Chapter 1111: Suppressed By Great Power
Translator: EndlessFantasy Translation Editor: EndlessFantasy Translation
Bug beasts of all forms were rushing out of the holes on the surface of the hives. All of them had a combat strength of imperial-level purple gold-rank, and there were over 300 hives.
Among the over 300 types of bugs, the first thing that Lin Huang noticed was a batch of giant beetles.
These giant beetles seemed like they had been enlarged up to a hundred times. They looked like heavy armored vehicles with many legs, and one could tell that their defensive ability was terrifying by a glance alone.
In reality, Lin Huang had seen such a beetle in the monster guide before. It was a monster called the Gigantic Armored Beetle. Its defensive ability was so powerful that it could be ranked top ten among all the monsters recorded in the monster guide.
If their vitals were not attacked, the effort of killing such a bug monster might be futile even for an ordinary demigod. To kill them in one blow, only a demigod saber cultivator or sword cultivator who had compelling attack ability with a god relic fuelled with Divine Power might be able to do it.
The second type of monster that attracted Lin Huang's attention was a colorful flying bug that resembled a long-legged spider with butterfly wings. Not only were the two pairs of wings colorful, but so were their body and the hair on its legs that were as tough as steel nails. It looked like a painter had accidentally spilled ten types of colors onto them. What surprised Lin Huang even more was that the colors on their bodies morphed, so it looked like it had a disco ball shining on it.
"I advise you not to let those colorful bug monsters get close to you." The stone tablet's voice came all of a sudden.
"Because they're poisonous?" Lin Huang guessed why the stone tablet said so.
"This bug is called Ten Colors, and it's a poisonous bug monster. They have up to 1,000 different toxins in their bodies which they're producing and releasing at all times. Some of the toxins can be spread through the air while some can even penetrate through the pores straight into one's body. You can never see it coming," the stone tablet explained, "I suppose you saw that their bodies are always changing colors. The changing of colors is caused by the changing of toxin ratio in their body as they produce and release toxins."
The third type of monster Lin Huang noticed was a bug beast with four wings that could not be found in the monster guide. It had four oval semi-transparent wings that it flapped thousands of times per second. It would accelerate every time it flapped its wings, lending a great boost in its speed.
Although Lin Huang could fight fairly with imperial-level purple gold-rank monsters now, he could only catch the flapping shadow of the bug beast's wings with his eyes.
Although the speed of the bug monsters was incomparable with Kylie who was on imperial-level purple gold-rank, they could surpass most of the flying monsters in the monster guide.
…
Among the 300-odd types of bugs on the battlefield, apart from the minority of them that were described in the monster guide, most of them did not have any record.
Lin Huang looked far away and realized that he could not recognize over 90% of the bug monsters. A minority of them even had a structure that was beyond his understanding, which made him think they were ridiculous after observing them.
For instance, there was a bug beast that was called the Ugly Thing. It had its ass on its mouth, and seemed to use the same part to eat and excrete. There was another bug beast that had no face on its head, but only had a mouth on top of its head and it lived on other bug monsters' bodies as a parasite.
Neither did Lin Huang have any idea what were the names of most of the bug monsters there, nor did he know what kind of ability they possessed.
However, none of those were important to him.
His nine God Figurine's Combat Souls fought at full force without hesitation. Under the Creation Clock's slowing down of time and the Shackle Serpent's sealing, the massive number of bug monsters became sitting ducks.
It had been a few minutes since the battle started, but the Undead Styx had completed his elevation to virtual god-level. Lin Huang summoned him again to join the battlefield.
Although the Divine Sun Tree and the Death Butterfly did not leave behind any carcasses, the Nightmare Tapir, the Enchanted Fairy, and the rest left carcasses behind, which then became the Undead Styx's undead puppets.
Seeing the Undead Styx's undead army growing to over a hundred million, Lin Huang thought it was wasted effort instead of feeling happy.
He had summoned the Undead Styx to try turning the monsters on the Stairway Tree into undead puppets to see if he could bring them back to reality. Sadly, it was proven to be impossible. The monster carcasses on the Stairway Tree would disintegrate as soon as they left.
However, although he could not bring them back, he could use them there directly.
The Undead Styx controlled the undead monster horde to collide with the monsters that were advancing from the hives fearlessly. Even if they were killed in the battle, the Undead Styx would revive soon them. Moreover, he was turning more carcasses into his puppets, growing his undead army.
Lin Huang was relieved to see the first round of hive attack being suppressed by his ten God Figurine's Combat Souls perfectly.
He was concerned even though he was confident in his God Figurine's Combat Souls as he figured that the batch of the monster horde was just too big.
However, he was relieved to see the performance of his God Figurine's Combat Souls.
The hundreds of hives released monster hordes one after another. Countless bug monsters came swarming like waves but they were suppressed by the God Figurine's Combat Souls again and again.
Time flew by, and three hours passed.
The hives went through a tremor almost at the same time, emitting a strange buzzing again.
This time, it did not sound low. It sounded more like the finish of a ringing bell.
Almost at the same time the sound came, all of the hives stopped sending bug monsters out.
Lin Huang lifted his head to look at the sky. In reality, he figured that the last hour might not be easy.
As expected, the hives experienced some changes. The strange buzzing noise lasted for three minutes and stopped completely.
As the noise stopped, the hundreds of hives transformed almost at the same time.
Lin Huang was shocked when he saw a hive that looked like a potato explode from its core. It looked like someone had sliced the potato into half and pulled the two halves of hive open slowly, exposing its center. It was like a potato that was sliced and pulled apart, then stuck with invisible tape.
The other hives were also changing. Some of them were sliced into half directly while some had a giant hollow cylinder in the middle.
The transformation lasted for less than a minute before being completed.
At that moment, Lin Huang sensed the aura that was coming out of the hives. He could not help but appear rather grave now.
"Are they only on demigod-level? Why do I feel like something's off?"
Chapter 1112: Tough Battle
Translator: EndlessFantasy Translation Editor: EndlessFantasy Translation
The bug beasts' aura in the hives were indeed only on demigod-level but Lin Huang thought something was off.
Buzzing noise came again as soon as the over 300 hives had done with their transformation.
"Buzz…"
"Buzz…"
"Buzz…"
…
The over 300 hives released noises of different frequency as if they were announcing the battle again.
This time, the buzzing only went on for approximately ten seconds and stopped.
Subsequently, Lin Huang saw bug beasts rushing out the cracks or holes in the middle of the hives.
Lin Huang had only confirmed that the round of bug beasts only had a combat strength of demigod-level when he saw the bug beasts officially. However, he soon saw a shocking scene.
In the sky, the over 300 monster hordes seemed to be commanded by something whereby they gathered and formed gigantic, ferocious beasts after rushing out of the hives in sequence.
The ferocious beasts were at least 10,000 meters long, their aura was many times more powerful than the individual bug beasts.
"Is this… a battle formation?!" Lin Huang finally knew why he thought something was off when he saw that.
So the demigod-level bug beasts had formed their battle formations in the hives earlier. That was why the 10,000 bug beasts gave out a strange vibe.
"To be exact, it's a bug formation. Of course, battle formation is correct too since bug formation is also a type of battle formation," the stone tablet corrected him, "A bug formation made of 10,000 bug beasts have an overall ability that can fight fair with Virtual God rank-3. In other words, you're fighting over 300 Virtual God rank-3 monsters now."
"Are these bug formations really that powerful?" Lin Huang could not help but frown.
"You'll see soon."
As soon as the stone tablet was done speaking, the gigantic beasts formed of the bug formations had collided with Ninetails Lynx and the rest.
Ninetails Lynx turned into a white silhouette that was blinking as it mauled at a couple of bug formation beasts.
Ninetails Lynx was too quick, they did not have time to react with effective defense or dodging the attack. They were hit directly.
Theoretically, Ninetails Lynx who was now on Virtual God rank-1 should have an ability that was nothing weaker than Virtual God rank-5. However, its attacks that landed on the bug formation beasts did not kill them directly. Even worse, none of the bug beasts in the bug formations was killed. Lin Huang found that puzzling.
"What's happening? The bug formation didn't disintegrate after being attacked by Ninetails Lynx head-on? Ninetails Lynx's maul alone should be able to kill a Virtual God rank-3 powerhouse in one hit!"
