This time, the Bear King did not continue to struggle with the spherical lifeform but instead stomped down toward Ye Zhongming.
Since that thing refuses to die, deal with it last! Kill this one first!
The massive foot slammed down toward Ye Zhongming. It was easy to imagine that if he were stepped on, given his current condition, he would either die or be severely injured.
As for the spherical lifeform, so what if it got bumped? It wouldnât matter!
The enormous foot descended like a collapsing mountain. Ye Zhongmingâs vision was blurred by blood, making it hard to see clearly, but that didnât stop him from taking action to save himself.
He stabbed the Undead Sand Moon Blade into the ground, using it as leverage to push himself backward. The frozen soil of the North reduced friction, allowing him to slide away quickly.
As the foot fell, the shadow in his vision grew larger. Though Ye Zhongmingâs sliding speed wasnât slow, by his estimation, he still wouldnât escape the stomp of this level-nine lifeform.
Yet Ye Zhongming didnât panic. He remained calm, watching the shadow draw closer. At a certain moment, his body suddenly vanished, reappearing at the edge of the shadow.
BOOM!
The Bear Kingâs massive foot landed, the sheer force causing the entire patch of ground to collapse. Though Ye Zhongming had barely managed to escape by sliding and teleporting at the last moment, the collapsing ground and violent tremors sent him tumbling downward.
An evolved wouldnât be as helpless as an ordinary person. Even in his injured state, Ye Zhongming reacted swiftly. He pushed off the fractured chunks of earth, trying to leap out, but his luck was poorâthese chunks were already falling, shifting unpredictably with the slightest touch, preventing him from gaining enough momentum to escape.
He wasnât afraid of being unable to climb back up, but everyone knew that once the Bear King finished stomping, it would lift its foot for another attack. If Ye Zhongming had been trapped in the pit by then, escaping would have been nearly impossible.
At that moment, as Ye Zhongming struggled to leap upward, he suddenly sensed the Bear King freeze for a brief instant. He barely had time to register this before chains shot out from his shouldersânot to flee, but toward a wound on the Bear Kingâs body, one corroded by the black mist of the Undead Dragon-fish.
Snap!
The chains pierced into the wound. Though not deep, it was enough for Ye Zhongming to pull himself toward the Bear Kingâs head.
He knew why the Bear King had frozenâit was a negative status effect: Stiffness!
And why had stiffness occurred? Because⊠the Undead Sand Moon Blade was embedded in the Bear Kingâs foot.
When Ye Zhongming had fled earlier, he had left the weapon stabbed into the ground, blade up, handle in the ground.
So when the Bear King stomped down, the blade, driven by the level-nine lifeformâs own strength, pierced straight through its paw.
Inflicting a wound on the Bear King would normally trigger negative effects, but theyâd be so brief theyâd be almost unnoticeable.
But this time was different. The weapon had completely impaled the Bear Kingâs paw, greatly amplifying the severity of the negative effect.
This time, the stiffness was obvious.
BANG!
The hellish lifeform crashed into the Bear Kingâs head, jolting the level-nine beast. Due to the stiffness, the Bear Kingâs retaliatory swipe was slightly delayed, missing the rebounding sphere.
But as its paw extended, a black light flashed past, slicing open another wound.
The stiffness soon faded, and the Bear Kingâs other paw struck Nine Treasures, sending the giant earthworm crashing into the ground and inflicting heavy injuries once again.
There was no helping itâthe Bear Kingâs strength was simply too overwhelming.
Ye Zhongming reached the height of the Bear Kingâs head at that moment.
He raised his Harvester Mimicry Shooter and fired rapidly at the Bear Kingâs eyes.
The micro-engraved bullets had already been exhausted during the battle with the Snow Wolf King and earlier attacks on the Bear King. Now, Ye Zhongming could only fire ordinary green-grade bullets.
But even these were high-quality consumables. Only Ye Zhongming could afford to use green-grade bullets as standard ammunition in the entire Chinese region.
Space Stack, combined with Bullet Rain.
A shooting skill paired with the firearmâs rapid-fire mode.
A barrage of bullets streaked toward the Bear Kingâs eyes.
Even a creature famed for its defense couldnât ignore the attacks of a purple-grade weapon. Unable to retract its arms in time, the Bear King abruptly lowered its head, tanking the shots with its thick skull, then lunged forward, slamming its head into Ye Zhongming.
Like a kite with its string cut, Ye Zhongming was sent flying.
The forces of Cloud Peak mounted another assault, but once again, the Bear King repelled them.
As he crashed to the ground, Ye Zhongming felt despair for the first time.
To be honest, Cloud Peak had performed exceptionally well today. Facing two level-nine lifeforms, they had already killed one, and though the other seemed invincible in its ferocity, they had still left it battered and bleeding from multiple wounds.
Other factions needed alliances of multiple organizations, sometimes even mobilizing hundreds of thousands of people, just to kill a single level-nine lifeform.
And Cloud Peak was facing the sixth and tenth strongest level-nine lifeforms in the Chinese regionâfar from ordinary.
Escape? Impossible now. Everyone was injured, and no one could outrun the Bear King, which, despite its bulk, was deceptively fast.
So⊠what could they do?
As soon as he regained control of his body, Ye Zhongming made a decision.
Perhaps⊠it was their only chance.
A silent exchange, unknown to the Bear King, passed between the remaining combat-capable members of Cloud Peak.
The first to strike was Yellow Ball, who had been lying in wait. It suddenly appeared beside the Bear Kingâs leg and bit down hard.
The Bear King roaredâits defense had been breached.
Its paw swung toward Yellow Ball, but the hellish lifeform crashed into it, deflecting the blow.
Unlike before, the hellish lifeform didnât use the recoil to retreat. Instead, it wrapped its tentacles around the Bear Kingâs paw!
The Bear King wouldnât allow this. Its other paw swung downâ
But a swift, spinning figure shot forward, its razor-sharp wings slashing into the attacking paw.
Blood sprayed. The Bear King howled in agony. A deep, bone-exposing gash split its paw, nearly severing it at the joint.
The trait of "greater injuries, greater strength" also applied to Nine Treasures, now in its merged human-beast form.
Suddenly, the Bear King opened its mouthâtwo fangs shot out like projectiles, striking Nine Treasures mid-air. The poor giant earthworm and Xia Bai were forcibly separated from their merged state and crashed to the ground, unable to rise.
The Bear King, eyes bloodshot, prepared to slaughter them all.
A mist of ice and strands of hair shot from afar, entangling the Bear Kingâs other leg.
For now, the level-nine lifeform was rooted in place.
Using those chains again, the King of Cloud Peak ascended before the Bear Kingâs eyesâa yellow talisman in his hand.