I Have Infinite Skill Points-Chapter 495: A Shocking Feat of Valor
"What?" Shen Xiaowu stared blankly at the communicator, his pupils instantly dilating. Half a million Exotic Beasts charging into a region that was already incredibly difficult to defend—what kind of scene would that be? Perhaps... a one-sided slaughter? And an Abyss Beast had appeared too? Shen Xiaowu was very clear that the appearance of an Abyss Beast was always accompanied by four to five Exotic Beasts of Titled Strongman rank. Even without witnessing the end for himself, Shen Xiaowu could guess the outcome. The western area would suffer a complete collapse, which would in turn trigger the entire collapse of the Cloud Sea Pioneer Space. The best-case scenario would be that a decade’s effort would go up in flames, and humanity’s pioneers would lose a third of the space they had opened up.
All of a sudden, Shen Xiaowu jolted back to his senses. This was not the time to be shocked—they had to make immediate adjustments.
"Order the Pioneer Legions in the due south, southwest, northwest, and due north to contract immediately. The southern defensive line is to contract to Neck-Crossing Cliff, using the advantageous terrain to block the Exotic Beasts’ breakthrough. The southwestern contingent is to withdraw towards the northeast; they must seize 233 Valley before the western Exotic Beasts and use it to hold them back. The northern defensive line is to retreat to the Ice River and build defenses leveraging the river. The northwestern defensive line is to retreat towards the southeastern defensive line and finally form a joint command with Lin Yao in the southwestern area to jointly resist the Exotic Beasts."
"Yes!"
"Also, send someone to enlist Emperor Bai immediately! Ensure he comes to support us as soon as possible."
"Yes!"
After Shen Xiaowu issued his orders, he felt as if all his strength had been drained, leaving him utterly weak. Staring blankly at the sand table map, he suddenly slammed his fist into the spot representing the western line of defense.
"Damn El Nino! Our ten years of effort, ten years of hard work all for naught! Fifty thousand brothers... fifty thousand brothers, ah..."
The entire command center was instantly filled with the oppressive, foreboding atmosphere of an approaching storm. Every person felt as if a huge stone was weighing down their chest. This unexpected event was a massive test for everyone.
「About half an hour later...」
"Report—latest battlefield report from the West!"
"What? There’s still a report? Commander Si Yu, he’s not dead?" Shen Xiaowu’s first reaction was not to the content of the report, but how could Si Yu still be sending out reports at this time? He was still alive?
Shen Xiaowu was very aware that Si Yu’s divisional command post was positioned right at the frontline. With half a million Exotic Beasts and an Abyss Beast charging the defenses, the command post would be the first to be hit. It had been half an hour already; surely the western area must be in complete chaos by now?
"Read it!" Shen Xiaowu, snapping back to reality, quickly ordered.
"Respected Supreme Commander, Your Excellency Green Tiger,
After His Excellency Earth Walker and Lord Wang Lan rushed to the Western Front, the Chaos Mist surged, and the horde of Exotic Beasts stood ready to attack.
His Excellency Earth Walker went ahead of the defensive line and created a mountain range stretching ten kilometers to counteract the Western Front’s topographical disadvantages.
Just as the fortifications were completed, Exotic Beasts swarmed out from within the Chaos Mist. First, ten thousand flying Exotic Beasts acted as the vanguard, followed by half a million Exotic Beasts charging the frontline defenses.
Lord Wang Lan, using his flying abilities, singlehandedly battled the ten thousand flying Exotic Beasts, slaughtering all of them within ten minutes. Meanwhile, the momentum of the Exotic Beasts’ offensive was unstoppable. They advanced nearly three kilometers, overrunning half the mountain defense line. Exotic Beasts covered the mountainsides, and more than a thousand of our brothers were killed or wounded.
At this critical moment, after Lord Wang Lan had dealt with the airborne Exotic Beasts, he utilized large-scale Star Martial Skills, taking advantage of the terrain to decimate Exotic Beasts in congested areas, massacring over ten thousand of them within minutes.
