Chapter 3: Rescue (Part 1)

As the opponent moved, Guo Shier immediately noticed it. He shouted, “Get ready for battle! I’ll hold off the enemy’s ancestor—make sure none of you miss a target.” The group of professionals below had already rushed out of the defensive rune array, leaving them with no place to hide if attacked.

Guo Shier rushed to the front quickly and whispered, “Old Man Shuai, it’s up to you now!” Then he yelled, “Jin Longqing!”

Jin Longqing stared at Guo Shier in disbelief, cursing inwardly, but there was no time to back down now. With a feigned bravado, he said, “You… how… are you here? I’m going to kill you!” He had few options left—only his Golden Mace, his life treasure, which had just been slightly repaired after its previous damage. Now, he had to deal with this annoying guy again.

Guo Shier said, “Stop talking nonsense! I’ve been waiting for you. Today, we’ll decide a winner. Whoever runs away is a cowardly bastard! Useless trash!”

Jin Longqing had only two layers left on his wooden rings, so he had no choice but to activate the altar’s protection. With a shrill cry, he said, “I’ll fight you to the death!”

The altar experts following Jin Longqing were stunned. They couldn’t understand why Jin Longqing was acting so crazily, and no one could make sense of his words. A master with a four-layer altar shouting “I’ll fight you to the death” at someone with a two-layer altar—what the hell did that mean?

The Golden Mace was suddenly thrown and slammed toward him.

Guo Shier watched coldly and calmly said, “Old Man Shuai, shatter his Golden Mace!”

Old Man Shuai sighed inwardly and said, “Let me handle it.” A golden spear flew out, heading straight for the mace.

Seeing the spear, Jin Longqing suddenly snapped out of his daze. He remembered he once had a treasure—a wooden needle—that had been destroyed by that spear. In panic, he cast a spell, and the Golden Mace vanished before reappearing above his head. He turned and ran, shouting, “Retreat!” Using his altar, he descended toward the defensive rune array.

Guo Shier was stunned. He said, “Huh…? Ah? He… he actually ran away? Damn it, I didn’t even hit him once… and he just ran off? This is too much…” He really wanted to take that Golden Mace, even if it meant breaking it into pieces, but Jin Longqing didn’t give him any chance. How could he accept that?

“If you’ve got guts, don’t run!”

When Guo Shier was frustrated, he often said very stupid things. Shuai Lao Tou couldn’t help but tease him, “What do you mean by ‘have guts, don’t run’… Of course you run when you can’t win. Kid, shouting like that is useless.”
Luo Zhan couldn’t stop laughing when he saw Shuai Lao Tou mocking Guo Shier. Guo Shier said angrily, “If I don’t say it this way… how should I say it? Should I say… Jin Longqing, don’t run! Is your mom calling you home for dinner?”
Shuai Lao Tou and Luo Zhan were stunned—what kind of talk was that?
As Jin Longqing fell into the defensive talisman array, even Guo Shier couldn’t break through it in a short time. But he vented all his anger on those altar masters, swinging his moon blade and slashing wildly. Although he didn’t kill any of them, he forced them to scatter in all directions.
This chaotic attack quickly dispersed the Gujin family’s top experts. Guo Shier gathered everyone and said, “This isn’t the main attack site—everyone knows that. So you just need to hold off their experts. I’ll go to the other end of the Chijin ore vein right away. My role here is limited.”
Nan You said, “I’ll accompany the Ancestor.”
Eagle Demon also said, “Hmm, I’ll go too.”
Guo Shier glanced around and said, “After I leave, Bo Ruoli, the guest clan elder, will be in charge here. If there’s danger, send a distress signal immediately.” Then he added, “Let’s go to the teleportation array at the main camp and head there from there. Also, send someone to inform Commanders Nan Yong and Nan Xiong about our actions.”
The others stayed high in the air to continue monitoring, while Guo Shier and the rest fell into the Gunan family’s defensive talisman array.
Jin Longqing stared at the sky until Guo Shier landed, then he finally breathed a sigh of relief. If Guo Shier had tried to attack the defensive talisman array forcefully, his task would have been extremely difficult—he would have had to go up and fight Guo Shier desperately. He didn’t necessarily have to defeat him, but he had to keep harassing him so he couldn’t carry out his attacks.
Fortunately, Guo Shier seemed unwilling to attack and remained above the Gunan family’s territory. Jin Longqing believed that Guo Shier must be hiding inside the defensive talisman array, waiting for him to appear. So he stayed put obediently, never daring to come out and anger Guo Shier again. As a result, neither side’s experts dared to move, and the situation calmed down. The feint attacks on the ground were well-executed, but feints were just that—feints, and not many professionals would risk their lives in them.
Guo Shier led a few people back to the main camp and used the teleportation array to head to another attack site.
…

