Chu Tian fixed his gaze on the words above the progress bar.
"Star Power Condensation Time"
He estimated the progress bar below would take at least six minutes.
Fortunately, he didn't need to do anything.
As each star lit up in the sky, a trace of star power descended, converging upon him.
The progress bar accumulated slowly, bit by bit.
Chu Tian's eyes lit up. This skill was excellent; he could even take the opportunity to attack while charging.
The changes in the world stirred the sand worms, driving them to charge at Chu Tian with even greater desperation.
All of this naturally drew the attention of those nearby.
Old Yang glanced at Chu Tian. Within his line of sight, he could see faint silver lights descending from the sky, swirling around without dispersing.
Dian Dian, meanwhile, was being held by her mother. Despite her fear, her body trembling, she looked at Chu Tian with a strange light in her eyes.
Chu Tian naturally noticed her expression. Although she was nervous and terrified, she remained remarkably calm.
"This woman is not simple…" Chu Tian mused to himself.
Even Old Yang couldn't help but steal a few more glances at her. This woman had been pregnant when he arrived at the Tu tribe. In his memory, Dian Dian should be five years old this year. He hadn't noticed anything unusual about her in all these years; she was just an ordinary woman in the Tu tribe. Her composure at a time like this was something beyond the pretense of an ordinary person.
"Leopard Form… Activate! War Body Assimilation… Activate!"
Chu Tian realized that using the Owl Beast Form skill to attack and defend against so many frequent assaults was simply not enough. He directly chose to activate Leopard Form, not daring to retract his Owl Beast for fear of canceling the skill. He could only choose to activate War Body Assimilation simultaneously. This would give him the abilities of both Leopard and Owl Beast. Facing so many insects, it was better to counter speed with speed.
With Leopard Form activated, Old Yang's pressure immediately eased. Chu Tian moved at lightning speed, killing a large portion of the sand worms on the spot, regardless of whether they were big or small. With a single claw, he unleashed claw marks that tore through space, instantly dispatching the sand worms. This included the sand worms attempting a sneak attack from below. With his divine sense restored, how could Chu Tian allow them to succeed?
However, even with Chu Tian's efficiency, they were still unable to move even an inch. The sandworms were endless; for every one killed, another immediately appeared, blocking their path. These creatures were disgusting; when their companions were killed, they would pounce on them and devour their corpses. Thus, even now, there wasn't a single corpse near them.
Time ticked by, and the energy bar before Chu Tian had already accumulated more than half.
【Ding… System Prompt: Star Power has accumulated to its maximum value. Release?】
"Release… Release it quickly!" Chu Tian roared!
The other three couldn't help but look over. Had Chu Tian gone mad? What was he shouting about?
"Chu Tian, what's wrong?" Old Yang knew that being bitten by a sand worm could cause hallucinations. Had Chu Tian been affected?
*Humph…*
Just as Chu Tian swung his last claw, the dense, intertwined ribbons of star power coiling around his body began to spin rapidly. A moon-like mark appeared on Chu Tian's brow. Simultaneously, his soul power erupted from his brow, gushing outwards. Within his spiritual altar, the divine lake, which had just begun to regain a bit of its water, instantly turned into steaming white mist, rushing out of the divine gate and frantically replenishing Chu Tian's depleted soul power.
At this very moment, Chu Tian's body was lifted by the star power, floating up into the sky for a full hundred meters. He was safe, but Old Yang, Dian Dian, and her mother instantly became the sole targets of the attack. Old Yang was forced to drink another mouthful of the mysterious liquid from his water skin, defending against the sand worms' onslaught with all his might. He stared at Chu Tian's figure floating in the sky, his eyes filled with immense shock. Dian Dian's mother shared the same expression. Only Dian Dian looked at Chu Tian with a bewildered gaze. The little girl was terrified.
Meanwhile, Chu Tian, high in the sky, was not faring well. Within his spiritual altar, his soul power had again fallen into a state of depletion, and dizziness washed over him. Chu Tian bit his tongue, using the searing pain to jolt himself awake and prevent him from passing out.