"The bug formation can transfer the damage. It's not that the bug formation beasts aren't hurt at all, they shared the damages with the 10,000 bug beasts that formed the bug formations, which weaken Ninetails Lynx's attack effect."
"The bug formation beasts didn't disintegrate not because they're more powerful than Virtual God rank-3 powerhouse. In reality, these giant beasts are made of Divine Power. The Divine Power would be drained as soon as they attacked. The 10,000 demigod-level bug beasts provide rather sufficient Divine Power to fuel the formations."
What the stone tablet said calmed Lin Huang a little.
"In other words, I'll have to attack them a few more times if I can't kill them in one hit. I'll get rid off these bug formation beasts by draining the Divine Power in their bodies."
"That will work."
Other collisions on the battlefield went on as Lin Huang chatted with the stone tablet.
Destructive Divine Mammoth stomped his gigantic feet on the bug formation beasts' heads. However, the bug formation beasts were not crushed at all.
Theoretically, Destructive Divine Mammoth should have an ability similar to Ninetails Lynx. His stomp of feet should be able to kill a bunch of demigod-level bug beasts. However, due to the damage transfer and sea of Divine Power maintaining the bug formation, the bug formation beasts did not suffer any solid damages.
The same happened to Death Butterfly. It could usually kill a bunch of demigod-level bug beasts with a single flap of wings. None of the demigod-level bug beasts could survive its attack. However, the many bug beasts that were formed into bug formations were doing good after the attack.
The God's Figurine's Combat Souls that had elevated to virtual god-level fell into an awkward position since they failed to kill those bug beasts.
Undead Styx must be the most awkward one. His undead army only had imperial-level combat strength. They had no ability to defend the bug formation beasts at all.
Each time the bug formation beasts attacked, a bunch from the undead army would be crushed.
Even though Undead Styx managed to revive them repetitively, all that it did was to put the bug formation beasts' approach to a halt for merely a moment. They could not stop the bug formation beasts at all.
The three God's Figurine's Combat Souls that had yet to elevate to virtual god-level were even more awkward.
Withered Flower retreated from the battlefield voluntarily after swallowing a bug formation beast. It seemed to be digesting the food that had just gone into its stomach.
Creation Clock and Shackle Serpent retreated from the battlefield directly.
Their ability could only work on living things that had no Divine Power in them.
For instance, Creation Clock could only control the time flow to affect a person. However, it could not do anything to demigods with Divine Power in their bodies.
The same applied to Shackle Serpent, its sealing ability could only work on living things that had no Divine Power in their bodies.
Moreover, both of them were not good at close combat. Lin Huang thought about it and figured it was unnecessary for them to stay on the battlefield any longer.
The seven virtual god-level God's Figurine's Combat Souls felt helpless to be taking on the battle on their own. They were fighting among the over 300 bug formation beasts.
The busiest one was Ninetails Lynx that had the highest speed. It was rescuing its comrades almost all of the time.
There were just too many bug formation beasts, and they were hard to kill.
Destructive Divine Mammoth and the rest had to handle over 40 bug formation beasts each to make sure that those bug formation beasts would not break their defense.
However, there were bug formation beasts breaking the defense and headed where Lin Huang was occasionally when the God's Figurine's Combat Souls were stuck.
Ninetails Lynx would have to stop what it was doing to block those bug formation beasts that had broken the defense whenever it happened. It would give them big slaps on their faces, smashing them back to where they were before.
Although Ninetails Lynx and the rest knew very well that Lin Huang could solve it himself even if the bug formation beasts got to him, they were determined to stop the bug formation beasts from breaking the defense.
The battle was the toughest one the bunch of God's Figurine's Combat Souls had ever encountered. They had always been suppressing the battles but they could not kill the opponents they encountered in one hit this time. Moreover, there were more opponents than the comrades they had on their side.
The stagnant situation went on for over ten minutes and Ninetails Lynx finally broke the formation with its mauling.
Finally, the very first bug formation beast disintegrated due to the draining of Divine Power from Ninetails Lynx's mauling…
Chapter 1113: One More Trial, Please!
Translator: EndlessFantasy Translation Editor: EndlessFantasy Translation
The 300 over bug formation beasts were made of up to 10,000 demigod-level bug monsters each that contained powerful Divine Power.
The battle lasted for over ten minutes and finally, the Divine Power of one of the formations was drained as a result of the Ninetails Lynx's mauling.
The bug formation disintegrated as soon as their Divine Power was drained. The formation that was made of up to 10,000 bug monsters disintegrated immediately.
Before the Ninetails Lynx could attack, the Divine Sun Tree swung its few branches into the sky, sweeping through the direction where the bug formation disintegrated.
In the next second, the bug monsters that lost their formation protection were lit up by golden flames, and they became 10,000 fireballs in the sky. The fireballs merely burned for less than ten seconds before turning into ashes completely.
"What a waste!" Lin Huang did not expect the Divine Sun Tree to attack so quickly. He initially wanted to get the Nightmare Tapir to attack so that he could keep the bug monsters' carcasses for the Undead Styx to transform into puppets.
A sea of spiritual energy rushed into Lin Huang's body and it was filtered by the Divine Fire since the 10,000 demigod-level bug monsters were killed. Under Lin Huang's control, the wave of spiritual energy was inserted into the Creation Clock.
Without Lin Huang's control, the spiritual energy would usually go into the few God Figurine's Combat Souls with the lowest combat strength and it would be distributed evenly. However, the spiritual energy in the Creation Clock's body was filled according to Lin Huang's control. It was on the brink of breaking through to virtual god-level.
Sensing the Creation Clock breaking through soon, Lin Huang recalled it back to his body immediately.
The breaking of the first bug formation gave the Destructive Divine Mammoth and the rest confidence in the battle.
Initially, even Lin Huang was not sure how long would these bug formation beasts last. He was torn watching his seven God Figurine's Combat Souls in the battle fail to kill the opponents. Furthermore, there were so many opponents.
However, the morale of the seven God Figurine's Combat Souls was boosted since the first bug formation broke. They were in high spirits now.
The Destructive Divine Mammoth stomped its feet one after another at an even higher frequency than before.
Approximately less than two minutes since the first bug formation broke, the second one finally split. It was the Destructive Divine Mammoth that crushed it with its feet this time.
It stomped its gigantic pillar-like feet from the sky, killing 10,000 saber-wings bug monsters completely.
The saber-wings bug monsters that had Divine Power in their bodies were drained immediately after they lost the protection from the disintegrated formation. Then, they were soon turned into ashes by the merciless Death Butterfly.
Clearly, the God Figurine's Combat Souls who been tolerating their failure to break the formations were releasing their rage on the bug monsters. They were using the first-mover's advantage.
"You guys are attacking too fast!" Lin Huang was confounded.
After this round of harvesting, another sea of spiritual energy rushed into Lin Huang's body. He gave it to the Shackle Serpent this time.
Lin Huang recalled it back to his body since the spiritual energy it needed to elevate to virtual god-level was almost full now.
After the second bug formation beast 'died', the Destructive Divine Mammoth crushed the third one with its trunk in less than a minute.
The 10,000 bug monsters that had lost their formation were crushed into a pile of mush as a consequence of the Destructive Divine Mammoth's vicious stomping. The other God Figurine's Combat Souls did not even have a chance of attacking.
Another wave of spiritual energy rushed into Lin Huang's body, and he gave it to the last God Figurine's Combat Soul, which was the Withered Flower. Lin Huang recalled it back into his body since it was on the brink of elevating to virtual god-level.
Although he could not obtain any Stairway Tree points, he was very pleased with the rewards he obtained from this checkpoint.
Excluding the falling of the cards, the battle alone elevated all of his God Figurine's Combat Souls although three of them had yet to complete their elevation. Nonetheless, the result surpassed his expectations.
He was considering purchasing many soul crystals after this checkpoint ended to push all of his God Figurine's Combat Souls to virtual god-level as quickly as he could. Before the checkpoint even ended, the plan was completed in advance.
As the three bug formations were 'killed' consecutively, more and more of them disintegrated after losing their Divine Power.
In less than five minutes, at least 100 out of the 300-odd bug formation beasts were killed. They were destroyed by the Destructive Divine Mammoth and the other six God Figurine's Combat Souls.
