Although the current situation, with dangers looming ahead and behind and their equipment issuing energy warnings, left Haoyun and his companions feeling somewhat overwhelmed, they couldn't just give up on landing on Everlasting Star and wait here to die, could they? So, without further ado, they didn't dare hesitate but immediately stretched their bodies and, following the system's forced landing command, accelerated towards Everlasting Star. At the same time, they hurriedly urged the system to confirm once again the number of enemies ahead and prepared themselves for combat at any moment.
"Warning! Warning! System functions limited, unable to determine enemy numbers!"
"Warning! Warning! Encounter with enemies in three minutes and fifty-two seconds. Please prepare for battle as soon as possible!"
"Attention! Attention! Significant energy fluctuations detected ahead! Suspected combat situation! It is advised to enter combat mode immediately!" After the orders were issued by the three, the system continued to report consecutively. Almost simultaneously, Haoyun and his companions also clearly saw flashes of fire on the surface of Everlasting Star's starry sky. It seemed that there was a large-scale battle happening between those who had appeared there earlier and the residual mold spirit energy.
"Perhaps the surviving inhabitants of Everlasting Star are engaging the enemy in combat. Everyone, prepare for battle immediately! Once we confirm the identities of the opposing sides, we will join the fight!" Although the crimson fog behind them was still relentlessly descending from the sky, facing the intense battle ahead, Dao Lao calmly issued orders. At the same time, he pulled out the Demon-Extinguishing Rod from his lower back, causing Haoyun, standing beside him, to instinctively tense up.
As the countdown of three minutes and fifty-two seconds approached its end, Haoyun and his companions soon saw clearly the battle unfolding before them—a group of fierce avian creatures, resembling griffins made of thatched grass, were engaged in aerial combat with gondola-like flying boats amidst the myriad stars. Although they had just stumbled upon this unexpected battlefield, Dao Lao and Dream Jia, relying on their rich combat experience, quickly recognized that the griffin-like creatures were on the defensive, while the flying boats were attempting to break through their lines to enter Everlasting Star.
Of course, as they drew closer to the battlefield, Haoyun and his companions soon discerned the affiliations of the combatants. This was evident from the spears being hurled by the soldiers on the flying boats, which bore a striking resemblance to the standard divine weapons equipped by the divine army of the Divine Spirit Realm. Additionally, prominent inscriptions of spells exclusive to the Divine Spirit Realm adorned the flying boats, allowing them to soar through the sky—a feat of which the primitive-looking boats were incapable. Moreover, the soldiers aboard the flying boats were humanoid camel-deer with large antlers.
The answer was clear: the humanoid camel-deer warriors aboard the flying boats were the surviving inhabitants of Everlasting Star, while the group of grotesque griffin-like creatures were the enemies that Haoyun and his companions needed to confront. Furthermore, the system's detection of a four-star mold spirit energy level emanating from the griffins, upon nearing the battlefield, confirmed their nature as remnants of the mold spirit energy. Naturally, upon the sudden descent of Haoyun and his two companions from the sky, they were immediately attacked by the griffins, which launched their needle-like attacks without hesitation, akin to short spears, piercing towards them. However, these attacks were unable to penetrate the protective shields of Haoyun and his companions' armor, merely exploding into fragments upon impact with their shields.
Surprisingly, after these grassy fragments were severed into pieces, they stubbornly adhered to the protective shields of Haoyun and his companions and attempted to inject an unknown liquid secreted from the broken fragments into the shields. However, this unknown liquid, unable to penetrate their shields, soon dried up and solidified into a thin layer of keratin, dispersing into fine powder and disappearing completely.
Several griffin-like birds quickly surrounded Haoyun and his companions, who were still descending, and began to attack them with needles shot from their bodies. Although the griffins' attacks were fierce, they were ultimately creatures from the lower realm, so their needle projectiles could not penetrate the protective shields of the three and cause them harm. Instead, they exploded into several segments upon hitting the shields generated by their armor.
However, to Haoyun and his companions' surprise, after these grassy fiber needles were broken into several segments, they stubbornly adhered to their protective shields and attempted to inject an unknown liquid secreted from the broken fragments into the shields. Of course, this unknown liquid also could not penetrate their protective shields. Therefore, it quickly dried up and solidified into a thin layer of keratin due to exposure to the air, eventually crumbling into fine powder and dispersing into nothingness.
Several griffins, seeing that their attacks had not harmed Haoyun and his companions, quickly ascended after passing by them and made steep turns, preparing to launch another attack. However, what they did not expect was that their current targets were not like the inhabitants of Everlasting Star, who could only engage in aerial combat with remote weapons despite being specially reinforced in terms of range and rate of fire. Therefore, when they recklessly turned away in front of Haoyun and his companions, they exposed their backs to Haoyun.
Especially Dream Jia, with her rich combat experience and the Equality of All Sentients in her hands, how could she miss such an excellent shooting opportunity? So, when she saw several griffins making a turn in the air, revealing their backs to her, Dream Jia aimed and pulled the trigger without hesitation. Dream Jia's marksmanship was naturally impeccable, and the several strange birds were soon pierced by the projectiles of Equality of All Sentients and turned into firebirds in the high-temperature blaze of the projectiles.