"Forbidden… Spell…"
"Mass… Star… Fall…"
Chu Tian uttered the incantation slowly but firmly.
*Boom…*
In the sky! A star began to enlarge infinitely, appearing as if the entire star was falling. However, upon reaching a certain distance, it seemed to hit some kind of obstruction and exploded. No one knew the power of a star's explosion. The entire world's color suddenly changed. The exploding star ignited with fierce flames, but the fragments of these flames, instead of falling, scattered outwards to the sides.
Chu Tian's body slowly descended, and he frowned as he looked at the sky. "What's going on?"
The changes in the sky caused the sand worms in the sand sea to pause abruptly. The sudden illumination of the sky ignited their primal fear, making them think it was sunrise! Just as Chu Tian was baffled, his feet touched the ground.
"It's the barrier of the Sea of Death!"
"Chu Tian… Did you really summon meteors from beyond the stars?"
The reaction of the sand worms gave Old Yang a moment to rest. He stared at Chu Tian, dumbfounded, hoping for an answer.
"Ah? I… I don't know!" This was the first time Chu Tian had used this skill. Even if he had used it once in the game, he could have provided an explanation. Unfortunately, that wasn't the case. In this world, was there anything that could make him resort to using a forbidden spell to solve it?
*Boom…*
Another meteor crashed against what Old Yang called the barrier of the Sea of Death. This time, Chu Tian saw clearly. Tens of thousands of kilometers high in the sky, a barrier of light flickered.
"Damn… What kind of cursed barrier is this? I used it to smash bugs! What do we do now?" Chu Tian was dumbfounded, Old Yang was dumbfounded, and Dian Dian and her mother were even more so.
As he spoke, *Boom… Boom… Boom… Boom… Boom…*
Meteor showers rained down. The entire sky was painted white by the fiery glow of the meteor explosions. Simultaneously, intense heat descended, as if nine suns had risen and hung in the sky.
*Screech, screech…*
The sand worms on the ground descended into madness. They had forgotten to attack Chu Tian and the others, frantically burrowing into the sand. Feeling the intense heat and seeing the sand worms' reaction, Chu Tian stared at the sky, speechless. The explosions ten thousand meters high transferred so much heat to this point. If this truly landed on the ground, wouldn't it be like Earth colliding with Mars? This forbidden spell seemed difficult to use in reality! He had initially thought this skill was wasted. Unexpectedly, the effect was just right. Otherwise, judging by the momentum, a falling meteor wouldn't distinguish between friend and foe. The four of them… if they didn't die in the jaws of the sand worms, they would perish in this meteor shower!
This scene was witnessed by everyone in the entire Sea of Death. Even those in the Forgotten City to the north could see the meteors colliding with the barrier. In Wan Shou City, closest to Chu Tian and the others, an old man stood on the city wall, looking up at the sky. He murmured in a low voice,
"Mass Heavenly Fire Falling into the Vault of Heaven."
"When the Eternal Barrier Breaks."
"Blood King Descends, Sea of Death Annihilated."
"Only a sliver of hope to be found."
"This is…"
The scene before him suddenly reminded him of these words. After a brief moment of stunned silence, the old man's eyes filled with immense terror. These words had been circulating in the sand sea for a long time, and no one knew their origin.
"Issue an order… Immediately dispatch night bats to investigate where that location is!"
"Yes…" Someone responded from the shadows.
…
Meanwhile, Chu Tian snatched Dian Dian from her mother's embrace.
"Run!"
The ground temperature had already soared. The entire surface of the sand was covered with the corpses of sand worms. These were the sand worms that hadn't had time to burrow underground, now baked into dried husks… Just moments ago, Chu Tian had seen three enormous stars forming a line behind the meteor shower, heading directly for the barrier. The reason he could see them was that they were part of his skill. He knew exactly how many meteors there were. Those three massive stars were not meteors, but actual stars. The leading one, with its long tail, Chu Tian estimated to be at least the size of the moon! If this were to crash down… he might lose his life! This was absolutely… playing with fire!