Another sea of spiritual energy rushed into Lin Huang's body, which he transferred into the Ninetails Lynx's body. The Ninetails Lynx's combat strength skyrocketed from Virtual God rank-1 to Virtual God rank-3.
Since it was not an elevation as major as imperial-level purple gold-rank to virtual god-level, the elevation was natural to the Ninetails Lynx because there were no physical changes at all. It was smooth and was completed within merely seconds.
As the Ninetails Lynx completed its elevation, it mangled the remaining 200 over bug formation beasts to death in less than a minute.
The ability of the millions of demigod-level bug monsters that had lost their protection plummeted since their Divine Power was drained. Within less than five minutes, the Destructive Divine Mammoth and the rest killed all of them.
Lin Huang gave the sea of spiritual energy to the Destructive Divine Mammoth and Nightmare Tapir, elevating the both of them to Virtual God rank-3. As for the remaining spiritual energy, Lin Huang gave them to the Undead Styx, the Shackle Serpent, and the Creation Clock. It was sufficient to get them to Virtual God rank-2.
In less than half an hour, the bug formations coming out of the hives were crushed by the seven God Figurine's Combat Souls. It was clearly beyond the expectations of the person who designed the checkpoint.
Despite there being millions of demigod-level bug monsters, Lin Huang eliminated all of them within less than half an hour.
The mission of the checkpoint was set for the player to only survive in the monster horde. The designer never thought that anyone would possibly clear the monster horde to the point that there was not even a single monster left.
Lin Huang, on the other hand, had no idea what the checkpoint designer was thinking. He was doubtful since nothing was happening to the hundreds of hives after waiting for one to two minutes.
The entire trial space fell into silence for a moment before a man's voice echoed all of a sudden, "You've passed the trial. Please be patient and wait for the half-hour to pass. The trial result will only be revealed after the 24-hour trial period has come to an end."
"So, is this the end of the trial? Don't I have another half an hour?" Lin Huang could not help but ask. He was not sure if the person could hear him or not.
The man only spoke after a moment of silence, "This trial is fixed for 24 hours. You have an extra half hour before you pass it in advance."
"I'll be bored having to wait for half an hour. Can you extend the trial?" Lin Huang asked in anticipation. He had won sweet rewards from the monster hordes and did not want to waste the last half hour of killing monsters.
Lin Huang seemed like an eager genius at school. 'There are too few questions in the exam paper. Can I have a few more? 150% is insufficient to show my ability. Can you add more questions to the paper so that I can achieve 250%?'
"M-More of the trial?!" Clearly, the man did not expect Lin Huang to come up with such an absurd request. He only spoke again after a moment of silence, sounding rather odd now, "If that's what you want, I'll fulfill your wish by giving you another round of trial. I hope that you won't regret it."
Chapter 1114: A Massive Galactic Hive
Translator: EndlessFantasy Translation Editor: EndlessFantasy Translation
The scene before Lin Huang changed dramatically as soon as the voice came from the sky. The ruins beneath his feet disappeared completely, and so did the Virtual Eyes and hives above his head.
They were replaced by vast starry space.
Lin Huang was hovering in the air without having anything to hold onto. To his utmost relief, the seven God Figurine's Combat Souls were still there with him.
He was amazed to be in space for the first time.
He had never left Earth before he traveled there. Apart from seeing how outer space looked like in films, he had never had any outer space experience at all. In reality, apart from professional astronauts, nobody else on Earth had the qualifications to explore space.
After a fleeting moment of amazement, Lin Huang soon snapped back to his senses and recalled that he was still in a trial.
"So, what's this additional trial going to be?" Lin Huang looked around skeptically.
Apart from a few planets of various sizes not far away and some stars that had different levels of brightness in the distance, there was nothing else around. The entire space was quiet and peaceful.
Although that was the case, Lin Huang knew something was up.
Just when he was going to ask the voice a question, a nearby¹ planet was orbiting slowly towards his direction.
Since there were no stars around and the distance of the planet was not that far away, all Lin Huang could see was a giant silhouette ball coming his way.
When the gigantic planet got closer, Lin Huang saw what it really looked like. He was in shock at that very moment.
He could not estimate the size of the 'planet' since there was no standard reference around. However, he felt it was definitely bigger than Earth.
However, the 'planet' was actually a gigantic hive.
Lin Huang could even see the dense holes which looked like brood boxes that filled the entire surface of the hive clearly. It was a little hard for him to imagine exactly how many bug monsters could such an enormous hive contain.
There were two smaller hives like satellites that hovered on both sides of the giant hives. Lin Huang estimated they were similar to the size of the moon.
"I've never thought that I'll see a galactic hive in such a trial." The stone tablet's voice came gently.
"A galactic hive?" It was Lin Huang's first time hearing that name.
"A galactic hive is a giant hive that travels in the galaxy," the stone tablet explained, "Just like the one right in front of you.
"Apart from its gigantic size and the ability to travel in a galaxy, how is it different from an ordinary hive?" Lin Huang asked.
"Most ordinary hives are built by bugs that have been given birth to and are led by a queen. Therefore, each hive is made of one type of bug monster. Even though they have different responsibilities in the hive whereby they even have different physical structures, they're the same type of monster by nature.
"However, it's a different case for galactic hives. The galactic hive is made of at least five types of bug monsters to carry out a detailed streamline to form a complete ecological system. This is also why the galactic hive can travel in space for thousands or even up to 10,000 years without any supplies.
"Each galactic hive is a mobile gigantic battle fortress. They even have military divisions specializing in setting battle strategies. They also have Bug Tribe generals who are experts in leadership, whereby even fighters of different tribes will work together instead of killing each other."
"Different tribes living in the same hive? Won't they fight?" Lin Huang asked, feeling puzzled. "Moreover, the tribe leaders such as the mothers and queens are usually extremely territorial. How could they allow leaders of other tribes to stay in the same hive?"
"Fights are inevitable. It's allowed as long as they don't cross the line. After all, most Bug Tribe members are rough, and they need to vent when there're no battles for them to fight."
"As for the territorial nature you mentioned, all tribe leaders definitely have that, but these Bug Tribe leaders are smarter than you think. Not only is their intelligence higher than an ordinary person's, but it's even slightly higher. They know very well that working together brings great benefits. They also know the importance of collaboration, so naturally, they put their territorial nature aside. Moreover, the galactic hive is massive. Compared to before, their territory didn't shrink. Instead, it's bigger now. It's just that other tribes are closer to them. That's all."
"What about the smaller hives on both sides? Are those galactic hives too?" Lin Huang had his eyes trained on the size of the mini hive of the moon now.
"Those are the affiliate hives. Galactic hives grow from going into battles of all kinds, and they fight each other sometimes. The tribes whose abilities are recognized can join the main hive and own a place there. Those that aren't recognized will be enslaved. The tribes that are enslaved can't be added to the main hive. They can only stay in the affiliate hives.
"In every battle, the tribes in the affiliate hives will be the leading soldiers sent to test their opponents' abilities. In other words, they are cannon fodders."
"They have social classes too?!" Lin Huang could not believe it.
"Of course, the Bug Tribe has very clear ranks and each rank is extremely solid. Their identities are made permanent almost as soon as they were born. Some are born mothers, some are born queens, some are fighters while some are born to be merely handymen."
"They're even crueler than humans!" Lin Huang could not help but exclaim, "At least, humans can learn from reading and personal development to remedy the deficiencies they are born with in order to improve their personal situations and destinies. However, the physical structures and intelligence of different social classes that the Bug Tribe monsters are born with are hard to change from their hard work that comes later."
The stone tablet smiled and stopped dwelling on the topic of social class with Lin Huang. He proceeded to speak, "The galactic hive is the ultimate mode of a hive. For such a hive, even the lowest level has at least virtual god-level powerhouses guarding it. Moreover, under normal circumstances, the bigger its size, the more tribes there are. The more affiliate hives they own, the more powerful the hive's overall ability is."
"Judging by the size of the galactic hive before you, it's just a mediocre level-one. The most powerful bug monster that's guarding it inside shouldn't exceed Virtual God rank-9."
Lin Huang and the stone tablet's consciousness seemed like they were discussing many things, but in reality, the conversation only took a second or two.
