Chapter 99: The Ancient Progenitor Appears, Lord of the Underground
The corpses of the remaining high-tier scaled beasts on the wasteland were still slowly leaking dark green blood. The pungent stench mingled with the smoke of battle, spreading across the fields.
Lin Yan gripped his short blade, keeping his fourth-tier Sea of Consciousness fully deployed. Fine psychic threads spread out like a dense net, covering the surrounding earth. The power brought by his recent breakthrough filled his body, but the exhaustion of his meridians and mind was equally real. The torn wounds on his palms were still seeping blood, and every breath brought a dull ache to his chest.
Zhou Lin walked to his side, his gaze fixed on the massive underground rift in the distance, his brow tightly furrowed.
"Slain the fifth-tier personal guard, severely damaging the Ancient Progenitor's psychic network, but its foundation remains unshaken," Zhou Lin said in a low voice. "It has accumulated power for twenty-five years; the foundation of its race is far more than just one personal guard. What we destroyed was merely a weapon it deployed."
Before he even finished speaking, the entire earth suddenly began to tremble more violently.
This was not the low-frequency vibration caused by beast herds trampling the surface, but a pulse originating from deep within the earth, from the very core of the rock strata. At the edge of the massive underground rift in the distance, rocks were constantly peeling off and collapsing. From within the rift, a faint, dark golden glow slowly seeped outward.
All surviving scaled beasts, whether high-tier or low-tier, suddenly paused in unison. They ceased their fierce attacks on the city wall, turned their heads entirely toward the massive rift, and prostrated themselves, emitting low, reverent hisses.
Seeing this, the defending troops fighting on the city wall felt a chill rise in their hearts. They stopped their struggles and looked deep into the wasteland.
In the communication channels, soldiers from various defense lines transmitted suppressed gasps.
"There's movement at the wasteland rift! All scaled beasts have stopped attacking!"
"They are... kneeling in worship to something?"
Jiang Tao had already regained consciousness. Leaning against an Imperial Guard warrior, his face still pale, he forced himself to deploy his Sea of Consciousness to probe the area. His voice trembled as he spoke, "Detected an unprecedented psychic signal... Massive, ancient, covering the entire wasteland. It's the true body of the Ancient Progenitor! It has emerged from underground!"
Within the rift, a pair of dark golden vertical pupils slowly opened.
A colossal body slowly crawled out from the depths of the rock strata, far larger than the fifth-tier scaled beast from before. It did not possess the feral form of a scaled beast; its body carried the distinct humanoid silhouette unique to the lizardmen. Its torso was slender, covered in dark brown, hard scale-skin, and its surface was marked with ancient, twisted gray patterns. Countless fine psychic tentacles drifted slowly around its head like the tentacles of a jellyfish, each one connected to the psychic link of the scaled beasts on the wasteland.
This was the underground Ancient Progenitor, the mastermind behind this twenty-five-year invasion war.
With every inch it moved, the earth trembled. When its upper body completely emerged from the rift, its dark golden vertical pupils swept across the entire wasteland and finally locked onto Lin Yan.
An ancient, cold will, carrying hatred spanning vast stretches of time, pierced through space directly and slammed into the Sea of Consciousness of everyone present.
"Tiny humans." The Ancient Progenitor's will did not roar. It was calm, yet carried endless vicissitudes and oppressive might. "For twenty-five years, I have cultivated my race and woven a psychic network. We were on the verge of leveling the six major bastions. Yet, you, a youth from the barren mountains, have repeatedly disrupted my plans and slain my personal guards."
Lin Yan gripped his short blade tightly, fully expanding his fourth-tier Sea of Consciousness to erect a barrier, resisting the oncoming psychic pressure. He could clearly sense that the level of the Ancient Progenitor's Sea of Consciousness far surpassed that of the fifth-tier scaled beast, and was even stronger than Zhou Lin's.
"You hide underground, driving countless scaled beasts to their deaths, using the flesh and blood of countless living beings to pave your ambition," Lin Yan replied in a deep voice. "For twenty-five years, countless people have died in the rift beast tides. Today, it ends."
"Ends?" A hint of mockery rippled through the Ancient Progenitor's will. "You humans are merely temporary squatters on this land. This earth belongs to our underground race. When the rift opened twenty-five years ago, it was merely taking back what is ours."
It slowly raised a massive claw covered in thick scales, and the countless psychic tentacles around it trembled simultaneously. All the scaled beasts on the wasteland instantly became restless again, their roars resounding once more.
"Originally, I planned to slowly wear you down, exhaust your ammunition, drain your Sea of Consciousness cultivators, and let you perish bit by bit in despair." The Ancient Progenitor's dark golden pupils narrowed slightly. "But you have ruined everything. Since I cannot kill you, I will personally take action, crush you, then trample Panshi City, and subsequently sweep away the remaining five bastions one by one."
Zhou Lin stepped forward, standing beside Lin Yan. His Sea of Consciousness power erupted violently, standing in distant opposition to the psychic power overflowing from the Ancient Progenitor.
