Chapter 72: So Formidable

"Good, good!" Seeing his two students so formidable, Guo Qingrong excitedly cheered repeatedly; he was of Xuan-level cultivation, but in slaying ferocious beasts, he was far less efficient than Fang Chong and Ai Xi.

As long as Fang Chong and Ai Xi continue performing like this, they will surely earn the International Star Guardian rank.

At the same time, Wang Qiusheng of the Puhai Security Bureau, leading eight others, had not yet charged forward when they were surrounded by a horde of ferocious beasts.

This group of ferocious beasts consisted mainly of mutated American leopards and mutated horned dogs, totaling over a hundred.

They were surrounded because Wang Qiusheng lacked experience—he saw these beasts attacking several guarding soldiers and immediately led his men to charge head-on to rescue them.

He hadn't anticipated how strong they were; within moments, the soldiers were slaughtered, and Wang Qiusheng's group of nine had walked straight into the encirclement of over a hundred ferocious beasts.

Realizing his mistake, Wang Qiusheng urgently shouted, "Back to back, no holding back—kill one, you break even; kill two, you profit!"

Who would hold back now?

Everyone frantically drew their blades and slashed at the charging beasts; none had time to fire their seep-burst rifles.

Seeing Qu Yi's face turned pale as she watched the bloody scene before her; though she had experienced this once before, facing it again was still unbearable.

"Ahh!" A scream rang out—it was Yuan Lutong nearby.

Seeing her companion's arm bitten off, a massive mutated American leopard lunged at Qu Yi.

Qu Yi instantly unleashed a wind blade; after receiving the Qi-stone from Dou Qing's gift, she was now a genuine Level Four Gene Cultivator.

Her Level Four Gene Cultivator status differed from Fang Chong and Ai Xi's—she had cultivated through a gene spiritual root, and her cultivation scripture, the Luo Shi Jing, was vastly superior to the Thousand Falls Gene Art.

At Level Four, her foundation was solid, her Qi abundant.

Such a wind blade from a Level Four Gene Cultivator, against this mutated leopard—less than a Level One ferocious beast—only needed a single slash in midair; the beast exploded into a spray of blood, cleaved cleanly in two.

After killing one beast, Qu Yi seemed to adapt; she no longer cared how many mutated beasts lay ahead, her hands continuously slashing out wind blades, one after another.

A chorus of beastly shrieks rose; within moments, dozens of mutated beast corpses piled before her.

Qu Yi grew even calmer and more composed, though her face grew paler still—her wind blades were no longer chaotic slashes, but layered waves, one following the next.

Compared to the girl who once couldn't even bear to see blood, she grew wildly in this slaughter, her experience in killing ferocious beasts deepening rapidly.

Qu Yi knew clearly—if she held back even slightly, the next moment she would be devoured by the beasts.

The ferocious beasts were not Bai Chi; they quickly recognized Qu Yi as a formidable opponent and began avoiding her.

Yet Qu Yi now followed their evasion paths, slashing forward relentlessly; as a Level Four Gene Cultivator, she carved through these beasts—none stronger than Level One—as easily as slicing melons and chopping vegetables.

Soon, a peculiar scene emerged: a horde of gene ferocious beasts circled around several people, attacking while turning.

Elsewhere, ferocious beasts attacked directly, charging straight in—no circling.

Only here, because the beasts circled while attacking, the threat to the people within diminished greatly.

Behind this horde, a young woman continuously moved her hands as if drawing something—the beasts circled as if deliberately avoiding her.

After overcoming her initial fear and discomfort, Qu Yi grew increasingly calm, her complexion slightly improved.

Think of what these beasts had done—countless soldiers defending their homeland had died in their jaws and claws.

Behind those slain soldiers, how many shattered families? How many wives, children, parents waiting in vain? The most beautiful scenery in her heart had been mercilessly slaughtered by these beasts.

Thinking of this, Qu Yi's strikes grew even less merciful, her gaze even more resolute.

The ferocious beasts avoiding her proved they possessed intelligence.

The ferocious beasts recognizing her strength yet refusing to flee proved Dou Sizhang's words true—that behind the horde lurked a stronger, intelligent mega-ferocious beast.

Because that mega-ferocious beast watched from behind, they dared not flee.

Wang Qiusheng, his pressure eased, turned to look—he finally understood what was happening.

Watching Qu Yi slaughter the beasts like reaping wheat, he roared excitedly, "Follow behind Qu Yi! Draw your seep-burst rifles and fire!"

With the beasts' attack weakened, under Wang Qiusheng's call, everyone understood—each pulled their seep-burst rifles from their backs and opened fire.

Qu Yi alone had killed seventy or eighty beasts; now, with Wang Qiusheng organizing the rest into coordinated attacks, the remaining twenty or thirty gene ferocious beasts were swiftly slaughtered.

