Chapter 38: The Vanishing Celestial Palace
Compared to what the Chieftain of the Qin Clan saw, overlooking the moment of Apollo's explosion from above was actually more shocking.
Apollo transformed into a residual shadow and fell into the Celestial Palace. After a moment of silence, the explosion occurred, and Solar Flame surged wildly outward.
Within three kilometers, all buildings were quickly engulfed by the Solar Flame. Before the flame even reached them, the ground it was about to touch began to vitrify, eventually being enveloped by the Solar Flame.
A golden sun with a diameter of 3000 meters appeared, 'crashing down' onto the Celestial Palace.
Rumble...
A loud noise came from below. Large cracks appeared on the foundation supporting the Celestial Palace. Iron bars, several meters wide and hundreds of meters long, sprang up, and the huge rivets on them shot up like solid cannonballs, blasting into the mountains around Moonlight Lake.
With a thunderous crash, the foundation supporting the Celestial Palace, over 1300 meters high, shattered. The buildings left by the ancient gods were destroyed.
Scorching magma fell from above, along with dozens of meters large boulders, all crashing down into Moonlight Lake below.
On the rock wall at the edge of Moonlight Lake, Liu was looking up at this scene, her eyes filled with terror. She knew clearly that those huge debris wouldn't hit her, but seeing this before her, an uncontrollable fear arose in her heart.
"Tianba."
Amu, standing behind Liu, spoke. At this moment, cold air was rising from his entire body. He leaped down into Moonlight Lake, and before he even hit the water, the surface beneath his feet began to freeze rapidly.
Boom! Boom! Boom!
Large pieces of building debris fell into Moonlight Lake. The foundation, still a few hundred meters high and with a surface that seemed to have melted, began to tilt and eventually crashed into the lake water.
The center of Moonlight Lake was filled with building debris. Magma submerged into the water, and steam billowed everywhere.
Golden flames fell on the lake surface. The Celestial Palace—no, there was no Celestial Palace anymore. From now on, the Celestial Palace would only exist in records.
On the steaming ruins of the lake surface, a figure fell prostrate in the flames. The robe on him was charred black, its original color indistinguishable.
Around this figure was a sphere formed of ashes. At the moment he was enveloped by the Solar Flame, the Chieftain of the Qin Clan had embraced the [Source]. Not only him, but all nearby Tianba Clan members had rushed over, desperately protecting the [Source]. The [Source] was an inanimate object, but its energy was intoxicating, ultimately driving them.
Using good or bad to describe the [Source] is not accurate. Inanimate objects have no distinction between good and bad; it depends on the user. For example, water in nature is the source of life for all things, yet it can also drown living beings.
The Chieftain of the Qin Clan slowly stood up. Large pieces of his fellow clansmen's ashes, stuck to him, fell off. Even now, he still held the [Source].
With a boom, a figure landed from above. In the hazy steam, red light flickered in this figure's eyes.
The Chieftain of the Qin Clan exhaled a mouthful of hot air. He felt as if his internal organs were burning, a scorching energy rampaging inside him.
Before this, the Chieftain of the Qin Clan believed that the Tianba were the embodiment of evil. They had done many horrifying things, such as annihilating an entire country, killing all the millions of civilians, including the elderly and children, just to determine one thing: whether accumulating enough life force could solve or alleviate Source Transformation.
Today, except for the Chieftain of the Qin Clan, all the combat-capable members of the Tianba Clan were reduced to ashes in a very short time.
Facing the powerful enemy dozens of meters away, the Chieftain of the Qin Clan finally let go of the [Source] in his arms. The [Source], as large as a millstone, fell onto the building debris.
Zheng.
The Chieftain of the Qin Clan drew the Qin Heart Blade from his waist. Thanks to the sacrifice of many clansmen, he had only been burned by the Solar Flame for a very short time. Even so, he was still severely injured.
