Along with a stern shout from Lin Zhen, Snow Silver Primeval Essence of Rank 3 peak stage surged out thunderously!
The Metal Sever Leaf Gu promptly materialized at his side, and at the same time, the faint phantom of another Gu worm dimly emerged above his right hand.
The next moment.
Lin Zhen, carrying the ferocious momentum of one who advanced without ever turning back, slammed viciously into that Thousand Beast Tiger King at the very front!
The battlefield of the three kings, in this moment, formally met its most brutal collision!
However, though the three enormous Thousand Beast herds bore down at once, they remained clearly demarcated from one another.
Savage beasts possessed exceedingly strong territorial instincts. Even in a frenzied state of being driven forward, the three clans of deer, giant lizards, and tigers still each maintained their own lines of advance, and had not devolved utterly into one chaotic, disordered mass.
This undoubtedly gave Black Blood Stockade's defense room to breathe.
Lin Zhen, as a veteran of the battlefield, had long since allocated his combat strength with exceeding precision, in accordance with his earlier assessment.
He himself took the two Rank 3 clan elders who were strongest and most adept at head on clashes and intercepted head on that Tiger King with the heaviest killing intent and the greatest ferocity; another two clan elders with agile movement techniques led an elite squad, tasked with tying down that Thousand Beast Deer King which appeared somewhat weaker in offensive power.
And Lin Mu, naturally, together with the remaining two Rank 3 clan elders, continued to face their "old acquaintance" — the Crimson Armored Giant Lizard King.
As for those Rank 1 and Rank 2 low rank Gu Masters, they had no qualification whatsoever to participate directly in the core battles against the beast kings.
They were scattered along the outer perimeter, forming tight defensive formations, straining with all their might to cut off and slaughter the ordinary beast herds attempting to break through the line, thereby clearing sufficiently broad space for the Rank 3 clan elders to fight in.
The pre battle disposition of forces looked exceedingly reasonable and airtight.
Three separate Thousand Beast Kings.
Three battle groups.
Though Black Blood Stockade's side had just come through wave after wave of bloody battle and most were already utterly exhausted, they were by no means without the power to resist.
"Do not covet merit! Do not seek the kill, seek only to stall!"
Lin Zhen's furious roar echoed across the battlefield.
"So long as we nail them down here, we've won!"
In truth, in the earliest stage of the battle, this conservative tactic of restraint did indeed stabilize the situation for a time.
On Lin Zhen's side, the power of Rank 3 peak stage erupted in full, forcibly withstanding the Tiger King's most savage pounces; on the Deer King's side, the two clan elders had smoothly spread out their formation; and on the giant lizard battlefield where Lin Mu was, their handling of the situation appeared even more composed than the rest.
In midair.
The Green Wing Gu behind Lin Mu's back beat lightly as he looked down upon the Crimson Armored Giant Lizard King below from on high, his gaze exceedingly calm.
Because he had personally exchanged blows with it before, Lin Mu was already quite familiar with this colossal creature's offensive patterns.
In this clash, he was noticeably far more composed than the first time.
"Go."
Lin Mu's thoughts stirred.
The pitch black Iron Chain Gu was like a viper darting from its den!
But this time, he no longer chose to contest brute strength with the giant beast. Instead, every time the Giant Lizard King prepared to gather force for a charge, he continuously coiled around and interfered with its thick hind legs, disrupting its center of gravity and its turning movements.
At the same time.
Streak after streak of dark golden light swept down from midair.
The Metal Sever Leaf Gu deliberately came down upon those old wounds previously left in the Giant Lizard King's scaled armor.
"Shhk! Shhk!"
Blood sprayed.
The Giant Lizard King grew ever more violent under this ceaseless harassment, yet it consistently found it difficult to truly break through the restraint of the three of them.
The other two Rank 3 clan elders responsible for frontal combat soon perceived— this young, newly promoted clan elder really did understand this brute better than they did.
With Lin Mu's coordination, the Giant Lizard King's originally unstoppable momentum of advance was in fact firmly suppressed in place by the three of them.
However.
An unexpected change erupted!
Among the three battle groups, the Deer King's battlefield — the one originally judged to have the weakest frontal destructive power and the relatively lowest pressure — was the first to go wrong!
That grey green furred Thousand Beast Deer King, after being intercepted by the two clan elders and the elite squad, seemed at last to lose its patience.
