Chapter 145: Anything She Can Do for You, I Can Do Too

Koji Miyamoto froze as if swept by the gaze of the evil moon. He stared at me in disbelief before suddenly snapping back to reality and shouting, "You're not Black Sand! Who the hell are you?"

"Who I am—you'll find out when you're dead," I said coldly. Flanked by Hu Xiaoyu, we charged at Koji Miyamoto from both sides.

Koji Miyamoto hailed from the Evil Claw style of the East. In terms of strength, he was merely at the level of a fourth or fifth-tier Yin-Yang Master—how could he possibly be a match for Hu Xiaoyu and me?

His limbs were instantly severed, and he was whittled down to a dried husk. Screaming in agony, he glared at us with venomous hatred and shrieked, "Do you really think you can walk out of Yunxin Island alive? There's a nuclear bomb buried beneath this island, and it will detonate in ten minutes. You're all going to be buried with me!"

A chill ran through my heart, and with a single sword stroke, I lopped off Koji Miyamoto's head.

Right at that moment, the walls of the stone chamber flipped open, and a swarm of evil puppets rushed out, lunging straight at us.

"Break our way through!" I roared.

These evil puppets were not particularly strong, and we cut through them like chopping vegetables, carving out a bloody path.

However, when we reached the main entrance, we found it tightly sealed.

We blasted open one door, only to find another waiting for us ahead.

Recalling our path here, we had to pass through nine massive doors, and a full minute of our ten-minute window had already elapsed.

One minute per door, plus the time needed to rush from the bottom of the base all the way to the top and escape—there simply wasn't enough time.

We had clearly both arrived at this realization, and our expressions turned grave.

"We have no choice but to blast straight up and out. Step aside," I said. If the ninety-nine corpses serving as the core of the Evil Moon Formation hadn't completely rotted away when the two of us emerged from the ocean floor, escaping through the underwater tunnel would have been the optimal choice.

I took a deep breath. The tattoo on my wrist came to life, spreading across my entire palm. I resolutely burned a portion of my foundational magic power to amplify the potency of this single claw strike, hoping to puncture a hole through the base and escape with our lives.

While I wasn't entirely certain if it would work, nor how severe the backlash from burning my foundational magic power would be on my body, it was still far better than waiting here to be reduced to charred bones by a nuclear bomb.

That was a nuclear bomb. No matter how small the yield, it was not something we could possibly withstand.

Just then, Hu Xiaoyu suddenly grabbed my hand and said, "Let me do it. I have a magical treasure specifically designed for breaking defenses."

A magical treasure! Why didn't you say so earlier!

Hearing the words "magical treasure," the tension in my heart eased slightly. Since we had a magical treasure, using it was naturally the best course of action.

Hu Xiaoyu extended her hand, and a silver rod materialized in her palm, bearing a resemblance to the lotus rod she had used the other day.

channeling her magic power into it, the tip of the silver rod abruptly transformed into a sharp cone, radiating dazzling magical light.

At that moment, she let out a sharp cry, driving the magical treasure as her body soared upward. A streak of silver light, resembling a shooting star, surged toward the ceiling above.

*Rumble—*

Amidst a deafening roar, the thick stone ceiling overhead, reinforced with demonic energy defenses, was blasted open with a massive breach.

Hu Xiaoyu darted up through the gap like a human drilling machine, crowned by the brilliant light of the giant silver cone.

Layer after layer of the base was drilled through, with stone fragments flying everywhere.

I followed closely behind, feeling a surge of excitement. At this speed, escaping with our lives should not be a problem.

Presently, Hu Xiaoyu reached the uppermost level at an incredible speed. Once she broke through this final layer, we would reach the surface of Yunxin Island.

However, right at that moment, a sudden change occurred.

Countless eerie black shadows coiled in from all directions. Although the defense-breaking magical treasure in Hu Xiaoyu's hand shattered dozens of these shadows, the impact drained her momentum, leaving her without the force to break through the final layer.

"Hah!"

Following closely behind, I instantly slashed out waves of crimson light, shredding these black shadows to pieces.

These shadows looked like living tree roots. Once hacked apart, they sprayed out ink-like fluids that emitted a foul, corpse-like stench.

*Tree demons?* A shock went through my heart. These things didn't possess high defenses, but they seemed infinitely inexhaustible. The moment one root was destroyed, dozens more coiled around us.

"Xiaoyu, I'll handle these disgusting things. You break through this layer and get out first. We're running out of time!" I urged anxiously.

"Alright," Hu Xiaoyu nodded.

I let out a thunderous roar, sending spell seals blasting outward and hurling spell talismans left and right. I squeezed my own magic power to its absolute limit, transforming my crimson blade Qi into a sea of blood that kept these disgusting tree roots at bay.

Meanwhile, Hu Xiaoyu let out a sharp cry, driving her magic power to the absolute maximum as a white lotus bloomed in her palm.

