Chapter 76: Straight up exploded!

At first it went pretty smoothly; the disk steadily consumed energy, and the purplish-black light at the core faded considerably.

But just then, a violent recoil burst from inside the beacon, slamming hard along the disk into Zhang Jun's body!

"Ugh!" Zhang Jun squeezed out a muffled groan from his throat, his body shaking like sifting chaff, his hand almost jerked away.

Lin Xue instantly sensed something wrong; her Ice Soul Power surged out wildly, trying to suppress the rampant energy: "Zhang Jun! Hold on!"

"Damn! I can't suppress it!" Zhang Jun's teeth were about to break, his finger joints clenched white.

His body's Primordial Bloodline went completely berserk, mixing with the beacon's energy, as countless chaotic images flashed into his mind like lightning—

Lofty Mountain, twenty years ago.

Silver-white mist rose from the earth's fissure.

Four people in protective suits surrounded the rift, and one of them was, to his surprise, a young Lin Zhen.

Opposite the rift stood another man who looked almost identical to Lin Zhen—Lin Yan.

"Something's off, Zhen—this energy gate isn't like the ones we detected before!" Lin Yan's voice sounded tense.

Young Lin Zhen, however, wore a look of fanaticism: "This is purer energy! Yan! It's higher than we thought! It can solve all our problems!"

"No! There's something in this energy… like… like a parasite! I can feel it!" Lin Yan jerked back, "We have to shut it down—now!"

Lin Zhen's expression twisted strangely for a moment, a purple light flashing in his eyes: "Too late, brother. It's already chosen me."

He suddenly reached out and shoved Lin Yan hard!

He shoved Lin Yan straight into that energy gate!

"Zhen! You—"

The scene cut off abruptly.

Zhang Jun was violently yanked back to reality, gasping for breath.

Was that Lin Zhen's memory? Or did the Primordial Bloodline come with it?

No time to think!

The beacon's surface was turning red, its core area shaking violently.

"Uh-oh!" Lin Yan shouted as he rushed over, "The beacon's overloaded! Lin Zhen's tampering with it remotely!"

Lin Xue's face went pale, her hands and feet still pressed hard on the disk: "Just a little more! The energy flow's already reversing!"

"Too late! It's gonna blow!" Lin Yan, eyes red with panic, lunged to grab them, "Retreat! Get out now!"

The instant they let go, the beacon's core burst forth with a devouring white light!

A terrifying shockwave swept outward!

Instinctively, Zhang Jun threw himself over Lin Xue, shielding her beneath him, while channeling his whole body's Primordial Power to form a wavering purple barrier behind him.

"Boom——!"

He heard nothing in his ears except the explosion's deafening roar.

The whole cavern shook like it had gone mad, the rock walls cracking in spiderweb fissures, grindstone‑sized stones plummeting down like dumplings.

Lin Yan was flung straight by the shockwave, hitting the distant stone wall like a torn sack, letting out a muffled groan before falling still.

"Lin Yan!" Zhang Jun shouted, but more rubble rained down, instantly blocking the path to his side.

Zhang Jun shielded Lin Xue as he scrambled backward.

The cavern collapsed faster and faster, the exit completely sealed by several huge boulders.

They were trapped in a shrinking space, stone walls cracking on all sides, countless precarious boulders hanging overhead.

"Damn!" Zhang Jun muttered under his breath, scanning around in despair to find they were truly sealed in.

Lin Xue unleashed her Ice Soul Power, raising a thin ice shield above her head; pebbles striking it crackled, temporarily holding back the falling debris.

"This won't hold long!" she shouted.

Zhang Jun looked at her ashen face; the silver lines, from over‑expending energy, had crawled across half her neck and cheek, eerie yet fragile.

"How long can you hold up?"

Lin Xue was about to answer when a stronger jolt hit; the cavern ceiling rumbled down, several huge slabs slamming into the ice shield, cracks instantly spiderwebbing across its surface.

"Shit!" Zhang Jun gritted his teeth, grabbing Lin Xue's hand hard, "We've got nothing left to lose!"

"What are we betting on?"

"Resonance!" he panted, "Complete resonance! Just as Lin Yan said, if we fully blend our powers, we should be able to smash these rocks!"

Lin Xue blinked, then nodded firmly: "How do we do it?"

"How the hell should I know!" Zhang Jun yelled, "Just go by feel!"

A grating crack sounded from above—the ice shield couldn't hold!

Another grindstone‑sized stone came down with a whoosh.

Zhang Jun's head buzzed; no time to hesitate, he hauled Lin Xue into his arms, forehead pressed hard against hers.

Scorching skin met icy skin.

He could even feel her ragged breath blowing onto his face.

"Damn, whether it works or not, let's try!"

He shouted, shut his eyes, and sank all his thoughts into that surging purple energy inside him.

Almost at the same moment, a icy torrent surged from Lin Xue's side, crashing into his scorching energy.

There was no repulsion—instead, they clung together like magnets.

A strange resonance began.

Zhang Jun's chest‑borne ice crystal mark suddenly heated up, and the silver lines on Lin Xue's cheeks and neck flared bright.

The lights intertwined, tracing an unfathomable complex pattern.

The air between them twisted, purple and silver‑white intertwining and spinning, inflating an ever‑expanding spherical barrier.

This feeling… is damn weird.

Zhang Jun felt as if another person's entire being had been forcibly stuffed into his mind—not just images, but also sensations, smells, sounds, and even the subtlest emotional fluctuations.

Lin Xue's loneliness, her suspicion and confusion toward that "father" Lin Zhen, her determination when she joined the Action Team, and… the chaotic thoughts she had when looking at herself, thoughts she herself hadn't sorted out.

Like fragments, they smashed into his consciousness in a chaotic mess.

He also knew that his damn messed-up past, those thoughts he didn't want anyone to know, were now laid bare before Lin Xue without reservation.

This naked feeling made him more panicked than being stripped naked, yet it also brought a sort of 'screw it' relief.

The energy barrier was still expanding wildly, bouncing and crushing all the falling stones.

Around them, a spherical space was forcibly cleared, continuously growing larger.

"Useful!"

Lin Xue's voice rang directly in his mind—not heard through his ears, but directly "known" as her thoughts.

Zhang Jun wanted to respond, but he found the resonance growing stronger, like an unleashed wild dog that he could no longer hold back!

The point where the two forces met began to throb violently, becoming extremely unstable, like two high explosives mixed together, ready to explode at any moment.

"Shit! Too intense! About to lose control!"

The energy barrier burst outward explosively!

An indescribable force smashed everything around it! The mountain's interior was torn apart by this force, countless rocks sucked into the energy storm and flung about haphazardly.