Just when he was done talking with the stone tablet, the giant hive before Lin Huang stopped near him. The two moon-sized affiliate hives moved forward slowly, blocking the space between Lin Huang and the giant hive.
As Lin Huang watched them calmly, a sea of monster armies rushed out of the two affiliate hives at an alarming speed.
¹Author's Note: The distance here is calculated by the relative distance between each planet in space. For instance, the distance between the Earth and the moon is 384,400 kilometers on average.
Chapter 1115: Fight!
Translator: EndlessFantasy Translation Editor: EndlessFantasy Translation
Lin Huang saw monster armies being released by the two affiliate hives. All of them had a combat strength of imperial-level, and there were at least a million of them.
"The standard of these cannon fodder is pretty high," Lin Huang hollered while watching the scene.
The stone tablet had just told him that the affiliate hives were cannon fodder for the galactic hives. Every time when there was a battle, they would be the first batch of soldiers to fight, testing the enemy's abilities.
However, the testing soldiers already had similar standards as the second last monster horde on the 81st checkpoint. They were just fewer in quantity. Even Lin Huang had to admit that this galactic hive had a pretty terrifying ability as a whole.
The two Bug Tribe armies that were sent from the affiliate hives had completely different bug monsters.
One had mossy green heavy armor on their bodies, and they looked similar to stag beetles, but they were actually giant beetles that had been enlarged hundreds of times.
The other was a rather mediocre size with a body that was less than two meters long. They had two pairs of translucent wings on their back and a slender body which looked a little like a hornet's.
As the armies gathered, the heavy-armored bug monsters were the first to attack.
Up to a million heavy-armored bug monsters flapped their gigantic wings madly as they flew to Lin Huang ferociously.
Meanwhile, the batch of four-winged bug monsters stayed where they were.
On Lin Huang's side, the Divine Sun Tree showed no mercy as it attacked the heavy-armored bug monsters as soon as they moved.
Up to a hundred branches shot out like long whips, stretching tens of thousands meters away. A whole slew of heavy-armored bug monsters was lit in golden flames wherever the branches passed by, and they turned into ashes later on.
The Divine Sun Tree attacked so quickly that it rendered Lin Huang speechless.
Before he became familiar with the Divine Sun Tree, he had always thought that plant monsters would have a relatively calmer character. However, the Divine Sun Tree was clearly an exception. It was practically the hottest-tempered one among Lin Huang's ten God Figurine's Combat Souls. In each battle, it would always fight for the opportunity to attack first, including this fight.
The Enchanted Fairy and the Death Butterfly did not allow it to have all of the fun as soon as the Divine Sun Tree attacked.
White frost and invisible death waves spread and rippled all over.
As soon as the three Virtual God rank-3 God Figurine's Combat Souls attacked, half of the heavy-armored bug monsters were killed. They had no ability to defend themselves at all.
Clearly, the Bug Tribe's test run failed badly. The vast difference in abilities did not give the heavy-armored bug monsters an opportunity to show their upper hand in their powerful defense before they were killed directly.
Within less than ten seconds, up to a million heavy-armored bug monsters were destroyed. It was so quick that even the galactic hive did not manage to react.
After getting rid of their first round of targets, the Divine Sun Tree had its eyes on the other bunch of Bug Tribe army not far away.
It initiated the attack before even waiting for the hive to react. Up to a hundred branches penetrated the sky, piercing the Bug Tribe army's camp directly.
Tens of thousands of four-winged bug monsters were lit by golden flames immediately, and they soon turned into ashes.
Perhaps even they did not expect that they would be hurt so badly before their army managed to get out.
The bugs fell into chaos. Massive numbers of four-winged bug monsters flapped their wings in the attempt to flee from the fire.
A low buzz was emitted from the affiliate hive all of a sudden. It rippled like water, spreading through the Bug Tribe army. Up to a million four-winged bug monsters seemed to have been injected with tranquilizers as they calmed down immediately and began retreating to the hive in sequence.
However, the Enchanted Fairy and the Death Butterfly seemed to be reluctant to let the monster horde return. They joined the battle and attacked the bugs one after another.
The Enchanted Fairy waved her white sleeves, forming white frost that turned into a towering ice wall before the hive, blocking the four-winged bugs. A bone-piercing chill spread from the ice wall, transforming all of the bug monsters that were close to the ice wall into ice sculptures.
On the other side, the Death Butterfly flapped its wings, turning a whole bunch of four-winged bug monsters into ashes immediately.
Seeing that it had assistants, the Divine Sun Tree was even more thrilled to dance with its hundred branches now. It turned into a golden sea of fire wherever the branches passed.
Just like before, the four-winged army was all annihilated by the collaboration of the three God Figurine's Combat Souls within ten seconds.
Perhaps they had a slightly weaker defense, resulting in this army being killed slightly faster than the heavy-armored bug monsters before.
The two troops of cannon fodder became ashes, making the galactic hive fall into a moment of silence.
Approximately five to six seconds later, a low buzz came from the main hive. A sea of bug monsters rushed out of the two affiliate hives again.
This round of monster horde was not considered numerous compared to before. There were only 30,000 to 40,000 of them, but all of them had demigod-level combat strength.
As the three troops of demigod-level bug monsters swarmed out, they formed three massive bug formations.
The gigantic bug monsters that formed one of the bug formations had a slender and red body. Its two front legs were sabers that looked like a scimitar while its six rear legs were long and powerful. One could tell that it was a monster that had an explosive attack from its appearances.
Another gigantic bug beast was an enlarged spider. It had a black shell all over its body and four pairs of sharp saber-like legs. Its stomach was swollen like a pregnant mammal. However, what differentiated it from the previous one was that it had tens of black holes at the end of its abdomen.
There was also a colossal monster with a human female body. However, apart from its body that appeared human, the rest of it was different. Its head was oval-shaped like a football while its skin was a light blue color with many black spots. Its skin seemed to be striped across a bug's abdomen. Moreover, it did not have human fingers or toes at the end of its limbs. Instead, there were just two black scissor-like insect legs.
Apart from the second beast that Lin Huang had seen in the monster guide, he had never seen the other two out of the three gigantic beasts in the bug formations.
"If I'm not mistaken, this giant spider has a controlling ability to stop the opponents from moving." Lin Huang had learned about the monster from the monster guide, so he roughly guessed the ability of the second monster which was the spider, "Judging by its body, the first one should be responsible for attacking. I can't figure out the third one though."
The stone tablet said nothing this time. Nobody knew whether its silence was due to its laziness or some other reason.
The Divine Sun Tree attacked as soon as the bug formation beasts appeared.
Up to a hundred of its branches covered the three giant bug formation beasts entirely within the range of its attack while its golden flames lit up all three formations.
However, the three giant bug formation beasts did not die just yet. They worked together to attack before the other two God Figurine's Combat Souls struck.
The football head of the blue humanoid bug lit up in a red glow. Blue bubbles that were translucent appeared on the three giant bug formation beasts' bodies automatically, blocking the Divine Sun Tree's flames.
Until then, Lin Huang finally realized what the giant bug formation beasts' ability was.
"So, this is a support system!" He understood the team setting now. "One controls, one supports, and one ADCs. Did they decide to give up on their tanks after realizing from the first test run that physical defense doesn't work?"
The hive's decision to change the battle strategy made Lin Huang realize that the stone tablet was right about it. The Bug Tribe was more intelligent than he thought.
Chapter 1116: This Must Be Gotten Rid Of!
Translator: EndlessFantasy Translation Editor: EndlessFantasy Translation
The Divine Sun Tree's flame was being blocked by the blue humanoid bug's maximum defense.
The spider beast attacked almost at the same time. Tens of white threads shot out at the end of its abdomen, becoming intersected webs in the air and charging at the three God Figurine's Combat Souls like a trap.
The Divine Sun Tree stretched its branches out again, penetrating the spider webs directly. Golden flames spread on the web rapidly, burning it into ashes.
Meanwhile, the Death Butterfly flapped its wings before the giant bug formation beasts attacked again.
An invisible death wave spread through the three giant bug formation beasts like a ripple. The blue, translucent bubbles that were covering the three of them began to crack.
