Could it be... over...?
The bottomless crater remained still for a long time, and even his aura had vanished...
"It's over... it's finally over... Haha... I survived!"
Only a few breaths had passed, yet someone was already cheering in jubilation. They had been suppressed for far too long, each of them like lambs awaiting slaughter, unable to escape and only able to wait quietly for their deaths.
The suffocating atmosphere of death made them erupt in cheers the moment they saw a glimmer of hope...
At that moment, a familiar aura appeared within everyone's Divine Sense. Those who had been cheering sensed that presence... a presence they would never forget for the rest of their lives, and their cheers abruptly died in their throats...
"Ximen Qing... is still alive..." one of them said with difficulty.
The moment those words fell, an atmosphere of despair spread once more...
"Ximen Qing should be severely injured. All of us, join forces and attack the City Defense Mystic Array!" Wang Tianba spoke at that moment. He was, after all, the City Lord, and his ability to adapt mentally was still there.
He did not say they should kill Ximen Qing now... because he knew no one would dare take that risk, himself included...
"Everyone, follow my command and attack one spot together!"
Boom!
Surging mystic power slammed viciously into the City Defense Mystic Array. The combined strike of every mystic practitioner in Flowing Wind City was unimaginably powerful, causing ripples to spread across the supposedly indestructible City Defense Mystic Array!
If their power could not reach the level needed to destroy the array, then they would use quantity to bring about a qualitative change!
"It worked!"
"That's great!"
The hope that had just risen was swallowed by despair. But... but heaven never seals off every road. Hope appeared in everyone's hearts once again...
"Keep it up, everyone!" Wang Tianba encouraged them.
Boom! Boom! Boom!
No one knew how much time had passed... Again and again, every person desperately hurled their mystic power at the same point.
Finally... with the last strike, cracks appeared at the point of the City Defense Mystic Array that had been under constant attack! It had clearly reached the limit of what it could withstand!
Wang Tianba's face lit up with delight. "Push a little harder, everyone! This array has reached its limit!"
But no one answered this time... He instantly realized something was wrong. Suddenly, he felt a soul-piercing chill behind him and stiffly turned around.
He saw a demon that seemed to have crawled out of hell. His entire body was drenched in blood, his hair hung loose, and his eyes were crimson...
"Um... Nephew Ximen... it was all a misunderstanding..."
Squelch!
Wang Tianba lowered his head and saw only a bloodied hand piercing through his body. "I..."
Rip!
Before Wang Tianba could finish speaking, his body was viciously torn in half by Ximen Qing like a fragile piece of cloth!
Blood splattered everywhere... assaulting everyone's eyes...
"Run... run!" The thick scent of blood once again violently stirred their desire to survive.
"You... all deserve to die!" Ximen Qing, covered from head to toe in blood, let out a demonic murmur.
He had thought he would not be injured again, but... just now, he had felt as though he had brushed past death itself!
Even now, lingering fear still gripped him tightly. A bright future was waiting for him—how could he die here?!
He unleashed the full might of the God Master Realm. The Ice Soul Sword swept outward, and streaks of deep-blue sword light slashed across the battlefield. Those God Monarch Realm experts could barely survive, but anyone below the God Monarch Realm who was struck by the sword light was severed at the waist...
It was as though he had done it deliberately. The terrifying streaks of icy light did not strike toward Xiao Feng...
"Boss Wang... Huo Rulie... Huo Ling'er..." Watching familiar figures lose their lives beneath the cold sword light, until not even their corpses remained, Xiao Feng muttered blankly.
He had already gone numb... numb from despair...
The hatred filling his heart made him want to flay Ximen Qing alive, but with his current cultivation, he could do nothing... Flowing Wind City's disaster was like this... and so was Bai Ling'er being taken away by the Vermilion Bird Empire!
Suddenly, a clear and ethereal sound of shackles breaking entered Xiao Feng's ears... accompanied by intense fluctuations of mystic power...
He turned his head and met Qi Qingyun's gaze just as she opened her eyes.
Her eyes shone brilliantly, her sword intent was restrained, and the aura of the mystic path around her seemed utterly transformed... This was a breakthrough of an entirely different level—the God Monarch Realm!
So she had been trying to break through all along!
She had succeeded.
In the depths of despair, she had broken through the shackles that trapped countless mystic practitioners at the God King Realm and successfully advanced to the God Monarch Realm!
But this enormous breakthrough in cultivation brought Qi Qingyun no joy at all.
The God King Realm was as insignificant as an ant before the God Master Realm.
The mere pressure of mystic might was enough to make one's body convulse uncontrollably...
And for Xiao Feng's sake, she had to break through no matter what!
She held Xiao Feng tightly in her arms and whispered softly, "Hold on to me!"
Boom!
The full might of the God Monarch Realm erupted, carrying Xiao Feng toward the City Defense Mystic Array—the very spot Wang Tianba had led everyone in attacking before!
The fully unleashed mystic power of the God Monarch Realm instantly drew Ximen Qing's attention. He should have noticed when Qi Qingyun broke through.
But... perhaps it was the influence of the divine source, or perhaps it was because he had nearly experienced death... He had already lost his reason. Only now, under Qi Qingyun's full exertion of mystic power, did he finally notice.
Especially when he saw Xiao Feng in Qi Qingyun's arms... the instant he understood, he stopped slaughtering and flew toward the damaged section of the City Defense Mystic Array as fast as he could...
