The first to charge toward that black tide were the thousand elite cavalry personally led by Huo Qubing.
Amid the black tide, the pitch‑black tentacles lashed out even more violently, raging toward the cavalry formation.
A thousand elite riders seemed utterly insignificant before that overwhelming black tide.
Yet they charged forward undaunted.
Like a silver blade, they stabbed fiercely into the black tide.
Break!
Horses’ hooves shattered the ground, long spears tore through the wind. Huo Qubing rode at the very front, his silver spear instantly transforming into a true silver dragon.
The spear shot forth like a dragon, carrying the force of ten thousand jun as it slammed straight ahead.
Boom!
A sharp explosion rang across the battlefield. The silver spear and the pitch‑black tentacles collided with a deafening roar.
Huo Qubing did not retreat.
Neither did the thousand cavalry behind him.
Charge. Charge again.
They plunged into the black tide without hesitation!
With one thrust of his spear, Huo Qubing tore through the oncoming giant tentacle, unstoppable.
But then came new, even more frenzied pitch‑black tentacles.
They filled the sky, sweeping in from all directions like the maw of an abyss, instantly swallowing the charging cavalry.
They could not block it. They simply could not block it.
That was not something mortal flesh and blood could withstand.
Large swaths of garrison soldiers fell like wheat scythed down by those pitch‑black tentacles.
Men and horses were swept up; screams cut short. Only twisted monsters rose again to turn on their comrades.
The number of anomalies was simply too great, so great it drove one to despair.
They seemed endless, with no end in sight.
They kept surging forward, all the way to the foot of the Great Wall.
The soldiers standing atop the wall stared at the black wave surging like the mouth of an abyss, their breath nearly stopping.
With one casual swing of those enormous tentacles like demon gods…
The entire Great Wall would crumble in an instant.
How could they fight this? The Great Wall could not be held!
Just as the black tide bore down and death was inches away…
Hum!
A dazzling golden light suddenly flared.
Su Fu stood atop the wall, and behind her a colossal, solemn Buddhist shadow condensed into form.
“Divine Skill: Great Compassion, Ten Thousand Buddhas Worship!”
Master Xuanzang’s strongest control skill.
In an instant, vast golden light poured forth like a flood, spreading in all directions with Su Fu at the center!
The golden light was brilliant and unstoppable, crashing down onto the black tide.
Boom!
The once‑unstoppable black tide, upon contact with that golden Buddha light, was forcibly halted.
Those twisted tentacles froze in the golden light, letting out shrill screams, but they were paralyzed.
Golden light blazed, illuminating heaven and earth.
One person had halted a natural disaster.
The garrison soldiers were stunned for a moment, then erupted into thunderous cheers.
“The… the Moon Goddess! The Moon Goddess has manifested!”
“The Moon Goddess has come to protect us!”
But Su Fu sighed.
She had never expected the anomalies to attack so quickly, so ferociously, and so suddenly.
If she hadn’t intervened, the entire Great Wall defense line would have collapsed in an instant.
She had no choice but to use a large‑scale, powerful control divine skill like Great Compassion.
At the same time, the soldiers just a few yards from the black tide felt a lingering fear.
They had been only a hair’s breadth from death. Now they stumbled back a few steps, gripping their weapons tightly.
If earlier, because they had successfully repaired the Great Wall, everyone harbored some luck and optimism, believing they could repel the anomaly tide…
Then the terrifying sight that had nearly flattened the entire Great Wall defense line made everyone clearly realize—
This was a horrifying natural disaster of an impossible magnitude.
Su Fu suddenly grew curious. Facing these anomalies temporarily immobilized by Ten Thousand Buddhas Worship, would these soldiers—or rather, these test takers—choose to retreat?
The answer was obvious.
At least, the soldiers who had guarded this place for generations would not.
“Kill!”
An old soldier who had just scrambled to his feet, without a moment’s hesitation, viciously grabbed his spear and thrust it with all his might into a pinned anomaly.
“Kill these monsters!”
“Revenge!”
More soldiers roared and charged forward like moths flying into a flame.
They hacked with blades and axes, not stopping even when their hands were burned black by the dark aura, even using their teeth as weapons.
They would not retreat!
They would fight to the death!
And the test takers?
After the initial shock, they also snapped back to reality.
“Attack!”
“While they can’t move! Finish them!”
“Su is incredible! Brothers and sisters—give it all you’ve got!”
“Don’t let Su’s effort go to waste!”
In this hopeless situation, no one chose to run or retreat.
On the contrary, Su Fu’s control gave them the perfect opportunity to counterattack.
So, counterattack quickly!
Lin Zhao was the first to burst into action, both blades drawn.
Thousand Blades Sever the Void!
In an instant, countless blade lights fell like a downpour, shredding the black tide ahead into a cloud of black mist.
