Chapter 1 The Roar

Boom!

The moment the loud noise erupted, it wasn't just Gu Shen who heard it, but others as well! This muffled and magnificent sound resonated deep within.

"What's that sound?"

Chen Li was startled.

"Retreat! Retreat!"

Chen Mei was leading the members of the Cheng Xin Society to retreat from the front lines. The number of beast tides was increasing, and Dongzhou was destined to abandon the S12 district. Now that the Beizhou's source energy boats had arrived in the rear, they could consider retreating!

Along with the loud noise coming from underground, the transcendent beast spirits became even more frenzied.

Sangzhou Cave was heading towards "destruction"—

After the blood and fire shattered everything, their minds had begun to collapse. Driven by the pressure of "life destruction," countless transcendent beast spirits lost consciousness, launching a final charge.

"Qiang!"

The Judge raised the large banner in his hand high and slammed it into the ground!

The sharp banner pole pierced the ground, sending out a circle of metallic sounds, covering a range of hundreds of meters.

This was Mu Wanqiu's Silence Domain.

Any transcendent life that stepped into this domain would have its life stripped away within 0.1 seconds!

Her spiritual power transformed into countless black mists, wandering throughout the domain. There were as many strands of black mist as there were beast spirits, constantly drilling into the center of their foreheads—

But at this moment, the Silence Domain was already at its "critical value." Due to the high density of beast spirits pouring into the domain, and without pause, the number of black mists had already split into hundreds or thousands. The originally rich black color now looked sparse and thin.

This meant that Mu Wanqiu's killing power was divided into hundreds or thousands of portions.

The longer the output time, the greater the burden.

"Don't push yourself."

A gentle voice came from Mu Wanqiu's spiritual sea.

She looked up.

In the sea of lightning, a white figure floated, walking in the high sky.

Bai Xiu's spirit was still abundant. He bathed in the ocean of lightning, united with the Thunder Realm Walker, responsible for intercepting most of the beast spirit tides on the front lines... Even the proud and arrogant Mu Wanqiu could only sigh at this scene, realizing that there was indeed a gap between S-levels.

Bai Xiu was a genius who could not be measured by common sense.

His source quality reserves and mental fortitude were unmatched by his contemporaries.

Even the so-called "S-levels" defined by the Safety Committee could not compare to Bai Xiu.

Mu Wanqiu didn't know how Bai Xiu had cultivated such a massive amount of source quality to support such a large-scale Thunder Realm domain.

She only knew that the last person to possess this kind of power beyond the realm was Gu Shen.

But Gu Shen was the chosen one of the Underworld Fire Seed!

And he had completed the miracle of "three realm crossings" at the third level!

Bai Xiu, why could Bai Xiu do this? He had only undergone two realm crossings at the third level, just like her, and his cultivation time was about the same as hers.

Mu Wanqiu's expression was complicated. She had always been competitive, but in front of Bai Xiu, she couldn't even feel anger or frustration.

After fighting Bai Xiu once, the feeling in her heart told her that Bai Xiu was not someone she needed to chase, nor someone she could catch up to with effort.

Let him cultivate and grow.

No matter what kind of monster he becomes, it has nothing to do with her.

Perhaps because she had accepted the Underworld Fire Seed and become a crown bearer, her state of mind gradually became peaceful, no longer comparing herself to others, but measuring her past self.

This was actually a good thing.

The arrogant learned to look around, and the conceited became humble.

These were all shortcomings that needed to be filled in the path of cultivation, and some people would never learn them in their entire lives.

"Did you hear the loud noise just now?"

"I heard it... what was that?"

"The ice sea's ocean current has enveloped Sangzhou Cave. Now the island is moving south... The speed isn't fast yet, but once the ocean current forms, it will become faster and faster. By then, none of us will be able to leave."

Mu Wanqiu stood on the ground and couldn't see what was happening.

Bai Xiu stood at the top of the sky, clearly capturing the source of the loud noise—

"Is it the Tide?!"

Mu Wanqiu was smart and immediately understood what was happening when she heard this: "The Storm Church wants to destroy Sangzhou Cave?"

"Yes."

Bai Xiu took a light breath: "The destruction of Sangzhou Cave has already begun... We don't have time. Mu Wanqiu, your task is to connect with the 'living fish'... leave the resistance to the beast tide to me."

Although Bai Xiu's combat stance still seemed tough and invincible, Mu Wanqiu could hear that he was already a bit tired.

It seemed that Bai Xiu's Thunder Realm Walker was also approaching its limit. This guy, no matter how talented, wasn't an omnipotent god.

"... Okay!"

Mu Wanqiu took a deep breath, neither pretending nor hesitating, and agreed decisively.