It began to truly— run at full speed!
Only at this moment did the two clan elders discover, to their horror, that this Deer King's speed when it truly erupted vastly exceeded their earlier assessment!
"Surround it! Don't let it break through!"
One clan elder shouted sternly.
The two of them, one left and one right, attempted to form a pincer and forcibly bring the Deer King to a halt.
However.
Mid sprint, the Deer King's forehooves abruptly stamped down upon an ancient tree growing sideways across its path!
"Crack!"
The thick trunk shattered on the spot.
Borrowing the force of that single stamp, its slender body suddenly launched into the air and violently wrenched its direction around in midair!
Then, treading in succession upon tree trunks and mountain rocks, several exceedingly agile leaps forcibly carried it around the two clan elders' frontal blockade!
"Not good!"
The pupils of that Rank 3 clan elder assigned to plug gaps in the rear abruptly contracted.
He had just moved to channel a defensive Gu worm from his aperture—
But it was too fast!
Those pair of exceedingly sharp, enormous antlers, like great sprawling branches of withered wood, had already come slamming toward his eyes with a shriek that tore the air apart!
BAM—!!!
A terrifying crash rang out, setting teeth on edge.
That Rank 3 clan elder did not even have time to scream.
The defensive light that had just risen before his chest and abdomen shattered in an instant!
The next moment.
His body was struck head on as if by a siege ram slamming in at high speed. The sound of bones snapping was clearly audible as his entire person, spewing blood wildly, was sent flying backward!
And the vast deer herd charging behind the Deer King poured through the breach their beast king had torn open, like floodwater bursting a dam, crashing straight into the defensive formation assembled by the surrounding low rank elites!
Screams and cries of alarm rose all at once in a single wave.
Only now did everyone truly understand.
In terms of raw power and frontal destructive force, this Thousand Beast Deer King perhaps genuinely could not compare to that tyrannical Tiger King.
But— it was too fast!
So fast that two Rank 3 Gu Masters simply could not lock down its trajectory of movement for the time being, much less form an effective encirclement!
In the short term, their numerical advantage could hardly be brought to bear at all!
"Save them! Plug the breach!"
Lin Zhen, hearing the commotion from the distant Tiger King battlefield, abruptly turned his head, his eyes nearly splitting with rage, and instinctively wanted to break away to go rescue them.
But in the very instant his attention wavered—
"ROAR—!!"
That Thousand Beast Tiger King seized the opportunity with exceeding acuity.
Its blood basin maw, carrying a thick stench of rank wind, lunged and bit viciously down toward Lin Zhen's throat!
Lin Zhen's heart chilled.
Snow Silver Primeval Essence circulated madly!
Several Gu worms were channeled at once, and only thus, by the narrowest of margins, did he force it back head on.
Here on the Tiger King's side, the danger was every bit as extreme!
Lin Zhen could withstand the Tiger King's fiercest pounces head on, and with the other two clan elders restraining it desperately from the flanks, they could for the moment just barely maintain the situation.
But it was merely holding steady, nothing more!
"Grand Clan Elder! The Deer King's side can't hold! Should one of us go over to reinforce them?!"
One clan elder beside Lin Zhen shouted anxiously while struggling to evade the Tiger King's lunges.
Lin Zhen kept his eyes fixed on the Tiger King before him, its body crouched low, ready at any moment to launch another lethal strike.
He could not spare anyone!
Absolutely could not!
This Tiger King was simply too ferocious.
Even the three of them together were only barely stalling it.
The moment they were one man short, the fragile balance here would very likely collapse in an instant.
"We can't move!"
Lin Zhen clenched his teeth and could only shout sternly toward Lin Mu in the distant sky:
"Lin Mu!"
"Go plug that deer!"
Lin Mu, hovering above the giant lizard battlefield, naturally heard this order as well.
His brows instantly knitted tight.
His own giant lizard battlefield had in fact been the most stable of the three battle groups.
But now.
The Deer King's line had collapsed.
If that Thousand Beast King of extreme speed were allowed to truly charge into the heartland behind the defensive line, the consequences would be unthinkable.
He had to go.
Lin Mu lowered his head and glanced at that Crimson Armored Giant Lizard King, whom they had suppressed into a state of endless fury.
Then he looked toward the distant line already torn open by the deer herd, flesh and blood flying.