A Nan stood on the parapet, drawing his bow to the full moon, an arrow blazing with white flames.
Heavenly Flame Arrow!
One arrow shot out like a meteor striking the earth, exploding a blinding sea of fire in the black tide.
Mountain Collapse, Earth Split!
Countless rock spikes burst from the ground, piercing the black tide.
Ice Seals a Thousand Miles!
Everything froze.
But…
Even with Su Fu and the others’ help, the main force of the counterattack was still the ordinary—even fragile—humans.
They used their flesh and blood, their crude weapons, to surge forward wave after wave.
“For our homeland!”
“We will never retreat!”
Countless voices answered like a tidal wave. In that moment, everyone’s will seemed to truly twist into a single rope.
They actually managed to gouge a huge hole in the black tide of the natural disaster!
Light pierced the darkness like a sword, illuminating the ground littered with wreckage and blood‑soaked mud.
Hum…
But at that moment, the golden Buddha light began to flicker violently.
The control time of Great Compassion was about to end.
“Roar—!”
The black tide, suppressed for so long, felt the binding loosen and began to struggle wildly, letting out frenzied shrieks.
In an instant, the golden light vanished completely.
The black tide, like a beast breaking free from its cage, rolled in giant waves of twisted shadow and slammed down toward the Great Wall!
Boom!
The earth shook and the mountains rocked; the wall crumbled, and dust and smoke shot to the sky!
The human camp, which had been stubbornly resisting, seemed so small in the face of absolute power.
The Great Wall fractured inch by inch and collapsed with a thunderous roar.
Countless people were flung away by the terrifying shockwave, or buried under tumbling boulders.
A Nan was thrown by the blast, crashing heavily to the ground and coughing up blood. “Damn it!”
Lin Zhao’s blades shattered, his tiger‑mouth tearing as he staggered back.
Mu Wei’s spear broke; she knelt on one knee, gritting her teeth as she stared ahead.
Without the powerful control of Ten Thousand Buddhas Worship, the black tide devoured everything it passed, sticky darkness spreading like a living thing.
The wall… had fallen.
Was it over just like that?
A Nan and the others felt their divine power draining rapidly, their breathing becoming unbearably heavy.
Darkness swallowed everything.
In their ears, they could no longer hear the thunder of war drums.
The black tide gained the upper hand, covering the wall like viscous asphalt. Wherever it passed, bricks shattered and flesh dissolved.
“Still… no good…”
Lin Zhao watched helplessly as the black tide swallowed the garrison soldier beside him, turning him into a twisted monster.
A Nan’s arm was eroded by the black aura, beginning to fester.
Mu Wei, Xi Yu, Ding Qi, and the other test takers fell silently one after another, swallowed by the black tide…
No light could be seen.
No sound could be heard.
Had they failed?
Had everyone fallen?
Just as the endless darkness was about to completely swallow everyone’s consciousness—
Suddenly, someone saw a faint light.
Like fireflies, like stars. At first only a few scattered points floating in the darkness.
In Lin Zhao’s blurry vision, he saw those light points slowly gather.
“What… is that?”
A Nan struggled to raise his head, blood dripping from his forehead, but he still stared fixedly at that light.
“Wait… that’s…”
Countless people instinctively looked toward that faint light.
More and more light points appeared, from a few to clusters, from scattered to concentrated, like streams merging into rivers, like sparks igniting into a blaze.
“Is that… the Great Wall?!”
Someone shouted, their voice hoarse and trembling.
Had they succeeded?
Had these sparks of humanity’s unyielding will, rising from despair, actually condensed into the shape of the Great Wall?
At this moment, had they activated the immortal monument they had yearned for so deeply?
The phantom of the Great Wall, gathered from countless light points, grew more solid and clearer!
It coiled and stretched like a golden river of stars, spanning heaven and earth.
Wherever the golden light passed, the black tide screamed and dissipated like snow under a scorching sun, melting away.
Boom!
The phantom Great Wall, formed from sparks of fire, solidified completely.
A brilliant golden curtain of light rose from the ground to the sky!
Golden light descended like a miracle, forming an unbreakable barrier that forcefully blocked the Black Tide.
“The Great Wall! It’s the Great Wall!”
“We’re… saved?”
“Hurry! Rescue them!”
Lin Zhao scrambled to his feet, staggering toward a fallen test taker nearby. A boulder had pinned half his body, and his life hung in the balance.
Beside him, several other test takers buried in the rubble were groaning in pain.
A Nan ignored her own injuries and rushed over to help, dragging up a severely wounded test taker. “Don’t fall asleep! Wake up!”
The other survivors also began to move.
Beneath the infantry battalion, a test taker strugglingly lifted a gray-haired veteran and said anxiously, “Uncle Yang, wake up!”
After a violent fit of coughing, Uncle Yang slowly opened his eyes.
