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"You've gone all out? Then I won't hold back!" Hou Jun roared.
Though he'd been evading the Fire Phoenix, it was merely a tactic to conserve strength, assuming Hou Xiu and the others would easily crush Lan An. But seeing them unleash their full power and still fail, Hou Jun refused to lag behind.
"Heaven and Earth Manifestation!" he bellowed.
The Mid Heaven-Grade technique of the Fire Monkey Clan activated, his body and bow swelling to colossal size. The battlefield teemed with giants, Lan An now the smallest figure.
SCREECH
The Fire Phoenix, facing a towering foe, let out a piercing cry. Its wings, blazing with Alien Fire, swept toward Hou Jun.
"Earth-Shattering Wheel!" Earth Hedgehog's low, rumbling voice echoed. His massive form curled into a spiked, ironclad wheel, abandoning Lan An to charge the Fire Phoenix.
SCREECH
Enraged by the attack, the Fire Phoenix diverted from Hou Jun, spewing purple flames at the wheel. The wheel's earthen shell, fortified by dense Earth Spirit Energy, repelled the Alien Fire, shielding Earth Hedgehog from harm.
"Great job, Brother Hedgehog! Hold that bird I'll handle the human!" Hou Jun, elated by the support, rode a giant Fire Cloud, retreating swiftly.
A massive flaming arrow formed, loosed toward Lan An with amplified power from his Heaven and Earth Manifestation.
"Leave the human to you three!" Earth Hedgehog rumbled, his defensive prowess ideal for stalling the Fire Phoenix, despite his weaker offense.
"Troublesome!" Lan An's eyes sharpened, dodging Hou Jun's giant arrow with Phantom Wanderer Steps.
"Die!" Hou Xiu, having smashed the Wood Turtle into the ground, swung his flaming Blazing Trident at Lan An.
WHOOSH
Lan An's Speed Shift flickered, relocating instantly.
"Foolish human! Only know how to run?" Bat Jie's mocking laugh echoed from the shadows. His burned, gaunt arm wielded a sharp scythe, slicing at Lan An's neck.
"Scram!" Lan An spun, a jade pendant in hand. He crushed it, hurling it into the void.
BOOM
An earth-shaking explosion of Ice Spirit Energy erupted, a nuclear blast in the sky. Bat Jie's final thought "How is this possible?" faded as his bat form froze and shattered, dead beyond revival.
"What was that?!" The watching beasts leapt in shock, minds reeling. A Heavenly Beast Ranking assassin prodigy, dead in an instant, was unthinkable.
"That pendant held an Ice-Element expert's strike, at least Peak Spirit Transformation!" Elder Third Hou and the other Sixth-Order beast muttered from the shadows.
Having anticipated the blast, Lan An had already distanced himself. The pendant, looted from the Han Clan's Third Elder, contained Clan Leader Han Du's full-power strike. Tired of Bat Jie's ambushes, Lan An had planned this lethal trap, executed flawlessly.
WHOOSH WHOOSH WHOOSH
Three giant flaming arrows shot from Hou Jun's bow. The grounded Wood Turtle dissipated, replaced by a new, pristine one shielding Lan An.
SIZZLE
The arrows struck the turtle's shell, their flames consumed by Devouring Heaven Wood, fizzling out. Lan An's defense held.
"His Spirit Energy seems endless! Using so many techniques without faltering!" Elder Third Hou growled from hiding.
"Terrifying! Anyone else would've been drained. The more exceptional he is, the more he must die!" the other Sixth-Order beast's killing intent surged.
Though unharmed, Lan An hadn't landed decisive blows either.
"This can't go on," he thought, scanning the battlefield with Thousand-Mile Vision. An idea sparked. His hands overlapped, the Three Cauldrons humming as a tri-colored energy orb formed.
"That monstrous palm again? No way!" The beasts screamed in panic.
Last time, Lan An's sneak attack on the Unicorn Eagle King caught them off guard, but now, seeing him prepare the Harmony Palm, they reacted. A barrage of attacks aimed to disrupt him.
WHOOSH WHOOSH WHOOSH
Hou Jun, eyes blazing with killing intent, fired relentlessly to stop the palm. Hou Xiu, face twisted, stomped his cloud, swinging his Trident Mountain Splitter.
"Fusing three Spirit Energies into a palm? Incredible!" Hu Yu Yan, ignoring Bat Jie's fate, stared at the orb, estimating she couldn't block it even at full strength. Her curiosity about Lan An deepened.
"Weak!" Lan An sneered at the Monkey twins' desperate attacks. With a thought, the Wood Turtle blocked most strikes. His Harmony Palm grew, its formation faster with practice.
"Run!" The Monkey twins, terrified, shrank from Heaven and Earth Manifestation, fleeing.
Three Heavenly Beast Ranking prodigies one dead, two fleeing was a slap to U Yuan Continent's face, branding its beasts as weak and cowardly. Lesser beasts hung their heads in shame.
"Damn cowards! I shouldn't have blocked that Phoenix for you!" Earth Hedgehog roared, defiantly facing the Fire Phoenix's flames, eyes wary of Lan An.
"Harmony Palm!"
With a shout, Lan An unleashed the palm. The Monkey twins' hair stood on end, despite their distance. But they'd misjudged Lan An's target wasn't them.
Locked in combat with Little Lion, Lang Keo's heart lurched, primal fear surging. Suppressed by Little Lion's lightning, his body scarred and numbed, he had less than a third of his strength left. Little Lion, though depleted, had only superficial wounds.
