"Good, it really is the Rat King and the Mole Worm. I didn't expect these two to meet, let alone clash. They're both extremely vengeful and hold grudges. If these two encounter each other, they won't stop until one of them is dead. No matter which one wins, the loser's death will be a huge boon for me and the entire Xuanhuang Village."
Yi Tianxing couldn't help but feel a rush of delight.
This was truly a windfall—an absolute stroke of fortune.
For Xuanhuang Village, it was a huge blessing. It might even be a case of killing two birds with one stone, solving two major threats in one go.
"It seems the heavens have not abandoned Xuanhuang Village. If the golden Rat King had burrowed into the village with its horde, the entire population could've been slaughtered, and the village would've been annihilated. We'd never rise again. That Rat King is intelligent, but it didn't foresee that there was also a Mole Worm beneath Xuanhuang Village. The rat's schemes can't beat heaven's will."
Yi Tianxing sneered, eyes flashing with a cold killing intent.
This was destiny—luck blessed upon him—turning danger into opportunity.
The moment the golden Rat King appeared, the rat horde outside the valley instantly went berserk. Their eyes turned red as they charged toward the valley, clearly trying to reunite with their king.
"If you want to pass… you'll have to ask my permission first. Kill!!"
Yi Tianxing strode forward coldly.
His eyes once again shimmered with black and white light. In an instant, eight Yin-Yang Locks appeared before him, immediately breaking apart into 648 Yin-Yang Rings, radiating black and white brilliance as they landed with unerring precision upon the charging rat horde. Wherever the rings landed, a large number of fierce rats collapsed, writhing wildly on the ground.
"Kill, brothers! Follow the lord and charge!" Wang Dahu roared, swinging his weapon and slicing a collapsed rat in two. Ever since becoming a cultivator, his strength had surged exponentially. Now, his strikes were overwhelmingly powerful.
"Go! The lord is shielding us from the storm, standing at the front lines. The power of these rats is being suppressed by his divine abilities—by seven or eight tenths! If we can't kill rats like this, what kind of soldiers are we even?!" a soldier shouted, smashing a rat's skull with a club—its brains splattering grotesquely.
The number of Yin-Yang Rings kept increasing. Over 600 rings struck the battlefield with near-unrivaled force. Against the rat swarm, they were devastating. Behind Yi Tianxing, over 300 soldiers charged in, slaying every subdued rat on sight. Their efficiency was terrifying. In just a few breaths, each Yin-Yang Ring dragged rat souls into the Yin-Yang Eyes.
However, the rat horde was vast—endless and relentless. Even with 300 men fighting back-to-back, injuries began to appear on every body.
The Yin-Yang Rings kept flying out, suppressing wave after wave. Despite their numbers, the rats were largely held back. Few actually made it through the defense lines.
Still, a handful of rats broke away, rushing toward Xuanhuang Village.
They saw the large group of villagers in the open square and their eyes gleamed with bloodlust as they lunged forward.
"Not good! We can't let these rats get through! Everyone, grab a weapon—if anyone's dying, it should be us men first!"
"Charge! The village chief is holding the front line. These are just stragglers. We're not cowards without balls—kill them! We can't let our people see us as weaklings!"
Inside the village, the men stiffened their necks and picked up all sorts of tools—hoes, clubs, axes—and stood fiercely beneath the village gate, glaring down the oncoming rats.
Though they had only been in this new world for less than two days, the brutality had already awakened the primal bloodthirst in them. Especially with Yi Tianxing fighting at the front—fearless against beasts and monsters—they had rediscovered the courage long buried inside.
A cowardly general leads cowardly soldiers; a brave leader inspires brave people.
Yi Tianxing's example stirred the blood of both soldiers and villagers. Even if they were afraid, none of them retreated.
Whoosh! Whoosh! Whoosh!
But before they could engage, the two Arrow Towers standing within the village roared to life. They sensed the killing intent of the approaching rats and retaliated instantly. One after another, black-glowing energy bolts shot out like lightning, piercing the rats and exploding in a spray of blood. Once embedded, the bolts disappeared into black light and dissipated—leaving behind a strange Daoist aura that lingered over the corpses.
These were not physical arrows—they were energy bolts, condensed from the tower's internal energy pool, drawing from the ambient heaven and earth energy. After a short time, they returned to the ether.
Currently, the Arrow Towers were only at Yellow Rank, Grade One. Each energy quiver could only store nine bolts, meaning they could fire nine bolts in rapid succession. After emptying, the tower needed several breaths to condense a new bolt, at a rate of one per breath.
So if fired one by one, the rate matched that of a trained archer firing continuously.
Both towers launched their nine bolts at once—eighteen bolts, instantly skewering eighteen charging rats. The bodies vanished silently, absorbed and refined by the towers.
Then the towers resumed firing—one bolt per breath.
Every bolt took a rat's life.
The rats were only stragglers to begin with, and under the barrage, not one reached the village. All were slain before even getting close.
"Amazing Arrow Towers!"
"This is the treasure the village chief gave us—it's incredible. The rats can't even get near! And the corpses are gone too… the towers eat the monsters?"
"We're safe! As long as we have the Arrow Towers, our village is secure!"
The men who were ready to die to protect the village, along with the old, weak, and women in the back, all broke into cheers. These two towers had become the true guardian deities of the village.
Squeak! Squeak! Squeak!!
Meanwhile, on the valley battlefield, the battle between the Golden Rat King and the Mole Worm had reached a boiling point.
The Rat King was terrifyingly fast, moving like a streak of gold lightning, leaving afterimages in its wake. A single misstep could mean being torn to shreds. But the Mole Worm was even scarier—it sprayed concentrated sulfuric acid like a torrential downpour. Any drop that landed on flesh would melt it clean off, down to the bone.
Even the rats fighting beside the Rat King were slaughtered in droves under this acid rain, leaving not a trace of their bodies.
And the Mole Worm's massive body was nearly impervious. Rats clawing at its flesh were flung off—their claws couldn't even scratch it. Instead, they were burned, the smell of roasting flesh filling the air.
Only the Golden Rat King's claws could tear open its hide, leaving bloody gashes—but even those healed quickly, not posing any real threat.
The acid couldn't hit the Rat King at all—it was too fast. The ground, however, became a pitted, scorched wasteland.
Both monsters were now utterly enraged.
Then, the Rat King, seeing the Mole Worm distracted while fending off its minions, suddenly lunged at its head. Its beady eyes gleamed gold, and in the next instant—
Pfft!!
Two beams of golden divine light shot from the Rat King's eyes, glowing like solid matter. Each beam was barely an inch long, looking comically small—but they flew like hidden weapons, aiming directly for the Mole Worm's head.
Innate Divine Ability — Short-Sighted Vision!
Life Aperture — "Inch Light" (Cun Guang 寸光)
This "Short-Sighted Vision" couldn't be launched from afar. At least with the Rat King's current power, it required close range. The attack was lightning-fast—less than a breath passed before the golden beams were at the Mole Worm's face. The creature could feel the terrifying sharpness radiating from them.
Absolutely capable of slicing through metal and stone!
But at that moment, the Mole Worm abruptly turned its head—and let loose a massive spray of acid directly at the Rat King, engulfing it completely.