on the outermost layer, who bore the brunt of the assault, arched their bodies violently, as if struck in the chest by a heavy hammer.
Some let out stifled groans as fine beads of blood instantly seeped from their ear canals; others saw endless, swirling spiral patterns explode before their eyes. The illusions rode the impact straight into their Seas of Consciousness, causing their minds to shake violently and shattering their previously stable resonance links.
"Hold steady! Cluster and synchronize! Don't scatter!" the defense captain roared hoarsely, expending every ounce of his strength to spread his own Sea of Consciousness outward, linking up with his comrades beside him.
But the intensity of this strike far exceeded their estimates.
The layered streams of psychic blades continued to slice and weave, shattering the outer defense line en masse. A Level 4 cultivator convulsed violently, eyes wide open, as blood gushed simultaneously from his nose and mouth. He fell straight backward, his Sea of Consciousness torn open by massive wounds from the composite impact, losing consciousness on the spot. The two cultivators beside him were caught in the chain reaction; their synchronized resonance collapsed in tandem. Clutching their heads, they dropped to their knees, trembling uncontrollably from the agony.
In a matter of mere breaths, the outer defense line was largely obliterated.
The collapse of the Sea of Consciousness power instantly fed back into the resonance barrier.
The pale blue light membrane trembled violently. At the left flank breach, which had barely been forced shut, cracks began to spread like wildfire once again. The energy output fluctuated wildly, the load curves on the instrument panels jumping frantically as alarm sirens wailed incessantly.
"Barrier resonance is in chaos! Energy is unstable!" an engineer roared, violently pushing the power control lever. The backup energy modules overloaded to their maximum capacity to supply power, and blinding orange-red warning lights ignited one after another across several pillars.
In the shadows of the rift, the Beast Commander, who had been waiting for the perfect moment, immediately seized the opportunity.
Its heavy, commanding consciousness swept across the buffer rock hall. The scaled beast herd, which had previously slowed its charging pace, erupted into a frenzied assault once more. The pitch-black beast tide stepped over the piled corpses of their kin and hurled themselves at the barrier again. Wave after wave of impacts slammed mercilessly against the already tottering energy membrane.
Boom! Boom! Boom!
The sounds of the collisions were unceasing, blending with the overloaded hum of the barrier.
The light membrane on the left flank caved inward drastically. The breach that had been painstakingly sealed was forced open once more under the dual assault of the beast tide's continuous ramming and the absence of psychic support. This time, it was even wider than before. Four or five third-tier scaled beasts took the lead, screeching as they tore through the barrier and landed heavily on the wasteland soil inside.
"The breach has reopened! It's bigger than before! Third-tier scaled beasts are breaking through!"
Ignoring the wound on his ribs that was still bleeding, Old Zhou grabbed his oscillation stinger and led his men forward once again. Only four members of the reserve squad remained; they sprinted forward with him, their stingers erupting with blue light as they clashed head-on with the charging beasts. The oscillation energy detonated, causing the scaled beasts to roar in pain as black blood splattered. Yet, more ordinary scaled beasts continued to pour endlessly out of the widened breach.
The firepower in the trenches was unleashed at full capacity. The piercing cannons roared, and metal rods continuously pinned the beasts' bodies. But there were simply too many of them; the fallen corpses could no longer stem the subsequent charges.
The Illusion Ancient Being also struck amid the chaos.
The illusion domain outside the breach expanded outward, its twisted幻境 (illusions) shrouding half of the wasteland near the gap. Several infantrymen who had attempted to flank the charging beasts stepped into the foggy zone. Instantly, their vision was swapped. The flat wasteland beneath their feet transformed into a bottomless, downward-spiraling staircase, and their ears were filled with the low, ancient whispers. Their footsteps faltered, and they nearly sprinted directly toward the rift. The non-commissioned officer trailing behind them threw himself forward desperately, covering their eyes and forcibly dragging them back behind cover.
"Stay away from the fog zone! The illusion domain is expanding!"
In the command hall, red warning dots were densely packed, and the incoming reports grew increasingly dire.
