"Old Guo, hurry and retreat, let me bandage you!" Lu Kaiyang shouted urgently. He had already seen the injury on Guo Pinming's hand; it was bleeding profusely and looked terrifying. The man, as strong as steel, was now covered in sweat, clearly in pain.
"It's fine, I can still fight!" Guo Pinming gritted his teeth and said.
With that, Guo Pinming once again used his ability to draw the surrounding ironware towards him. Although the hall was of Chinese style, its building materials were reinforced concrete, and the steel bars within were what Guo Pinming could control. As long as he used his ability, he could gather steel around him to exert his strength.
In just a moment, a massive spiked club was formed in Guo Pinming's hand. He glared at Kong Jialie and said, "Continue!"
Kong Jialie possessed military honor, but was Guo Pinming any less so? Although Guo Pinming had long since retired, he had been fighting alongside Shen Feng for years, and his use of abilities had become masterful. Previously, in Yuzhen, Guo Pinming had caused the deaths of a thousand brothers, and thus felt immense guilt towards Shen Feng, believing he had failed the City Lord's orders, leading to everything that had happened.
Now, Guo Pinming saw an opportunity to repay the City Lord's favor. When others coveted the industries of Yuzhou and prepared to seize them, he was the first to refuse. Even if it cost him his life, he would protect Shen Feng's family. This was what a man should do!
Seeing the opponent's fearless demeanor, enduring the pain of severely burned hands to grip the massive spiked club and prepare to attack, Kong Jialie's heart began to falter. They had thought they had countered the opponent's abilities, but after the first exchange, one of his arms was broken. If the fight continued, wouldn't his left arm also be snapped?
"No, this guy is a lunatic. Fighting a lunatic is useless!" Kong Jialie thought to himself. If he continued to fight the reckless brute opposite him, his fate would be to have his other arm broken. Even if he could instantly channel a large amount of thermal energy, in that instant, the powerful kinetic energy of the spiked club would break his arm, and if he wasn't careful, he could even be killed.
Kong Jialie then began to retreat, without any hesitation, turning to leave. He said to the ability users around him, "The rest of you deal with him. I can't do it anymore!"
Seeing the opponent trying to escape, Guo Pinming was about to pursue. His burned hands were nothing; as long as he could kill the enemy, it was enough.
However, at this moment, someone flashed behind Kong Jialie. His name was Meng Weichang. Facing the charging Guo Pinming, he stomped his foot on the ground, and a deafening roar echoed: "Boom..."
The ground immediately began to shake. The hall was paved with a red carpet, and beneath the carpet was solid brick and stone. Now, as Meng Weichang shook it, it instantly cracked.
Numerous cracks appeared haphazardly across the ground, extending far into the distance. Everyone quickly dodged, not daring to fall into them. If they fell into a crack, once it closed, they would be crushed to pieces, and worse, buried alive.
Meng Weichang stomped his feet forcefully on the ground, each step creating several huge cracks that extended directly into the distance.
"What kind of ability is this? I've never seen anything like it!" Cao Fuli was also stunned. He had never expected the opponent to perform so spectacularly. Such violent tremors were like an earthquake.
At this moment, Meng Weichang arrogantly declared, "You probably don't know, do you? My ability is vibration! You know Andov of Europe, right? Even if you don't, you must have heard of him. He can directly cause earthquakes. My ability is the same as his. Now, if I wish, I can make Yuzhou experience an earthquake!"
The cracks in the ground extended into the distance. When the walls encountered these cracks, they instantly split open. The buildings began to shake, and wooden beams and tiles from the roofs fell uncontrollably. "Clack... clack..." As the tiles hit the ground, they kicked up large amounts of dust. The stone pillars also began to sway, and the shaking of the ground intensified.
"Not good, this place is going to collapse. Let's go!" Chang Jianyi, seeing the scene, immediately felt a sense of foreboding. The hall was about to fall.
Not only Chang Jianyi, but Su Liuying on the other side also did not expect such a situation to occur. She had thought that her side's intervention would deter the opponents, but unexpectedly, at this moment, the building was about to collapse due to her own people.
In reality, this was the result of multiple factors. Firstly, Guo Pinming had extracted steel bars from the walls and pillars. Although the amount extracted was not large, at most a ton, it directly resulted in some walls and pillars lacking steel bars, greatly increasing their fragility. Later, under Meng Weichang's ability, the ground began to vibrate, and some ability users were thrown off balance. Not to mention the walls; facing the violent tremors, any weak point in the building would trigger a chain reaction.
Meng Weichang also did not expect this situation. He had been preparing to unleash devastation, but now the building was about to collapse, and it was all his doing. There was nowhere to reason with this!
"Hurry, don't linger here, or you'll be buried alive!" Su Liuying immediately made a decision. They could not stay in the hall at this moment, otherwise, all twenty-odd people on their side would be buried within the hall.
At this moment, both sides were stunned by the sudden turn of events. They had never imagined that such a grand palace would collapse so easily. Fortunately, a large number of people had been evacuated earlier, so even if it collapsed, not too many people would be harmed.
Chang Jianyi quickly shouted, "Everyone, follow me quickly, don't linger here!"
