Chapter 420

After verifying part of the conjecture, the three of Gao Jie Ming soon left the outpost camp.

On the way to the next location, the three constantly exchanged information in the spiritual link.

"The way the Sickle-Skull tribe members stored as a whole and disappeared immediately after being taken out triggered the paradox is clearly different from those old instruments that also disappeared." Vivian analyzed coldly. "The instruments were stored in the fourth round, used in the fifth round, and erased only after the sixth time reversal began. And those Sickle-Skull tribe members, judging from our verification just now, their existence had already been deleted from the timeline at the very beginning of this Samsara."

Roland continued: "The difference might lie in two aspects. First, the source of matter. The instruments were manufactured by us wizards using 'foreign' materials from outside this plane, while the Sickle-Skull tribe is composed of native elements of this plane. Second, the nature of existence. Instruments are non-living bodies, while the Sickle-Skull tribe is a living body with souls, memories, and complex causal connections."

"Even if they are already dead, it is very likely that there are other marking methods..."

"Or both." Gao Jie Ming said while flying at high speed, rapidly deducing in his mind, "We need to control variables to verify. Fortunately, enough samples were stored in the last round."

In the last round, with the help of the logistics research team, Gao Jie Ming collected quite a few native mineral and soil samples of this plane.

Those samples were stored as a whole in the dantian, and the source location was clear.

"So next... let's go to this place first." Gao Jie Ming shared a set of coordinates through the spiritual link. That was a valley about eight hundred kilometers away from their current position, and records showed that it was rich in a stable "ash crystal ore," and he collected over fifty tons of raw ore at that time.

Roland and Vivian had no objection.

However, shortly after they turned to the new destination, a moving "black cloud" on the horizon in front caused Vivian's vigilance.

"Large-scale legion! Quantity... over a million! Energy reactions are dense, confirmed five Tier 7 fluctuations, over a thousand Tier 4 and above!" She warned rapidly. "Moving in our direction, the enemy seems to have discovered us too, it should be a troop mobilization."

"Bypass or?" Roland looked at Gao Jie Ming, asking for his opinion.

With their strength, it wasn't that they couldn't deal with it, but it might delay time.

Gao Jie Ming quickly checked the recorded information.

According to the information recorded in the previous few rounds, such a large-scale troop mobilization should not have appeared at this time point in this area.

"Something is wrong." He frowned. "There is no relevant intelligence in the information... their perception and response mode to the overall battle situation have changed again?"

With the habits of the Sickle-Skull tribe, this was not impossible.

"Since the other side has discovered us, we cannot avoid it completely, and we might be tracked or expose our exploration purpose in advance." Gao Jie Ming made a decision. "Clear it quickly. Vivian and Roland, trouble you to hold back all creatures higher than Tier 5, don't let them interfere with me. Leave the rest to me."

"Understood." The two Tier 6 wizards had no hesitation and instantly entered a combat state.

When the black insect tide entered a range of twenty kilometers, the battle broke out.

Roland took the lead, raising his staff, and five "Gravity Chains" condensed as if real crossed space, precisely winding toward the five most eye-catching Tier 7 Sickle-Skull tribe leaders in the insect tide.

Relying on powerful binding and traction, the chains forcibly dragged the five furious big guys out of the legion formation and toward the side flank high sky away from the main battlefield.

At the same time, Vivian also faced the army. Raising her palm, amidst spatial distortion, all creatures with energy intensity reaching or exceeding Tier 5 were teleported to the high sky.

Immediately after, layers of defense and binding barriers unfolded around Roland, and he would build a short-term "arena" to trap those high-tier enemies.

And in front, the million-strong Sickle-Skull tribe army rushed toward Gao Jie Ming, who was standing alone in the sky, like a black flood that had broken its banks!

The roar of wings, the friction of carapaces, and the pheromones full of killing intent almost condensed into substance.

Gao Jie Ming's face was calm, his right hand was slightly clenched, and the light of the Li Huo Mie Jue Divine Light had already condensed in his hand.

But he did not trigger it immediately.

With a thought, the entrance to the internal dantian quietly opened three slits beside him.

Three identical, fully charged dark golden staves slowly floated out and hovered beside him.

On the three staves, the tips of the staves simultaneously lit up with heart-stopping dark golden light.

"Just right, test the efficiency of saturated coverage." Gao Jie Ming muttered to himself.

