The next instant, he appeared fewer than five paces in front of Qi Wu, close enough for almost every branch of the patterns on Di Tian's surface to be visible.
Those patterns flowed at a uniform speed, like a calibrated line.
Four wing bones pressed down toward Qi Wu at the same instant, closing in from four directions like a door swinging shut.
Qi Wu did not retreat. As the four wing bones descended, the boundary of Boundless Myriad Phenomena contracted inward, meeting their edges, pressing against them, and cutting into them.
The instant the two forces met, the air compressed into an extremely thin white arc, then that membrane began to rupture from the point of contact.
The rift spread downward along the edges of the wing bones. Space briefly folded wherever it passed, then unfolded again.
Di Tian did not adjust his movements when the rift appeared. He simply kept pressing down, the edges of the four wing bones driving deeper and forcing the rift ever farther downward.
As the wing bones pressed down, cracks appeared in the ground beneath Qi Wu's feet and spread outward.
Along the edges, they grew denser and deeper, covering the entire floor of the circular dome.
By the time the cracks reached the dome's walls, the rift had also reached its maximum depth.
For the first time, the descent of the four wing bones slowed noticeably.
The rift began expanding more slowly than Di Tian needed to sustain his output, like a blade caught in a steadily narrowing gap.
Di Tian shifted his gaze from Qi Wu to the patterns on the surfaces of the four wing bones, confirming that their flow remained within controllable limits.
He stopped pressing down and simply held his current posture, as though waiting for some value