The ground shook with incoming fire and a shower of dust and rubble filled the air. The intense shockwave pulverized the immediate area spanning several niu of land, and though Yang Ying and his five companions managed to flee outwards, they couldn't escape the explosion’s embrace. They felt their bodies violently vibrating, nearly losing their footing. The shockwave slammed into them with tremendous propulsive force, hitting them like an impenetrable wall—an irresistible blow!

Within the shockwave, there weren't even moderately sized stones; larger objects had been utterly annihilated. Yang Ying could see chunks of rock in the blast radius disintegrating, shattering into smaller pieces, and even that wasn't the end—they continued to fragment further. These pulverized fragments struck the plasma shields, grinding into fine dust while sparking bursts of silvery-white light.

The pressure within the shockwave was immense, causing the plasma shields to manifest physically, a sphere of silvery-white energy enveloping the six of them, making them appear like six translucent orbs of white light.

Tossed several kilometers by the shockwave, Yang Ying and the others finally crashed onto the ground. They tumbled a few times before managing to stand up.

With his keen vision piercing the settling dust, Yang Ying saw that the location where the Great Ape had stood was now replaced by ten massive craters intertwined with each other, and the Great Ape itself had vanished.

Compared to the devastation wrought by the simultaneous firing of the Yamato Cannons, the earth-shaking spell just unleashed by Hardek seemed insignificant; the damage from the Yamato Cannons was a hundred times greater!

Yet, Hardek had actually dodged it? He needed to dodge!

A flicker of joy crossed Yang Ying's mind. The Yamato Cannon attack had confirmed a suspicion he held. As the thought crossed his mind, a wave of tension suddenly washed over him. He looked up to see two colossal fists descending, their momentum suggesting the sky itself was collapsing onto him—and he was their target.

Yang Ying instantly shifted his stance, moving sideways to evade, but the giant fists tracked him relentlessly, seeming to strike at the same angle as if he hadn't moved an inch!

Then came the deafening BOOM!

The pair of giant fists slammed onto the plasma shields. Yang Ying instantly felt an immense force attempting to crush him into the ground. Fortunately, the plasma shield held for a crucial instant; the next moment, the shield disintegrated, but Yang Ying had successfully slipped away from the immediate impact zone.

After that, Yang Ying executed several rapid directional changes, tumbling five or six times. The battlefield had now shifted to a mountainous region. Before him rose a sheer, vertical cliff. Unconcerned, he leaped down, simultaneously wrapping his body in psionic energy. He touched down lightly at the base of the cliff, shattering a massive boulder nearly ten meters in diameter with the slight impact. Using this momentum, he employed Suodi (Shrinking Ground), blinking forward in rapid succession.

Along the way, the six of them regrouped. The injuries inflicted by the Yamato Cannons were mostly healed thanks to the exceptional regenerative abilities of Blade Emperor.

"Running away just because you can't win?"

Hardek suddenly materialized directly in front of the six. Though his form was that of a one-hundred-meter-tall Ape of Light, his movements were significantly faster than all six of them.

"We are merely buying time to devise a method to counter you," Yang Ying stopped, answering loudly.

"Oh? And have you reached a conclusion?" As Hardek spoke, he placed his palms together before his chest. A deep sphere of energy slowly formed between his hands, dazzling lightning coiling around his hands and the energy orb, chillingly unsettling.

The six of them scattered quickly, dodging, while Yang Ying called out, "Originally, my greatest worry was that you are currently in a spirit state. A body without physical substance might render you immune to strikes in the physical world. However, after the Yamato Cannon attack, I realized you haven't reached that level. While your body is no longer flesh, it still possesses substance, and anything with substance can be harmed—that’s why you had to evade the Yamato Cannons!"

Simultaneously with the Yamato Cannon attack, the Protoss Observers in space were collecting data based on Hardek's reactions, analyzing his current state.

The Protoss are a race whose mastery of psionic energy is exceptionally advanced. The various scouting devices carried by the Observers made this kind of analysis second nature.

Hardek’s body was actually quite similar to that of an Arbiter; this Great Ape form acted as a shield, a sort of defensive shell filled with potent psychic energy, housing Hardek's soul.

In fact, when Yang Ying used Psionic Storm against the Ape earlier, he only struck the outer shell. That’s why Hardek remained unconcerned; any energy expended on the shield, he could instantly replenish with a mere thought, repairing the damage instantly without any visible change to his exterior.

However, when a massive energy package like the Yamato Cannon struck him, the resulting damage would far surpass that of a Psionic Storm. It could even shatter the shield outright, damaging his core being. Therefore, Hardek needed to dodge the Yamato Cannon attack.