These beast spirits were endless!

She knew that she couldn't stop this battlefield anymore.

In this war, no one was more trustworthy than Bai Xiu.

Now she needed to make good use of this last time. With that thought in mind, she immediately broke away and ran towards the rear of the city, leaving only the Judge in his fluttering white robe, holding up the banner alone to defend one side of the city gate. After advancing to the fourth level, if a transcendent being successfully personified their domain, their ability could be briefly separated from their body.

The Judge, the Thunder Realm Walker, and Little Iron Man's Iron Disciple could all achieve "separation"!

However, once separated from the host, the personified domain would need to consume the "source quality" it carried. When the source quality was exhausted, the domain would naturally dissipate.

In other words, due to limited source quality, they mostly did not have the ability to fight continuously.

At this moment, the Judge was still steadily slaughtering the beast spirits entering the domain, but the Silence Domain instantly shrank by half, and was still shrinking continuously—

The white-robed ghost was approaching the city. Its task was to block as much of the beast tide as possible before it completely dissipated!

"The source energy boats are about to start—"

Mu Wanqiu didn't look back as she ran, but asked with concern in her mind: "When that time comes, how do you plan to retreat?"

"Just start them up, I have a way to leave and protect myself!"

Bai Xiu said while controlling the Thunder Pool, "Don't forget that there's still a lot of mountain ash above Sangzhou Cave... The source energy boats need my Thunder Realm Walker to lead the way if they want to leave."

Having said that, Mu Wanqiu didn't say anything more.

...

...

"Board the ship! Board the ship!"

The emergency evacuation mission in Sangzhou Cave was proceeding very anxiously. The Neutrals showed a very high level of rescue quality.

The refugees from the four Cave districts, all who were discovered and had established contact, were sent to the rear open space of the S12 district. This temporary refuge became the last gospel for the South Cave.

There were thousands of refugees from the east and west sides here.

After Hong Long and Gu Shen revealed their identities, they chose to open the city gates... He couldn't expose his Ancient Text Society member identity.

But this was the greatest extent of kindness he could do within the scope of his authority.

Let these people escape on their own.

After returning, he could also give an explanation to the higher-ups.

After all, with mountain ash rampant and the situation urgent, now that the Source Tower had found the "Lord of Wine," there was no need to care about these "cheap lives."

In the pouring rain, ten source energy boats quickly completed their loading. The fifteen emergency rescuers in each team did not return to the boat, but scattered, because until this moment, there were still some scattered "refugees" who had just arrived in the S12 district, coming from all directions, wanting to seize the last chance to survive.

Unfortunately, fate was cruel.

From the moment of its birth, Sangzhou Cave was destined to be submerged in blood and fire.

There were many sufferers and victims here...

Even though Beizhou had prepared sufficient source energy boats, they couldn't guarantee that everyone could board the ship.

"The last boarding time, eleven minutes."

Among the black water droplets surrounding the fleet, a stern fish face was reflected.

Fisher stared at the main control screen, his pressure great. On the one hand, his mental domain needed to resist the "mountain ash" intrusion, and on the other hand, he couldn't be sure about the current situation of the beast tide. In order to prevent the city from collapsing and the source energy boats from not having time to avoid danger, he could only give a "eleven minutes" deadline. He wasn't even sure if that was too much!

"Seven minutes, the last boarding time is seven minutes—"

A clear and cold voice entered the hearts of every Beizhou warrior. A red armored figure ran in the rain. Mu Wanqiu's spirit connected to the Living Fish Domain. She completed the connection and gave the latest estimate: "The source energy boats will take off in seven minutes. The rescue team needs to board the ship one minute in advance, no matter where you are now, calculate your return time..."

"What if there are still refugees?"

"... Abandon them."

Mu Wanqiu took a deep breath. A trace of pity flashed in her eyes, but it was instantly replaced by determination.

Her voice in the Black Water Domain was decisive: "The fleet will not delay its departure for any latecomers. Saving those who are late is like dragging everyone down to hell."

"Number One, received."

"Number Two, received!"

"... Number Seven, received!"

The ten emergency rescue teams completed their reports at the first time. At the same time, the Black Water Domain also connected to a second voice.

"If I didn't hear it wrong just now, there are seven minutes left, right?"

Mu Wanqiu looked at the curly-haired youth beside her.

Chen Mei exhaled slowly, "Since the front lines have already begun to retreat the defense line... There's no point in keeping the Cheng Xin Society. We can't be lone heroes like Bai Xiu, but staying until the end and boarding the ship with the emergency rescue team is not a problem. It's always good to save a few more people in the last seven minutes."