The Chieftain of the Qin Clan was in a terrible state, but his three-meter height and the Qin Heart Blade in his hand still gave off an extremely oppressive aura.
Su Xiao walked out from the steam. The place he stood now was the lower half of the Celestial Palace's original foundation, which had collapsed into Moonlight Lake.
How many Tianba Clan members were killed? Su Xiao didn't bother to count. After the settlement, there were only two reward notifications.
[You have obtained 4550 Soul Coins.]
[You have obtained Ba's Soul × 975.]
...
That was the profit from Apollo's explosion. How big was the Celestial Palace? An Apollo with a three-kilometer explosion range was dropped, and the Celestial Palace disappeared. What actually fell into Moonlight Lake was just the foundation of the Celestial Palace.
The Apostle's Eye floated beside Su Xiao. Some information about the Chieftain of the Qin Clan appeared. After checking, Su Xiao learned that the opponent's health had dropped to 47.2% and was still declining.
Due to the damage from Apollo's explosion, the Chieftain of the Qin Clan's Strength, Agility, and Endurance attributes had all dropped, hovering between 160 and 165 points.
The Chieftain of the Qin Clan had two abilities that were troublesome: Qin (Exclusive Passive, Lv.72) and Blade Grandmaster Lv.49.
"I am different from other Tianba. Before becoming a Tianba, I was an ordinary person like you."
The Chieftain of the Qin Clan grabbed the charred clothes on his chest with one hand and slowly tore off his robe.
"Just now, I still retained a human heart... But... for the Source, for the Tianba, I abandoned my last heart, letting the power of the Source soak into it. I have... become a monster, no longer human."
The Chieftain of the Qin Clan threw down the tattered clothes in his hand. His slightly charred chest gradually sank in a bit.
With a rumble, building debris collapsed behind the Chieftain of the Qin Clan, sending crystal-clear water splashing everywhere. The moment the water droplets fell, Su Xiao and the Chieftain of the Qin Clan simultaneously vanished from their spots.
Clang!
The two long blades clashed together. The impact caused the surrounding lake water to surge outward. Su Xiao and the Chieftain of the Qin Clan stared at each other from less than half a meter away, dark blue and blood-red auras colliding.
The blood aura quickly pushed back the dark blue aura. The Chieftain of the Qin Clan, holding the Qin Heart Blade and locked in a contest of strength with Su Xiao, felt as if his organs were about to melt from the high temperature.
Opportunity!
Su Xiao exerted force with his blade-wielding hand, concentrating all his strength on the sword.
Clang!
Dragon-Slaying Flash repelled the Qin Heart Blade. Perfect parry successful; the enemy's Strength attribute would be reduced.
Due to the immense force from the blade, the Chieftain of the Qin Clan took a large step back. Before he could stabilize himself, he made a horizontal slash.
Su Xiao aborted his straight kick. If he kicked out, his entire right shin would be severed by the blade.
Su Xiao feigned a backward leap. Just as he exerted force under his feet, the Chieftain of the Qin Clan opposite him suddenly spat out a large mouthful of blood. The subsequent burning effect of Apollo was extremely deadly during a battle between two Blade Grandmasters.
Clang! Clang! Clang!
Su Xiao made several consecutive slashes, sending out waves of air. All the slashes were blocked by the Chieftain of the Qin Clan's horizontal blade.
'Blade Path Sword: Extreme.'
Swish! A severed arm flew up. The Chieftain of the Qin Clan retreated a few steps, his left arm severed at the shoulder.
'Secret Technique: Celestial Flow.'
Bang!
Just as the Chieftain of the Qin Clan held his long blade vertically in front of him, Su Xiao's straight kick landed squarely on his lower abdomen. A semicircular slash mark flew past Su Xiao, enlarging as it traveled.
Zheng.
A boulder with a diameter of a hundred meters in the distance was cut in two, the cut surface smooth as a mirror. A sound came from a more distant mountain peak; the mountain tip slowly slid down, eventually falling into Moonlight Lake.