Li Xin watched as Celestia’s excitement compelled her to shout, while he continued to watch. As a standout in the Secret Castle, Simmons was indeed impressive, though one could say that life in the Canon Law School was too “luxurious.” The efforts he felt were actually quite different; Simmons could adapt to harsh environments, yet once away from the Secret Castle, he didn’t create similar conditions to further develop himself. Li Xin merely awakened the real Simmons.

More lightning balls appeared, beginning to ensnare and attack, complemented by occasional Thunder Power. This started to make Simmons a bit flustered. He still couldn’t fully adapt to the pressure; if given more time, Simmons could handle it calmly. But he was running out of time. If he couldn’t make it tomorrow, there would be no Simmons afterward.

“Simmons, stay calm, it’s actually not that terrifying.”

Just when Simmons instinctively wanted to fight once more, Li Xin’s voice reached his ears. In moments like these, rash actions often achieve nothing. To better oneself, one must remain calm.

Simmons began accelerating his movements, trusting in himself and his judgment. If it failed, then he deserved to perish, as his skills couldn’t match up.

Simmons began controlling the extent of his movements, entirely focused on the task. No rush, no haste—systematically sorting through things with decisiveness and clarity. Gradually, Simmons stabilized his rhythm. Once he defeated his inner demons, with Simmons’s talent and learning ability, he quickly grasped the key points.

With crimson eyes, he felt an intense thrill and a desire for challenge. He no longer hesitated or faltered. There were no duels, no death—only a road of thunder that belonged to him.

Forward!

Forward!

Forward!

The end of the stone bridge finally came into Simmons’s view. He was close to making it through. The number of lightning balls began to increase, and their speed accelerated. Meanwhile, the combination of Thunder Power interference became more complex, predictions struggled to keep up, his vision blurred, and the powerful thunder force field and the crackling roaring sound began to rampantly assault Simmons’s senses.

At this moment, Simmons displayed a fierce side, no longer considering anything else, completely following his instincts and experience, making his body and the environment merge seamlessly like flowing water.

The first wave of strong combined lightning formations appeared. At this point, dodging was useless. He endured, endured, and at the moment of convergence, he used Divine Flash, passing through the formation. What he once reserved for saving his life was now simply a part of moving forward, without further considerations.

Celestia’s palms were sweaty. Only then did she realize the knightly path wasn’t as she imagined. What did it mean to be reborn through death? It meant truly abandoning thoughts of survival, fearlessly moving forward, while any reservations were unworthy of an excellent knight.

Those who retreat one after another aren’t cowards; they merely can’t defeat their ingrained survival instincts. After all, how many can overcome that?

Yet the road of thunder hadn’t ended; the closer to the finish line, the greater the pressure became. The intense thunder force field began to erode Simmons’s body, but Simmons had no concerns about this anymore. His body was entirely enveloped by resilient spiritual ability, abandoning the biological paralysis of his body. The eighteen lightning balls formed a formation from all directions encircling him. It felt as though, besides jumping off the bridge, Simmons had no way out. It was utterly unavoidable, no turning back, and the way forward was blocked.

Dead-end.

In an instant, Celestia’s breath halted; she had no idea what to do. If she were the one standing there, she’d surely be in utter despair, closing her eyes to await death. Perhaps at that moment, she might think of some regrets.

As the lightning balls were about to close in, Simmons moved. His movement immediately directed the pursuit of the lightning balls. When the balls’ blockade and speed hadn’t reached their peak, Simmons made a left extreme rush. As the lightning balls gathered instantly, he spun horizontally, making an extreme spiral push to the right. But the pursuit of the lightning balls was equally swift. With a forced pull of trajectory, they again blasted towards Simmons, and at this point, all the lightning balls formed a net. Facing the direction he came from, Simmons’s lips curved into a smile.

With a flash of light, a giant shield materialized in his hand—the Glory Shield of the Earth Mother Goddess, spiritual ability erupted—Bounce Back!

BOOMMMMM…

The lightning balls hit like a thunderstorm, all landing. Simmons gritted his teeth and the immense force instantly made him spit out a mouthful of blood. Yet his body used that force to fly towards the other shore—that was his self-devised plan.

Taking the hit head-on meant death. Even with the defense of the divine relic, this strike was enough to neutralize his movement ability, so he had to think creatively.

He succeeded!

The massive impact propelled Simmons toward the other shore. However, just as he was about to reach it, mist soared in the air, blue energy flickering furiously. Following closely, a massive lightning flash, a meter in diameter, descended like divine punishment from the mist.

BOOM~~~

At the extreme moment of crisis, Simmons’ eyes widened explosively, faced with life and death. His previously rigid body flickered with lightning, as if something had exploded, restoring his ability to move. Simmons turned to one side, raising the Shield of Glory before him as his body instinctively mustered all its strength to the limit. He couldn’t run anymore, and no one could save him. Was he going to die?

