Wrapping his right hand around Bai Zhe's handle, Long Hua returns his attention to the crystal cluster.
Judging by how the crystal cluster's light is starting to dim, it seems to have already fulfilled its purpose—in acting as this magic array's source of fuel.
Currently, the hands of the clockfaces are proceeding to move normally. From the looks of it, so long as he can last for a certain amount of time, things will return to normal.
Although the objective is easy enough to understand, Long Hua knows that he cannot possibly hope to fight off this many Sinners and practitioners all at once.
"Just what is sealed in this god-forsaken place to warrant this much security?"
As one of the Sinners in armor approaches him, Long Hua pulls Bai Zhe out partially, and stabs the sword's pommel onto the enemy's abdomen.
*Boom!* the impact of this strike sends the Sinner flying backwards, and eventually they crash onto a stone wall.
Drawing out Kun, Tian Cheng lops off the head of a practitioner, and asks—
"I assume our objective remains unchanged, master?"
"The central building that looks like a blade is still our destination. But…"
With how many enemies there are, approaching that building doesn't seem like an easy feat.
"…"
Deciding to play along nicely with Long Hua for the time being, the Tai Xuan Emperor controls her vessel—to fire five knives from its left sleeve.
As the knives puncture through the chest of a Sinner, she says—
"If we create a big enough commotion, it might draw other survivors to us."
With Bai Zhe fully drawn, Long Hua cuts down a practitioner, and asks—
"What are the odds of that exactly?"
"I've already made it so that the tunnel's layout is as simple as it can be, so the odds shouldn't be zero."
"…"
Accepting this answer with silence, Long Hua breaks into a run.
Closing the gap between a Sinner and himself, Long Hua cuts through the enemy with ease, while thinking—
(Seems like they don't possess the strength that they had—from when they were alive. Well, magic arrays based off the concept of time are a difficult thing to setup, so I guess this much is within the margin of error?)
In a swift manner, Long Hua moves onto his next target—being a practitioner, who is performing a two-handed incantation gesture.
Before the practitioner is about to finish his final incantation gesture, Long Hua swings Bai Zhe to lop off his head.
"…"
Just as Long Hua is about to take another step forward, the other practitioners nearby manage to complete the final incantation gesture, and with it, numerous fireballs descend from above—in a manner that is reminiscent of a meteor shower!
"…"
Appearing by Long Hua's side, Tian Cheng leans Kun towards him.
Shrouding Bai Zhe in sword Qi, Long Hua taps Kun, and transfers a portion of his sword Qi onto it.
As the fireballs approach, Long Hua and Tian Cheng press their backs to one another, and—
"Flowers within the Mist."
Stomping the ground harshly enough to leave a footprint-shaped dent behind, Long Hua and Tian Cheng's figure flashes repeatedly, as every swing of their blade—causes flower petals to manifest around them.
In an instance, more than 100 flower petals are created, and upon the number climbing up to 300—
"…"
"…"
Returning to the same position that they had started in, Long Hua stomps the ground once more. This time, the entirety of the Martial Emperor's Step is unleashed—causing eight cracks to appear beneath his foot.
*Boom!* as these cracks erupt with black and white energy, the nearby flower petals are thrown outwards!
Colliding with the incoming fireballs head-on, the sword Qi flower petals tear them apart with ease!
Glancing at Tian Cheng, Long Hua remarks—
"Being able to keep up with my movements, that combat body is quite decent."
(If you manage to get the SSR version-)
"Piss off, I'm not interested in your wares, you con-artist."
(At least give it some thought, you stingy ass!)
Vanishing from sight, Long Hua approaches another Sinner, and reaching his left hand out, he grabs them by their face, and proceeds to drag them against the ground—prior to tossing them forward like a bowling ball.
The flung body of the Sinner crashes into a few others, and together, they crash onto the side of a building—causing the structure to topple over.
"…"
In the same instance, sparks of blue electricity discharge from Tian Cheng's feet, as she runs forth.
Borrowing Long Hua's sword Qi, she effortlessly divides everything that she comes across in half—prior to giving Kun a firm swing, which ends up delivering a diagonal cut onto a building from 30 meters away.
*Boom!!! Boom!!!* as two buildings fall and crash, a loud noise is transmitted into the tunnel that the two had emerged from.
...…
*Guuuuuuu…!!!* picking up on the sound of Long Hua and Tian Cheng's battle against the Sinners and practitioners, Ye Chen turns to his right.
"What is it this time?"
A few moments ago, Ye Chen had felt the hall that he was in being turned, which resulted in him arriving at the four-way intersection that he is currently in.
"Hm?"
Detecting the sound of more footsteps coming in from the left, Ye Chen—who didn't know if it was a friend or a foe, can only frown.
"Same direction as the wind… Ah, screw it."
Rather quickly, he decides to make a run towards the direction that the ongoing commotion is coming from—having spent more than enough time in these tunnels to have his patience run thin with them.