*Boom!*

Earth and stone flew in all directions. Outside light filtered down, and Hu Xiaoyu burst through to the surface.

Joy surged in my chest. I spun my entire body around, and my Blood Fiend Saber whipped up a terrifying wave of crimson light.

Countless tree roots shattered in succession, and I seized the opportunity to charge out.

Just as we were about to taste freedom, a tree root radiating an eerie black-purple light suddenly shot out like lightning, wrapping tightly around one of my legs.

I immediately brought my blade down, but it only caused the root to twist slightly.

In an instant, a tremendous pulling force slammed into me, dragging me—still suspended in mid-air—back downward.

Shock gripped my heart. What on earth were these roots?

"Qin Feng!" Hu Xiaoyu cried out in alarm, reaching out to grab my hand. Gritting her teeth, her face suddenly flushed crimson, and beams of magical light shone from her eyes.

Abruptly, she opened her mouth, and a bloody lotus bloomed, striking the black-purple tree root dead-on.

This was a secret technique of the White Lotus Sect—spitting out a lotus, though it exacted a heavy toll in vitality blood.

*Crack.*

The black-purple root snapped in two, but Hu Xiaoyu's delicate face turned from red to stark white, as if she had been drained of her life force in an instant. Clearly, the attack she had unleashed had damaged her very foundation.

Catching Hu Xiaoyu in my arms, I channeled the magic power in the soles of my feet and burst out of the cavern once more.

Yet, just as we did, several more black-purple tree roots shot out from the cave, lashing toward my back.

"Supprress!"

Ye Xiu let out a mighty roar. Black light enveloped his right wrist as a massive claw fiercely smashed forward.

This single strike instantly reduced several high-grade Nether Crystals on my body to fine powder.

With a loud *boom*, the black-purple roots recoiled.

Clinging to each other, we hit the ground and bolted desperately toward the coastline.

Only a few dozen seconds remained. Though leaping into the sea still carried dangers, surviving should pose no problem.

Pushing my Nether Ghost Step to its absolute limit, my nerves stretched to a snapping point, I moved with unprecedented speed.

Like a bolt of lightning, we rushed past the coastal cliff and threw ourselves toward the open ocean.

However, right at that moment, I felt the forward momentum of my body stall. Yanked backward mid-flight by a sudden pull, my entire body was thrown off balance, threatening to fly backward.

I whipped my head around, only to see yet another black-purple tree root protruding from the cliff face, wrapped tightly around Hu Xiaoyu's ankle, violently pulling us back.

Dammit!

"There's no time left!" Hu Xiaoyu shouted, her pretty face completely drained of color.

I gritted my teeth. There was no other choice—I had to burn my foundational magic power and fight for our lives.

Just then, the white light in Hu Xiaoyu's pupils flared brilliantly. A vast surge of power channeled through her hand and poured directly into my body, abruptly cutting off my frantic attempt to burn my magic power.

"Xiaoyu?" I looked at her in shock.

Hu Xiaoyu smiled, then slammed her palm hard against my chest.

Instantly, the immense force blasted me away from her grip, sending my entire body shooting into the distance like a cannonball.

"No... Xiaoyu..." My eyes widened in horror as an icy chill welled up from the depths of my soul, flooding my entire body, and I let out a wild, tearing roar.

Blood streamed from Hu Xiaoyu's nose, ears, and mouth. She watched the distant figure receding into the distance, a dazed, heartbroken expression on her face.

*Qin Feng, did you know? Whatever Zhang Ruyue can do for you, I can do too.*

*If she can die for you, so can I! Don't forget me!*

*And... live well...*

*BOOM—!*

The earth shook and the mountains trembled!

The entire world seemed to sway. Yunxin Island erupted with a colossal ball of fire as a gigantic mushroom cloud bloomed in the sky.

A terrifying wave of radiation rippled in all directions, churning up seawater into waves tens of meters high that rolled relentlessly forward.

Vessels within a ten-kilometer radius were instantly swallowed up. Meanwhile, every magical artifact on my body shattered, my back was charred black, and my consciousness plunged into darkness as my entire body sank beneath the waves.

Dozen of kilometers away on the mainland of Goryeo, pedestrians on the streets collapsed like harvested wheat, building glass shattered, and rows of houses crumbled.

Immediately afterward, the tsunami came rolling in, surging deep inland.

The coastal cities of China were also affected, while Yunxin Island completely sank, vanishing from the map.

Fortunately, this was only a small tactical nuclear bomb; otherwise, China's coastal regions would have suffered catastrophic losses. As it was, by the time the tsunami reached China's coast, the waves were only two to three meters high, causing at most some localized flooding.

...

Director Zhou hung up the phone, his expression exceptionally grim.

Having stepped into the realm of a Grandmaster, he rarely experienced such violent emotional fluctuations.

Yet this time, he felt a profound and suffocating anxiety.

Yunxin Island had been sunk by a nuclear blast, and Qin Feng's fate remained completely unknown!