Dao Lao swiftly changed his attack strategy upon hearing this, executing a rapid 360-degree spin in mid-air to evade Destruction Lord's counterattack. Simultaneously, he thrust the Light-Transformed Demonic-Annihilating Staff towards Destruction Lord's chest. Seeing this, Destruction Lord hastily wove a small shield on his left hand's surface and blocked the staff, then countered by swatting Dao Lao away into the air. Unbeknownst to Destruction Lord, Dao Lao's apparent ease in being swatted aside was intentional. Dao Lao wanted to use this method to cleverly create distance from Destruction Lord without raising any suspicion.
"Hiss—swoosh!" As Dao Lao and his weapon were sent flying by Destruction Lord, a holy and extraordinary white light accompanied by a low sonic boom shot towards Destruction Lord's back, bursting into a blinding flash upon impact.
"Destruction Lord has been hit by the Hunter's Bullet!" This was the immediate reaction of Haoyun and his companions upon seeing the intense light in the sky. However, as the intense light rapidly subsided, the triumphant smiles on their faces vanished instantly. They saw Destruction Lord still grimly suspended in the air.
In fact, though Destruction Lord was indeed struck by the Hunter's Bullet, his incredible reflexes allowed him to evade the bullet's fatal blow to the fullest extent possible. Thus, the Hunter's Bullet did not pierce directly through his chest at the moment it hit him. By swiftly rolling to evade the Hunter's Bullet, Destruction Lord managed to escape with just a scrape across his back and the destruction of his left wing and shoulder.
"Ugh—ah! It hurts! How dare you injure me?! You despicable wretch!" Holding his smoking left arm, Destruction Lord staggered onto the back of the giant griffon, speaking in a pained and furious voice.
"Hmph! But it's too bad! Your attack seems a bit weak. You couldn't kill me!" Destruction Lord sneered.
At the same time, Haoyun and his companions clearly saw that although Dream Jia's sneak attack had injured Destruction Lord, he was beginning to recover. As Destruction Lord continued to breathe heavily, the flames that had just appeared on his shoulder and back quickly extinguished themselves. Moreover, the dry muscle fibers around Destruction Lord's wound started wriggling, seemingly repairing his injuries.
"Dao Lao! Don't just stand there! Come back quickly! Let's retreat!" Haoyun quickly called out to Dao Lao, who was still suspended in the air. Although the Hunter's Bullet did not kill Destruction Lord, the energy released by the bullet was so intense that even the Mastanians around them were intimidated and halted their attack on Haoyun's group, withdrawing to create some distance.
This brief and precious respite allowed Haoyun and the others a moment to catch their breath. Therefore, Dao Lao paid no more attention to Destruction Lord, who was still floating and healing his injuries on the giant griffon, and hurried back to Haoyun's side, saying, "Dream Jia, how are you?"
"I'm fine! It's just that because of the influence of the black hole, launching the Hunter's Bullet has completely weakened me. I have very little spiritual power left and can't provide much more help! Damn it! I didn't expect that in that situation, Destruction Lord could still dodge the fatal blow from the Hunter's Bullet!" Dream Jia said, leaning on the Staff of Equality that had returned to its original form.
"It's okay! This level is already pretty good! Let's take advantage of their temporary pause in attacking and leave here quickly! You two go down first, I'll cover the rear!" Haoyun comforted Dream Jia while signaling Dao Lao to help her jump into the gap in the Joyful Fountain.
Just as Dao Lao and Dream Jia jumped into the underground passage and Haoyun was about to follow, a figure suddenly jumped onto Haoyun's shield. "Haha! Trying to escape through the water? None of you can run away!" It was none other than Destruction Lord, who had just been on the giant griffon repairing himself.
Haoyun turned around in alarm, and he saw that although Destruction Lord's shoulder had not yet been repaired by the grass and fiber tissues wriggling around, the smoke on Destruction Lord's body had dissipated. Moreover, from the expression on Destruction Lord's face, the pain from the wound seemed to have little effect on him anymore. At least, the pain caused by the Hunter's Bullet couldn't affect the right side of Destruction Lord's body anymore. Because now, Destruction Lord was using his right hand transformed into a giant claw to firmly clamp onto Haoyun's shield, causing sparks to burst out from the friction between the sharp fingertips and the shield.
"Hahaha! No wonder you've always been responsible for protecting on the ground. It turns out you're the weakest priest among the three! Hmph! You really shouldn't be responsible for covering the rear! Even if I'm injured now, I can still break through your defense and then go in and capture them all back! Hmph! You can't escape from my palm! I will definitely capture all of you back and then skin you alive and torture you to death one by one!" Destruction Lord said triumphantly after a brief skirmish with Haoyun, immediately increasing the force of the giant claw. Even though he couldn't defeat Haoyun's protective shield for the time being, Destruction Lord believed he could still directly pry Haoyun and his shield out of the gap in the fountain.
"What?! I'm coming to help you right away!" Dao Lao exclaimed in shock. After handing Dream Jia over to Captain Tie Zhu and the others, he immediately prepared to return and assist Hao Yun. At the same time, Dao Lao regretted deeply the decision he had just made. Hao Yun was no match for the Destroyers in terms of strength, so even though the Destroyers had paused their attack just now, he should not have carelessly let Hao Yun handle the rear guard while he escorted Dream Jia into the underground passage.
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"No! Dao Lao, don't come over! I can't hold on much longer! The Destroyer's power is too strong! I'm about to be dragged out from the gap along with the shield!" Hao Yun gritted his teeth, watching the shield visibly moving outward.
