novelraw Chapter 605 - 272: Symphony of Flesh and Blood (Part 7)
Chapter 605 - 272: Symphony of Flesh and Blood (Part 7)
The defense line began to tremble under the onslaught of the Destiny Ghost army.
"Hold on! Just a little longer!!"
Shikong’s eyes were bloodshot, his Buddha Staff swung like a wheel, where the golden light reached, incoming Bone-Eating Dogs crashed as if into a copper wall, howling as they flew back, yet more Life Ghosts poured in over the corpses of their kind.
The defense line was retreating step by step.
It seemed on the brink of collapse the next second.
Just as the line was about to be completely overrun, and despair was about to swallow everyone whole at that moment.
"You fiends! How dare you act so recklessly!!!"
A booming shout, like a thunderclap, suddenly resounded from the top of the ice wall above everyone.
The voice was commanding and domineering.
Boom——!!!
A massive Fist Aura, red as fire and solid as a meteor, suddenly slammed into the densest region of the Destiny Ghost tide!
The Fist Aura shattered.
The terrifying airwaves, like a tangible shockwave, instantly sent dozens of Life Ghosts flying, torn to pieces.
The stench of burning filled the air!
A tall and mighty figure, enveloped in a red Qi Blood mist like a War God descending to earth, landed heavily at the front line, blocking everyone else!
He wore dark gold heavy battle armor, its plates stained with dark red blood and ice shards, his face was sharp and hard like carved by knives, his eyes as sharp as an eagle’s, scanning the chaotic battlefield with a calmness that suggested control over the entire situation.
Tier Three Martial Saint!
"Qin Wu, Deputy Commander of the Seventh Corps of the Great Wall Border Guard Army!"
The mighty Martial Saint’s voice was like a bell, echoing through the crevices, "By the urgent order of the beacon tower! Rushing to aid this place!"
He suddenly turned, sweeping his red eyes over the wounded yet battle-fervent troops behind him, waving a big hand, his voice roaring through the Ice Valley:
"Everyone! Follow me..."
"Kill!!!"
"Kill——!!!"
An earth-shattering roar instantly overwhelmed the screeches of the Life Ghosts.
With the Martial Saint as the spearhead, bearing the brunt at the forefront.
The hundred or so exhausted Tier Two Grandmasters at the rear, surviving their nearest brushes with death, erupted with combat power far beyond before.
Blades flashing, Qi Blood crisscrossing.
The once precarious defense line was instantly solidified and began to push back.
A seasoned technician from Deep Blue Heavy Industries wiped the mixture of blood and ice water from his face, looking at the red figure that blocked the onslaught of the Destiny Ghosts like a reef, let out a long breath, collapsed sitting on the cold ice surface, and muttered:
"Alive... Survived..."
...
The clamor of battle gradually faded away.
When the last Life Ghost’s roar completely disappeared into the ice crevice, leaving only scorched carbonized remnants and frozen foul blood...
Time had already passed for more than an hour.
The cold wind still howled through the crevices, swirling the snow off the ground, trying to cover the traces of this fierce battle.
Out of hundreds of Grandmasters, fewer than seventy were still standing.
Almost everyone bore injuries, their aura languid, their heavy cold-weather battle gear long tattered, covered with bloodstains, ice shards, and the viscous fluids of Life Ghosts.
Some leaned against the cold ice wall, breathing heavily, their chests heaving like old bellows, each breath exhaling massive visible plumes of white mist.
Others lay sprawled on the frozen ground, staring at the leaden sky where fine snow was drifting, their gaze empty, faces etched with the daze of surviving disaster and bone-deep fatigue.
So tired.
Physically exhausted, mentally even more so.
From stepping into the false ruins.
To falling into the Flesh Hell and being chased by monsters.
To escape and find themselves in the land of despair outside the Great Wall Defense Line.
Finally being hunted by the Destiny Ghost army, waging a desperate blood battle in dire straits...
This series of tumultuous, nightmare-like experiences had drained almost every ounce of their spirit and strength.
Deep Blue Heavy Industries’ money...
Damn, it’s hard to earn!!!
This wasn’t a routine mission; it was like a trip through the eighteen levels of hell, finally being dragged back at the gates of the Yama Hall by a Martial Saint.
Just as everyone began to let their guard down, fatigue sweeping over them like a tidal wave, just wanting to lie down and take a good breath on this icy ground...
An unforeseen change descended without any warning.
Buzz——
A sense of stagnation, indescribable, as if originating from time and space itself, swept instantly over the entire ice crevice like an invisible cold tide!
The wind... disappeared.
Falling snowflakes... suspended in mid-air.
The white mist of people’s breaths... frozen still.
Absolute silence, congealed!
Time... seemed to have been paused at this moment!
Everyone remained in their previous motion and expression.
Those leaning still leaning, those collapsed still collapsed, those staring at the sky still carried the same blank gaze...
But the depths of their pupils were instantly filled with unbounded horror and fear.
They could "see" everything around them clearly!
They could "feel" they were still alive!
But their bodies... were completely immobile!
Unable to even shift their gaze.
As if their souls were imprisoned in a solidified stone statue.
Only their thoughts, screaming wildly in the absolute stillness.
What is happening?!
What is going on?!
Wei Banmeng was equally pinned in place by this terrifying stagnation force.
Her body slightly leaning forward, her cold face still bearing the pallor and a trace of relief from recent battle.
Yet at this moment, the emotions surging in the depths of her eyes were the most complex.
Horror! Confusion! Excitement!
Because...
The source of that terrifying power, that froze time and space.
Was right in front of her!
Directly ahead!
Silently and effortlessly.
A figure descended.
As if it had always been there, merely "revealed" once time and space froze.
It was a woman.
A woman of such beauty that no language could precisely describe.
Her very existence was a redefinition of the concept of "beauty."
Her skin was like the finest white jade, emanating a gentle luminescence amidst the dark icy wilderness.
Every contour of her features was perfect to the extreme, combined to form a visage that could make the sun and moon lose their brilliance.
What caught the most attention...
Was her flowing red hair, like flowing flames, reaching to her ankles, moving without wind, each strand like a frozen fire sprite in the still time.
Dressed in a simple yet ancient-styled red long dress, its hem draped like burning sunset.
Without any deliberate emitted pressure.
Yet that force which froze time itself was her very presence’s annotation.
The woman stood barefoot, lightly stepping on the cold frozen ground.
Where her toes lightly touched, the frozen snow silently melted, forming a small patch of steaming, moist earth.
She did not cast a glance at the people frozen like stone statues around her.
Those clear, deep eyes, as if containing endless lava and Starfire, fell directly on Wei Banmeng...
On the unconscious Jiang Wei carried on her back.
The woman moved forward on her lotus-like steps, her bare feet treading silently on the still ice and snow, walking up to Wei Banmeng without a sound.
Such a close distance.
Wei Banmeng could even smell from the other’s body, a faint yet distinct scent, as if mingling the essence of sunlight and lava.
The woman slightly leaned over.
Her movements gentle, carrying an inexplicable divine elegance.
A flawless hand, like a piece of art, very gently...
Slowly lifted Jiang Wei’s unconscious body.
The woman’s face, perfect and unperturbed as though eternal...
Unfathomably beautiful, and now...
Gently unfurled into a smile, like a smile that could make heaven and earth pale in comparison.