Black-red feral aura spread across the Primordial sky like ink, dyeing the sun, moon, and stars dark red. Thick as solid matter, it rolled over the golden metal rocks of the Western Wasteland.
Wherever it passed, the remaining spiritual herbs in the rock crevices withered and turned black instantly. Even the hard golden metal rocks were corroded into honeycomb-like holes, emitting a pungent stench of decay.
The clear blue waters of the East China Sea were churned into a turbid blood tide by the beasts' black blood. The golden metal rocks of the Western Wasteland were already piled high with the remains of all clans—frost-covered limbs of the Snow Fox Clan intertwined with green wings of the Green Centipede Clan, stone arms of the Giant Spirit Clan pressing down on broken bones of unknown small tribes.
Light blue, cyan-green, and crimson blood converged into streams between the rock crevices, flowing downhill. When heated, they steamed into blood-scented white mist. Even the magma of the Volcano of Immortality in the Southern Region carried a bloody stench.
The overwhelming feral aura permeating the entire Primordial World made the spiritual energy between heaven and earth stagnant and sluggish.
This was the most tragic battlefield since the birth of the Primordial World—no tactics, no retreats, only the collision of flesh and feral aura, only the struggle between life and death. Every inch of land was soaked in blood, every roar was filled with despair.
Yet deep within that despair, a tiny flame of resistance burned unyieldingly.
The defense line of the Golden Metal Stone Forest in the Western Wasteland had been torn open in three places. The widest gap stretched dozens of zhang, like a giant beast's blood-thirsty maw, pouring out endless demonized ferocious beasts.
The hooves of the Demonized Golden Metal Beasts clattered on the rock ground. Their scales glowed with black-red luster, and every breath exhaled wispy feral aura. Their sharp claws scraped across the rock, leaving deep grooves that smoked faintly—traces of the rock being corroded by feral aura.
Xue Yao, the leader of the Snow Fox Clan, had her white fur coat soaked through with black blood. Her once fluffy and pure white fur clumped together into dark brown gelosis, clinging tightly to her body.
The Yin Spiritual Energy surrounding her, originally clear and bright white, had been corroded by feral aura into only a faint silver glow—like a dying candle flame in the wind, ready to be extinguished at any moment. The Yin Spirit Staff in her hand was cracked, the Moon Soul Stone inlaid at its tip dim and lifeless. Every swing consumed most of her origin spiritual power.
Behind her stood two hundred "Snow Wolf Guards"—elites carefully selected from the entire Snow Fox Clan, each with over a thousand years of cultivation, their bodies covered in ice crystal-like white scales.
These white scales were once their strongest defense, but now most were shattered, revealing wounds oozing light blue blood.
They held short blades forged from Yin Spiritual Iron, their edges already curled. Many warriors even bit the blades between their teeth, clinging tightly to the golden metal rock crevices with both hands, forming a human defense line to firmly block the charging Demonized Golden Metal Beasts.
"For the Western Wasteland! For our clan!"
Xue Yao roared hoarsely, her voice broken and strained from overusing her spiritual power. The Yin Spiritual Energy around her surged suddenly. She poured out her remaining origin, transforming it into a translucent light shield that blocked the intersection of the three gaps.
Three Demonized Golden Metal Beasts, much larger than their kin, pounced simultaneously, slamming heavily into the light shield with a deafening boom. The shield trembled violently, its surface instantly covered with dense holes gnawed by feral aura. Silver cracks spread like a spiderweb, and tiny spiritual light drifted away from the gaps, extinguishing as soon as they touched the ground.
Xue Yao suddenly spat out a mouthful of light blue blood. When the blood landed on the light shield, the trembling paused for a brief moment. She knew this was a sign that the Snow Fox Clan's origin was damaged. If she continued to hold on like this, she would exhaust her spiritual power and die before the beasts breached the defense line.
But she dared not retreat—she could not retreat.
Not far behind her, a Snow Wolf Guard was caught between two Demonized Golden Metal Beasts. The beast on the left tore open his chest with one claw. Light blue blood gushed out, splashing onto the golden metal rock and instantly freezing into ice crystals under the rock's high temperature. With a crisp crack, the crystals shattered into powder and drifted away.
Yet the Snow Wolf Guard did not fall. He clung tightly to his short blade, summoning his last ounce of strength to stab it into the eye socket of the beast in front of him. The beast roared in pain, shaking its head violently and flinging his body away. It crashed into the rock with a dull thud, the sound of breaking bones clearly audible.
Even in death, his fingers remained tightly clamped onto the beast's scales, preventing the two beasts from advancing an inch.
Such sacrifices happened every moment along the Snow Wolf Guard's defense line. A young Snow Wolf Guard was entangled by feral aura, his skin turning charred black instantly. Yet he endured the excruciating pain, stabbing his short blade into the joint of a nearby beast.
He was then crushed under the beast's hoof, his chest caving in. Light blue blood gushed from his seven orifices, but his eyes remained fixed firmly on the gap.
The leader of the Demonized Golden Metal Beasts suddenly leaped out of the herd. Twice as tall as its kin, its fangs glowed with black-red feral light, and the feral aura around it condensed into solid black flames. Wherever its four hooves stepped, the rock sizzled and smoked.
