The rumble in the sky was even more violent than the clang of metal.

It was the sound of wind being torn apart by a fist.

This was Song Ci's all-out punch, mobilizing his entire spirit, will, and muscle.

Such a punch could shatter steel.

Of course, it could also shatter flesh and blood.

Tie Wu didn't open his eyes until the very end... The Soul-Locking Bell (Suo Hun Ling) truly worked because it was indeed a Grade A sealing object treasured by Hua Zhi, not a counterfeit. Except for very rare special circumstances, it would never miss.

However...

There was no scene of blood splattering.

Song Ci's full-force punch grazed Tie Wu's chest. The force of the punch even tore apart the surrounding windbreaker, but it was always just a little short of hitting... His pupils contracted as he watched this scene in disbelief. At the moment the final punch was delivered, the distance between the Iron Throne and himself seemed to have changed subtly.

His fist advanced by a hair, and the Iron Throne retreated by a hair.

This brief, almost negligible difference, was enough to be fatal.

The strike missed!

Several seconds later, Tie Wu opened his eyes with a painful expression. His forehead bulged with veins, his face was pale, and he looked down at his chest.

The windbreaker on his chest had been torn apart by the terrifying penetrating force, revealing scarlet, blood-soaked skin.

A burst of twisting pain came from his chest.

What had just happened... went without saying. He had actually been hit by the "despicable ambush" of two East Continent transcendents.

If not for the help of the Sumeru (Xu Mi) domain.

He... might have been pierced through.

"There won't be a next time."

Lao Qin's voice rang in his mind. Because the Soul-Locking Bell (Suo Hun Ling) had almost shattered his spiritual sea just now, this voice sounded particularly harsh.

Tie Wu stared at the woman in the smoky old courtyard, his eyes full of resentment.

Liu Yi met that gaze, and a chill couldn't help but rise from her back... The joy that had just risen in her heart turned into fear and confusion after this punch missed.

The Soul-Locking Bell (Suo Hun Ling) had worked!

But... why?

Why didn't Song Ci hit?

Without giving her more time to think, the iron shards that splashed on the walls of the old courtyard instantly rebounded, condensing into a sharp blade in the air. It pierced through Liu Yi from behind, pinning her to the wall opposite.

The speed was too fast... The mobilization of these iron elements and the speed at which the assassination took shape far exceeded Liu Yi's physical reaction speed. Even if her mental power was sensitive enough and she realized the danger in the first instant, her body couldn't react in time.

She coughed up a large mouthful of blood, feeling the loss of warmth and the dissipation of consciousness throughout her body.

Spirit Eyes (Ling Mou) could no longer be maintained.

The spirit body floating in the air slowly dissipated.

The Soul-Locking Bell (Suo Hun Ling) also fell to the ground.

……

……

Tie Wu coldly watched this scene.

The woman who had ambushed him was nailed to the wall of the alley.

There was still one more.

He calmly stared at Song Ci and said softly, "Your speed is very fast."

Song Ci's expression was ugly. He looked in the direction where Liu Yi had fallen, where a large amount of blood was flowing, already forming a pool... He didn't know how long she could last.

He only glanced at her before withdrawing his gaze.

In this situation, he couldn't afford to be distracted.

"Your strength is also great."

Tie Wu said softly, "You remind me of an existence that Lord God often mentions... I just don't know if you, like that one, possess such a powerful physique."

At the instant the words fell, Song Ci felt his scalp explode.

An unprecedented sense of crisis erupted in his heart.

It was a premonition of... death.

The strong intuition in his heart drove him to escape. Perhaps if he obeyed his instinct at the moment the thought was born and chose to escape with all his might, there would still be a glimmer of hope.

But Song Ci hesitated.

Behind him were Madam, Nan Jin, and Gu Shen.

Tie Wu took out a dim purple badge from his windbreaker pocket, with a grape painted on it.

An unremarkable grape badge.

Until the radiance lit up from the badge.

Tie Wu's pupils seemed to change color. It was the true color of divine descent, completely different from the momentum when that magnificent scene descended earlier. After using the token, the strand of mental power bestowed by the God of the Fire Seed completely replaced this mortal body.

"Die—"

An obscure and incomprehensible syllable, like divine language, exploded in Song Ci's mind like a bomb.

Song Ci raised his head.

He saw a magnificent meteor explode, countless iron wires shooting towards him like a meteor shower. The massive mental power detonated in his mind, making him unable to resist or escape, and he could only watch the magnificent iron rain descend.

……

……

"Rumble rumble—"

There were continuous roars and low impacts in the air above the ground.

The expressions of the two people who were going all out in the underground passage became ugly when they heard the earthquake sound coming from behind.

"Yingji..."

Madam gritted her teeth.

They had been traveling for quite a while, and this was underground, yet they could still hear such a shocking sound, so one could imagine how tragic the battle in Lion Alley was.

"They haven't caught up, which means Song Ci is still holding on."

Gu Shen heard the loud noise and was shocked.

He didn't look back, but gritted his teeth and helped his Senior Apprentice Sister walk quickly. The huge underground vein map of the old city had been firmly memorized. It was impossible to retreat in a straight line to the edge of the domain. This underground pipeline map was tortuous and winding and did not set up a "through train" to leave the old city, but this was also reasonable.

Lao Lu never expected this situation to happen today.

Of course.

The apostle wouldn't give him enough time either.

Teacher and Frost River (Shuang Chuan) were on their way, and the closer they were to the edge of the domain... the easier it would be to wait for rescue.

After the loud noise, the entire underground passage fell into silence again. Lu Nanzhi hugged the bronze box, only feeling a growing sense of unease in her heart.

"Have we... been here before?"

She suddenly spoke.

Gu Shen stopped.

"Because the network connection is interrupted, I can't sense the specific location of the underground passage..." Chu Ling said, "But from the first perspective of the mental link, you didn't go wrong. The current route is very simple. You haven't reached the turning point yet, just keep going straight."

"However... the next turning point should be coming soon."

Gu Shen continued to move forward.

In the route map... there should be a four-way intersection here, but... there wasn't.

His heart skipped a beat.

"Ahead... is there light?"

Madam's voice was a little hesitant, and she said, "I remember there was a four-way intersection ahead. There shouldn't be light."

After walking a little further... they saw scattered light dappling.

Above was a well opening leading to the ground.

This light was falling from above the manhole cover.

"Are we... back where we started?" Lu Nanzhi rubbed her eyebrows hard. She recalled the previous route to make sure she hadn't gone wrong.

All along, they had been walking in a straight line... a straight line.

But now, they had returned to the origin?

Gu Shen remained calm and slowly retreated, from directly below the light source to in front of Madam.

He slightly lowered his body, sent his shoulder forward, and handed his Senior Apprentice Sister to Madam to ensure that he was completely blocking in front of Madam.

In the faint light in the distance, a thin black windbreaker figure slowly emerged.

The person was walking from the darkness.

The windbreaker was darker than ink.

……

……

(ps: 1. A note to readers not reading on Qidian: In this chapter, the name of Lao Qin's domain in the previous chapter was changed to Sumeru (Xu Mi). It was mistakenly written as Xuyu before. 2. I hope everyone can support the subscription more and also ask for monthly tickets. This chapter is an extra chapter for every 1000 monthly tickets, and there will be an extra chapter for every 500 more.)