“Ugh—!”

Pei Du let out a suppressed roar! The same icy, soul-shattering pain exploded in the core of his consciousness! It was like billions of red-hot steel needles piercing a star core simultaneously! However, at the moment this excruciating pain struck, the icy, final star core within his chest seemed to be injected with some kind of catalyst. Far from freezing, it was stimulated by the excruciating pain and let out a violent roar like a dying beast!

boom--!!!

A dark, even more violent and profound force than before, mixed with the immense vitality transmitted by the thorn mark, erupted with a bang, centered around Pei Du, like ignited dark matter! The pitch-black flames instantly expanded, forming a destructive barrier laced with golden thorn patterns, firmly protecting him and Xu Shuangyao in his arms!

The vicious ultra-low frequency shock wave slammed into the fusion barrier!

Sizzle! Sizzle!

Like boiling oil poured on snow! The shockwave, imbued with icy logic, reacted violently upon encountering the combined power of final annihilation and life purification! Its energy was forcibly disrupted, distorted, and annihilated! The vicious frequency directed at the Soul Mark, faced with the higher-dimensional harmonizing power of the Thorn Mark, seemed to have met its nemesis and was swiftly disintegrated!

What’s even more unexpected is!

As the thorny mark's light disintegrated the shockwave, it seemed to have captured a certain "frequency" at its source! The lines of the mark flickered violently, and a powerful counterattack wave, a mixture of the two people's pain, anger, and protective will, followed the trajectory of the shockwave, like a thorny vine being touched, fiercely biting back!

The target is directly pointed at the hidden blue light spot in the faceted head of the Hunter's wreckage that just released the shock wave!

puff!

There was a slight sound, like a bubble being popped.

Deep within the faceted structure of the Hunter's head, the faint blue light exploded and extinguished instantly, as if struck by an invisible hammer! Along with the extremely hidden shockwave generator within it, it was reduced to dust!

The source of the shock wave was completely extinguished by the backlash of the Thorn Brand!

The source of the shockwave was extinguished by the backlash of the Thorn Brand, and the soul-wrenching pain quickly subsided like the receding tide. However, the greater crisis was not over!

The forcibly ripped microscopic rift in the Hunter's chest, now deprived of the shockwave's interference (perhaps the shockwave itself was a factor in maintaining its temporary stability), became even more violent and unstable! The edges of the rift twisted, tore, and expanded madly! The gushing spatial turbulence was like billions of uncontrolled razors, frantically slicing and pulverizing everything around it—the Hunter's metal wreckage, the shattered vines, the charred ground—before swallowing it into the pale expanse of nothingness! The terrifying suction surged exponentially!

Pei Du tightly embraced the semi-conscious Xu Shuangyao. His dark gold-patterned body resembled a lone boat on a raging sea. The Doomsday Barrier, laced with thorny golden patterns, swayed violently under the raging spatial turbulence, its surface rippled violently, and groaned under the weight! The barrier's light dimmed at a visible speed! Each impact of the turbulent currents was like a heavy hammer striking Pei Du's soul, causing his molten-gold pupils to flicker.

"We must... turn it off..." Xu Shuangyao's weak voice echoed through Pei Du's consciousness, carrying the aftermath of the excruciating pain of a wounded soul. She struggled to open her eyes, their clear depths now bloodshot. The golden flame between her brows dimmed like a candle in the wind, but her resolve to protect the planet's will remained undimmed. She attempted to mobilize the earth's energy, but the tremors in her soul caused her concentrated strength to scatter like sand, and the golden light lingering on her fingertips was so faint it was almost invisible.

A flicker of determination flashed in Pei Du's eyes. Shut it down? How easy! This rift wasn't formed naturally; it was a spatial wound forcibly torn apart by that damned stalker using his own remains and some forbidden energy! It was extremely unstable and could spiral out of control at any moment, dragging this area and even the wider region into the abyss of spatial turbulence! Conventional methods simply couldn't close it before it erupted completely!

The only way... is the most violent means! Use the more powerful force of the End, which can annihilate space, to forcibly erase this fragile rift node...completely!

But this would take time! He needed to accumulate strength! He needed to unleash the ultimate power of the Eternal Star Core without reservation! And right now, most of his energy was going into maintaining the fusion barrier that protected them! If he were distracted from accumulating strength, the barrier would inevitably collapse, and the weakened Xu Shuangyao would be instantly torn apart by the spatial turbulence!

Dilemma! A fatal choice!

"Hold on... give me... three breaths!" Pei Du's deep voice boomed through Xu Shuangyao's consciousness, carrying an unquestionable command and a hint of... almost pleading determination. His molten-gold eyes fixed intently on the core of the madly expanding spatial rift. His right hand, covered in dark gold patterns, slowly moved away from Xu Shuangyao's waist, fingers spread, palm facing the rift! The pitch-black power of the end began to frantically compress and condense in his palm, emitting a heart-pounding wave of annihilation! He was forcibly gathering power!

The price was that the light of the fusion barrier protecting the two of them dimmed by another three points! More spatial turbulence, like sharks smelling blood, madly attacked the crumbling barrier!

Xu Shuangyao gazed at Pei Du's resolute profile, feeling the terrifying tearing force emanating from the surrounding space, and the waves of debilitating pain emanating from the soul brand within her body. Three breaths... normally a fleeting moment, but now it felt like an eternity! She looked at the condensed, all-destructive black energy ball in Pei Du's palm, then at the pale, all-consuming chasm...

This chapter is not over yet, please click on the next page to continue reading!