One person: Starting with the Snow Drinking Blade

the other side.

Feng Baobao is facing off against a newly appeared monster codenamed "Nest Guardian".

This thing looks like a hybrid of a scorpion and a spider, magnified dozens of times and covered in a thick chitinous exoskeleton. If you call it a scorpion, it has eight legs; if you call it a spider, it has a tail.

It has eight barbed limbs, each longer than an adult's arm, ending in sharp, hooked claws. The claws make a clicking, metallic clanging sound as they walk on the rocks. Each step leaves a deep claw mark on the hard rock.

At its tail was a stinger that continuously dripped dark green venom. The stinger was about half a meter long, with a hair-thin tip and fine barbs on its body. The dark green venom dripped from the tip, hissing as it hit the ground, creating small pits.

The head is a mouth covered with sharp teeth that can rotate 360 ​​degrees. The teeth are arranged in three layers from the outside in, like a sophisticated meat grinder. The outermost layer of teeth is the largest, like a dagger; the innermost layer of teeth is the smallest, like a needle tip.

It seemed to possess a certain level of intelligence, avoiding a direct confrontation. It circled around Feng Baobao, its eight legs moving rapidly, constantly spewing corrosive venom and tough threads from different directions and angles.

The venom was yellowish-green, like a glob of phlegm, which sprayed out with a "pfft," drawing an arc in the air before landing at Feng Baobao's location. The threads were milky white, as thin as hair, but extremely resilient, one end clinging to the rock wall, the other floating in the air like a net being woven.

They attempted to restrict Feng Baobao's movements, preventing her from moving freely or dodging at will.

Feng Baobao's playing style remains simple and direct—fast!

Extremely fast!

She moved like a weightless ghost, weaving through the gaps between the venom and the threads.

Venom flew from the left; she slid to the right, the venom grazing her shoulder and landing on the rock behind her, corroding a fist-sized crater. Threads descended from above; she ducked, slipping through the gap between the threads and the ground. The threads landed behind her, stuck to the ground, impossible to tear off.

The katana in his hand transformed into precise silver lines of death, each strike landing on the "Nest Guardian's" most vulnerable spot—the joints, the gaps in its carapace, or the moment its mandibles opened and closed.

"clang!"

The blade struck the joint of the limb, sparks flying, leaving a white gash on its carapace. The monster winced in pain, its leg twitching, slowing its movement by a fraction of a second.

"laugh!"

A knife pierced the side seam of the mouth, and black blood gushed from the wound. The monster's mouth closed more slowly, and the frequency of spitting venom decreased.

Although it was impossible to break through its defenses in one blow—the "Nest Guardian's" carapace was even thicker than the "Ripper's" bone plates, and Feng Baobao's katana could only leave slash marks, not cut through—the relentless attacks overwhelmed the monster, causing it to let out angry roars.

Its eight legs lost their rhythm; some tried to move forward, some backward, tripping over each other and nearly causing it to fall. Its venom spray became inaccurate; some sprayed into the air, some onto the ground, but none reached Feng Baobao.

Master Wang Ye took on the important task of controlling the situation and providing support.

He treads the Qimen Dunjia formation, his figure moving along the edge of the battlefield. Every step he takes is on a hexagram position: left on Qian, right on Kun, forward on Xun, backward on Zhen—as if he were dancing a dance to music that only he can hear.

Sometimes, the "Kun" character and the "Earth River Chariot" would be used to raise stone pillars—thick stone pillars would rise from the ground with a "boom," some of which would knock away the monsters that were rushing towards Chen Duo and Xiao Yun, while others would block the passage of the insect swarm that was flanking from the side.

At times, the "Wind Ropes" were used to bind the incredibly fast "Screamer"—several blue wind ropes condensed from the air and coiled around the "Screamer's" wings and ankles like snakes. The monster struggled desperately, but the wind ropes tightened more and more, and finally crashed to the ground with a "bang".

At times, he would use "Li Zi · Firefly Stream" to snipe those "shapeshifters" that tried to attack from the flanks, which were as muddy as mud. Tiny sparks shot from his fingertips, each one hitting the "shapeshifter's" body with precision, burning out small, charred holes with a "hiss".

