Chapter 567 - 377: Terrifying Power, Suppressing the Nuclear Blast

"Go!" Jian Yi shouted, charging toward the elevator first.

But it was too late.

The moment they turned, the dormant Teleportation Array erupted with a light more brilliant and dazzling than ever before!

The light flared, then rapidly converged inward.

Two slender figures slowly materialized in the center of the Array.

One of them was the young man who had appeared before and fled in disgrace—Chen Guan.

Beside him stood a woman dressed in a light-purple palace gown.

The woman was graceful and exquisitely beautiful, with brows as if painted. Her long, lustrous black hair was simply held in place by a phoenix hairpin, and a few strands fell beside her jade-like cheeks, adding a touch of allure.

However, the aura she exuded was colder than ten-thousand-year-old glacial ice, and her phoenix-like eyes were filled with lofty arrogance and indifference.

Her mere presence was suffocating, a pressure so immense it seemed to freeze the very air around her.

"So these are the pieces of trash that wounded you so badly?" the woman's cold voice rang out, laced with undisguised ridicule.

Chen Guan, looking somewhat embarrassed, quickly bowed. "Senior Sister, you jest. These natives may be weak, but their weapons are surprisingly powerful. I was careless and fell for their trick."

His words revealed an attitude of extreme reverence, even a trace of fear, toward the woman.

For this woman was his senior sister from the same sect, and a rare cultivation prodigy—Tang Yuchu.

At that moment, Jian Yi, Alina, Master Jie Nian, and the others were desperately retreating toward the elevator. But its capacity was limited; it could only take a few people at a time.

"Alina, you go first!" Jian Yi pushed Alina and a few injured Starfire members toward the elevator.

"No." Alina grabbed Jian Yi's arm, her gaze firm. "If we go, we go together."

Master Jie Nian and his disciples also stopped. They stood silently behind Jian Yi, palms pressed together, their expressions tranquil. They too were clearly prepared to die.

Just then, Tang Yuchu's icy gaze fell upon them.

"Kneel, and you may be spared," she said lightly. Her voice was not loud, but it held an unquestionable authority, as if she were delivering a divine decree.

Jian Yi's answer was the defiant ring of his drawn sword!

SHIIING—!

The sword sang like a dragon's roar.

Jian Yi knew the power gap between them was immeasurable. Thus, his first move was his strongest strike, imbued with a lifetime of power and his full understanding of the Sword Dao.

An exceptionally brilliant flash of sword light, like a bolt of lightning tearing through the darkness, ripped through the air with desperate, tragic finality, aimed straight for the space between Tang Yuchu's brows.

The peerlessly sharp sword light cast a frosty gleam on Tang Yuchu's features.

Yet, faced with this earth-shattering strike, Tang Yuchu didn't even blink. She simply extended a slender, jade-like finger and casually tapped forward.

TING!

A soft chime.

The brilliant sword light shattered inch by inch as if it had struck an invisible barrier, and then the longsword itself disintegrated into a cloud of dust.

An unseen force slammed Jian Yi to his knees. Blood gushed from his mouth, and his aura instantly withered.

"Jian Yi!" Alina cried out. Rage burned in her eyes as flames and wind blades instantly coalesced around her, and she prepared to charge.

Tang Yuchu's phoenix-like eyes lifted slightly. She gave Alina a single, indifferent glance.

Alina felt an irresistible, terrifying pressure crash down on her, as if pinned by an invisible mountain. Her body froze instantly, unable to move even a finger, and the Magic she had just gathered dissipated in a heartbeat.

Under her incomparably powerful presence, only Master Jie Nian and his disciples managed to remain standing. They were rapidly chanting some ancient, profound scripture, a golden light flowing over their bodies. Even so, sweat beaded on their brows; it was clear they were struggling to hold on, let alone fight back.

Tang Yuchu didn't even spare the monks a second glance. In her eyes, these mortal monks who had not even achieved the Golden Body of an Arhat were beneath her notice.

