The energy of heaven and earth grew increasingly violent; if the initial outpouring of power was a steady stream, what surged forth now was the mightiest tidal wave upon the sea. No one could articulate the sheer force of this power; even a hundred feet away, one felt a peculiar sensation of being directly battered by the energy of the cosmos.

“Not good,” Bing Xiaotian roared. “Hurry, the Ice Island is emerging…” Before the words had fully left his lips, everyone bolted forward in a frenzy, running at their absolute fastest.

Only half an hour prior, the surviving North Sea Saint Beast Kings had fled in utter disarray, scrambling with all their might. But this time, the ones traversing the ice and soaring through the air were not those terrifying Saint Beast Kings, but the human powerhouses who had just claimed dominion over this territory.

Among the assembled group, everyone except White Horse Thunder and the Qilin Beast instinctively shot up into the sky; for them, flying outpaced any speed achieved by running on the ground. However, they immediately realized that on the surface below, two even swifter shadows flashed past, leaving them all behind.

The speed of White Horse Thunder and the Qilin Beast was so breathtaking that even the flight speed of peak Human Dao experts was insufficient to match them. He Yiming did not ascend with the other powerhouses.

In an instant, he mounted White Horse Thunder, wrapping an arm around Yuan Lixun’s waist. The horse and he shared a perfect synchronization; the moment his weight settled on its back, they shot forward like an arrow released from a bow.

Potent True Qi resonated between man and horse, driving the White Horse’s speed beyond its limits to an even greater velocity. The Qilin Sacred Master reacted slightly faster than He Yiming, and the Qilin Beast, with whom he had cooperated for centuries, began its escape a hair's breadth sooner.

Yet, the moment White Horse Thunder and the Qilin Beast pulled clear and steadied their pace, they were neck and neck, inseparable. With a faint sigh, the Qilin Sacred Master looked upon He Yiming and White Horse Thunder with an expression of profound, ineffable emotion.

This man and this horse were continually advancing. A creeping sense of age faintly stirred within him.

Before He Yiming, he truly felt the weight of his years. A fierce roar erupted from behind them, and as the sound spread, the entire world seemed to tremble in its wake.

The awe-inspiring might unleashed when the Divine Dao Blood Condensation practitioner absorbed the heaven and earth energy had already been terrifying. But the power manifesting at this moment was unprecedented in its strength.

The thunderous booming continued incessantly, sounding like a barrage of exploding firecrackers. The surrounding energy of heaven and earth descended into chaos, a force so volatile that even He Yiming could not hope to control it.

Mid-air, Bing Xiaotian and the others cried out in alarm and simultaneously dove back down. Though the light of their Divine Weapons still shone brilliantly, it flickered erratically, appearing ready to vanish at any moment.

Affected by the drastic upheaval of the world’s energy, even the Divine Weapon light they had cultivated struggled to exert its proper might. The six powerful peak Human Dao experts landed heavily, but they wasted no time pausing; they immediately resumed their desperate flight forward.

It was only then they truly envied He Yiming and the Qilin Sacred Master. Had they possessed such a swift, top-tier sacred beast alongside them, they would not be reduced to such a sorry spectacle.

A dark silhouette clearly outpaced the others, leaving Bing Xiaotian and the rest behind by a significant margin after only a few bounds. He Yiming and the Qilin Sacred Master exchanged a glance, noting the wariness in the other’s eyes.

Ji Mofan Shu’s movement technique was indeed supreme among humans; even He Yiming felt inferior in that regard. Of course, if He Yiming had been riding White Horse Thunder, the straight-line sprint would have been far beyond Ji Mofan Shu’s reach.

“Crack-crackle…” The sound of thunder and lightning echoed from the distance. The immense power of the world rushed through the area like a wild, untamed horse.

A shadowy, shifting black zone abruptly materialized before their eyes; after trembling a few times, this blackness began to expand rapidly. The darkness spread with astonishing speed, sweeping up everything in its path.

This void seemed to draw everything in without expelling anything, intent on grinding all nearby existence into dust. He Yiming and the Qilin Sacred Master had already fled a considerable distance, but upon witnessing this, their mounts automatically bolted further away.

The Qilin Beast and White Horse Thunder, both top-tier sacred beasts possessing Divine Beast lineage, possessed sensory abilities far superior to ordinary peak Human Dao experts. Seeing the earth-shattering scene, the hair on their bodies stood rigid from the intense stimulus, causing them to gallop side-by-side into the distance like two massive hedgehogs.

As descendants of Divine Beasts, they certainly possessed immense confidence and pride, but this did not render them fools. When faced with a power clearly beyond mortal resistance, their speed and determination to flee surpassed that of He Yiming and the others.

