Amid the explosion, Kiana could not hear any other sounds or see anything at all, but she could feel the faint heat around her.
Even through Xu Yanwu's protection, she could still feel that scorching heat.
Kiana could no longer hear any of the other sounds.
The only thing Kiana could hear in the end... was Xu Yanwu's heartbeat coming from beside her ear.
Unable to help herself, Kiana began counting those heartbeats.
Those few short seconds felt like an impossibly long time to Kiana...
But that heart only beat fourteen times.
Until Xu Yanwu, holding her, fell to the ground.
Only after the explosion had passed did the power Xu Yanwu had used to protect everyone begin to fade, allowing them to move again at last.
When they stepped out, they were stunned by the sight before them.
The surroundings... had been flattened by the massive explosion.
The seawater that had originally flooded into Chi You's body had completely evaporated... leaving behind nothing but cracked, parched earth.
But what worried them even more... were the people who had not been protected.
Kiana, Lianshan, Ji Lin, Durandal, and... Xu Yanwu, who had protected them all.
"Uncle Xu! Uncle Xu?!"
Feeling that the heartbeat beneath the chest she was leaning against had stopped, Kiana began to panic.
Yet... even in that state, Xu Yanwu still held Kiana tightly.
What the others saw was Xu Yanwu's back—the back that had taken the full force of Chi You's attack.
Forget intact skin; from there, they could even see parts of Xu Yanwu's ribs... even his spine.
Those were not injuries a person could survive.
Yet Kiana gradually heard the sound of a heartbeat again.
Her panic turned into surprise and joy.
"Uncle Xu!"
After struggling free from Xu Yanwu's embrace, Kiana witnessed, along