"Do not even dream of it," Zhou Lin said in a steady voice. "All the Sea of Consciousness cultivators and all the warriors of Panshi City have not yet fallen. If you wish to breach Panshi, you must first step over the corpses of every single one of us."
"A swarm of ants trying to stop a chariot."
The Ancient Progenitor gently waved its massive claw.
An invisible psychic tidal wave instantly swept over. This was on a completely different level from the psychic shockwaves released by the scaled beasts before; it was like a tsunami, pressing down on Zhou Lin and his group from all directions.
Zhou Lin fully unleashed his Sea of Consciousness, erecting a massive psychic barrier.
Weng——!
The barrier instantly caved in, covered in dense, intricate cracks. Zhou Lin's entire body trembled, and a mouthful of blood surged from the corner of his lips as he stumbled back half a step. A mere casual strike from the Ancient Progenitor had injured the Marshal of the Six Major War Zones.
"Marshal!" The Imperial Guard warriors cried out in alarm, immediately joining forces to mobilize their Seas of Consciousness, stacking their power to reinforce the barrier.
The Ancient Progenitor indifferently swept its gaze over the Imperial Guards. The floating psychic tentacles shifted slightly, splitting off dozens of tiny psychic tributaries that shot straight toward the surrounding cultivators. Several Imperial Guards failed to defend in time; they clutched their heads and screamed in agony as their Seas of Consciousness suffered devastating blows, collapsing to the ground.
Lin Yan's gaze sharpened. The fine threads of his Sea of Consciousness extended rapidly, wrapping around Zhou Lin's barrier to share the immense pressure. Operating his fourth-tier Sea of Consciousness at full capacity, his psychic threads acted like steel cables, desperately holding up the barrier on the verge of shattering.
"Its psychic tentacles can control a massive number of scaled beasts simultaneously, and can also launch individual psychic assassinations," Lin Yan quickly reminded Zhou Lin in a low voice. "We cannot simply endure its psychic attacks head-on. We must close in and attack its true body. Those tentacles beside its head are the hub of its psychic network."
Zhou Lin nodded, suppressing the metallic tang in his throat. "Its true body is massive, so its movement speed won't be too fast. But its psychic attacks cover an extremely wide range; closing in will come at a tremendous cost."
Watching the two join forces to resist its psychic onslaught, the murderous intent in the Ancient Progenitor's will grew even stronger.
"Since you are so eager to die, I shall grant your wish."
The Ancient Progenitor's massive body moved forward, stepping out of the colossal rift step by step. With each step, fine fissures cracked open in the scorched earth of the wasteland. Countless scaled beasts followed closely behind it like a black tide, once again converging toward the walls of Panshi City and the small squad on the wasteland.
The final decisive battle had officially begun.
Lin Yan gripped his short blade, keeping his fourth-tier Sea of Consciousness fully deployed. Fine psychic threads spread out like a dense net, covering the surrounding earth. The power brought by his recent breakthrough filled his body, but the exhaustion of his meridians and mind was equally real. The torn wounds on his palms were still seeping blood, and every breath brought a dull ache to his chest.
Zhou Lin walked to his side, his gaze fixed on the massive underground rift in the distance, his brow tightly furrowed.
"Slain the fifth-tier personal guard, severely damaging the Ancient Progenitor's psychic network, but its foundation remains unshaken," Zhou Lin said in a low voice. "It has accumulated power for twenty-five years; the foundation of its race is far more than just one personal guard. What we destroyed was merely a weapon it deployed."
Before he even finished speaking, the entire earth suddenly began to tremble more violently.
This was not the low-frequency vibration caused by beast herds trampling the surface, but a pulse originating from deep within the earth, from the very core of the rock strata. At the edge of the massive underground rift in the distance, rocks were constantly peeling off and collapsing. From within the rift, a faint, dark golden glow slowly seeped outward.
All surviving scaled beasts, whether high-tier or low-tier, suddenly paused in unison. They ceased their fierce attacks on the city wall, turned their heads entirely toward the massive rift, and prostrated themselves, emitting low, reverent hisses.
Seeing this, the defending troops fighting on the city wall felt a chill rise in their hearts. They stopped their struggles and looked deep into the wasteland.
In the communication channels, soldiers from various defense lines transmitted suppressed gasps.
"There's movement at the wasteland rift! All scaled beasts have stopped attacking!"
"They are... kneeling in worship to something?"
Jiang Tao had already regained consciousness. Leaning against an Imperial Guard warrior, his face still pale, he forced himself to deploy his Sea of Consciousness to probe the area. His voice trembled as he spoke, "Detected an unprecedented psychic signal... Massive, ancient, covering the entire wasteland. It's the true body of the Ancient Progenitor! It has emerged from underground!"
Within the rift, a pair of dark golden vertical pupils slowly opened.
A colossal body slowly crawled out from the depths of the rock strata, far larger than the fifth-tier scaled beast from before. It did not possess the feral form of a scaled beast; its body carried the distinct humanoid silhouette unique to the lizardmen. Its torso was slender, covered in dark brown, hard scale-skin, and its surface was marked with ancient, twisted gray patterns. Countless fine psychic tentacles drifted slowly around its head like the tentacles of a jellyfish, each one connected to the psychic link of the scaled beasts on the wasteland.