"If the Destroyers enter the underground passage, it will be really difficult for us to evacuate! Dao Lao, you continue to lead everyone to retreat! Dream Jia is in a weakened state now. Without your help, Captain Tie Zhu and the others will find it hard to successfully raid the King's palace and escape through the teleportation array in this situation! So, I might as well distract them and lure them away to give you more time to escape!" Hao Yun explained his plan quickly and decisively.
"You idiot, don't do something stupid!" Dao Lao exclaimed in an emotional tone. However, after understanding Hao Yun's plan, he did not insist on returning to assist Hao Yun at the Surprise Fountain.
Because from the information shared by Hao Yun, Hao Yun's current situation was indeed very dangerous. Moreover, from a rational perspective, if Dao Lao were to return now to rescue Hao Yun at the Surprise Fountain, it would inevitably affect the timing of the rest of them raiding the King's palace and escaping through the teleportation array. Therefore, the best choice now was to abandon Hao Yun and take advantage of the Destroyers' concentration on Hao Yun to retreat from the Palace of Eternal Star as quickly as possible.
"Hao Yun! You must hold on for me! We will find a way to come back and save you!" Dream Jia said through gritted teeth, despite her reluctance, based on her physical condition and the current situation.
"Don't worry! I will go and draw their attention away, then after you occupy the teleportation array, I will come back to meet you!" Hao Yun said again confidently, sounding full of assurance in his plan.
"Good! I trust you this once! Captain Tie Zhu! Is the Stealth Skiff ready?" Dream Jia asked after drinking a bottle of HaHaLe Pure Water.
Due to the chaotic effect of the black hole energy turbulence on divine power from the various spirit realms, the efficacy of HaHaLe Pure Water was greatly reduced in the black hole. This meant that after drinking two bottles of HaHaLe Pure Water in a row, Dream Jia's mental power had only recovered to near the alert level. As for why Dream Jia didn't drink more bottles of HaHaLe Pure Water, it was because the Void Storage Units carried by Dao Lao and Dream Jia were actually created with conventional divine power from the various spirit realms, and the chaotic energy in the black hole had a huge impact on such equipment. Therefore, it was not easy for them to take out a few micro divine energy communicators and two bottles of HaHaLe Pure Water from almost unusable Void Storage Units.
"The Stealth Skiff is in place! Now, just give the order, and I can remotely activate the Stealth Skiffs to sail freely in the underground passage according to the set escape route, creating the illusion of our escape from the waterway!" Captain Tie Zhu quickly reported.
"Good! Tie Zhu, listen to my command!" After understanding the entire content of Plan B that was discussed with Captain Tie Zhu before Dream Jia, Hao Yun took a deep breath and immediately ordered the system to retract the protective shield made by the battle armor. Because the Destroyers had been pulling Hao Yun along with the shield with all their might, when Hao Yun suddenly shrank the protective shield, it caused the Destroyers' giant claws to fling in the opposite direction due to the loss of resistance. This also led to the fact that the Destroyers, who had not expected Hao Yun to suddenly abandon resistance, did not control Hao Yun immediately. In addition, Hao Yun started the flight function of the Geleides battle armor again when he was pulled out of the Surprise Fountain gap by the power of the giant claws. Thus, in full view of the Maastani, Hao Yun flew high into the sky and left.
"Quick! Chase after me! Don't let him escape!" The Destroyer quickly pointed in the direction Hao Yun was flying.
"You group of trash, don't just stand there! Everyone quickly go in! The rest of them must still be under the water fountain below! Go in and grab them all!" The Destroyer then commanded the soldiers surrounding the Surprise Fountain.
After receiving the order, the Griffins screamed and flew into the sky, chasing after Hao Yun's escape route. The soldiers on the ground jumped into the underground passage one by one from the gap in the fountain.
"Tie Zhu! Activate the Stealth Skiffs immediately!" Hao Yun, who was flying erratically above the backyard, saw the enemy jump into the fountain and immediately gave the order. Immediately afterwards, he dived headlong towards the mountains below the Star Palace.
At this point, after the Young Warrior was the first to jump into the fountain, they quickly saw several skiffs below. So they quickly sent news back to the following enemies: "Report to the Lord, there are several skiffs hidden below! The others are taking skiffs to escape from here!"
"Well done! Well done! Inform everyone that the Palace must be blocked immediately! Don't let them go! Huh! This group of fools is already a caught fish! Do you want to use these skiffs to escape through these passages? Huh! It's just a daydream!" The Destroyer said with satisfaction, revealing a very cruel smile. Then he ordered the Giant Griffins to fly in the direction of Hao Yun's escape.
Watching the enemies jump into the underground passage and chase after several escape skiffs, Captain Tie Zhu, hiding in a nearby tunnel, quickly reported via communicator, "Reporting to Lord Hao! The Mastanian soldiers underwater have all been lured away by the escape skiffs! It looks like they won't come back to search our secret passage until they realize there's no one in the skiffs!"
"Very good! The Destroyer and his lackeys are right on my tail! I'll lead them in circles in the sky for a bit! Dao Lao, it's time for you to act over there!" Hao Yun replied after observing the Destroyers who had joined the pursuit team, feeling very satisfied with his plan.
"Understood! We're preparing to raid the teleportation array. Hao Yun! Fly a few more circles and then hurry back! Pay attention to the energy reserves of your battle armor! Don't let anything unexpected happen again!" Dream Jia reminded Hao Yun after assigning each Eternal Star soldier their positions for the raid.