The Enchanted Fairy also seized the opportunity to attack as she charged with her palm. A bone-piercing chill swept through the three giant bug formation beasts like an ocean wave. A layer of frost appeared on the blue, translucent bubbles, turning them all white now.
Just when the blue bubbles were almost covered entirely by the white frost, the defense bubbles that were defending their bodies popped.
The blue humanoid bug's formation collapsed directly as a consequence of the drained Divine Power. Then, the Divine Sun Tree attacked before anyone else could move again.
It stretched its few branches out, burning tens of thousands of bug monsters that had lost the protection of the formation.
The giant bug formation beasts would not be broken so easily if they were to defend themselves at full force. They might even be able to bear the brunt of the three God Figurine's Combat Souls' attack for a few minutes.
However, the blue humanoid bug's defense bubble was a technique that drained its Divine Power tremendously. Although it had superb defensive abilities, it was extremely taxing on its Divine Power. Moreover, it used the skill to cover three giant bug formation beasts. As a result, it was taking on three attacks every time, which drained its Divine Power even more.
That caused its Divine Power to be completely sapped after the Divine Sun Tree and the rest continued their onslaught. It could no longer maintain the bug formation.
The mistake caused it to be disqualified in the very beginning.
Losing their powerful support, the remaining two giant bug formation beasts were at a loss.
Without the blue humanoid bug's defense, each assault from the Divine Sun Tree and the rest would drain a massive amount of Divine Power from the two giant bug formation beasts.
That would spell the end of their battle techniques. The spider beast that was supposed to put their opponents under control would have its spider web burned entirely by the Divine Sun Tree whenever it spat its threads out.
On the other side, the red saber-legged monster that was responsible for attacking would be blocked by the Enchanted Fairy's ice wall whenever it wanted to fight. No matter which direction it was moving in, it would be blocked by an ice wall before it could attack, putting all of its attacks to a halt.
It did not even manage to touch a strand of hair on the three God Figurine's Combat Souls at all. Naturally, it was impossible for it to know that the three of them had true god-level physiques, so they would not be harmed at all even if they were to stand there and allow it to cut them.
The cat-and-mouse game lasted for approximately five to six minutes before the Divine Power in the two giant bug formation beasts' bodies were finally drained completely.
The three God Figurine's Combat Souls struck almost concurrently in the next second the bug formations collapsed. They slaughtered up to 10,000 demigod-level bug monsters.
After the second test run ended, the galactic hive fell into silence again.
Approximately some ten minutes later, the two affiliate hives seemed to have received an order to retreat. They moved slowly to both sides of the galactic hive.
As the two affiliate hives moved away, three bug monsters flew out of the three holes in the main hive.
Lin Huang's expression looked rather grim as soon as the three bug monsters appeared.
He could clearly sense that these three bug monsters had a combat strength of virtual god-level. Besides that, their aura was no weaker than the Destructive Divine Mammoth and the rest. If he was not mistaken, they should be on Virtual God rank-3.
One of them was etched in Lin Huang's mind despite him only taking a glance at it. The monster had tentacles all over its lower body, making it seem like an octopus. However, its upper body resembled a spherical, transparent glass vessel. There was a blob of tissue that looked like a human brain within the vessel.
The second monster was a black bug monster. Its body looked like it was constructed of liquid metal as something flowed all over it slowly like spring water. It gave one the feeling that it was going to collapse into a pile of fluid anytime.
The third monster was a humanoid bug monster. Although it had four lower limbs, apart from its head, its upper body resembled a human man with eight packs and muscles bulging all over. It even had human palms with a black spear in each hand.
Lin Huang had never seen the third bug monster in the monster guide before. However, he could roughly figure out that the monster that looked humanoid with spears in its hands should be the ADC of the battle. However, he could not figure the other two out.
Nevertheless, it was the very first official battle and the galactic hive had chosen three Virtual God rank-3 powerhouses to fight Lin Huang, which proved how highly it thought of Lin Huang.
The three God Figurine's Combat Souls seemed to have sensed how powerful the three opponents before them were as their aura rose to meet their rivals.
The Divine Sun Tree that had the hottest temper attacked first. It charged hundreds of its branches at the three bug monsters.
Before the golden flames could ignite, the tentacle bug monster attacked. It stretched three tentacles from where it was, forming three translucent shield walls from thin air and blocking the Divine Sun Tree's branches from extending further.
Golden sparks lit up when the branches collided with the walls of the shield. However, the three translucent shield walls stood there without shaking, and they blocked the Divine Sun Tree's attack just like that.
"Is that a telekinetic technique? It doesn't look like it though," Lin Huang could not help but mumble softly to himself upon seeing that.
"That's a divine skill. It's a special skill that's driven by Divine Telekinesis." The stone tablet's voice came all of a sudden. "In reality, it's a little similar to Witchcraft but it's a completely different cultivation system.
"There are many types and genres of divine skills, including divine word, divine pattern, divine tone… and the normal elemental genre. The divine pattern genre is the most similar to Witchcraft, but the biggest difference is that Divine Telekinesis is the core energy to drive the divine skill. Furthermore, no matter what divine skill type and the genre it is, possessing Divine Telekinesis is the fundamental condition of using divine skills because its nature is related to one's soul."
"So, what's the genre that the tentacle monster masters?" Lin Huang asked rather doubtfully. He did not see the monster writing any words, drawing any patterns, or releasing any sound. This monster did not even have a mouth.
"It masters the divine tone genre. Most human ears don't recognize most of the divine tone frequency, and neither does it have to be released through a mouth," the stone tablet explained, "It relies on its tentacles' rapid vibration and friction to release a specific divine tone frequency."
"So, I'll defeat it as soon as I slice its tentacles off?" Lin Huang arrived at that conclusion right away.
The stone tablet was dumbfounded.
"This assistant that possess divine skill is a nuisance. I must get rid of it first!"
The black metal bug monster attacked even before Lin Huang was done speaking.
As its body began shaking all of a sudden, tens of thousands of black metal chains formed. They were stretching towards all directions ferociously like black snakes that were alive. They covered the entire sky a moment later and charged toward the three God Figurine's Combat Souls.
When Lin Huang saw that, a gleam of determination flashed in his eyes. "This is a nuisance too! It must be gotten rid of too!"
Chapter 1117: Oh Wow, You'll Be Killed Soon!
Translator: EndlessFantasy Translation Editor: EndlessFantasy Translation
Tens of thousands of black metal chains were cast out of the metal bug's body. They were coming at the three God Figurine's Combat Souls like a web.
As they were about to be drowned by the sea of chains, the Enchanted Fairy acted before the chains got even closer. She charged her palm, spreading white frost out and freezing the black chains into ice sculptures one after another.
The frozen chains seemed to have lost their mobility whereby they could no longer go any closer.
A black beam of light shot over just when the Enchanted Fairy attacked. It appeared before her in the blink of an eye, targeting the space between her brows.
It was the muscular bug beast that was responsible for attacking who struck this time. It initially held two spears in both hands, but it only had the one in its left hand now.
It tossed the other one less than a meter before the Enchanted Fairy immediately.
The Enchanted Fairy stretched her arm out before her body and pointed a crystal-clear finger into the air.
A translucent ice mirror formed before her.
In the next second, the black spear that was shooting out collided into the mirror.
The black battle spear that was charging a hundred times faster than the speed of sound came to a halt immediately. Time seemed to have stopped the second it collided into the wall.
It was an attack that could kill a virtual god-level powerhouse, but it was blocked by an ice mirror that was the size of four palms. In addition to that, the black spear shot backward after a pause following the collision with the mirror. It turned into a black glow and shot towards the muscular bug beast at an alarming speed faster than before.
Clearly, the muscular bug beast did not expect that to happen. The spear pierced through its body since it did not manage to dodge it in time. It had a hole the size of a bowl on the right of its chest now.
Such a wound entry was nothing to the muscular bug beast at all, but it did drain its Divine Power intensely.
However, the muscular bug beast did not expect a little blue worm to begin growing on the wound on its right chest. The worm was just about a millimeter long whereby one could not really see it with their naked eyes, but it began growing rapidly.
While the worm was growing, the muscular bug beast's wound that was supposed to heal quickly began rotting. The decay seemed to be contagious as it spread about continuously.
