Chapter 5: The Power of the Beast Tide (Part 2)

The professionals here each possessed extremely formidable strength, ranking among the top in human society. Even they couldn’t guarantee they could survive here.
A giant ape covered in long black fur charged toward them with a thunderous roar. Li Ran shouted, “Black-Mane Ape! Mutated Black-Mane Ape! Be careful—it’s at level 18!” A level 18 mutated Black-Mane Ape was equivalent to an abominable beast at levels 14 or 15. Among professionals, only those at the seventh level of the Altar Craft could defeat it; those at the sixth level would struggle greatly, while those at the fifth level could barely cope for a few moments.
This Black-Mane Ape was about 900 meters tall—like a mountain. The professionals were like tiny mosquitoes flying around it. The ape roared as if swatting flies, its two giant palms moving wildly in the air. If any professional failed to dodge and was hit by those palms, even a high-level professional wouldn’t survive.
Dozens of professionals frantically activated their sacred treasures—only these could deal with such a terrifying creature. Once activated, a sacred treasure could transform into a weapon hundreds of meters long, sufficient to fight abominable beasts. Only then could it injure such large mutated beasts.
The Black-Mane Ape’s claws could even withstand the slashes of sacred treasures. But with so many attacks, it could barely block five or six out of the dozen or so attacks. The rest would pierce its body, and despite its extremely tough black fur, it would still be bloodied.
A golden long spear-shaped sacred treasure transformed into a 300-meter-long giant spear, suddenly piercing through the Black-Mane Ape’s waist from the side.
Ahow!
The ape fiercely grabbed the golden spear with its claw and roared loudly. The spear broke. The sixth-level Altar Craft professional sitting on the altar spat out blood—this was his life sacred treasure. He desperately cast a series of spells. The broken pieces of the sacred treasure flew back, and after crushing a sacrificial item and spitting blood on it, the two pieces reconnected.
Guo Shier knew that this person’s life sacred treasure was temporarily unusable and would need time to be reforged. If he had a sacrificial spirit, it could help with the reforging now. Without one, he would have to wait until the battle ended to find time to do so. His strength had now been reduced by at least half.
Sure enough, the man took out another sacred treasure and continued to attack frantically.
The situation was utterly chaotic, so Li Ran led the three of them to stay on the periphery, not rushing to attack.

That black-maned gourd ape finally collapsed with a loud thud. Dozens of professionals cheered, and one of them began quickly extracting its soul. Then someone said, “Grab its body first! Does anyone have a talisman storage space? Hurry… hurry! More mutated beasts are coming!”
Souls and bodies could only be collected at the edge of the battlefield; in the middle, there was no chance at all. As soon as a mutated beast was killed, several more would rush over.
The sky and ground were in chaos, with a thick smell of blood that couldn’t be dispersed, even by the strong winds. The wounds of the dead mutated beasts emitted heat, which condensed into a blood-red cloud above the battlefield.
Guo Shier’s heart pounded wildly with excitement. He couldn’t help but shout, “This is fucking thrilling! So intense… I fucking want to fight too!”
The handsome old man snapped, “You idiot kid, calm down! Don’t go crazy!”
Guo Shier was startled and immediately calmed down, saying in shock, “This… can really stimulate the desire to fight?”
Li Ran replied, “That’s why I don’t want to take you to the middle of the battlefield. You’ve never experienced such battles and easily go crazy.”
Guo Shier stared longingly into the distance and said, “There are so many bodies… so many.”
Li Ran smiled and asked, “Do you want me to take you inside for a tour?”
Guo Shier rejoiced, “Yes! Of course!” It would be strange if he didn’t. With Li Ran’s protection, he could quickly extract the souls from the bodies. Of course, if too much time passed, those souls would dissipate, so he had to act fast.
Fan Zhen added, “Don’t worry. We’ll stay on the periphery. Senior, just take Shier with you.”
Guo Shier slammed his hand hard on the top of the altar, and immediately, the tentacles of the ancient Xi Bi flew out. He said, “Brother Li Ran, what should I do? Tell me, and I’ll do it.”
Countless mutated beasts and professionals fought in a narrow area. This glacier covered tens of thousands of square kilometers, with hundreds of mutated beast corpses lying on the ground, not to mention those taken to the altar by the professionals. Not far away, a damaged altar could be seen.
Li Ran chuckled. He still hadn’t activated the altar but extended two chains from his waist and placed them on Guo Shier’s altar. He said, “Others can’t teleport here, but I can. Let’s go!”
The two suddenly disappeared from their spot.
Fan Zhen couldn’t help but exclaim, “Teleporting here is really dangerous. Only someone as powerful as the senior could do it.”

