I Have Infinite Skill Points-Chapter 493: Abyss-Level Exotic Beasts

At this moment, the lion Wang Lan had sprayed with Samadhi True Fire scratched its face in agony. The ferocious swipe was so chilling that even Wang Lan shuddered. With one swipe of its paw, the lion’s entire face became a bloody, mangled mess.

And how could the Samadhi True Fire be extinguished so easily? Not only did the fire on its face fail to go out, but it even spread to its paw. The lion roared, and in an instant, its entire body turned a fiery, red, glazed hue.

Then, the back half of its body seemingly severed, turned into molten lava and fell away. The remaining half writhed and quickly grew a brand-new lion, albeit much smaller than before. The lava-formed half of its body, however, continued to be scorched by the Samadhi True Fire clinging to it.

The lion gave Wang Lan a look of fear and let out a roar.

Seeing the lion was so ruthless as to sever its own body to survive, Wang Lan thought, I’ll bet you can’t go through that many more self-amputations to save your life. In a flash, he charged toward the lion.

The lion was truly afraid of Wang Lan. It teleported away in an instant, rushing toward the Chaos Mist outside. It actually ran away?

Wang Lan hesitated slightly but decided it was still better to leave a mark. He immediately launched into the Dance of the Dark Butterfly to give chase.

BOOM—

Suddenly, a beam of white light burst from the Chaos Mist, swallowing the lion in an instant. The relentless light then swallowed Wang Lan’s figure as well.

Fortunately, Wang Lan had already activated the Dance of the Dark Butterfly. Otherwise, given the white light’s terrifying speed, he would have had no defense against it.

BOOM! BOOM! BOOM!—

A pillar of smoke rose from the defensive line Qiao Shan had created. Wherever the white light touched, mountains instantly melted into ash and were annihilated. This column of light pierced through the 10-kilometer-long defensive line in an instant.

Wang Lan’s face turned pale. He flashed next to Qiao Shan in an instant, his expression grave as he stared at the turbulent Chaos Mist. Qiao Shan, beside him, had suddenly turned deathly pale.

The Chaos Mist surged violently, and a tremendous figure stepped out from it.

If the appearance of Exotic Beasts was typically a casual scribble by their creator, then this new behemoth, towering over 300 meters, was a meticulously designed masterpiece radiating beauty.

Its body displayed red, white, and silver colors and was shaped like a colossal lion, but with a pair of snow-white wings on its back. The beast’s body was covered with floating crests emitting a heavy, intense aura.

As it slowly walked out of the mist, a mountainous pressure washed over them.

Instantly, Wang Lan tensed. This Exotic Beast was strong. Even without a real fight, he could sense its terrifying power from its mere presence.

"Abyss... Abyss..."

A trembling voice rose from beside him. Qiao Shan, a Titled Strongman, was now staring blankly as the Abyss Beast emerged from the mist, advancing with elegant strides.

"Uncle Qiao? Are you so scared you’ve become like this? Where’s the confidence of a Titled Strongman?"

"What do you know? This is an Abyss, an Abyss Beast!" Qiao Shan barely managed to growl, his voice low. "Wang Lan, take everyone and retreat. I’ll try to hold it off for a while."

"What’s an Abyss? How strong is it?" Wang Lan’s gaze suddenly grew solemn as he asked in a deep voice.

"Abyss means unfathomably deep. If the previous two Exotic Beasts could only be matched by a Titled Strongman, then an Abyss Beast can only be battled by one of the Five Emperors. An Abyss Beast is an absolutely powerful, sovereign existence in the Pioneer Space."

"Abyss Beasts rarely emerge; they usually remain in their own territory. I never expected... an Abyss Beast to appear and strike toward human lands! Wang Lan, I know you’re strong, but facing an Abyss Beast means certain death. Hurry and withdraw with the sector command post!"

"With an Abyss Beast’s appearance, the situation has entirely slipped from our control. Lead the troops to retreat, and then immediately notify Command Headquarters to request the Five Emperors for support."

"Uncle Qiao... you should retreat instead. My combat style is more flexible than yours," Wang Lan said without looking back.

"Stop trying to be a damn hero! I’ve faced Abyss Beasts no fewer than five times. Do you have any experience surviving an encounter with an Abyss Beast? Get going! I’ll buy you time."

As he spoke, Qiao Shan suddenly brought his hands together. "Great Seal—"

BOOM—

Suddenly, two sections of the ground bizarrely rose in the distance, transforming into two huge semi-circles that viciously clamped toward the Abyss Beast. Both semi-circles were over a kilometer in diameter and weighed more than 100 million tons.

The Abyss Beast suddenly opened its mouth and let out a low roar, causing ripples in the space around it. The two semi-circles of earth clamping toward it immediately froze in place. Almost in an instant, Qiao Shan’s face turned as white as paper.

The two frozen semi-circles visibly turned gray, then, like wind-dried flour, crumbled into dust and fell. Wang Lan watched, his scalp tingling with dread.

The two massive semi-circles, each over a kilometer in diameter—an athlete would need half a day to run across one. These mountainside-sized semi-circles turned to dust in an instant?

Even the Qing Emperor might not be capable of such a feat.

BOOM—

Suddenly, another ripple emanated from the Abyss Beast’s body. This ripple was visibly directional and instantly swept toward Wang Lan and Qiao Shan’s position. Alarmed, Wang Lan had no time to hesitate and instantly raised his Holy Shield.

