Chapter 398 265: Feiying in Action

BOOM!

When the earthquake struck, the entire world was enveloped in a deafening roar, like the clap of thunder.

Mountains crumbled and lakes boiled. A mixture of shattered spray and stone filled the air, falling like a murky rain. It was like the end of the world.

Swaths of forest collapsed. Countless steep cliffs were snapped in half, their cross-sections shockingly exposed like broken bones.

Even flat ground was not spared. Enormous sinkholes continuously formed—the result of collapsing underground caverns and abandoned mine shafts.

On the North Slope Plain of the Luojin Mountain Range, Shen Chuqing felt the ground give way beneath her. The solid earth from a second ago had instantly become a gaping, abyssal hole that seemed intent on swallowing her whole.

Just as she was about to fall, Gou Yu's quick reflexes kicked in. He grabbed her arm and yanked her back onto solid ground.

"Be careful! Don't lose focus!" Gou Yu yelled, pulling Shen Chuqing along as they swiftly dodged the dangers around them.

Shen Chuqing followed close behind.

Sinkholes, fallen trees, shattered rocks, even panicked Pet Beasts... he always managed to lead her away from them. 'This shame of the Vice Alliance Leader, a man with such a low-key presence, feels surprisingly dependable right now.'

The main tremor arrived, and the earth began to shake violently.

Gou Yu led Shen Chuqing to a flat, solid spot and had them lie flat on the ground.

"Where did Su Zhi go? What's he going to do!" Shen Chuqing looked toward the mountain range behind them, her eyes filled with worry.

"He'll be fine! Trust him!"

Gou Yu shouted, "Just focus on protecting yourself!"

For many people, under these circumstances, even "protecting yourself" had become a luxury.

The shell-like shock absorption system had indeed delayed the earthquake's arrival, and Yu Bao's efforts had bought precious time, significantly weakening what would have been a cataclysmic, disaster-level earthquake.

Even so, it was still a terrifyingly powerful earthquake.

Celestial Paradise had highly advanced earthquake shelters, but there were still people who didn't make it inside in time.

Such is the nature of natural disasters. Humanity can never be fully prepared, nor can it ever truly resist them.

Although the main buildings in the Celestial Paradise City District had been earthquake-proofed, such engineering measures had their limits. Moreover, in the over-urbanized Celestial Paradise City, it was a huge question mark whether every building had truly been constructed to seismic standards from start to finish.

And in the face of a major earthquake of magnitude seven or higher, buildings constructed to ordinary seismic standards were just as vulnerable.

The earthquake reached the city district.

The ordinary residential buildings and shanty towns on the outskirts were the first to disintegrate into rubble. A few residents who had gambled on their luck were buried on the spot, unable to even let out a scream.

The remaining residents panicked, fleeing in terror toward open ground, only to be thrown about by the violent tremors, falling every which way.

A girl at the back of the crowd tragically fell onto a piece of rebar. It pierced straight through her abdomen. Her heart-wrenching cries instantly echoed through the residential area before quickly growing faint.

A man came over to help, but he suddenly stiffened. The girl felt a hot liquid splash onto her face and looked up in a daze. The man's head had been completely sheared off by a flying piece of sheet metal. His body remained standing woodenly in place, blood gushing from the stump of his neck...

No one else stopped. The mournful wails and panicked shouts were soon swallowed by the roar of the earthquake.

The earthquake quickly spread from the city's outskirts to its inner districts.

Most buildings withstood the first wave of tremors, but many shoddily constructed ones collapsed, wrecking the already complex road network beyond recognition.

Chain reactions occurred in many places: buildings that failed to withstand the quake collapsed, taking down some of the compliant, up-to-code buildings with them.

Residents who hadn't made it to the shelters could only leave their fate to the heavens, praying that the places they took cover wouldn't be swallowed by the disaster...

An unknown amount of time passed before the main tremor finally subsided.

The city was already unrecognizable. Intact buildings stood beside collapsed ones, and the bodies of survivors and victims alike were huddled in the same corners.

When the deafening roar of the quake faded, the sounds of wailing and crying finally became audible.

The once-bustling Celestial Paradise City District had been reduced to a field of ruins in just a few dozen minutes, filled with people terrified and fragile to their very core.

In the shanty town, the girl with the rebar through her abdomen had miraculously avoided further injury, but her struggles grew weaker and weaker from blood loss and organ damage.

The other survivors had already fled to a small, open square not far away. Almost no one noticed her, or if they did, they wouldn't risk their lives to rescue her.

But a skinny boy's eyes remained fixed in her direction. He hesitated several times, not daring to approach.

The girl's struggles gradually ceased, and her moans grew fainter.

The boy clenched his fists. Ignoring the protests of those around him, he sprinted to the girl's side amid the rubble, patting her cheeks to try and keep her conscious.

Suddenly, a grating CREAK sounded beside them. A partially collapsed, three-story residential building finally gave way, crashing down with a roar.

Terrified, the boy squeezed his eyes shut.

Even though he was terrified beyond measure, at the last moment, he spread his arms and shielded the girl with his body...

BANG!

...

Feeling a chill wash over him, the boy realized he wasn't hurt. He opened his eyes in astonishment.

Reflected in his vision were the blue-glowing eyes of the Extreme Ice Phoenix, its gaze gentle and steadfast.

Its broad wings, like an indestructible city wall, held back the tons of rubble, not wavering in the slightest.