The explosion ended, leaving the surroundings in ruins.
The surviving members of the Qianyu and Wolf Head tribes, their bodies covered in scars and barely able to stay airborne, watched Li Qiudao and his companions retreat leisurely. They lost all courage to pursue.
The leader of the Qianyu tribe gritted his teeth, feeling incredibly stifled. "I'll remember this grudge, and I'll repay it sooner or later!"
The leader of the Wolf Head tribe's face was even darker; this was the second explosion he had experienced. The last time, tens of thousands of the tribe's elites had died, and almost all the old and young were wiped out. This time, another ten thousand elites were lost. Half of his tribe's elites were gone, leaving them as the weakest among the Eight Great Alien Races. His hatred ran the deepest, and he wished he could devour humanity. "Humans, keep being arrogant. When all of you self-destruct, let's see how you can deal with our army!" He had come to terms with it; humans were cutting off their noses to spite their faces, pursuing a path of self-destruction at the cost of an enemy.
The Qianyu tribe leader said to the Wolf Head tribe leader, "Humans are brave, but their losses are not small. I dare say they won't dare to self-destruct again."
The Wolf Head tribe leader glanced at him with disdain. Birds and beasts were naturally at odds, and they disliked each other. "Hmph, anyone can say such things." He turned and shouted, "Let's head back!"
The Qianyu tribe leader quickly stopped him and said, "This is a golden opportunity. I've already contacted the other tribes. We plan to encircle and annihilate this group of humans. Will you participate?"
As soon as he finished speaking, the Wolf Head tribe leader appeared before him as if teleporting. He was very close to the Qianyu tribe leader, staring directly at him, and asked through gritted teeth, "Is what you're saying true?"
The Qianyu tribe leader quickly retreated a few steps, creating distance between them, and said, "Of course, it's true! And the Cold Ice Dog tribe will also join!"
"The Cold Ice Dog tribe is willing to act?" He was quite surprised. In his eyes, the alien beast races were much shrewder; they would use others as cannon fodder, exhausting the enemy before engaging themselves. This time, the Cold Ice Dog tribe was personally participating, giving him hope for revenge. His chest heaved violently. "I will definitely participate. When do we start?"
The Qianyu tribe leader smiled and said, "We start now. They should have already made their move, and our two tribes will be the force driving towards this direction!"
"Understood. I'll go integrate the army and get our revenge." He was already impatient. Humans had self-destructed three times, and he had been harmed twice. With their vengeful nature, they wouldn't sleep well without revenge; some wolves were even directly angered into illness. Revenge would not wait overnight; the sooner, the better!
At that moment, shouts of killing suddenly came from afar. The Qianyu tribe leader heard the sound and rejoiced, "See? They've made their move. Let's hurry over. With our two tribes' armies blocking this path, we'll form a three-sided encirclement. The humans are finished!"
The Wolf Head tribe leader exclaimed excitedly, "Let's go! Today, we'll have a good fight." He charged out first, followed closely by his subordinates. The Qianyu tribe leader also led his army closely behind. The hundreds of thousands of soldiers from both tribes gave chase, a dense, black mass stretching as far as the eye could see. In the front were the Ninth-tier leaders, followed by Eighth-tier generals in the middle, Seventh-tier leaders at the rear, and soldiers below Seventh-tier at the very back. A vast expanse of black, the humans, glimpsing from afar, had already noticed the commotion.
Inside the base.
"Esteemed Elder, esteemed lords, we've just discovered movement from the alien races. They appear to be surrounding and killing Li Qiudao and others. Should we provide immediate support?"
The Elder was quite surprised. He sighed and said, "These alien races are truly rampant. I'll go down myself!"
As soon as he finished speaking, everyone tried to stop him. The Elder was their core figure; if anything happened to him, it would be troublesome. Their human cohesion would be lost, and the war would be impossible to fight.
The Divine Monk chanted a Buddhist mantra and said, "This humble monk is willing to lead my three thousand monks. Though the numbers are small, all are Seventh-tier or above, capable of resolving their predicament."
The Elder was overjoyed. "With the Divine Monk leading the way, this encirclement will surely be broken. On behalf of Li Qiudao and the others, I thank the Divine Monk."
The Charioteer, mounted on a white tiger, glanced at the Elder, yawned, and said, "I'll go too. There are quite a few of them, and my academy happens to have several Ninth-tier teachers with free time."
Since the Charioteer was going, others couldn't just stand by. One person produced a Ninth-tier expert, another brought a few high-tier subordinates, and soon a powerful team was formed, comprising fifteen Ninth-tier powerhouses and over ten thousand Seventh and Eighth-tier experts.
When they gathered, they immediately set off. Seeing the crowd seeing them off, they waved their hands. "No need to see us off. Speed is of the essence. We're going!"
The group moved in a mighty procession down the mountain. To save time, only high-tier soldiers were chosen, allowing them to travel extremely fast. They soon caught up with the Yan Jun army.
At this moment, Yan Jun and his subordinates were in a difficult situation. Behind them was the base, and in front of them was a trap. Because the alien races had surrounded them from three sides, leaving only this one opening, they were waiting for them to enter before sealing it, making escape impossible. He was confident he could retreat unscathed, but the hundred thousand soldiers behind him would perish. The only way now was to wait for reinforcements and break through the clever trap with sheer force to resolve this crisis. Now that reinforcements had arrived, and they were all elite troops, he became full of confidence and joy.
"Divine Monk, Charioteer, you two are loyal friends, knowing to come and rescue me," Yan Jun joked.
The Charioteer pouted. "I say, Yan Jun, are you implying we weren't loyal before?"
The Divine Monk chanted a Buddhist mantra. He said in all seriousness, "Amitabha, esteemed benefactors, you must not argue."
The Charioteer and Yan Jun looked at each other and burst into laughter. The Charioteer pointed at the Divine Monk and said, "It's been centuries, and this young monk is still so serious."
Yan Jun also laughed. "Alright, alright, we'll listen to the Divine Monk and stop arguing. Getting back to the point, we need to discuss how to save people."
Mentioning this matter, the faces of the three became solemn. The Charioteer said, "The enemy hasn't attacked yet but has surrounded us from a distance, clearly intending for us to enter the encirclement and then be wiped out."
The Divine Monk also said, "If our strength is weak, they will surely devour us. If our strength is very strong, and we end up mutually destructive, then the alien beast army will attack, and we might suffer a crushing defeat. The best course of action is to save people without affecting the overall situation!"
Yan Jun nodded, strongly agreeing with their views; he thought the same way. He pondered for a long time and said, "This is an open stratagem. We must enter this encirclement, whether we want to or not."
The Charioteer sighed. "This is the only way. With our current strength, rescuing people shouldn't be a problem, but I fear the alien races will be ruthless and attack us regardless of casualties. At that time, we're likely to suffer heavy losses." They were well aware that humanity's weakness lay in the scarcity of top-tier combatants. If they lost several Ninth-tier powerhouses this time, the subsequent battles would be even more arduous.
Yan Jun pondered for a long time but couldn't make up his mind. At that moment, shouts of killing echoed from the distance. The three were greatly alarmed. "Not good, they've attacked Li Qiudao and the others early! This is a trap to lure us in!" "Damn it, we have to enter this trap anyway. How infuriating!" "Amitabha, this humble monk will go first as a vanguard!"