72: vs Chen Yan

As soon as the battle began, ten Mechanical Beasts of various forms appeared around Xu Yan, their mounted firepower fully activated and unleashed towards the opponent.

Facing the incoming barrage of artillery fire, Chen Yan calmly commanded his Ice Rock Armored Beast to activate the Ice Barrier.

At the same time, the other two Spirit Beasts, originally intending to attack Xu Yan, directly shifted their targets, using their offensive skills to intercept the majority of the incoming artillery fire.

There was no other way. If it were just Xu Yan's three Spirit Beasts, Chen Yan would have let his two Spirit Beasts try to clash head-on. But on Xu Yan's side, in addition to his three Spirit Beasts, there was also the supplementary firepower of ten Mechanical Beasts.

In Xu Yan's battle with Jing Xing, he had witnessed the power of those Mechanical Beasts' firepower. This 3-on-13 approach would only lead to heavier losses for his side, or even being wiped out in one wave by the opponent. Under duress, Chen Yan could only change his initial strategy.

After the majority of the artillery fire was intercepted by the two Spirit Beasts, the remaining shots landed on the Ice Barrier, causing little damage. The residual force that flew towards Xu Yan after the two Spirit Beasts broke through the artillery fire was also easily blocked by the energy shield activated by Wuxiang.

It seemed like a mutual probe, with neither side suffering any losses.

However, it should be noted that the ones taking action on Xu Yan's side were not the Spirit Beasts, but the ten Mechanical Beasts.

After the ten Mechanical Beasts finished unleashing their firepower, and before the artillery fire and the opponent's ice even made contact in flight, a blue electromagnetic current flashed across their bodies.

Then, those Mechanical Beasts of various forms, under the effect of Electromagnetic Catapult, transformed into projectiles, surpassing their previously fired artillery and shooting towards Chen Yan at an extremely high speed.

At the same time, another ten Mechanical Beasts were summoned by Wuxiang, once again unleashing their full firepower towards Chen Yan. The second round of artillery fire began to pour down, and after it concluded, these ten Mechanical Beasts were also launched.

Chen Yan, who had successfully blocked the first wave of artillery fire with the skills of his two Spirit Beasts, didn't even have time to issue the next command when the ten Mechanical Beast projectiles directly pierced through the Ice Rock Armored Beast's Ice Barrier. As they approached the one person and three Spirit Beasts, they self-destructed, and a small mushroom cloud appeared over the arena.

At the same time, the second wave of ten Mechanical Beasts' firepower and their self-destruction also landed on Chen Yan's position, causing another explosion.

Watching Wuxiang and the Mechanical Beasts' attacks continuously hit the opponent, Xu Yan did not show any signs of complacency. After all, his current surroundings were still within the arena, not on the platform he would return to after the battle ended.

This meant that the opposing Chen Yan and his Spirit Beasts had not been killed by Wuxiang and the Mechanical Beasts' previous three rounds of attacks, and the battle was still ongoing.

As expected, after the smoke and dust cleared, a transparent ice crystal appeared in Xu Yan's sight. Inside the ice crystal were Chen Yan and his three Spirit Beasts.

Ice Sealed Tomb, an ice-type life-saving skill that temporarily freezes oneself, rendering one unable to move while immune to all damage not exceeding one major rank above the user.

It was precisely because this skill was activated in time before the Mechanical Beasts exploded that Chen Yan and his three Spirit Beasts withstood this round of bombardment unscathed.

Almost at the same time the smoke and dust cleared, the effect of Ice Sealed Tomb also dissipated, and Chen Yan and his three Spirit Beasts regained their ability to move.

As soon as the ice crystal on its body was gone, a giant bear's paw was seen striking towards the Frost Whisper Ice Fox behind it. It was Xiong Nian, who had quickly approached right after the explosion.

Facing the incoming Xiong Nian, the Ice Rock Armored Beast was about to step forward to intercept, but it didn't notice that its four claws had somehow been entangled with invisible spider silk. Not only did it fail to move successfully, but it was also tripped by the invisible spider silk, almost falling to the ground and missing the best opportunity to intercept Xiong Nian.

Afterward, it felt a great force coming from its four claws. The tough and fine spider silk directly cut through its skin and embedded into its flesh, while also pulling its body forward.

The bear's paw struck, sending the Frost Whisper Ice Fox flying, and Xiong Nian pursued it like a shadow.

The Frost Whisper Ice Fox, having reacted, watched Xiong Nian leap forward. Its blue tail behind it split into three like a peacock fanning its tail, with two phantom fox tails formed by psychic energy and the real fox tail, both illusory and real, attacking Xiong Nian.

The Frost Whisper Ice Fox possesses both Ice and Psychic attributes.

However, unfortunately, one of Xiong Nian's two attributes was also Psychic, and the other was the Combat Department, which had a resistance effect against Psychic types. The Psychic attacks were easily blocked, and Xiong Nian continued to output damage against the Frost Whisper Ice Fox.

Seeing one of its companions bound and dragged, and the other suppressed, the remaining Ice Elemental Spirit initially wanted to help its two companions.

However, as this thought arose, a sense of crisis welled up from its heart.

Looking in the direction of the feeling, it indeed saw Xu Yan in the distance and a charging laser cannon suspended beside him. The muzzle was pointed precisely at Chen Yan and the Ice Elemental Spirit's position.

At the same time, another ten Mechanical Beasts, their muzzles also aimed at Chen Yan, had blue electromagnetic light flashing on their bodies.

The meaning was clear: if the Ice Elemental Spirit dared to help the other two Spirit Beasts, then Chen Yan would be directly beheaded by Wuxiang, losing the battle outright.

In response, the Ice Elemental Spirit could only erect layers of ice walls around Chen Yan while keeping a close eye on the laser cannon floating beside Xu Yan. Without being able to guarantee Chen Yan's safety, it couldn't provide much help to its two companions.

The Ice Rock Armored Beast was still fine; although its four claws were bound by spider silk, it was cultivated as a tank. Besides its powerful defense and protective skills, it also possessed strong self-healing abilities.

Although Zhu Yan's attack was powerful, under the protection of its ice armor, it wouldn't have any problems for the time being.

However, the situation for the Frost Whisper Ice Fox was not so good.

A ranged mage being engaged in close combat by a warrior was forced into melee.

Powerful ice-type skills required 'casting time' and simply couldn't be used under the opponent's storm-like suppression. The skills that could be used didn't cause much damage.

The Psychic type, usually used to counter close combat, encountered Xiong Nian, who had dual-attribute resistance, and its effects were even less significant than those of minor ice-type skills.