The blast wave hit Yan Zixuan’s shield with the force of an avalanche.
BOOM!
The bone-shaking wave of white striking force drove the bottom edge of the star-iron tower shield two inches deep into the fiery flat stone slabs. Yan Zixuan’s shoulders screamed in protest. His teeth clicked together with a heard crack, and the breath was driven wildly from his lungs. Yet beneath his boots, the interwoven titan bear-bone plates flared with deep crimson light, channeling the crushing driving force down his thighs and scattering seventy percent of the impact harmlessly into the bedrock.
“Hold!” Yan Zixuan roared through grit teeth, blood pounding behind his temples. “Don’t break formation!”
Behind him, Xiao Rou pressed both palms against the small of his back. Her gentle wood-mist qi flowed into his strained spirit veins, soothing torn muscle fibers before inflammation could set in. At the same time, Chen Yu stood three paces to the left, his sky star compass spinning with wild speed as glowing brass rings measured the hum of Tie Shan’s breathing.
“Four seconds between strikes!” Chen Yu shouted over the roar of boiling magma. “The moving hum pulses every four heartbeats! First metal bar to the forge stone stand now!”
