Chapter Eighty-Seven: Wounding Yang Tianbao

As the lion-wolf beast shook its head and drew back the iron rein, before it had even had time to look back at the qilin divine beast, a flash of light flickered, followed by a thunderous smack as the qilin beast’s forepaw struck the back of its head hard. At once, a dull ache bloomed there, and at the same time it caught the smell of singeing fur rising from the hair at its neck.

Realizing it had been struck, the lion-wolf beast flew into a rage. It whipped its head toward the qilin divine beast and, in the same motion, toppled toward the ground.

The iron rein lashed along with the beast’s head toward the qilin beast, striking in the same direction.

Seeing that it had landed another blow, the qilin divine beast felt a flash of satisfaction. Then it saw the lion-wolf beast collapse to the ground, and even as it fell, it did not forget to send the iron rein at its enemy. It could not help but admire the beast’s agility in secret.

The qilin beast had intended to seize the chance as the lion-wolf beast fell and leap upon it to pin it down, but when it saw the iron rein sweeping toward it with fierce force, it had no choice but to spring back at once, avoiding the attack.

After crashing to the ground, the lion-wolf beast rolled over and over, hoping to extinguish the divine fire burning the fur at its neck.

After one full roll, it felt the fire at its neck still had not gone out, so it hurriedly rolled several more times.

Even after rolling repeatedly, the fire on its neck still burned.

Seeing that even after several rolls it still could not put out the flame, the lion-wolf beast grew frantic.

The qilin divine beast, having jumped clear, watched the lion-wolf beast rolling on the ground to extinguish the fur on its neck and thought to itself: Lion-wolf beast, oh lion-wolf beast, this fire of mine is no ordinary flame. It is the Three Essence Divine Fire. If you think a few rolls on the ground can put it out, why would I even bother bringing it?

By then, the fire at the beast’s neck was burning ever more fiercely, and the lion-wolf beast grew more and more anxious.

Suddenly it seemed to remember something. It stood up, glancing around in all directions, then dashed off in one direction and stopped beside a pit in the ground. Opening its wide maw, it spat something into the hollow.

The qilin divine beast, seeing the lion-wolf beast run off, thought it had been injured and dared not fight any longer. It was about to hurry toward the direction where its master, Yellow Xianlin, was battling Yang Tianbao, intending to lend him a hand. But when it saw the lion-wolf beast standing beside a pit and spitting something into it, it stopped and watched to see what the creature was doing.

After the lion-wolf beast spat a stream of icy, sinister energy into the pit, the hollow at once filled with cold water. Then the beast leaped into the pit, allowing the water to cover its neck.

Soon afterward, the divine fire that had been burning on the fur at the lion-wolf beast’s neck was quenched by the cold water in the pit.

Only then did the qilin divine beast understand that the chill, dark energy the lion-wolf beast had expelled was a kind of evil force that could transform into water.

The reason it had spat that demonic energy into the pit was that the fire had been burning at the back of its neck, and its mouth could not twist around to reach there. Moreover, the demonic energy it breathed came out in a straight line, so of course it could not be aimed properly at the back of the neck. It had to be spat into the pit, where it would become water; only then could the beast jump in and let the water directly submerge its neck, making it easier to smother the divine fire.

The qilin beast thought: Where on earth did Yang Tianbao find this lion-wolf beast? What kind of monster is it? What sort of sorcery is this sinister breath it exhales, able to turn vapor into water? I wonder whether its foul water can extinguish my divine fire.

So the qilin divine beast halted and continued watching the lion-wolf beast in the pit not far away.

The lion-wolf beast submerged its entire body in the water, leaving only its head above the surface.

While soaking there, it kept a wary eye on the qilin divine beast.

Though the divine fire that had been burning the fur on its neck beneath the water was no longer as fierce as it had been on the ground, it still glittered with sparks like stars in the sky.