Subsequently, taking advantage of the continuous tunnels, he unleashed three super S-grade Star Martial Skills. First, he used a lava assault to create a two-kilometer-long river of lava in the mountain valley. Then, he used Ice Attribute Star Martial Skills to freeze and solidify the lava. Finally, he employed explosive Star Martial Skills to blast the two-kilometer stretch of Exotic Beasts to smithereens. 𝚏𝕣𝐞𝗲𝐰𝕖𝐛𝐧𝕠𝕧𝚎𝚕.𝐜𝚘𝗺
This engagement resulted in the death of over fifty thousand Exotic Beasts.
Afterward, Lord Wang Lan joined forces with His Excellency Earth Walker. His Excellency Earth Walker manipulated the terrain while Lord Wang Lan provided fire support. They battled fiercely for over an hour and ten minutes, successfully expelling the Exotic Beasts from the mountain range. Over three hundred thousand Exotic Beasts were killed in total."
As these words were read, everyone in the command center stared wide-eyed at the signal officer reading the report, their minds struggling to comprehend what they were hearing.
But the report was far from over.
"The tide of Exotic Beasts was nearly annihilated. Then, the Chaos Mist surged again, and three Titled Strongman-rank Exotic Beasts broke through, instantly causing severe destruction to our position.
Lord Wang Lan soared into the sky, facing off alone against a Golden Eagle and burning it to death with Wonder Flame. Then, with His Excellency Earth Walker’s assistance, he engaged the remaining two Exotic Beasts. The Ape-type Exotic Beast was slain on the spot. The Blue-haired Lion, overwhelmed by Lord Wang Lan’s combat power, turned to flee. However, before it could retreat into the mist, it was killed by a streak of white light.
That streak of white light split the ten-kilometer-long defensive terrain in two. With this single strike, another two thousand brothers were killed instantly, their bodies obliterated.
This was the Abyss Giant Beast, the Azure Lion Griffin.
The Griffin was immensely powerful. With a single attack, it destroyed the ten-kilometer defensive line. His Excellency Earth Walker was gravely injured and no match for it. His Excellency Earth Walker urged Lord Wang Lan to lead our remaining defeated soldiers in a retreat, but Lord Wang Lan refused.
After that, Lord Wang Lan reached an extreme state of power. He fought fiercely alone against the Griffin, unleashing a Sword Qi attack with world-ending power that severely wounded it. He then burned the Griffin with a combination of Samadhi True Fire and Netherworld Ghost Fire.
The Griffin, wounded, turned and fled back into the Chaos Mist.
At this point, the intense defensive counterattack, which had lasted for one and a half hours, concluded. In this battle, a total of five hundred thousand Exotic Beasts were killed, including three Titled-rank Exotic Beasts, and one Abyss Beast was repelled.
The collection of Soul Beads is still ongoing. The quantity is not yet countable, but they are piled up like a mountain. This report is submitted to inform headquarters that all is well and there is no need for excessive worry."
After the lengthy battle report was read, Shen Xiaowu felt as if the entire world had become surreal. An Abyss Beast leading an army of five hundred thousand Exotic Beasts charged the Western Front, and not only did the defenses hold, but the enemy was actually driven back? And they even won? Is this really happening, or am I watching a TV drama?
But Shen Xiaowu, having weathered many storms, quickly composed himself. "Send someone to the West area to verify this battle report."
Under normal circumstances, Shen Xiaowu wouldn’t verify a battle report. If a divisional command center dared to send a report, its contents were assumed to be true. But this particular report was so outlandish, so exaggerated, that even Shen Xiaowu couldn’t help but wonder if Commander Si Yu was dreaming.
Star Martial Warriors executed orders with incredible speed, especially messenger-type Star Martial Warriors who specialized in swiftness. On foot, they could run like the wind, reaching speeds of two hundred kilometers per hour, while flying Star Martial Warriors could achieve three hundred kilometers per hour.
When the messenger Star Martial Warrior raced five hundred kilometers to the Western Front camp, ten thousand Star Martial Warriors from the Western Front were still collecting Soul Beads within a ten-kilometer radius. The messenger didn’t even need to ask. Seeing the mountain-like piles of Soul Beads, he knew that everything stated in the battle report was true.
After briefly getting an update on the situation from Commander Si Yu, the messenger turned around and hurried back towards the main headquarters without stopping. The journey there had taken over two hours, but the return trip, covering the same distance, took less than two hours.