His face was pale, and sweat beaded on his forehead. Sweat streamed down his cheeks, dripping onto the ground and quickly mingling with the bloodstains. A dried bloodstain marked the corner of his mouth—a remnant of the forceful activation of the large-scale Qimen technique earlier.

Maintaining such a large-scale Qimen formation and precise magical support was clearly extremely taxing. His Qi was rapidly dissipating; it felt as if someone had drilled a hole in the bottom of his dantian, causing the Qi to gush out.

But his gaze remained calm, and every move he made was perfectly timed. He didn't waste a single ounce of energy, nor did he miss a single opportunity.

Holding the unconscious Xiaoyun, Chen Duo followed the bald bear's directions, moving in the direction he pointed out.

"That direction... to the right front... that largest ventilation duct... more than three meters in diameter... should be an emergency exhaust channel leading directly to the ground..." he said breathlessly, pointing to a dark, circular opening in the rock wall.

Dozens of colorful Gu worms of varying sizes swarmed around Chen Duo. Some resembled bees, some butterflies, some beetles, and some were nothing in particular. They flew rapidly around her, the buzzing of their wings creating a moving defensive line.

Any monster that gets close will be attacked by these venomous insects—some are bitten, the insects' mouthparts pierce the skin and inject toxins, making the monster's movements immediately slow down; some are sprayed with venom, which lands on the monster's face and hisses, causing the monster to scream and retreat while covering its face; some are released with hallucinogenic dust, which drifts into the monster's mouth and nose, making its eyes immediately become unfocused, and it begins to spin in place, attacking the air.

Although it can't kill large monsters—those "Rippers" and "Screamers" are thick-skinned and the mouthparts of the Gu worms can't penetrate them at all—it's enough to interfere with and force them back.

The people of the Eagle Country and the Cherry Blossom Country also put aside their prejudices (temporarily) and gave it their all.

The suit-wearing elite carried a peculiar handgun that was surprisingly powerful. The gun was silver-white, with fine runes engraved on the barrel, a gold trigger guard, and a blue gem embedded in the grip. When the energy beam shot from the muzzle, it made a "whoosh" sound, like an elongated arrow of light.

Specifically target vulnerable parts of monsters, such as their eyes and joints.

"Whoosh—!" A shot hit the eye of a "Screamer," and the monster's head snapped back, a cloud of black blood mist exploding from its eye socket. With a scream, it fell from the sky.

"Whoosh—!" A shot hit the knee joint of a "Ripper." The monster's leg buckled, and it half-knelt on the ground. Its other leg could not support its body weight, and it fell to the ground with a "thud."

Combined with Catherine's precise ice spikes and ice walls.

Catherine's hands moved rapidly through the air, causing the air temperature to plummet and water vapor to condense into ice wherever her fingertips touched. Ice spikes, thin as fingers and long as forearms, formed before her, their surfaces smooth as mirrors. With a flick of her wrists, the ice spikes shot towards the monster horde, each one hitting its target precisely—eyes, throat, joints, abdomen.

An ice wall rose up beside her, about half a foot thick and two meters high, its surface covered with fine ice crystals that reflected a dark red light. It blocked the charge of several "Rippers," which crashed into the ice wall with a loud "bang," causing the wall to tremble but not collapse.

They did manage to kill or injure quite a few monsters.

The one-armed Fujiwara Sousuke employs the unpredictability of a ninja. His figure is elusive, appearing and disappearing in the shadows, using kunai, shuriken, and remaining ninjutsu (fire release, smoke release, etc.) to restrain and harass the enemy.

"Bang!" A smoke bomb exploded at his feet, and thick smoke instantly enveloped a large area. The monsters lost their bearings in the smoke; some collided with each other, some began to spin in place, and some swung their claws at the air.

"Whoosh!" A shuriken flew out of the smoke, spinning and slicing through the wing of a "Screamer." A long gash appeared on the monster's wing, causing it to lose its balance and crash erratically into the rock wall.

They do not seek to kill the enemy, but only to protect themselves and create chaos.

In an instant, on the edge of this hellish flesh and blood factory, a fierce and chaotic breakout battle unfolded.

The light of the energy explosion—white lightning, blue ice flashes, black dark lightning, and red flames—intertwined and collided in the dark red dome, like a dazzling yet deadly fireworks display.