Mu Wanqiu frowned.

She wanted to refuse Chen Mei and let him take the Cheng Xin Society members on board... The previous battle had consumed a lot of physical strength of the Cheng Xin Society members. These transcendent beings, who mostly came here, although their individual qualities were not as strong as the legion soldiers, they had a stubbornness in their eyes.

At the moment of looking at Chen Mei, she was silent.

Immediately, the voice of the Living Fish sounded.

"Then thank you, Brother Chen... We don't have much time, only seven minutes left. Each team quickly connects, don't delay the opportunity."

The Cheng Xin Society and the emergency rescue team carried out a new round of grouping. It only took less than ten seconds for the temporary reception task in the rear of the city to spread out. Most of the refugees had completed boarding. This was the last roundup.

...

...

"Run!"

"Run faster! Faster!"

The Junling Mountains of South Cave were full of shrubs. Two figures were "running wildly."

An old woman and a young girl.

One was gray-haired, looking to be over sixty years old, and the other was only twelve or thirteen years old, the age when life was blooming like a flower bud.

The two moved forward with difficulty.

No matter how hard they tried, they couldn't run fast. There were thorns everywhere, and the simple linen robes that barely covered their bodies had long been torn.

The old woman with a hunched back had scars all over her arms. She could no longer run. What kept her running was not the will to survive... but watching her "child" live on.

The girl's name was Tao Yao.

It was a very sweet name.

But her life was very bitter.

Every child in Sangzhou Cave had a very bitter life.

Tao Yao looked back every few steps, her big watery eyes looking at the old woman behind her.

They had fled from the West Cave...

Tao Yao's parents died early. She had been living with her grandmother and older brother since she was a child. Originally, the three had survived the Church's ravages, but since the awakening experiment began, most of the West Cave's city had fallen under the rule of extremists.

The situation didn't improve much.

They still lived a very difficult life.

And this time, the transcendent beings of Guang Ming Bi Lei had descended here, and the extremists had disappeared. Tao Yao thought that the hard days were over... but later she learned that she had thought things too simply.

The transcendent beings of Guang Ming Bi Lei were more terrifying than the extremists.

In just a few days, many "neighbors" were brainwashed, immediately put on white robes of sun worship, and then disappeared.

Tao Yao's brother firmly refused Guang Ming Bi Lei's evangelism.

Then the city began to erupt in marches.

On the day of the march, Tao Yao was arranged by her brother to hide in the cellar. She couldn't see what was happening outside, but only knew that the riot lasted a long time, followed by a fierce explosion—

That sound almost ruptured her eardrums, followed by the arrival of intense heat!

Even hiding in the cellar, she still felt the pain of being burned by the scorching sun...

However, the high temperature did not last long.

Later, there was complete silence. Tao Yao left the cellar with her grandmother and saw the city that had turned into a living hell. She wanted to find her brother... but the bodies on the ground had already been cremated, and many bodies had turned to ashes. She knew that she would never find her brother again.

She began to flee with her grandmother.

Her brother told her before he left to flee south, to flee south.

But the south was really too far...

She fled for a long time.

It was raining heavily, and the Nanling Mountains were very cold at this moment.

But the girl only felt scorching heat all over her body.

Every raindrop that fell on Tao Yao made her feel a burning pain... Her skin was covered with black sunspots left by the sun's kisses.

These were the traces left by brushing shoulders with death.

"Almost there, Grandma, almost there... almost there..."

Tao Yao's lips were dry. She saw that the old woman behind her could no longer walk, and was leaning on thorns, gasping for breath. She quickly turned back and wanted to pull her forward two steps.

It was very dark in front, but there was light further ahead.

She saw hazy beams of light and the sound of vibrating steam in the misty world outside.

Her brother never lied to her. As long as she fled to the south, she would definitely be saved...

"Tao Tao... you go..."

The old woman tried to squeeze out a smile. She refused the girl's kindness and stretched out her cracked palm, pushing her out and signaling her to go first.

"I'll rest for a while... and then I'll come..."

Her skinny arms were also covered with dense black spots.

And there were more and denser than the girl.

Because after the "sun" fell, the violent burning heat attacked. She subconsciously hugged the child in her arms, using her back to bear all this... Although this was a mortal body, sometimes it could withstand thousands of pounds.

But the weight of the sun was really too heavy.

She could no longer walk.

The old woman watched the girl looking back every few steps. She was still smiling, subconsciously maintaining the action of waving her arms.

The vision in front of her gradually blurred, gradually blurred.

Her arms also became very heavy.

Very heavy.

With a "bang," the old woman fell heavily to the ground, splashing a large pool of mud.