Wei Huan returned.
It was not out of false modesty to think that their hand-picked pioneer team was inferior to anyone else. Even when facing Captain Fang William from the Vermilion Bird Legion, some leaders in the Azure Dragon Legion were secretly unconvinced. Although the strongest Challenger in the Azure Dragon Legion did not achieve the world's number one spot, they had one Challenger in the top five, two in the top ten, and over ten in the top hundred. Each one was a seasoned powerhouse, a hero forged on the battlefield. Every one of them was fiercely proud and extraordinary.
However, Wei Huan was special. In their eyes, it was like watching their own younger brother grow up and catch up. Every one of them had boundless tolerance and expectation for Wei Huan, even wishing for him to shine brightly. They did not mind if he overshadowed their own achievements; they were even more willing to join forces to lift him to the highest, most brilliant position.
"Wei Huan is back."
This simple sentence brought smiles of joy to the faces of the captains stationed on the city wall. In fact, the moment Wei Huan landed on the city wall, he received a notification.
[Azure Dragon Pioneer Corps Leader confirms opening the live stream. Live stream countdown: 10 seconds.]
[10...]
It was as if they could not wait to showcase their own child's achievement to the world. Wei Huan glanced at Mu Zhong, who was also a little surprised. But the two exchanged a look and were not opposed to this display of power. Hide your forces when weak; display them to deter when strong. It was time to announce to the world: Wei Huan has arrived!
---
After the Challenger World descended, humanity on Blue Star changed their time to "Challenger Time," which was perfectly synchronized with the time in the Challenger World. Daxia's time was the closest to the Challenger World. When it got dark at 6:00 PM in the Challenger World, the sun was also setting behind the mountains in Daxia.
As the sky gradually darkened, working people who had returned home ate their dinner and, as usual, opened their phones to follow the large and small events in the Challenger World. Some scrolled through forums, others watched live streams. The hottest topic on the forums these past two days was the Tier 5 world assessment, where only two names appeared on the Champion Leaderboard. The first was Wei Huan's Vehicle, and the second was Yake' Vehicle. Challengers who had not crossed the finish line could not be listed, but even in the most difficult assessment, the third spot should not have been vacant. Whether it was Wei Huan, who was always a high-frequency search term, or Yake, who had also recently become a trending topic, the forums had been buzzing about this matter for the past few days.
In contrast, those who disliked forums and preferred watching live streams found things much less exciting. The live stream channels featured the opening of Silver Treasure Chests every day. The standard tactical procedures and formulaic combat styles made viewers drowsy, but they did not know what else to do. Humanity on Blue Star had abandoned other forms of entertainment; everything they paid attention to and loved was related to the Challenger World. Even celebrity idols were first powerful Challengers, and only then admired for their handsome or beautiful appearance.
Everyone assumed today would be another boring day. After nightfall, the Pioneer Corps in the Tier 5 world had ceased activities and rested. Only Challengers in the Tier 4 world would use this time slot for star live streams. Today, the live stream right was snatched by a group of people from the Three Kingdoms. They seemed to belong to a religious organization from the Three Kingdoms, and their strength was considerable, as they were developing a Gold-level Ruin. Daxia's people were uninterested, and some immediately left the stream after seeing the Challengers were from the Three Kingdoms. The seventy million people currently watching the live stream were likely mostly from the Three Kingdoms. Occasional bullet comments floated across the screen, saying things like, "Our Three Kingdoms is strong indeed! I heard Daxia and Aosam both wanted to stream during this time slot, but we won in the end. Our heroes must fight hard!"
[Three Kingdoms is the strongest!]
[Our Three Kingdoms is the greatest. The divine one is watching over us.]
In the live stream, the Challengers who had already completed their troop deployment in front of the Gold Treasure Chest had just touched the chest when a low-tier Snow Beast in the form of a Tyrannosaurus leaped out. It was the expected monster. Gold-level Treasure Chests had a high probability of yielding an Ancient Race monster and a small probability of yielding a Royal Monster. Compared to encountering a Royal Monster, everyone preferred encountering a low-tier Ancient Race monster.