He did not hesitate long.
Rattle rattle rattle!
With exceeding decisiveness, Lin Mu withdrew the pitch black iron chain coiled around the Giant Lizard King's hind leg.
"I'm leaving this to the two of you for now!"
He shouted down at the two clan elders below.
The Green Wing Gu behind his back unfurled thunderously!
Primeval Essence surged wildly.
His entire person instantly became a streak of jade green light, charging straight for the Deer King's battlefield.
"I'm going to the Deer King's side!"
However.
With Lin Mu's departure, that stable triangle formed of three men, which had just barely been able to restrain the Crimson Armored Giant Lizard King, immediately lost its single most crucial point of control.
"Hissss—!"
Freed from the iron chain's shackles, the Crimson Armored Giant Lizard King immediately felt the pressure upon it plummet.
A flash of savagery passed through those cold vertical pupils.
Its enormous body pressed low once again.
All four limbs abruptly surged with force!
Ignoring the attacks of the remaining two clan elders, it began once more to roll slowly toward Black Blood Stockade's defensive line, like a moving crimson hill!
To save one breach meant a sudden surge of pressure at another.
The three way balance they had barely maintained at last began to show genuine cracks.
...
On the other side.
Lin Mu arrived at the Deer King's battlefield at high speed.
Yet the instant he joined the fight, he immediately realized— he had likewise underestimated just how troublesome this Thousand Beast King was.
The Green Wing Gu did indeed grant Lin Mu the qualification to just barely keep pace with the Deer King.
But that did not mean he could easily bring this brute to a halt!
The Deer King leapt continuously between tree canopies, boulders, and steep slopes, borrowing force with each bound.
Every landing was almost nothing more than the lightest touch.
The next instant, it had already appeared several zhang away.
The agility of its movements.
The strangeness of its trajectory.
It was enough to make one's scalp crawl.
Lin Mu, suspended in midair, truly felt for the first time that the aerial mobility he had always taken pride in could hardly be called any absolute advantage at all before a Thousand Beast King that genuinely specialized in speed and agility!
"Go!"
Lin Mu's thoughts stirred.
The Iron Chain Gu shot through the air like a viper, attempting to seal off the Deer King's forward path in advance.
But the Deer King merely tapped its forehooves lightly against the trunk of an ancient tree.
Its body abruptly wrenched to the side!
The pitch black iron chain brushed past it in vain.
Lin Mu brought his fingers together like a sword.
A dark golden Metal Sever Leaf came shrieking down from high above!
Shhk!
The sharp blade barely, with the greatest difficulty, grazed the Deer King's body, but only sheared off one branching section of the antlers atop its head, leaving a shallow bloody mark upon that grey green hide.
It simply could not strike any true vital point.
Let alone inflict grave injury!
Lin Mu could only chase that ever flickering grey green afterimage, constantly changing direction and cutting it off through the dense forest.
Ungainly.
Passive.
But at least after he joined, the remaining clan elder finally regained the opportunity to coordinate.
After an exceedingly strenuous back and forth, the Deer King's momentum toward penetrating deeper into the heartland was at last just barely suppressed.
Yet the cost was equally obvious— Lin Mu was now utterly pinned down here.
He had to devote the overwhelming majority of his energy to the Deer King, unable to break away to attend to any other battlefield at all!
Just then.
Buzz—buzz—!
The Sound Transmission Gu at Lin Mu's waist shook violently.
From within came the nearly hoarse, furious roars of those two clan elders on the giant lizard battlefield:
"Lin Mu! Get back here!"
"This brute has gone mad! We can't hold!"
"The direction of the Crimson Armored Giant Lizard King—"
"The defensive line is starting to fall back!"
Lin Mu, up in midair, had his eyes locked fixedly upon the Deer King, not daring to divert the slightest attention.
Hearing this plea for aid, his temple twitched faintly.
For the first time, an uncontrollable flare of anger surged in his heart.
Damn it, these brutes…
Three battlefields.
Every one of them had seemed to be assigned a sufficient number of clan elders.
They had seemed to form a closed defensive loop capable of mutual support.
But in reality, their forces were only enough to just barely stall these three separate Thousand Beast Kings in place.
The moment any one of those positions produced even the slightest change beyond expectation—
One shift would ripple through the entire formation.
One breach brought out another breach.
And then a third.
The loss of balance.
Had already begun.