Chapter 6: The Battle at the Valley Entrance (Part 2)

Four of the thirteen mutants that came this time died, leaving nine. Guo Shier clearly understood that he couldn’t deal with nine mutants alone. No matter how powerful the Moon Blade was, it would still drain his soul energy, and the mutants were extremely strong. He could withstand a few direct confrontations, but not many more.
Guo Shier instantly teleported away and shouted, “Uncle, lead the team and retreat!”
Qian Rongyao suddenly breathed a sigh of relief. The mutants surrounding him suddenly turned and rushed at Guo Shier, eliminating all pressure on him.
Guo Shier kept teleporting back and forth, the Moon Blade splitting into 108 small blades each a foot long, protecting him as he dodged like a slippery loach—making it difficult for the mutants to catch him. The mutants were tall and strong, while Guo Shier, who was only 5 feet 11 inches tall, was like a cat compared to a mouse—completely outmatched.
The team slowly retreated, with Qian Rongyao and Eagle Demon leading the way.
This was when the benefits of rigorous training became evident—the team remained orderly, retreating in formation according to the magic array.
The nine mutants roared like thunder. Guo Shier didn’t engage them directly but would strike with fierce blows from the Moon Blade whenever he could. Having reached the rank of Great Sage, he no longer had limits on the number of teleportations and could travel farther each time.
Guo Shier was also retreating deliberately. Fighting the mutants here was too dangerous; who knew how many more might appear.
After about ten minutes of fighting, Guo Shier felt tired and realized his strength was still not enough.
Suddenly, the mutants stopped chasing frantically and formed a formation where they could support each other at any time, staying within ten meters of one another. This reduced Guo Shier’s room for movement significantly.
Guo Shier laughed loudly, “I’m done playing!” He teleported twice in a row, flying toward the valley entrance.
The entire team retreated toward the valley entrance. Their patrol mission was complete—retreating to the valley entrance meant victory. Qian Rongyao was very satisfied with this retreat; the team wasn’t panicked at all, with each squad retreating in an orderly manner. He knew it was thanks to Guo Shier holding off the mutants that the whole team could retreat calmly.
As the team approached the valley entrance, they saw Guo Shier returning in a disheveled state. He shouted, “Retreat quickly! Form up at the valley entrance!”
The magic array activated swiftly. Guo Shier rushed into the formation, gripping his knees and breathing heavily. In just a short while, he had been exhausted—the pressure from the nine mutants was immense.

Although those nine mutants weren’t as fast as Guo Shier, the distance was extremely short, so they quickly closed in and began attacking the magic array. Just then, more mutants appeared. Qian Rongyao was stunned; realizing something was wrong, he exclaimed, “How many are there?” It wasn’t just a few or a dozen—hundreds of mutants had shown up. Qian Rongyao broke into a cold sweat. If it hadn’t been for Guo Shier’s decisive order to retreat, the consequences would have been disastrous. He immediately sent out a distress signal. The previous signal had only reported a dozen or so mutants, but now there were hundreds. He had patrolled Shuigǔ Gorge for many years, yet this situation had never occurred before. Then, another hundred-plus mutants appeared. Over two hundred mutants looked terrifying—tall over five meters, with muscular builds, all of them extremely fierce regardless of gender. Even if they weren’t as powerful as high-ranking saints, a single mutant could match a high-ranking saint in battle, so the strength of over two hundred mutants was truly frightening. As soon as those over two hundred mutants appeared, the nine mutants here let out strange cries. The two hundred-plus mutants also let out loud screams and charged toward the valley entrance at full speed. Guo Shier acted swiftly, shouting, “Retreat! Forget the formation—run! Those above the rank of high-ranking saints, step forward to hold them off!” He turned and rushed toward the nine mutants. The two hundred-plus mutants were still some distance from the valley entrance, requiring at least a few minutes to reach them, and those few minutes were crucial. The entire group scattered instantly, with professionals desperately running toward the exit of the valley. The professionals of the Tenth Squad were luckier—they already had flying talismans, which Guo Shier had had someone help craft. These talismans came in handy for escaping, and they even grabbed some slower professionals along the way. With only a few hundred meters left to the valley entrance, it took less than a minute for the group to break out. Guo Shier swung his Moon Blade fiercely, killing the lead mutant on the spot. The squad leaders also rushed out, and together they killed three more mutants in an instant. Five mutants remained, who immediately gathered together to resist the onslaught. Just then, another group of mutants appeared—over three hundred in number, bringing the total to more than five hundred. The entire gorge was filled with mutants. Guo Shier felt chilled to the bone. Not daring to engage further, he shouted, “Let’s go!” With over five hundred mutants charging at them, they would likely not even be left with bone fragments. If they didn’t leave now, they would be trapped forever.

