A sharp, metallic ring echoed through the silent tunnel. Wang Fang's fist didn't hit soft flesh; it smashed into the mysterious being's chest with the force of a falling sledgehammer.
"So it was you," Wang Fang growled, his knuckles white. "The bastard behind the soul waves."
The creature's three eyes narrowed in unison. Without warning, its arm blurred. A dark, serrated hook lashed out from its sleeve, so fast it was nearly invisible to the mortal eye.
Wang Fang's pupils shrank. Fast. Too fast for a normal human, but his instincts were honed in the fires of a past life. He twisted his torso and raised his palm to parry the cold metal.
The impact didn't just vibrate in his arm; his very soul shook. His consciousness rattled as if struck by an invisible mace. He leaped backward, putting distance between them, his breath coming in ragged gasps.
What the hell is this thing? he wondered. Even blocking its physical strike causes spiritual trauma. He glanced at the jade beads on his wrists. If these shackles weren't absorbing a portion of the soul-backlash, my mind would have shattered just now. He glared at the beast. If I survive this,I would have thank that Elder first, but he will pay, is the first person I'm coming for.
The creature's body began to twitch. To Wang Fang's horror, the crater he had punched into its chest began to knit back together. Bone snapped back into place; flesh fused as if the injury had never happened.
"Regeneration?" Wang Fang spat, his voice cold. "Is that how it is, huh, Then I'll just have to take your head."
He lunged, pushing his physical body to its absolute limit. But as he closed in, the creature opened both its side-mouths. A sound emerged, not a scream, but a rhythmic, terrifying thrum like a one-nation army marching to war.
The air itself trembled.
BOOM!
An invisible hammer slammed into Wang Fang's soul in different direction.Then Wang fang realize that the creature wasn't trying to pull out his soul anymore; it was trying to break it.
"Ahhh!"
Wang Fang staggered, the world spinning into a blurred mess of grey and black. His knees hit the dirt, his vision fractured, and he collapsed into the darkness.
Day Eight Outside the Forbidden Mountain.
Eight days of silence. Eight days of waiting.
Elder Han Yue stood abruptly, his face a mask of fury. He paced back and forth, right, then a sharp left. "I am done waiting! Our disciples are in there for eight days,why we don't know if they are dying or not, meanwhile we sit like statues here!"
Lin Yufei stood up, her usual playful charm replaced by a cold, sharp edge. She Thought, it true,"Eight days... and not a single flare."
Yan Beiming scowled. "My disciples were at the Mid-Qi Condensation stage. They shouldn't have been silenced this easily."
Lin Yufei suddenly drew her sword. The air began to chill as her aura exploded. "I am breaking this seal," she said flatly.
"That's impossible," Yan Beiming warned. "The records say no one above Foundation stage can interfere."
"Then the records are a lie!" Lin Yufei leveled her blade at the mountain. "Azure Heaven Cloud Sword Canon!"
The sky darkened instantly. Clouds swirled into a violent vortex, transforming into hundreds of shimmering swords that hung over the mountain like a canopy of death. "Fall!"
The sword-rain hammered the barrier, each strike releasing a shockwave that flattened the surrounding trees. The wind roared, carrying the scent of ozone and destruction.
Han Yue's eyes lit up. "Still as strong as ever, Lin Yufei! Fine, I'll join you!" He drew his blade, focusing every drop of his Qi into a single, glowing blue point. "Void-Piercing Sword Thrust!" Nine halo-like rings erupted around his arm as he lunged. The beam of pure force slammed into the barrier, making the entire mountain range groan.
"Yan Beiming! Stop watching and help us burn this thing down!" Han Yue shouted.
The Crimson Sun Elder sneered, but his hands were already moving in a blur of seals. "Crimson Heavenly Sovereign Canon!" His eyes turned into burning coals, and red Qi ignited around him like a volcanic eruption. "If we're breaking it, we burn it to the ground!"
The three Elders unleashed their techniques in a synchronized storm of fire and steel.
Let try braking this barrier, even if it cost our lives