Chapter 188: Devour and Give Back, A Desperate Flight

"Warning! Energy overload! Crystal structure stability dropping!" Zero's cold electronic voice carried a rare note of urgency. But she did not hesitate—the hovering remains of the control console abruptly swung around, and the few remaining energy ports lit up at once with a piercing ghostly-blue glow! A beam of energy, condensed to the extreme and carrying high-frequency destructive oscillation, shot toward the base of the cultivation pod Xiang Lingna had indicated, as precise as a scalpel!

At the same moment, Xiang Lingna's right arm erupted with unprecedented chaotic light! Streams of dark purple, emerald green, and milky white light spun and compressed wildly, condensing in her crystallized palm into a ball of energy that was extremely unstable and radiated waves of destruction! She clenched her teeth, her eyes filled with the resolve of one who had burned her bridges, and slammed this orb—imbued with newborn chaotic power and endless fury—hard against the thick reinforced glass outer wall of the cultivation pod!

Boom——!!!!

Two powerful strikes landed almost simultaneously!

Zero's energy beam sliced through the alloy structure at the base's connection point like a hot knife through butter! Xiang Lingna's chaotic energy orb slammed viciously into the glass wall! There was no explosion—only a teeth-grinding crunch, like glass being crushed under ten thousand tons of force!

Crack-crack-crack—bang!!!

The reinforced glass, sturdy enough to withstand heavy artillery, shattered explosively under the pincer attack of devastating energy from both inside and out, like fragile ice! Thick, dark-green viscous liquid, mixed with glass shards and broken dark-purple root tendrils, gushed out like floodwaters breaching a dam!

The tremendous impact hurled Xiang Lingna flying, slamming her into the cold metal bulkhead! Slime smeared all over her, and the stinging, fishy-sweet smell rushed straight into her nostrils. But she had no time for that—she struggled to raise her head and look.

The cultivation pod had shattered! Priestess Liyana's body poured out along with the flood of slime, hitting the cold floor with a heavy thud. Most of the root tendrils binding her had snapped, but the dark-purple crystals embedded in her forehead and chest remained stubbornly lodged, radiating an ominous glow. She was utterly still, like a broken doll.

"Priestess Liyana!" Xiang Lingna scrambled over on hands and knees and threw herself toward her.

Just then, the last guard, finally free of Sister Ai Li's entanglement, locked its crimson sensors onto the fallen Priestess Liyana! It leaped high, its energy blade trailing deadly purple light, stabbing straight toward Priestess Liyana's unguarded chest! Sister Ai Li's dagger was still far away—rescue was too late!

"No!" Xiang Lingna's eyes nearly split with rage! Without thinking, she instinctively threw herself on top of Priestess Liyana, meeting the fatal strike with her own back! At the same time, the crystal on her right arm lit up once more—not to attack, but to try to block!

Pshhh!

The cold energy blade drove viciously into Xiang Lingna's rear shoulder! Agony instantly swept through her whole body! Annihilation energy madly corroded her flesh and blood! But the expected through-and-through did not happen!

Hum——!!!

The dark-purple crystal on Xiang Lingna's right arm erupted with an unprecedented, almost greedy ghostly light! The annihilation energy contained in the blade that had pierced her body was being frantically drained and devoured by the crystal! The blade's glow dimmed at a speed visible to the naked eye! The guard's motion abruptly stalled, as if its system could not comprehend this phenomenon of "being devoured"!

"Gaaah!" Xiang Lingna roared in pain, and in the instant the guard stiffened, she swung her crystallized right arm around and smashed it viciously into the guard's sensor head!

Crack! Boom!

The crystal fist, imbued with Xiang Lingna's fury and chaotic power, combined with the guard's own weakness after its energy had been devoured, actually smashed its sensor head to pieces in a single blow! The guard convulsed and collapsed.

"Xiang Lingna!" Sister Ai Li finally rushed up and caught the swaying Xiang Lingna. Seeing the wound on her rear shoulder—deep enough to see bone—and the rapidly carbonizing, blackening flesh, a sharp ripple flashed through Sister Ai Li's cold eyes. She swiftly pulled a powerful hemostatic coagulant from her thigh, and jabbed it hard into the muscle near Xiang Lingna's wound.

The cold agent brought a faint numbness, temporarily suppressing the bone-corroding agony. Xiang Lingna's face was paper-white. After the crystal on her right arm had devoured the guard's energy, its glow had actually grown stronger—even creeping a few inches up her forearm—but that cold, violent will had also grown stronger, sending waves of heart-pounding dread through her.

"Go!" Sister Ai Li was concise. She slung the unconscious Priestess Liyana over her shoulder in one swift yet unusually careful motion, avoiding the embedded crystals. Zero's control console hovered above their heads: "Self-destruct countdown…120 seconds! Nearest evacuation route…front-left…maintenance shaft!"

The heavy alloy blast door had already fallen most of the way, leaving a gap less than half a meter high! Sister Ai Li, carrying Priestess Liyana, slipped through first like a lithe cheetah. Xiang Lingna clenched her teeth, endured the agony and dizziness, and followed close behind.

The blast door slammed shut behind them! Cutting off the piercing alarms and the impending destruction completely. But they were not out of danger. Before them was a massive vertical shaft plunging downward, bottomless, with only cold metal ladder rungs and thick energy conduits. From below came the muffled roar of the furnace core, like the heartbeat of some great beast, and gusts of searing air reeking of sulfur and corruption washed over them.

"Below…leads to…furnace…active substance circulation pool…" Zero's voice carried a Heavy and Solemn tone. "High temperature…strong corrosion…only…path to…lower level…ruins zone…"

The ruins zone? The withered Wang Ting ruins Sister Ai Li had mentioned earlier? Xiang Lingna's heart stirred, but now was not the time to think. The self-destruct countdown marched like the footsteps of death.

"Down!" Sister Ai Li did not hesitate for a moment. With Priestess Liyana slung over one shoulder, she grabbed the cold ladder rungs with her other hand and slid down like a nimble ape. Xiang Lingna drew a deep breath, her right-arm crystal gripping the rungs firmly, and ignoring the searing pain in her shoulder, she too climbed down rapidly.

The deeper they went, the higher the temperature rose. The air was thick with stinging acid mist, and visibility grew blurry. Far below, a vast pool roiling with dark-purple viscous bubbles could be faintly seen, radiating terrifying heat and corrosive energy. The shaft walls were covered in corroded pipes and abandoned maintenance platforms.

Just as they were halfway down, the roiling pool of active substance below suddenly boiled violently! Several enormous "hands," formed of viscous active matter, thrust up out of the pool surface, burning hot and fiercely corrosive, and grabbed viciously at the three descending figures! At the same time, the sound of dense climbing echoed from above the shaft! The corrupted pursuers had arrived!

Blocked ahead, pursuers behind! The shadow of self-destruction loomed! Xiang Lingna looked at the terrifying giant hands reaching up from below, then at the pursuers closing in from above, and feeling the chaotic power within her growing ever more violent from devouring annihilation energy, a cornered madness kindled in her eyes. The crystal's emission port on her right arm lit up once more with unstable chaotic light.