The Beast King possessed an enormous body.
Although it was far from unintelligent, speed had never been the strength of its species. Compared to Zhao Mu, whose movements were swift and unpredictable, the Beast King was clearly at a disadvantage.
No matter how fiercely it attacked, it simply could not keep up with Zhao Mu's speed.
As it continued to be led around by the nose, the Beast King gradually fell into a state of uncontrollable rage.
Roaring furiously, it repeated the same attack it had used earlier.
The grotesque flesh hammer attached to its right arm rose high into the air as massive amounts of spiritual energy gathered around it. Crimson light flickered violently across the weapon before the Beast King slammed it heavily into the ground.
Boom!
A terrifying crimson shockwave exploded outward instantly, sweeping across the battlefield like a raging tidal wave.
Zhao Mu reacted immediately.
Without even a moment of hesitation, he drove his Heavenly Halberd into the ground and used the recoil to launch himself high into the air.
The next second, the crimson shockwave surged across the land beneath him.
The earth cracked apart violently as dust and rubble flew everywhere.
More than half of the Spirit Rune Diagram Path Zhao Mu had painstakingly carved into the ground was wiped away in an instant.
"It's unavoidable," Zhao Mu muttered while landing lightly on top of a ruined wall. "This is dirt terrain. Spirit Patterns are too easy to erase."
Even so, his expression remained calm.
Fortunately, he was not fighting alone.
The moment Zhao Mu landed, the Beast King let out another furious roar and hurled massive rocks and steel debris toward him.
The attacks rained down like a storm.
Yet Zhao Mu moved through the battlefield like a nimble ape, his body weaving effortlessly between the incoming projectiles.
Every movement was precise.
Every dodge was clean.
No attack could touch him.
At that moment, two additional groups finally entered the battlefield.
They quickly spread out into a triangular formation around the Beast King.
After witnessing the earlier disaster suffered by Shao Han's group, none of them dared approach the monster recklessly.
"Attack from long range!" Mo Guanguan shouted loudly. "No close combat! Buy time for Zhao Mu to carve the Spirit Rune Diagram!"
Shen Moran bit her lip unwillingly.
Although she disliked being ordered around, she forced herself to suppress her temper.
Everyone understood the danger they were facing.
This was a Combat Level 30 exotic beast.
One mistake was enough to get them killed instantly.
The two teams advanced into the massive sinkhole while the shield-bearers stood at the front, relying on Ember Remains shields to resist the Beast King's frontal attacks.
Some people instinctively reached for their bows and prepared to launch long-range attacks, but Zhao Mu immediately stopped them.
"Young Miss Mo! Qiuqiu! The two of you are responsible for attacking!"
His voice was rapid but steady as he issued commands while moving.
"You both possess powerful Ember Remains weapons capable of damaging the Beast King. Everyone else should focus entirely on strengthening the defensive shields!"
"Your attacks are meaningless against it. Save your spiritual energy and create opportunities for me to complete the Spirit Patterns!"
Hearing Zhao Mu's instructions, Meng Qiuqiu and the others immediately followed his arrangements.
Mo Guanguan, as team captain, did not object either.
Under Zhao Mu's command, the entire battlefield quickly stabilized.
Meanwhile, outside the trial grounds, Shao Han and the others had already been evacuated by giant eagles.
Medical personnel rushed forward to treat the wounded the moment they arrived.
As for the cadet soldiers who died in battle, the military had a strict protocol in place. Their remains would be handled properly before the news of their deaths was delivered to their families along with compensation from the Empire.
Shao Han sat silently in the corner of the monitoring room, gasping for breath.
Only now did he realize that his entire body was trembling uncontrollably.
The fear he had experienced earlier still lingered in his mind.
However, when he looked up at the battlefield footage and saw Zhao Mu and the others still fighting the Beast King, his expression immediately filled with disbelief.
"How… how are they still fighting?"
Shao Han stared at the screen in shock.
"That's a Combat Level 30 exotic beast! Fighting it is practically suicide!"
Hearing those words, Zhang Biao cast him a cold and disdainful glance.
"Suicide?" Zhang Biao sneered. "Then why are you still alive?"
Shao Han's face turned pale.
He clenched his fists tightly before forcing himself to explain.
"The casualty rate had already exceeded fifty percent," he argued weakly. "And the enemy was overwhelmingly stronger than us."
"In that situation, retreating was the logical choice."
Zhang Biao narrowed his eyes dangerously.
"What you described is the thinking of ordinary soldiers."
His voice suddenly rose like thunder.
"But you forgot something important!"
"The Qingfeng Camp exists to train elites!"
"It is the sharpest blade of the Empire!"
"Even if only one soldier remains alive, abandoning a mission because of fear is unacceptable!"
