Chapter 153: A Fight to the Death, Meier Appears

Furry Ball cast its gaze toward the northwest, let out a cold snort, and hurtled in that direction. In a flash of motion, Furry Ball arrived deep within a towering mountain range in the northwest. The jungle was dense, and a dim, eerie glow emanated from the depths of the mountain.

Furry Ball shook its body, transformed into human form, and gazed coldly into the depths of the mountain. Suddenly, a streak of black light flashed, and an old man draped in a black robe appeared by Furry Ball's side.

The old man stood with a stooped back, gazing at the dense jungle before him while muttering under his breath. Suddenly, a fierce crimson light flashed in his eyes, the corners of his mouth lifted slightly, and he looked at Furry Ball with a respectful expression.

"My Lord, this place shares some origins with you."

This old man was none of other than Elder Ming of the Nether Spirit Pavilion. Elder Ming smiled cheerfully as he looked at the oily light within the mountain, which alternated between intense and feeble. Furry Ball glanced at Elder Ming, shifted its form, and dashed straight into the region of the mountain emitting that oily light.

"Boom..."

"Who goes there..."

"Audacious! This is the territory of Lord Chiyunhu, the eldest son of Lord Chila. You are not permitted to act presumptuously!"

Just as Furry Ball and Elder Ming approached the glowing region, a streak of ghostly light flashed, and a middle-aged man appeared before the mountain, glaring coldly at Furry Ball and Elder Ming as he shouted sternly.

Before the man's words had even faded, Elder Ming let out a cold snort and lashed out with a surge of black Qi. The middle-aged man's expression changed, and he hurriedly retreated in a flash.

"Little Ming, even if your master has arrived, there is no need to throw a tantrum. Ignorance is no crime; furthermore, your master has lost his memories now, so why resort to harming people? You are not young anymore, it is time to restrain your temper."

Elder Ming's surge of black Qi neither struck the middle-aged man nor harmed a single blade of grass, as it was directly absorbed by the mountain itself.

Hearing the deep, resonant voice echoing from within the mountain, Elder Ming blushed, his expression turning rather cautious and restrained. Furry Ball, however, paid no heed to conventions and completely ignored the voice, charging straight in front of the middle-aged man and grabbing him by the throat.

"Regardless of who you are, do not interfere in that war, or else we will destroy you."

Furry Ball wore a stern expression and spoke in an icy tone. Back on the battlefield of the border city, those four tigers had clearly been utilizing something external beyond their own abilities, acting as conduits to channel even greater combat power.

The source of this combat power was precisely this mountain hidden deep within the dense forest. Consequently, Jiang Pingchuan had merely been fighting phantoms and draining his own True Qi; his attacks could only target the four tigers and could not inflict the slightest harm on the mastermind behind the scenes.

"Hehe, even your old man wouldn't dare to be so arrogant in front of me, yet you brat have quite a sharp tongue. Since you've arrived, come on in. There isn't much good food to give you, though..."

"I'll eat your..."

"Slap, slap, slap..."

"Ouch, ouch..."

Hearing the old fellow inside the mountain speak with a tone even more arrogant than his own, Furry Ball instantly flew into a rage. He didn't even know who his own father was, yet this bastard dared to claim he was more arrogant than his old man!

Wasn't that sheer nonsense? Everyone knew the saying that each generation surpasses the previous one. With his explosive temper flaring up, Furry Ball started cursing, but before he could finish his words, a massive gale erupted from the mountain, sweeping both him and Elder Ming straight inside.

Before Furry Ball could even react upon entering the mountain, someone pinned him to the ground and landed four fierce slaps firmly on his backside. That kind of force was something even he couldn't withstand back in the Nascent Soul stage, let alone now that his cultivation in the Changfeng Continent was suppressed to the Foundation Establishment realm.

Those three slaps left Furry Ball completely dazed. Elder Ming wore a bitter expression as he looked at the old man currently spanking Furry Ball's backside, not daring to utter a single sound. Strictly speaking, this was an uncle disciplining his nephew.

The relationship between the old man before them and Furry Ball was far closer than that between master and loyal subordinate. Falling into the category of family affairs, Elder Ming decisively picked up a metaphorical watermelon in his heart to watch the show as a spectator, choosing not to meddle.

The battlefield of the border city was already littered with corpses. The northwest army had launched its attack at dawn, and now, as dusk approached, the two armies were still locked in fierce combat with no intention of stopping.

Suspended in mid-air, Jiang Pingchuan suddenly felt the binding force disappear. Seeing the four tigers still attacking the Crimson Qilin and his soldiers without restraint, Jiang Pingchuan pulled the Battle King Token from his embrace and waved it toward the sky. Twenty thousand ghostly soldiers instantly flooded the battlefield as the sky filled with dark clouds and rumbling thunder.

