svetikya Chapter 72 Barrier
Chapter 72 Barrier
When Wen Ranran opened her eyes, she saw Baozi's back.
He stood in front of her, his legs planted firmly on the ground, his left hand holding the shield, his right hand pressing against the shield's surface. Earthy yellow primordial energy surged from his palms, condensing into layer upon layer of barriers in front of the shield.
The charred burn on his right arm was still there, but the sleeve of his clothes was burned off.
But he did not back down.
They didn't retreat an inch.
Xiaoman held Wen Ranran in her arms, half-kneeling on the ground, pressing Wen Ranran's head against her chest with her left hand.
She held the alloy rod in her right hand, with the rod extended to its maximum length and the tip touching the ground for support.
She had a cut on her forehead, and blood was flowing down from above her eyebrow, down her nose, and to the corner of her mouth.
She didn't wipe it, she just squinted her left eye, her right eye was covered in blood.
Baozi got hit on the shield again.
Purple lightning struck the shield, causing Baozi's arm to sag slightly and his knee to bend, but he immediately pushed it back up.
"How much longer can we hold on?" Xiaoman asked.
"I don't know," Baozi said through gritted teeth.
Another bolt of lightning struck.
This time, the blow didn't hit the shield, but rather struck less than half a meter from Baozi's feet.
The bluestone slab shattered, and the pebbles hit Baozi's calf. He swayed but did not fall.
Wen Ranran lifted her head from Xiao Man's arms.
She saw the injuries they had sustained while protecting her.
Tears welled up in her eyes and silently streamed down her cheeks.
She lowered her head and looked at her right hand.
The mark of sin on the back of his hand was extremely dim, with only a last bit of red light flickering faintly.
After the lightning bolt was absorbed into the Sin Seal, the mark became like something that had eaten too much, and the lines around its edges became blurred.
She stared at the mark for a few seconds, then closed her eyes.
Baozi sensed something moving behind him.
He turned his head and saw out of the corner of his eye that Wen Ranran had broken free from Xiaoman's arms.
The little girl's movements were slow but resolute. She pushed away Xiaoman's hand, slid off his knees, stumbled a couple of steps, and fell onto his back.
A pair of small hands wrapped around his waist from behind.
"Ranran!" Xiaoman called out, reaching out to grab her, but missed.
Wen Ranran's face was pressed against Baozi's back, her hands clasped tightly together.
Baozi felt a strange power surging into his body from her hand.
The burn area no longer hurts.
New flesh began to grow beneath the charred skin.
Then he felt his vital energy recovering.
Baozi's breathing has stabilized.
He straightened up and raised his shield even higher.
But Wen Ranran behind him was getting lighter.
He sensed it.
The hands that were wrapped around his waist were losing their grip.
The weight of the small body pressed against his back was decreasing.
"Dye"
Xiaoman's voice changed.
Wen Ranran did not answer.
Another bolt of lightning struck.
Baozi's shield went to meet it.
The purple light struck the shield, but instead of exploding or being deflected, it was absorbed into it.
A flash of dark red light appeared on the shield, and the lightning disappeared.
Wen Ranran felt a little lighter.
Baozi's eyes turned red.
He didn't turn around or call for a stop, because he knew that if he stopped now, all those blows he had taken would have been for nothing.
He could only continue standing, continue holding up his shield, continue letting the light strike down, and continue letting Wen Ranran absorb the lightning.
His hands were trembling, but not from fear.
About two minutes passed. Or maybe three minutes.
The lightning struck countless times.
Wen Ranran loosened her grip.
Her body fell backward.
Xiaoman caught her and held her in her arms.
Wen Ranran's face was as white as paper, her lips were bloodless, and there were dark circles under her eyes.
Her right hand hung at her side, and the mark of sin on the back of her hand had completely darkened, turning into a grayish-black scar.
Baozi turned around, glanced at Wen Ranran, and then at Xiaoman.
Xiaoman nodded to him.
The steamed bun turned back, facing the sky.
The Thunderbird is still there.
A giant bird made of purple lightning hovered in mid-air, its wings half-open, staring at him.
The entire sky was covered by purple thunderclouds, and the sun could not be seen.
Baozi took a deep breath.
He looked down at the palm of his left hand.
The image of Xia Lan is there.
He remembered many things.
After he ran away, no one blamed him.
But from that night on, he told himself that he couldn't run anymore.
