"What is that?"
Xuan Zan, who had just emerged from the ruins, suddenly shrank his pupils and pointed at a streak of light hurtling toward the distant, ethereal void at a speed comparable to a shooting star.
The speed was so extreme that it was nearly impossible to track with the naked eye.
Kuang Han and Xue Yi both looked toward it. The streak of light had already left an afterimage, shrunk to a black dot, and vanished into the boundless void in the distance.
"Damn it—he got away?" Kuang Han gritted his teeth, his face full of disbelief, and shouted, "What are you waiting for? After him!"
Xue Yi suddenly let out a surprised noise. "The surrounding restriction formations... they're all gone? Wasn't it said that powerful restrictions cover the skies above the Black Nightmare Mountain Range, forbidding flight? How did that kid manage that?"
Kuang Han waved his hand. "The restrictions are destroyed. Chase!"
The three Middle Heaven Position powerhouses shot up into the sky, moving at extraordinary speed as they frantically pursued the direction in which the streak of light had vanished.
Clearly, they absolutely could not accept watching their quarry disappear right under their noses. For them, this was an utter humiliation.
...
At the very instant Jiang Chen refined the Zhenyuan True Stele, the foundation of the entire Winterend Island instantly trembled. Countless formation restrictions failed one after another. Once the formations collapsed, chaotic spiritual energy currents surged in every direction, and all manner of celestial phenomena erupted one after another.
The sky, which had been nearing dusk, suddenly became more brilliant than broad daylight. Countless beams of light surged upward, as though tens of thousands of lightning bolts were rampaging through the clouds.
The turbulent energy waves continued to spread, spawning even more violent currents that churned the coastal waters at Winterend Island's borders, raising titanic waves.
The sheer scale of these celestial phenomena startled the entirety of Winterend Island.
Countless people poured out of their homes and into the streets, into open spaces, staring at the apocalyptic spectacle with sheer astonishment.
"What's happening?"
The streets still trembled, as though the ground beneath their feet was not solid earth but the heaving surface of a storm-tossed sea.
Every face was etched with shock and suspicion. However, most of them showed no trace of fear.
Clearly, on Winterend Island, everyone's mental fortitude was ironclad. Perhaps they did not even fear death, so they naturally did not fear strange occurrences piling on.
But before long, someone shouted: "It's the Winterend Island border! The border restrictions are shaking!"
"What does that mean? The border restrictions are shaking?"
"Yes, it's definitely happening! The foundation of Winterend Island's restrictions is shaking! Haha—our chance to escape has finally arrived!"
"Haha, our chance at freedom! Anyone who doesn't want to spend their whole life on Winterend Island, run!"
Similar scenes unfolded across every corner of Winterend Island. Frenzied people swarmed out in droves, and the quickest among them didn't even bother packing—they sprinted for the border at the first opportunity.
Clearly, everyone wanted to seize this golden chance.
At the outer perimeter of the Black Nightmare Mountain Range, Prince Huo and Grand Commander He from Huichun Island Domain had also sensed that something was wrong almost immediately.
All the upheaval had begun within the Black Nightmare Mountain Range.
The Grand Overseer, in particular, stared at the brilliant light erupting skyward from deep within the Black Nightmare Mountain Range—the trembling earth, the collapsing heaven and earth—and his expression was utterly grim.
He murmured under his breath, "Something's happened? Something has really happened?"
In truth, the Grand Overseer did not fully understand the secrets of Winterend Island either. Generation after generation, they had simply designated Winterend Island as a penal colony for exiled prisoners.
The Grand Overseer was merely the warden appointed for this term. The ultimate mysteries of Winterend Island were equally unknown to him.
Seeing this spectacle, he recalled certain rumors about Winterend Island, and in that moment, he was struck with overwhelming frustration, standing there in a daze.
"Old Ding, what's going on?" Prince Huo asked, his face equally blank with confusion.
The Grand Overseer sighed. "Your Highness, the Black Nightmare Mountain Range forbidden zone—even I rarely venture inside. Even when I do, I dare not trespass recklessly. Legend has it that the foundation and fortune of Winterend Island are hidden within. Now it seems that legend may not be false."
"You mean... someone has shaken the foundation of Winterend Island?" Prince Huo's face changed drastically.
"I'm afraid so." The Grand Overseer's tone was complicated. "But I don't know whether it was that trial participant or those three great noble families..."
Grand Commander He, however, asked, "If the foundation is shaken, what problems will that cause?"
While they were speaking, the upheaval in the core area of the Black Nightmare Mountain Range set off a chain reaction. The border formation restrictions began to collapse and disintegrate in rapid succession.
The Grand Overseer's expression changed completely. "This is bad. The foundation has been shaken—the entire defensive system of Winterend Island has collapsed. This is a catastrophe!"