Dust filled the sky as the mountain range Qiao Shan had created rapidly collapsed, annihilated within the ripple. The Abyss Beast seemed to have merely exhaled, and the mountain range stretching for 10 kilometers melted away like a sand sculpture washed by waves on a beach.

ARGH—

Qiao Shan violently spat out a mouthful of blood, his body sent flying backward in an instant.

"Uncle Qiao!" Wang Lan’s expression changed as cracks suddenly appeared on the Holy Shield in front of him. It was only then that Wang Lan finally understood the severity of the attack Qiao Shan had endured.

The Holy Shield, lauded as the strongest individual defensive Star Martial Skill, had become incredibly strong after Wang Lan upgraded it to the Platinum level. Its defensive capabilities could even withstand a strike from one of the Five Emperors. But now, it shattered without him even knowing what kind of attack it had suffered?

BOOM—

As the Holy Shield shattered, Wang Lan was sent flying backward. He quickly mobilized his Star Power, and his body instantly dispersed into countless Nether Butterflies. Amidst their dance, one Nether Butterfly appeared beside Qiao Shan, grabbed him, and teleported away.

They transformed into streaks of light, rushing toward the rear defense lines. The defenses Qiao Shan had created were utterly incapable of stopping that Abyss Beast.

Once the two reappeared, Si Yu hurried over. "Lord Wang Lan, Lord Earth Walker, what kind of Exotic Beast is this? How can it be so powerful?"

Si Yu watched in despair as the Abyss Beast continued to draw closer. Previously, even when hundreds of thousands of Exotic Beasts charged the defense line, they had suffered little to no casualties. But now, a single attack from this one Abyss Beast, and Si Yu clearly saw at least ten Pioneer Legions reduced to ash, vanishing from sight.

Those weren’t small units of just a few individuals; they were mid-sized legions with at least 50 people each. A single attack had killed thousands of their comrades in an instant, leaving not even their bodies behind.

"This is... an Abyss Giant Beast! You all need to get out of here! Wang Lan, cover our comrades’ retreat. Leave it to me!"

"Forget it, Uncle Qiao. How can you possibly cover our retreat when you’re like this?" White light enveloped Wang Lan’s body as a Life Lock Chain connected to Qiao Shan.

"Even if I can’t, I must! Even if it costs me my life, I can hold it off for 10 minutes. You only have 10 minutes to retreat..."

"Let me cover the retreat," Wang Lan said, standing up and slowly drawing his Zanpakuto, his eyes unfathomably deep. Ever since Wang Lan had advanced to the Star Sea realm, he had felt that his Zanpakuto could now undergo Swastika.

The power of the Zanpakuto’s Swastika was on a completely different level than its Shikai. I hope the Swastika Zanpakuto won’t disappoint me.

"Wang Lan, don’t you get it? You’re a Titled Strongman, and so am I. But I am the setting sun, while you have only just risen."

"I’ve reached my limit, but you’re just getting started. I can die here, but you can’t. Who lives and who dies isn’t just about you and me!" This time, Qiao Shan roared angrily at Wang Lan, no longer hinting but stating his point explicitly.

"This concerns Jade Country! If you survive, Jade Country will grow stronger because of you. In five years, in 10 years, you will become a towering tree, supporting the sky of Jade Country, shielding the youth of Jade Country."

"But I can’t do that. Even in 10 or 20 years, I’ll still be the same. So, for your own sake and for Jade Country, it must be me who covers the retreat and buys you time."

"It’s coming fast! Hurry and retreat! Wang Lan, remember this: you’re a warrior, a warrior of Jade Country!"

Strong Star Energy Fluctuations rippled around Qiao Shan. At this moment, to outsiders, Qiao Shan must have looked imposing. At the very least, all surviving Pioneers looked at him with eyes full of respect.

Wang Lan also respected him, but he believed he had other options.

He gently patted Qiao Shan’s shoulder. "You see this as a single-choice question: either you die, or I die. But in my eyes, it’s actually a multiple-choice question."

"What do you mean?"

"Your life, my life, the lives of our comrades behind us—I want to save them all!" Roaring out the last three words as if with all his strength, Wang Lan turned into a streak of light and rushed towards the Abyss Beast.

"Damn it! You—"

Qiao Shan had never imagined Wang Lan would do this, and he pounded his chest in angry frustration. Isn’t this a death sentence? That’s an Abyss Beast, one that could fight the Five Emperors to a standstill!

"Extreme Heat Light Beam!"

Wang Lan instantly fired an Extreme Heat Light Beam with a temperature of 60,000 degrees. Faced with this, the Abyss Beast finally halted. If it had seemed nonchalant before, filled with disdain for the world, now a hint of annoyance, as if towards a bothersome insect, appeared in its massive eyes.

It lightly lifted its paw, ripples of Annihilation emanating from it. Within these ripples, the 60,000-degree Extreme Heat Light Beam seemed to hit an invisible barrier and stopped.

The Abyss Giant Beast raised its head, a human-like scorn showing in its crimson eyes, as if to say, Is that all you’ve got? Try again.

Although Wang Lan knew the Abyss Beast was strong, he hadn’t expected the Extreme Heat Light Beam to be blocked so effortlessly. If the Extreme Heat Light Beam could be stopped, then naturally, the Star Sky God Arrow could be too. A powerful barrier surrounded the Abyss Giant Beast. It meant that even if Wang Lan combined the Samadhi True Fire with the Netherworld Ghost Fire, not even a single spark would likely land on its body.