Chapter 290: Collapse

Ji Chen followed her finger and looked; in the light ahead, he could vaguely see a huge crack, from which black gas continuously surged out, looking extremely dangerous.

"Th-this... what's going on?" Ji Chen frowned, feeling a vague sense of foreboding in his heart.

"Never mind that, let's get out of here first!" Ceng Yue said firmly, pulling Ji Chen's arm and continuing to run forward.

The ground beneath their feet kept cracking, and the two had to keep jumping to avoid it.

Ceng Yue's ankle almost twisted in one jump, but she gritted her teeth and persisted, continuing to run after Ji Chen.

"Boom!" Another huge rock fell from the sky; Ceng Yue screamed in terror, almost being hit.

Ji Chen pulled her to the side like lightning, and the two sprinted along the edge of the boulder.

"We can't stop!" Ji Chen said loudly, his eyes full of determination. "We must find the exit!"

The two continued to run; the ground beneath their feet became increasingly unstable, and surrounding boulders kept falling; they could only look for space to survive in the narrow gaps.

Ceng Yue's face was covered in sweat, her breathing rapid, but her eyes still revealed an unyielding light.

"Quick!" Ji Chen pulled hard, pushing Ceng Yue toward the light ahead. "That's the exit!"

Ceng Yue took a deep breath and leaped with all her might; Ji Chen followed closely behind, and the two rushed into the light simultaneously.

"We will definitely... be able to..." Ceng Yue's voice echoed in the air, gradually disappearing into the light.

"Damn!" Ji Chen cursed, watching as a boulder, accompanied by a whistling wind, was about to smash him and Ceng Yue into meat paste.

At the critical moment, an inexplicable power surged within him; he raised his hands violently, and the boulder seemed to be pulled by some invisible force, instantly turning into a ball of light and merging into his body.

Immediately after, a pale blue energy barrier unfolded in front of him, steadily blocking other falling debris.

"Th-this is?" Ceng Yue looked at the suddenly appearing barrier with slight surprise.

Ji Chen himself was also stunned for a moment, but at this moment, he quickly adjusted his state, a confident arc curling at the corner of his mouth, and he smiled roguishly: "Small matter, this level of collapse can't stump me, Ji!" He patted his chest, as if he had just done something trivial.

However, before he could finish showing off, the scene before him made his smile freeze.

In front of them, a bottomless rift lay across their path, like a hideous scar, tearing the entire space apart.

Inside the rift, black airflow surged, emitting heart-palpitating roars.

"H-how do we get across this?" Ji Chen's brows locked tightly; the mysterious confidence from just now was instantly replaced by anxiety.

He tried to walk a few steps toward the edge of the rift; the ground beneath his feet was still shaking constantly, and gravel kept rolling down, making a harsh "clattering" sound that was terrifying. He looked at the bottomless rift, and a chill rose from the bottom of his heart.

"Damn it, if only I had a flight skill, wouldn't it be great to just fly over?" Ji Chen complained in his heart, his eyes scanning the surroundings eagerly, hoping to find some way to cross this rift.

But he looked around, and besides the constantly collapsing ground and falling boulders, there was no other way out.

He took a deep breath, trying to calm himself down, but the sweat beads seeping from his forehead still exposed his inner tension.

This doomsday-like scene, and the rift before him that felt like a hellish abyss, were all challenging his psychological limit.

Seeing the grave expression on Ji Chen's face, a trace of worry appeared in Ceng Yue's eyes.

She leaned gently against Ji Chen's side and said faintly: "I believe in you."

Ceng Yue's voice was very light, but it was like a warm current, injected into Ji Chen's anxious heart.

He turned his head to look at the woman beside him; that ice-cold face that never changed for ten thousand years now actually carried a trace of imperceptible tenderness.

This sudden trust warmed Ji Chen's heart, and a sense of heroism arose spontaneously.

"Don't worry, even if the sky falls, I, Ji, will hold it up!" He patted his chest heroically, his tone full of confidence.

However, before he could finish speaking, groups of black mist suddenly surged from the rift, mixed with hair-raising roars.

Immediately after, monsters shaped like spiders but with bat wings crawled out of the rift; their eyes flashed with scarlet light, and their sharp claws waved in the air, making a teeth-grinding friction sound.

"Damn, what the hell is that!" Ji Chen couldn't help but curse, instantly condensing a ball of flame in his hand and throwing it toward the monster closest to him.

The flame was like a fire dragon, instantly swallowing the monster, making a "sizzling" sound.

However, more monsters surged from the rift; they were dense, like a tide, rushing toward Ji Chen and Ceng Yue.

"These guys are afraid of fire!" Ceng Yue observed calmly, her tone still indifferent, but the ice blades in her hands slashed mercilessly at the monsters one by one.

Ji Chen also discovered this; he no longer held back his strength, his hands waving continuously, and balls of flame rained down on the monster group like a meteor shower.

Wherever the flames passed, the monsters turned into ashes, and a burnt smell permeated the air.

However, the number of these monsters was simply too high, and they were fearless; even when burned by the flames, they still rushed up one after another.

Ji Chen and Ceng Yue stood back-to-back, struggling to resist the monsters' attacks, but the surrounding air vibrated due to the battle, and their physical strength was gradually exhausted.

"This won't work!" Ji Chen gasped, feeling his supernatural ability was about to dry up. "Must think of a way!" He suddenly compressed the flame in his hand into a high-temperature fireball and threw it toward the densest area of monsters.

"Boom!" With a loud noise, the fireball exploded, forming a sea of fire, swallowing all the surrounding monsters.

The shockwave of the explosion pushed Ji Chen and Ceng Yue back a few steps; they took the opportunity to pull away, finally getting a chance to catch their breath.

"Run!" Ji Chen pulled Ceng Yue's hand and ran toward the edge of the rift.

However, at this moment, the ground shook violently again, the rift became wider, and more monsters surged from the rift; their retreat was completely sealed off.

"It seems... only..." Ji Chen looked into the distance, a trace of determination flashing in his eyes... ===== CHAPTER 291 =====