The laughter still echoed in his ears, Chen Wuya's palm still pressed against the surface of the golden light. That warmth had not faded. Instead, it deepened, as though it had seeped through his skin and into his bones.
He did not move.
Bai Zhi's sword was fully drawn, its tip pointed forward, her fingers clenched tight around the hilt. She stood half a step to his left, breathing so quietly it was nearly inaudible. Mo Feng crouched on the ground. The screen on his mechanism panel flickered once, then went dark.
"Don't go in," Mo Feng said in a low voice.
The instant his words fell, the ground trembled.
It was not the shudder brought by wind and snow, but an impact rising from deep underground. The frozen earth split open, black smoke spewing from the fissure with a charred stench. A figure burst through the ice, draped in a tattered black robe, a bloody talisman painted across his chest, both arms spread wide.
"You... aren't going anywhere."
His voice was hoarse, as if fire had scorched it raw. When the protector landed, his feet sank into the ice, yet he did not stop. He stepped forward, the veins beneath his skin throbbing as though something were crawling through his blood vessels.
[High-risk self-destruction technique detected! Energy peak will reach the critical threshold within three breaths! Evacuation radius: five hundred meters!]
Chen Wuya immediately withdrew his hand, misaligned force surging from his dantian into his arm. There was no time to think. Only one thought remained in his mind—block it.
Ice Misaligned Force · Final began to circulate. True qi flowed upward in reverse, crashing into his palm. He slammed his palm seal onto the ground. Blue light exploded, and a thick wall rose from the earth.