She turned and looked at the damaged Spirit Cutting Array behind her, her brow furrowing slightly.

With a wave of her fair hand, a tide of Spiritual Qi—far purer and more potent than Chen Guan's—surged toward the Spirit Cutting Array. The dim runes began to glow once more, the change visible to the naked eye.

Just then, Jian Yi, still kneeling on the ground, snapped his head up and roared with all his might, "Do it! Don't worry about us!"

In the command room, Old Ghost, who had witnessed everything on the monitors, trembled violently, his eyes instantly turning crimson. He knew Jian Yi's words were meant for him.

Alina, who had been frozen by that single glance, suddenly began to laugh. She looked at Jian Yi. "To die with you... I, Alina, have no regrets."

In their days of fighting side by side, this outwardly cold but inwardly passionate blind Swordsman had already left an indelible mark on Alina's heart.

She had simply been too shy to show it.

But now, at the final moments of her life, she had finally found the courage to confess her feelings.

Master Jie Nian and the others also wore smiles on their faces, chanting Buddhist mantras, their expressions serene and fearless.

Old Ghost watched the determined faces on the screen, feeling hot tears stream uncontrollably down his own.

His hand trembling, he reached out and slammed it down on the bright red button on the console—the button that signified ultimate destruction.

Instantly, an impossibly blinding white light flared from all corners of the underground space.

The detonation sequences inside all the nuclear weapons planted around the Spirit Cutting Array and Teleportation Array activated simultaneously. Destructive energy was about to be unleashed!

However, in the split second before the white light—powerful enough to vaporize the entire underground base—could erupt...

Tang Yuchu gave a sudden, displeased snort. With a flick of her wrist, a small, palm-sized bronze bell flew out of her sleeve. It was of an ancient design, engraved with profound runes.

The small bell grew in the air, instantly transforming into a giant, house-sized bell. Mouth facing down, it descended with a terrifying aura capable of suppressing all things.

VMMMM—!

A deep, resonant toll echoed throughout the entire underground space.

The next moment, a sight that chilled Old Ghost and the others to their very souls unfolded!

The violent energy within the nuclear bombs, just on the verge of detonating, seemed to be forcibly frozen and solidified by some invisible power. The blinding white light rapidly dimmed and then vanished completely.

All the nukes had fizzled.

Deathly silence filled the command room.

All color drained from Old Ghost's face. His bloodshot eyes were fixed on the screen, as if trying to see straight through the giant bronze bell.

Behind him, Song Ling'Er, Liangzi, and the others were frozen as if struck by lightning, their breathing seeming to have stopped altogether.

The giant bronze bell hovered in mid-air. Profound runes flowed across its ancient surface, radiating a terrifying aura that could suppress all creation.

Though the toll of the bell had faded, its invisible pressure still enveloped the underground space, sending a tremor deep into the soul of everyone watching on the monitors.

Jian Yi, Alina, Master Jie Nian, and the others felt that same despair-inducing power.

The resolve on Alina's face vanished, replaced by sheer, blank disbelief.

Tang Yuchu recalled the small bronze bell. It spun in her palm, shrinking back to its original size before she tucked it back into her sleeve.

Throughout the entire process, her expression did not change in the slightest, as if she had just done something utterly insignificant.

Then she looked down at the people below and said lightly, "Those who submit to me may be spared."

Her voice was not loud, yet it entered everyone's ears as clearly as a divine decree from the highest heavens.

Beside her, a barely perceptible, vicious gleam flashed in Chen Guan's eyes. 'I thought Senior Sister would just wipe out all these clueless natives to vent my hatred.'

'I can't believe she wants to spare them.' Though he was displeased, he didn't dare show it. He only lowered his head more reverently to hide his true feelings.

However, to both Chen Guan's and Tang Yuchu's surprise, a long moment passed after her words had fallen, and not a single person below responded.

No pleading, no kowtowing, not even the slightest stir.