Mu Xue held Xiao Qi's limp body, the touch icy cold, only the continuous warm blood flowing from his lips and the chaotic, colliding qi movements within his body proved he still struggled between life and death. That cold demonic intent invading his meridians and sea of consciousness, like a maggot gnawing on bone, constantly gnawing away his already faint vitality, even attempting to reversely erode the ice-attributed spiritual energy Mu Xue was transmitting.
"Xiao Qi! Stay with me, look at me!" Mu Xue's voice carried unprecedented trembling. She forcibly suppressed the panic and pain in her heart, carefully, meticulously, like silk threads, transmitting more pure and gentle Xuanji origin power into Xiao Qi's almost dry dantian and severely damaged meridians, trying to protect his last pulse and prevent his Nascent Soul from dissipating. Cyan-blue light circulated around her and Xiao Qi, temporarily isolating the externally exploding, collapsing Demon Nest fragments and energy turbulence.
However, the Demon Nest's complete collapse had entered an irreversible stage. This massive fragment beneath their feet was violently trembling, its surface cracking countless bottomless chasms, spurting out final chaotic demonic energy. Around them, larger structural blocks, like mountains collapsing, crashed down, devoured by the void with ears-splitting roars. Twisted spatial forces formed invisible vortices, pulling at everything. That wounded Demon Lord, its core though covered with cracks and dimming, still let out dismal cries, summoning remnant demonic energy for final resistance. Several powerful void creatures broke free from Third Senior Sister and Zhao Tiezhu's entanglement, crimson eyes locking onto Mu Xue and the barely-breathing Xiao Qi in her arms, madly pouncing!
"Miss Mu Xue! This way!"
At this critical moment, an anxious yet incomparably determined voice came through the chaotic energy field and earsplitting collapse sounds. It was Second Senior Brother! Though he had lost his physical body, his soul merged with the Void Piercing Shuttle's core, but now, controlling that experimental Void Piercing Shuttle, he displayed astonishing skill and courage.
The streamlined shuttle body, its surface runes flashing at unprecedented frequencies, opened a slightly distorted yet exceptionally tough pale-gold protective shield. Like a fish swimming upstream, it struggled through gaps between collapsing Demon Nest fragments and energy storms, narrowly avoiding massive impacts. The shuttle's hull did not hesitate to use one side's armor to withstand a collision with a smaller flying fragment, making ear-piercing metal twisting sounds, leaving deep dents, but its speed never slowed, unyieldingly dashing toward Mu Xue and Xiao Qi.
"Block them!" Third Senior Sister sharply shouted, a trace of blood dripping from her lips, clearly also at her limit, but her gaze sharp as a sword, person and sword united, transforming into a ribbon-like sword light, disregarding her own exposed weaknesses, forcibly intercepting two void creatures pouncing on the Void Piercing Shuttle, sword energy erupting, temporarily forcing them back.
Zhao Tiezhu roared even louder, his muscles bulging, qi and blood burning, like an ancient war god, directly using his body to crash into another creature, buying that precious instant for the Void Piercing Shuttle.
The Void Piercing Shuttle executed a deft yet urgent-feeling sideslip, precisely hovering beside Mu Xue, its hatch instantly opening.
"Quick!" Second Senior Brother's voice came through the amplification array, carrying crackling electrical sounds, the shuttle obviously under tremendous pressure.
Mu Xue did not hesitate in the slightest, holding Xiao Qi tightly, her figure flashing, transforming into a azure light stream, instantly darting through the hatch. The moment she entered, a massive piece of Demon Nest structure burning with black flames, grazed the Void Piercing Shuttle's tail and crashed down, the resulting shockwave making the shuttle body violently lurch.
"Hold tight! Energy overload, initiating short-range spatial jump!" Second Senior Brother's voice carried determination. The shuttle core's spirit-demon engine let out unbearable roaring, the space around the shuttle began to distort and blur, the pale-gold shield's light surging to its extreme, even showing cracks.
"GROWL!"
The Demon Lord seemingly sensed its nemesis about to escape, letting out a final roar of extreme grudge. That cracked core suddenly flashed, a condensed-to-extreme pitch-black ray, mixed with its final destructive will, tearing the void, shooting directly at the Void Piercing Shuttle about to initiate spatial jump!
This strike was faster than thought, containing all the Demon Lord's curses in its death throes!
Third Senior Sister and Zhao Tiezhu's eyes bulged, but they were already too late to rescue.
At that critical instant, Xiao Qi tightly embraced by Mu Xue, his closed eyes seemed to tremble slightly. The dim Green Lotus mark between his brows actually autonomously, though weakly, flickered. An invisible yet tough purifying dao rhyme, mixed with his residual Guardian Sword Intent, like instinct, spread out. Not active defense, but forming an extremely faint membrane, fitting against the inner wall of the Void Piercing Shuttle's shield.
"HSSS—!"
The pitch-black ray fiercely struck the pale-gold shield, the shield shattered most of, energy fragments scattered. However, that membrane of Xiao Qi's instinctive triggered faint dao rhyme, like the toughest cushioning layer, greatly weakened and purified the ray's erosion and curse power. In the end, though the ray's remnant waves still penetrated, leaving a scorched black mark on the Void Piercing Shuttle's inner hull and triggering a violent explosion and electrical arcs, it ultimately failed to stop the spatial jump's initiation!
OONG—!
Intense spatial pulling sensation instantly flooded in. Outside the Void Piercing Shuttle, the scenery became grotesque, all sound seemed isolated. The shuttle body wildly lurched and rotated within the distorted spacetime tunnel, internal alarms wailed shrilly, multiple components emitted black smoke.
Mu Xue tightly embraced Xiao Qi, using her own body to buffer the violent impacts for him. Cyan-blue spiritual energy like the gentlest cocoon wrapped the two of them. She could feel Xiao Qi's aura still faint, but that demonic intent invading his body seemed, due to his earlier instinctive eruption and now the spacetime jump's resulting law disturbances, to have become slightly sluggish.
Time passed, perhaps only an instant, perhaps an agonizingly long century.
The violent trembling suddenly stopped.
The Void Piercing Shuttle burst out of the spatial tunnel, returning to the relatively stable primary world void. Though their position had already far departed from that area completely annihilating, becoming cosmic dust, Demon Nest ruins.
Inside the shuttle, the cabin was a complete mess, lights flickering, smelling of burning. Second Senior Brother's soul fluctuation also appeared very tired: "Su... success... coordinates deviating from planned landing point... but... safe..."
Mu Xue let out a long, trembling sigh of relief. Only then did the taut tension in her heart slightly relax, and she realized her back was soaked with cold sweat. She lowered her head to look at Xiao Qi, still unconscious but whose expression seemed to no longer be worsening. In her ice-blue beautiful eyes, tears finally could not be suppressed, sliding down, dripping onto his pale cheeks.
Barely escaping death.
They had finally escaped that destroyed hell, carrying barely-alive hope and a fierce yet incomplete victory.