"Squad Leader, we can't hold them back any longer."

"Hold on a little longer, reinforcements are almost here."

"Reinforcements, what reinforcements? If they really existed, they should have arrived by now."

A City Guardian of Deep Blue City leaned against the city wall, slowly sliding down, leaving a trail of blood.

He was severely injured, yet the rescue he awaited never came.

The Spirit Contract Masters responsible for healing were utterly overwhelmed.

Located at the rear of the city, they were experiencing the brutality of the frontlines for the first time.

Not far away, humans and the Insect Race were locked in bloody combat, almost a one-sided battle.

Tens of thousands of Deep Blue City's City Guardians were no match for the Insect Race, outnumbering them by millions.

Not to mention, the combat power of Spirit Contract Masters in Deep Blue City was far inferior to that of the frontline Combat Spirit Contract Masters.

They were able to hold this long only because, after the Han Zhan incident, they resolved to train themselves diligently.

But even so, they were almost at their limit!

Standing on the city wall, one could see the dense hordes of Insect Race swarming in, seemingly endless.

It wasn't just the Spirit Contract Masters.

The barrage of artillery on the city walls, with heavy firepower covering large areas of the Insect Race, allowed humans to hold out for a long time under its cover.

All neighboring cities that could send reinforcements had already done so, but it was only a drop in the bucket.

The absence of any sign from the main reinforcement troops of the war zone gave rise to a growing sense of dread.

"Go, retreat into the city! I'll hold them here, go quickly!" The squad leader pulled up the fallen team member and forcefully dragged him toward the walls of Deep Blue City.

A Tier Three Insect Race creature locked onto him.

It was a gigantic Bee Beast, covered with strange spines, its wings vibrating as it left a shadow in the air, moving too fast for any reaction.

From its tail, it fired venomous stingers.

These stingers easily pierced the squad leader's body.

His face twisted in pain and venom, yet he stubbornly tried to save his comrade.

But the merciless Insect Race, along with that Tier Three Bee Beast, had already prepared its next attack.

Despair spread in that instant.

Suddenly, a sharp sound cut through the air near their ears.

A Zither Sound Air Blade cleaved the sky.

The Bee Beast in the air was sliced in half, blood splattering everywhere.

"You all go quickly." A woman of striking beauty approached from behind them, holding a guqin in her arms, speaking as she stepped to the front.

She began plucking the strings consecutively.

Swarms of Tier Three Bee Beasts in the sky died in a blood spray, as if cutting down rice, a sight that left the two stunned.

Before they could react, two streams of spiritual power were injected into their bodies, reviving the squad leader and his teammate instantly.

Another beautiful woman appeared.

"They are Han Zhan's two Contracted Spirits!" The squad leader, being a member of Yi Fan's City Guardian Organization, was aware of Han Zhan and knew that Han Zhan had two exceptionally powerful Contracted Spirits, having seen their photos.

Suppressing his excitement, he refrained from idle chatter with them and did not return inside Deep Blue City, but with a look of mutual understanding, nodded in thanks and quickly rejoined the battle elsewhere.

If they also retreated, who would stand at the forefront?

Depend on those innocent citizens of Deep Blue City?

Witnessing this, Xia Youwei pressed her lips together.

She said nothing, nor did she try to stop them.

Fighting or retreating was an individual's choice, and it's not for others to question.

"Casualties are too high, Lingzhen, no word from the teacher yet?"

"None, Grandpa mentioned he had something to handle and then couldn't be reached again. Now Deep Blue City is amid an Insect Race crisis, why are the battlefront reinforcements taking so long? It's been three hours and they're still not here?"

"Just us won't be enough; the battlefield only has Tier One, Two, and Three Insect Race cannon fodder now, and fighting is already this hard. Once Tier Four, Five, or even Six and Seven Insect Races emerge, how will we hold on?"

"Fortunately, after the teacher's special training, we broke through to Tier Five, otherwise we might not even be able to protect ourselves."

Xia Youwei still held her killer move, but couldn't use it just yet.

The battlefield changes rapidly, requiring the right moment.

"What about Ah Zhan, hasn't he come out from the Bodhi Treasure Tree World yet?"

Li Lingzhen glanced at the well-protected sapling inside the Shennong Cauldron, shaking her head.

...

Upon the sea.

A figure fell heavily, causing the seawater in a radius of tens of thousands of meters to seemingly boil, evaporating in an instant.

Soon, new seawater surged to fill the void.

Li Shutong wiped the blood from the corner of his mouth; his body now bore dozens of wounds, some light, some severe.

In the distance, insect shadows flickered.

A dozen Tier Nine Insect Emperors, exuding a Tier Nine aura, appeared in the mist from all directions, some already battered beyond recognition, with only six to seven barely holding together.

Besides them, Void Mad Beasts and others appeared one after another.

They were aware of Li Shutong's prowess in close combat, typically indicating exceptional stamina, exceeding power recovery, resilience, and strong attacking abilities, hence their deliberate setup of this guerrilla battle.

"Hey, Li Shutong. After dealing with these Mirage Peal-simulated Insect Emperors, how's your stamina holding up? You seem fine, but your energy must be heavily depleted."

It was an overt tactic.

Li Shutong was aware of the existence of the underwater transmission vortex; to completely stop this catastrophe, he must destroy the transmission vortex.

They bet that Li Shutong wouldn't retreat at this moment, as if he chose to flee, they would advance on all of Deep Blue City, and adjacent cities, with human blood as tribute.

Li Shutong knew it as well.

Deep Blue City currently had only him, a Tier Nine human powerhouse, holding the line. If he left now, it would spell an unimaginable disaster.

He couldn't retreat.

"These poultry low-lives, I could still fight dozens more." Li Shutong stood up straight once again.

He took a deep breath, spiritual power visibly converging around him, and almost instantly, he was enveloped in dense, thick white mist. Within the white mist, Li Shutong's calm voice rang out: "Seventh Urgent Lock, open!"

Beyond the white mist, as Yan watched Li Shutong, whose combat power had revived and even increased again under the Mirage Pearl, his lips twitched.

"No matter, attacking Deep Blue is just part of the plan. In this chess game, we are not the only players."

"Now the Celestial Essence has made its move, and the sincerity is clear. Elsewhere, things should also be underway."

In the endless darkness, a void voice spoke, "In this game of chess, what we truly aim to capture is all of Great Xia!"

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