Volume 3: Global Vanguard & The Advanced Pinnacle
Chapter 285
Six Elements Cycling, Soloing the Coastal Border
A category-fifteen gale roared furiously over the waters of Ninh Hai Bay, sweeping across the pitch-black ocean surface with towering white-capped waves like moving mountain ranges. Salty columns of water smashed heavily against the alloy breakwater, shaking the entire subterranean system of reinforced concrete piles deep beneath the continental shelf.
A thick, suffocating stench of blood rose with every violent gust of wind.
Along the defensive battle line of Sector Seven, which stretched for more than ten kilometers, thousands of Shenzhou border defense mages tightly gripped the hilts of their magic sabers, their knuckles turning pale white from extreme tension. Beneath their boots, the silt mixed with icy, saline seawater, yet not a single soul dared blink even for a fraction of a second.
Through the blinding curtain of torrential rain, ripped apart by flashes of lightning tearing across the horizon, a terrifying sight unfolded before the eyes of the entire army.
That was no ordinary ocean swell.
It was an endless, gigantic black carpet crawling across the water’s surface. Hundreds of thousands of razor-sharp, jet-black dorsal fins like mechanical saws tore through the churning foam, charging frantically toward the breakwater at a speed exceeding one hundred nautical miles per hour.
The Yasha Demon Corps!
One of the most bloodthirsty and ravenous carnivorous beast species in the deep waters of the Pacific, each individual grew over four meters long, its body encased in thick horny scales capable of hydroplaning and dispersing magical force. Even more terrifying were their three rows of jagged, metal-like serrated teeth, capable of crushing the armor of heavy armored vehicles with a single bite.
“Whoosh! Whoosh! Whoosh——!”
Without even waiting to close in on the breakwater, thousands of Yasha Demons in the vanguard simultaneously lifted their heads out of the churning waves. From the suction cups surrounding their gills, streams of high-pressure, foul-smelling dark water charged with dense mana shot into the air, weaving a whistling, pitch-black net of water-arrows that shrieked through the wind and rained directly down upon the coastal fortifications!
“Raise shields! Erect the Cliff Walls!”
The lieutenant colonel commanding the sub-sector roared until his voice cracked, instantly swallowed by the roaring tempest. Earth-element mud walls shuddered and rose from the ground, but everyone knew that against the concentrated destructive power of tens of thousands of dark water artillery shots, this fragile defense would shatter like crisp dry biscuits after a single volley.
Despair enveloped the eyes of the young soldiers.
At that very moment of extreme peril, from atop the observation tower standing over forty meters high at General Headquarters, a figure suddenly shot out into mid-air.
No Wind-element magic wings spread open, nor did he borrow momentum from any mechanical booster. That figure simply plunged straight into the blinding storm, his dark cloak with golden embroidered edges fluttering violently amidst the howling gale!
“General Commander?!”
“Good heavens, he jumped into the sea!”
Tens of thousands of pairs of eyes on the breakwater widened in horror. Amidst an ocean boiling with tens of thousands of hunting aquatic beasts, falling into the water was no different from throwing oneself straight into a giant meat grinder!
Yet, the bloody, minced-meat carnage everyone dreaded did not happen.
About half a foot above the rising sea surface, Lin Feng’s toe lightly tapped the crest of a surging wave. A ripple of transparent silver instantly radiated from his boot heel, instantly transforming the churning liquid surface into a flat plane as hard as diamond.
With one hand clasped behind his back, he stood ramrod straight amidst the boundless raging waves, face-to-face with the roaring wall of monsters rushing forward less than three hundred meters away.
The storm whipped at the jet-black locks across Lin Feng’s forehead, revealing his angular face and deep eyes as calm as an autumnal lake mirror. Facing the heaven-shaking, earth-shattering frenzy of the deep-sea legion, the corners of his mouth merely curved into a cold smile:
“With just a bunch of trash fish like you, you dare attempt to shake the borders of Shenzhou?”
“ROAR——!”
As if sensing the arrogant provocation from the tiny two-legged creature before them, the hundreds of leading Yasha Demons instantly surged out of the waves. A foul stench assaulted the senses, their serrated jaws opened wide to reveal bloody, slimy maws as they simultaneously lunged forward to tear Lin Feng into pieces.
The distance was only ten meters!
Five meters!