Before they could rejoice at the appearance of the low-tier Snow Beast, the Challengers in the stream suddenly changed their expressions and burst into panicked shouts. Quick-eared viewers distinguished their frantic cries.
[Why is the live stream switching?]
[Which faction is opening a treasure chest at this time?]
[Heavens, the Gold Treasure Chest is already open, but the live stream is gone! This must be the divine one's punishment for our greed.]
As these shouts were deciphered, the viewers watching the live stream were in an uproar and quickly shouted in the bullet comments, "They already opened the Gold Treasure Chest! Is this intentional?"
[Which country's conspiracy is this? Or is it a competitor?]
[Malicious competition! I hope the nation will step in and restore justice.]
The Three Kingdoms viewers were swearing profusely, while viewers from other countries, who were about to leave, stayed out of curiosity. It was already quite impressive to open a Gold Treasure Chest in the Tier 4 world. After the national Pioneer Corps left, the most powerful Challengers also departed. The Tier 4 world had not seen a faction pioneering a Gold Treasure Chest for a while. The last time was two months ago, when Peng Zheng of Daxia also gathered a large amount of combat power to compete for broadcast rights, but the spotlight was ultimately stolen by Daxia's "Rising Star Wei Huan."
However, unlike this time, Peng Zheng did not even enter the ruin entrance that time, allowing him to cut his losses when the stream was transferred. This time, the Gold Treasure Chest was already opened. Once the monster came out, they had no choice but to fight. But for non-official, private forces, their combat power was negligible. Opening a Gold Treasure Chest was practically a life-or-death gamble for a chance at fame. The Three Kingdoms religious organization was doing just that, taking a huge risk to secure today's broadcast rights because it was their religious "Divine Birth Day."
Unfortunately, man proposes, God disposes. As the Gold Treasure Chest Monster roared and charged toward the religious Challengers, the countdown on the screen ended.
The scene instantly switched, and the first thing everyone saw was complete darkness.
[It's nighttime.]
[The wilderness?]
[My goodness! The Tier 5 world!]
[Which Pioneer Corps is so aggressive that they are exploring a ruin in the middle of the night?]
[The development of a Silver Ruin in the Tier 5 world cannot compete with a Gold Treasure Chest in the Tier 4 world, right?]
[That depends on the total combat power involved. The Tier 5 world is full of true powerhouses. Any random Vehicle that shows up has a higher total combat value than that group from the Three Kingdoms.]
The last comment was, of course, not from the Three Kingdoms people, who were too frustrated to speak. Some of the Three Kingdoms viewers were still cursing, perhaps fantasizing that their swearing could change reality.
Just as everyone was chatting nonchalantly, a different voice finally appeared in the bullet comments.
[Ahhhh! A siege battle??]
[Holy cow, a siege battle, brothers! A beast tide siege battle! The Pioneer Corps rarely streams these! We're rich, we're rich!]
[Message has been group-sent. The main force is on the way.]
[Posted it on my Moments. This is awesome. Can't miss it.]
[Hehe, ho ho ho, tsk tsk tsk, tee hee hee. Tonight won't be boring.]
One after another, more and more people started zooming in on the picture, finding the location of the imminent battle on the boundless ocean. It was an island that looked somewhat heart-shaped from above. Although the live stream adjusted the brightness, the image was still much darker than during the day. Many people strained their eyes to see this rare sight. Intelligence personnel from various countries, who had rushed over upon hearing the news, immediately began screen recording, wishing they had eight eyes.
In the Tier 5 world, the supply points and city-states of various national Pioneer Corps were confidential until their official opening was announced. Some viewers had never even seen the internal environment of a supply point under construction, as various countries inevitably incorporated secret national weapons into the construction, making public exposure unsuitable. For this reason, official Pioneer Corps teams were not keen on live streaming, especially Daxia's legions.
