At this moment, they were already very close to Zhaoming Ancient City, but the demon-eyed water lily had already descended. If they continued charging toward Zhaoming Ancient City, the next strike would mean they would all die.
Long Chen saw through this and charged at the Demon-Eyed Water Lily. Only by attacking proactively could everyone have a chance to escape.
"Buzz!"
The bone blade shot skyward, its shadow piercing through the void and slashing down from above.
"First Form of Heaven-Opening Technique!"
"Boom!"
The blade shadow crashed into the nine-colored lotus and shattered with a thunderous crash, yet it couldn't shake the lotus in the slightest.
"I knew it, without the power of the Heavenly Dao, ordinary moves wouldn't possibly threaten it at all."
Long Chen felt helpless, but he no longer dared to infuse the power of the Heavenly Dao into the Kaitian Heaven. The Immortal Essence Divine Fire within his body was now only half left. If he tried to force it and failed to repel the Demon-Eyed Water Lily, the powerful backlash would instantly render him unable to fight, or even cause him to faint. He didn't want to gamble because he knew his luck was bad.
After a short while, the nine-colored lotus trembled slightly and continued to charge toward Long Chen, but its speed noticeably slowed down—exactly the effect Long Chen wanted.
"Buzz!" Long Chen's
left hand held fire, his right was thunder, his left hand was a flame lotus, his right was a ball of thunder. Thunder and flame intertwined, rapidly expanding and spreading thousands of miles in an instant.
"Thunderfire Breaks the Heavens!"
Long Chen shouted sharply, the power of thunder and flame merging as they collided with the demon-eyed water lily.
A deafening explosion rang out as flame and thunder runes exploded, covering the sky and shattering countless paths. The entire world was continuously shattered, and under the violent tremors, cracks appeared across billions of miles of earth. Countless birds and beasts fled desperately, believing the apocalypse had arrived.
Amidst endless lightning and flames, Long Chen was sent flying, spitting out three mouthfuls of blood. This strike combined the full strength of Lei Ling'er and Huo Ling'er.
Because Lei Ling'er and Huo Ling'er had neither held back their strength nor the strength to protect Long Chen, the enormous explosive force was beyond even his own endurance, causing blood to gush wildly.
The enormous lotus had endured more than ten times the impact from him. The once dazzling and luscious lotus was scorched black by the flames and thunder, with two petals even falling off. Clearly, the Demon-Eyed Water Lily had suffered severe damage.
"Buzz!"
Suddenly, within the pitch-black lotus, a huge eye blossomed. The nine-colored demonic eyes looked at Long Chen like demonic pupils. At that moment, Long Chen's expression changed dramatically. He hadn't expected that his strike would only injure the petals, not the very root.
The Nine-Colored Demon Eye opened wide, and the nine-colored divine light formed a nine-colored sword, shooting toward Long Chen.
"Oh no,"
Long Chen's heart sank instantly. The moment the divine light shone on him, his body instantly became immobile—it was exactly the same move as before.
And this time, the distance was very great. Even if he dumped the black soil, he wouldn't be able to threaten it anymore.
Long Chen hadn't expected that the divine power previously used by the Demon-Eyed Water Lian was a physical attack, but now it was a spatial eye technique, far more powerful than Bai Xiaole's.
Although Long Chen had tried to overestimate the terror of the Demon-Eyed Water Lily, he still underestimated him. He had fallen for it again, and could only watch helplessly as a sharp sword from the nine-colored divine light shot straight at his brow, unable to dodge.
At that moment, Long Chen's mind went blank. He had failed. The gap between them was simply too great, and the price of failure was death. Unwilling to accept it, he struggled desperately but could not break free from the spatial compression. For the first time, he felt so powerless.
"Pfft!"
Just as the sharp sword was about to pierce Long Chen's body, a golden light pierced into the Nine-Colored Demon Eye, piercing through it with a single blow.
A strange roar echoed through the heavens and earth. The sharp sword aimed at Long Chen vanished, the Lotus Covering the Sky quickly closed, and the figure of the Demon-Eyed Water Lily vanished in an instant.
Bai Shishi appeared, her face as pale as paper. She unleashed the power of the divine sword with all her might, severely injuring the demon-eyed water lily, and at the critical moment, saved Long Chen's life.
Long Chen was overjoyed. Seeing Bai Shishi exhausted, he reached out to block her slender waist and carried her as he hurried toward Zhaoming Ancient City.
"Didn't I tell you to run first? Why are you being disobedient? Long Chen looked at Bai Shishi's pale face and couldn't help but sigh.
Bai Shishi's face was pale, but her eyes were filled with joy: "If I leave, won't you be killed?"
Besides, when have I, Bai Shishi, ever listened? I only listen to my own. It
turned out that Bai Xiaole had heard Long Chen's order and immediately activated spatial teleportation, but Bai Shishi jumped out of range and was not transported away. Fearing Long Chen might get into trouble, she secretly gathered all her power, ready to strike with full force at any moment.
Bai Shishi's caution ultimately saved Long Chen's life. Hearing her answer, Long Chen was both amused and moved. This stubborn girl also had her lovable side.
Held in Long Chen's arms, seeing Long Chen's bitter smile, a look of pride appeared on Bai Shishi's pretty face:
"I saved your life. From now on, I'm your savior. You can't be so harsh to me anymore, or I'll bring this up."
Long Chen laughed immediately, but he knew Bai Shishi was a proud person; this was just a joke. She would never do it out of favor.
Seeing the smile on Long Chen's face, Bai Shishi was momentarily stunned. It was a smile from Long Chen's heart, warm and warm, like the morning sun nourishing all things, making people feel so cozy and safe.
As she watched, a blush appeared on Bai Shishi's pretty face. She slowly rested her head on Long Chen's chest, held in his arms. Breathing in his unique scent, she unknowingly fell asleep, with a beautiful curve at the corner of her mouth.
Countless powerful figures inside Zhaoming Ancient City trembled in fear, especially seeing the figure of the Demon-Eyed Water Lily, whose sky-darkening figure was overwhelming, its terrifying demonic energy pressing down on them, making them too scared to move.
Seeing Long Chen fiercely battling such terrifying beings, they were all stunned. Bai Xiaole and the others appeared in the city. Seeing Long Chen return carrying Bai Shishi and the terrifying demon-eyed water lily leaving, they plopped down on the ground, feeling like their whole bodies were about to collapse.
Meanwhile, the leader of the Ironblood Mercenary Group, the leader of the Blood Oath Alliance, Jiang Yuhe, and Zhao Qinglong lay on the ground without any dignity, their bodies drenched in sweat, as if pulled out of water.
This time, they had truly escaped death. They secretly vowed never to take risks again. For the first time, they truly felt how wonderful life truly is.
Long Chen rushed back to Zhaoming Ancient City, gave Bai Shishi a healing pill, and found her a place to rest well.
After the demon-eyed water lily left, it never appeared again, and even those black dragons didn't come to kill them. Long Chen finally breathed a sigh of relief. It seemed that Zhaoming Ancient City had something it feared, so it didn't dare approach, so it intercepted them halfway.
The next day, Bai Shishi woke up, and Long Chen gathered everyone.