Chapter 526: Chapter 526. One Against Two
Lei Shao and Gan Mei didn’t need to rely on their Mystic Sense to detect the incoming Yang Li. They felt the heat before Yang Li arrived. They moved away to assess the situation.
Yang Li landed beside Huang San. "Are you okay?" She asked.
"What took you so long?" Huang San asked back. He was panting. A trail of blood leaked from his mouth. He had suffered a few hits by the combined assault of Lei Shao and Gan Mei.
"Hmph! You are just inviting death by coming here, woman," Lei Shao taunted.
Yang Li ignored the taunt. He told Huang San, "Do it like we practice!"
Huang San nodded. Since they were a team, the six of them had already practiced fighting together. Yang Li and Huang San spent the most time practicing with one another because their elements were compatible.
Huang San jumped back and waved his hands. Countless leaf darts flew toward Yang Li. As the leaf darts flew past her, she executed Fire Breath. Her fire breath was already big due to his elemental affinity. It grew even bigger when it consumed Huang San’s leaf darts. The wood elements supported the fire elements. Thus, it continued to enlarge as more and more leaf darts flew into the flames.
Their three opponents were caught by surprise. Yong Kang was okay because he was further away, but Lei Shao and Gan Mei were caught by the raging breath. They yelped in panic as fire engulfed them. They flew back to get away from the fire, but Yang Li moved forward to follow them. She only stopped advancing when a barrage of arrows came her way.
Her Scorching Field stopped most arrows, but not all. She had to cancel her Fire Breath and used her hands to block the rest of the arrows.
Lei Shao and Gan Mei rolled frantically on the sand to douse the fire. They succeeded, but their bodies were full of burned wounds. They felt terrible pain all over their bodies. They stared at Yang Li with eyes full of hatred.
Yang Li smiled. "Am I still inviting death?" She taunted back.
"You are dead, woman! You are dead!" Lei Shao yelled in rage.
*
Among the ongoing separate battles, An Guan had it the worst. He had to contend against two Spirit Stage cultivators, one of whom was stronger than he was. He might think it possible if he only needed to keep the enemies busy, but after engaging said enemies, he learned it was harder than he thought.
Princess Huang Zhan was already a troublesome opponent. His control over his rope dart was uncanny. He was also an expert at exploiting an opening. Whenever An Guan showed one, he would not miss the chance. If on rare occasions An Guan managed to close in, he used the Lion Roar and the vine tentacles on his left arm to keep An Guan at bay. Not to mention, he was protected by the nature armor. It was impossible to hurt him without delivering a strong attack.
Yet, most of An Guan’s trouble came from Huang Zhan’s right-hand giant, General Da Niu. This man’s strength was otherworldly. Each punch could send him reeling. After a few clashes, he even felt that his glaive had become slightly crooked. To make matters worse, Da Niu used only his bare fists and performed only martial arts. It was apparent the general didn’t see An Guan as someone worthy enough to make him go all out.
An Guan felt anger boiling in his heart for being underestimated. Despite his feelings, he welcomed this situation. If his opponents underestimated him, he should be able to drag this fight out longer.
Unfortunately, Huang Zhan was sharp enough to notice what they were trying to do.
"Are you trying to delay?" Huang Zhan asked An Guan.
An Guan refused to respond.
Huang Zhan told Da Niu, "Don’t dally. Finish this fast."
"Hmph," Da Niu harrumphed as he stomped his foot. A powerful quake radiated outward.
An Guan flew up to avoid getting engulfed by the roiling earth, but as the quaking wave rushed past below him, he felt something pulling him down.
Da Niu finally used an arcane art. His art was of the earth elements. It was an offensive art that buried opponents on land while exerting a strong gravity on opponents above the area where the art was executed.
While An Guan had difficulty moving due to the augmented weight of his body, Da Niu rushed in with a Raging Ox Punch. Unable to dodge, An Guan was forced to swing his glaive to receive the punch. The collision unsurprisingly sent An Guan crashing to the ground.