After all, if they wished to escape, they had to break through the City Defense Mystic Array that confined them. Given their strength, the only place they could possibly break it now was that spot which was already on the verge of shattering.
Qi Qingyun also sensed Ximen Qing rushing toward the damaged section of the array just like her, but she did not change direction. Changing direction would only let her live a little longer...
It could not change their ultimate fate...
Her Divine Sense gently brushed over the distraught Xiao Feng...
This time, I'll save you!
She could die, but Xiao Feng... had to live!
And at this moment, that direction was their only path to survival!
But how could the speed of the God Master Realm compare to that of the God Monarch Realm? Even though Ximen Qing had not noticed in time, the gulf in their cultivation was still an insurmountable mountain...
At their current speeds, Ximen Qing would definitely arrive first!
Clang!
At that moment, a piercing sword cry carrying a desperate, all-or-nothing sword intent stabbed viciously toward Ximen Qing.
It was Qi Yunlong, whom Ximen Qing had gravely wounded!
His hair hung loose, his body had become crystalline and translucent, and the veins beneath his skin were clearly visible. Strands of sword energy flowed through his veins and bones!
The White Crimson Sword in his hand radiated dazzling sword light. His gaze was sharp. "Ximen Qing! You killed my Pan'er. I cannot coexist under the same sky as you!
Sword... Release!
This skill could only be used once in a lifetime... because Sword Release required one's life vein as its catalyst... releasing every bit of sword intent one had cultivated!
Qi Qingyun's Divine Sense swept over him, and sorrow uncontrollably appeared on her face. Even though she had never received a single day of fatherly love from him, why... why was the grief at this moment so impossible to bear...
"Qingyun, if you escape, don't forget to avenge us!"
Qi Yunlong's final words reached her ears.
Qi Qingyun did not answer, nor did she look at the final result. She suppressed the sorrow in her heart, and her speed did not slow for even a moment...
Nothing, nothing at all, was more important than Xiao Feng at this moment...
Under the sword might of Qi Yunlong's resolve to perish together with his enemy, Ximen Qing was forced to stop. He did not dare be careless.
After all, this was the life-sacrificing strike of a peak God Monarch Realm expert!
"You bunch of old fools... I should have killed you all back then!"
The Thunderclap Annihilation Situ Hao had used by destroying himself last time had left him so severely injured that he had nearly died.
Now, he had developed an intense fear of those Mystic Skills that traded one's life for another's...
Facing Qi Yunlong, who carried the same determination to die together, he lost his nerve and chose to defend...
But he had made a fatal mistake. Defending at this moment meant Qi Yunlong would face no obstruction at all and could unleash every last bit of sword intent produced by Sword Release upon him!
This was also the result Situ Hao had created by sacrificing his life...
Massive Ice Crystals appeared before Ximen Qing one after another. He circulated all the mystic power in his body to protect himself. The Ice Soul Sword lay across his chest, and dazzling icy radiance instantly enveloped his entire body.
Screech! Screech! Screech...
Walls of ice shattered one after another, and Ximen Qing's expression grew grave... Clang! Surging sword intent slammed viciously into the icy radiance before him...
Crack!
The dazzling icy radiance shattered directly, and the immense sword intent carrying the Qi Family head's entire lifetime of cultivation slammed fiercely into the Ice Soul Sword!
"Aaaahhh!..."
The moment the immense sword intent touched the Ice Soul Sword, Ximen Qing felt as though tens of thousands of icy needles had ignored his protective mystic power and stabbed viciously into every part of his body, forcing a pained groan from him.
He felt as though someone was repeatedly driving silver needles into his internal organs, making him unable to suppress his cries of pain.
It was not only his body. Even his soul felt as though it had been pierced full of holes...
No one knew how long it took before that bone-piercing, soul-rending pain gradually faded...
Ximen Qing looked ahead. Qi Yunlong's aura had completely vanished. Not even a trace of flesh, bone, or sinew remained. Only a brilliant white sword lay quietly upon the ground.
The White Crimson Sword...
"You troublesome old fools!"
He looked toward the damaged section of the array and spotted Qi Qingyun, who was about to reach it. Without further hesitation, he flashed toward her at his greatest speed.
The cracked section of the City Defense Mystic Array was right before her eyes. Qi Yunlong had delayed Ximen Qing for her, so she had to ensure that she shattered the City Defense Mystic Array in a single strike!
But even though the damaged spot had endured countless strikes of mystic power, it was still the City Defense Mystic Array. With her current God Monarch Realm cultivation, she could never shatter it with one blow.
Since her mystic power could not reach the level needed to break the array, she could only rely on... a Mystic Skill that surpassed her realm!
The one Sir Knight had taught her...
The Heaven Severing Sword!
It was said to be a Mystic Skill created by Mo E, one of the four great Creation Gods...
She had already mastered the first sword, but she had never used it...
Sir Knight had also sternly warned her...
Forcing open the Heaven Severing Sword at the God Monarch Realm would exact an unimaginably painful price, but...
No matter how great the price, even if it cost her life, she could accept it!
As long as Xiao Feng could live!
Her essence blood as the plan, her lifespan as the pact.
The first sword of the Heaven Severing Sword Art!
Open!
Her eyes turned silver-white. The sword in her hand drew a strange arc through the air, and surging sword intent poured forth, filling heaven and earth...
The instant the sword arc appeared, space trembled violently... The sword arc swept toward the array...
Crack!
One corner of the City Defense Mystic Array... shattered...
Before you continue