Chapter 152: Battle of the Heavenly Kings

The leader’s arm trembled violently, nearly paralyzed, and his face had grown somewhat pale. His martial prowess had already reached the pinnacle of a first-class martial artist, yet compared to Mad Bull, a gap still remained. He now deeply regretted crossing paths with him. Mad Bull clung to him like a shadow, unleashing wave after wave of relentless attacks.

"Damn it, I'll go all out! Everyone in the Righteous Gate is a hero!" Hardening his resolve, the leader flipped his broadsword upward, suddenly thrusting it forward with a swishing sound like a rushing thunderbolt. The technique was named "Azure Dragon Emerging from the Water."

Mad Bull was also startled, taking three consecutive steps back while holding his silver axe horizontally across his chest. With a sharp clang, both men's bodies shuddered simultaneously.

"Sun-Encompassing Three Rings!" the leader shouted in a low voice, channeling all his strength to seize the momentum. His broadsword slashed repeatedly, radiating brilliance as a sheet of blade light enveloped Mad Bull's upper, middle, and lower sections.

Briefly suppressed and placed on the defensive, Mad Bull grew extremely displeased and suddenly roared, "Dipper Axe Technique, Heaven-Destruction Form!"

With a deafening boom, the sky-full of blade light shattered completely, and the leader was sent flying backward.

The Heaven-Destruction Form was fraught with tyranny; the axe technique resembled the wrath of the heavens, rivaling divine might. With a swift swoosh, Mad Bull materialized before the injured leader.

The razor-sharp axe blade was right before his eyes, its cold glare blindingly sharp. The leader mustered his resistance, raising his broadsword horizontally in the hope of withstanding the blow.

With a resounding clang, the Heaven-Destruction Form proved utterly ferocious. The formidable, violent force instantly snapped the broadsword in two, and the remaining momentum of the axe blade descended unabated.

Pity this capable leader; before he could even utter a single dying scream, his head was cleaved cleanly in two.

Mad Bull dared not linger and immediately broke through the encirclement. Before he knew it, he arrived in front of an artificial rockery. Faint traces of blood were visible here, and two corpses lay pinned beneath a massive boulder.

"Boss, something feels a bit off here. It's terribly eerie."

Mad Bull cast a cold gaze around the surroundings. His subordinate's words were indeed true; the pursuing forces behind them were not numerous, yet upon reaching this place, an ominous stillness hung in the air.

Suddenly, from behind the rockery, alongside the surrounding rock piles and tall weeds, a large crowd of figures surged forth. Wang Hu and Chen Shao had somehow flanked ahead of them and were waiting in ambush.

"I hear that Mad Bull, one of the Four Heavenly Kings of the Heavenly Alliance, is blessed with divine strength and wields the Dipper Axe Technique, though his brains are a bit lacking. Am I right? Knowing full well that the two of us brothers were waiting here, you still charged straight in this direction."

Mad Bull glared at them angrily, his saucer-sized eyes radiating a chilling intent. "Overestimating your capabilities! A moment ago, a very arrogant fellow was sliced apart by me like a watermelon. You lot are no better than him and will meet the exact same end. If you know what's good for you, clear a path. The Heavenly Alliance will not forget your cooperation and gladly welcomes your defection; the treatment then will be far superior to what you have now."

Wang Hu raised his chin in disdain. "Bah! Death is at your doorstep, and you're still trying to poach men? Are your brains waterlogged? Brothers, get him! Chop off that pig head of his to use as a chamber pot!"

Mad Bull was consumed by rage, blue veins bulging on his forehead. To think that he, a dignified Heavenly Alliance Heavenly King, was being so casually scorned and mocked! Without another word, he swung his silver axe and charged straight at them.

Wang Hu smiled coldly; his objective had been achieved. His previous words were merely meant to throw Mad Bull into a furious, disordered state. Not long ago, they had relocated a trap previously set by the Crossing Hall to the side of the rockery.