As soon as they stepped out of the teleportation array, they heard sounds of fighting coming from afar. Guo Shier didn’t waste words—he immediately activated his altar and soared upward with Luo Zhan. Eagle Demon and Nan You also activated their altars and followed Guo Shier toward the battlefield.
It was already dusk, with the last rays of the sun illuminating the land. A strong smell of blood filled the air. The old man with a beard clicked his tongue and said, “Many have died… I can feel it.”
Guo Shier steered his altar forward. In less than a minute, he could clearly see the battlefield.
Despite having witnessed large-scale wars before, he was still shocked by what he saw. It was the first time he had seen a battle involving nearly a million people. The entire battlefield was in chaos—professionals fought fiercely, blood sprayed into the air, virtual talismans flew everywhere, and thousands of hunting vehicles raced across the sky.
From time to time, the glow of talismans cast by skilled altar users could be seen cutting through the sky, along with loud explosions, thunderous booms, flying flames, waves of talisman arrows, and the screams of dying professionals. All these sights made Guo Shier’s face turn red, and cold sweat appeared on his palms.
Luo Zhan opened his mouth wide and after a long while, managed to say, “Oh my god… this is too much!”
Eagle Demon’s reaction was similar to Guo Shier’s. The intensity of the battle and the atmosphere of slaughter made his blood boil. He couldn’t wait to join in the fighting and said eagerly, “Shier, let’s go!”
The old man with a beard laughed heartily and said, “Wait a bit longer… it’s about to get dark. Ah… it’s getting dark…” His voice revealed his undisguised joy.
Nan You said, “The Ancestor is over there!” He pointed in the distance.
Guo Shier narrowed his eyes and saw the Ancestor of Nan Qiang and two skilled users of virtual altar platforms hovering high in the sky, seemingly waiting for something. He said, “Let’s go over there!” and flew over with the others.
When the Ancestor of Nan Qiang saw Guo Shier approaching, he was surprised and hurriedly went to meet him, asking, “How did you come here? What’s the problem?”
Guo Shier replied, “There’s no problem. Things are fine on our side.”
The Ancestor of Nan Qiang said anxiously, “Come here… there are no more Ancestor-level skilled professionals over there!”
Nan You said, “It’s okay. It’s Jin Longqing over there. He hid after being scared by Ancestor Guo, so it’s safe there.”
The Ancestor of Nan Qiang was stunned. He hadn’t expected Guo Shier to be so formidable. He said, “Well, wait a moment.” He sent a message talisman and said, “A good friend is passing by. I’ll ask him to go to the main camp to guard it.”
Guo Shier asked, “How’s the battle going?”

Elder Nanqiang smiled and said, “It’s still a stalemate, but… they’re basically done. They only have two master-level experts, both of whom are trapped by us. Moreover, I’ve already broken through their defensive talisman arrays. Now… it’s just a matter of the final strike!” His tone was filled with confidence.

Guo Shier smiled and asked, “Do you need help?”

Elder Nanqiang was overjoyed. A master-level expert was like a strategic weapon—extremely powerful once deployed. On the battlefield, if both sides had a million soldiers, but one side had a master-level expert while the other didn’t, the side with the expert would surely win. This was basic common sense. So Guo Shier’s offer to join them came as a great surprise to Elder Nanqiang.

“Good, good. Wait a moment… we’ll strike together.”

Guo Shier nodded and said, “Okay.”

Old Shuai remained quiet at this time. He had been staring at the most intense part of the battle, his eyes glowing with talismanic light, filled with extreme greed. In fact, Guo Shier needed soul pearls—both the altar and the sacrificial treasures required them. But the one who truly needed them the most was him. With a large number of soul pearls, not only could his strength be restored, but it might even increase.

Guo Shier didn’t know that it was Old Shuai who really needed the soul pearls. Even if he had known, he wouldn’t have objected. Old Shuai’s strength growth meant his own strength growth—there was no contradiction in that. As a sacrificial spirit, Old Shuai’s role was undeniable.

Eagle Demon said, “The Rock Dragon Beast Team is coming!”

The Guunan family had mobilized three beast teams in total, and two of them were here—this Rock Dragon Beast Team being the main force. A hundred third-level mutated Rock Dragons might not seem many, but each one was over ten meters long and could carry three combat squads of twenty-one professionals on its back. Once they charged, if the enemy didn’t have defensive talisman arrays and could only rely on talisman shields, they would be utterly unable to resist. Any defensive line would be torn to pieces by these beast teams.

The hundred Rock Dragons formed a conical formation and began to accelerate gradually, their thunderous hoofbeats shaking the ground.

Guo Shier couldn’t help but exclaim, “It’s truly spectacular!”

It was more than just spectacular. The Rock Dragons, weighing hundreds of tons each, possessed unparalleled impact force. As they crashed into the enemy’s army, those professionals desperately tried to fly upward, only to be attacked by the professionals on the Rock Dragons’ backs. In an instant, a storm of blood and chaos ensued.

The sky had already darkened. Elder Nanqiang said, “You go over there, I’ll stay here. Let’s crush their defenses on both sides together.”