Chapter 412: Chaos

Chapter 412: Chaos

"They're coming so fast!"

Ji Xinghuo looked at the dark dots on the horizon, three Heavenly Kings approaching from different directions, quickly growing larger in his field of view.

The fastest among them was a pseudo-dragon man enveloped in golden light, bare-handed and hairless, with a gleaming forehead that stood out like a bolt of golden lightning tearing through the sky, an awe-inspiring sight.

A sixth-level Halo Warrior!

The other two were equally formidable: one rode on the back of a pure white true dragon, its wings radiating icy coldness, leaving a trail of ice and snow hundreds of meters long; the other had a pair of broad energy wings, accompanied by several battle pets.

The Snow Crystal Dragon Lord and the Star Hunter!

Ji Xinghuo's pupils contracted as he recognized the formidable strength of these three Heavenly King-level powerhouses, especially the Halo Warrior, whom he had encountered on his first day in the Silent Wasteland at the northern outpost. Having reached the third stage of Heavenly King, this warrior was the strongest among them.

If on Earth, this pseudo-dragon man, the Halo Warrior, would rank among the top five on the Global Power Rankings!

At the Halo Warrior's speed, it would take a minute at most to arrive.

"I'm out of time."

Ji Xinghuo's thoughts raced. He knew he couldn't kill the Earth Devouring Insect within a minute, and he had to make a decision immediately.

Where two fighters quarrel, there comes a third and takes advantage.

He didn't want to work for others, but he also couldn't let the Earth Devouring Insect escape.

"I need to find a way to leave a mark on the Earth Devouring Insect so that I can locate it no matter where it flees."

"As long as I can find it, I'll have another chance to kill it."

Ji Xinghuo watched Qinghong and Jiuyou battling the Earth Devouring Insect. He opened the interface of the Myriad Star Pupils and scanned through his own abilities and those of the beasts with him. His gaze landed on one ability, and an idea formed in his mind.

[Ability: Miniaturization (Level 3, 532/35,999)]



Miniaturization was one of Qinghong's earliest awakened abilities, but it hadn't been upgraded in a long time.

Ji Xinghuo immediately channeled his spiritual source energy into it.

In just over ten seconds, Miniaturization reached (Level 4, 1/257,711).

The ability upgrade didn't affect Qinghong, who was still engaged in battle. Ji Xinghuo was about to test it when he suddenly felt a sharp pain in his brows, signaling an immense danger.

He looked up.

High in the sky, a massive missile was accelerating wildly, having surpassed 10 Mach. It was falling toward his location.

From the missile's trajectory, it was clear that it had been launched from a shuttle.

That shuttle looked very familiar.

Ji Xinghuo had seen it before—it belonged to Yan Wangke.

Yan Wangke's target was likely the Earth Devouring Insect of the quake level, and it might not have been aimed at him specifically. Most of the time, Ji Xinghuo remained invisible, and even when he attacked the insect, he did so with lightning speed, appearing only briefly. It would be difficult for orbital satellites to capture his image.

However, whether the attack was intentional or indiscriminate, it angered Ji Xinghuo.

For the Myriad Star Pupils to issue a danger warning, the destructive power of this missile was at least on par with a tactical nuclear bomb!

The missile continued to accelerate.

Ji Xinghuo judged that he had less than five seconds.

"Retreat!"

He immediately abandoned the Earth Devouring Insect and ordered Qinghong and Jiuyou to disengage from the fight.

Qinghong's body shrank, seemingly vanishing into thin air.

With the fourth level of Miniaturization, its miniature state was even smaller than before, now less than a centimeter long—like a tiny green bean.

The black liquid fire that had engulfed the Earth Devouring Insect also disappeared without a trace.

Jiuyou transformed into a beam of shadowy light and entered Ji Xinghuo's left eye. Ji Xinghuo, invisible, instantly shifted to appear beside Qinghong. He reached out and scooped up the tiny Qinghong, ignoring the massive Earth Devouring Insect nearby. He then performed instant shifts consecutively.

After three instant shifts, Ji Xinghuo appeared at the bottom of a hundreds-of-meters-wide fissure in the earth, blending into the shadows and moving deeper within them.

The Earth Devouring Insect wasn't quick enough to react.

The sudden disappearance of its adversaries left it bewildered.

Then—

A ball of scorching white light exploded above the Earth Devouring Insect, like a miniature sun, releasing infinite light and heat, obliterating everything within a kilometer radius.

Boom…

A second after the explosion, a deafening roar followed.

The wasteland, already ravaged by the previous battle, was instantly blasted into a giant crater, as if struck by a meteor. A shockwave tens of meters high spread out, kicking up countless clouds of dust and debris. A mushroom cloud rose slowly.

Ji Xinghuo, hiding in a fissure hundreds of meters deep, couldn't escape the might of this explosion.

The fissure collapsed, and he was blasted out of the shadows, buried deep beneath the rubble.

However, most of the blast's lethal force had been absorbed by the soil and rock layers, and the remaining impact and heat posed little threat to Ji Xinghuo.