Da Niu followed up with a massive stomp. Luckily, An Guan was thrown outside the area where Da Niu’s gravity pull was in effect, so he could move away and avoid getting squashed by the giant foot.
However, he was not out of the woods yet. Huang Zhan’s rope dart came from his flank. If not for his fast reflexes, his belly would have been pierced. He managed to move his glaive in the rope dart’s path. It clashed with the rope dart and reoriented its path. It now grazed the front of his chest instead.
He quickly retreated again as his two opponents performed alternating combos. He knew he couldn’t keep this up. It was only a matter of time.
"Tutor An Guan, I’m here to help you!"
A loud voice was heard. A gold-furred ape charged toward Da Niu at high speed. Da Niu glanced back at the intruder and lightly waved his arm while saying, "Begone!"
A strong wind filled with powerful energy assailed the gold-furred ape and stopped its charge.
"Wu Di, don’t come near here!" An Guan exclaimed.
Even after transforming into the Saintly Ape, Wu Di had trouble moving from a simple wave from the opponent. This was enough to demonstrate that the combatants here were not in his league. Even so, Wu Di was not someone who cowered because the opponent was stronger.
He charged forward again once the force pushing at him weakened.
Da Niu was astonished. He had turned his attention back to An Guan after waving his arm because he sensed this intruder was only a Beginning Mystic Stage cultivator. He expected his one wave would push Wu Di far enough and discourage him from approaching. He didn’t expect Wu Di to resist the pushing force and even had the guts to return after experiencing the gulf of power between them.
This pissed him off.
Traditionally, soldiers valued courage, but Da Niu was different. He thought the blind act of bravery in the face of impossible odds was pure stupidity, and he despised stupid people.
He turned back to face Wu Di. This time, he didn’t treat him like a fly to be chased away. He lifted his fist and started the punching motion. The aura seeping from his body formed the image of a giant ox behind him.
Wu Di didn’t back down despite feeling the immense pressure from Da Niu. He continued to advance and punch forward. As his fist advanced, it enlarged. This was Ni Zheng and Ni Lulu’s art, the Gigas Blood. After eradicating the rebels, the book containing this art was among the loot acquired by the kingdom. Due to his achievements in the rebel-extermination operation, Wu Di was given the choice to pick a reward among the loot. He chose this book.
This transformation art turned out to be compatible with him. He only started learning the art not long ago, but he had already reached the Skilled mastery. With this mastery, he could gigantify one part of his body, like Ni Zheng did.
His fist was now even slightly bigger than Da Niu’s. However, size was not the deciding factor in this cultivation world. Wu Di’s cultivation was too low compared to Da Niu’s. Even with the strength amplification from the Saintly Ape and the Gigas Blood, it was far from enough to contest against Da Niu.
*BOOM!*BOOM!*BOOM!*BOOM!*BOOM!*
Booming voices sounded from the impact between their fists. Without surprise, Wu Di was sent flying back. His arm bent at an unnatural angle. All the bones in his hand and arm were broken. Blood spurted from his mouth and nose due to the intense pressure he suffered, but he didn’t utter a sound from the pain.
Da Niu had won the punching contest without a doubt. Yet, he was scowling. This was because he was prevented from delivering a follow-up punch that should have finished Wu Di. What hindered him was the explosive force resulting from the impact of their fists. This force came from Wu Di’s martial arts, the Ignition Fist. Wu Di had mastered this art to the highest mastery, the grandmaster level. His punch could now deliver five consecutive blasts that would blow most opponents apart.
While most opponents would be crippled by this martial art, Da Niu didn’t fall into the category. All this art achieved was vexed him. He was ready to resume his second punch that would finish Wu Di when he sensed Wu Di’s aura didn’t reduce after the impact. Instead, it was growing. He noticed then that Wu Di’s left hand was shining.
Wu Di had been accumulating the light-element energy since before he threw the first punch. Da Niu wasn’t aware because the energy was masked by Wu Di’s other assault. The accumulated energy was now enough to be released.
"Hehe, taste this, giant bull," Wu Di said. The blinding flash in his right hand exploded into a giant beam of light.