The casualties among the ordinary men did not affect the Priests.
They all knew—including the ordinary people who had just died—that this expedition into the Sea of Monsters was a nine deaths, one life endeavor.
Every final member of the strike team had already prepared to die here.
The sacrifice of dozens of people did not slow their advance.
Only a powerful enemy could halt their march.
Priest Li He had just finished off an 8th Tier monster and rushed to the front. Before he could catch his breath, another overwhelming pressure bore down on him.
This time, the pressure came from two directions.
"Attention, everyone!" Priest Li He's voice rang out above the crowd. "Two 8th Tier monsters have appeared to the southeast and northeast."
Two 8th Tiers?
Normally, three 8th Tier monsters would only guard the fifty-meter area around the rift.
That was their alert zone. No one expected to encounter three 8th Tier monsters this far out in the two-hundred-meter zone today.
A bad premonition flared in Zhu Yao's heart.
But she took a deep breath and stepped forward to meet them.
According to their prior plan, when facing two 8th Tier monsters simultaneously, Zhu Yao and Priest Dong Yi were to cast the Spatial Guidance Art to banish them from the Sea of Monsters, while the other Priests coordinated with their movements.
Seeing Zhu Yao leave, Tail ran back to guard Li Ban.
Neither she nor Ming Kai had suffered any fatal injuries in the previous battle.
Aside from Li Ban and Zhu Yao's preferential protection, it was because their own strength ranked fairly high among these spirit practitioners.
Tail had a few lacerations on her body, which were already bandaged in clean cotton soaked in clear water.
Fortunately, she had not lost any limbs.
"For three 8th Tier monsters to appear all the way out here..." Tail said, her expression grim.
She didn't want to damage morale, but the sense of crisis in her heart was only growing stronger.
"Maybe the monsters inside didn't come out, but the number of powerful monsters has simply increased."
Li Ban saw the emotion in Tail's eyes. It wasn't fear of a powerful enemy, but unease toward the unknown.
He looked down at her and said, "We know, and the Priests won't let their guard down either."
Ever since the Recycling Station appeared, no one had ever heard of anyone leaving. The Priests naturally wouldn't delude themselves into thinking the subsequent battles would be smooth just because they killed these three 8th Tier monsters.
Their formulated plan was to prioritize preserving personnel, electing to expend items and other methods first.
Upon encountering an 8th Tier monster, Zhu Yao and Priest Dong Yi would cast the Spatial Guidance Art first, supported by attacks from the four bottled men Priest Lang Jiao had brought along.
Two of those bottled men had been rushed into production by Priest Lang Jiao over the last two months.
Besides that, they also had the weapons and items provided by the various camps and Wanghai Cliff.
They had only successfully advanced those several dozen meters by expending these stockpiled items first.
They wanted to preserve their strength to the absolute limit.
This was also to avoid dying with unused items in reserve.
The two 8th Tier Priests drew everyone's attention.
Almost all the Priests shifted to the front lines, leaving the rear to the spirit practitioners.
The combat pressure on the spirit practitioners skyrocketed.
But the Priests weren't having an easy time either.
The monsters at the front were far stronger, and two 8th Tier monsters had now appeared.
They split off four people to guard Zhu Yao and Dong Yi, giving them the time and space needed to cast the Spatial Guidance Art.
The Spatial Guidance Art required a total of three hundred and sixty-five mental variations.
It was completely different from the spells Li Ban had learned previously, which could be released in an instant.
To fully and accurately complete these three hundred variations required absolute mental concentration, with zero external interruptions.
Li Ban could no longer rest either. He rose and flew between Zhu Yao and Priest Dong Yi, keeping a vigilant eye on them both.
The powerful art stirred up violent spiritual rhinoceros fluctuations.
The two 8th Tier monsters were temporarily blocked by Priest Lang Jiao and Priest Li He.
But after those intense spiritual rhinoceros fluctuations appeared, their attention was visibly drawn away.
These two 8th Tier monsters were completely different from the previous ones.
They were both wearing black Priest robes; before turning into monsters, they must have been black-robed priests.
They had little human semblance left now. One was an amalgamation of tumors, and the other was a bloated, skinless blood-man.
Compared to human flesh and blood, they were clearly far more interested in the source of those intense spiritual rhinoceros fluctuations.
Meanwhile, the two 8th Tier Priests weren't putting their lives on the line to block them.
After all, according to the plan, Zhu Yao and Dong Yi were the ones supposed to act here.
Therefore, when the two 8th Tier monsters were suddenly drawn by the spiritual rhinoceros, they almost broke through Lang Jiao and Li He's defense.