Both sides rapidly moved away from the center of the battlefield. The battle had just begun, but due to the sudden change, they were forced to retreat. Neither group dared to use the main entrance, as meeting there would trigger a fight, which was unnecessary during an escape.
Therefore, both sides chose to escape through the windows. On the sides of the hall, there were many windows for ventilation. As long as the glass was broken, they could get out.
Glazed tiles continuously fell from above, striking the tables and chairs in the hall. Sand and dirt rained down. The originally prepared lavish meal was quickly covered by dust and bricks. The shaking of the hall became increasingly violent, as if it were about to collapse.
But at this moment, Chang Haojie made a decision. His speed gradually slowed, and he fell to the rear of the crowd, then charged in the opposite direction.
Chang Haojie could no longer stand the critical gazes. He desperately wanted to prove himself. Previously, anyone who knew him called him "Young Master." At first, Chang Haojie was happy with this title, thinking it made him seem distinguished. But now, Chang Haojie realized that the title "Young Master" was merely a mockery. Truly capable people did not need their status to be reminded; as soon as they spoke, people would be convinced!
Chang Haojie no longer wanted to hear people introduce him as: "This is Fengshen's brother-in-law, Yuzhou's Young Master!"
Chang Haojie had had enough of such titles!
Therefore, at this moment, Chang Haojie made a decision: to use his abilities to slow down the enemy's progress!
Chang Haojie was now a third-tier ability user. He unleashed his abilities, and the tiny water molecules in the air quickly gathered together, forming clouds and mist. Vast clouds of mist rapidly spread throughout the entire hall, especially dense around the ability users of the Tianlong Bureau. And this was not all. Chang Haojie held a long sword and began to sneak attack the enemies from within the mist.
As the hall was about to collapse, Chang Jianyi led everyone to escape through the windows. Due to Meng Weichang's ability, the tremors caused the ground cracks to widen. Fortunately, everyone was an ability user. Although some were injured in the battle, their agility was still decent. They ran through the hall, and in just over ten seconds, the group reached the outside of the hall.
The sun had already set, but fortunately, there were many electric lights within Fengshen Palace. Even at night, the surrounding scene was illuminated by the lights.
The hall was filled with smoke and mist. Finally, the violent tremors caused the pillars to break, unable to support any longer. The walls and roof collapsed entirely, and dust spread in all directions. For a time, the area around the hall became obscured.
"Cough... cough..." Everyone inhaled dust and couldn't help but cough. After the smoke and dust gradually dispersed, their vision was restored.
Chang Jianyi looked around, trying to assess the situation of her own side. But at this moment, she unexpectedly discovered that Chang Haojie was missing. Seeing this, she immediately panicked and couldn't help but ask, "Has anyone seen Xiao Jie? Where did my brother go?"
"Could it be that he didn't escape from the hall?" Mu Ying suddenly said.
"Ah? No way! Wasn't he always with us?" Chu Chaoyan was startled. A roof weighing over a hundred tons, if it fell, anyone would be crushed into a meat patty. It would be almost impossible to survive!
Chang Jianyi couldn't believe this fact and quickly shouted for her brother, "Xiao Jie, come out quickly, don't scare your sister!"
The battle was still ongoing, but Chang Jianyi was so distraught by her brother's disappearance that she couldn't concentrate!
"No need to look, your brother is with me!" At this moment, an angry voice sounded from a distance. Then, Su Liuying walked over with a group of people. In his hand, he was strangling Chang Haojie by the neck. Chang Haojie's face was ashen, clearly on the verge of being choked to death.
Su Liuying said as he walked, "You are truly unyielding. Whether it's women or children, you are all so tough. Just now, two of our brothers went missing. Do you know why? It's this little brat's doing. He suddenly obscured our vision and launched sneak attacks, leaving us with insufficient time to escape!"
The angrier Su Liuying became, the harder he slapped Chang Haojie. If it weren't for this kid's interference, his side could have retreated safely.
The preciousness of ability users is actually far beyond ordinary people's imagination. Pilots are said to be built with gold, and ability users are built with evolution base. Especially every ability user who breaks through the evolution barrier, they must have consumed at least a thousand evolution potions, otherwise, it would be impossible to evolve to this extent. Now, two precious ability users were dead, how could Su Liuying not be angry?
Back when they were at sea, more than thirty people from the Heavenly Chosen Bureau died. Gong Changfa was directly quarantined and investigated for over half a year. If it weren't for the floods in North China requiring rescue, Gong Changfa would probably still be under quarantine now!
Therefore, the reason Su Liuying was angry was that his subordinates had suffered casualties, which would inevitably lead to criticism from his superiors.
Seeing this scene, Chu Chaoyan also couldn't help but become anxious, saying, "Sister, we can't make peace now. We've already fallen out. If we back down now, all our efforts will be in vain. As for Xiao Jie, we'll find a way to save him!"
Chu Chaoyan's biggest concern was that Chang Jianyi, upon seeing the current situation, would feel pity for her brother being harmed and act irrationally.
However, Chang Jianyi could never ignore her brother's safety. Since the doomsday descended, her only remaining family member was her brother. Although she had a son, the bond of blood with her brother had been forged over more than a decade. She couldn't disregard her brother's safety now!
Finally, Chang Jianyi said with difficulty, "Let him go, and I'll let you leave Yuzhou safely!"