A full fifteen minutes passed before they finally stopped. This time, they were even farther from the site of the distant celestial event; even straining their eyes, they could not grasp the full scope of what was occurring.

After a long moment, a dark figure suddenly appeared: Ji Mofan Shu, who paused beside them. However, the old assassin’s face was now ashen, and sweat beaded heavily on his brow.

Although the preceding dash had been incredibly fast, it was clearly a unique method of compressing latent potential, resulting in Ji Mofan Shu’s current state. Moments later, Bing Xiaotian and the other four finally caught up, one right behind the other, their expressions no less grim than Ji Mofan Shu’s.

During the massive celestial anomaly, they had exerted every ounce of strength to escape the mysterious zone and avoid being consumed by the blackness. Any technique that could accelerate their speed, regardless of its side effects, had been deployed without hesitation.

After all, being swallowed by that inscrutable black void guaranteed an outcome too dreadful to contemplate. Once stable, the group exchanged glances, inevitably offering weak, wry smiles.

They had just beaten back the Saint Beast Kings, yet before they could even catch their breath, the sudden celestial upheaval forced them into a desperate retreat. “What in the world is happening?” Liu Changju panted.

“There were no strong or unique precursors before the Ice Island appeared; why were there none now?” He Yiming gazed into the distance, offering a bitter smile. “Brother Liu, do you not consider this portent sufficiently strong and unique?” The sudden explosion of heaven and earth energy was even more powerful and unbelievable than the might unleashed by the Divine Dao Blood Condensation practitioner.

Had the intensity of this eruption been slightly greater, perhaps only White Horse Thunder and the Qilin Beast would have managed to escape intact. Liu Changju shook his head.

“Brother He, you may not know. Ancient records state that before the Ice Island appeared in past ages, the increase in the energy of heaven and earth was a gradual process, leaving ample time for departure.

Such a sudden, explosive manifestation has never been recorded by our predecessors.” He Yiming finally understood and turned his gaze toward Bing Xiaotian and the others. Taking a long breath, Bing Xiaotian offered a strained smile.

“Perhaps this is related to the power of heaven and earth unleashed by Brother He’s puppet.” Everyone exchanged glances, silently concurring with this assessment. The energy of this place was already impossibly dense.

Once drawn in, compressed, and released, it instantly triggered a violent chain reaction, ultimately hastening the appearance of the Ice Island. After all, this was the first time in five millennia since the disappearance of the Divine Dao that someone had unleashed true might of heaven and earth; the resulting consequences were naturally unknown to all.

Di Shitian’s expression suddenly changed. “Brother He, where is your puppet now?” Everyone started, their expressions growing strangely complex.

When the power of heaven and earth fully erupted, each person was barely looking out for themselves, certainly not worrying about a mere puppet. Now that they had escaped danger, the puppet that struck fear into everyone’s hearts came to mind.

But a question lingered in all their minds: Would that puppet, programmed only for obedience, proactively flee the danger zone? He Yiming’s gaze fixed on the area of blackness, which was gradually subsiding and no longer expanding.

His voice was remarkably calm. “The puppet is still there in the sky; it did not descend.” Bing Xiaotian frowned.

“Can it still fly above that chaotic zone?” The turbulence of the heaven and earth energy had reached an unbelievable degree, impacting even the Divine Weapon light within their bodies so much that they could no longer sustain it. And that was merely the outer shockwave; the conditions high above the black zone could only be imagined.

If He Yiming’s puppet could still fly in such an environment, then the strength possessed by this puppet was truly terrifying. He Yiming hesitated, his own heart filled with worry.

With a thought, he immediately sent a command back to his consciousness within his mind domain. Instantly, his order received an accurate response.

Suddenly, the high sky in the distance lit up, and two figures flew toward them from above the black zone. Bing Xiaotian and the others stared, dumbfounded, at the approaching figures, a tinge of bitterness rising in their hearts.

So, even under these conditions, some individuals could still fly freely—and there was more than one such person. He Yiming’s brow furrowed slightly.

Bai Lingba and the Divine Dao Blood Condensation practitioner had not concealed their presence on this return. Such an oversight was entirely uncharacteristic of Bai Lingba.

In an instant, he understood: this immense celestial upheaval must have affected Bai Lingba as well; at the very least, whatever means he used for invisibility had failed in this location. Just as the two were about to arrive, a sound exploded again from the distance, and the area of blackness began to writhe and shake once more.

Ps: Five chapters again today. It’s the third; if any of you still have Monthly Tickets, please cast your precious ones now.

White Crane urgently needs support, thank you…