The Mantis Stalks the Cicada, Unaware of the Oriole Behind
Bang-!
Halberd and fist collided – the thunderous impact sending a shockwave out in all directions.
Zhao Yunxiao dug his feet in and stood firm, using all his might to hold his ground for as long as possible.
His halberd bent significantly from the impact, with the force from the collision travelling through the weapon to reach Zhao Yunxiao as well.
Tremours rippled through his arm like a wave, eventually reaching his body and shaking it down to its very core.
Blood trickled out from the corner of Zhao Yunxiao's mouth as he felt his internal organs on the verge of being crushed under such violent handling.
The pain was excruciating!
Yet even then, Zhao Yunxiao refused to take a step back, enduring it with all of his mind and body.
Endurance was his strength, so how could he falter here?
Of course, it definitely helped that he could clearly see how Old Niu was in an even worse state right now.
Pu-!
Old Niu spat out a mouthful of blood, followed by a second, and a third.
It was obvious that Nie Hanchang's arrow of energy had resulted in some grievous injuries.
But despite these injuries, he still refused to turn away from Zhao Yunxiao. On the contrary, it actually made him more determined to double-down on his earlier decision.
"Aaaaaaahhh!" Old Niu roared and struck out with his other fist, directly striking Zhao Yunxiao's halberd on the shaft that was already bent to its limit.
Boom-!
Zhao Yunxiao widened his eyes in horror as his halberd completely split apart, unable to withstand the sheer power behind Old Niu's attack!
Pu-!
This time, it was Zhao Yunxiao's turn to spit out a mouthful of blood as he staggered back a dozen steps, only managing to barely find his footing after falling to one knee for support.
He had been imbuing his halberd with essence energy, which formed a natural connection between the two.
The sudden destruction of the halberd had caused an unexpected disruption to this connection, resulting in an energy backlash that directly affected Zhao Yunxiao from within.
His essence energy ran wild within his dantian, creating a strain that only exacerbated the physical pain that he was already experiencing.
That said, he was lucky enough to get away without suffering any severe internal injuries, but the consequences still could not be ignored.
But top it all off, there was still the psychological pain of witnessing his trusted halberd be reduced to nothing but scraps!
"Ugh!" Old Niu fell to both knees after throwing out that punch.
His face had turned pale. Blood was both spurting out from his back and flowing out from his mouth.
It was clear that he was quickly reaching his limit – perhaps an inevitability after having to endure Nie Hanchang's arrow, hold back the golden tortoise heads from the Dark Tortoise Devouring Array, and deal with Zhao Yunxiao all at the same time.
Rip-!
The relentless golden tortoise heads were also starting to get through Old Niu's tough skin with greater ease, a testament to how he was starting to lose his ability to sustain the energy expenditure required to strengthen his defences.
Bit by bit, pieces of flesh were being ripped from his huge body, disintegrating upon entering the golden tortoise heads' jaws.
This was the terror of the Dark Tortoise Devouring Array – a killing array capable of rendering its target into absolute nothingness.
Once it was done with its targets, there would no longer be a single trace of them left!
And from the looks of it, Old Niu was done.
The spirit stones supporting the Dark Tortoise Devouring Array were about to be depleted. But even without the array, there was little to no chance for the current Old Niu to turn things around at this point.
Considering his current injuries, all Nie Hanchang and Zhao Yunxiao had to do was run circles around him, and he would simply bleed to death on his own.
The kneeling Zhao Yunxiao slowly stood up while trying to regulate his breathing and suppress his internal injuries.
The fight was finally over!
They had won, but at what cost?
Thinking about the tonnes of resources that had been expended in the course of the battle, Zhao Yunxiao started to doubt if it was worth coming all the way out here in the first place!
Zhao Yunxiao glanced over at Nie Hanchang, only to see that the latter was drenched in sweat, bent over, and panting heavily right now.
It would appear that the previous arrow of energy, while impressive, had taken a huge toll on him at the same time.
Then again, perhaps that was only to be expected as well.
Now that there was a brief moment of respite, Zhao Yunxiao thought back to the arrows of energy that Nie Hanchang had been firing, and could not help but shudder in apprehension.
Yes, the setup of the Dark Tortoise Devouring Array had not been optimised due to the lack of time, but it was still a killing array.
To be able to lash out with damage even above that of a killing array, that was crazy on Nie Hanchang's part.
If Nie Hanchang could continue throwing out such devastating attacks one after another and not feel any strain from doing so, that would make him a true terror on the battlefield!
Considering this, Zhao Yunxiao was just glad that they had been on the same side.
"Is it over?" Lou Yuan asked carefully.
He was the most lively one right now, being the only one who had not participated in the battle, or at least not directly so.
"Is it over, Old Niu?" Zhao Yunxiao redirected the question to Old Niu instead.
"Ugh!" Old Niu did not answer directly, but let out another groan of agony. Blood was escaping his mouth in spurts, while the injuries on his body grew worse with each passing moment.
After all, while Zhao Yunxiao and Nie Hanchang had stopped attacking, the Dark Tortoise Devouring Array did not!
Bit by bit, pieces of flesh were still being slowly ripped out of Old Niu's tough body.
The current him resembled a shattered vase that had been carelessly pieced back together, which was then used to forcibly store water. Though he retained his overall form, blood was still spilling out from numerous spots on his body.
"Seems like it," Nie Hanchang answered instead.