A wall that never moves.
The wall doesn't move; it just stands there, blocking what it's meant to block.
He liked that way of putting it.
He can't run anymore.
He won't run away anymore.
Baozi raised his head and looked at the Thunder Bird. The Xia Lan mark on his left palm lit up.
He didn't rush forward.
Sending yourself to your death is not brave, it's stupid.
He closed his eyes and activated his perception.
The earth elemental senses, like tree roots, burrowed into the ground from beneath his feet and spread in all directions.
Then he sensed those lines, those fine threads made of primordial energy.
There are six rods hanging down from the Thunderbird's body, each connected to a point on the ground.
He followed one of the lines down, the end of which connected to a wall at the edge of the square.
That wall with relief carvings.
He probed with another rod, which connected to another wall.
The third one is connected to a stone statue at the foot of the wall.
The stone statue is shaped like a bird, perched on a stone base with its mouth open.
Six lines connect three walls and three stone statues.
The reliefs on the walls were glowing.
The stone statue was also glowing, with two small points of light in the bird's eye area, one bright and one dim, synchronized with the thunderbird's heartbeat.
Baozi opened his eyes.
He got it.
Those murals and stone statues served as anchor points, securing the Thunderbird to the mountain.
Without these anchor points, Thunderbird might not have appeared here at all, or would have flown away long ago.
He needs to destroy those anchor points.
Baozi squatted down and placed his left hand on the ground.
The earth-elemental primordial energy flowed from his palm into the earth, spreading in all directions along the underground rock strata.
He sensed the foundations of those stone statues and walls.
The base of the stone statue is buried two meters underground, and the foundation of the wall is even deeper, more than three meters down.
He first condensed a layer of earth armor on his body.
It covered his chest, back, arms, and legs.
Then he added another layer of something else to the outside of the earth armor.
He didn't know what it was, but he could feel that it was the power that Wen Ranran had left in his body.
It was dark red, very thin, and stuck to his skin.
He also covered the outside of the earthen armor with that dark red membrane.
Xiaoman, holding Wen Ranran, saw the dark red light on Baozi's body.
Her lips moved slightly, as if she wanted to say something, but she didn't.
She simply hugged Wen Ranran tighter, took a few steps back, and retreated behind a pillar in the corridor.
Baozi stood up, clasped his hands together, and then suddenly separated them.
Earthly Kun - Collapsing Cloud Cannon.
This is his most proficient offensive Xia Lan technique.
Earth-attribute primordial energy exploded from the ground, condensing into fist-sized stone projectiles that hovered around his body.
He counted the number of stones.
Twenty-one.
enough.
He raised his right hand and pointed to the first wall.
Two stone projectiles were launched from the ranks, trailing pale yellow flames as they flew toward the wall.
The Thunderbird moved.
Its wings suddenly spread open, emitting a sharp cry.
A bolt of purple lightning struck down from its wing, heading straight for the two stone projectiles.
The stone was struck by lightning in mid-air and shattered into pieces.
Baozi's lips twitched slightly.
He knew Thunderbird would block him.
There were twenty-one stone projectiles, but only one bolt of lightning.
He raised his left hand and pointed to the second wall.
Three stone projectiles flew out.
The Thunderbird flapped its wings again, and another bolt of lightning struck, slicing through two of the lightning bolts. The third bolt passed through the gap in the lightning and crashed into the wall.
"Bang!"
A crack appeared in the wall.
It's not very big; the crack runs from the top of the wall to the bottom, but it's only about the width of a finger.
The wings of the large bird on the relief were cut in two by a crack, and the purplish-red light on it flashed twice before half of it went out.
The Thunderbird's voice changed.
Three bolts of lightning struck down from its body simultaneously, one towards the steamed bun itself, and two towards the remaining stone projectiles.
Baozi didn't dodge.
The lightning struck the dark red membrane surrounding the earthen armor and was absorbed.
He swayed slightly, but was not injured.
The membrane that Wen Ranran left him is still there.
He pushed out with both hands at the same time.
The remaining sixteen stone projectiles all flew out, splitting into three groups.
Six flew towards the first wall, six towards the second wall, and four towards the bird statue.
The Thunderbird unleashed a torrent of lightning.
One, two, three, four, five.
Lightning crisscrossed in the air, forming a net to intercept the stone projectiles.
One was shattered.
Both were shattered.
Three, four, five.