On the breakwater, thousands of soldiers could not help but tightly shut their eyes, unable to bear witnessing the young Major General fall.
Yet at that exact split second, within Lin Feng’s boundless spiritual sea, a dazzling silver Star Palace suddenly blazed with light!
Seven silver Star Paths linked together into a Star Pattern, forty-nine magical stars rotating in a flawless, immaculate orbit. The mystical, ancient aura of Space instantly permeated the skies and seas!
High-Level Space Magic —— Stagnation Domain!
Lin Feng’s voice sounded exceptionally calm, yet it felt like a supreme imperial decree of heavenly rules, crushing even the rumbling thunder of the storm!
“BOOM——!”
An invisible spherical ripple centered on Lin Feng suddenly expanded outward at a terrifying speed, completely enveloping a five-hundred-meter radius of the ocean surface!
The next instant, a bizarre and breathtakingly suffocating sight appeared.
All the Yasha Demons surging into mid-air, the splashing sea foam, even the torrential raindrops falling between heaven and earth... suddenly froze!
The lightning-fast charge of the beast horde was instantly decelerated dozens of times over, resembling slow-motion footage frozen in amber. Their razor-sharp teeth were mere inches from Lin Feng’s face, but their muscles twitched violently, their bloodshot beast eyes filled with utter panic as they discovered layer upon layer of spatial pressure weighing down upon every inch of their flesh, binding their movements like invisible chains!
“Stopped?!”
“Space magic! It’s a domain-level Spatial Stagnation!”
The commanding officers on the ramparts cheered in disbelief. They had never witnessed any Space-level mage able to cast such a precise, massive, and overwhelmingly suppressive gravity domain with a mere flick of a finger!
Yet this was merely the prelude to an artistic slaughter.
Lin Feng did not retreat a single half-step. The moment his Space Magic locked down the enemy’s vanguard, the mana within his body shifted wondrously. There was not a half-second of interruption, nor any sign of attribute conflict typically seen in ordinary multi-element mages!
From ethereal silver, his spiritual sea shifted to an inky, pitch-black abyss.
The shadows of gigantic waves and the pitch-black shroud of the storm constituted the most fertile soil for a shadow assassin.
Shadow Element —— Night Slaying Claw!
Lin Feng lightly waved the five fingers of his right hand toward the water surface.
“SWISH——!”
The ocean beneath the bellies of the thousands of stagnated Yasha Demons suddenly cleaved apart. Countless dense shadows beneath the water slithered like dark pythons, condensing in the blink of an eye into hundreds of pitch-black, demonic claws as sharp as the scythes of death!
Each shadow claw spanned over three meters, flashing with a chilling, ruthless light, plunging with infallible precision straight into the throats and armored chests of the shark-monsters!
“Thud! Thud! Thud! Thud——!”
The crisp sound of tearing flesh and shattering bones echoed continuously within the thickened space. The dark shadow claws pierced straight through the thick steel scales, crushing the mana hearts beating inside the monsters’ chests. Foul black blood immediately erupted like mini water spouts, blackening a vast expanse of the sea!
More than five hundred vanguard Yasha Demons perished instantly before they even understood what had happened, turning into rigid corpses sinking slowly toward the deep sea floor.
The transition between imprisonment via Space and execution via Shadow was executed so smoothly and seamlessly that it sent chills down the spine!
Yet, the Yasha Demon Corps out in the open sea remained as numerous as ants. Witnessing their kind slaughtered in the blink of an eye, the stench of blood only further stimulated the savage, barbarous predatory instincts of the deep-sea species.
From behind the Stagnation Domain, tens of thousands of gigantic Yasha Demons began lining up abreast. Rows of sharp spikes along their spines bristled upward, emitting ear-piercing shrieks that grated on the nerves of every officer and soldier on the seawall.
“RUMBLE RUMBLE RUMBLE——!”
Over three thousand Black Water Burst Cannons, their mana charged to the absolute limit, shot forth in rapid succession from afar! Spiraling pitch-black columns of water tore through the air, carrying kinetic energy capable of piercing a granite mountain, with their sole target being the isolated spot where Lin Feng stood alone amidst the sea!
The entire sky darkened under the sweeping, large-area firepower.
“Get back, Major General!” Colonel Lei Chen on the high platform could not help roaring into his walkie-talkie. Against a large-scale assault like this, even a High-Level Earth mage erecting three layers of Adamantine Shields would surely be blasted into a honeycomb!