As long as there were gaps between the layers of the earth, he could shuttle through the shadows and escape.

He was safer underground.

The Earth Devouring Insect wasn't so fortunate. Being at the center of the explosion, it bore the brunt of the attack. Its massive body disintegrated almost instantly, and if it hadn't maintained constant contact with the earth, it would never have survived.

The other half of its massive body had been vaporized, and the remaining half lay in tatters, sprawled in the explosion crater like a pile of mangled meat.

Even so, it wasn't dead.

It continued to recover at a startling rate, its broken body writhing and reconnecting as new flesh grew at a visible pace, soon to be covered by its crystalline armor once more.

Hiding underground, Ji Xinghuo witnessed this scene, his heart filled with surprise.

What's the difference between this and immortality?

The Earth Crust Lord, combined with the Earth Devouring Insect's massive body, exerted an ability akin to an eclipse, but there was also a side effect.

The larger the body, the slower the recovery.

With such severe injuries, nearly dead, the Earth Devouring Insect would need at least an hour or two to fully restore itself to its peak condition.

Moreover, its burrowing ability was affected, as it merged with the earth at a noticeably slower pace.

"Opportunity!"

Ji Xinghuo's eyes lit up.

He had to leave a mark on the Earth Devouring Insect before it could burrow into the earth's crust.

Jiuyou remained attached, maintaining the Dark Avatar state, and Ji Xinghuo immediately began to shuttle through the shadows in the gaps of the soil, approaching the Earth Devouring Insect from below. At this moment, more than half of the insect's shattered body had already merged with the ground.

As he accelerated, a sense of alertness suddenly arose.

"Someone's here!"

His electromagnetic sensing detected a figure approaching at a rapid speed underground, able to move through the earth like the insect, but much faster, as if flying.

"A Heavenly King-level powerhouse!"

The missile explosion had drawn most of Ji Xinghuo's attention, preventing him from detecting this presence immediately.

He turned his head, and the thick layer of soil became transparent in his eyes.

The figure was also humanoid, but incredibly tall—a giant over five meters tall with a sturdy, sculpted physique. In his hand, he wielded an oversized square-headed war hammer, and his body was covered in a crystal-like, hardened armor that seemed to be a part of him rather than something he wore.

"A Silicon Giant!"

A slight chill ran down Ji Xinghuo's spine.

The Silicon Giants were a branch of giants in the Star Realm, renowned for their high racial talents. They possessed innate divine strength, formidable defense, and expertise in manipulating earth-related abilities. It was said that they were the prototype for the Earthwalker profession template.

This Silicon Giant had reached the third stage of Heavenly King, his strength comparable to that of the Halo Warrior in the sky.

Ji Xinghuo paused.

The Silicon Giant seemed unaware of the shadows in the gaps of the soil, failing to notice that someone was lurking there. He headed straight for the Earth Devoirng Insect.

He was the first to arrive, beating the other Heavenly Kings.

A wave of disturbance spread.

The earth within a kilometer became incredibly hard, like cement. The Silicon Giant was vying for control of the earth with the Earth Devouring Insect, preventing it from burrowing into the earth's crust.

At the same time, the insect's gravitational field was nullified.

Boom!

A massive earth spike formed beneath the Earth Devouring Insect, impaling it and lifting the half-submerged body out of the ground, tossing it back into the explosion crater where it tumbled uncontrollably.

The Silicon Giant leaped out from underground, raising his square-headed war hammer to strike.

The material of his hammer was unknown, but the hammerhead was a solid piece of purple crystal, and the handle was made of alloy, with a total length of nearly four meters. As he swung the hammer, it seemed to distort space, its weight unimaginable.

The Earth Devouring Insect spat out white viscous fluid at the Silicon Giant and condensed a thick layer of rock armor on its body.

The Silicon Giant ignored the fluid, bringing down his hammer in a powerful strike.

Bang!

The wall-like rock armor crumbled like tofu under the blow, and the hammer drove through, shattering the insect's crystalline armor. A huge hole was blasted open in its recently healed body, flesh and blood flying as it was nearly cleaved in two once more.

With just one strike, the Silicon Giant had inflicted another severe injury.

"So powerful!"

Ji Xinghuo was secretly astonished.

The strength of this Silicon Giant was overwhelming. Not only was his body formidable, but his stellar power was also exceptionally robust. The hammer he wielded was at least a three-star artifact, seemingly tailored for him to maximize his strength advantage.

Bang, bang, bang...

The Silicon Giant swung his hammer relentlessly, striking several times in succession.

Even as the Earth Devouring Insect frantically drew energy from the earth to heal, it couldn't withstand such terrifying attacks and almost lost all resistance.

Its connection with the earth seemed to be interfered with, and its recovery slowed significantly.

Ji Xinghuo's heart sank as he witnessed this.

The Silicon Giant also manipulated earth and gravity, and the advanced "Earth Tyrant" of the Earthwalker and Gravitist professions was inherently a bane to the Earth Devouring Insect. Injured as it was, the insect might be at the giant's mercy.