The roars of monsters—the ripper's howl, the shrieker's sonic waves, the shapeshifter's gurgling, the tyrant's furious roar—all these sounds overlapped to form a deafening, dizzying wall of noise.

The clash of weapons—the sound of a katana striking a bone blade, the friction of a kunai against a carapace, the clashing of a saber against a claw—all rang out in a cacophony, like the forging of iron.

The rocks crumbled—stone pillars were broken, the ground was crushed, and rock walls were smashed, with a constant rumbling sound as gravel fell like rain.

And the constant, painful, and furious mental roar of the "mother nest"—a "buzzing" sound, not a sound, but more like a vibration inside the skull, making one irritable, nauseous, and restless.

They intertwine to create a scene of apocalypse.

Blood, severed limbs, broken carapaces, frozen ice crystals, charred corpses... appeared continuously on the battlefield. A thick, viscous liquid had accumulated on the ground—blood, pus, melted ice water, and venom spewed by monsters, all mixed together to form a dark gray, bubbling, foul-smelling mud.

The group fought and retreated, slowly moving in the direction the bald bear had indicated. Every step forward came at a great cost. For every monster killed, two new monsters filled the gap.

Everyone was covered in bruises, and their breathing became labored.

Zhang Chulan had a deep, bone-revealing scratch on his left arm, grazed by the scythe claw of a "Tearer." The flesh was torn open, revealing dark red muscle and white bone beneath. Blood continued to flow, staining half his body red. He used his lightning energy to burn the wound to stop the bleeding, the pain turning his face pale, but he gritted his teeth and didn't utter a sound.

Zhang Lingyu was struck on the back by a sonic wave from a "Screamer," tearing a large piece of his clothing and revealing skin covered in fine, whip-like welts. With each step he took, blood seeped from these welts, staining his back of the clothing a dark red.

Feng Baobao fared somewhat better; her speed was too great for the monster to touch. However, her blade was riddled with nicks—after repeatedly striking the monster's bone plates and carapace, the edge was already chipped. She glanced expressionlessly at the katana, used her foot to straighten the chipped part of the blade, and continued hacking.

Master Wang's Taoist robe had been torn to shreds, hanging on his body like a pile of rags. His left eye socket was bruised and swollen, from being slapped by the wing of a flying "Screamer." His left eye was so swollen that he couldn't open it, and he continued to maintain the Qimen formation with only his right eye.

Chen Duo's clothes were burned with several holes by the venom, revealing her fair skin underneath. But the holes were small; the venom only grazed her skin and didn't directly splash onto it. Most of her Gu worms were dead—they had shielded her from several fatal attacks, their corpses scattered along the path she had walked, like a road paved with insect carcasses.

The number of monsters was simply overwhelming. They were like springs gushing from the earth, endless and inexhaustible. And seemingly driven by the will of the "Mother Nest," they advanced wave after wave, fearless and tireless. You kill one, and two more stand behind it; you kill two, and four more stand behind it. Their numbers were not decreasing, but increasing.

"This can't go on!"

Zhang Chulan, panting heavily, blasted away a "Screamer" that lunged at him with a palm strike of lightning. The lightning exploded, and half of the monster's head was blown off, splattering black blood and brain matter all over his face.

But then another "bone-eating worm" bit his arm—the worm had crawled out of a crack in the ground, and it had already bitten his arm when he looked down. His protective golden light blocked most of the damage, but the worm's mouthparts still pierced his skin. A burning pain shot through him, like being burned by a cigarette butt.

He quickly used his thunderous energy to shatter it, and the insect's corpse exploded with a "pop," turning into a pool of black paste.

"There are too many monsters! We can't kill them all! Bald Bear! How far is the exit?!"

"It's...it's right ahead!"

Bald Bear's voice was choked with sobs as he pointed with the rusted steel pipe to a huge, dark, circular opening in the rock face to his right. The pipe trembled incessantly in his hand, clattering against the ground like his teeth chattering.

"That largest ventilation duct! Look! It's right there on the rock face! It's over three meters in diameter! It should be an emergency exhaust duct that leads directly to the surface! But... but I don't know if it's blocked, or if there's anything inside..."

His hands were trembling, whether from the cold or fear, it was hard to tell.