He couldn’t lose his dignity. Dying on the path of advancement, wouldn’t that also be the destination of a knight?

Glory—Desperate Bounce Back!

The lightning enveloped Simmons’ large shield, which met the force at a forty-five degree angle. All his strength concentrated, then the terrifying Thunder Power instantly shattered his defenses. Simmons felt all the bones in his body crumble in an instant, as the Thunder Power burst through his defenses and struck the stone bridge with a deafening roar, sending Simmons flying along with the broken stone, hurled directly off the bridge… into the mist.

He fell!

The mist seemed sticky as it swallowed Simmons, most of his body vanished in an instant. Just as Simmons was about to be entirely devoured by the mist, a spiritual rope coiled around his foot like a serpentine creature.

Li Xin reacted swiftly. He suspected there might be variations along this path, so he had remained vigilant. At the instant the sudden massive lightning attack showed signs, he sensed something was wrong. Unfortunately, there wasn’t time to pull Simmons back, he could only catch the tail end.

But before Li Xin could pull Simmons out, an overwhelming force struck. His strength could not halt the descent in the slightest, and Simmons was instantly swallowed by the mist. Not only that, Li Xin himself was also dragged by an overpowering force, plummeting below the stone bridge.

At this moment, a brief hesitation flashed in Li Xin’s eyes, but he ultimately didn’t let go and was quickly pulled into the boundless mist.

The dazzling effect of the massive lightning made Celestia, in a mere blink, find Simmons and Li Xin gone.

Celestia rubbed her eyes, not only losing all sense of the two but also receiving no response from the Gate of Truth. Her mind became blank, her expression suddenly twisted with pain, and her eyes turned weirdly, rolling up and down. The crystal ball was emitting a sinister black light, tendrils wrapping around Celestia and creeping into her ears, nose, and mouth. Celestia’s body twisted and convulsed in fierce struggle, but this resistance seemed like mere foreplay to the black light, only increasing the invading pleasure. Suddenly, a hexagram on Celestia’s neck erupted with intense light, expelling the substantial black tendrils completely. When the two touched, it was as if a corrosive reaction occurred, fiercely contending for possession of Celestia’s body.

Crack! The crystal ball seemed unable to withstand the force and cracked. The black light was compressed back into the crystal ball, and the overflowing energy triggered a violent explosion, sending Celestia crashing into a wall, knocked out.

In the Holy Land, Li Xin felt his body submerged in the mist. At the instant he submerged, it was as though he had entered another world, completely isolated from the stone bridge outside, immersed in a boundless world of confusion. His body wasn’t plummeting rapidly but felt like sinking into an endless deep sea, surrounded by an infinite expanse. It felt a bit like being in water, but it wasn’t water; something seemed to be pressing against him.

Activating the Secret Eye, he could only dimly sense being in a silent space, particularly eerie, a profound fear and helplessness continuously surged into his mind, … His surroundings were filled with densely packed, semi-transparent worm-like entities,

Followed by piercing screams mixed with multiple-toned wails frantically flooding his mind, impossible to shut out. Blood dripped from Li Xin’s ears and nose, seeming weightless as it drifted around, only to be absorbed instantly by those semi-transparent entities.

After only a moment’s hesitation, Li Xin’s pupils regained decisiveness. His spiritual rope was tied at one end to Simmons and hung at the other end on the stone bridge, still sensed. He immediately began pulling upwards. Thankfully, he could move, and he could feel him and Simmons ascending.

Just under the god’s eye view, Li Xin dangled in an endless darkness, with the rope’s top end hanging in mid-air without a support point.

Li Xin was not without fear; it was just that at this moment, he could only make a desperate ascent. At this time, the dice… extremely lively and excited, began spinning on its own, no longer feeling like a lifeless object of the past. The dice emitted a golden glow with an unimaginable fullness, yet utterly incompatible with Li Xin, completely out of control.

Li Xin knew he couldn’t hesitate. He couldn’t distinguish whether he was immersed in an illusion, nor did he know if any form of contemplation was accompanied by a time illusion, even rendering him insensitive to time. The mist around him, like tactile gelatin, began to ripple gently. Li Xin faintly sensed something terrifying and unbelievable rushing here from afar.

The slight oscillations he perceived were, at some distant place, already earth-shattering, tempestuous waves.

This was the aftermath of the Butterfly Effect.

In an instant, this sense of crisis felt dulled, Li Xin felt as if slowing and numbing, yet in a blink, it seemed an illusion of returning to normal.

Sense ensued chaotic and contradictory.

At this moment, Li Xin’s mind was exceptionally clear, he’s going to die!

“Lin!”

Source: Webnovel.com, updated by NovelKeep