The three other commanders, just awakened from their long slumber, gazed toward the suspended light screen. They, too, were filled with anticipation, for the command given to them by His Majesty, the God-King, upon his departure... was to find an unparalleled figure capable of ascending to the pinnacle of the 'Wu Qi Tower.' They had waited for far too long.
"Hm?"
"This soldier..."
"He commands a Golden Claw God. Judging by the speed of the Golden Claw God, this soldier has likely not resorted to the secret art of burning divine power." The three commanders made rapid assessments while scrutinizing Luo Feng on the screen. As for the other nine soldiers, their gazes merely swept over them before they were summarily dismissed.
In the long eons they had stood guard, they had witnessed countless elite soldiers. Those who failed to meet the requisite standard naturally failed to capture their attention.
Watching closely...
Time ticked by, second by second, and the three commanders remained silent.
"What exquisite movement technique!" The burly commander among the four, clad in blood-colored armor, exclaimed in admiration. "The intricacy of the movement concepts is truly astounding... For someone who is merely a Lord of Law to have conceived of such a first-tier movement technique. And to execute it so flawlessly, he was practically toying with the Stone Giant during their confrontation."
Little did they know that to hone his movement technique, Luo Feng had sparred against numerous powerhouses in the virtual combat space during trials within the 'Inheritance Space,' even engaging the 'Third Generation Ancestor' (with an equivalent foundation of divine power) multiple times. Forged under such intense pressure, battling a clumsy Stone Giant now felt effortless.
Even an 'Eternal True God' within the Jin World was not qualified to have an entity of the Third Generation Ancestor’s level as a sparring partner.
"Even I feel a ripple of inspiration upon witnessing it," the burly commander mused.
"But you are an Eternal True God!"
"An Eternal True God is moved by this?"
The other three commanders remarked.
Of the four commanders, all were conferred titles as True Gods of the Void when His Majesty the God-King departed. As vast ages passed, one among them managed to break through to become an 'Eternal True God.' However, by the command of the God-King, the Four Commanders held a duty that absolutely forbade them from leaving the Jin World.
Just as the Four Great Generals, though also Eternal True Gods, were likewise forbidden from leaving the Jin World.
After the God-King left, some Eternal True Gods had indeed emerged; they departed the Jin World one by one, never to return, naturally.
...
All four commanders were captivated by Luo Feng's movement technique. If a True God of the Void had displayed this technique, they would have remained indifferent. But this was a Lord of Law! The difference in foundational comprehension between a Lord of Law and a True God of the Void was like heaven and earth... For a Lord of Law to achieve this level, they had never witnessed it before!
"At least since we began guarding the God-King, he is the strongest in movement technique we have ever seen."
"Strongest in movement technique! The others likely aren't far behind."
The Four Commanders spoke in succession.
The burly commander expressed even greater hope: "Perhaps... he holds the hope of ascending to the pinnacle of the Wu Qi Tower!"
Immediately, the other three commanders fell silent. The entire grand hall was enveloped in an atmosphere hinting at an impending storm. Each one stared intently at the screen, watching...
Fulfilling the expectations of His Majesty the God-King was more vital to them than their own breakthrough to the Eternal True God realm, perhaps even more important than their very lives!
On the second floor of the Wu Qi Tower, across the vast, dark-red land, within the ten small worlds.
The first five soldiers were in dire straits, each having sustained massive consumption of their divine bodies.
The latter five soldiers, though also battered, had engaged in combat for a shorter duration and were faring much better. Luo Feng, especially, was the most relaxed among them; since being teleported into the small world, his divine body had barely been depleted. After all, he hadn't even unleashed the first level of 'Annihilation.'
He was relying entirely on the 'Golden Claw God' to boost his power by two levels, which was sufficient to contend with True Gods.
"The first five soldiers have suffered heavy divine body loss. Although they are all still alive, if this continues, it won't be long before some of them begin to perish," Golden Claw God Luo Feng glanced at the other nine small worlds in the distance. Perhaps only he could afford the distraction of observing his surroundings during such a tense moment.
"Roar!" "Roar!" "Roar!" "Roar!" "Roar!"
Five furious howls suddenly erupted.
It was the small worlds of the first five soldiers; the five dark-red Stone Giants were all tilting their heads back and howling—their cries were shrill and frenzied!
The howls were completely different from the angry roars the Stone Giants had emitted during their previous battles; the sound was not only bizarre but also carried an attack that affected the soul. Even some soldiers in the other small worlds felt a tremor in their hearts. The five soldiers in Luo Feng's group couldn't help but look toward the distance.
Accompanied by the piercing howls, the first five soldiers also grew apprehensive, sensing that a crisis was about to descend.
Swish! Swish! Swish! ...
Abruptly!
From the fissures in the earth not far from the Stone Giants, colossal stone hands suddenly surged out. These stone hands were wreathed in scalding, intense, scorching energy. There were a total of four massive stone hands... each stone hand was hundreds of thousands of miles wide, and the hands that emerged possessed thick, long arms. Appearing without any warning, they lunged directly for the elite soldiers.
"Ah!" One elite soldier among the first five, his face covered in patterns, was about to evade when half of his divine body was instantly gripped by a stone hand!
The stone hand clenched the soldier tightly.
In the high sky, the ancient secret pattern diagram suddenly began to descend continuously. As it descended, the torrent of light flowing downward from the ancient secret pattern diagram drastically reduced the time the soldiers had to dodge.