The psychic defense group had lost over half its personnel. Less than a third of the cultivators remained capable of maintaining the resonance, and those left all bore varying degrees of trauma to their Seas of Consciousness, making it nearly impossible to sustain the barrier for long. The breach continued to widen as the beast herd poured in endlessly, locking the defense line in a death grip. Meanwhile, the Spiderweb Ancient Being had restarted its harassment. Two more missed anchor points within the city were ignited, leaving the remaining healing squads completely overwhelmed. Requests for reinforcements kept flooding in.
Inside the rocky hill observation shed, Lin Yan clenched his jaw, the fine threads of his Sea of Consciousness firmly locked onto the signals of the five ancient beings in the cavern.
After unleashing that heavy strike, the Sharp-Sense Ancient Being's fluctuations had weakened slightly; clearly, the move had been immensely taxing, and it could not replicate an attack of the same magnitude in the short term. However, it did not stop. It continued to output fragmented cutting blades, relentlessly harassing the surviving Sea of Consciousness cultivators, denying them any chance to catch their breath and regroup.
The Beast Commander's consciousness orchestrated the battle with ease. A portion of the scaled beasts continued to assault the breach, firmly tying down the frontline forces, while another squad was dispatched to quietly maneuver along the far northern end of the barrier, intending to ambush the thinly defended flank.
The Illusion Ancient Being maintained the expansion of the illusion domain, continuously creating blind spots and psychic traps. The Spiderweb Ancient Being managed both fronts, keeping a close watch on the city's anchor points while subtly adjusting the resonance frequency to amplify the cascading negative effects of the barrier's instability.
At the center, the supreme ruler's consciousness remained as calm as still water.
It was evaluating the results of this round of attacks, sensing the remaining strength of the defense line, and determining whether it was worth committing more trump cards. It had not ordered the dormant reserve beast herds in the depths to fully press the attack, nor had it personally unleashed an original-source attack. It continued to let its four kin coordinate, retaining the initiative to escalate or hold back at any moment.
The fissure in Lin Yan's Sea of Consciousness burned with agonizing pain. The perception threads of the five ancient beings swept back and forth across the rocky hill; every time he probed, he exposed himself to the gaze of multiple ancient consciousnesses.
"Scholar Su, the Sharp-Sense Ancient Being has entered a cooldown after this massive strike and cannot unleash another composite attack of the same level anytime soon," Lin Yan reported urgently. "But our Sea of Consciousness defense forces have suffered catastrophic losses, and the barrier cannot withstand prolonged, continuous pressure. The beast herd is splitting its forces to maneuver toward the far north. That area is thinly defended and highly vulnerable to a second breach."
"Received," Scholar Su replied, his voice heavy with suppressed tension. "Dispatch second-line infantry to reinforce the northern defenses. All remaining Sea of Consciousness cultivators are to retract and consolidate their forces to defend the barrier section corresponding to the main breach. Abandon全域 (global) resonance; prioritize plugging this gap. Notify medical teams to prioritize rescuing cultivators who can still fight."
The orders were relayed down the chain, and the frontline urgently adjusted its deployments.
The surviving Sea of Consciousness cultivators abandoned their resonance across the entire barrier. Everyone clustered near the pillars corresponding to the left flank breach, twisting their remaining psychic strength into a single, concentrated force to reinforce this damaged point. The barriers in the other sectors could only rely on pure mechanical energy to hold out; if they encountered high-intensity impacts, they would shatter much faster.
Old Zhou and his men fought a bloody, desperate battle at the breach. He smashed his oscillation stinger into the skull of a third-tier scaled beast, shattering it, but was immediately swept across the shoulder by the bone spur of another beast beside him. His armor split open in a long gash, blood instantly soaking his outer combat suit. He staggered, bit down to steady himself, and roared as he continued to intercept the enemy.
Above the wasteland, smoke and gunpowder churned together with the gray fog.
Scaled beasts poured endlessly from the breach. The illusion domain lay quietly to the side, its traps wide open, while the surviving cultivators struggled desperately to prop up the crumbling barrier. Deep within the rift, the five ancient beings resonated in harmony, calmly harvesting the frontline's vital forces.
Staring at the continuously multiplying thermal signatures on the screen, Lin Yan knew in his heart: this round of overlapping impacts had crippled the West Bastion's psychic defenses. The time left for them to regroup was pitifully short.
End of Chapter.