The entry of the ghostly soldiers brought immense pressure to the beastmen of the northwest. These ghostly soldiers were entities they could not eradicate through attacks; like loopholes in reality, the ghostly soldiers could kill them, yet they had no countermeasure against the ghostly soldiers.

Consequently, the battle, which had initially been evenly matched, instantly tipped into a one-sided slaughter. Wielding the Asura Spear in his grip, Jiang Pingchuan charged straight toward the four tigers.

Under the onslaught of the four tigers, the Crimson Qilin had already suffered heavy injuries, and its aura was steadily weakening. Jiang Pingchuan thrust his spear, piercing the Bone Tiger. The Bone Tiger let out a mournful howl and turned to counterattack Jiang Pingchuan.

Lord Gong intended to rush to Jiang Pingchuan's aid, but he noticed thick clouds of smoke rolling in from the northwest direction. Long Heng and Xia Ha walked up beside Lord Gong, watching the rapidly spreading fog behind the beastman ranks, and suddenly felt a chill run through their bodies.

"Oh no! A miasma formation!"

Long Heng recognized at a glance that this was the very miasma formation that had trapped his own troops back then, which he later heard from Jiang Pingchuan had subjected them to fierce beast attacks.

It now appeared that this miasma formation was the work of some formation master in the northwest. Hearing Long Heng's words, Lord Gong furrowed his brows deeply and immediately strode toward the encroaching miasma formation.

Seeing this, Long Heng and Xia Ha hurried after Lord Gong toward the miasma formation. If the miasma formation were allowed to engulf the entire battlefield, the casualties on their side would likely be catastrophic, given that miasma formations were fatal to soldiers who relied on channeling True Qi.

Jiang Pingchuan also sensed the miasma formation, but unfortunately, he was utterly powerless to stop it. The four tigers before him were desperately entangling him. Gripping the Asura Spear, Jiang Pingchuan abandoned the idea of fighting all four tigers simultaneously, as these four beasts were exceptionally cunning and shared a hive mind.

Fixating on the Bone Tiger he had just severely injured, Jiang Pingchuan charged forward. No matter how fiercely the other three tigers attacked him from behind, Jiang Pingchuan ignored them entirely, leaving himself completely exposed to their blows.

Jiang Pingchuan poured all his energy solely into the Bone Tiger before him. Faced with Jiang Pingchuan's ruthless and uncompromising assault, the Bone Tiger visibly began to ceter and retreat. Confronted by such ferocious momentum, the Bone Tiger's psychological defense was broken, and its behavior began to exhibit fear.

Taking advantage of a momentary lapse by the Bone Tiger, Jiang Pingchuan thrust his spear straight into its chest. The Bone Tiger let out a heaven-shaking roar as it was beaten back into human form. Before the newly reverted human could even stand, Jiang Pingchuan stepped on its chest, raised the Asura Spear in his hands, and viciously stabbed it down toward its head.

"Jiang Pingchuan! Stop, or I'll kill him!"

Seeing the Asura Spear descending toward him, the Bone Tiger's eyes filled with despair. But at that critical juncture, a deep, resonant voice from the Fire Tiger rang out, halting Jiang Pingchuan as the tip of the Asura Spear hovered right against the Bone Tiger's eyeball.

With just a gentle thrust, the Asura Spear in Jiang Pingchuan's grip would have pierced the Bone Tiger's skull and ended its life. Maintaining his posture, Jiang Pingchuan silently chanted an incantation, stretched out his finger, and rapidly tapped the center of the Bone Tiger's brow.

The Bone Tiger stared blankly at Jiang Pingchuan. Seeing that the beast no longer posed a threat, Jiang Pingchuan turned his head to look at the Fire Tiger that had called out to him. The person held captive in the Fire Tiger's grip was none of other than Han Liang, the new city lord of Dongzhou City. Han Liang's face was pale, covered in injuries of all sizes, and bloody whip marks were visible through his tattered clothes.

"Jiang Pingchuan, let the Bone Tiger go, or I'll kill him!"

The Fire Tiger dangled Han Liang in its grip and spoke in a deep voice to Jiang Pingchuan. Jiang Pingchuan stared coldly at the Fire Tiger and clenched his teeth.

"Why do opponents always love to use someone their adversary cares about as leverage? If you truly have the skill, let's continue fighting. Winning through such dishonorable means means that even if I let him go, he is destined to live out his life in cowardice."

