The war still raged on.
Two hours had passed, with irreversible losses suffered by both humans and beasts alike.
But still, Martial Artists continued to arrive on the battlefield, joining the fray.
Beasts, too, kept on coming, seemingly innumerable.
In these two hours, countless people had charged forward to their deaths, their lives forever left on this battlefield. Everyone was seeing red.
"Wind and Cloud Break, Wind Rolls Away Clouds!"
Roaring gales rose into the sky, forming wave-like shapes in mid-air.
During this high-intensity battle, Wang Zhan finally comprehended the second move of Wind and Cloud Break, a martial art typically usable only after reaching the Warrior stage.
With the enhancement of mental energy, centered on Wang Zhan, all beasts within a radius of one hundred meters were affected by these raging gales, their bodies constantly inflicted with cuts and slashes.
Those beasts below level 5 fared even worse, being directly bisected by the gales.
In just a few seconds, a bizarre vacuum devoid of beasts formed around Wang Zhan within a radius of a hundred meters.
Seizing this opportunity, Wang Zhan gasped heavily for air.
At this moment, there were no other Human Martial Artists around him. He had fought so ferociously that he inadvertently advanced deep into enemy lines.
He had strayed from the human battle lines, and if not for that timely use of Wind Rolls Away Clouds, he might have been killed by the encircling beasts.
Even though he was momentarily able to rest, more beasts would quickly surround him once again.
I’m in deep trouble. Wang Zhan, with a serious look on his face, didn’t dare to delay any longer and retreated quickly towards the human side.
Fortunately, quite a few people on the human side had kept an eye on him. Seeing him retreat, many Martial Artists exploded with power, deterring many of the beasts’ attacks.
A few minutes later, Wang Zhan finally made it back to the human line, joining up with Song Dongming.
"You were too impulsive," Song Dongming said, his voice carrying a chill. "Are you really not afraid of death? No matter how strong you are, you’re still just a Martial Artist!"
"I know, I’m sorry. It won’t happen again," Wang Zhan said, slumping to the ground.
The front of the battle was less than thirty meters away from them, but Wang Zhan was already at his limit, his physical energy completely drained.
Taking advantage of this short rest, Wang Zhan opened his attribute panel.
The attributes for a level 7 Martial Artist are already maxed out. With the aid of the Essence Concentrating Skill, it won’t take me long to break through. A bold idea sparked in Wang Zhan’s mind.
"Dongming, do you have any more Mixed Essence Pills?" Wang Zhan asked.
He was strong enough to dominate beasts below soldier-level, but there were just too many beasts in front of him. No matter how hard he tried, his force felt inadequate.
He wanted to break through on the battlefield; he wanted to become stronger!
"I have a few bottles of Grade-2 left." Without thinking, Song Dongming tossed a bottle of Grade-2 Mixed Essence Pills to Wang Zhan.
Before the battle, they had each prepared a good amount of Mixed Essence Pills. Not only were these used for breakthroughs, but they could also quickly replenish a Martial Artist’s physical strength and Essence Energy once exhausted.
Song Dongming simply assumed that Wang Zhan was going to use them for recovery.
However, when Song Dongming saw Wang Zhan swallow a Mixed Essence Pill and start cultivating on the spot, he was utterly incredulous.
"Are you fucking insane? Breaking through at a time ?" Song Dongming couldn’t help but swear.
The intense battle was only twenty to thirty meters ahead. How could he be so brazen?
"Just give me a few minutes. Protect me!" Wang Zhan said in a deep voice.
Seeing that Wang Zhan had truly entered a state of cultivation, Song Dongming stopped talking nonsense. He had Xin Xiaoyan, who was beside him, retreat from the battle so they could guard Wang Zhan together.
Just then, a bloodcurdling cry rang out from afar. Newest update provided by Nov3lFɪre.ɴet
"We can’t hold them back anymore! Soldiers, commence artillery bombardment!"
Song Dongming instinctively looked in the direction of the noise, only to find it was coming from the battlefield where the soldier-level beasts were.
He had only looked away for a few minutes, but in that time, the front line on the soldier-level beast battlefield had already been pushed back several hundred meters! Despite reinforcements, the Human Martial Artists couldn’t hold off the fearless charges of the beasts any longer.
"Damn it!" Song Dongming, his eyes bloodshot, watched as the man who had just shouted lost his life in a soldier-level beast’s mouth.
This wasn’t the first time he felt helpless, but at this very moment, he was filled with immense anger and sadness.
If I were born a few years earlier... would I be capable of joining that battlefield now? Song Dongming muttered to himself.
"Now is not the time for self-pity," Xin Xiaoyan said. She, on the other hand, remained incredibly calm, showing no traces of the terror-stricken girl she had been.
"Everyone has their place, Song Dongming. Don’t make me lose respect for you!"
In such circumstances, subtle changes were occurring in everyone: Song Dongming, who was cursing, and Xin Xiaoyan, who remained cool-headed. Not only them, but in this ongoing war with no conceivable end, everyone was growing.
Meanwhile, Wang Zhan was working hard to absorb all the Spiritual Energy around him.