Lin Feng raised his head to look at the falling deluge of destructive water artillery, his eyelids never fluttering once.
He did not dodge.
Nor did he need passive defense.
“Right on time.”
Lin Feng’s hands slowly traced an illusory trajectory before his chest. A bizarre, ash-gray aura carrying the distorted chaotic laws of the cosmos suddenly burst forth around his body!
High-Level Chaos Element —— Chaos Shield, Refractive Reversal!
Before Lin Feng, space seemed to transform into a gigantic mirror of rippling liquid mercury. Light, the storm, even the trajectories of surrounding matter particles were bent at an unimaginable angle!
“BOOM BOOM BOOM——!”
Thousands of black water artillery columns hurtled forward at wind-shredding speeds, slamming head-on into that ash-gray mercury mirror.
Yet, there was no violent explosion of physical impact!
Everyone on the breakwater stared in wide-eyed astonishment as they watched: The moment they touched the Chaos aura, all the ferocious water artillery columns abruptly slid off along a perfect semicircular trajectory. Far from being dissipated, under the guidance of the Chaos laws, the terrifying propulsion force was violently spiraled, bent backward at a full one-hundred-and-eighty-degree angle, and shot straight back toward the monster formation at twice the speed of its launch!
“ROAR?!!”
The rear ranks of the Yasha Demons widened their blank, fish-white eyes, utterly unable to comprehend what was happening before them.
“CRASH——! CRASH——! CRASH——!”
The rain of pitch-black water artillery rained back down upon the monster swarm itself! The horrifying kinetic energy tore apart the bodies of thousands of fiends, shattering armor scales and sending flesh and blood flying into a blinding white spray across the sky. The miserable shrieks of the monsters being shredded by their own attacks echoed fiercely across the bay, creating an unprecedented scene of chaos!
“Borrowing force to strike back! It’s the Chaos Element!”
General Lei standing on the rampart wall gripped the railing tightly, his palms slick with sweat from excitement: “A single counter-shock completely breaks the general assault of three thousand fiends! This mastery of magic application... is truly astounding!”
Beside her, Ye Qingwan smiled proudly, though her gaze remained fixed on the lonely back amidst the ocean: “This is merely the beginning. The General hasn’t even used his most violent attribute yet.”
True to her words, the moment she spoke, the aura surrounding Lin Feng shifted abruptly once more!
If Space was profundity, Shadow was silent death, and Chaos was unfathomable oddity... then at that moment, an apocalyptic, world-destroying coercion began to rise from deep within his soul!
“Crack... Crack crack——!”
The sea surface surrounding Lin Feng suddenly erupted with hair-raising, crackling sounds. Streaks of ink-dark purple lightning, as thick as a man’s arm, began slithering wildly across the surging water surface.
The air filled with the pungent scent of sulfur and ozone. The hair on the napes of tens of thousands of soldiers on the breakwater stood on end as they felt the electrical charge in the air skyrocketing exponentially!
Lin Feng slowly raised his right arm toward the heavens.
Above his head, the thick dark clouds of the category-fifteen storm suddenly swirled into a gigantic funnel. Deep within the eye of the storm, violent purple lightning bolts tore through the night sky, rumbling like the roars of tens of thousands of awakening dragons!
High-Level Lightning Element, Third Tier —— Nirvana Thunder Firmament!
“You beasts, relying on the geographical advantage of the deep sea to run amok...”
Lin Feng’s eyes blazed with ink-purple lightning, his voice cold as a deity pronouncing a death sentence upon all living things:
“...but you forgot one thing: Salty seawater is the most perfect conductor of electricity on this earth!”
“THUNDER DESCENT——!”
“BOOM—— SMASH—— HEAVENS—— EARTH——!”
A gigantic ink-purple lightning pillar over thirty meters in diameter crashed straight down from the ninth layer of clouds onto Lin Feng!
In that fleeting fraction of a second, the entire world lost all sound, leaving only a blinding ink-purple radiance swallowing both heaven and earth!
The thunderous pillar carrying nirvana power struck Lin Feng’s body, yet failed to harm a single hair on his head. Instead, his physical body—tempered by Primordial Dragon Qi—acted as a supreme energy relay station!
Lin Feng forcefully stomped his right foot down onto the raging wave!
“CRASH——!”
