She extended a fair and slender finger to her lips, then blew a kiss. "Otherwise, I'll let you know what regret tastes like."
As she spoke, she reappeared beside Duan Chen.
Duan Chen dared not be careless and immediately raised his saber to defend.
He no longer dared to take risks.
The gap in strength between him and this woman was still vast. If he wasn't careful, he could lose his life.
Therefore, Duan Chen had to be extra cautious.
*Swish!*
A beam of sword energy flashed, and a bloody gash appeared on his arm.
At this moment, Situ Ying's attack had reached his upper left, while Situ Yingzhi's claws were swiping from the right.
Caught between them, an ordinary person would only look for an opening to escape.
He wouldn't care anymore.
Duan Chen steeled his mind and brandished his long saber, infusing it with spiritual energy as he faced the two attackers.
"Then let's see! Who will regret it!"
As he spoke, he raised his long saber and swung it down with force!
*Roar!*
Accompanied by a furious roar!
A gust of strong wind erupted!
Situ Ying was pushed back several steps by the sudden gale!
Immediately after, Duan Chen felt as if the strength in his body was being drained.
This was the most powerful move he could unleash with his current spiritual energy.
Carrying the dust from the ground, it created a slanting trail in front of Situ Ying, who was blocking the way.
Blood was no longer just on her body; it was slowly seeping into the ground.
Situ Ying was gravely wounded and showed no signs of getting up.
At this moment, Wu Suowei shouted, "Duan Chen, above!"
Duan Chen looked up and saw that the numbers above had all turned to zero!
Had they succeeded?
Duan Chen looked uncertainly at Situ Ying, who was now extremely weak. Then, a violent shaking began.
"What's happening?"
The tremor came from below, and the ancient department store seemed like a volcano of light.
Red rays emanated from all sides, revealing the ancient patterns hidden deep within.
The department store's original appearance was like a peeled-off jigsaw puzzle, exposing its initial yellow base color.
Duan Chen looked down at his feet, through the small opening, and watched the spiritual array below slowly ascend.
It was as if a layer of red mist had formed in the center, penetrating the entire wall and reaching the uppermost level.
"You lost," Situ Ying said, clinging to her last breath, looking disdainfully at Duan Chen not far away. "I made you think this was the formation's core, but… as a mother, how could I let my child disappear?"
He had been tricked by this woman again!
Unfortunately, now was not the time for revenge.
The red mist was now covering the spiritual array on the uppermost level layer by layer. Once they combined, the red light immediately intensified.
In the end, Duan Chen felt as if a red sun had appeared in this place.
And the danger was not over.
In the real world, the disturbance at the seaside was even more terrifying.
A young couple, who were romantically embracing by the sea, suddenly found the girl looking out at the ocean. She couldn't care less about their lips still touching and immediately pushed the boy away.
The boy, annoyed by the interruption, was stunned the next moment. "Did a fireball just rise from the seabed?"
Orange-red light now covered the entire surface of the sea, and even the clouds had become connected to it, forming a single entity.
The waves, which had been gently lapping at their feet, had changed their demeanor. What was once a soft caress became a gnawing bite, forcing the girl to retreat.
As the waves grew higher, they finally realized that this scene was entirely wrong.
"Run!"
The boy grabbed the girl's hand and quickly fled the area.
This scene was being replicated throughout the entire region.
The sea, the hills, and even the city's central plaza were illuminated by red light, warning everyone around that the situation was far from ordinary.
01 stood on a high vantage point, surrounded by other apostles, and calmly watched the devastation below. "That woman actually succeeded."
"A mother will fight to the death to ensure her child survives," Gao Tiankai said, standing beside him with his hands in his pockets. "Is her son really going to be saved?"
"The evil god's promise is valid, but..." 01's lips curved into a cold smile. "Whether this child will still remember its mother in the end, that's another matter."
Gao Tiankai looked at the cold man and felt a chill run down his spine. This evil god didn't seem to value its subordinates who worked for it either.
If he hadn't promised Situ Ying that he could create a son for her out of thin air, she wouldn't have used her life like this to achieve resonance with the spiritual array.
Her heart was not the final sacrifice.
The child who had been following her everywhere was.
However, through constant misdirection and the unfolding of illusions, Duan Chen had ultimately failed.
Leviathan, what exactly is that thing?
Gao Tiankai also gazed at the sea with curiosity.
Duan Chen watched the weak woman. After speaking a few more words, her mouth began to bleed, like a small fountain.
"Wu Suowei, what do we do now?" Duan Chen looked at the shaking buildings around him, with stones, cement, and chandeliers crashing down.
"Run. The emergence of Leviathan is irreversible," Wu Suowei remained as calm as ever, but his gaze towards Situ Ying was filled with compassion. "And you?"
Situ Ying weakly shook her head, then turned her body, her mouth spewing blood, and slowly crawled towards the black robe.
"If I kill this black robe now, will it stop..." Duan Chen's heart was filled with anger, but also a sliver of sympathy and sorrow.
From the illusions that had constantly tempted him, he could roughly deduce what kind of life this woman had led.
"It's useless. The resonance of the formation cannot be interrupted now," Wu Suowei said, looking outside. "We can only save who we can."
Looking at the mottled stones around him, Duan Chen understood that this was not the time for sadness. He quickly found a nearby bedsheet, tied a knot, and descended through the hole in the center to the lowest level.
Wu Suowei took one last look at the woman before following Duan Chen.
Situ Ying finally reached the feet of the black robe. Without Situ Ying's control, the body became completely like a puppet.
Indeed, Duan Chen was right. This was truly a grand dream.
*Boom!*
A massive falling stone directly struck Situ Ying, and blood splattered onto the black robe's face.
A trace of emotion finally appeared on the innocent face.
"Mom… Mom…"