When everyone discovered that the Daxia national flag was flying over this supply point, and all the moving Vehicles inside the city walls were affixed with the Azure Dragon Legion emblem, they erupted in excitement!
[It's a Daxia live stream? Didn't Daxia always advocate for a low profile? Why the change?]
[The Azure Dragon Legion! Since Commander Hong fell after the Dark Beast sneak attack half a year ago, making them Daxia's weak link, I haven't seen an Azure Dragon Legion live stream in a long time.]
[They almost caused the downfall of humanity. They have no contingency or stress resistance. If they don't keep a low profile, who should?]
[You try it. Anyone can talk big. And their character is also lacking.]
[What are they doing? Is this a beast tide?]
[Suggest opening the minimap. This beast tide is intense. I'm a little nervous for our pioneering warriors.]
[Damn, what tier is this beast tide? It's all over the screen!]
[Tier 5 world monsters are super ferocious, and a beast tide of this intensity... let's pray for our warriors.]
[Praying together.]
[Praying +1.]
[Am I the only one curious? They never streamed before, so why today? Does anyone know the inside story?]
[I know! I saw him! Everyone, move your view to the front, outside the city wall! What do you see!?]
[Ahhhhh! My male god!]
[No way, no way! I was just talking about my male god on the forum! I get to see him with my own eyes!]
[Hehehe, ho ho ho, tsk tsk tsk, tee hee hee.]
As the bullet comments in the live stream suddenly went insane, more and more people found the true protagonist who was making a dominant appearance in this live stream. It was a vehicle located at the front of the battlefield, outside the city walls, directly facing the beast tide. The original white vehicle was rarely seen in the Tier 5 world, making it appear simple, unadorned, and pure.
Four Teleportation Gates appeared on the left and right sides of the vehicle. From the swirling portals, a massive number of Undead creatures were pouring out. Although it was not the first time they had seen it, many people felt a sudden surge of excitement upon seeing the Undead being summoned. A recent topic of discussion had been: What is Wei Huan's true combat power ranking?
Nearly half of the people participating in that discussion believed that Wei Huan's true combat power was likely the world's number one. He could form an army single-handedly and oppose a thousand troops. The Undead army also possessed the characteristic of being unkillable; once the initial summoning was completed, the cost of resurrection was almost negligible. Fighting an Undead army that felt no pain and could not be killed was a despairing prospect. Even if Captain Fang William had tougher skin or Aglis' Dark Magic dealt more damage, they would likely be worn down and killed in a prolonged battle against the Undead army. The only way to deal with Wei Huan was to kill him, but killing him was extremely difficult since he was constantly protected. Therefore, Wei Huan, who was invincible from the outset, could indeed be called the strongest.
The only point of contention now was that he was only a Tier 4 Sequence. The deficiency in Life Tier was an unavoidable hard limit. Nevertheless, no one doubted that Wei Huan was a powerhouse anymore. Nor would anyone believe that his third-place ranking on the combat power leaderboard was unwarranted.
Reality was as such. When Wei Huan's combat power was still outside the top ten, many people believed he had some fraudulent elements or that the contributions he had made to humanity thus far were deliberately orchestrated by the Azure Dragon Legion and credited to him. Now, people with such thoughts were gradually decreasing, even disappearing entirely. A master can maintain a disguise for a short time, but not consistently. Wei Huan's strength was something he could not hide, even if he deliberately feigned a low profile.
Just like now, as the live stream began, everyone quickly found the position they needed to follow with their view: that vehicle, and the person inside. He was the undisputed focal point. His power and renown were like a spotlight, drawing everyone's attention.
The Undead army charged out. Leading the charge were the Zombie War Bears and the Swift Wolves. They were like a torrent, colliding head-on with the landing beast tide. One could even hear the simultaneous impact of the bodies of the combatants, that booming sound that made the air itself resonate. The air trembled. The scene was magnificent. A chaotic battle involving over ten thousand combatants in a canyon was rarely seen outside of major battlefields.