When the messenger burst into the command center and saw Shen Xiaowu, he was so exhausted that he collapsed to the ground. He only managed to utter one sentence, "Everything in the battle report... is true..." before fainting.
Really? If it’s true, that means Wang Lan and Qiao Shan truly held back the assault of five hundred thousand Exotic Beasts and killed them all? That Wang Lan really managed to repel the Abyss Giant Beast? What sort of marvelous feat is this? What kind of earth-shattering act of valor?
When this news broke, it wasn’t just the headquarters that erupted in excitement; the entire Cloud Sea Pioneer Space went into a frenzy. Wang Lan’s solo brilliance outshone everyone else, making them seem like mere foils.
The news spread rapidly beyond the Pioneer Space, sweeping across the entire country with the speed of a virus. The political sphere, the military, and the Different Dimensional Space communities were all utterly astounded by the report.
Yu Ruoyun, who was on a mission elsewhere, was stunned when she heard the news. A wry smile then touched her lips. Typical of you. I’ve been completely left behind.
Upon learning this news, Number One became ecstatic. He picked up his cherished ink brush and, with vigorous strokes, wrote a line of powerful characters that seemed to form naturally, without any trace of artificiality: "A heroic youth, a youthful hero. The nation’s pillar, the nation’s great fortune!"
While the whole country was buzzing with excitement over Wang Lan’s feat, Wang Lan himself was driving a truckload of Soul Beads to Jiang Xinyu at headquarters, presenting them like a trophy.
Jiang Xinyu had been transferred to headquarters and, for the first day or two, genuinely believed it was a normal job reassignment. It wasn’t until two days later, around the time Wang Lan was fighting fiercely on the frontline, that Jiang Xinyu noticed the warriors at headquarters were unusually busy.
Upon inquiry, she learned that El Nino had appeared and the Cloud Sea Pioneer Space was about to face a massive storm. In that moment, Jiang Xinyu understood everything: why she had been recalled from the frontline, and why she hadn’t received any new assignments for two days. She would have died before believing Wang Lan wasn’t behind it all.
Yet Wang Lan had kept her completely in the dark. Everyone in the Cloud Sea Pioneer Space knew, except her. Jiang Xinyu could accept being protected by Wang Lan, but she couldn’t accept being kept in ignorance while he protected her.
So, the Ice-Snow Queen was furious. She desperately wanted to go to the frontline immediately, find Wang Lan, and give him a good, hard kick. But just then, the battle report arrived, detailing Wang Lan’s victory: killing five hundred thousand Exotic Beasts and defeating the Abyss Giant Beast.
When she first heard this news, Jiang Xinyu felt no shock, no worry, nor any lingering fear. Instead, an image surfaced in her mind: that day at Ice Cliff, standing beneath the Gate of The Underworld, watching Wang Lan single-handedly fight a hundred thousand Exotic Beasts and two Titled Strongman-rank Exotic Beasts.
It wasn’t that Wang Lan intended to keep her in the dark... but that Jiang Xinyu was too weak. In such a dire situation, she would have been of no help at all. They had agreed to face the storms together, side by side, but with Jiang Xinyu’s strength at the peak of the Galaxy Stage, not even possessing the combat power of the early Star Sea Stage, how could she possibly fight alongside Wang Lan?
That day, Jiang Xinyu did not cultivate. She stood on the summit of the mountain, gazing westward into the wind, and silently shed tears.
Wang Lan had never shattered Jiang Xinyu’s pride, but reality was tearing it apart, piece by piece. She wasn’t Wang Lan; Wang Lan, at the peak of the Galaxy Stage, could defeat two Titled-rank Exotic Beasts. She couldn’t. She wasn’t Yu Ruoyun, who, at the peak of the Galaxy Stage, could possess the combat power of the peak of the Star Sea Stage. Jiang Xinyu was a genius, yes, but merely an ordinary one. Though she advanced rapidly, she lacked the strength to fight opponents beyond her level. Such situations were bound to recur. When faced with insurmountable, catastrophic enemies, Wang Lan could rise to the challenge, but Jiang Xinyu could only face death.
"What’s wrong?" When Wang Lan found Jiang Xinyu, she was still on the mountain summit, lost in thought.