Ignoring the attacks of the surrounding Snow Wolf Guards, it pounced straight toward Xue Yao, targeting her spiritual core—kill the leader, and the Snow Fox Clan's defense line would collapse on its own.
A fierce light flashed in Xue Yao's eyes. She was about to dodge sideways and seize the opportunity to counterattack, but found her spiritual energy had become stagnant. The impact of resisting the three beasts earlier had slowed her spiritual energy circulation.
At this critical moment, Xue Kuang, the commander of the Snow Wolf Guards behind her, stepped forward abruptly, firmly blocking her path.
Xue Kuang's left arm had long been clawed by a beast, his white scales shattered to reveal gleaming bone. Yet he paid it no mind. His short blade, wreathed in Yin cold, stabbed fiercely into the leader's side.
But the beast's scales were too hard. The blade only penetrated half an inch before bouncing back. The recoil shattered Xue Kuang's tiger's mouth, and light blue blood slid down the hilt.
The Demonized Golden Metal Beast leader roared in pain, swinging its claw at Xue Kuang. With a crisp crack, the claw shattered his shoulder blade instantly. Xue Kuang let out a muffled groan, his body collapsing sideways uncontrollably.
In the moment before he hit the ground, he used his intact right arm to wrap tightly around the beast's neck.
"Leader, run!"
Xue Kuang roared, his voice distorted by extreme pain. He used his body to pin the beast down, letting its fangs pierce his throat. Light blue blood gushed down the fangs. Xue Kuang's body twitched repeatedly in the beast's mouth, but he never loosened his grip.
He knew he couldn't hold on much longer. He only prayed that this brief delay would give the leader a chance to survive.
Xue Yao watched as Xue Kuang's body was torn apart by the beast, tears mixing with blood streaming down her face. Yet she did not flinch. She clenched her Yin Spirit Staff tightly, pouring all her remaining spiritual energy into it as the beast was pinned down by Xue Kuang, stabbing fiercely toward its eye socket.
The moment the staff pierced the scales, the Golden Metal Beast let out a deafening roar, shaking its head violently and flinging Xue Kuang's remains away. They crashed heavily into the rock in front of Xue Yao, splattering a cloud of blood mist.
In this moment of despair, a dense, rapid rustling sound came from the distance, carried by the wind across the entire battlefield.
Out of the corner of her eye, Xue Yao saw a patch of cyan shadows streaking across the western sky—the Green Centipede Clan of the Western Wasteland had arrived!
Hundreds of zhang-long green centipedes spread their translucent wing membranes, glowing with cyan-green spiritual light like a moving green cloud, racing toward the gap in the defense line.
They spat out venomous silver threads from their mouths. Countless threads weaved into a huge venomous net, falling from the sky and firmly entangling the frontline batch of Demonized Golden Metal Beasts.
Wu Xuan, the leader of the Green Centipede Clan, let out a shrill, sharp voice that cut through the sounds of battle: "Fellow Daoists of the Snow Fox Clan, retreat! The Green Centipede Clan is skilled in poison—we will hold this line for the Western Wasteland!"
Xue Yao felt a warmth in her heart, about to order the Snow Wolf Guards to retreat and rest. But she soon realized the Green Centipede Clan's situation was more dangerous than she had imagined.
The corrosiveness of the feral aura exceeded all expectations. As soon as the silver threads touched the black demon aura on the Golden Metal Beasts, they sizzled and dissolved.
The silver threads turned black and shrank at a visible speed, finally crumbling into ashes.
The dozens of frontline green centipedes, being closest to the beasts, had their wing membranes directly contaminated by feral aura, instantly turning black. They let out painful hisses as their wing membranes shriveled rapidly, like paper burned by fire, crumbling at the slightest touch.
The centipedes without wing membranes fell from the sky, immediately crushed into pulp by the charging beasts. Their cyan-green blood mixed with black blood, spreading into a bizarre stain on the rock ground.
Wu Xuan watched as his clansmen fell in droves, a look of pain flashing in his eyes. Yet he gritted his teeth and activated his origin, spitting out all the "Bone-Eroding Venom" stored by the clan for generations. The dark green venom, carrying a pungent stench, landed on the beasts, instantly corroding blood holes in their bodies.
Ten Demonized Golden Metal Beasts were contaminated by the venom, their movements slowing as they roared in pain. But the consumption of the venom left Wu Xuan's aura rapidly fading, the spiritual light on his wing membranes dimming significantly.
Just as the Green Centipede Clan barely stabilized their position, a black shadow suddenly darted out from the feral aura, moving as fast as lightning—it was a Demonized Vulture. With a wingspan of ten zhang, its feathers were pitch-black, its beak glowing with cold light, and its claws wreathed in black-red feral aura.
It pounced straight toward Wu Xuan, targeting the leader of the Green Centipede Clan!
The Demonized Vulture's claws easily tore through the fragile venomous net, which crumpled like waste paper under its talons. Wu Xuan had no time to react before his wing membrane was firmly grasped. With a tearing sound, the translucent membrane was ripped off, and cyan-green blood gushed out.
Wu Xuan endured the excruciating pain, stabbing the vulture's eye with the stinger on his tail, only for the vulture to dodge sideways.
"Clan Leader!"