Volume 1, Chapter 57: Valley Ambush, Prelude to a Bloody Battle

Li Hexuan’s attacks were precise and lethal. Every arc of electricity acted like a surgeon’s scalpel, cutting accurately into the neurological centers of the predator warriors. The targets he struck didn't even have time to let out a single scream before their bodies turned charred and rigid, collapsing stiffly to the ground.

However, this could not stem the tide of the predators' onslaught. From the forest beneath the ridge, more towering figures surged forth, their stone spears and slings hissing through the air toward the ridge from every tricky angle. The sound of air being torn apart was sharp and piercing.

"Watch your flank!" Su Mengyi’s urgent voice rang out.

Before her words fully faded, seven or eight predators had already scaled the steep cliff face on one side. They were agile to an inhuman degree, using both hands and feet to sprint across the nearly vertical rock surface.

Zhang Nan let out a roar, sweeping his battle-axe horizontally to force back the enemies in front of him, but the attack on his flank was already upon him. He simply had no time to recover his defense.

At that very moment, the vines growing wildly on the ground suddenly came to life. Twisting and intertwining, they transformed into dozens of thick green tentacles, viciously lashing out at the predators pouncing from the flank.

Thud! Thud!

Amidst dull, heavy impacts, several predators were struck by the vines, falling off the cliff face with miserable shrieks.

"Well done, Sister Mengyi!" Zhang Nan roared, the pressure on him instantly easing.

Su Mengyi’s face was pale, the green light at her fingertips flickering faintly. Controlling plants to execute such violent attacks also took a massive toll on her.

The battle fell into a brief stalemate. Relying on their individual strength, which far exceeded ordinary combatants, and their tacit cooperation, the trio of Li Hexuan managed to hold their ground on the ridge against wave after wave of impact.

Yet, Li Hexuan’s heart kept sinking. These predators were even more troublesome than he had imagined. They were utterly devoid of fear, strictly disciplined, and possessed an exceptionally strong adaptability to the battlefield.

Upon discovering that frontal assaults were ineffective, they immediately altered their strategy. A portion of the warriors continued to apply pressure from the front, pinning down Zhang Nan’s attention. The rest dispersed, utilizing the terrain's advantages to relentlessly hurl stone spears from a distance, constantly harassing and wearing them down.

Their coordination was primitive and barbaric, yet terrifyingly efficient. This was not a mob of unorganized rabble at all, but a well-trained army.

Although Li Hexuan’s lightning was lethal, every strike required the consumption of his supernatural energy. Facing this endless stream of enemies, his power was draining rapidly.

The deadlock had to be broken. His gaze swept past the chaotic mass of fighting people below and locked firmly onto the center of the tribe—the massive totem pole.

And right beneath the totem pole, the hunched figure was still chanting incantations.

That aged shaman was the core of this encirclement. As long as he was killed, or that bizarre source crystal was destroyed, the momentum of these predators would likely collapse in an instant.

The very second Li Hexuan prepared to make his move, a sudden and drastic change occurred!

"Roar—!!!"

Deep within the tribe, the predator leader, standing nearly three meters tall and wielding a massive stone axe, finally lost his patience. His eyes, filled with tyrannical fury, locked relentlessly onto Zhang Nan, who was wreaking havoc at the front lines.

In his view, this equally towering and burly intruder was the most direct challenge to his authority. He raised his stone axe and let out a roar filled with provocative intent toward Zhang Nan’s direction.

Immediately afterward, he took heavy strides.

Thud! Thud! Thud!

With every step he took, the entire ridge trembled. He chose not to take the rugged path, but instead charged directly from the front into the battlefield with the most arrogant and brute posture.

The predator warriors blocking his path along the way hastily retreated to both sides, clearing a path for their chieftain, their faces filled with fanatical and reverent expressions.

A terrifying oppressive force instantly enveloped Zhang Nan.

"Brother Xuan, leave this guy to me!" Zhang Nan’s eyes were bloodred. Far from feeling fear, he was ignited with an infinite fighting spirit. The titan’s power within his body surged frantically at an unprecedented speed.

"Don't fight him head-on!" Li Hexuan’s voice rang out. "There's something wrong with his strength!"

"Li Hexuan... That stone... The energy fluctuation of that stone is resonating with him!" Su Mengyi’s voice, laced with a hint of incredulous horror, echoed directly in both of their minds. "He is drawing power from the totem!"

With the chieftain's charge, the head-sized, faintly glowing stone beneath the distant totem pole flared brilliantly!

Strands of energy, almost invisible to the naked eye, spanned a distance of hundreds of meters and connected to the chieftain’s body. The muscles on his frame expanded once more. Across the surface of his skin, the twisted symbolic tattoos seemed to come alive, emitting an ominous dark-red glow.

His momentum climbed step by step, faintly showing signs of breaking through high-tier superpower status and touching the threshold of the king tier!

"Give me... ten seconds!" Li Hexuan’s voice grew cold and resolute.

Zhang Nan did not ask why; he answered with his actions.

"Roar!"

He discarded all defense, pouring every ounce of his strength into the battle-axe in his grip, and charged head-on to meet the predator leader rushing toward him with destructive might.

The battle-axe and the stone axe collided fiercely in mid-air.

Clang—!!!!

A deafening roar capable of tearing eardrums exploded across the valley!

A terrifying wave of air rippled wildly outward with the two of them at the center. The surrounding predator warriors were blasted flying by this force, and even the ground was plowed into deep, gaping trenches.

Puff!

Zhang Nan spat out a mouthful of blood, his massive frame battered back step after step. With every step he retreated, he left a deep footprint in the hard rock. The arm gripping the battle-axe trembled uncontrollably, the web of his hand torn wide open and dripping with blood.

One strike was all it took to tell who was superior!

The predator leader merely swayed his body slightly before stabilizing his stance. He parted his lips in a cruel grin, raised his stone axe once more, and prepared to deal the fatal blow to Zhang Nan.

At that very moment, Li Hexuan moved.

Abandoning the hunt for the minor grunts, his figure flashed and he appeared atop a protruding rock.

He raised his right hand.

This time, he did not release scattered electric arcs. Instead, he compressed and re-compressed the surging lightning superpower within his body toward his palm in a frenzied manner!

The air seemed to freeze. All surrounding sounds vanished in that single instant.

A short spear, barely a foot long yet condensed as if it were a physical entity and made entirely of bright silver thunder, slowly materialized in his palm.

Across the surface of the short spear, lightning flowed, exuding an aura that could destroy all things. The space around it emitted groans of unbearable strain.

Li Hexuan’s complexion instantly turned a shade paler. This single strike had drained nearly thirty percent of his supernatural energy!

His target was not the predator leader close at hand, but the shaman in the distance beneath the totem pole—the one completely defenseless against all of this!

"Judgment."

He uttered the single word.

The thunder short spear in his hand transformed into a silent, silver streak of light and vanished from where it stood.

Its speed surpassed sound, transcending the visual limits of human eyes, and crossed the entire battlefield with an unreasonable posture.

Just as the predator leader’s stone axe was about to descend upon Zhang Nan’s head,
and just as the old shaman remained lost in his ritual,
the streak of light arrived.