In a perfect world, you start by relying on your own strength.

"I am not some master of light and shadow."

Shi Gen smiled and gently ruffled Erica's fluffy, soft pink hair, calmly pushing away the divine status that everyone was forcibly bestowing upon him.

He was of pure heart and always knew what he wanted. Having struggled among the common people since childhood, he developed a solitary and aloof nature, never intending to rise above others or be worshipped by the masses.

He only seeks to act as he pleases, cultivate diligently, hone his combat skills, and uncover all the mysteries of this world.

"Exactly! What is the Lord of Light and Shadow anyway? How dare he compare himself to the instructor? If you ask me, the instructor should be the Lord of Dawn!"

Hunter Xuefeng stared at Shigen with burning reverence, his heartfelt admiration evident in his eyes.

Upon hearing this, everyone's lips twitched in unison, secretly cursing inwardly.

This person is well past the age of being assigned breeding tasks, but his mind is still on the Dawn Hall, unable to let go of the past. He truly deserves to be called a renowned breeding champion of yesteryear.

A low chuckle rose from the surroundings, and many veteran hunters exchanged glances, their eyes full of mockery and ridicule.

Erica covered her mouth and chuckled, her pink shoulders trembling slightly.

Xuefeng paid no attention to the teasing in other people's words. He stood up straight, his expression was extremely solemn, and his voice was loud and clear.

"The Hall of Dawn represents new life and hope, just like the instructors! When the Lighthouse was in dire straits, it was the instructors who stepped forward and carved out a path to survival, bringing hope to everyone. This is a real, tangible miracle! How can that ethereal Lord of Light and Shadow compare?"

His heartfelt words resonated deeply, instantly silencing the onlookers who had been watching the spectacle. They all nodded in agreement, and the atmosphere shifted dramatically.

"Xuefeng is right! Only the instructors deserve to be called the Lords of Dawn!"

"The instructor's miracle in saving the lighthouse far surpasses the empty oracles of that cult of light and shadow!"

"Please accept our support, Instructor, and take the name of the Lord of Dawn!"

The fervent pleas rose and fell in waves, layer upon layer, earnest and sincere, echoing throughout the open space. No one raised any further objections, and the title of Lord of Dawn was thus decided by the crowd in public, never to be changed again.

Erica looked up at Shi Gen with anticipation in her eyes, while the hunters stood up straight, waiting quietly for a reply.

"Whatever you want."

Shi Geng didn't care too much; it was just a title, after all, and it didn't affect him much.

In contrast to Shi Geng's indifference, everyone was overjoyed upon hearing this, bowing respectfully and cheering in unison.

Looking at the scene of thousands of people supporting him and expressing their sincere feelings, Shi Geng could only shake his head helplessly, no longer dwelling on the dispute over the title, and then turned to look at the distant horizon.

The long night had ended, and the sky was beginning to lighten. In the far distance, a large number of dark shadows of Devouring Beasts were already emerging on the horizon.

The Devouring Beasts that arrived this time were completely different from those before. They were no longer hordes of mediocre, generic minions; instead, they were all high-level individuals with drastically increased strength and formidable physiques. One after another, towering, mutated giant Devouring Beasts marched forward in formation. They were diverse in species, and their imposing presence pressed towards the Lighthouse in a dark, overwhelming mass.

The colossal Devouring Beasts strode forward, each step causing the earth to tremble and the soil to sway. Even from a great distance, Shi Geng could clearly sense the surging, violent, and extremely vigorous life essence within them.

Deep within the beast tide lurks a faint, hidden aura, its tone similar to that of the Devouring Beast, but its texture is more profound and its oppressive power is awe-inspiring, subtly surpassing all other beasts, both eerie and formidable.

Shi Geng's eyes flashed slightly: "So many high-level Devouring Beasts? Interesting."

Although he had never seen a high-level Devouring Beast in person, he had already figured out a complete and clear Devouring Beast ranking system by combining the incomplete and top-secret files left by the Lighthouse with his memories from his previous life.

