Chapter 601: The Flying City Lands

At the brink of disaster, the ring on the Duke Hong Shi's left thumb was triggered.

Time Stop Ring!

This Legend Grade magical ring carries multiple buffs, the strongest being a Nine-ring Technique: Time Stop.

The once‑daily Time Stop is one of Hong Shi's life‑saving measures.

He will not use it lightly unless absolutely necessary.

In an instant, within a hundred‑meter radius of Hong Shi, colors faded, leaving a world of only black and white.

Everything halted, including the raging terrifying energy.

Hong Shi felt relieved at his caution; had he used Time Stop just now to block the airship, he would have lost any chance of a comeback.

Only now did he truly see the source of the explosion: the black metal box had melted and vaporized, spewing countless blue‑purple energies. At first glance the energy resembled a lightning element, but it was purer and far more ferocious.

It combined extreme heat, pressure, and terrifying destructive power, hard to control with magic.

Even under Time Stop, the dreadful energy radiated outward slowly, making Hong Shi's heart race.

It is not a spell, yet its might is scarier than the Nine-ring's "Extreme Flame Burst Technique".

Although slightly weaker than a true Ten-ring Spell, it is enough to blast through the tower's magical wards; aside from Holy Soul Wizards, no mortal could survive its explosion.

The Black Wizard who detonated it had his body completely destroyed.

In an instant he turned to ash and dust, leaving not a drop of blood.

Hong Shi only felt a chill in his heart; the Will of Truth, at the moment of the opponent's death, clearly sensed that this was not a Mirror Image, illusion, or magical duplicate, but a living, flesh‑and‑blood person.

The opponent sacrificed his own life to launch a suicide attack.

Only the lofty gods could make a Legendary Peak spellcaster willingly give his life just to launch a single attack!

This fits the modus operandi of the deceiver Lo Xi.

He is a madman!

His followers are all madmen as well.

Crazy and paranoid, willing to kill eight hundred enemies, lose a thousand of his own, even ten thousand, plotting massive conspiracies merely to sow chaos and strife, utterly irrational.

Hong Shi does not understand why these evil‑god followers would attack his floating city.

But now is not the time for contemplation.

The Nine-ring Time Stop can only last six seconds.

His gaze fell on the Iola Core, a magical construct comparable to a divine artifact, shaped like a crystal sphere about two meters in diameter, hovering mid‑air, continuously emitting pure mysterious energy like a never‑extinguishing little sun, impossible to stare at directly.

A tight protective formation encircles the Iola Core.

The floating city's control room floor, walls, and ceiling are etched with countless runes and energy conduits; layer upon layer of magical wards shield the Iola Core, enough to fend off multiple Nine-ring Techniques and even a Ten-ring Spell.

But at this moment, part of the rune formation was broken, creating a flaw in the magical protection.

Hong Shi recognized it at a glance.

Greater Disintegrate!

Before he could return, the Black Wizard had unleashed an unknown number of Greater Disintegrates, finally breaching the wards and exposing the Iola Core.

The Iola Core is an almost infinite energy source, comparable to a divine artifact; ordinary Nine-ring Technique attacks are useless, being absorbed, and the chance of Greater Disintegrate taking effect is extremely low.

Moreover, the Black Wizard's Greater Disintegrate is only an Eight-ring, virtually incapable of destroying the Iola Core.

Thus the opponent used this unknown energy explosion to destroy it.

Hong Shi felt a deep dread.

If the Iola Core were destroyed, ParrasFloatingCity would fall, and his centuries‑long wealth, power, and reputation would turn to dust; years of plans and schemes would become a joke, losses incalculable.

Fortunately, it has not yet reached an irrecoverable point.

Hong Shi spent one second observing and two seconds devising a method; the metal box had already exploded, its energy spreading, with part already striking the Iola Core, making it impossible to transport it out of the floating city.

He could only suppress the explosion's power to reduce damage to the Iola Core.

From observation to decision, half of the Time Stop duration had passed, and Hong Shi finally began acting in the fourth second.

He applied three layers of magical protection to himself.

Spiritual Energy Shield;

Magic Siphon;

Advanced Protective Lightning;

Then a towering Otherworldly Gate was summoned, a deep portal standing between the Iola Core and the blast point, leading to an uninhabited plane.