The qilin beast thought: My divine fire is the True Three Essence Flame. Ordinary water cannot extinguish it, and yet this beast’s foul water has reduced my flame to little more than sparks. Clearly, the level of its sorcery is quite formidable. If its craft reaches its highest realm, then my divine fire may no longer be able to contend with it.

Watching the lion-wolf beast in the pit, still blinking with sparks at its neck, the qilin beast thought that the creature’s power had not yet fully matured; it likely could not leave the water in the pit for the time being. The moment it emerged, the divine fire at its neck might slowly flare up again. Taking advantage of this moment while the beast was putting out the flames, I should hurry to aid my master! And so the qilin divine beast raced toward the place where Yellow Xianlin and Yang Tianbao were locked in combat.

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As Yellow Xianlin fell headfirst from the air, he drove the wolf-fang spear downward toward Yang Tianbao’s head or shoulders.

Yang Tianbao also looked up and charged upward against the falling figure, raising his pair of hammers and crossing them before him to block the spear.

But when Yellow Xianlin thrust downward, he held the wolf-fang spear with both hands, and because the weapon was comparatively light, it moved with great agility, shifting quickly through several strikes at Yang Tianbao.

Yang Tianbao’s Thunder Hammer was heavy, and he himself was charging upward from below. Rising from below already took effort, and with those two massive thunder hammers in hand, it was naturally no easy thing to block or evade the constantly changing, fast-thrusting spear.

As expected, Yang Tianbao’s blocking and dodging lagged a little, and one of Yellow Xianlin’s thrusts struck his shoulder.

Seeing that he had pierced Yang Tianbao’s shoulder, Yellow Xianlin, unwilling to let his spear be knocked away by the thunder hammers, gripped the wolf-fang spear tightly with his right hand. He spread his left palm and forcefully feinted behind him into the air. In the midst of that feint, his palm, like a hand fan being waved, was driven by the recoil of the palm wind, making his body fall downward even faster. And with Yang Tianbao’s upward momentum added to it, the spear sank even deeper into Yang Tianbao’s shoulder.

Struck by the wolf-fang spear, Yang Tianbao’s brows shot up, his forehead tightened, and his mouth flew open as he cried out in pain.

Then, under the downward force of Yellow Xianlin’s plunge, Yang Tianbao too was dragged toward the ground.

As he fell, Yang Tianbao gritted his teeth against the pain and, with all his strength, hurled the Thunder Hammer in his right hand upward toward Yellow Xianlin above him.

Yellow Xianlin had not expected that at such a critical moment, Yang Tianbao would actually fling his beloved weapon at him, trying to crush him with the hammer.

He thought: Since Yang Tianbao dares throw his cherished Thunder Hammer at me in an attempt to smash me, the force behind it must be tremendous.

So, in order to keep his head from being smashed, Yellow Xianlin had no choice but to thrust his left hand straight toward the hammer. Just as it was about to crash down on him, he used his palm to strike the side of it, borrowing its own force to push it aside. In doing so, he avoided meeting the hammer’s full frontal impact and reduced the harm it could do to him.

When Yellow Xianlin’s left hand met the flying Thunder Hammer, the collision force was indeed enormous. The moment his palm touched its edge, he felt a searing pain beside his hand.

Yellow Xianlin used the leverage of his palm to shove the hammer aside, and it veered slightly left before flying upward into the air.

As Yang Tianbao fell, he saw that Yellow Xianlin had actually managed to push his hammer away. He had just begun to feel despondent when his feet landed on the ground with a thud. Fearing the wolf-fang spear would sink deeper into his shoulder, Yang Tianbao immediately seized the spearhead with his right hand and pushed upward.

But because Yellow Xianlin’s downward momentum from the air was too great, and because the wolf-fang spear itself was heavy, the two forces of inertia together with gravity pressed down upon him. Though Yang Tianbao was a huge and powerful man, even his mighty push could only slightly lessen the force with which Yellow Xianlin and the spear drove in, so Yang Tianbao’s shoulder was still pierced nearly half a foot deep...