Within the blink of an eye, the right side of its upper body was rotten. Its flesh was decayed like a zombie's, and black, sticky blood was flowing out. Some parts were rotten so deep that its bones were exposed. However, what surprised the muscular bug beast was that it did not feel any pain at all. The rotten parts of its body had lost all senses.
The muscular bug beast only realized something was not right upon seeing that its right arm had started rotting.
It looked down at its right chest, but the worm had grown to the size of an adult fist. It stretched its arm out to grab the worm but he grabbed thin air instead.
The worm did not materialize. It was more like an illusory projection.
Sensing that its host had the intention to capture it, the worm drilled deeper into the muscular bug beast's chest.
A moment later, the muscular bug beast felt something drilled into its heart. Before it could react, all of its body parts where the blood was flowing began rotting rapidly.
"My heart…" The muscular bug beast realized where the problem was immediately.
It pierced the spear into its chest and ripped it open hard. It reached its hand in and grabbed its heart, then pulled it out by force.
A massive maroon heart was exposed in the air. Just when the muscular bug beast was going to crush it, a blue wing emerged from the heart. Then, a second wing, and a third wing…
A moment later, a blue butterfly fluttered out of the heart as if it was just its host.
Just when the muscular bug beast was going to do something, it saw the blue butterfly flashing a humanly smile of disdain.
In the next second, the muscular bug beast's entire body began rotting even faster. It turned into a pile of bones within almost less than a second, having lost its vitals completely.
At the moment, the blue butterfly turned into blue stars which then floated towards the Death Butterfly.
Within less than ten seconds, the Death Butterfly killed the wounded muscular bug beast like a piece of cake.
This skill that belonged to the Death Butterfly could be used on monsters with fresh wounds on their bodies. In reality, Lin Huang knew that it had such a skill since the beginning, but it was his first time seeing it use it. The effect was undoubtedly powerful.
On the Bug Tribe trio's end, the main attack unit was killed, so the team's deployment was plunged into chaos. The threat level of the remaining two bug monsters was plummeting.
However, the tentacle monster's defense technique imbued with divine skill caused some trouble for the three God Figurine's Combat Souls.
Nevertheless, the situation went on for less than a minute. The Enchanted Fairy seized the opportunity to freeze the monster's tentacles and sealed its divine skill techniques.
Meanwhile, the Divine Sun Tree used a branch to penetrate its head which was a spherical vessel and lit up the tissue that resembled a brain in it. The monster was killed instantly.
The last black metal bug beast was rather difficult to deal with. Due to its body that could be liquified, it was immune to many attacks. The Divine Sun Tree burned it continuously and drained the Divine Power in its body. Then, the Death Butterfly turned it into ashes with a flap of its wings.
The three God Figurine's Combat Souls almost used up all of their techniques getting rid of the three opponents in this battle.
"This is only the first official attack!" Lin Huang just realized that he was seeking death to have asked for an additional trial.
His intention was just to kill more bug monsters to accumulate more spiritual energy for his God Figurine's Combat Souls.
However, the opponent was clearly not sending easy targets his way. Instead, they were going for a clever kill whereby the first official attack was by Virtual God rank-3 bug monsters. Moreover, there were only three of them.
The galactic hive fell into a moment a silence again since the first official battle ended.
Some ten seconds later, bug monsters of various forms flew out of the hive.
There were seven of them, and each of them had an aura much higher than the three Virtual God rank-3 bug monsters earlier.
"Seven Virtual God rank-6 bug monsters…" The stone tablet's voice came slowly. "I don't think you'll be killed this round, but judging from the scenario, you'll definitely die in the next round."
"Can you be more enthusiastic and not kill my confidence?" Although Lin Huang knew the stone tablet was merely telling the truth, he thought it was rather hurtful.
"Oh wow, you'll be killed soon!" The stone tablet's irritating voice enthused again. "How was it? Was it enthusiastic enough for you? Did I boost your confidence?"
Lin Huang was annoyed to point of speechlessness.
Chapter 1118: Top-notch Deployment
Translator: EndlessFantasy Translation Editor: EndlessFantasy Translation
There were only seven bug monsters in the second round of battle. Each of them had a combat strength of Virtual God rank-6.
Compared to the three Virtual God rank-3 bug monsters earlier, this team of bug monsters had a substantial improvement in their deployment of members.
Out of the seven bug monsters, there were two assistants, two controllers, and three responsible for attacking.
Three of the God Figurine's Combat Souls, namely the Divine Sun Tree, the Enchanted Fairy, and the Death Butterfly, were on Virtual God rank-1, but their abilities were enough to suppress Virtual God rank-5, which was slightly weaker than this batch of bug monsters. With their powerful bodies, the three God Figurine's Combat Souls could stall the three bug monsters responsible for attacking by force.
The Virtual God rank-2 Undead Styx was caught in a fight with a control bug monster. Although he had the upper hand, he did not seem like he could destroy it within a short period.
Meanwhile, the Ninetails Lynx, the Destructive Divine Mammoth, and the Nightmare Tapir that possessed Virtual God rank-3 combat strength had the abilities to suppress Virtual God rank-7 powerhouses. They killed three bug monsters within three minutes one after another.
The seven Bug Tribe team members from the hive collapsed right away. Together with the Ninetails Lynx and the rest joining the battle, the remaining four bug monsters were soon cleared.
This round of battle only lasted for less than seven minutes. A sea of spiritual energy flushed into Lin Huang's body.
He then sorted out the spiritual energy together with those that he had obtained from killing the three Virtual God rank-3 bug monsters earlier. The Ninetails Lynx, the Destructive Divine Mammoth, and the Nightmare Tapir elevated to Virtual God rank-4. Meanwhile, the Divine Sun Tree, the Enchanted Fairy, and the Death Butterfly elevated from Virtual God rank-1 to Virtual God rank-3. The Undead Styx also advanced from Virtual God rank-2 to Virtual God rank-3. The remaining spiritual energy was given to the Withered Flower, the Shackle Serpent, and the Creation Clock who had yet to complete their elevation to virtual god-level. Fortunately for them, the spiritual energy was sufficient to elevate them to Virtual God rank-3.
Lin Huang was satisfied with this round of elevation.
The hive fell into silence again as the second round of battle ended.
A moment later, there was a low buzzing coming out of the three hives at the same time.
This time, five bug monsters were flying out of the main hive while there a bug monster flew out of each of the two affiliate hives.
The seven bug monsters had a combat strength that surpassed that of the second round.
Lin Huang could faintly sense that almost each of them had a combat strength no lower than the God Bless' Master God's clone.
"Virtual God rank-9?!"
"I've told you since the beginning that you'll die. Now, it seems like you're going to be so dead." The stone tablet's teasing voice came again. "Those aren't seven ordinary Virtual God rank-9 bug monsters. They have their own responsibilities specially delegated."
"Do you see that bug monster with a spiral shell? It's a control bug. Among all the control bugs, it belongs to the highest-ranked one. It can release an unnoticeable sonic wave that can hypnotize its target from far away. As long as one's soul isn't strong enough, one can basically be hypnotized. A physical defense such as a god relic armor is futile toward its attack, and only a spiritual defense relic would work."
"Do you see that worm with charcoal gray armor over there? It's a Dragnet Worm which is an expert at spitting threads to capture its enemies. The thread it spits from its mouth is immune to most elemental attack techniques. Moreover, it's extremely sticky, so it's a tough one to handle."
"And the Multi-eyed Worm over there is a master at illusions. Each of its eyes is hidden by a type of illusion. When you see its eyes turn red, that means it has activated its illusions. Sometimes, it even uses complex illusions when it encounters powerful enemies. You can't predict what you're going to see in the illusions. It's also a top-ranked control bug."
"How about the bug monsters that are hovering in the air like an egg?" Lin Huang could not help but point at a bug monster.
The bug monster that Lin Huang was gesturing at did indeed look like an egg with tentacles. It did not even have any features including eyes or a mouth.
"That's a Superbrain Worm. Judging from its physical structure, it shouldn't be hard for you to guess that such a bug monster has great brain capacity and high intelligence. It's an expert at divine skills. The first thing you should do is to get rid of it if you'd like to win this battle because it's not only powerful support, but it should also be the core of the whole battle. It should be the one that comes up with all of the battle strategies in this battle."
