92: Formation broken

The shockwave from the shattered array spread like a tangible tsunami in all directions.

The low-level demonic beasts at the forefront, who were frantically charging the barrier, were instantly crushed and torn apart by this destructive torrent of pure spiritual energy, turning into a sky full of blood mist and shattered bones, clearing a temporary vacuum.

However, this gap only existed for an instant.

The endless tide of beasts behind them only paused slightly; not a hint of fear could be seen in their crimson eyes, only the raw ferocity that had been completely ignited.

Without the obstruction of the array, the black tide of beasts let out an earth-shattering roar, the ground trembled violently under the trampling of countless hooves and claws, and with an even fiercer momentum, they surged towards the tottering, completely unprotected human defense line!

Xuan Ye hovered in mid-air, a faint black mist emanating from his body, isolating him from the bloody stench and dust below.

His cold golden pupils looked down at the instantly collapsing defense line and the Spirit Sea Realm cultivators struggling to get up from the ground, his voice indifferent, clearly overriding the roars of the beast tide: "An ant's barrier, worthy of blocking the way?"

...

Jiang City's core area, the temporary evacuation point in front of the city government.

The square was now packed with people, and panic spread through the crowd like a tangible plague.

Several military transport helicopter rotors whirred, and the huge airflow kicked up dust and paper scraps from the ground. Unlike usual, these helicopters had all external weapons removed, solely to cram in as many fleeing people as possible.

Lu Yue clutched her phone tightly, her fingers white from the effort.

She had just been informed by a staff member that she had luckily drawn a spot in the second batch of evacuees.

But there was no joy on her face, only endless anxiety.

"The number you have dialed is currently switched off..." The cold system prompt came from the earpiece. She could no longer remember how many times she had dialed Su Chen's number.

"Brother... where exactly are you?!" She looked in the direction outside the city where the earthy-yellow light curtain had once shone, her heart in her throat.

Just then, in the distance outside the city, that huge light curtain, which had provided an infinite sense of security, shattered without warning!

"Boom!"

Even from such a distance, the destructive energy fluctuations and the subsequent roar of the beast tide still clearly reached the square!

After a brief silence, complete chaos erupted!

"The array is broken! It's over! It's all over!"

"Let me on! Let me on first! I'm still young, I don't want to die!"

"Child! My child, don't push!"

Order instantly collapsed. A fat lady, her face twisted with extreme fear, suddenly pushed Lu Yue, who was in front of her, aside and screamed as she tried to rush into the already nearly full cabin: "Get out of the way! Let me on!"

Just as her fingers were about to touch the cabin door,

A cold flash of a blade streaked past, too fast to see its trajectory.

Dragon Xuexue had appeared by the cabin door at some point, the long blade in her hand still trembling slightly.

The lady's charging motion froze, her head rolled to the ground, her face still frozen in a mixed expression of madness and disbelief.

The headless corpse swayed and fell heavily.

The noisy square instantly quieted down considerably, everyone stunned by this sudden scene.

Dragon Xuexue flicked the blood beads from her blade, sheathed it, and her cold gaze swept over the restless crowd, her voice, amplified by a sound-amplifying artifact, spread out as she tried her best to maintain her composure: "Citizens! Maintain order! Do not panic! Trust the country, trust the Security Department! We will do our utmost to ensure everyone's evacuation!"

Her voice was steady, but her knuckles gripping the hilt of the blade were slightly white.

She knew better than anyone what a city-destroying beast tide meant.

That combined array, comparable to the late Void God Realm, couldn't even hold for a moment... just how terrifying was the strength of that black figure hovering in the air?

Despair, like ice water, quietly permeated her heart.

Suddenly, a figure flashed through her mind—that young man who always had a calm expression but repeatedly achieved incredible feats.

"If it were him... Su Chen... could he create a miracle again?" This thought uncontrollably popped into her head.

In the crowded square below, Xiao Yiyi also had a pale face. She hugged her arms tightly, looking in the direction of the rolling dust outside the city, and the profile of another young man appeared in her heart, carrying a faint, unhoped-for glimmer of expectation.

...

The defense line outside the city was already a mess.

Shattered array fragments lay scattered on the ground, dim and lifeless.

The twenty Spirit Sea Realm cultivators, led by Nan Mingde, were all injured and their auras weak. Several of the weaker ones had already fallen unconscious.

Those who could still stand were propping themselves up, facing the surging torrent of death before them, their faces filled with despair and determination.

Nan Mingde coughed up another mouthful of clotted blood, wiping the blood from the corner of his mouth with a trembling hand. He looked around at his scarred but still unretreating colleagues, his voice hoarse and heavy: "Everyone... I'm sorry... it seems we will all die here today."

Cao Shou, the head of the Demon Hunting Association, ripped off his tattered outer garment, revealing his muscular upper body and several hideous old scars.

He spat a mouthful of bloody saliva and roared in a booming voice: "So what if we die! I've been killing demonic beasts my whole life, I've already gotten my money's worth! Every second we can drag this out is a second! My wife and children are on the first evacuation list! Every second we drag this out, they have one more hope of survival!"

"That's right! Let's fight!"

"For our families!"

"You beasts, come on!"

The remaining cultivators roared, squeezing out the last remnants of spiritual energy in their bodies, and various magical artifacts emitted faint but firm lights, preparing for their final resistance.

Nan Mingde looked at these faces, each ready to die. They were Jiang City's last top-tier force, yet today they would all be buried here. A huge sense of grief and powerlessness seized him.

"My storage ring contains all the bombs from the armory; at most, they're equivalent to a single strike from a Void God Realm cultivator."

"Even in death, I won't let these mongrels live well."

He suddenly remembered something and whispered to Meng Cang beside him: "Oh right... and Su Chen... that kid, I hope he's smart enough to have escaped already... he's the hope for the future, he shouldn't die here."

Xuan Ye, in mid-air, coldly watched the final struggles of these tiny beings below. In his inhuman red pupils, a rare, extremely faint emotion, named 'puzzlement,' flickered.

"Humans... selfish, despicable, fragile," he muttered to himself, "but occasionally... why can they be so... united?"

This contradictory existence made him feel a bit annoyed.

He lost his patience for observation and slowly raised his hand, preparing to wipe out these unsightly ants below, along with the incomplete defense line behind them, from the face of the earth.

Just as he raised his hand—

His brow suddenly furrowed, and his pupils contracted sharply!

A flash of lightning was rapidly approaching from the horizon.