Endless light, heat, thunder, and fire erupted in all directions. The ground shook, and shattered concrete structures fell around them. The first impact destroyed the Well of Oblivion’s exit.
Parsi rushed into a dark tunnel, the thunderous sounds of destruction pursuing him like the death knell of a world ending. He had started retreating before the clash; only a madman would stay to watch a divine battle, and even then, only if they were a demigod. This was an emergency passage, leading outside to the enormous conservatory, the same way he had snuck in. Suddenly, a surge of fire illuminated his eyes, and the intense air current pushed him out, the figures of the two clashing amidst the flames flashing briefly, destroying the concrete passage!
It was like two enraged dragons fighting—was this the true power of Dragonblood unleashed?
Parsi turned back and ran towards the Well of Oblivion. He had studied the map before sneaking in, considering all escape plans, but now only one route remained available.
KFC man was frantically pressing the elevator’s up button, jumping anxiously. He paused for a second when he saw Parsi running over. “You’re waiting for the elevator too?” It was an escape elevator, only activated by card in the event of imminent destruction of the Well of Oblivion. Parsi held the white card in his hand. But KFC man… he had nothing—he just kept pressing the up button like an office worker afraid of being late. Yet the elevator was actually descending.
Was this… face recognition?
Parsi hesitated. “Hello.”
The tremors became increasingly violent, flames and lightning flashed, winds and debris flew. The two men stood side by side, waiting for the elevator.
“Never thought we’d meet like this the first time—we should’ve had a proper chat,” KFC man said.
Parsi had no idea where his strange sense of humor came from, so he just nodded. “Seeing a monster like you at a time like this, I do feel like I’ve met a kindred spirit.”
“Yeah, I almost want to exchange business cards.”
The elevator doors finally opened, and the two of them dived inside like wild dogs.
But then a chilling noise came from above—the steel-reinforced concrete structure had cracked open! A huge concrete block slowly fell along a clean cut edge! KFC man’s muscles exploded with power, and his arms pushed it aside. Just as the elevator doors were about to close, Parsi hesitated for a moment, and a black sheathed hunting knife slipped from his sleeve, wedging the doors open. This bought KFC man a few seconds—he flipped into the elevator like an agile ape.
Parsi retrieved the knife, and the elevator doors immediately closed. The sudden upward acceleration caused both of them to fall to the floor. A massive tremor shook below them again, so powerful that the elevator swayed like a birdcage in an earthquake, collapsing part of the floor and exposing steel supports. The two looked down into the pitch-black shaft, and a few seconds later, flames filled that narrow, dark space. The high heat, trapped with nowhere to escape, swept the flames upward, like a furious dragon. The hot wind felt like knives slicing at their faces.
Parsi grabbed KFC man’s shoulder, and a domain expanded, enveloping both of them.
Yanling: Pure Land.
Anything unauthorized was repelled by the domain, even high temperatures. The flames pierced through the elevator and continued upwards, burning all flammable materials until only the charred metal framework remained, carrying them further upwards.
The fire burst through the top concrete structure, erupting into the night sky in the shape of a winding dragon, disappearing in a flash.
The elevator reached the top. The entire campus was engulfed in red light, sirens blaring like the death cries of a massive flock of flamingos. The ground shook, underground pipes burst, and high-pressure water gushed like fountains. Granite cladding peeled from buildings, and the rooster statue atop the Valhalla building collapsed.
Everything looked like the apocalypse foretold in prophecy, and in the face of doomsday, everyone was as insignificant as dust.
After the fire burst through the ground, it sprayed out of the well in front of Valhalla—it was the college’s foundation well, the first spring drilled by teachers and students in the pre-waterworks days. In the sweep of the searchlights, two shadows leaped from the well and scattered like mice in different directions, without having time to say goodbye.
While Cassell College teetered amidst an unexpected quake, across ten time zones in Beijing, China, the Seismological Bureau announced a minor 2.1-magnitude earthquake.
Such a mild quake was hardly worth mentioning—only those working on the top floors of buildings in the CBD might feel a slight dizziness. As such, the news was quickly ignored.
Naturally, no one connected the quake to the incident ten time zones away.
The lights in the subway went out, followed by a brief cry of alarm. A few seconds later, the lights came back on, and a sleepy Zhao Menghua opened his eyes.
The subway continued to rumble forward, and the broadcast announced that it had just been a temporary power outage, everything was fine, and passengers should not panic. Zhao Menghua glanced at the route display on the door—the next stop was Zhongguancun. That was his destination. He had slept at a friend’s dorm after drinking too much last night, and was now hurrying back to Peking University. If it weren’t rush hour, he wouldn’t have wanted to squeeze in the subway with all these people. Even if he didn’t have a driver to pick him up in Beijing, he could still catch a cab.
He planned to stop by and get his phone repaired. His contact list wouldn’t load—probably a problem with the memory card.
He suddenly froze, his gaze firmly caught. The person in front of him was carrying a black backpack with a circular emblem on it—a “Half-Decayed World Tree.”
The first time Zhao Menghua had seen this emblem was when he attended the interview for Cassell College; the second time was on Lu Mingfei’s credit card. It was the emblem of Cassell College. The young man and woman walking side by side ahead must be from that mysterious college. Zhao Menghua had tried searching online for information about Cassell College but found nothing. On the surface, it appeared to be just a private elite institution, but if you tried to dig deeper, you found it was wrapped in a transparent shell that prevented you from seeing any closer.
This only made Zhao Menghua more curious. More importantly, from Lu Mingfei to Nono to Chu Zihang, every time he had lost face, it was because of someone from that college. These people were his sworn enemies.
“Bo Qian, have you found any targets?” The boy asked in a low voice.
The girl shook her head. “There are a few with bloodlines, but they’re probably all low percentage. I haven’t detected anyone releasing a domain. Is this really going to work?”
Zhao Menghua’s ears pricked up like a rabbit’s, but he didn’t understand what they were talking about.
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