"Sounds formidable, but it doesn't have any features, so what does it depend on to sense whatever that's happening around it? Its tentacles?" Lin Huang asked rather curiously.
"The Superbrain Worm is born with powerful telekinetic power and territorial sensing ability. Even without eyes and ears, its sensing ability is just as strong as other living things."
Lin Huang glanced at the remaining three monsters. He speculated looking at their body size and physical structure, "So, I guess the remaining three of them are the monsters responsible for attacking?"
"That's right. That green six-winged bug monster has an explosive ability as well as the ability to fly. Its wings are its weapons too. They can be used to cut and maim.
"The monster that looks similar to a toad is skillful in the long-distance attack. It can spit Divine Power arrows from a distance. It has a terrifying attack speed and ability. Plus, it can even shoot the arrows continuously like a gun. Almost every attack from it can harm a Virtual God rank-9 powerhouse.
"And that six-armed bug monster with sword legs is one of the most powerful sword cultivator bug monsters among the Bug Tribe. Although it doesn't master the true meaning of Sword Dao, it's probably not far from it. It might have an even higher rank in Sword Dao than you do. This bug monster has top-notch standards among virtual god-level bug monsters no matter whether its attack, defense or speed. It's almost invincible when it fights one-on-one with a powerhouse of the same combat strength.
"These seven bug monsters are almost a top-notch team below true god-level to be deployed," the stone tablet commented in the end after describing the bug monsters one after another.
"They're only on virtual god-level no matter how powerful they are. Their attack abilities alone can't break the God Figurine's Combat Souls' defense at all." Lin Huang looked down on his enemy, judging from their battle strategy.
"Don't you forget that they have spiritual-type attack techniques," the stone tablet reminded again.
"I know." Lin Huang looked rather serious now.
Although he looked down on his enemy's battle strategy, he chose to be careful when it came to battle techniques.
He recalled four of his God Figurine's Combat Souls, namely the Divine Sun Tree, the Enchanted Fairy, the Death Butterfly, and the Undead Styx. Although they had elevated to Virtual God rank-3, their abilities were too far below Virtual God rank-9 powerhouses. They would drag the entire team down as soon as they were hypnotized or deceived by the enemy.
On the other hand, the Ninetails Lynx, the Destructive Divine Mammoth, and the Nightmare Tapir had a combat strength of Virtual God rank-4. Their abilities were sufficient to suppress Virtual God rank-8 powerhouses, so they should be able to fight them within a short period of time. With their current abilities, they only needed a Provisional Combat Strength Upgrade Card to suppress Virtual God rank-9 powerhouses, so they would not use up too many cards.
Lin Huang did not plan to get the Destructive Divine Mammoth and the rest beaten up. He crushed three Provisional Combat Strength Upgrade Cards which went into the three God Figurine's Combat Souls' bodies respectively, elevating their combat strength to Virtual God rank-5.
As the three God Figurine's Combat Souls' aurae rose, the seven Virtual God rank-9 bug monsters launched their attack.
Chapter 1119: It's Too Early to Get Excited
Translator: EndlessFantasy Translation Editor: EndlessFantasy Translation
The control bug with a spiral shell on its back attacked first. Circles of invisible sonic waves spread towards the Destructive Dine Mammoth and the other two God Figurine's Combat Souls were. It even reached Lin Huang.
Fortunately, he summoned the bruised corpse at the same time that he recalled the four God Figurine's Combat Souls to protect himself, so he was not affected by the control bug's attack.
As for the three God Figurine's Combat Souls, although their combat strength was only Virtual God rank-5, the spiritual energy in their bodies were filtered with Divine Fire which caused them to be extremely pure. They managed to take on the round the hypnotization by force.
Almost at the same time when the control bug attacked, the Multi-eyed Worm attacked with its illusion skill together with the Superbrain Bug's divine skill.
The Superbrain Bug did not use the divine skill to attack this time. Instead, it was using a technique to mess up its opponent's sensing ability. It attacked together with the Multi-eyed Worm's illusion to enhance the probability of their opponent of getting hit by the illusion.
As expected, their collaboration worked exceptionally well.
Apart from the Ninetails Lynx who managed to dodge the attack by hiding in its alternate dimension in time, the Destructive Divine Mammoth and the Nightmare Tapir were struck.
Both of the God Figurine's Combat Souls stood frozen, shocking Lin Huang.
"Even the Nightmare Tapir is hit?!"
The 3-vs-7 battle turned into a 1-vs-7 battle right away.
Although the Ninetails Lynx was rather anxious upon realizing that both of its comrades were hit, it was not worried. It knew very well that physical attacks could do little damage to the Destructive Divine Mammoth and the Nightmare Tapir.
Watching the three attack bug monsters strike the Destructive Divine Mammoth and the Nightmare Tapir without hesitation, the Ninetails Lynx was traipsing quietly in its alternate dimension. Its eyes were locked on the Superbrain Worm.
When the battle began, Lin Huang commanded the three God Figurine's Combat Souls through voice transmission to get rid of the Superbrain Worm first.
The Ninetails Lynx walked above the Superbrain Worm's head. It then barreled out of its alternate dimension all of a sudden while charging its claws at the Superbrain Worm's egg-like head.
However, the Ninetails Lynx's attack was blocked by a layer of invisible bubble above the Superbrain Worm's head. A couple of pitch-black slices struck the bubble, creating ripples as if a pebble had been thrown into the water.
The Superbrain Worm came prepared. Nobody knew when it had set a layer of defense with divine skill up secretly.
While the Ninetails Lynx failed the attempt, the Dragnet Worm in black armor attacked. It opened its mouth that was filled with fangs, and tens of thousands of white thread shot out of its mouth wildly.
The threads that were thinner than a strand of hair would connect with the threads around them to become thicker and tougher. They could be separated following the Dragnet Worm's demand to connect with other threads in order to form a web.
The white threads coming out of its mouth soon formed a web that flew after the Ninetails Lynx.
Although the Ninetails Lynx was rather surprised by its failed attempt, it reacted quickly and disappeared after giving the Dragnet Worm a vicious glare, returning to its alternate dimension again.
The Dragnet Worm's web caught thin air.
Meanwhile, the three attack bug monsters' attack targeted the Nightmare Tapir.
They chose to attack the Nightmare Tapir which defense ability was clearly lower. After all, one could tell it was impossible to kill the Destructive Divine Mammoth within a short period of time since it had a high defense ability judging from its size.
Although the Nightmare Tapir looked ferocious too, its body size was obviously smaller and looked more like an easy target. It made sense for them to pick him as the first target.
However, something strange soon happened. The three bug monsters' attack passed through the Nightmare Tapir's body. His body faded slowly later on.
Even Lin Huang was surprised to see that. He knew very well that the Nightmare Tapir was definitely not killed by the three bug monsters in one hit because they could not break God Figurine's Combat Soul's powerful body just like that. What he had no idea was that when exactly did the Nightmare Tapir created the illusion that even he did not notice at all.
Just when the Nightmare Tapir's body faded, the Destructive Divine Mammoth's body began disintegrating too.
What surprised Lin Huang even more was that chaos erupted on the enemy's side.
Out of the blue, the Dragnet Worm's web got tangled on the Superbrain Worm while a couple of the Multi-eyed Worm's eyes lit up in a red glow, targeting at the Superbrain Worm.
Meanwhile, the Destructive Divine Mammoth's gigantic feet and the Ninetails Lynx's sharp claws appeared above the Superbrain Worm.
Taken unaware, the Superbrain Worm was killed by the two God Figurine's Combat Souls' combined attack.
Just when a great deal of spiritual energy rushed into Lin Huang's body, the control bug that snapped out of the Nightmare Tapir's illusion went into a frenzy.
The spiral shell on its back released an ear-piercing high-frequency. Its ability clearly ignored the rule of not having a medium to spread the sound in the air whereby the noise filled the entire battlefield.
The noise pierced deep into the remaining five bug monsters' brains and broke the illusion the Nightmare Tapir built, waking all of them up. However, doing so made it weak.
The Ninetails Lynx seized the opportunity of its weakness and attacked. It mauled the control bug with its sharp claws and destroyed it.
The Destructive Divine Mammoth did not slack off either. It stomped its gigantic feet on the control bug too.