Looking at the blood on her body, Qu Yi took a deep breath, forcing down her inner revulsion.

Before coming to the Human Corridor Frontline, she had prepared herself mentally—she knew clearly, once she arrived here, she would eventually face these endless, terrifying ferocious beasts.

Today was only the beginning; in the future, she might kill even more.

As long as these beasts continued slaughtering humans, her killing would never cease.

"Qu Yi, thank you. My greatest fortune was telling Dou Sizhang about you and bringing you to the Security Bureau."

"Without you, I, Wang Qiusheng, would be the Security Bureau's criminal—every brother behind me today would have died." Wang Qiusheng's voice trembled with intense gratitude.

"Director Wang, this is what I should do. When I came, I already decided to contribute whatever strength I could to the Human Corridor Frontline." Qu Yi calmed herself and spoke more gently.

"Qu Yi, from now on, we follow you. Whatever you say, we do." Wang Qiusheng completely dropped his authority as Director.

Qu Yi was about to refuse when she saw soldier after soldier torn apart or bitten to death—even those who had come with them kept falling.

She quickly said, "Director Wang, what if we push forward together, supporting each other?"

She had no special strategy, but she felt her strength could easily crush these beasts—so why not just crush them outright?

"Good." Wang Qiusheng immediately agreed.

He saw clearly Qu Yi's strength—this close-range ferocious beast slaying ability far surpassed rifles.

Though seep-burst rifles were powerful, they could no longer kill a Level One gene ferocious beast with a single shot; if one shot didn't kill, the beasts always found a way to take someone down with them.

Worse still, seep-burst rifles couldn't unleash full firepower at close range.

With so many gene ferocious beasts and soldiers locked in combat, the rifles' indiscriminate fire would cause massive friendly casualties.

Gene ferocious beasts hit by the shots might suffer little, but if a soldier was hit, it was deadly.

Seeing Wang Qiusheng agree, Qu Yi immediately charged toward a group of soldiers surrounded by ferocious beasts nearby.

Wind blades launched from the outer edge had even greater destructive power.

Groups of gene ferocious beasts fell to Qu Yi; some cowardly beasts, no longer daring to face her, tried to flee alone.

For these isolated beasts, someone immediately shot them in the head—if one shot didn't kill, they fired another.

Those rescued by Qu Yi and the Puhai Security Bureau joined Qu Yi's group, then charged toward the next horde of ferocious beasts.

It was like a snowball rolling downhill—Qu Yi's team grew larger and larger, while the gene beasts dwindled steadily.

Far away, the battle squad from Dayhan Academy was employing nearly the same strategy as Qu Yi's group.

Fang Chong and Especially Ai Xi led the way, with the rest following behind them, beginning to encircle and slaughter the gene beasts.

At first it might have been difficult, but later, as the team grew ever larger, the strategy of dividing and surrounding the gene beasts was shattered.

……

Human Corridor Defense Line Combat Command Hall.

A man with a full beard frowned as he watched the fighting outside; his name was Zheng Fang, and he was the First Combat Commander of the Human Corridor Defense Line.

He knew something was off this time.

Standing beside him was a white officer, Kendi, the wartime staff officer of the Human Corridor Defense Line.

Kendi's expression was grave. "Commander Zheng, I feel this beast surge is unusual—it's a suicidal charge against the Human Corridor Defense Line."

If our upper lines fall, the troops assigned to hold them will likely be slaughtered to the last, and we'll be forced into direct combat with the beasts."

Everyone knew that once direct combat with the beasts began, the disadvantage would be overwhelming.

"I know. That beast keeps sending attack signals. In the past, at this point of heavy losses, they would have retreated. Now they're still charging into the defense line without regard for death—there's definitely something wrong."

Zheng Fang nodded in reply.

The others in the command hall frowned, thinking of solutions. Such beast charges against the defense line had happened before, but never with such reckless disregard for death.

To reach the defense line, a single beast needed at least a hundred others to die under the artillery first.

And it required a large number of flying beasts to lead the charge—flying beasts were the most precious assets to the gene beast hordes.

"Our defense deployment is flawed. Without top-tier experts guarding it, this line will eventually be broken." Someone voiced the core issue.

Zheng Fang sighed. Since Zhong Chi, China's strongest, went missing three months ago during the beast siege, the Human Corridor Defense Line had grown more dangerous with each attack.

"Commander, look over there." A sudden voice interrupted Zheng Fang's thoughts.

When Zheng Fang saw Qu Yi leading a group of people slaughtering beasts like chickens, he froze.

"Which academy is that? So powerful?" Zheng Fang muttered to himself.

(That's all for today's update, fellow cultivator, good night! Please support with monthly votes!)