Fortunately, the two Priests also demonstrated immense strength now that they possessed enough spiritual rhinoceros. With small bursts of power, they held their ground without yielding a single half-step, successfully intercepting the two powerful monsters.
Li Ban shot a quick glance at the front lines. Once he confirmed that the two 8th Tier Priests were strong enough to intercept the monsters temporarily, he brought his attention back to Zhu Yao and Priest Dong Yi.
The other Priests guarding them were just as tense. They were terrified of accidentally affecting the pair, while also fearing that the casters might interrupt their own mental variations.
"Ah!"
In the rear, a spirit practitioner was suddenly ambushed by a large-mouthed monster that bit off his entire lower half in a single gulp.
Despite losing most of his body, he wouldn't die, but he had lost his ability to move nimbly.
After biting off his lower half, the large-mouthed monster opened its maw once more, clearly intent on swallowing him whole.
Tail suddenly appeared, stomping heavily on the large-mouthed monster's upper jaw.
The massive force forced its mouth shut.
The spirit practitioner, left with only his upper half, luckily avoided being eaten and was instead sent flying by the monster's closing mouth.
Yet before he could breathe a sigh of relief, the large-mouthed monster's lower jaw was suddenly pierced from the inside. A long, dark-red tongue burst through the monster's own mouth and blasted straight through the airborne spirit practitioner's skull.
The half-bodied spirit practitioner regretfully never got to exhale that breath. His eyes went wide, and he died in total bewilderment.
Before dying, he didn't even have time to feel unwillingness or resentment.
Meanwhile, Tail, who had just stomped on the large-mouthed monster's upper jaw, was similarly attacked.
Almost simultaneously, the large-mouthed monster's second tongue erupted through its upper jaw, stabbing straight for Tail's head.
But Tail twisted her body mid-air, dodging the deadly tongue.
However, that tongue did not stop its forward momentum. It continued stabbing straight toward a Priest standing behind Tail.
That Priest happened to be the one guarding Priest Dong Yi's back. The majority of his attention was on Priest Dong Yi, leaving only a fraction for his own rear.
Right at that exact moment, Priest Dong Yi abruptly raised his hands, and a dazzling ring of light appeared between them.
He had completed the Spatial Guidance Art first!
Consequently, the Priest guarding Dong Yi's back had his attention briefly drawn away, gazing at that beautiful ring composed of multiple curves and jagged lines.
And right then, the monster launched its ambush from the rear.
And it had even used its attack on Tail as cover.
Just as the tongue was about to pierce the back of the Priest's head, a shaft of starlight suddenly fell, shielding the Priest. At the same time, a guiding art directly deflected the tongue's stabbing trajectory.
Only then did the Priest suddenly realize the danger from behind.
He dodged while casting defensive spells to block the tongue, only to realize it had already veered away from his body.
He quickly switched arts, transitioning from defense to offense, and directly froze the tip of the tongue. He then struck out with his sword, chopping the frozen tongue in two.
With the fatal crisis temporarily resolved, he looked at Li Ban in gratitude and nodded.
But Li Ban still wore a frown.
"That monster was absolutely aiming for the Priest just now."
Although Li Ban had not seen the entire battle unfold, he had noticed the situation behind them ever since the half-bodied spirit practitioner was killed.
He had personally seen the large-mouthed monster use killing the spirit practitioner as cover to attack Tail.
But attacking Tail was also a feint. Its true objective had been the Priest guarding Dong Yi behind her.
Monsters from the outer perimeter of the Sea of Monsters simply did not possess that kind of intelligence.
Li Ban didn't know if the situation deep in the Sea of Monsters was special; he could only focus his attention on protecting Dong Yi and Zhu Yao.
Undisturbed, Priest Dong Yi had completely finished his Spatial Guidance Art.
He used a telepathy art to inform Priest Li He, asking him to coordinate and force the bloody 8th Tier monster into the ring of light.
The inside of the ring was extremely dim, but Li Ban, guarding nearby, could faintly make out the fluctuating clouds and mist inside.
"Is the other side the interior of the White Strait? Another place you can only enter, but never leave."
Li Ban didn't blindly draw closer to Priest Dong Yi. He left and went straight to Zhu Yao's side.
Zhu Yao's expression was calm. She wasn't the least bit anxious that Priest Dong Yi was much faster than she was, continuing to execute her art methodically.
The other two Priests guarding her similarly dared not make a sound, simply doing everything they could to kill any monsters attacking Zhu Yao from as far away as possible.
With Li Ban joining them, their defensive net grew even more airtight.