The energy of millions of volts of ink-purple electrical charge was released entirely into the vast ocean through his heel!
“CRACK CRACK CRACK—— SNAP——!”
A magnificent and supremely terrifying scene unfolded across the East China Sea!
Centered on Lin Feng’s position, tens of thousands of ink-purple lightning bolts intertwined into a gigantic lightning spiderweb covering the entire bay within a three-kilometer radius! The seawater laden with saline salt ions instantly turned into a super conductor, wildly transmitting the lightning’s might deep down to the ocean floor!
The sea was burning! Thousands of boiling columns of water evaporated into dense clouds of thick white steam!
“ROOAR——!”
The desperate shrieks of the Yasha Demon Corps tore through the rain and wind. Tens of thousands of monsters swimming beneath the water were struck head-on by the extreme electrical current. The steel scales that were once their pride now became a cage trapping the electricity, roasting their internal organs in an instant!
Flesh exploded, fish eyes bulged, and group after group of Yasha Demons convulsed violently before floating belly-up across the rolling waves! A sickening stench of burnt meat billowed upward, overpowering the ocean’s fishy odor.
With a single Thunder Firmament strike channeled through the ocean currents, over six thousand deep-sea fiends were completely wiped from the face of the earth!
The sea was stained with ink-purple blood, and monster carcasses drifted like debris.
At the epicenter of that deadly sea of death, Lin Feng stood towering atop the towering crest of a wave. Ink-purple lightning bolts still lingered around his fingertips like submissive spirits, his dark cloak billowing in the storm, radiating the peerless, sovereign majesty of an Emperor descending upon the world!
A single man.
Soloing the coastal border.
Wiping out ten thousand fiends in less than five minutes!
Along the ten-li battle trench of the breakwater, all more than one hundred thousand Shenzhou soldiers stood frozen in silence. Not a single soul uttered a word. The gale still roared, the seawater still stung their faces with biting cold, but within the chest of every single soldier, an unprecedentedly fiery blaze burned fiercely!
What were they witnessing?
This was no longer ordinary magical combat of mankind. This was multi-element cycling pushed to the absolute pinnacle of mastery!
From using Space to control the tempo, Shadow to reap lives, Chaos to reverse the battlefield, and finally Lightning to utterly annihilate a wide area... Everything unfolded as seamlessly as a flawless, deadly symphony!
“GOD OF WAR!”
A young soldier in the vanguard battalion suddenly roared at the top of his lungs, raising his magic rifle high into the sky: “LONG LIVE MAJOR GENERAL LIN FENG!”
“LONG LIVE! LONG LIVE!”
“ANNIHILATE THE SEA FIENDS! PROTECT SHENZHOU!”
The cheers of one hundred thousand people erupted like a volcanic eruption, drowning out even the thunder of the category-fifteen storm! The spirit of mortal resolve and national pride surged to the heavens, sweeping away all the terror that had weighed heavily upon the coastal defense line for days past!
Lin Feng slowly recalled the lightning glow on his hands, his gaze still calmly fixed upon the distant horizon. He did not relax his vigilance in the slightest due to the fanatical worship of the soldiers behind him.
Because he knew very well that this horde of Yasha Demons was merely a vanguard cannon fodder troop.
“OOO... WOO... OOO... RRRRGH——!”
At that exact moment, over fifteen miles offshore, a muffled roar erupted from the depths of the deep-sea trench. The sound carried a horrifying magical shockwave, splitting the ocean surface open into a gaping, thousands-of-meters-long abyss!
The Mutant Eight-Desolation Titan Whale!
The colossal, three-hundred-meter-plus body of the ancient beast slowly rose from the water. The snow-white bone spikes along its back pierced straight into the dark clouds, and its blood-red eyes, like two pools of crimson moon, stared fixedly at Lin Feng’s tiny figure amidst the open sea with boundless fury.
Surrounding its massive body, the ocean began to churn violently. Spiraling black water columns carrying Sovereign-tier destructive auras madly took shape, preparing to unleash a cataclysmic blow to submerge the entire Ninh Hai coastline!
Facing that terrifying beast, Lin Feng slightly raised his chin, his lips curling into an arrogant smile. Within his chest, the Primordial Dragon Pendant suddenly radiated intense heat, as a supreme golden flame began to awaken within his blood vessels...
The true decisive battle was now officially underway!