Finally a Nine-ring Psychic Spell: Reality Warp!

It can, according to the caster's will, twist reality to a certain degree—nullifying magical effects, devouring energy, constructing protective fields, and so on; the stronger the caster, the greater the distortion, creating miracles beyond ordinary imagination.

Hong Shi's "Reality Warp" could not be instant; with a second still needed to cast, Time Stop ended and time resumed its normal flow.

Boom—!

The raging high‑temperature, high‑pressure energy exploded violently, sweeping across the entire floating city control room like a roaring ocean, engulfing everything around.

Hong Shi bore the brunt, the blast battering his shield.

The Spiritual Energy Shield quivered violently, cracking instantly; a portion of the energy seeped in, with Magic Siphon devouring over ninety percent, only a minuscule amount finally piercing the ward, which was then neutralized by the Advanced Protective Lightning, resulting in negligible damage.

Hong Shi held on for a second and completed the Reality Warp.

During that second, the Otherworldly Gate he summoned diverted most of the energy striking the Iola Core to other planes, but the blast was so powerful that the gate lasted less than a second before being blown apart.

The shockwave slammed directly into the Iola Core, the massive crystal sphere taller than a person shaking violently, its pure energy output stalling.

The runic formations etched on the floor and walls were also blown away.

In an instant the floating city lost its energy source; the whole structure shivered, then began to descend slowly. Its inhabitants felt weightlessness, looked up to see clouds swirling in the sky, the distance receding, finally realizing what had happened, their faces turning ashen.

"Parras is about to crash!"

"What's happening?"

"Help! Who can save me, take me out of Fu Kong Cheng…"

Parras immediately fell into chaos; over two hundred thousand residents were plunged into boundless panic, many sprinting through the streets without knowing where to flee. Some Wizards bearing the Parras badge tried to open a portal, but found the badge had failed, and the link to the Fu Kong Cheng control hub had been severed.

On the ground, Urgel City was also in turmoil, everyone desperately trying to escape the city.

"Run!"

The ParrasFloatingCity hovered directly above Urgel; if it fell, the shockwave alone could destroy most of the city and kill over seventy percent of its people.

Staying in the city meant waiting for death.

Fu Kong Cheng only dropped a breath and steadied, the backup energy stored in the anti‑gravity rune array taking effect.

That sudden drop and halt caused fleeing residents to fall, injuring many.

Inside the control room.

Hong Shi's reality distortion began to take effect.

An invisible force field materialized out of nowhere, binding the raging energy, separating it from the Iola Core, and causing the energy to slowly reverse and contract.

Hong Shi focused completely, his eyes spouting spiritual energy light.

He strained to twist reality.

He built an intangible force field with his mind, enveloping most of the explosive energy in the control room, compressing it inward bit by bit.

This required a massive expenditure of mind and soul power.

Normally, while the Iola Core was still operating normally, it would supply endless energy remotely, allowing Hong Shi to twist reality to his liking with ease, almost at will. But the Iola Core's control array had been destroyed, leaving him without energy support, forcing him to rely solely on his own full power.

The greater the difficulty of distorting reality, the more soul power it consumed, growing exponentially.

The energy of this explosion approached a Ten-ring Spell.

Reversing its explosive trend required more soul power than releasing seven or eight Ten-ring Spells consecutively, and even though Hong Shi was a Thirty-level Holy Soul Wizard, he could barely endure it.

His soul power plummeted like a breached dam.

A transparent force field wrapped the terrifying explosive energy, slowly contracting, like Time Reversal, the area shrinking until it was suppressed to the size of a skull.

In just a few dozen seconds, Hong Shi's soul power was exhausted.

Yet he dared not be distracted; he couldn't even cast a low‑ring spell, and could only keep distorting reality, maintaining the compression of the explosive energy, hovering before him, not daring to move a muscle.

A few seconds later, his soul power was completely drained.

A sharp pain struck Hong Shi's head, nearly breaking his hold on reality distortion, and the energy sphere before him suddenly expanded severalfold.

He gritted his teeth and persisted, sacrificing his spiritual essence.

The loss of spiritual essence would wound the soul in ways hard to heal, but he could no longer worry about that.

