Chapter 577 - 356: Earth Vein Passage Envoy (2)

Chapter 577: Chapter 356: Earth Vein Passage Envoy (2)

From a great distance, Li Xiang saw the sky above Erin’s ancient castle. Black fog roiled, but was suddenly torn asunder by three crimson-purple streams of energy. Three colossal Exotic Beasts, their bodies as crystalline as diamonds, descended from the rifts.

The pressure they exuded was immense.

They resembled a fusion of scorpions and bats, their bodies over five hundred meters long. Prismatic spatial crystals grew from their limb joints, and the stingers on their tails constantly released oscillation waves that distorted the air—these were the Saint Tier Exotic Beasts, the Void Crystal Beasts. Their carapaces could refract energy attacks, and the oscillation waves from their tails could trigger localized spatial collapses.

On his way over, Li Xiang had noticed that several Underground Cities in France had been destroyed. The residual energy perfectly matched that of these Exotic Beasts.

Clearly, this was a battle-hardened force.

However, Erin’s strength was not to be underestimated.

On the surface, one hundred thousand Alchemy Puppets met the attack in three waves:

The first wave consisted of heavily armored puppets wielding Alchemy Tower Shields, formed into a honeycomb-like phalanx; hexagram arrays materialized on their shield faces to neutralize the oscillation waves. The second wave was made up of Magical Puppets hovering in the air, firing Annihilation Beams from their eye sockets that seared scorch marks onto the beasts’ carapaces. The third wave, a swarm of self-destructing puppets, charged the beast horde like a silver torrent, their exploding Alchemy Flames laced with Spatial Imprisonment Runes.

In mid-air, the three-hundred-meter-long Magic Alchemy Ship, the *Starlight Wings*, unfurled its hull. At its prow, the Arcane Focusing Prism gathered a fifty-meter-diameter orb of incandescent white light. This was a Magical Cannon developed by combining classical Magic and Alchemy with modern technology, and its power was astonishing.

As Erin pressed a button on the Crystal Control Console in the command room, the orb of light exploded violently, shattering into tens of thousands of homing beams that pierced through dozens of Tier Fifteen Crystal Split Beast younglings attempting a sneak attack from the rear, turning them into a sky full of crystalline dust.

However, the three Saint Tier Void Crystal Beasts suddenly overlapped their tail stingers, constructing a triangular spatial barrier. They actually managed to reflect the Alchemy Ship’s second volley of the Comet Burst Cannon in its entirety. Three phalanxes of heavily armored puppets were instantly melted into molten iron by their own redirected cannon fire.

In Erin’s base, several children were eager to rush out and help their mother, but Shen Wenqian stopped them. She hugged the children, urging them not to be reckless. "It’s too brutal out there. If you go out, your chances of survival are slim."

"I hope Mom can hold out."

"Where’s Dad? Why isn’t he here yet? Isn’t he the strongest person on Earth?"

Shen Wenqian replied, "Your father is probably busy with other things. With so many Exotic Beasts all over the world, and so many Underground Cities under attack, he’s running around putting out fires..."

"Putting out fires everywhere? Shouldn’t he save his family first?"

Just as Shen Wenqian was at a loss for how to answer, the powerful Mysterious Armored Man appeared outside.

Li Xiang, clad in his Giant Whale Saint Armor and wielding his signature White Jade Golden Hook Rod, blurred. Moving at an extreme speed of Mach 80, he seemed to teleport to the side of the battlefield. There, a Void Crystal Beast was tearing through the Alchemy Ship’s shields with its front pincer.

Li Xiang kicked the Void Crystal Beast away. A golden light erupted from his eyes as his Nine Nether Falsehood-Breaking Gaze pierced through the thick black fog and the swarming Exotic Beasts, locking directly onto the core of the horde—the leader, the one with a dark red Star Core embedded in its tail stinger.

BOOM—

The White Jade Golden Hook Rod, imbued with Tier Twenty-sixth Spiritual Energy, came crashing down. The rod’s afterimages multiplied into the thousands, smashing the leader’s vital Star Core like a cascading galaxy. Before the other two Void Crystal Beasts could react, Li Xiang had already flashed onto their backs. He pressed his palms down, unleashing the power of Earth Vein Vibration. Layer upon layer—eighty-one in total—of vast and surging Earth Shocking Spiritual Power disintegrated their spatial crystal skeletons from within.

With their leader gone, the beast horde fell into chaos. Erin seized the opportunity and activated the Alchemy Ship’s lower bay. Three hundred assassin-type puppets equipped with Phase-Folding Blades poured out. The silver glint of their blades wove a net of death, dicing the remaining Exotic Beasts into neat crystalline blocks.

As the last Crystal Split Beast was turned to dust by the Alchemy Ship’s Magical Cannon Fire, Li Xiang retracted his rod and landed. He stepped over the still-twitching limbs of the Crystal Beasts and walked toward the Alloy Gate of the Ancient Castle Dungeon.

