"Not good, it’s compressing and likely to explode. Let’s hide quickly!"
A few elders didn’t know the power of the black halo’s explosion, nor could they find a place for cover.
Seeing the still glowing Xuan Kong, a few people immediately leaped behind Xuan Kong. If the light on Xuan Kong couldn’t withstand the explosion, they would also perish.
"Boom!" A loud noise shook the earth.
The ground trembled, snow flew, and all the trees and surrounding mountains collapsed.
The massive sound and vibration almost affected Gu Yuan and the others who had fled earlier.
If not for the Little Paperman flying them away, by their running, they would still be within the explosive center.
Xuan Chu’s face was full of worry: "Master!"
The blast wave from the explosion sent them flying far away.
Everyone’s expression was grim. Even with many protective magic artifacts, Xuan Sect people would struggle with such an explosion.
Gu Yuan pursed his lips and was silent for a while; the scene was indeed tragic. He patted Xuan Chu’s shoulder: "Condolences."
Xuan Chu turned to Gu Yuan, somewhat angry: "My master is still alive!"
He didn’t mean it. Besides, with that commotion earlier, who would know if the old man was still alive?
"Shall we go back and take a look?"
After the Little Paperman took the severely injured Thunderbolt Team to safety, Gu Yuan and Xuan Chu returned with some Little Paperman.
The commotion here was so enormous that life all around the area knew it.
Baji was on his way back to the village, heard the sound, and patted the tiger he was riding: "Stop."
He turned and looked back. Just before, his perception of the Mountain Spirit had weakened significantly; that Forbidden Land was no longer touchable for him.
Baji sighed deeply: "Let’s go back!"
He couldn’t intervene in matters of the Forbidden Land, needing to escort the villagers down the mountain and herd the animals to the other side of the mountain. This place was no longer inhabitable.
Elder Gong and Minister Duan, who were setting up camp near the mountainside with people from the Special Administration Bureau, heard the explosion sound and their hearts trembled.
There’s a saying that outsiders watch the excitement, insiders watch the skills. Even if they hadn’t seen what happened,
this sound made it clear that this was the handiwork of Xuan Sect people.
Minister Duan looked at Elder Gong with worry: "Elder Gong, this goes too deep, maybe we should..."
In essence, this event had little to do with their faction; there were no official documents requiring anything from them.
Coming here was mostly due to connections with Yun Ran.
Now it’s getting tangled and troublesome, and if they don’t disentangle, it might backlash on them later.
Minister Duan didn’t feel he was unprincipled; they had exerted considerable effort this time, and Elder Gong had suffered severe injuries, nearly losing his life.
Neither Yun Ran nor Gu Yuan could fault them.
Elder Gong sighed and shook his head: "You, spending too much time in the office, always thinking about factional struggles.
Building good relations with someone like Yun Ran doesn’t harm you; if there’s no initial connection, what you do doesn’t matter.
But we’ve done so much now, abandoning it would leave us in an awkward position, so why bother?"
Minister Duan pondered for a moment before speaking: "Do you think so highly of Yun Ran?"
Elder Gong chuckled: "My intuition tells me she’ll succeed; you have much to learn."
Minister Duan suddenly found himself speechless. Since when did the evidence- and rule-focused Elder Gong talk about intuition?
Unable to argue, Minister Duan just kept his head down, diligently continuing to set up the purification array.
Elsewhere, those digging Yin Jade Marrow were startled by the earth-shaking vibration.
The lookout noticed the glass ball in hand changing color, feeling unease.
"Boss, it’s changed color!"
The one called boss saw they had only mined about a third of the Yin Jade Marrow, and though reluctant,
clearly remembered the rules to mine Yin Jade Marrow.
He regretfully said: "Retreat!"
Not long after they withdrew, Xie Xuzhi sent a second wave of people, including himself.
Gu Yuan and Xuan Chu returned to the Chaotic Stone Pile, dumbfounded by the drastically transformed surroundings.
The Chaotic Stone Pile had turned into a massive crater, the surrounding trees all blackened. ʀᴇᴀᴅ ʟᴀᴛᴇsᴛ ᴄʜᴀᴘᴛᴇʀs ᴀᴛ NovelHub(.)net
"Quick, search for people!"
Seeing the place changed , Gu Yuan’s eyes reddened, internally prepared for the worst.
In such an explosion, the chances of survival for a flesh-and-blood person were extremely slim.
The Little Papermen became the best laborers, searching everywhere.
If not for the residual chaotic forces after the explosion, making it hard to pinpoint living aura, they wouldn’t need to work so laboriously.
The surroundings of the pit were thoroughly searched with no trace of the living found. If Xuan Chu hadn’t been sure his master was alive, Gu Yuan feared he’d believe their predecessors who stayed behind had perished.
"Let’s check the pit below!"
Gradually, the sky brightened, but the pit’s bottom was still invisible.
Thankfully, with Little Papermen here, without any tools to descend, they’d expend much effort.
The Little Papermen carried Gu Yuan and Xuan Chu steadily down into the pit.
Gu Yuan used a flashlight to illuminate the surroundings.
The pit wall was predominantly solid stone, occasionally interspersed with black, eerie-looking tree roots.
Gu Yuan frowned: "This pit looks like it wasn’t formed by the explosion."
The further down they went, the colder it felt, even more than the stones at the Chaotic Stone Pile affected by yin energy.
Xuan Chu, sensing something was amiss, nodded: "This place indeed seems old, and perhaps the explosion caused this pit’s reappearance."
Although the Little Papermen lowered them steadily, the speed was actually not slow, yet they still hadn’t reached the bottom for a while.
It was fortunate for them; others might be terrified by such a place.
"Look, there’s quite a few Heavenly Materials and Earthly Treasures growing there!"
Gu Yuan urged the Little Paperman carrying him: "Quick, quick, fly over and have a look!"