The Senior with the serpent-shaped halo didn't move his body. He simply pointed a single finger.
In that heartbeat, the air screamed. A colossal Qi finger condensed out of the atmosphere, a pillar of compressed spiritual energy that surged forward like a falling mountain. When it struck the village's protective dome, the collision was cataclysmic.
BOOOOM!!
A massive shockwave erupted, turning the surrounding landscape into a graveyard of debris. Ancient trees were uprooted like grass, rocks were ground into powder, and even the small mountain beside the village groaned as deep fissures tore through its stone heart.
Inside the dome, the world turned upside-down. Doctor Lu Cheng was thrown backward by the sheer vibration, his boots skidding across the dirt as sweat poured down his pale face. Panic, cold and sharp, finally consumed his mind.
"Wait, Senior! Wait!"
But his cries were drowned out by a sickening sound.
"Krrrk, krrrk!"
Cracks spread across the golden barrier like shattered glass. The artifact at the village center flickered violently, its light dimming as it devoured every drop of Qi Lu Cheng had poured into it.
"It's… draining too fast…" he muttered, his voice trembling. He lunged back to the core, his robes fluttering wildly. "No… it needs more!"
Above, the black-robed Senior watched with eyes like cold voids. "Hmph. Useless. You cannot withstand this attack. Do not struggle against the inevitable."
Behind him, Han Yue sneered, his face a mask of pure resentment. "You will all be crushed today! Every single one of you ants!"
Lu Cheng sat cross-legged at the artifact's base, his fingers blurring into rapid seals. "Hold… just hold a little longer… "
The barrier flickered, stabilizing for a heartbeat. But the pressure only intensified.
"Ugh!"
A spray of crimson blood hit the ground as Lu Cheng's body shook with tremors.
"Doctor Lu!" the villagers cried.
"This… is beyond me… " he thought, despair flashing behind his eyes. "Even at peak Foundation Establishment… I can't sustain this alone! "
He clenched his teeth and roared with the last of his strength:
"EVERYONE! SUPPORT ME WITH YOUR QI!"
There was a moment of frozen terror. Then, resolve.
Streams of weak, flickering light rose from the crowd. Children, elders, and shopkeepers all raised their hands, pouring their life-force into the air. Lu Cheng absorbed these thousands of faint threads and redirected them into the artifact.
The formation began to glow with a dying, desperate brilliance.
I wish… Old Lady Shen were here… Lu Cheng thought bitterly. Only she could match this monster.
The Senior narrowed his eyes. "Pathetic. Borrowing the strength of mortals to prolong a doomed life." His tone turned to ice. "This ends now."
He raised his hand again, his fingers shifting into a new, complex seal.
"World Destroyer."
BOOOOM!!
A massive demonic hand formed in the sky, eclipsing the sun. Dark energy coiled around its fingers like living shadows, radiating a suffocating, destructive aura that made the very sky dim.
"This… this is far stronger than before! " Lu Cheng's heart nearly stopped.
The hand descended.
"KRRRAAAACK!!"
The golden formation, the pride of Qinghe, shattered instantly. The shield collapsed into fragments of light that scattered like dying stars.
"No…!"
The demonic hand didn't slow down. It continued its path toward the defenseless homes.
"EVERYONE, DEFEND!" Lu Cheng roared. With his final strands of Qi, he formed a fragile barrier. The villagers followed, their faces masks of terror and bravery.
BOOM!!
The barrier lasted less than a breath before it popped like a bubble. The overwhelming force surged forward, unstoppable. Lu Cheng's eyes dimmed as he stood frozen, waiting for annihilation.
The hand descended, about to erase the village from the map.
Then, a figure appeared.
She stood before the attack, silent and immeasurable. Her presence was like a calm sea in the middle of a hurricane.
Her hand rose. With a single, elegant motion, she traced a circular seal in the air, a radiant rune that glowed like a full moon. The light was pure, absolute, and blindingly white.
She drew her hands back, gathering the surrounding energy into a single point.
Then, she punched forward.
BOOOOOOM!!!!
The demonic hand didn't just stop, it shattered into a million pieces of shadow. A massive shockwave exploded outward, sweeping across the land and tearing through the sky itself, clearing the purple lightning in an instant.
As the dust settled, the villagers looked up in awe.
The nightmare had been broken