Chapter 244
A massive explosion thundered once more, vaporizing vast quantities of seawater into a fine spray that billowed upward and condensed into a dense shroud. As the detonations continued in rapid succession, an impenetrable fog—far darker and thicker than before, black enough to swallow one's own hand—slowly spread across the ocean, its borders expanding at terrifying speed until it blanketed thousands of square kilometers of sea.
To avoid being swept up in the blasts, Gongsun Xinlian had retreated several thousand kilometers, all while staying alert to disperse any rogue tidal waves threatening to crash into the Black Cloud harbor. Floating in midair, she watched white light erupt across the distant ocean in continuous detonations, her face drawn with worry.
"I underestimated the scale of their battle. If this continues, the Black Cloud harbor might be consumed in the destruction," she murmured.
"Then we'll step in before Lin Hui falls." Her eldest brother, Xie Chang'an, appeared beside her—hands clasped behind his back, robes snapping in the wind—and fixed his gaze on the distant battlefield. "When the time comes, we act together. I'll stop the fight, and you'll contain the aftershocks. We're still too close to the harbor."
"Understood!" Gongsun Xinlian nodded firmly. "Brother, why are you so certain Lin Hui will lose?"
"Because the Mistborn are undying. It may look like they're evenly matched, but Tuyue hasn't even drawn on her Evil Energy yet. Moreover, the mist composing her body should already be true Evil Mist—she has clearly made breakthroughs over the years. You should know that a true Evil Mist like ours, since the very moment of its birth, can only be damaged by the power of a Mist God or certain sealed contaminating forces. In any other circumstance, no matter how much punishment it absorbs, it emerges entirely unscathed," Xie Chang'an explained. "True Evil Mist can be displaced—never destroyed. This is established law, proven by the Federation Inner Court through years of research."
"If that's the case, Lin Hui is indeed destined to lose. And he's already injured…" Gongsun Xinlian nodded. "Still—to hold a Mistborn to a standstill—he is already the equal of the finest Blood Ancestors alive."
"Truly rare. A remarkable talent. If it were possible—" Xie Chang'an cut himself off abruptly. "Tuyue has lost her reason! She's about to use her Evil Energy!!" His expression changed, and in an instant he was gone.
Without hesitation, Gongsun Xinlian surged forward. Her body burst apart silently, dissolving into pure white particles that blanketed dozens of kilometers of ocean in a single breath. Countless beams of white light rose from the sea like a forest of pale, colossal trees erupting from the deep. Vines of white light coiled from their surfaces, intertwining to form a vast wall that stretched for dozens of kilometers, sealing off the direction of the Black Cloud harbor.