The impact of the reflected Nine-Heaven Thunder-Hex upon the central dais produced an explosion of pure, bone-shaking empty pocket.
The sound did not escape outward into the hall. Trapped within the curved convergence point, the striking force of fourteen thousand foot-tons imploded inward upon itself. The twelve heavy jade-core drums, carved from solid blocks of sky green jade, were the first to yield to their own amplified frequencies.
CRACK-SHATTER-BOOM!
The four-foot drumheads of treated giant beast-skin burst at the same time, tearing along their outer edge bindings with the screech of ripping sails. Deprived of their membrane tension, the huge green jade shells could not withstand the internal sound ringing. Giant fractures blossomed across the green jade, and with twelve timed together, muffled thuds, the twelve drums crumbled into heaps of smooth, harmless emerald gravel that scattered across the red stone flags.
At the center of the inward collapse stood Grand Elder Geng and his sixty sonic adepts.
The protective magic charm-tunics they wore—woven from dark crimson silk and threaded with silver sound filaments—acted as immediate conductors for the backfire. As the packed wave struck their bodies, the silver filaments glowed white-hot under the unbearable sound friction. It burned out their protective seals in a blinding flash of golden sparks.
