Boom--!
The beam of destruction tore through the sky and slammed into the thin star shield. In an instant, the azure blue and starlight exploded, and the deafening roar almost ripped off eardrums. The violent energy shockwave swept in all directions like a raging torrent, plowing the ground open and sending dust billowing into the sky, obscuring the view.
The Star Shield flashed wildly, its starlight dimming and disintegrating at a visible speed. In less than a breath, "Crack!" cracks spread, and the shield shattered, turning into countless starlight specks that scattered across the sky.
This brief, fleeting obstacle was Xiao Han's only chance of survival.
The residual force of the destructive beam penetrated his body, and Xiao Han was thrown into the air like a kite with a broken string, leaving a sharp arc in the air before crashing heavily into a pile of mechanical wreckage dozens of meters away.
"Puff--"
A mouthful of scalding blood spurted out, his chest churned violently, his bones felt like they were about to fall apart, and his vision blurred. If he hadn't already grasped the basics of the Star Body-Tempering Technique and possessed a physical body far stronger than ordinary people, this attack would have been enough to send his soul flying.
"What is that?" The Steel Jaw's scarlet electronic eyes suddenly locked onto Xiao Han's chest. The ancient token, whose starlight was gradually fading and becoming indistinct, made its cold mechanical voice tremble slightly. It was a mixture of surprise and doubt, and an uncontrollable greed. A shield that could withstand a hit from its main cannon was definitely not something an ordinary scavenger could possess!
A violent cough brought on excruciating pain; each breath felt like swallowing razor blades. Xiao Han to sit up, and through his blurred vision, he noticed the Heaven-Piercing Ancient Token on his chest was slightly warm. After the outburst, the star patterns on it, which had faded, had become clearer as it absorbed the chaotic energy and aftershocks of the battlefield. That faint warmth was like a spark, quietly igniting in his cold, despairing heart.
[Ding! Detected that the "Heaven-Connecting Ancient Token) " has absorbed sufficient chaotic and impact energy, activating part of its teleportation function!]
[Note: A short-distance random teleportation is possible. The teleportation distance and destination are unknown. The teleportation process is extremely unstable and carries a high risk! Please choose carefully!]
The chilling notification in his mind had barely faded when the words "Heh heh... Still trying to struggle?" came the sickening mechanical grinding of the "Steel Jaws " as it drew nearer. The massive spider-like war machine strode forward with its giant metal legs, its chainsaw-wielding battle axes unleashing a storm of death as it crashed down.
"Protect Brother Xiao!" Tie Lan roared hoarsely, ignoring the blood gushing from his shoulder, he was the first to turn around and rush forward, his simple alloy knife slashing fiercely at the "Steel Jaw's" giant metal foot.
"You're asking for death!" Steel Jaw scoffed disdainfully, and a secondary limb swept across like an iron whip.
"Bang!"
Tie Lan was struck as if by lightning. The alloy knife flew out of her hand, and she was sent flying, her blood instantly staining her tattered clothes.
"Sister Lan!" The surviving team members, their eyes bloodshot, fearlessly rushed forward, trying to use their own flesh and blood to buy Xiao Han that almost non-existent moment of respite.
"Pfft! Pfft!"
The sound of metal tearing through flesh, accompanied by desperate screams and defiant roars, echoed across the battlefield. Faced with the "Steel Jaw," Peak of the Martial Emperor Realm, armed to the teeth, their resistance was so pale and so powerless. In an instant, several more figures fell into pools of blood, their fates unknown.
The scenes unfolding before his eyes burned like a red-hot iron into Xiao Han. These scavengers, whom he had met by chance, were actually risking their lives for him, an "outsider"! His teeth clenched, his blood surging, almost bursting through his skull.
We can't be a burden to them anymore!
His eyes were bloodshot, a glint of reckless madness flashing within them. He forcefully squeezed out the last bit of power from his body, along with the Primordial Demon Fiend Qi that had been forcibly suppressed by the Chaos Nether Lotus and had not yet been refined, pouring it all into the "Heaven-Piercing Ancient Token" in front of his chest!
"Buzz--!"
The Heaven-Piercing Ancient Token suddenly erupted with unprecedentedly brilliant starlight, a pillar of light shooting into the sky, seemingly about to stir up the stars of the nine heavens!
In the void before Xiao Han, accompanied by a teeth-grinding tearing sound, an irregular, twisted rift slowly opened. The depths of the rift were pitch black, emanating chaotic and dangerous spatial fluctuations, like a gaping maw of an abyss ready to devour its prey.
"Trying to run? Do you think you can escape from me?!" Upon seeing this strange phenomenon, "Steel Jaw" let out a deafening roar. It actually abandoned Tie Lan and the others, and its massive body unleashed a speed beyond its size. Its huge metal hand, carrying the power to crush everything, rushed straight at the newly formed spatial rift, intending to crush Xiao Han along with the rift!
A close call!
The immense suction from the crack had already ripped Xiao Han's body out of shape, pulling him inward. In the last instant before being swallowed by darkness, he struggled to turn his head, his gaze piercing through the chaotic battlefield, deeply imprinting the image of Tie Lan, fighting valiantly and anxiously looking towards him.
With his last ounce of strength, he flicked his finger, and a lotus seed, shimmering with a faint blue lotus radiance and brimming with pure life essence, shot towards Tie Lan with the precision of a shooting star.
A faint yet incredibly clear thought simultaneously echoed in Tie Lan's mind, "Sister Tie Lan, take care! Xiao Han will repay this kindness a hundredfold in the future!"
Before his words had even faded, Xiao Han's figure had completely vanished into the distorted spatial rift.
"No--!"
The giant metal hand of the "Steel Jaws " barely grazed the edge of the closing spatial rift, only to grasp at nothingness.
Bang!
The crack contracted abruptly and vanished without a trace just before his palm touched it, as if it had never existed.
"Aaaaaah--! You bastard!!"
"Steel Jaw" roared deafeningly, the terrifying sonic waves causing the surrounding mechanical debris to tremble. The piece of meat it had almost caught, a piece of meat holding a colossal secret, had flown away! Driven to rage, it swung its chainsaw axe wildly, shredding every metal object within its reach into pieces, unleashing its boundless fury. "Just you wait! Even if you escape to the ends of the earth, I will find you and dismantle your bones, along with that ancient token, inch by inch, to study them!"
On the other side, Xiao Han felt dizzy, as if he had been thrown into a high-speed meat grinder.
The raging spatial turbulence transformed into countless invisible blades, frantically slicing through his flesh and soul. Had it not been for the [Star Body-Tempering Technique] and the [Soul Origin Treasure Jade] protecting him, he would have been reduced to dust the moment he was caught in the turbulence.
Even so, every bone in his body groaned, and excruciating pain overwhelmed his consciousness like a tidal wave.
Before he was completely engulfed in darkness, he vaguely sensed that the "Heaven-Piercing Ancient Token" on his chest was still emitting a faint but tenacious starlight, faintly guiding him to a distant and unknown place amidst the endless chaos.
A gigantic phantom, unimaginably majestic, piercing the heavens and with its top nowhere in sight, flashed suddenly in his fading consciousness.