Heavens' Laughter

"… What are we even supposed to do…?" Zhao Rui muttered, his voice tinged with unease. A bead of sweat traced down his temple as his fingers fidgeted nervously.

His anxious smile wavered as he stared at the chaotic battle before him.

The ground trembled even more violently as the earth itself recoiled from the sheer power.

"I mean… we're kind of responsible for him, aren't we?" Zhao Rui added, glancing toward his peers with a desperate look, hoping someone—anyone—might offer a solution.

Sighing deeply, Mei Xue shook her head and pinched the bridge of her nose, a mixture of frustration and resignation clear in her expression.

Casting a quick glance over her shoulder, she spoke firmly, her voice cutting through the chaos around them:

"Just shut up and focus on helping the civilians evacuate. Don't waste your energy worrying about student Feng Shen. There's nothing we can do—those monsters are beyond us. Getting in their way would just make things worse."

With a sharp breath, Mei Xue channeled more Qi into her palms, forming a shimmering barrier that shielded a group of fleeing civilians from falling debris.

The strain etched lines into her face, but she held firm.

"She's right," Yuan Bo said, his gaze fixed on the distant battle:

"Those two won't stop until one of them is dead, and no one—absolutely no one—can step between them. Trying to intervene would be nothing short of suicide."

With a swift motion, Yuan Bo swung his long sword, its edge gleaming as it tore through the crumbling remains of a broken structure.

The debris tumbled away, revealing a group of trapped civilians.

"Move quickly!" Yuan Bo barked, extending a hand to pull a frightened woman to her feet.

He wasted no time, slicing through another barrier of rubble with precise, measured strikes.

The trapped civilians scrambled out.

"We're going to be in so much trouble…" Zhao Rui muttered to himself with a heavy sigh, shaking his head as he tore his gaze away from the raging battle.

There was no time to dwell on the destruction; people needed help.

Drawing upon his Heaven's Formations, Zhao Rui stretched his hands toward the sky.

The glowing patterns of his technique appeared as he forced massive chunks of destroyed structures into the air, clearing a safe path for the fleeing civilians.

"Get your asses moving!" Zhao Rui shouted, guiding them with sharp gestures as he stabilized the path.

Yet, even as he used so much Qi, the weight of their inevitable reprimand from the Continent's Council hung over him like a storm cloud.

"Great," Zhao Rui muttered under his breath, his frustration bubbling up. "We're saving lives, but all they'll care about is how much of a mess we made. Typical."

"Seriously, stop complaining! We'll deal with those old fools later," Mei Xue snapped.

Without waiting for a reply, she sprinted toward a group of injured civilians huddled beneath a crumbling structure.

Channeling her Qi, Mei Xue used her seduction technique, her Qi shifting into something irresistibly compelling.

The civilians, despite their injuries and fear, felt an overwhelming urge to move, their fatigue momentarily forgotten.

"Come on! Faster!" Mei Xue commanded, her voice laced with an unnatural allure that spurred them into action.

With her guidance, the group stumbled forward at an urgent pace, fleeing toward safety.

Yuan Bo's eyes swept across, taking in every detail. He made a mental note of where everyone stood.

The last thing he wanted was to accidentally hurt someone in the midst of his efforts.

As Yuan Bo's gaze moved, he froze, spotting a small boy and girl huddled together beneath a collapsing roof.

Tears streaked their faces as they clung to each other, their tiny voices calling out desperately for their mother:

"Mommy! Where is my mommy!?"

"Wahh! Mommy!? I want my mommy!"

Yuan Bo's grip tightened on his sword, and his heart clenched. There was no time to hesitate.

With a burst of Qi-enhanced speed, he darted toward the children, the glow of his weapon cutting through the dust and debris as he moved.

'I'm close… just a few more steps—' Yuan Bo's thoughts were abruptly cut off.

Out of nowhere, Feng Shen plummeted from the sky like a meteor.

His body crashed into the very spot where the two children huddled, the impact so brutal it turned them into unrecognizable remains in an instant.

"Ah~ what the hell broke my fall?" Feng Shen muttered, rubbing the back of his head as he sat up, a faint grimace crossing his face.