Hong Shi endured the pain, his Truth Willpower staying calm; a thought sparked, activating the spell on his magic robe, opening an Arbitrary Door, and he carefully guided the energy sphere through it.

The other side of the Arbitrary Door was above Fu Kong Cheng, beneath which lay the ruins of two high towers.

After emerging from the Arbitrary Door, he finally could not hold on any longer.

His mind relaxed.

He ceased distorting reality, even unable to distance himself, and let the suppressed energy sphere burst.

Boom—!

The third mushroom cloud rose within Fu Kong Cheng.

Hong Shi was blown hundreds of meters away; his shield, lacking soul power support, crumbled after barely resisting the blast. Fortunately, several precious magical items on his person activated, sparing his life, though he was still gravely wounded.

Some Wizards who were closer were not so lucky; they were instantly reduced to nothing.

"Teacher!"

Montalin teleported to Hong Shi's side, seeing the teacher drenched in blood, eyes dim and lifeless, his magical aura weakened to the extreme, and he was instantly terrified.

He dared not imagine what would happen to ParrasFloatingCity if the teacher were harmed.

Several legendary Wizards and Transcendents gathered.

They all witnessed the scene, and seeing the Duke's condition, they knew he was gravely injured, with wounds to his soul that would take years to heal.

"I'm fine."

Hong Shi refused Menghalin's assistance, slowly getting to his feet on his own.

He produced a bottle of precious magic elixir, drank it, and his pallid complexion quickly returned to a healthy flush. Raising his hand, a high‑level restoration spell descended, erasing the blood and scars, restoring his former dignified bearing.

"The Iola Core has been attacked, and the central control array destroyed, requiring years to repair," Hong Shi said calmly, delivering shocking news. "The backup energy will last only two hours; after that, I will make Parras descend to the ground."

"Parras will not fall."

Under his seemingly indifferent expression lay a terror like a volcano built over tens of thousands of years, its fury ready to erupt. In a deep voice he declared, "In the goddess's name, Parras will avenge this!"

The legendary Wizards and Transcendents fell silent, each bowing their heads, fearing the Duke's displeasure.

This attack inflicted massive losses on Parras.

Two wizard towers: one housed the magic academy, where hundreds of faculty and students were killed, losing its most precious talent; the other was the Duke's residence, containing countless riches and years of his effort, its value incalculable.

In the coming years, Parras will still need to land, a risk of great magnitude.

Even the Duke himself was gravely wounded.

Yet they still do not know who did this, nor any warning signs.

Silence fell over the ruins.

Hong Shi took a deep breath, weakly waved his hand and said, "Everyone, disperse. Convey the news and have everyone prepare for landing; no need to panic."

"Yes, Duke."

The legendary Wizards and Transcendents scattered, cleaning up the aftermath, unwilling to linger near Hong Shi.

A moment later, the residents of Fu Kong Cheng and Urgel City both calmed down.

Under the gaze of millions in Urgel City on the ground, the ParrasFloatingCity drifted away from Urgel's overhead at a very slow pace, floating southward for dozens of miles before gradually descending.

The base of the ParrasFloatingCity was a massive intact boulder, originally discovered on the Gobi of the western grasslands; Hong Shi spent decades hollowing its interior and arranging a massive rune array, lifting it into the sky.

After more than two hundred years of development and construction, investing countless resources and Gold Shield, it finally took its present form, becoming the pearl of the steppe.

Countless people are proud of it, and no one ever thought it would have an accident.

However, today Fu Kong Cheng almost crashed.

ParrasFloatingCity's altitude kept dropping, getting closer to the ground. Half an hour later, amid people's complex gazes, it finally touched down.

Boom…

Even the Wu Er Ge City dozens of li away felt the tremor, as if an earthquake had occurred.

ParrasFloatingCity's landing site was an empty wilderness, with no cover around, very unfavorable for defense, but there was no choice; the backup energy was insufficient to keep Fu Kong Cheng flying farther.

After the incomputably heavy Fu Kong Cheng landed, it sank another hundred meters before stabilizing.

ParrasFloatingCity has landed!

During the descent, wave after wave of magical messages were transmitted outward, shocking the entire Empire and Old Continent.

Still owes five chapters.

(End of Chapter)