Zhang Biao's furious rebuke echoed throughout the monitoring room.
"If everyone feared death the way you did," he continued coldly, "then humanity would have been wiped out long ago by exotic beasts and the Dark Races!"
Shao Han lowered his head in shame.
His lips trembled slightly.
"I admit it," he whispered. "I was afraid."
"But this will be the first and last time."
Zhang Biao merely snorted and ignored him afterward.
Instead, his gaze returned to the battlefield footage.
Shao Han also looked up again.
This time, his pupils shrank.
Zhao Mu was currently using a fifty-meter-long strand of A-grade metal tough silk to maneuver around the Beast King at medium range.
The silk wrapped around ruined buildings and broken pillars while Zhao Mu swung across the battlefield like a tightrope walker.
His movements were astonishing.
Shao Han felt his face burning with shame.
He finally realized how cowardly he had been.
With two exclusive Ember Remains at his disposal, if he had fought bravely instead of retreating in fear, he would not have lost so miserably.
Even if defeat was inevitable, at least he could have stood his ground.
Most importantly, he finally realized something else.
He could have cooperated with Zhao Mu and the others.
But from the very beginning, he never considered that possibility.
Deep down, he had always hoped Zhao Mu would fail.
If Zhao Mu had died fighting the Beast King earlier, Shao Han might even have celebrated secretly.
That selfish mentality had become his greatest mistake.
He had underestimated the enemy and overestimated his own petty schemes.
Now, as he watched the cadet soldiers risking their lives on the battlefield, his emotions became unbearably complicated.
…
Back on the battlefield, the arrival of Mo Guanguan's group greatly reduced the pressure Zhao Mu was facing.
Among everyone present, Meng Qiuqiu was probably the person most afraid of dying.
Because of that fear, he decisively reached into the pouch attached to his combat suit and pulled out an entire box of purple Psionic Bullets.
Under the sunlight, the bullets emitted a strange violet glow.
The moment Zhu Meng saw them, his eyes widened in shock.
"Second-grade Psionic Bullets?"
His voice rose several tones higher.
"Exclusive ammunition for rich people!"
"One bullet costs fifty thousand Xuanfeng Coins!"
"Brother Meng, are you seriously planning to burn money like this?"
Meng Qiuqiu curled his lips proudly.
"What's wrong with burning money?"
"A man like me has plenty of it."
His family had always lived by a simple philosophy.
Money could always be earned again.
But once life was gone, everything was over.
That was why members of the Meng Family never hesitated to spend absurd amounts of money when their lives were on the line.
Meng Qiuqiu loaded the purple bullets into his second-grade Ember Remains Bobo Gun.
The moment he pulled the trigger, terrifying destructive power erupted from the weapon.
Bang! Bang! Bang!
Each bullet carried enormous spiritual energy.
Combined with the second-grade Psionic Bullet known as Amethyst, the attacks became unbelievably deadly.
Although Meng Qiuqiu's physical stamina was poor, his shooting accuracy was exceptional.
Against a massive target like the Beast King, missing was practically impossible.
Each shot exploded violently against the Beast King's body.
It was as if countless Xuanfeng Coins were being melted down and fired directly at the monster.
The Beast King roared in pain and fury.
When it attempted to charge toward Meng Qiuqiu's direction, another attack descended from the sky.
Flames erupted in the distance.
Mo Guanguan stood atop a ruined structure with the Twin Tiger Shaking Heaven Bow in her hands.
She released the bowstring.
A blazing arrow tore through the air like a meteor crashing from the heavens.
Boom!
The fiery explosion forced the Beast King to halt its advance.
The coordinated attacks from both sides successfully bought Zhao Mu enough time to continue carving Spirit Patterns across the battlefield.
Because of the triangular formation, the Beast King constantly found itself exposed.
Whenever it attacked one direction, it inevitably revealed weaknesses to the other two groups.
Even as a Combat Level 30 creature, it could not defend against attacks from three directions simultaneously without leaving openings behind.
The Beast King became increasingly enraged.
Its crimson eyes glowed violently as spiritual energy gathered within its massive jaws.
The next moment, it unleashed several destructive spiritual waves toward the surrounding teams.
The attacks surged forward like compressed cannons of energy.
On one side, Shen Moran and Zhang Yuan led their group while desperately channeling spiritual energy into their defensive Ember Remains shields.
On the opposite side, Lu Yan and Zhu Meng did the same.
The pressure was immense.
Every impact shook their arms numb and forced them backward.
Yet despite struggling heavily under the Beast King's terrifying attacks, the defensive lines still held firm.
Because all of them understood one thing clearly.
As long as Zhao Mu completed the Spirit Rune Diagram…
They still had a chance to win.
Advance Chapters avilable on patreon (Obito_uchiha)