The Mana ecosystem is strictly hierarchical, with a clear division of strength among the Devouring Beasts, from low to high.

The lowest tier is the Pan-evolving Devouring Beast, which has the largest population and is the most basic cornerstone of the Mana ecosystem, much like worker ants and soldier ants in an ant colony.

Melee combat is represented by the snake-dog, whose whiskers glow rhythmically to communicate and summon companions, specializing in close-quarters combat; ranged combat is represented by the earth-roar and the spiny eel. The earth-roar activates its vocal sacs to unleash energy pulses for long-range attacks, while the spiny eel is small and agile, able to climb freely and move along walls, spraying bone spikes to snipe targets.

The next level up is the metamorphic Devouring Beast, whose numbers have drastically decreased. Only the pan-generative type, which continuously devours life essence and offers it to Mana's origin, and is lucky enough to enter the spring to undergo baptism and metamorphosis, can evolve into a lord-level ferocious beast with exclusive superpowers.

Flower-calyx beasts and chicken-beasts are examples of this type. They are generally tall and enormous, with intelligence far exceeding that of ordinary beasts. They possess various strange abilities, such as releasing bromine mist to form a defensive shield or unleashing powerful energy waves to blast enemies over a wide area.

The next level up, the Commander-level Devouring Beasts, have already entered the ranks of high-level Devouring Beasts. They are the core commanders of the beast tide battlefield, possessing innate and outstanding command abilities, and can command various low-level Devouring Beasts to fight together and cooperate in battle.

Typical examples include the Dipladenia and its subspecies, the Sawtooth Dipladenia, whose bite force is unparalleled and can release sonic shocks that can shake the four directions. They also have strange horns on their backs that transmit command signals outwards, just like a general sitting in the army and issuing orders.

At the very top of the pyramid stands the King-level Devouring Beast, towering atop the Mana ecosystem, the supreme ruler among the Devouring Beasts.

The lighthouse has existed for decades, and there is only one recorded instance of it encountering a monarch-level being. Back then, it exhausted all its resources and relied on the central electromagnetic cannon to bombard it with all its might, but it could only barely kill it.

The top-secret dossier clearly depicted the terrifying appearance of the Devouring Beast King: its body was nearly humanoid, with six giant arms, surrounded by a ghostly blue light, and its towering stature was comparable to a multi-story building; it possessed superhuman abilities like heaven-defying black technology, capable of releasing large-scale strong electromagnetic interference to paralyze all mechanical and electronic equipment, and also capable of remotely extracting life essence from a large area, depriving living beings of their vitality, domineering and unsolvable.

Looking at the vast horde of beasts spreading out, there were more than a hundred Dominator-level Devouring Beasts.

They were originally the overlords of various regions on this continent, each governing tens of thousands of Devouring Beasts. Normally, they occupied their own territories and did not interfere with each other. But now they have all gathered here, arrayed and pressing towards the lighthouse, their momentum extremely terrifying.

Hundreds of commander-level beasts guarded the area, accompanied by thousands of Devouring Beasts.

In the deepest part of the beast tide, at the core of the area surrounded by dark shadows, that aura stood alone, towering above all the Devouring Beasts, suppressing the entire scene.

With such a terrifying lineup, they could easily destroy the entire lighthouse.

Even if the Lighthouse were to activate its trump card, the Central Electromagnetic Cannon, and unleash its full power to bombard the beasts, it could only harvest a portion of the Devouring Beasts at most, and would not be able to shake the overall situation.

The sheer number of beasts attacking this time is overwhelming, and their overall quality and combat strength are far superior to those of yesterday's scouts.

A hundred commander-level beasts guarded the central army, while king-level Devouring Beasts lurked in the shadows, their overwhelming pressure locking down all directions.

Conventional firepower and defensive armaments were already rendered useless; the lighthouse's inherent defenses alone were simply no match for the overwhelming onslaught of the Mana ecosystem.