"Roar~~~" The dark-red Stone Giant also roared, slamming a fist into the captured soldier. Peng!
The blow caused the soldier immense agony.
Peng! Peng! Peng!
The stone hand held fast, and the Stone Giant battered relentlessly, draining the soldier's divine power.
"Open, open, open," the soldier struggled desperately, even using his divine power to manipulate his divine hammer. He finally managed to create enough of a gap when the Stone Giant's punch struck the stone, allowing him to slip free. But just that brief moment of capture had cost him a tremendous loss to his divine body.
Swish!
Stone giant hands would occasionally burst forth from the cracked fissures in the earth without any warning...
In an instant, the first five soldiers were driven to collapse. If before they were merely battered, now they faced a genuine life-or-death crisis! It was a one-sided massacre.
Under the combined assault of the stone hands, the dark-red Stone Giant, and the continuously descending ancient secret pattern diagram which shortened reaction times, the five elite soldiers, despite possessing treasures of the mechanical flow, were driven to the breaking point.
"Not good."
"This is serious trouble."
"The first five soldiers are encountering this first; it won't be long before we face this danger too," the other four soldiers in Luo Feng's group panicked.
Golden Claw God Luo Feng pondered: "Clearly, only four stone hands appear at any one time, and they emerge specifically around the dark-red Stone Giants! And the pattern diagram above is also descending..." Luo Feng realized the situation was perilous. The four stone hands themselves posed little threat, but once grasped and restrained, they would be at the mercy of the Stone Giant's indiscriminate assault.
Fortunately, there were only four stone hands.
"What should I do?"
"No warning whatsoever! The four stone hands appear without precursor! How can I defend against them?" Luo Feng worried.
If the ancient secret pattern diagram wasn't descending, he could simply fly higher, giving himself ample time to react and evade when the stone hands surged from the ground!
But the 'ancient secret pattern diagram' in the sky was descending, the distance shrinking, reducing the reaction time to dodge the cascading light beams. To intentionally fly higher would only make it more exhausting.
"A desperate situation!"
Luo Feng shook his head slightly. "Soldiers are bound to fall!"
...
Indeed, it was a desperate situation!
As the ancient secret pattern diagram continued its descent, the predicament of the first five soldiers grew increasingly difficult.
Innumerable light beams, covering the sky, furiously hammered downwards. The constant lowering of the pattern diagram meant the time window to avoid the light beams grew shorter, causing the soldiers to be struck by more and more of them. Each of these light beams was comparable to a strike from a True God!
"Giant hands! Stone Giant! Pattern Diagram!"
Space was constantly being compressed, making it even harder to evade the stone hands.
The first five soldiers burned their divine power, howling, employing every proud secret art they possessed to the utmost. Some attacked, others fled...
Trying every conceivable method to prolong their survival.
"No, no, no!" A flying twelve-winged exotic beast was suddenly snatched by a surging stone hand. Immediately following, the dark-red Stone Giant kept pace, its two massive fists repeatedly pounding the twelve-winged exotic beast. With a mournful cry, the beast violently dissipated into nothingness, leaving behind only items like armor and treasures.
The dark-red Stone Giant immediately threw its head back and roared in excitement.
Then...
Swish!
The Stone Giant, the stone hands, and everything else dissolved into scorching red energy, flowing back into the fissures in the earth. Even the armor and other belongings of the fallen soldier were swept into the cracks. And that small world instantly vanished.
On the entire second floor's land, only nine small worlds remained.
...
The other four soldiers from the preceding batch struggled painfully.
"When will this end?"
"The trial on the second floor should conclude soon."
"My strength has dropped by more than half; if this doesn't end, I can't hold on," the other four soldiers grew extremely anxious. For Lords of Law, even a partial loss of their divine body meant a drastic drop in power. Thus, during combat, while their divine power consumption was slowest at peak strength, later on, once their power weakened, their divine body consumed much faster. More consumption led to weaker power, initiating a vicious cycle!
Consequently, every one of them grew frantic.
...
The five soldiers in Luo Feng's group were also filled with unease.
"Must conserve divine power."
"Otherwise, we won't survive the second floor of the Wu Qi Tower." Just as they were feeling insecure,
That familiar sound—
"Roar!" "Roar!" "Roar!" "Roar!" "Roar!" Five piercing, frantic sounds erupted. This noise drilled directly into their souls, causing the five soldiers to tremble.
"How so fast!"
"We started much later than them," the other four soldiers with Luo Feng panicked.
They had been teleported into their small worlds about half an hour after the first batch, but the arrival of the nightmare was only about ten minutes later than the previous group.
Rumble~~~
Luo Feng shot straight up into the sky, looking upwards simultaneously. The ancient secret pattern diagram high above rumbled as it descended.
The dark-red Stone Giant also rose, naturally following Luo Feng constantly, intent on killing him.
Swish! Swish! Swish! Swish!
Four stone hands, the width of their palms alone spanning millions of kilometers, with extremely long arms, stretched out directly to grab Luo Feng. However, Luo Feng had flown high into the sky in advance, gaining a momentary buffer. With his movement technique, he was able to calmly evade the stone hands.
...
In that ancient grand hall, the four commanders—one Eternal True God and three True Gods of the Void, all conferred titles by the God-King Valley—watched the light screen with immense expectation, observing Luo Feng's performance on the second floor of the Wu Qi Tower.
Three chapters complete!
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