A giant figure stepped out of thin air. Qian Rongyao exclaimed in horror, “Damn it… an Aberrant! Run!”
A giant over nine meters tall appeared—it was a relatively rare Aberrant.
The five mutants, as if boosted by some powerful tonic, roared frantically, trying to surround everyone.
Several high-ranking Saints fired ice shards continuously to slow down the mutants, while chains formed from virtual talismans flew out in succession. Guo Shier also cast a series of virtual talismans, creating chains that wrapped around the mutants’ legs, preventing them from moving freely.
The charge of over 500 mutants was truly earth-shattering; the thunderous noise echoed through the canyon, and white dust billowed high into the air. The screams of those 500 mutants shook the very air and earth.
Guo Shier and the others paled—this force was absolutely beyond their ability to resist.
The Aberrant stood at the back like a massive pillar. He glanced at the entrance of the canyon, a cold smile on his lips. Suddenly, he moved forward, taking over twenty meters in one step. His heavy footfalls echoed loudly—thud! thud! thud! The sound traveled far, and professionals who had already fled the canyon felt as if their souls were being struck by drumsticks, shaking violently.
Guo Shier and the others also rushed out of the canyon. The distance wasn’t long, and with their skills as professionals, just a dozen seconds was enough.
Qian Rongyao said, “They’re coming! This is bad—there are so few of us!”
Over thirty Grand Saints flew in from the other end of the canyon. By the time they saw the situation clearly, the Aberrant had already turned and charged at them.
At the same time, another fifty-plus mutants appeared. The thirty Grand Saints immediately looked desperate—they never expected this place to be a trap. Almost everyone sent out rescue talismans and then fled backward desperately.
Chaos reigned in the canyon. Among the over 500 mutants charging toward the entrance, at least 300 turned and rushed back, while more than 200 continued to charge forward.
Guo Shier asked, “Can they get out of the canyon?”
Qian Rongyao nodded. “Yes, but it will take them a lot of time and effort. We can take advantage of this to kill them. If they make it through, things will get really troublesome.”

Guo Shier was horrified upon hearing this. He realized that Qian Rongyao was by no means a competent commander. He soared into the air and shouted, “All squadrons, pay attention! Form attack talismans immediately, select your strongest fighters as attackers, and make sure to kill any mutants trying to break through the valley entrance!”
Only then did Qian Rongyao snap out of his daze. It wasn’t his fault he was slow to react—over the years, any mutants that reached the valley entrance had been killed by the Great Sage who would chase after them, with no exceptions. So he hadn’t thought much about it. Feeling ashamed, he immediately ordered, “Everyone, follow Captain Guo’s commands!” He actually handed over command.
There were nine squadrons in total, forming nine attack talismans. Each squadron leader served as a vanguard, using the power of the talismans to enhance their attacks. As a result, each Sage-level expert now had an attack power equivalent to that of a lower-level Great Sage. As for Qian Rongyao and Guo Shier, they were used as mobile forces to chase down the fastest-moving mutants.
In a short while, Guo Shier had everything arranged. The troops lined up in a single row, blocking the valley entrance. No matter from which direction the mutants attacked, there were always attack talismans formed by professionals waiting to deal with them.
Even if not all 200+ mutants rushed forward, just 100 would be enough to collapse the entire force. Guo Shier understood that even with 3,000 professionals, they wouldn’t stand a chance against over 100 mutants. It would surely be a horrific massacre.
After making the arrangements, Guo Shier said, “Lord Qian, it’s best to bring in the flying vehicles. If we can’t hold out, it will give us an extra escape route. Otherwise…” His meaning was clear: once the mutants broke through the blockade and escaped the valley, perhaps only a few experts like them would survive; the rest had no chance.
Qian Rongyao hesitated for no time and immediately ordered two of his subordinates to send out orders. “Hurry! I don’t know how long we can hold out here.”
The Great Sages on the other side of the canyon fought desperately. In just a short while, seven or eight lower-level Great Sages were killed.
The canyon was peculiar—it allowed low flight but not high flight, within a very limited range. The Great Sages had to fight within this area, leaving them no chance to escape. The rules of the canyon restricted the mutants as much as they restricted the Great Sages. Against a small number of mutants, they could act recklessly, but such a large number of them was completely beyond their expectations. On top of that, there was a terrifying abomination—a being comparable to an expert in the Void Mirror technique.

More than thirty great saints suffered heavy losses after coming into contact with the mutants. Some of the stronger great saints burned their souls and died along with their enemies. A few minutes later, only seven or eight of the most powerful advanced great saints were still fighting, while all the other intermediate and lower-level great saints were killed—some torn to pieces, some crushed into pulp, and others bitten to death. The mutants immediately began devouring their victims, and the gruesome scene chilled to the bone even those professionals far outside the valley. At that moment, over two hundred mutants had already rushed to the entrance of the canyon.