A silver thread, so fine it was nearly invisible to the naked eye, stretched across the gap between the rockery and the opposite end. Mad Bull was entirely focused on violently cutting down the two men before him and paid no heed to the tiny obstacle at his feet.

Just as anticipated, the silver thread was tripped. In a split second, a sharpened wooden stake sprang forth from the opposite side with terrifying speed, arriving right before him in a bizarre blur.

Mad Bull’s expression changed drastically as he realized he had fallen into a trap, momentarily losing his composure. Yet, as one of the Four Heavenly Kings, his martial might was genuinely formidable. Although he had only recently broken through to the rank of Grandmaster martial artist, the explosive power of a Grandmaster was astonishingly potent, allowing him to shift his body slightly at the very last instant.

With a heavy thud, the catapulted wooden stake pierced his left shoulder, the immense impact forcing him backward several steps as blood stained his garments.

Wang Hu and Chen Shao felt a twinge of regret. Having witnessed his formidable strength firsthand, and being merely first-class martial artists themselves, they knew fighting him head-on offered little chance of gaining the upper hand. That was why they had flanked ahead to set this trap. Though the fatal strike had been evaded by the enemy, it had still achieved some success by inflicting a severe wound.

Enduring the agonizing pain, Mad Bull swung his silver axe fiercely and snapped off the protruding length of wood with a heavy thud, fixing his bloodshot eyes directly upon them.

"Damn you bastards! You've driven me completely berserk. If I don't hack you into pieces, it will never appease the hatred in my heart!"

The silver axe swept forward like a silver crescent moon, and both sides immediately clashed in intense combat. Wang Hu and Chen Shao each wielded a long saber, attacking in a pincer movement from left and right. Under normal circumstances, two first-class martial artists facing a Grandmaster-level powerhouse would have less than a twenty percent chance of victory. However, the enemy was now heavily wounded, and performing at even eighty percent of his strength would be a stretch. In a battle of life and death, the ultimate victor remained entirely uncertain.

The trio fought with escalating intensity and ferocity. The wound on Mad Bull's shoulder worsened steadily, blood continually seeping out. Wang Hu's long saber relentlessly targeted his vulnerabilities.

Gripping his silver axe, Mad Bull unleashed a sweeping arc that forced both men back, followed immediately by a direct downward chop titled "Dividing the Rivers in Half," aimed straight at Chen Shao. The cold gleam reflected from the razor-sharp axe blade formed a straight line directly at the center of Chen Shao's brow.

Chen Shao hurriedly raised his saber to parry. With a loud clang, he managed to block the blow, but a thick, powerful kick followed instantly, striking dead center in his chest. With a resounding boom, he was sent flying backward.

Meanwhile, Wang Hu launched a ferocious assault on Mad Bull's wounded left side. His long saber whistled through the air, piercing the void like a dragon soaring out of the sea.

Mad Bull dodged hastily, but he was a fraction too slow; his left arm was carved open with a shocking, gaping wound. Yet compared to Chen Shao, this injury was trivial—that previous kick had broken at least one of Chen Shao's ribs.

Struggling to his feet in pain, Chen Shao spat a trail of blood from the corner of his mouth. However, far from diminishing, his battle intent burned even brighter. Having served as a scout, he was naturally accustomed to charging to the very forefront of the formation and facing danger first. What did a minor wound matter? As long as he wasn't dead, he would continue fighting until his final breath.

Wang Hu and Chen Shao exchanged a glance and suddenly separated, one darting to the enemy's right and the other to the left, launching a simultaneous assault from both flanks. This neutralized the disadvantage of a frontal confrontation while splitting the enemy's attention to execute the most effective offense.

The two long sabers resembled twin crescent moons rising from opposite directions, weaving into a brilliant tapestry of light.