"Precisely!" Hardek admitted immediately, seemingly unconcerned that Yang Ying had figured it out. "For a soul to exist in the material world, it requires a vehicle anchored to that world. Never mind me; even Karagoonis, a being nearly ten thousand years old at the Fourth Level, requires a body to exert his full power. Without a body, one risks being drawn into the dark side of the spirit world. But even if you know this, what good does it do? With your strength at the peak Master level, you cannot possibly break my body. My defensive power already surpasses the combined might of all your attacks! The only real nuisance is those ten battleships overhead; I’ll deal with them shortly."

Hardek thrust the energy sphere toward Yang Ying’s group. The moment it left his hands, the sphere materialized before Yang Ying, erupting in violent lightning. A massive surge of electrical sparks slammed into the slightly regenerated plasma shield, shattering it instantly without any visible reaction.

Yang Ying raised his hands, manifesting his twin Light Blades, crossing them over his chest. The Light Blades possessed the ability to absorb energy attacks. The dazzling lightning struck the blades and was immediately absorbed. However, he felt an immense force transfer through his hands. The energy of the lightning was too vast; in an instant, he could no longer maintain his grip, and the hilts slipped away, flying backward.

Fortunately, Yang Ying was, after all, an expert with lightning. After the Light Blades were knocked away, he extended both hands toward the bolt, catching the lightning in his palms, preventing it from reaching his body. The immense force contained within the lightning blast hurled him backward, smashing him into a cliff face where he was buried under falling rock debris.

The other five clones seized the opportunity, flashing forward to Hardek’s position and plunging the Light Swords they held deep into the Ape's body!

He wanted to see what effect the supposedly indestructible Light Swords would have on this body.

Regrettably, just as the Light Swords neared Hardek’s form, the Ape let out a massive roar. A tangible wave of sonic force burst violently from Hardek’s mouth, slamming into the five clones. The clones were thrown back as if they had hit an unyielding wall of glass in mid-air!

With successive explosions, the five clones were flung thousands of meters away—some smashed into cliff walls, others bounced off the ground a few times, pulverizing piles of rubble before embedding themselves in the rock. The clone thrown the furthest, having no walls to strike, soared nearly ten kilometers before carving a deep furrow in the ground as it finally came to rest.

"How did you like the taste of that lightning?" Hardek challenged. "That was natural lightning. I use my psionic energy as a lever; for every unit of psionic energy I project, I borrow nine units from the natural world, achieving the effect of ten units of power! Now, you will feel the wrath of nature firsthand!"

Meanwhile, in space, ten battlecruisers locked onto the Ape Hardek and unleashed heavy fire onto the planet’s surface. Although the Yamato Cannons were recharging, the power of the Level Six Penetrating Cannons was still formidable.

A Level Six beam of light descended from above, diagonally striking toward Hardek. Hardek tilted his head, letting the beam slice past the side of his head, then tilted the other way to avoid the next beam.

Both movements were executed with concise clarity, as if pre-rehearsed, narrowly missing each strike. Simultaneously, other beams continued to pour in. Hardek’s body flickered rapidly, evading every light beam. His movements were incredibly agile, utterly unlike a one-hundred-meter-tall figure. He looked up toward the ten battlecruisers in space. "Such a nuisance. Watch me eliminate them first!"

He raised his right hand, spreading his five fingers and pointing upward. Bright flashes erupted from the tips of his fingers, sending beams piercing into the void toward the battlecruisers.

Boom, boom, boom...

The strike of a Fourth Level master was never in vain; all five beams found their marks. Each beam struck a separate warship.

"Five beams, each carrying the power equivalent of a Level Six cannon. Five battlecruisers sustained damage!" reported the aide.

"Hmm? They weren't destroyed? Their armor must be incredibly thick, and their offensive power high enough. Plus, they carry Spatial Jump technology—new vessels from the Terran Mercenary Corps, perhaps? Hmph, troublesome things!"

Hardek raised his five fingers again, launching bright beams. It seemed he could not unleash a more powerful attack in a single volley. This time, however, the five beams concentrated on a single warship, striking the exact same spot. This immediately crippled the vessel; its armor was breached, and sharp, high-pitched alarms blared throughout the bridge, red indicator lights flashing erratically.

Hardek was preparing to fire again when his body suddenly erupted in a burst of sparks. The flash was momentary, clearly a reflection spell.

From the rubble, Yang Ying extended one hand, his finger pointed directly at Hardek.

Inside the bridge of the Beast, Yang Ying's clone said to Howard, "Tell everyone to initiate Spatial Jump. The Yamato Cannon attacks are too slow, and the Level Six piercing shots pose little threat. If we had a hundred battlecruisers, sustained Yamato fire might eventually wear Hardek down, but we have too few here. You should withdraw; leave the rest to me."

"Have you figured out a solution?" Howard inquired.

The clone nodded. "I have an idea, and whether it works remains to be seen. But don't worry about me; your commanding officer still has plenty of trump cards."