Yang Miluo said, “Let’s be careful. Try to back away and avoid getting trapped. Without the senior here, I’m extremely nervous—this feels too dangerous.”
……
Li Ran led Guo Shier through the battlefield.
The tentacles of the Gu Xi Bi could not only capture the souls of mutated beasts but also seize souls floating in the air. Though in limited numbers, the old man refused to waste them—such battlefields weren’t encountered often, and opportunities like this must not be missed.
The professionals fighting there witnessed a strange sight: a person who hadn’t even summoned a altar was carrying one. That was already a professional with a six-layer altar. What was most peculiar was the countless tentacles fluttering beneath it, acting like a giant broom sweeping back and forth across the battlefield.
It was common to see these two daring to venture deep into the beast herd, directly collecting the corpses of dead high-level mutated beasts—those that couldn’t be retrieved in time. No one dared to go deep into the herd, and many professionals roared in anger, as those were the mutated and aberrant beasts they had killed themselves.
Li Ran was also collecting. His targets were aberrant beasts at level 14 or above and mutated talisman beasts at level 16 or above. He had a secluded secret realm with vast space inside. Guo Shier often begged him to collect more corpses because he could no longer hold any more.
As they progressed, one soul bead after another appeared. The old man cheered excitedly. With his experience, this was the first time he had seen such abundant sacrifices. In less than ten minutes, they had gathered over a hundred soul beads, including many of high quality.
Guo Shier noticed that in the sea of beasts, somehow, any mutated or aberrant beast ignored them the moment it saw them. Of course, he wouldn’t be foolish enough to attack either—after all, collecting souls was far less troublesome than hunting on his own. Gradually, Li Ran led him deeper into the beast herd.
There were fewer and fewer corpses on the ground. Guo Shier said anxiously, “Brother Li Ran, we’ve gone too far. Let’s go back!” He was terrified—surroundings were filled with mutated beasts charging from all sides. The ice and snow on the ground had been flattened, making it utterly smooth, causing many mutated talisman beasts to even fall.
Li Ran realized he had been careless too. He immediately used teleportation to take Guo Shier away.
Guo Shier asked, “Did you spot anything?”
Li Ran replied, “High-level aberrant beasts are coming. Hehe, at least level 15 or above. There’s more than one—at least seven or eight. This is going to get interesting. Hurry, let’s go… This is an absolute treasure trove! Damn, we’re going to get rich…”
Guo Shier asked, “Why not kill them?”

Li Ran said, “Kill them? Hell no! If we don’t fight, it’s fine. But once we do, countless mutated beasts will charge at us. Do you think I can keep killing like crazy while dragging around… such a heavy burden as you?”
Guo Shier immediately lost his words. With a bitter smile, he said, “My sixth-tier altar… is still a burden…”
Li Ran replied, “Nonsense. Here, you’re just useless. If it weren’t for my help in covering for you, those mutated beasts would have ignored you and attacked long ago… Stay still.” He passed by a giant mutated snow leopard and instantly teleported away. The snow leopard paused for a moment, sensing its surroundings suspiciously before continuing to charge forward.
After breaking free from the sea of beasts, Guo Shier saw a person and a ninth-tier altar. Sigh, Brother Li Ran… I’ve finally met someone with a ninth-tier altar.
Even Li Ran was surprised this time. After all, he had visited many clans and continents but had never seen a professional with a ninth-tier altar.
It was an old man with a face full of wrinkles, his hair completely white, stretching down to the altar. He wore a loose robe of dark blue. His altar was also a tower, and he was fighting methodically in the area where the sea of beasts was surging. With each attack from his sacrificial treasure, a mutated or aberrant beast would fall, and the ground was covered in corpses, making Guo Shier extremely envious.
Many of them were high-level aberrant beasts, and he couldn’t resist the urge to steal their souls from the corpses.
Li Ran said softly, “Don’t take them. There’s no need to anger a professional with a ninth-tier altar.”
The man sat on the altar, casting an expressionless glance at the two of them. He couldn’t tell Li Ran’s rank, but he understood that Li Ran was extraordinary—after all, Li Ran hadn’t activated his altar and still dared to move freely in the sea of beasts, even bringing along a junior with a sixth-tier altar. His strength was beyond his comprehension.
Li Ran whispered, “Greet him.”
Guo Shier was stunned for a moment before reacting. He smiled and called out, “Hey, senior, hello!”
The man shouted, “Don’t stay here. It’s dangerous!”
Guo Shier felt frustrated again. It was like telling a child that it was dangerous and to go home quickly. He waved his hand and said to Li Ran, “Let’s go. It’s dangerous here. Hehe.”
Li Ran just wanted him to be cautious; he had no intention of approaching to talk. This wasn’t a good place for conversation. He took Guo Shier and teleported away. The man’s pupils narrowed slightly. Only those with a ninth-tier altar or higher dared to teleport here.
In just a short time, many more mutated and aberrant beasts were killed.

The battlefield became increasingly brutal as wave after wave of professionals rushed into battle, while many injured professionals quickly withdrew. Li Ran said, “Be careful; I don’t even dare use teleportation here…”
Using teleportation in a situation where sacrificial treasures were flying around was tantamount to seeking death. Even if one wasn’t afraid, teleporting into the path where sacrificial treasures were being slashed down wasn’t a good idea.
Even Guo Shier’s Guxi Bi tentacles had many cut off, but his actions were essentially a form of robbery. Some professionals, upon realizing this, immediately launched attacks.
How could Li Ran let them attack? He took Guo Shier and dashed to another place. The battlefield was vast, so the two moved around it like fish, navigating skillfully. From time to time, Guo Shier’s tentacles beneath the altar would steal souls, but they no longer collected corpses.
Guo Shier was extremely excited—his sacrifices were abundant and of high quality. After just one round, he already had hundreds of Soul Beads.
The old man was even more thrilled. After all, it was he who used the most high-quality souls in the altar. He basically controlled everything related to the altar, and now he was even in charge of refining it. With the Soul Beads in his hands and him using them, he was overjoyed to have obtained so many soul sacrifices after the embarrassment he had experienced before.
“Over there, over there… there’s a snow dragon carcass.”
The old man pointed and shouted. Guo Shier quickly said, “Brother Li Ran, head a little to the left, get closer to there!” He just needed to get close so that his tentacles could sneak over.
Li Ran took Guo Shier there, passing by two mutated talisman beasts along the way. As soon as Guo Shier’s Guxi Bi tentacles reached out, a professional from an eighth-tier altar shouted angrily, “Get lost!” A giant shadowy hand suddenly swatted at them.