The Earth Devouring Insect struggled to recover.

The Silicon Giant didn't swing his hammer again. Instead, he clenched his fist and roared, causing a violent earthquake.

Within a hundred meters, the direction of gravity suddenly reversed, changing from an attractive force to a repulsive force, as if an invisible giant hand was lifting the Earth Devouring Insect into the air.

Even though the Earth Devouring Insect's body was badly damaged, it still weighed over two thousand tons, and it, too, could control and reverse gravity. The two gravitational fields pulled and tore at each other, making it challenging for the Silicon Giant.

However, the Silicon Giant, at the third stage of Heavenly King, ultimately had the upper hand.

The Earth Devouring Insect's massive body was slowly lifted, and within a few seconds, it was about to be completely detached from the ground.

Its end would come when it lost contact with the earth.

The Earth Devoirng Insect had only a small portion of its body dragging on the ground, and if it was raised another two or three meters, it would be completely separated. Suddenly, a burst of golden light exploded overhead.

The Halo Warrior had arrived!

The pseudo-dragon man, the Halo Warrior, wore golden battle armor, with a pair of white horns on his forehead. He dove towards the center of the explosion, his right fist clenched and glowing with pulsing light energy as he plummeted from the sky.

His target was not the Earth Devouring Insect but the Silicon Giant.

Burst Fist!

The Silicon Giant's face twisted with fury, and his enormous eyes blazed with anger. At the last moment, he abandoned his control over the Earth Devouring Insect and gripped his hammer's handle with both hands. Spinning halfway, he put his full strength into throwing the massive hammer skyward, aiming to crush the Halo Warrior.

The Halo Warrior showed no fear and did not evade.

His fist collided head-on with the descending hammer, creating a deafening boom and a ring of light energy that blasted outward, forming a vacuum bubble with a diameter of several hundred meters.

The force of the impact sent the Halo Warrior flying back dozens of meters.

The Silicon Giant's hammer fell, and he reached out to grasp it, the hammer returning to his hand as if pulled by an invisible force.

This exchange between the two warriors ended in a stalemate.

However, due to the interruption in gravity manipulation, the Earth Devouring Insect fell back to the ground, and its wounds began to heal. It immediately counterattacked the closest and most threatening opponent, the Silicon Giant, by hardening the soil and forming a stone wall, which it then slammed onto the giant and used as a shield to try and escape into the earth.

As the giant hammer struck the wall, it softened and turned into sand, scattering in all directions.

The Silicon Giant roared in anger, and his massive, sturdy body moved with surprising speed as he rushed through the wall of sand to strike the Earth Devouring Insect again with his hammer.

Just as he landed a blow, the Halo Warrior was upon him once more.

"Get lost!"

The Silicon Giant was furious.

The Halo Warrior had activated "Pulse Burst," burning his internal light energy to increase his power. His entire body glowed, and each punch and kick unleashed terrifying force. He was faster and more resilient, directly engaging the Silicon Giant.

He attacked both the Silicon Giant and the Earth Devouring Insect.

Within the gravity field, the Halo Warrior seemed unaffected. He first exchanged punches with the Silicon Giant, and as he was sent flying backward, he shot a pulse beam from his palm at the Earth Devouring Insect. There was a loud explosion as the beam blasted through the insect and the ground, forcing it out of the earth.

As the Halo Warrior prepared to fire another beam, a massive rock came hurtling towards him like a cannonball, thrown by the Silicon Giant.

The Halo Warrior had no choice but to turn and blast the rock with his beam.

The Silicon Giant leaped from the exploding shards of stone, bringing his hammer down on the Halo Warrior. The shattered stones around him transformed into stone spears, raining down in a fierce storm.

The weight of hundreds of times gravity bore down on the Halo Warrior, restraining him.

He seemed trapped in a quagmire, and as the hammer came crashing down, his body transformed into a beam of light, dodging the deadly blow.

However, the Silicon Giant was unable to pursue, as the Earth Devouring Insect had once again merged with the earth.

The giant quickly landed heavily on the ground, causing it to harden, and brought his hammer down on the insect, keeping it in a severely wounded state but unable to deliver a killing blow.

Up in the sky, the Halo Warrior returned for another round.

The two sixth-stage powerhouses fought for several rounds, neither gaining the upper hand. They prevented each other from killing the Earth Devouring Insect while also tacitly stopping it from escaping into the earth, creating a fragile balance.

Several hunting teams that had rushed over from nearby dared not approach and watched from a distance, riding their flying motorcycles.

No one noticed Ji Xinghuo, hidden in the shadows within the layers of soil.

He blended with the shadows in the gaps of the earth, his gaze piercing through the dozens of meters of ground to focus on Yan Wangke. His black pupils, like ink, held a cold glint.

It is only right to repay grudges! Ji Xinghuo was determined to avenge the missile attack immediately.

(End of Chapter)

Chapter end