But there were too many stone projectiles.
The large bird on the relief was cut into several pieces, and the purplish-red light was completely extinguished.
Thunderbird's body swayed slightly.
Its wings were no longer spread out, but folded up a bit, and its body descended a few meters from mid-air.
Two of the six threads hanging down from it were broken.
The two broken strands floated in the air for a while before being blown away by the wind like a kite with a broken string.
Baozi reassembled his primordial energy and summoned fifteen more stone projectiles.
This time, his target was the remaining two walls and two statues.
The Thunderbird's attacks became even more ferocious.
It no longer just struck lightning; it began to move.
Its body hovered above the mountaintop, and with each flap of its wings, three or four bolts of lightning would strike down.
Some lightning bolts struck the stone projectiles, some struck the steamed buns, and some struck the people kneeling in the square.
A man kneeling on the ground was grazed on the shoulder by lightning. He screamed but did not get up. He remained kneeling, his forehead pressed against the ground, his body trembling.
Baozi frowned slightly.
The lightning has begun to harm the believers, which means that the Thunderbird can no longer afford to worry about anything else.
Its anchors are being pulled out one by one, and it's getting anxious.
Ten stone projectiles flew out.
Two were shattered by lightning, and eight hit their targets.
The third wall collapsed.
The large bird in the relief is buried under rubble, with only the tip of one wing showing.
The second stone statue was smashed in two; the upper body fell to the ground, while the lower body remained standing on the base.
The Thunderbird descended a few meters.
Its body was no longer as clear as before; the edges began to blur.
Two of the hanging lines broke off, leaving only two still connected.
The steamed bun condensed its primordial energy for the third time.
This time he only summoned eight stone projectiles.
His vital energy was running low; using the Cloud Collapse Cannon three times in a row had greatly depleted it.
But he didn't need much more; only the last wall and the last statue remained.
He took a deep breath and pushed out with both hands.
Eight stone projectiles flew out.
The Thunderbird let out its loudest cry yet.
The sound was so loud that Baozi's ears instantly went deaf; all the surrounding sounds disappeared, leaving only a buzzing tinnitus.
His nose started bleeding, and warm liquid flowed from his nostrils.
Lightning struck down from the Thunderbird's entire body.
The five stone projectiles were blocked by the lightning and exploded into powder in mid-air.
But three of them passed through.
The two balls hit the last wall.
A large hole was smashed in the wall, the entire wall began to tilt, and then it collapsed to the ground with a loud bang.
One of them crashed into the last stone statue.
The stone statue was smashed off its base and flew off, rolling several times on the ground before crashing into a pillar in the corridor and coming to a stop.
The bird's head was gone, the bird's body was broken, and only the base remained standing in the same place.
The last wire broke.
The Thunderbird fell from the sky.
Its wings were still flapping, but they could no longer support its body.
The body, made of purple lightning, tumbled through the air before crashing into the plaza.
The ground was smashed into a large crater, and the bluestone slabs were scattered all over the ground.
After the Thunderbird's body crashed to the ground, a purple light flashed several times, flickering uncertainly.
But it did not die.
It lay in the pit, its wings still flapping, its head raised, and its purple eyes staring at the steamed bun.
It opened its mouth and let out a deep roar, then a bolt of lightning shot out from its mouth and flew towards the steamed bun.
Baozi raised his shield and held it in front of him.
The lightning struck the shield, and the dark red membrane flashed briefly before absorbing most of it.
But the membrane had become much thinner, and the power Wen Ranran had left him was being rapidly depleted.
The remaining lightning penetrated the membrane and struck his earth armor.
The earthen armor cracked open, and pieces fell from his arm.
He was struck by lightning, his entire arm went numb, and he almost dropped the shield.
He pressed his left hand against the shield, gritting his teeth.
The Thunderbird climbed out of the crater.
Its body was smaller than before, and the purple light was much dimmer.
But it can still move, walk, and open its mouth.
It walked towards the steamed bun, leaving a charred paw print on the ground with each step.
Baozi put down the shield and put his hands together in prayer position.
His vital energy was almost depleted.
His body felt completely empty, but he couldn't stop.
If he stops now, the Thunderbird will walk up to him and shoot a bolt of lightning in his face, burning him to a crisp.
He can fight one more time. One last time.
Earthly Kun...
He had just opened his mouth when a voice came from behind him.
"Step back."