Glancing over his shoulder, he noticed the blood staining his back and the crushed remains beneath him.

"Well, whatever~," Feng Shen said with a dismissive shrug, his tone devoid of concern.

Without a second thought, he pushed himself to his feet, cracking his neck as though nothing had happened.

In one fluid motion, Feng Shen launched himself back into the air, hurtling toward the phoenix.

Yuan Bo froze mid-step, his breath catching in his throat as his heart seemed to stop.

"…."

Yuan Bo's masked face tilted slightly downward, his widened eyes locked on the bloody scene.

The distant roar of battle had faded, replaced by the deafening silence in his mind.

Yuan Bo stood there, motionless, his sword trembling in his grip as his mind struggled to process what had just happened.

"What the hell are you doing!? Snap out of it! This isn't like you! We need to keep helping the civilians!" Situ Nan shouted, his voice cutting through like a whip.

He hovered midair, encased in a swirling tornado of wind, his long, angelic wings spread wide against the fiery backdrop.

With hurried movements, he unleashed powerful gusts of wind, redirecting the spreading flames and pushing them away from the fleeing civilians.

Situ Nan's expression was tense, his brow furrowed in concentration as he worked to contain the inferno.

Yet, his sharp gaze remained fixed on the man, frustration mingling with urgency as he tried to snap his rival out of his stunned state.

Shaking his head, Yuan Bo took a few steadying breaths. The color to his eyes slowly returning.

Raising his head, he spoke, his voice calm but heavy with emotion:

"I apologize. It seems my heart is still alive—something I haven't felt in a long time."

Without another word, Yuan Bo immediately refocused on his task.

The urgency of the situation drowned out the lingering pain in his chest as he continued to help.

▬▬ι═══════ﺤ

"Let go of me, you bitch!" Yùn Yì screamed, her voice full of fury as a chill radiated from her body.

A fierce blizzard surrounded her, swirling violently and extinguishing the nearby flames.

But despite the freezing cold, Cai Xiu who was using her Tree Grasp technique to hold her, remained unaffected, her technique unwavering:

"No! I won't allow you to get in the way of Master!"

"I told you! I am going to help him!" Yùn Yì's breath came in sharp gasps, her eyes filled with rage as she struggled against the unyielding hold of the trees.

Grinding her teeth, Cai Xiu's patience wore thin as she watched the girl continue to struggle.

The girl's defiance was nothing but an emotional tantrum, ignoring reason and logic in favor of blind rage.@@novelbin@@

Cai Xiu's Tree Grasp technique began to crack under the strain, the roots trembling.

Frustration boiled over, and with a sharp exhale, she poured more Qi into the technique, strengthening her grip.

"Damn it!" Cai Xiu hissed, her voice laced with annoyance. "Why can't you just be obedient?!"

"I will not be obedient to anybody but the Second Young Master!" Yùn Yì screamed, her voice filled with defiance and rage.

As those words left her mouth, the roof above them cracked with a deafening noise, sending a cascade of debris tumbling downward.

But before the rubble could fall any further, Cai Xiu acted swiftly, her eyes narrowing in focus.

With a surge of Qi, she invoked her Tree Grasp technique, causing the roots to expand and form a protective barrier around them.

The roots twisted and intertwined, creating a shield that held the falling debris at bay.

For a moment, the two stood locked in a tense standoff, the only sounds the crackling of the barrier and the rumble of collapsing structure above them.

"Shit…" Cai Xiu cursed under her breath, her brow slick with sweat as she struggled to maintain control.

She knew she couldn't keep expending this much Qi and pushing her technique to its limits, especially with someone actively fighting against it.

The weight of the collapsing debris above them pressed down, adding to the strain.

Cai Xiu's muscles burned, fatigue creeping in as her body screamed for rest.

The barrier she'd created wavered, and for a moment, she wondered how much longer she could hold out.

But Cai Xiu knew there was no choice.

If she let her guard down, if she faltered even for a moment, the girl in front of her would interrupt her Master.

Cai Xiu gritted her teeth, pushing past the exhaustion.

'I just need to keep pushing myself…'

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Cai Xiu couldn't afford to fail now—not when the stakes were this high.