Spiritual sense cooperated with the Wu Yun Hua Hong Mirror, calculating the best attack parameters at a terrifying speed—coverage range, energy density, duration, subsequent impact on the environment...

The power accumulation was only in a flash.

The next instant...

Hum!!!

Four dark golden light pillars, like four giant swords wielded by gods, shot out from the three staves in front of and beside Gao Jie Ming!

Under Gao Jie Ming's control, the moment the light pillars were fired, they instantly expanded like a blooming lotus!

The dark golden light curtain swept toward the front with Gao Jie Ming as the origin, covering the sky and the earth.

Wherever the light curtain passed, space made an unbearable moan, light distorted, and the temperature soared crazily at a speed that violated physical laws.

Gao Jie Ming precisely controlled the range and intensity of the light curtain.

He did not pursue the extreme coverage distance, but concentrated the main power in a core impact formation area about one hundred kilometers wide and ten kilometers deep in front—that was exactly the densest core of the million-strong Sickle-Skull tribe legion.

The speed of light was unavoidable.

The moment the dark golden light curtain touched the vanguard of the black insect tide, time seemed to freeze for a frame.

Then, it was the most thorough annihilation.

Whether it was the sturdy carapace, the tough soul, or the boiling energy, in front of the decomposition characteristics of the Li Huo Mie Jue Divine Light, they were like ice and snow under the sun.

The Sickle-Skull tribe members that touched the light curtain, regardless of tier, had their bodies instantly become transparent and blurred, and then decomposed into the most basic energy particles and material dust, without even a trace of smoke rising.

The light curtain advanced, and annihilation followed closely.

Like an eraser wiping over pencil marks, the black tide rapidly "evaporated" under the dark golden flames. Five kilometers, ten kilometers... in just the blink of an eye, the dark golden light curtain swept across the entire predetermined area, and then slowly dissipated.

The sky became bright again, but the earth below had already turned into a smooth, dead, and silent glassy plain.

The million-strong Sickle-Skull tribe army, except for the lucky ones dragged away by Roland and Vivian, was wiped out.

There were no wrecks, no bloodstains, only the high-temperature distorted air that had not yet completely dissipated in the air, and the strange luster emitted by the earth being instantly vitrified.

"The power is really good." Gao Jie Ming put away the three staves with satisfaction.

Although judging from various signs, he should have released a round of triple-staff superimposed attacks before, but from a physical feeling, this should be the first time he played like this.

It can only be said that the effect was unexpectedly good, no wonder he would be strictly monitored by the Sickle-Skull tribe later.

On the other side, this strike, which could be called a miracle, even caused Roland and the five Tier 7 Sickle-Skull tribe leaders who were fighting fiercely in the side flank high sky to stop involuntarily for a moment.

For the first time, an emotional fluctuation close to fear appeared in the compound eyes of the Sickle-Skull tribe leaders, and Roland, in addition to being shocked, raised his evaluation of this "consultant" to an incredible level again.

Gao Jie Ming breathed slightly, and controlling four large-scale high-power attacks simultaneously was no small burden on his spiritual sense and spiritual power control.

But he cared more about this actual combat data.

"Range coverage, clearance efficiency for dense low-tier legions... close to 100%. Energy utilization rate is 8% higher than expected, possibly related to environmental elemental concentration. Decomposition effect interference residual time..." He recorded rapidly while looking at the scorched earth, with no great waves in his heart.

War is just like this, not to mention that the other side is an enemy that must be eliminated.

The battle in the sky also ended quickly.

Losing the cover of the legion and the support of morale, those high-tier Sickle-Skull tribe members did not hold on for too long under the joint efforts of Roland and Vivian, who had freed up her hands, and were killed one after another.

The battle ended, the three did not stop at all, and continued to head toward the Ash Crystal Ore Valley.

Gao Jie Ming had some concerns in his heart.

The frequency and magnitude of the Sickle-Skull tribe's tactical adjustments were increasing; they no longer relied entirely on the old path of "Samsara trial and error," but began to conduct more active and adventurous strategic probes.

Behind this, was it because they sensed the fatal threat brought by the wizard research, or did that "manipulator" hidden in the depths of Samsara issue new instructions?

Thinking this way, he encapsulated the information about encountering this abnormal-scale enemy army, as well as its appearance coordinates and rough troop composition, into an information crystal and put it away.

Then he sent the same set of information back to the main camp through the magic net terminal.

(End of chapter)