The blast wave that struck the Nine-Peak Celestial Proving Grounds was not a mere gust of mountain wind. It was a physical wall of tightly packed air, moving at three times the speed of sound, created by the instant collapse of the spatial empty pocket that had held nine thousand spirit swords in floating.
Beneath the double-layered sheepskin blanket, Lin Tao kept his jaw open and his palms clamped tightly over his ears. Even with that precaution, the sound pressure slammed into his skull like a blacksmith’s sledgehammer. The sound exceeded one hundred and eighty decibels. A terrifying, low-hum roar that shook the time bones of his skull. Then it made his teeth hum painfully in their sockets.
Beside him, Tie Shan’s massive torso took the brunt of the moving backwash. The giant’s arms were wrapped around Lin Tao like iron bands. His spine was pressed flat against the curved star-iron megalith. The four-million-pound monolith shuddered beneath the impacts of falling rock and tightly packed air. But its five-mile-deep Precursor foundations held total.
“Hold your breath!” Lin Tao yelled into the dark fleece, his voice barely carrying against the howling fury outside.
Tie Shan didn’t reply, his jaw locked tight as he buried his face into Lin Tao’s shoulder.
