After the explosion, Chen Ming was left covered in black scorch marks from the destructive blast caused by his own Soul Cannon beam.
The upper half of his clothes had shattered into uneven scraps, while the lower half had been blasted away entirely, leaving only a pair of large underpants made from Ten Thousand Year Soul Beast hide to protect his vital parts.
And Ji Juechen?
The moment he fired, Ji Juechen had been blasted straight away. Yang Xun caught him at once and hurriedly used Soul Power to stabilize his condition.
Yang Xun had watched from the side for quite a while, yet he still could not understand how Chen Ming had dared to use a Soul Cannon emplacement for an area-of-effect attack at such close range.
Unlike Soul Cannon Shells, which exploded through the detonation of physical objects, beams fired by Soul Cannons had excellent initial power but suffered an extremely severe drop in power over distance.
Yet the destructive force of a Level Two Soul Cannon exploding at close range already surpassed the Second Soul Skill of an ordinary Soul Grandmaster and approached the thousand-year Third Soul Skill of a normal Soul Elder.
As a Tool Soul Master, Ji Juechen's physical constitution was not particularly outstanding. He had gained no additional reinforcement from Soul Skills or equipment, instead following a path of pure offense as defense.
Caught in the explosion at close range without any preparation, he was in a miserable state. His Soul Power was in disarray, his internal organs trembled, large patches of his skin had been scorched black, blood ran from his nose, and his ears rang incessantly.
Though he remained conscious, he had lost his ability to fight. He could only stand with Yang Xun's support and slowly adjust his condition.
However, even