He smiled weakly, his voice hoarse. “Cough… cough… you reckless kid… you were really fierce just now… I’m no good anymore, too old.”
Just then, he saw the Great Wall floating in the sky, radiating infinite sacred light.
“The Great Wall?!”
“It’s alive!”
“It’s… protecting us!”
Countless people stared at the wall in shock and awe.
Even Su Fu was dumbfounded.
“It really awakened?”
She murmured softly, then suddenly smiled.
Human will had truly transcended the shackles of matter, igniting this Great Wall and condensing everyone’s faith and hope into an undying torch.
This was a miracle.
“Su Fu! Su Fu! Aaaaah!” Chesia was shouting and jumping excitedly.
“You were right!”
“This is so震撼!”
“When the test takers on other maps see this, they’ll be blown away!”
“Who wouldn’t be?”
Su Fu looked up at the golden light converging into the Great Wall—a colossal barrier stretching to the sky.
The wall cut across the battlefield, locking the Black Tide firmly outside.
Spiritual will had truly awakened this wall.
This map believed in the power of faith.
So faith manifested, and the gamble paid off.
The once-arrogant Black Tide, upon touching the golden barrier, melted like snow in boiling water, swiftly evaporating into nothing.
With the Great Wall’s protection, everyone finally caught their breath.
After a brief respite and overwhelming joy, an even fiercer battle intent arose:
“Charge—!”
“Wipe them out completely!”
Hope rekindled, morale soared.
Everyone pulled out all their tricks and launched a furious counterattack.
The Black Tide, thoroughly enraged, let out earth-shattering roars.
It surged and battered more frantically, trying to tear the golden barrier apart.
Wave after wave, undeterred by death, they crashed until shattered into nothing.
On the battlefield, golden light and black energy intertwined, collided, and annihilated.
Everyone was immersed in the bloody counterattack, shouting as they slaughtered those damn anomalies.
But soon—
A sharp-eyed test taker suddenly exclaimed, “Look! The Great Wall’s light… isn’t it fading?”
Then more people noticed: not only was it dimming, but it was also trembling slightly.
The areas especially under heavy attack from anomalies shook even more violently.
Everyone’s heart sank. Oh no!
The Black Tide was too numerous, charging recklessly without regard for life.
Under the endless onslaught, the collapse of the golden barrier was only a matter of time.
“Brothers and sisters! We have to destroy these anomalies before the golden light disappears!”
“Charge!!”
Su Fu activated the Six Ding Divine Fire, and a sea of flames swept across the battlefield, burning the anomalies crazily.
Other test takers also erupted with divine techniques, unleashing various powerful godly powers.
But even so, facing the endless army of anomalies, the phantom of the Great Wall was still tottering.
Chesia panicked. “Su Fu! Use your divine power, the Eternal Great Wall!”
Su Fu: “…”
Damn it.
“Divine power also needs divine force to maintain. If I resist this many anomalies, I’ll probably be drained dry before it even unleashes its true power.”
“For now, let’s kill these anomalies first!”
“Kill as many as we can!”
On the battlefield, divine techniques were unleashed like crazy, but the anomaly Black Tide was even more numerous.
The golden phantom of the Great Wall, formed by everyone’s will, was visibly dimming and becoming more illusory by the second.
It seemed ready to collapse at any moment.
Just then, someone looked toward Su Fu.
“Boss Su!” A Nan’s voice was hoarse from exhaustion. “You… you must have another way, right?”
“This is a Chinese instance,” Lin Zhao said, his hands trembling slightly but his gaze still fixed on her. “You figured out the pass condition from the start. Now… you must have a way too, right?”
Other test takers also turned to her:
“Yeah, you definitely have a way! Who else could it be?”
“Su Fu, please, from now on you’re my boss! I’ll do whatever you say!”
“That’s right, boss, I believe you have a way too!”
“Please! Su Fu! Lead us… win this final battle!”
Not only that, but the test takers also called on the soldiers to join in.
“Please, Moon Goddess, protect our Great Wall!”
“Please, Moon Goddess, lead us to cut through a bloody path!”
“Please, Moon Goddess—save the Great Wall!”
Someone started it, and soon all the surviving test takers and soldiers were shouting.
Everyone cast hopeful gazes toward the slender figure standing on the wall.
Su Fu sighed softly.
“These test takers… they’re clever.”
She slowly raised her head, looking north at the Black Tide that still loomed like an apocalyptic calamity, trying to drag everything into eternal darkness.
Then she reached out her hand.
Her five slender, fair fingers pressed down gently on the void.
“Though there are no gods here…”
“Our Chinese territory will be protected by the Chinese people themselves!”
“In my name, and in the name of the countless heroic spirits of China—”
“I summon His Majesty, the First Emperor!”
[Eternal Great Wall]!
Boom—!