The exit of Hell Road was a desolate basin, the air thick with the stench of sulfur and decaying dust.
When the blood-red membrane separating inside from outside was torn apart, several figures stumbled out and fell miserably onto the rocky ground.
Sunlight pierced the haze. For those who had lived in darkness for so long, that brightness was both salvation and a violently scorching burn.
"Liena!"
An urgent shout shattered the dead silence.
Xie Yue and Yan, who had been waiting outside, had their pupils constrict sharply. In their eyes, Hu Liena was covered in blood, her face as pale as paper, supported by the man named Tang Yin.
To those who cared for her, that posture looked very much like a hostage situation.
"Let her go!" Yan roared as the Flame Lord martial soul rose behind him. Scorching magma instantly spread beneath his feet, and without a moment of hesitation, the light of his Fifth Soul Skill flared.
The twin Moon Blades in Xie Yue's hands gleamed with frigid light as he transformed into a silver streak and shot straight for Tang San's throat.
Tang San had only just escaped Hell Road, and the backlash from his killing intent was at its fiercest. Faced with the full-force assault of two Soul Sage-level opponents, he could only barely raise his Clear Sky Hammer.
"Idiots."
A calm voice came from behind them. Han Yuchen brushed the dust from his sleeve. He made no move to stop them, merely tilting his head slightly toward the distorted shadows on the left.
"Hehehe... What touching fellowship."
A grating, bizarre laugh abruptly rang out. It was not a frequency human vocal cords could produce, more like the noise of high-frequency vibrations scraping through the air.
The shadows exploded, and an old man in a