Mad Bull swung his silver axe, sending a streak of flowing light that deflected one saber. But at that exact moment, a chilling breeze approached from the opposite side as a blade tip lunged straight at his chest. Though he twisted and shifted his body repeatedly to barely evade it, he found himself utterly incapable of defending both flanks simultaneously. In particular, the wound on his shoulder was deteriorating rapidly, soaking his clothes in blood. With the massive loss of vitality, his physical strength and consciousness were gradually fading.

Mad Bull thought grimly to himself, *If I don't slaughter these two and escape right now, I'm done for.* Driven by desperation, his attacks grew increasingly fierce as he once again unleashed the "Dipper Axe Technique, Heaven-Destruction Form."

A violent storm of attacks filled the surrounding space, surging outward as the silver axe swept in all directions, accompanied by the ceaseless howling of gale-force winds. Resolving to eliminate the injured Chen Shao first, Mad Bull wheeled his towering frame around and charged straight at him.

Chen Shao dared not lower his guard. His long saber danced wildly, weaving a dazzling screen of blades, but the moment it contacted the ferocious axe edge, it shattered instantly.

The blindingly oppressive axe blade descended with undiminished momentum. Appalled, Chen Shao threw himself into a clumsy roll to the side, barely managing to dodge the strike. Yet before he could steady his footing, the silver axe swept horizontally right behind him.

Unwittingly, they had drawn close to the rockery. Chen Shao leaped upward, bounding onto a ledge of the artificial mountain, but Mad Bull pursued him relentlessly.

With a thunderous crash, a massive boulder was instantly blasted to pieces beneath the silver axe, an awe-inspiring display of power.

Wang Hu grew frantic with anxiety. Desperate to rescue his comrade, his attacks grew swift and fierce, but the enemy was now akin to a berserker, his onslaught turning utterly savage and explosive, radiating an astonishingly formidable might.

Hunted and slashed at every turn, Chen Shao scrambled ever higher up the rockery until he reached its absolute summit, more than ten meters above the ground. Mad Bull pursued him relentlessly, climbing up after him in the blink of an eye.

"This is precisely the outcome I wanted! Go to hell!"

With a cold smirk, Chen Shao suddenly swung his long saber down upon a massive boulder resting beside his feet. The boulder, struck by the external force, immediately rolled downward, directly engulfing Mad Bull in its path.

Stunned and horrified, Mad Bull hurriedly swung his silver axe to cleave it. The axe blow deflected the boulder's trajectory, causing it to crash down to the side instead. However, the impact threw Mad Bull off balance, causing him to plummet backward from a height of seven or eight meters. Combined with the force of the collision, the landing promised to be agonizing.

Chen Shao, perched atop the rockery, had no intention of squandering such a prime opportunity. He immediately dove headfirst from the summit, a cold smirk curving his lips as his long saber slashed through the sky toward his target.

Wang Hu was also lurking below, having long since prepared a fatal strike.

With a heavy crash, Mad Bull's robust frame slammed into the ground. Chen Shao's long saber followed instantly, thrusting directly toward his heart, though at the very last moment, Mad Bull managed to deflect it with his silver axe, leaving only a bleeding hole in his waist.

Wang Hu's lethal strike closed in rapidly, a blindingly sharp glare descending for the kill. Had this blow landed solidly, Mad Bull would have been sliced cleanly in twain. Cold sweat poured over his entire body. In the nick of time, he rolled toward the opposite side, dodging by a hair's breadth.

Yet the very next instant, two long sabers descended in unison, weaving an inescapable web of blades.

Chen Shao's saber landed first, hacking heavily into the enemy's shoulder and sending a large spray of blood into the air. As Wang Hu's saber was about to follow suit, Mad Bull's eyes suddenly bulged wide, his hair standing on end. Disregarding everything else, he lunged straight into the path of Wang Hu's descending blade, letting it cleave deep into his flesh as he tightly wrapped his arms around Wang Hu and charged violently against the rocky wall of the artificial mountain.