Both at Fifth-Order Early-Stage, Little Lion's destructive Lightning Attribute and superior speed outmatched Lang Keo's Earth Attribute, explaining his disadvantage.
Sensing Lan An's intent, Little Lion flashed with lightning, retreating to his side. Simultaneously, the tri-colored Harmony Palm tore through space, aimed at Lang Keo.
"No!!!!" Lang Keo's eyes filled with despair, his wounded body unable to flee.
"Shouldn't have meddled!" Regret consumed him as he braced for death.
Then, a twist.
"One death is enough!" a hoarse, aged voice boomed. Space before Lang Keo cracked.
At the critical moment, a gaunt figure appeared, its withered arm, wreathed in dense Earth Spirit Energy, grabbing the Harmony Palm.
Shockingly, the palm was halted. Yet its energy persisted, threatening to destroy the arm. The figure grunted in surprise, raising its other hand, surging with Spirit Energy. After a few breaths, the Harmony Palm dissipated.
The figure's trembling, peeling hands revealed the effort. "Filthy ant! You can't be spared!" it snarled, glaring at Lan An.
"Taking me seriously? A Sixth-Order beast!" Lan An mocked, though sweat beaded beneath his robe, his mind racing for escape.
Kim Nhi had identified the beast as Lang Cang, a Sixth-Order Mid-Stage Earth Wolf, as formidable as the Unicorn Eagle King at its peak.
Lang Keo, thinking himself doomed, opened his eyes, unharmed, and saw the figure. "Second Elder?" he cried, overjoyed.
Lang Cang, the Earth Wolf Clan's Second Elder, had intervened. Lang Keo hadn't expected a clan elder, though their territory was nearby.
"Well done, Little Keo! Far better than those monkeys!" Lang Cang praised.
"Hmph, that's strategy. Without you, he'd be a corpse!" a cold snort replied. Space beside Lang Cang split, revealing a robust, silver-furred monkey Elder Third Hou, a Sixth-Order Early-Stage Fire Monkey.
"Greetings, Elder Third Hou!" Lang Keo bowed, respecting the elder's status.
"Another Sixth-Order?" Lan An's face darkened. With a thought, the Fire Phoenix abandoned Earth Hedgehog, returning above him.
"Hmph, if you survive, I'll defeat you next time!" Earth Hedgehog thought, rolling away as a wheel, ignoring the Monkey elder out of disdain for the twins' cowardice.
"Little Lion, inside!" Lan An transmitted, knowing its speed was useless against Sixth-Order beasts. Alone, he had a better chance.
Trying to stay calm, he strategized. Little Lion, eyes tearing, roared reluctantly, letting Lan An store it in the Spirit Boundary Pearl.
Noticing Little Lion's disappearance, Elder Third Hou's eyes glinted. "A spatial treasure for living beings? Rare on U Yuan!"
Lang Cang nodded, dismissing Lang Keo. "Go heal. This human's dead today."
Lang Keo, preferring to defeat Lan An himself, knew his limits. Gritting his teeth, he left, certain of Lan An's doom.
"How do you want to die, ant?" Elder Third Hou scratched his head, grinning mockingly.
"My dictionary has no word for death! Sixth-Order beasts, Earth Wolf and Fire Monkey, huh? I'll remember you!" Lan An sneered, a Lesser Teleportation Talisman appearing.
"Not good! A teleportation talisman!" Lang Cang's face shifted.
"No worry, I'll lock space!" Elder Third Hou shrugged, raising a hand to seal the area.
"Yu Yan greets the seniors!" A pink flash appeared Hu Yu Yan, her seductive eyes casting Charm Technique, briefly stunning the elders.
"Damn!" When they recovered, Lan An had crushed the talisman, vanishing.
"You did that on purpose?" They glared at Hu Yu Yan, already displeased by her neutrality.
"What do you mean, seniors?" she blinked innocently.
"Hmph!" They snorted, unable to act against the powerful Fox Clan. As they prepared to tear space and leave, their divine senses detected a figure reappearing, their faces twisting with glee and malice.
Hu Yu Yan's expression darkened, worry etching her features. She'd saved Lan An once, but his luck was abysmal.
Less than a hundred miles away, still on U Yuan, Lan An reappeared.
"Damn it!" he cursed, assessing his surroundings.
The Lesser Teleportation Talisman teleported randomly, from a few steps to thousands of miles. But Lan An's luck had failed, moving him only a hundred miles within the Sixth-Order beasts' divine sense range.
Seeing Elder Third Hou and Lang Cang approach with sinister grins, Lan An frantically refreshed the Luck Shop, hoping for another talisman. After dozens of tries, wasting Prestige Points, none appeared.
"Looks like heaven's on our side, brat!" the elders taunted.
Closing the Luck Shop, Lan An knew time was up. Beneath the Proud Laughter Mask, his face was serene. "If it's come to this, let's see how strong a peak Sixth-Order beast is. Fight!"
"Ignorant arrogance!" The elders sneered.
Their expressions shifted as Lan An's black hair lengthened, turning golden, billowing in the wind. Behind the mask, his silver eyes turned domineering, scorning all creation. An invisible aura erupted, overwhelming Hu Yu Yan, her legs weakening, instincts urging her to submit.
Heavenly Emperor First Transformation—Peerless Under Heaven.