A strange vibration spread through the air, soft and low, like an ancient bell being struck deep underground.
The sound didn’t travel through the ears.
It traveled through the bones.
It felt as if it resonated through the very soul.
Yao Xin’s heart skipped when she felt that.
Danger.
Extreme danger.
"All of you—scatter!"
She tried to order, but it was too late.
Goldie’s eyes flashed.
Then it slowly separated its palms.
Between them.....a tiny golden light flickered into existence.
It was small and harmless-looking, like a candle flame.
But the moment it appeared, the surrounding space warped.
Goldie looked down at that speck of light for a moment before clenching the small light within one large palm.
Light spilled like flowing water as it poured out of its figure and began to cover the arm that clenched it.
As if its arm were being empowered, lines of golden veins slowly surfaced, until the arm seemed to come alive.
"..."
Goldie looked at its arm for a moment before raising it high and smashing it into the ground like a flash of brilliance, standing tall in the gray, colorless world.
BAM!
The moment Goldie’s empowered palm struck the ground—
CRAAAAAAAAACK!
The earth caved in like fragile glass as a blinding golden line ripped forward from the impact point.
For a heartbeat...
Nothing happened.
Then—
SHIIIIING!
SHIIIIING!
SHIIIIING!
Hundreds of gigantic golden blades of light erupted from the ground, like heavenly swords being unsheathed.
The area around Goldie—no, at least a hundred meters in every direction exploded as blades of light surged violently from the ground.
They tore through the azure tornado in an instant and even managed to kill all of Yao Xin’s clones... except one.
The real Yao Xin barely dodged in time, but one of her arms was completely disintegrated as she fell from the sky.
Now staring at the surroundings...
Yao Xin’s breath hitched.
The world around her had... changed.
Looking at the scene of the many pillars of light surrounding her inside this gray world...
For some reason, her eyes seemed to soften and grow gentle, as if time had slowed.
"...So beautiful."
Yao Xin couldn’t help but murmur at the surreal scene, despite being injured herself.
Hundreds of golden pillars pierced upward from the earth like divine swords, humming softly.
Each one perfectly straight and smooth.
They didn’t look violent, but rather... holy.
Like something carved by a god.
As she was lost in the beauty, her body gradually fell toward the ground.
But before she could land—
Spurt!
.bg-ssp-10081{margin-left:auto;margin-right:auto;display:flex;justify-content:center;} A hand pierced through her chest, pinning her body in midair.
Warm blood splashed across the golden light.
For a moment...