"Daddy’s here!" Clemence jumped up, her face alight with joy.

"Daddy is so brave!" Leocardie shouted with exaggerated enthusiasm, waving her little arms.

"Daddy, we love you!" Aurelie and Sonia had stars in their eyes.

The children were cheering ecstatically, their surging emotions beyond words. A smile tugged at the corner of Shen Wenqian’s lips as she thought to herself, ’You scumbag cousin, if you hadn’t shown up, I would’ve had no idea how to explain it to the kids.’

Li Xiang entered the ancient castle, and the children swarmed him. Li Xiang opened his arms, holding two in each, and gave each child several kisses. Then he smiled and walked toward Erin and Shen Wenqian.

"Mr. Armor, you’re finally here." Erin sighed in relief. A moment ago, she’d truly felt like she couldn’t hold on. She had also suffered heavy losses in this battle; at least eighty percent of her Alchemy Puppets were destroyed. That was a fortune she had spent a long time accumulating. It was hard to say how long it would take to craft them all again.

Besides, the world was unstable now, so she hadn’t dared to have more children so easily. Originally, she had planned to have six more, but that would have to wait for another day.

Shen Wenqian came over, took the children, and left the space for the "couple" who hadn’t seen each other in a long time. Well, they could only be called a couple, since they weren’t married.

Li Xiang picked up Erin and vanished deep into the earth. A short reunion is sweeter than a wedding night.

As for the aftermath, Shen Wenqian, along with Erin’s executives and mid-level managers, would take care of it.

Erin’s base was managed like a corporation, with each department performing its own duties. Even if the boss was temporarily absent, it could operate on its own. This was because it wasn’t a new company, but a business passed down through her family. Most of the employees had been with them for over ten years; there were many families who had worked there for several generations. The company’s most valuable assets were these loyal and capable veteran employees.

A full six hours later, a satisfied Erin finally let Li Xiang leave. After that round of intimacy with Li Xiang, she had advanced another tier and was now Tier Twenty-Two.

Of course, her advancement wasn’t entirely due to Dual Cultivation with Li Xiang; her own talent, hard work, and accumulated foundation also played a part.

"Wait for me. I’ll be back soon." Li Xiang got dressed, the Giant Whale Saint Armor enveloped his body, and he departed once more.

Because Erin’s forces were now depleted, Li Xiang decided to go "seize" a "Puppet Army" for her.

He scouted around Europe—in France, Germany, Italy, and other places—launching sneak attacks. He was a seasoned hand at this sort of thing. A day later, six Exotic Beast Armies descended upon Erin’s base.

Inside the base, in front of the radar screens, the executives and mid-level managers of the Aileen Clan felt as if they had been plunged into an icy cavern, falling into despair. Before, there was only one Exotic Beast Army with a force of fifty to sixty thousand, and their losses had been catastrophic. Now, there were a good eight or nine Saint Tier beasts and an army of over three hundred thousand. How could they possibly fend this off?

Even if that Li Sheng was still here, he probably couldn’t fend them off. And word was, that Li Sheng had already left.

But soon, a message came from Erin: "Don’t worry. They’s all allies. From now on, they will protect us."

"What?"

"My heavens, what in the world is going on?"

The executives, managers, and other employees were all utterly shocked.

In the base’s Inner City, the children were once again clinging to Li Xiang like little pendants, refusing to get down.

"Daddy, is this your handiwork?"

"Daddy, how on earth did you do it?" the children asked one after another.

Li Xiang just chuckled and bragged a little to the children. "It’s just a parlor trick. I just took control of the Exotic Beast leaders. Don’t worry, with this Exotic Beast Army of over three hundred thousand protecting you, you won’t have to worry about your safety."

"Daddy, can you stay with us for a few more days?" asked Aurelie. With her brilliant golden hair and delicate features, she was practically a miniature version of Erin.

Li Xiang gave a helpless smile and patted his eldest daughter’s head. "The situation outside is chaotic, and Daddy still has a lot of things to do."

Erin smiled. "You should at least have dinner with the children before you go."

Li Xiang nodded.

Soon, Alchemy Servants filed in one by one, serving all sorts of exquisite French delicacies.

Li Xiang ate with Erin and the children, and also spoke with his cousin, Shen Wenqian, about recruiting for the Earth Vein Passage Envoy positions.

Shen Wenqian pulled up the Extraordinary Being database and showed it to Li Xiang. "There are quite a few Earth Element Transcendents, and a good number of them are skilled in Earth Escape. I’ll send them emails right away."

Li Xiang nodded and specified the number of people to recruit, as well as the salary and benefits for the position. Shen Wenqian drafted a detailed recruitment letter, and after Li Xiang looked it over, she sent it out to each of the targets.

Throughout this process, the children watched quietly, their blue eyes filled with adoration.

Although the meal was mixed with work, it was an extremely heartwarming one.

After the meal, Li Xiang also took some time to play games with the children and gave them some guidance on their cultivation.

Of course, he also gave his cousin some pointers.