This was the underground Ancient Progenitor, the mastermind behind this twenty-five-year invasion war.
With every inch it moved, the earth trembled. When its upper body completely emerged from the rift, its dark golden vertical pupils swept across the entire wasteland and finally locked onto Lin Yan.
An ancient, cold will, carrying hatred spanning vast stretches of time, pierced through space directly and slammed into the Sea of Consciousness of everyone present.
"Tiny humans." The Ancient Progenitor's will did not roar. It was calm, yet carried endless vicissitudes and oppressive might. "For twenty-five years, I have cultivated my race and woven a psychic network. We were on the verge of leveling the six major bastions. Yet, you, a youth from the barren mountains, have repeatedly disrupted my plans and slain my personal guards."
Lin Yan gripped his short blade tightly, fully expanding his fourth-tier Sea of Consciousness to erect a barrier, resisting the oncoming psychic pressure. He could clearly sense that the level of the Ancient Progenitor's Sea of Consciousness far surpassed that of the fifth-tier scaled beast, and was even stronger than Zhou Lin's.
"You hide underground, driving countless scaled beasts to their deaths, using the flesh and blood of countless living beings to pave your ambition," Lin Yan replied in a deep voice. "For twenty-five years, countless people have died in the rift beast tides. Today, it ends."
"Ends?" A hint of mockery rippled through the Ancient Progenitor's will. "You humans are merely temporary squatters on this land. This earth belongs to our underground race. When the rift opened twenty-five years ago, it was merely taking back what is ours."
It slowly raised a massive claw covered in thick scales, and the countless psychic tentacles around it trembled simultaneously. All the scaled beasts on the wasteland instantly became restless again, their roars resounding once more.
"Originally, I planned to slowly wear you down, exhaust your ammunition, drain your Sea of Consciousness cultivators, and let you perish bit by bit in despair." The Ancient Progenitor's dark golden pupils narrowed slightly. "But you have ruined everything. Since I cannot kill you, I will personally take action, crush you, then trample Panshi City, and subsequently sweep away the remaining five bastions one by one."
Zhou Lin stepped forward, standing beside Lin Yan. His Sea of Consciousness power erupted violently, standing in distant opposition to the psychic power overflowing from the Ancient Progenitor.
"Do not even dream of it," Zhou Lin said in a steady voice. "All the Sea of Consciousness cultivators and all the warriors of Panshi City have not yet fallen. If you wish to breach Panshi, you must first step over the corpses of every single one of us."
"A swarm of ants trying to stop a chariot."
The Ancient Progenitor gently waved its massive claw.
An invisible psychic tidal wave instantly swept over. This was on a completely different level from the psychic shockwaves released by the scaled beasts before; it was like a tsunami, pressing down on Zhou Lin and his group from all directions.
Zhou Lin fully unleashed his Sea of Consciousness, erecting a massive psychic barrier.
Weng——!
The barrier instantly caved in, covered in dense, intricate cracks. Zhou Lin's entire body trembled, and a mouthful of blood surged from the corner of his lips as he stumbled back half a step. A mere casual strike from the Ancient Progenitor had injured the Marshal of the Six Major War Zones.
"Marshal!" The Imperial Guard warriors cried out in alarm, immediately joining forces to mobilize their Seas of Consciousness, stacking their power to reinforce the barrier.
The Ancient Progenitor indifferently swept its gaze over the Imperial Guards. The floating psychic tentacles shifted slightly, splitting off dozens of tiny psychic tributaries that shot straight toward the surrounding cultivators. Several Imperial Guards failed to defend in time; they clutched their heads and screamed in agony as their Seas of Consciousness suffered devastating blows, collapsing to the ground.
Lin Yan's gaze sharpened. The fine threads of his Sea of Consciousness extended rapidly, wrapping around Zhou Lin's barrier to share the immense pressure. Operating his fourth-tier Sea of Consciousness at full capacity, his psychic threads acted like steel cables, desperately holding up the barrier on the verge of shattering.
"Its psychic tentacles can control a massive number of scaled beasts simultaneously, and can also launch individual psychic assassinations," Lin Yan quickly reminded Zhou Lin in a low voice. "We cannot simply endure its psychic attacks head-on. We must close in and attack its true body. Those tentacles beside its head are the hub of its psychic network."
Zhou Lin nodded, suppressing the metallic tang in his throat. "Its true body is massive, so its movement speed won't be too fast. But its psychic attacks cover an extremely wide range; closing in will come at a tremendous cost."
Watching the two join forces to resist its psychic onslaught, the murderous intent in the Ancient Progenitor's will grew even stronger.
"Since you are so eager to die, I shall grant your wish."
The Ancient Progenitor's massive body moved forward, stepping out of the colossal rift step by step. With each step, fine fissures cracked open in the scorched earth of the wasteland. Countless scaled beasts followed closely behind it like a black tide, once again converging toward the walls of Panshi City and the small squad on the wasteland.
The final decisive battle had officially begun.