Rather than gradually absorbing, as would be the usual practice, he absorbed the Spiritual Energy in one go. He didn’t care about whether he could fully refine it, only focused on filling up his energy center and meridians!
With the help of the Mixed Essence Pills and the Essence Concentrating Skill, in just a few minutes, Wang Zhan already felt a swelling sensation in his body.
Due to his extreme attributes having been maxed out, his body was currently in an extremely weakened state. The swelling was a sign of a breakthrough!
Suddenly, Wang Zhan snapped open his eyes.
A muted thump resounded from within his body, followed by a surge of Spiritual Energy rampaging through his meridians. His energy center filled up even further!
I’ve broken through to level 8. Wang Zhan let out a long sigh.
At the level 8 Martial Artist Stage, his attribute cap would increase to 1,450.
That meant he had a full three hundred points more attributes than a Limit-level 9 Martial Artist!
Even the geniuses in the major Martial Arts Academies who exceeded the Limit by 20% at level 9 had far fewer attributes than he possessed now as a level 8 Martial Artist!
And my mental energy has actually doubled!
Wang Zhan wasn’t sure why his mental energy had spiked so much, but it was definitely a good thing.
The enhancement of mental energy significantly boosted one’s abilities, as the range of mental energy also represented the range of Spiritual Energy that could be controlled.
Thus, each meter of increase in range yielded a more significant enhancement than a simple +1 to distance might suggest.
After breaking through, only taking a few seconds to note the changes in himself, Wang Zhan eagerly returned to the battlefield.
With his mental energy having doubled, no common beast could stand a chance against Wang Zhan.
Level 8 and level 9 beasts couldn’t even last a round against him and were slain in one strike.
In just a moment, Wang Zhan, leading a group of Martial Artists, made a bloody path through the Beast Tide of common beasts. Within a few minutes, at least twenty level 8 and above beasts were slain by him!
"Brother Wang, you’re amazing!" The soldiers familiar with Wang Zhan were extremely excited.
Even the Martial Artists who had just joined the fight were delighted to see Wang Zhan’s incredible power.
After another ten or so minutes, under Wang Zhan’s leadership, the soldiers and Martial Artists had advanced the front line by over three hundred meters, and the number of beasts at level 7 or higher among the common beasts was greatly reduced.
Only then did Wang Zhan retreat with Song Dongming and Xin Xiaoyan.
"I’m going to fight the soldier-level beasts," Wang Zhan stated, panting.
Hearing this, Song Dongming and Xin Xiaoyan were visibly shocked.
"Are you crazy? You’re only a level 8 Martial Artist!"
"Well, the level 9 beasts are too weak for me," Wang Zhan said. "Things are clear on this side. Unless something unexpected happens, common beasts can’t make much of a stir. I need stronger opponents."
"Even so, the soldier-level beasts..."
"To tell you the truth, my Limit-exceeding value is 50%," Wang Zhan suddenly said.
Song Dongming and Xin Xiaoyan were lost for words.
This number was too terrifying!
Song Dongming, being the most outstanding student in his second year at the Military Academy, had only just achieved around 15% over his Limit. Huang Pufeng was even slightly weaker!
Even among the true geniuses in the four major Martial Arts Academies, reaching about 20% over their Limits was considered exceptional!
If Wang Zhan’s 50% got out, it would undoubtedly cause an uproar.
"It seems you understand what this means," Wang Zhan said seriously. "Although I’m only a level 8 Martial Artist, I’m much stronger than the average one. I can handle soldier-level beasts. Besides, I won’t fight alone. I know what I’m doing."
Actually, during the recent battle, Wang Zhan had already maxed out his attribute points fighting level 8 and level 9 beasts.
His three main attributes had now reached 1,400. However, the remaining 50 points of his extreme attribute cap could only be obtained by fighting soldier-level beasts—he had to fight them!
"I have to go. Don’t worry; I cherish my own life more than you do. Nothing will go wrong."
Leaving these words behind, Wang Zhan didn’t wait for Song Dongming to respond and rushed towards the soldier-level beast battlefield without hesitation.
But he had barely taken a few steps when the ground suddenly trembled violently beneath his feet.
A roaring sound echoed from the distance, as if mountains were collapsing and the earth was cracking!
In an instant, not only the Martial Artists but even the beasts lost their footing, staggering and tumbling to the ground.
What’s going on?! Wang Zhan’s plan was aborted before it even started, forcing him to regroup with Song Dongming and Xin Xiaoyan.
At the same time, Lin Yin’s voice echoed from the city wall.
"Retreat! Everyone get back inside the city!"
With a wartime order, both the soldiers and the Martial Artists didn’t hesitate and withdrew like a retreating tide back behind the city wall.
Team of Wang Zhan and two others also returned to their previous position on the city wall.
There, they discovered that the old man from before was still present.
The elder, Shi Jingtian, smiled amicably at Wang Zhan.
"Young man, you’ve done very well."
"What has happened, Senior?" Wang Zhan asked urgently.
Shi Jingtian’s smile gradually faded. His expression turned serious as he said, "When the big guy makes an appearance, he always causes some commotion."