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Upon being ignited, the griffins immediately lost their flying momentum and fell headlong amidst a chorus of wails. It was only then that Haoyun and his companions noticed that there were several very small grass people sitting on the backs of these griffins, almost blending into the dense thatched feathers of the griffins. At the same time, they realized that it was not the griffins themselves that had been launching needle attacks all along, but rather the small grass people riding on their backs.
After Dream Jia shot and killed several griffins on the spot, the remaining griffins immediately changed their targets and swooped down towards Haoyun and his companions. However, as Haoyun and his companions were dealing with this group of griffins while also trying to land on Everlasting Star as quickly as possible to evade the crimson fog descending from behind, they simply did not have the extra energy to dodge the attacks of the small grass people. Instead, while maintaining a certain descent speed, they endured their attacks and inflicted damage on the griffins encountered along the way. At the same time, Haoyun and his companions also signaled to the inhabitants of Everlasting Star to try to lure the enemies to them and urged them to descend as quickly as possible to avoid the greater threat approaching from behind.
Since Haoyun and his companions could now use their light weapons normally, they had an advantage in the battle against the griffins. However, what worried them was that their Geist Realm battle armor had absorbed a large amount of damage in the battle, and its energy was now critically low due to the substantial consumption. Therefore, Haoyun and his companions had to quickly deal with the surrounding griffins and land on Everlasting Star before their armor's energy ran out and before the crimson fog caught up to them from behind.
Fortunately, the number of griffins involved in the aerial battle was limited, and Haoyun and his companions had overwhelming strength against them. Therefore, all they needed to do now was to eliminate the remaining dozen or so griffins to continue their descent unimpeded. However, just as they were preparing to deal with the remaining griffins, they found that these griffins suddenly became restless and agitated. The griffins not only increased the volume of their cries but also, instead of preparing to attack them again in the air, turned and fled downwards towards Everlasting Star. It seemed that these griffins suddenly became fearful of Haoyun and his companions descending from the sky.
Haoyun and his companions were momentarily stunned by this turn of events, but they quickly realized that what had made these griffins suddenly fearful could not have been themselves, but rather the crimson fog descending alongside them. Thinking of this, Haoyun subconsciously wanted to turn around to confirm the position of the crimson fog. But before he could do so, he was suddenly knocked out by Dream Jia, who was flying towards him.
"Watch out behind you!" Dream Jia shouted as she knocked Haoyun away. Then, before Haoyun could react to what had happened, he saw a burning meteor fragment with a long trail of fire falling from where he had just been.
Haoyun, sweating profusely from the shock, quickly looked up and saw more burning meteor fragments falling from the sky. Several griffins and two flying boats were directly hit by the burning meteor fragments before they could dodge, exploding into flames.
Seeing this, Haoyun immediately accelerated downwards, while asking Dream Jia beside him, "What's going on?! Dream Jia, Dao Lao, are you both okay?!"
"I'm fine! Let's go!" Dao Lao said as he flew to Haoyun and Dream Jia's side, gesturing for them to speed up their descent.
At the same time, the system of the three began to continuously issue warnings: "Warning! Warning! A large amount of mixed mutant energy detected behind! Please follow the optimal descent route to Everlasting Star as soon as possible! Warning! Warning! Only four percent of the energy left in the Geist Realm battle armor! Please avoid direct confrontation with falling meteor fragments to ensure that the Geist Realm battle armor has enough energy to complete the descent!"
The successive warnings from the system made the already dangerous situation even more chaotic. However, Haoyun and his companions did not have time to ask the system what "mixed mutant energy" referred to or to consider what would happen if they could not land safely on Everlasting Star before the energy of their battle armor ran out. After hearing the system's warnings, they immediately focused all their energy on escaping the fiery rain formed by the burning meteor fragments.
Of course, at this moment, all three of them had activated their personal shields, using double-layered protection to ensure they could withstand the falling meteor fragments that they couldn't avoid. However, these burning meteor fragments still posed a significant threat to their shields. Therefore, Haoyun and his companions focused on dodging the meteor fragments as much as possible while wielding their light weapons to create an additional defensive formation. By dispersing more of the unmanageable meteor fragments, they reduced the consumption on their shields caused by these fragments. As for the griffins that had previously attacked them, Haoyun and his companions simply had no energy to spare to deal with them. After all, even the griffins themselves were struggling to survive, so where would they find the leisure to continue attacking Haoyun and his companions?
Just as Haoyun and his companions were swiftly navigating through the falling meteor fragments and wondering if the energy of their Geist Realm battle armor could support them in landing safely on Everlasting Star, a rugged voice suddenly appeared behind them: "Warriors! Come aboard quickly!"
Haoyun and his companions immediately turned at the sound, and they saw a crescent-shaped flying boat with deer heads carved on both the raised bow and stern, which had somehow caught up with them from behind. At this moment, several warriors with deer-like antlers on their heads and heavy armor were standing by the side of the boat, making gestures to assist Haoyun and his companions while shouting urgently.
"Warriors, get on the ship and come with us!" one of the deer-headed individuals shouted anxiously once again.
Knowing that these humanoid deer belonged to the same faction as themselves and seeing their willingness to offer help, Haoyun and his companions didn't hesitate to fly onto the nearby flying boat. The deer-headed individual immediately gestured to the warrior standing at the stern, and the flying boat shot down towards Everlasting Star like an arrow released from a bow.