Human forces generally favored an elite strategy and relied heavily on vehicle combat. Therefore, in their battles against monsters, humans preferred to use mobile "kiting tactics." Such positional warfare was genuinely rare. After all, the Pioneer Corps rarely streamed beast tide defense battles, as that would expose too many of their secrets. So, when the Undead army crashed head-on into the beast tide, everyone who widened their eyes to witness the scene felt their scalps tingle.
[Awesome!]
[I love Necromancers! I love positional warfare!]
[Forming an army single-handedly is incredible!]
However, these cheers did not last long before the direction of the bullet comments shifted.
[Oh no! The Undead are losing to the beast tide?]
[After all, it's still only a Tier 4 Sequence Undead army. It lacks frontal combat ability.]
[Where's the Shaman? Where's your wife, Wei Huan? Quickly cast Bloodlust!]
[Suddenly starting to sweat.]
Wei Huan was also a little surprised. It was not his first time fighting a Tier 5 world monster, and he knew that being a tier lower would create pressure in the Tier 5 world. But engaging in actual combat confirmed that the assessment world had indeed suppressed the monsters' strength by about 20%. Now, the same Undead army clashing with a full-strength Tier 5 world monster was struggling considerably. It was not an exaggeration to call it a futile effort. In particular, he had intended to use a sufficient number of Running Wolves to replace the heavily damaged Zombie War Bears and block the beast tide at the "bottleneck" position, facilitating the next step of the plan.
He did not expect the Swift Wolf army to be unable to meet his requirements at all. There was no choice. Wei Huan silently issued a command.
Immediately, piercing cries rang out across the battlefield. "Caw! Caw!"
The "Status Master" Flying Monkey began to utilize its ability. The attribute boost provided by the Flying Monkey was relatively small, capable of only doubling a single, randomly chosen attribute. For instance, trying to boost the Zombie War Bear's Endurance but having the useless Spiritual Power attribute boosted was entirely unhelpful. The silver lining was that while getting a useful attribute from the Flying Monkey depended on luck, it had absolutely no side effects. It could even continuously boost an Undead one-on-one until the required attribute was achieved. For example, inappropriate attributes on the Elite Undead would be overwritten, which is why they were constantly "cawing, cawing, cawing" above their heads. As for the rest of the Undead army, they were a lower priority, so the boosts were more random.
As the Flying Monkey's cries rang out, those following Wei Huan's carriage noticed a somewhat skinny boy, whose face had gained some weight, wearing white gloves inside the vehicle. After a sweep in the void, he displayed a set of scales. The boy shouted, "I Judge: Great Victory!"
The boy's projection on the scales then leaped up and scattered starlight into the sky. Consequently, all the Undead and allied forces near the eastern section of the city wall received a "Judgment Boost" that doubled one attribute. With these two consecutive attribute boosts, the speed at which the previously vulnerable Undead army was dying finally slowed down. Those who knew Wei Huan understood that as long as the enemy could not clear most of the Undead from the field instantly, it was time for the Undead Scourge to overwhelm them and turn the tide.
At this moment, the advantage of the Running Wolf army's rapid deployment speed played a crucial role in this interception battle. The Gut-Bro, who had died once, made a "Ka-ka-ka" sound. From the eight Teleportation Gates, 24 Swift Wolves emerged per second from each gate, quickly returning to the battlefield. The Undead army was fearless in the face of the Sea Beasts' massive pincers and huge mouths. The Swift Wolves only needed to withstand one blow. After its "death," nearly two hundred Running Wolves would return to the battlefield. Thus, the defensive line, which had been pushed forward more than ten meters and was close to breaching the "bottleneck," was stabilized once more.
