In the end, the Earth Giant that stood a kilometer away from the group failed to collapse onto the ground.
After lurching around for a few breaths, the creature of dirt and stone regained its balance with ease, its malevolent glare disguised by the dense shroud of dust.
“Lord Shen… this…”
Tang Shiqi’s voice cracked with emotion as he gazed towards Shen Haoren with immense respect, his countenance displaying its youthful innocence and awe.
The youth’s heart had been sufficiently impressed by the display of strength, especially for one who was disadvantaged by a full realm of cultivation against his adversary.
Other than a pale countenance and slightly labored breathing, the middle-aged man appeared to be relatively normal after unleashing an attack of such scale.
Shen Haoren tightened his grip on the war hammer once again, his expression grim as his eyes remained fixated onto the distant figure of the giant.
Though his countenance was solemn and courageous, the middle-aged man wished for nothing more than to flee back home and hide behind the impressive figure of his Second Elder Sister.
“The strike formed a decently sized hole, but it wasn’t able to pry the boulder away…”
The middle-aged man’s sigh that was suffused with labored emotions was accompanied by the faint exhale of breath from a young girl.
An Fei flicked the softened soil with her fingers, her lips twitching in bemusement as the pair of scarlet irises inadvertently flickered over onto the mighty impression of the double-headed war hammer.
…a linear railgun without any supports?
Ping!
As the young girl mused in her heart with a hint of interest and nonchalance, the middle-aged man withdrew another silver coin embossed with the stamp of Great Yong, flicking it into the air with a disheartened expression.
Shen Haoren dug his heels into the tortured earth as he dragged the war hammer into another rotation, his knees bending and relaxing through instinct to level the center of momentum to form a smooth ascending spiral.
The hammer swung around his body at a rapid speed, and his vision blurred, leaving nothing but a dust-enshrouded environment with the towering figure of earth and stone…
Teng!
When the hammer head collided against the surface of the silver coin, An Fei’s pupils abruptly dilated, her vision locked onto the scene of Shen Haoren’s attack.
The young girl extended forth a sliver of spiritual essence to probe the event at an increased clarity, abusing the disruptive mechanics of the spiritual essence derived from the Sanctum colliding with that of the mortal world.
The golden hammer smashed the soft silver coin into a small, compressed ball that was a hundredth of its original volume.
The integrity of the coin was compromised by the sheer kinetic force behind the blow, but the magical event that caused the prior phenomenon was about to occur next.
A thin tremor of electricity raced across the golden surface, amassing at the tip of the hammer head until the electricity formed a plate of dazzling blue.
The electric plate pulsed thrice as the spiritual essence roiling inside Tang Shiqi’s body commanded the hammer to expel the coiled lightning resting on its surface; tendrils of electricity leapt forth with the vigor and hunger of a pack of starved dire wolves, slamming into the ball of compressed silver with a tremendous might.
The lightning coalesced into the ball at a uniform and swift pace; the silver ball increased in heat until it was glowing scarlet and barely able to maintain its solid structure- An Fei could faintly see the shadow of an orange circular diagram stretched over the surface of the sphere…
Boom!
The silver coin transformed into a kinetic mass that remained underneath the speed barrier, the grey streak of light burying itself just slightly left of its predecessor’s original target.
Following the diminished puff of shattered stone colliding against the earth, an enraged howl echoed throughout the empty plains as the Earth Giant successfully fell onto its left knee.
The tower of earth and stone trembled with anger and humiliation as it glared at the small gathering of humans that stood a kilometer before it.
The striking aura of human-oriented spiritual essence caught its attention, and the fierce creature’s howls tore the clouds apart in their rampage.
“What is it doing…?”
An Fei frowned as she narrowed her eyes into the direction of the Earth Giant, the spiritual essence infused into her vision to pierce through the dense fog of dust and loosened sediment.
The young girl’s gaze abruptly became severe, and her throat exploded with a harsh cry.
“Dodge!”
Unfortunately, her companions could only gaze at her with a confused expression, their countenances devoid with realization.
Before the well-experienced Shen Haoren could furrow his brow to contemplate regarding the young girl’s unexpected action, the pair of earthen palms had finished their duty.
ROAR!
The earth was wrenched from its original location, gathered into a large pile, before compressed into a perfect sphere with the diameter of three meters.
Behind the shroud of dust, sediment, and powdered dreams, the ball that decimated life rushed forward in a movement not unlike Shen Haoren’s technique that resembled a quasi-railgun.
The ball of compacted earth hurtled through the air with an immense velocity, to the extent that the air molecules itself warped around the surface of the sphere. The people on the ground were only aware of the shriek of a projectile headed towards their direction, but could not discern the exact properties and purpose.
Shua!
A snow lotus petal transformed into a streak of grey light as it pierced through the cannonball of earth, continuing to rush towards the Earth Giant’s torso.
The handle-less sword’s blade gleamed with a dense aura of scarlet light, fortunately masked by the terror of the earthen cannonball.
Nonetheless, though the addition of a hole prevented the stability of the projectile as well as the phenomenon of optical distortion, its overall trajectory as well as its striking impulse was not affected by a considerable degree.
The sphere of earth slammed into the ground a few meters behind Shen Haoren’s children, the sheer shockwave causing everyone to fall onto the ground with a pained grunt.
As he fell, Tang Shiqi’s eyes couldn’t help but widen in surprise, his heart overloaded with shock.
The youth’s mind trembled at the shock as he tracked the young girl’s bizarre movements, the image in his heart traced with another layer of mystery.
Unlike him, unlike the children and the young woman, unlike even Lord Shen himself who possessed the highest attainment in the path of cultivation at the peak of the Spirit Building Realm, the young girl to his right was the only person who did not fall.
She did not fall, nor was her balance touched in any form.
The young girl didn’t even stumble, her body lapsing into a series of movements that agilely traversed the safe locations of the mutilated and desecrated earth from the impact.
Arms extended, the flowing sleeves of the hanfu teasing at the outline of an elegant dance, An Fei skirted around the storm of distorted momentum as though she was walking on solid ground.
Her limbs gently pried at the layers of the shockwave of kinetic force that raked across her body, prompting her body to execute a series of counterclockwise full moon sweeps.
Her body agilely twisted and pivoted to avoid the ravage of distorted momentum, transforming her movements into an elegant sword dance that relied on wide sweeping motions.
The delicate hands that lacked an elegantly forged jian trailed the fingers at a loose angle, the right palm facing the sky, the left gazing towards the ground.
Bending her left knee to angle her center of gravity towards the ground at a diagonal angle, An Fei’s body smoothly transitioned into a full moon sweep towards the counterclockwise direction.
The left foot took the first step, the body twisting towards the left with the left heel as the fulcrum.
Her body angled towards the ground at a slight angle, the young girl swapped the positions of her hands at the half-turn, with her right palm facing the ground and the left facing the sky.
The instant her right foot touched the ground to signal the completion of the reverse full moon sweep, An Fei immediately enacted a proper full moon turn, the trailing sleeves of her dress transforming into rivers of starry light suffused with an unfathomable intention.
Like this, the young girl swiftly alternated between full moon sweeps oriented in the clockwise and counterclockwise directions, her body steadily riding past the deadly wave of the kinetic shockwave.
When her arms finally dropped to her sides, the young girl’s countenance displayed a proud, knowing smile, the scarlet irises glimmering with a cold excitement.
The steel sword without a handle had found its target.
