Chapter 129: Si Jin Detonated His Spiritual Power
"ROAR!"
A deafening roar suddenly erupted from the direction of the riverbed!
The sound was sharp and piercing, laced with a kind of terrifying spiritual pressure that instantly crossed several kilometers.
Everyone’s expression changed.
"An A-level pollutant!" Ma Yu’s face went pale as he whipped his head toward the riverbed. "There was an A-level pollutant hiding there this whole time!"
Guo Kai’s body went rigid.
He took a step forward.
It was an instinctive move, the posture of someone about to charge.
But he forced himself to a dead stop.
Yun Sheng noticed his fists were clenched tightly, his knuckles white, and the veins on his neck were throbbing.
But he didn’t move.
"Brother Guo..." Cheng Nian muttered quietly. "Does he want to go check it out?"
Ma Yu glanced at Guo Kai and sighed, lowering his voice to speak to the trainees. "Your Brother Guo has been stuck at the peak of B-level for almost three years. He’s been hoping to find a powerful A-level pollutant and fight it to the death. He thinks it might be what he needs to break through his plateau."
They all exchanged glances.
"So now he..."
"Now?" Ma Yu gave a wry smile and adjusted his glasses. "Now, he has to watch over you all. We’re on a mission, and it’s his duty. No matter how much he wants to fight, he has to hold back."
Cheng Nian blinked, suddenly feeling a little touched.
Ma Yu glanced at her and added, "Besides..."
"Besides what?"
Cheng Nian’s eyes lit up. She could smell gossip in the air.
A smile played on Ma Yu’s lips. "And your Brother Guo doesn’t actually hate Dark Sentinels as much as you’d think. He thinks differently than most people. He believes a Sentinel is a Sentinel, no matter their alignment. As long as they stay true to themselves, they’re a good soldier. A moment ago, if he wasn’t here protecting you all, he probably would have..."
He paused, his gaze drifting toward the riverbed.
"He probably would have gone to help that Dark Sentinel."
Yun Sheng was stunned.
She looked at Guo Kai’s back.
That silent, stern, by-the-book man was now staring intently toward the riverbed, his gaze churning with emotions she couldn’t decipher.
’Longing, restraint, and a hint of... admiration?’
From the direction of the riverbed, the roar was followed by another series of violent rumbles.
The battle raged on.
All eyes turned toward the hills that blocked their view. Though they couldn’t see a thing, the faint waves of power that reached them made everyone’s expression darken.
"That A-level... seems stronger than we imagined," Zhou Ying said softly, her brow furrowed.
He Yi, who rarely spoke, asked in a heavy voice, "That Dark Sentinel... can he win?"
No one answered.
Cheng Nian instinctively leaned closer to Yun Sheng. "He... should be able to, right?" she whispered. "He was cutting down those B-levels like they were nothing."
Li Wen nodded in agreement. "Yeah, yeah, he’s so strong. He’ll definitely be fine."
But their voices were laced with uncertainty.
The difference between A-level and B-level was like heaven and earth.
Besides, there was clearly something wrong with the Dark Sentinel’s condition.
Yun Sheng didn’t speak.
She just stared intently toward the riverbed, her knuckles white from clenching her fists.
She could feel something trembling deep within her spiritual landscape.
It was Si Jin’s power within her spiritual landscape, and it was responding to something.
’It’s very dangerous over there.’
Guo Kai suddenly spoke up. "Ma Yu, still no luck contacting the camp?"
Ma Yu immediately picked up his communicator and tried it a few times, his expression growing darker with each attempt.
"The signal’s still being jammed. I can’t get through."
"Damn it," Guo Kai cursed under his breath.
The rumbling from the riverbed grew more frequent and more violent.
The dying shrieks of the pollutant, the thunderous crash of collapsing rock, and the heart-stopping waves of energy all wove together into a terrifying symphony.
Suddenly, a wave of power more than ten times stronger than before swept out from the riverbed like a tsunami!
"This is..." Ma Yu’s face was ashen. He took a step back. "S-Class! That’s definitely S-Class!"
In the direction of the riverbed, the energy fluctuations surged wildly. The sky was cast in an eerie grey-black, and the clouds churned as if a great beast were tearing them apart from within.
Just then, an even more violent shockwave tore through the air!
"Get down!" Guo Kai roared.
Before anyone could react, the shockwave threw them to the ground.
Debris rained down, and dust blotted out the sky. Their ears were filled with nothing but roaring and whistling.
Yun Sheng lay on the ground, tightly protecting her head, feeling like the whole world was collapsing.
After what felt like seconds or maybe minutes, the blast finally began to subside.
She struggled to raise her head and look towards the riverbed.
Just then, a black pillar of energy shot up into the sky from there!
Even from kilometers away, they could feel the suffocating pressure, as if an invisible hand were squeezing the breath from their lungs.
Everyone instinctively took a step back.
"What is this power..." Ma Yu mumbled, not even noticing that the tablet in his hand had slipped and fallen to the ground.
Guo Kai’s pupils contracted sharply. "The Dark Sentinel... Did he just detonate his own spiritual power?!"
Yun Sheng’s heart suddenly clenched.
Detonating one’s spiritual power was a Sentinel’s last resort. At best, it meant permanent damage to one’s spiritual landscape. At worst, it meant instant death.
’Si Jin!’
She lunged forward, but Li Wen grabbed her arm, holding her back.
"Yun Sheng! Where are you going!"
"I..."
Yun Sheng bit her lip until it bled.
Just then, the black pillar of light shooting into the sky suddenly began to contract.
The next second—
"BOOM!!!"
An earth-shattering explosion rocked the world, as if the sky were falling.
The shockwave slammed into them again, like a physical, giant hammer!
This time they were prepared, hugging the ground for dear life, but they were still sent tumbling over and over.
Debris flew like cannonballs. A few large pieces slammed into the barrier Guo Kai had raised, and it instantly shattered.
When the smoke and dust cleared a little, the direction of the riverbed fell into a deathly silence.
There were no more roars.
No more sounds of battle.
Even the heart-stopping waves of energy had vanished completely.
All that remained was the mournful cry of the wind sweeping across the wilderness.
Everyone held their breath.
"Is it... over?" Cheng Nian asked, her voice trembling.
No one could answer.
Yun Sheng’s heart felt like it was being squeezed tightly by an invisible hand, hurting so much she could barely breathe.
She scrambled to her feet, but before she could take a single step, Li Wen grabbed her arm, holding her fast.
"It’s gone quiet over there, but we still don’t know what’s going on... Yun Sheng, we have to wait. If we go now, with our level of strength, we’d just be throwing our lives away."
She’d long suspected that Yun Sheng’s feelings for the Dark Sentinel were... different. She hadn’t said anything with the others around, but now, seeing Yun Sheng about to rush over so recklessly, she had to stop her.
Yun Sheng bit down on her lip, breaking the newly formed scab and drawing fresh beads of blood.
Of course she knew they were right.
’But when I think about Si Jin...’
’How can I possibly just wait here?’