---
With the ground crisis averted, many people instinctively shifted their focus to the equally fierce battle in the sky. The weapons on the city wall and the ranged attacks from the Vehicles primarily targeted the sky. The aerial monsters, which were difficult to see clearly, looked like giant pterosaurs and could release Wind Blades. Their dark bodies blended with the darkness. Everyone felt that these pterosaur monsters were even harder to kill at night than they were during the day. Their skin had become tougher with the night's enhancement, and the intensity of their Wind Blades was also increasing.
"Whoosh!"
"Boom!"
A pterosaur monster broke through the firepower interception network and shot an invisible Wind Blade within range, striking the city wall. A long, three-meter-long indentation instantly appeared on the alloy city wall, reaching a depth of one meter at its deepest point. A Wind Blade of this power could injure even a Martial King, and it would likely kill any Challenger with weaker defense.
The Tier 5 world was truly formidable; even these common, small monsters could hit hard. And there was more than just one or two pterosaur monsters breaking through the defense network and landing an attack.
These monsters, also manipulated by the Challenger World, felt no pain and fought relentlessly. They would charge to the city wall at the very last moment, even if it meant certain death, to land a hit. Less than three minutes into the battle, a section of the city wall was shaved off, revealing the vehicles hidden behind the fortifications. The vehicles did not leave their positions, constantly launching ranged attacks from both the Professionals inside and the vehicles themselves. However, the difficulty of their situation prompted them to use their ultimate abilities sooner rather than later.
Suddenly, the Geng Metal magical elements around a vehicle became intensely concentrated. Then, a blurry phantom appeared in the sky. Its appearance was indiscernible, but the weapon in its hand was visible: a gigantic golden iron rod, seemingly capable of piercing the sky. The iron rod descended as if the sky itself were falling, carrying the sound of rushing wind and unimaginable destructive power. Where it passed, all the pterosaur monsters shrieked and were instantly pulverized into a bloody mess, pushing the encroaching aerial defense line back another notch.
This was undoubtedly a strike from a Tier 5 Forbidden Spell Master of the Metal Element. Furthermore, after the iron rod killed over ten pterosaur monsters, its momentum did not diminish, and it continued to smash toward the ground. The angle was controlled with extreme precision and skill, avoiding the location of the Undead army and striking directly behind the bottleneck. The impact caused the ground to tremble for a moment. A conical area was instantly cleared, the monsters within the zone turned into bloody mud scattered everywhere.
[Forbidden Spell Master, terrifying indeed.]
[A super powerful Forbidden Spell Master! No flaws except for the long cooldown.]
[The power of the Sage Sequence is fully unleashed at Tier 5. That one strike must have eliminated at least a thousand of the beast tide, right? If the Pioneer Corps cultivates more Forbidden Spell Masters, even with long cooldowns, a rotating strike from each of them would overwhelm any beast tide.]
[Forbidden Spell Masters are indeed formidable, but that strike didn't kill a thousand. It was probably around five hundred. Also, the attack had such a massive effect because the Undead army was jamming the bottleneck, concentrating the beast tide. Otherwise, a linear attack like that wouldn't kill five hundred.]
Just then, the General Commander clearly issued a new order. Concentrated Earth Element magical elements simultaneously appeared on three other Vehicles. Following this, a terrifying earthquake struck the bottleneck position.
Deep chasms suddenly appeared, like the massive jaws of monsters, swallowing a huge number of the beast tide. A large section of the Sea Beasts vanished into thin air. The exact number was unknown, but a ten-second gap appeared in front of the Undead army.
The Earth Element Forbidden Spell Masters had acted. The effect was even stronger than the Metal Element, especially against a clustered ground-based monster horde; the lethality was astonishing. Furthermore, Wood Element Forbidden Spell Masters also intervened, controlling vines to grow from the ground, wrapping around the earth. Thorns grew from the vines, piercing the Sea Beasts' bodies, either sucking blood, implanting seeds, or constricting them. In a short time, the monsters were killed in a myriad of strange ways.
The intervention of the Forbidden Spell Masters allowed the Undead army to reclaim the crucial interception line, securing the elevated position at the bottleneck once more.