While keeping watch beside Zhu Yao, Li Ban saw ten people split off from the army of Priests to help Priest Li He drive the bloody 8th Tier monster.
They wanted to force the blood-man into the ring as quickly as possible, then completely shut it so it could never return.
But to protect the camps near the White Strait as much as possible, they also needed to combine their strength into one final strike, pushing the bloody monster deep into the area on the other side of the ring.
Once the bloody monster fell below the high-alert line of the White Strait, not only would it be unable to return, it would completely vanish, swallowed by the White Strait.
Led by Li He, the group of Priests fanned out in an arc, unleashing high-speed shockwaves from multiple directions to blast the bloody monster.
Attacked simultaneously by an 8th Tier Priest and nine 6th and 7th Tier Priests, the bloody monster was blasted back five meters.
Coupled with the deliberate guidance from the two Priests guarding Dong Yi, the bloody monster was practically forced into the ring.
But at the last moment, Priest Dong Yi suddenly took a half-step back, ensuring the bloody monster did not fully enter.
"Dong Yi, what are you doing?" Li He's stern voice immediately rang out in Dong Yi's mind.
Unfazed, Dong Yi responded through telepathy art, "If the bloody monster had entered the ring just now, you wouldn't be able to launch a second attack. Even if it was locked over there, it wouldn't be trapped by the White Strait!"
"Hmph! Soft-hearted!" Li He didn't explain further, making a gesture to have the other Priests launch another attack.
Meanwhile, the bloody monster that hadn't entered the ring seemed to sense the danger, actually attempting to run toward the flank of the battlefield.
Because several Priests had run off to help Priest Li He, that flank was now desperately held by only a few spirit practitioners.
If the bloody monster reached them, those spirit practitioners wouldn't be able to stop it, and they would likely suffer heavy casualties.
The spirit practitioners keeping watch on this side of the battle widened their eyes in terror.
Right at that moment, another shaft of starlight fell, forcibly halting the bloody monster's movements and making it stay in place for two seconds.
Two seconds later, Priest Li He and his group's second shockwave attack arrived.
Having quickly and precisely adjusted their angle and power, their attack this time finally slammed the bloody monster hard into the ring forged by the Spatial Guidance Art.
Having calculated the angle and force, Priest Dong Yi was certain it would be trapped by the White Strait. Letting all the strength leave his body, he closed the ring.
Casting and maintaining the Spatial Guidance Art severely drained both mental energy and spiritual rhinoceros.
The moment Priest Dong Yi withdrew the ring, he swayed, nearly collapsing.
The two Priests guarding Dong Yi stepped forward to support him.
Priest Dong Yi would not be able to cast a second Spatial Guidance Art anytime soon. Before joining any other battles, he would need time to restore his energy and replenish his spiritual rhinoceros.
He was now receiving the same treatment as Li Ban.
He raised his head, catching Priest Li He just as he withdrew his gaze.
He knew perfectly well that, for Li He, getting out alive was the top priority.
Although they had agreed before the operation to do everything possible to keep the 8th Tier monsters from destroying the other camps, in practice, for Priest Li He, "everything possible" just meant: "I'll try it on my first attack; if it doesn't work, forget it."
It could even be, "I've sent it into the ring anyway. Whether the White Strait can trap it or not depends on the luck of the people over there."
If Zhu Yao hadn't reminded him of this when they were practicing the Spatial Guidance Art together, Dong Yi truly might not have reacted in time just now.
If they really let the bloody monster transfer to the White Strait without trapping it, very few in the four or five human camps over there would survive.
That was four or five thousand people!
Priest Dong Yi took a deep breath. Turning to Li Ban, he said sincerely, "Thank you."
He did not regret his choice, but he also knew that if the bloody monster had escaped to the flank, their own people probably would have suffered heavy casualties as well.
Although he didn't understand how the Starlight Domain of a mere 6th Tier Star Glow Priest like Li Ban could trap an 8th Tier monster, at this time, he had no desire to dig into the reasons.
If Li Ban needed, he was also willing to keep this secret for him.
Li Ban smiled and said, "We are fighting shoulder to shoulder."
So, there was no need for thanks.
Right after the bloody monster was sent away, Zhu Yao finally completed her art.
Li Ban and Dong Yi immediately focused their attention.
At this time, the spiritual rhinoceros fluctuations were at their greatest, making it the easiest moment to draw enemy attacks.
Sure enough. Having seen the power of the previous ring, the monsters on Zhu Yao's side didn't even need the remaining tumor monster to command them this time; they all lunged forward as one.
Two of the spirit practitioners intercepting the monsters died instantly, and the rest could no longer hold out, opening a hole in their right flank's defense.