The Dragnet Worm and the Multi-eyed Worm wanted to help, but the Nightmare Tapir swung its trunk at that moment and released a loud hum, slowing the six bug monsters down.
The control bug was pulled into dreamland as a result of the Nightmare Tapir's hum due to its weak condition from earlier. It lost its ability to defend itself.
The Ninetails Lynx and the Destructive Divine Mammoth's attack came simultaneously and killed the control bug in one hit.
It was too late when the Multi-eyed Worm struggled its way out of dreamland. Not only was the control bug killed on the spot, but the remaining four bug monsters were also dragged into the Nightmare Tapir's dreamland again.
Within less than a minute, the Nightmare Tapir's outstanding strategy turned the tables around completely.
Naturally, it was not the Nightmare Tapir who had come out with the strategy itself. It was Bloody that had taught it. They killed two of the bug monsters which were the biggest threats without them even seeing it coming.
The Ninetails Lynx's 1-vs-7 battle became 3-vs-1 now.
The four bug monsters that were dragged into dreamland completely lost their abilities to fight. They were struggling in the dreamland. As the only fighter left, the Multi-eyed Worm remained conscious.
A tragic sense of loss flashed through the Multi-eyed Worm's eyes. It could not understand how they got from having the upper hand to being in such a terrible position within a minute.
Lin Huang was finally relieved when the battle came to this point.
The results of the battle had basically been set.
The stone tablet seemed to have sensed what Lin Huang was thinking as its voice came slowly all of a sudden again. "It's too early to get excited. This battle isn't as simple as you think. The real battle has just begun!"
Chapter 1120: The Puzzling God Rule Power
Translator: EndlessFantasy Translation Editor: EndlessFantasy Translation
"What do you mean?!" The stone tablet's words shocked Lin Huang.
"You'll find out soon."
As soon as the stone tablet was done speaking, the Ninetails Lynx and the Destructive Divine Mammoth were going to suppress the Multi-eyed Worm.
Two of the Multi-eyed Worm's eyes exploded, sending blood spurting everywhere.
Lin Huang was confused to witness that because the Multi-eyed Worm was harmed before the Ninetails Lynx and the Destructive Divine Mammoth even surged forward.
However, the confusion on his face turned into shock in the next second.
The control bug and the Superbrain Worm that was initially dead disappeared into thin air. They were replaced by a perfectly fine control bug and a Superbrain Worm as if the scene in which both of them were killed was just an illusion.
Lin Huang looked into his body. The great spiritual energy that he had obtained when the two bug monsters died was still there. He then checked the card pieces record on Xiao Hei's side, the card pieces that fell out when the two bug monsters were killed were still there. That was enough to prove that the two bug monsters earlier were indeed killed. It was not an illusion.
"The death of the two bug monsters wasn't an illusion. So, does that Multi-Eyed Worm have a resurrection ability?!" Lin Huang came up with such a conclusion while looking dumbfounded.
"Although your speculation isn't exactly accurate, it's not far from the truth," said the stone tablet while smiling.
"This Multi-Eyed Worm is a quadruple mythical-level monster. It'll transform to a Hundred-eyed Worm as soon as it elevates to true god-level. It'll then master the Illusory Rule. Some of the rule's abilities give it the power to turn something real into an illusion. Just like what happened earlier, in reality, the control bug and the Superbrain Worm were killed, but it distorted the reality into an illusion. It made it into something that has never happened before. That's how the control bug and the Superbrain Worm were 'resurrected'."
"But it's not on true god-level now, so how did it do that?"
"This Multi-eyed Worm used its eyes as the price and used its blood as the link to perform that with the Superbrain Worm's divine skill. Since the Multi-eyed Worm, the Superbrain Worm, and the control bug have a combat strength of Virtual God rank-9 as well as being born with powerful spiritual energy, they have those to fuel its abilities. It enabled them to activate the god rule power that it can only execute when it gets to true god-level which allows it to distort reality."
"I've told you since the beginning that this round of team deployed from the hive is the most top-notch one under true god-level. I wasn't just talking about how powerful each of their ability is. It's more like their team members are pretty invincible."
"If one eye could resurrect one monster, judging from the number of eyes the Multi-eyed Worm has, wouldn't it mean we'd have to kill them more than 40 times to put this battle to an end?" Lin Huang asked again.
He was wondering if he could complete this round of additional trial within the next ten minutes.
Although he knew that this round of additional trial would not affect his result on the Stairway Tree, he hoped to complete the trial as extensively as he could.
"Not exactly. This is a rule power that exceeds its ability range after all. The price it has to pay is high for it to do this by force. I think three to five times is the most number of times it can perform this. Moreover, the more monsters it resurrects each time, the lesser it can use this ability." The stone tablet offered its speculation.
"It's great to hear that." Lin Huang was slightly relieved now upon knowing that the Multi-eyed Worm's specific ability could only be used a limited number of times.
On the battlefield not far away, the control bug and the Superbrain Worm were resurrected. They did not seem to find it odd. Instead, they charged into the battle again.
The three God Figurine's Combat Souls, on the other hand, was at a blur.
The Superbrain Worm performed its divine skill as soon as it was resurrected. It woke the four bug monsters that the Nightmare Tapir had dragged into dreamland by force up.
The tables turned once more, and it was a 3-vs-7 battle again.
"They'll be resurrected over and over again. No matter how many times they do that, you guys must watch that the Superbrain Worm. Try your best to kill it as soon as you can! It's the core of the entire team. It's even more dangerous than the Multi-eyed Worm that masters the rule power." Lin Huang put his consciousness into the three God Figurine's Combat Souls' heads directly. "The Multi-eyed Worm and the control bug are your second targets. Ignore the remaining four for the time being."
In reality, it was not Lin Huang who said that. It was Bloody that got him to pass the message after they discussed among themselves.
Bloody did not use voice transmission directly because it might be blocked. It then got Lin Huang to pass the message to the three God Figurine's Combat Soul using his consciousness directly.
The Nightmare Tapir went into a frenzy when its dreamland was meddled with. Its eyes turned pitch black in the next second.
However, it did not use its range attack this time. Instead, it stared at the Superbrain Worm that had interfered with his dreamland earlier.
The Superbrain Worm looked at the Nightmare Tapir's eyes unintentionally, unable to look away.
It knew something was wrong as soon as it saw the color of the Nightmare Tapir's pupils. However, it could not help but fall deeper. The entire thing took less than a second.
The Multi-eyed Worm and the control bug next to it attempted to wake it up. Meanwhile, the Ninetails Lynx and the Destructive Divine Mammoth attacked without hesitation, suppressing the Superbrain Worm that had its guard down.
At the same time that the Superbrain Worm's body turned into a pile of mush, a sea of spiritual energy rushed into Lin Huang's body. Notifications about card pieces came from Xiao Hei again.
Clearly, the killing took place in real life.
After getting rid of the Superbrain Worm, the Nightmare Tapir turned its head to look at the Multi-eyed Worm. It had his black pupils transfixed on the Multi-eyed Worm.
Meanwhile, the remaining bug monsters were coming at the Nightmare Tapir. However, the Destructive Divine Mammoth blocked them with its body directly.
The few bug monsters' attacks collided into the Destructive Divine Mammoth's body. The clanking of metal rang out as sparks even flew from some of the collisions, but none of them harmed him at all.
The Destructive Divine Mammoth did not bother to be stuck with them. It whipped its long trunk at the few bug monsters but did not go after them. The order it had received was to watch out for the three bug monsters before it.
Although the Multi-eyed Worm had a powerful soul, it only managed to hold on for less than three seconds before being dragged into the Nightmare Tapir's dreamland.
Just when it fell into sleeping mode and had its guard down, the Ninetails Lynx took the lead to an attack. It turned into a white silhouette and flashed through the Multi-eyed Worm's body, slicing its body into a couple of pieces.
At the same time, the Ninetails Lynx was done with the shredding, the Destructive Divine Mammoth stomped its iron feet, turning the Multi-eyed Worm into mush.
Although the Multi-eyed Worm which possessed the rule power was dead, Lin Huang's instinct told him that it was not the end of the battle.
As expected, the Multi-eyed Worm and the Superbrain Worm's carcasses vanished automatically as soon as the thought popped into his head. They were replaced by two perfect living things.