Zhao Yunxiao nodded, though a frown remained on his face.
He did not enjoy leaving his opponents to such a long and drawn-out death.
Not only did he find it inhumane to leave his opponents suffering in pain during their final moments, but it also increased the risks involved.
After all, the danger would only be truly gone when his opponents were either dead or completely subdued.
Before that point, there was always the chance of a reversal, no matter how slim. So, it was always best to end things decisively.
Unfortunately, his hands were tied this time around.
It was not like he did not want to end Old Niu's pain, but Old Niu was simply too tough!
Conventional methods would not break his defences, and non-conventional methods did not work here.
Poison had a risk of spreading due to the fog.
Explosive talismans had a risk of setting the entire prairie in flames.
Even Nie Hanchang seemed to be about spent as well.
Right now, the safest and most reliable method they had was to just let Old Niu bleed out on his own.
"Wha-cough... What right do-cough... Do you people have? To co-cough... come here and loot our home?" Old Niu spoke weakly, his speech impeded by the blood that kept escaping his mouth in spurts.
"Ghost Fog Valley has always been unclaimed territory," Zhao Yunxiao repeated what he said earlier.
"Cough! Unclaimed territory? That's easy for outsiders like you to say..." Old Niu responded wryly.
With that, his huge body finally fell to the ground, landing face first onto the floor of grass.
His body started transforming once again, this time losing all semblance of a humanoid and completely reverting to his true form of a giant green bull.
Zhao Yunxiao had mixed feelings as he continued watching Old Niu's dying self.
At this moment, Old Niu's words continued replaying themselves in his head.
The entire valley is my home! So, tell me, what's wrong with me taking care of any intruders? You only have yourselves to blame for entering without my permission!
All my kinsmen started leaving one by one. Now, I am the only one left defending our home.
Unclaimed territory? That's easy for outsiders like you to say...
Was Old Niu speaking the truth?
If so, did he truly deserve such an end?
Indeed, this world was enormous, inhabited by creatures dating all the way back to the ancient times.
Who could say for sure whether an area was truly unclaimed territory?
Was it others' fault for disregarding his claims? Or was it Old Niu's fault for not possessing the strength to defend his home, yet still stubbornly trying to do so?
Zhao Yunxiao believed it was the latter.
It was a world where the strongest fist set the rules.
If one wanted to have a say in this harsh and chaotic world, the fundamental premise was to gain enough strength to force others to hear their voices.
Otherwise, one could complain and wallow in despair for years and years, and that would still serve to change nothing.
Huu-!
Zhao Yunxiao let out a deep breath.
Regardless, he did not regret taking down Old Niu today.
Feeling bad for Old Niu was one thing, but he only did what was necessary to ensure the safety of Nie Hanchang, Lou Yuan, and himself.
Even a man with the most tragic of backgrounds would need to be put down if he was posing a risk to others. Otherwise, it would only serve to bring tragedy upon more people!
"He's still not dead?" Lou Yuan exclaimed in disbelief while climbing down from Nie Hanchang's back. "These bull demons are unnecessarily tough!"
"Don't go near him," Zhao Yunxiao cautioned while pulling out a dagger.
Old Niu was already on the verge of death, but that was still not enough.
Now that things had come to this, they had to ensure that he dies, or Zhao Yunxiao would not be able to leave with a peace of mind.
Zhao Yunxiao carefully aimed the dagger at Old Niu's closing eyes while suppressing the chaos in his own body.
He knew that the spirits stones would deplete in less than a minute, marking the end of the Dark Tortoise Devouring Array.
Before that happened, Zhao Yunxiao wanted to get this settled once and for all!
But just as he was about to throw out the dagger, he suddenly found himself losing his balance.
"Wha?!" Zhao Yunxiao exclaimed while struggling to find his footing.
No, it was not that he was losing his balance.
It was the world around him that was suddenly warping crazily!
Zhao Yunxiao was not the only one experiencing this, either.
Nie Hanchang furrowed his brows and knelt down to stabilise himself, leaning against the Grand Annihilator for additional support.
"What's going on?!" Lou Yuan cried out in horror as he similarly staggered around like a drunkard before quickly holding onto Nie Hanchang for support.
Their surroundings were spinning.
The ground was splitting – certain areas rising to form columns while others forming seemingly bottomless abysses.
Their bodies seemed to be warping, stretching out into thread-like existences.
Shit!
Zhao Yunxiao cursed in his head.
There was no doubt about it – they had fallen under an illusion technique!
Who did it? Old Niu?
Don't tell me... we have been fighting an illusion all along?!
It was at this moment that hundreds of flower petals flew through the air, coming together to form a figure that stepped lightly upon a bush of fairymist flowers.
This figure slowly transformed, changing from mere petals to form flesh and blood, complete with clothes that wrapped neatly around it.
It was a young boy with white hair reaching all the way down to his feet, dressed in white cloth that covered him from the neck down. His pupils and iris were both white, making them seem almost invisible against his white sclera.
His youthful face revealed a grumpy frown as he swept his gaze over everyone present.
"It's bad enough to call us accursed flowers, but can't you guys keep your petty conflict to yourselves? Just how many of my friends need to die in your crossfire? Do you really think you can get away with murder without consequences?" the boy said unhappily. "You guys mentioned that this is just a matter of the mantis stalking the cicada, unaware of the oriole behind? Well then, let me tell you this. If anyone is the oriole here, that can only be me!"