Jiang Pingchuan's voice was frigid. At the start of the battle, the four tigers had used the Thirteen Dragon Guards to give him a setback, and now they were using Han Liang to coerce him. He utterly loathed this kind of blackmail.

"Second Master, don't listen to him! Han Liang's life ends here. If he lets me go, I'll live out my life in cowardice too! Kill this bastard, don't worry about me!"

Han Liang's lips trembled as he shouted loudly toward Jiang Pingchuan. As he finished speaking, a mouthful of fresh blood spilled from his lips, and his eyes gazed at Jiang Pingchuan with longing. In his heart, he felt just as Jiang Pingchuan had described the Bone Tiger moments ago.

As a city lord, not only had he failed to defend the first line of defense when the great war arrived, but he had even been captured by the enemy to be used as leverage against Jiang Pingchuan in an attempt to breach the border city. Han Liang felt deeply aggrieved; he refused to let Jiang Pingchuan be held back by him and thus spare the Bone Tiger pinned beneath Jiang Pingchuan's foot.

"Bang, bang, bang..."

"Puff..."

No sooner had Han Liang finished speaking than the Fire Tiger delivered three heavy punches to his abdomen. Han Liang smiled miserably, rolling his eyes as he raised his head to look at the Fire Tiger beside him. The Fire Tiger glared back at him in annoyance.

"You're scared... Even beastmen know fear. You're afraid the Second Master will kill the Bone Tiger, you're scared, ha哈哈哈..."

"Second Master, kill them! Avenge Dongzhou City..."

With a furious roar, Han Liang hurled himself headfirst against the Fire Tiger beside him. Seeing this, the Fire Tiger drew a blade and directly decapitated Han Liang. Han Liang's head rolled to the ground, his eyes filled with madness, a smile lingering on his lips, and his gaze fixed precisely in the direction of Jiang Pingchuan.

The moment he saw Han Liang's head hit the ground, Jiang Pingchuan drove the Asura Spear downward. A surge of fierce, violent black Qi invaded the Bone Tiger's skull, causing it to explode into a bloody pulp. The Fire Tiger and the other two ground their teeth, their lips trembling as they glared at Jiang Pingchuan.

After killing the Bone Tiger, Jiang Pingchuan noticed a flicker of a smile in Han Liang's wide-open eyes. He still hadn't closed his eyes in death. Jiang Pingchuan knew that Han Liang wanted to watch him win this war. This war would not end quickly.

It would persist for a long time, until one side completely eradicated the other. Everyone who entered the battlefield fought here with a resolve to die; those with no way back never feared death.

"Jiang Pingchuan... hand over your life..."

Seeing their brother's head blown apart by Jiang Pingchuan, the Fire Tiger and the other two rushed frantically toward Jiang Pingchuan with bloodshot eyes. Jiang Pingchuan tossed the Asura Spear into the air and, wearing a cold expression, collided head-on with the charging Fire Tiger at the front.

Jiang Pingchuan slammed fiercely into the Fire Tiger, and in an instant, he shifted behind him. Just as he collided with the Fire Tiger and moved behind him, his neck was savagely clamped down by the Thunder Tiger and the Wind Tiger, who sank their fangs incessantly into his flesh.

True Qi surged continuously around Jiang Pingchuan's neck to prevent their fangs from penetrating deeper. With a pale face, he endured the pain of the tearing bites from the Wind Tiger and the Thunder Tiger. Feeling the Fire Tiger swaying unsteadily from his impact, Jiang Pingchuan slowly clenched his empty fist. Suddenly, a streak of black light swept across the air.

The Fire Tiger, who had turned around to stand behind Jiang Pingchuan and attempt an attack, suddenly had a long spear pierce through his abdomen from behind. That spear was none of other than the Asura Spear; it had pierced through the Fire Tiger's body from behind and landed in Jiang Pingchuan's hand. The moment Jiang Pingchuan grasped the Asura Spear, a sharp pain erupted from his neck.

The Thunder Tiger's fangs had broken through his True Qi defense, and the moment they made contact with his neck, Jiang Pingchuan's flesh was scorched black and soaked in blood by a surge of lightning.

Jiang Pingchuan struck out with a fist to drive the Thunder Tiger back, shook off the Wind Tiger clinging to his neck, spat out a mouthful of blood, and staggered forward with a dazed expression. His insides were churning violently; although his nine Dao crystals were rotating continuously, they still could not plug the massive leak in his bleeding True Qi.

Watching the Wind Tiger bare its fangs and lunge toward his neck once more, Jiang Pingchuan mustered his strength to swing the Asura Spear at the beast, but the Wind Tiger dodged it agilely.

As the Wind Tiger's fangs were about to lock onto his neck, Jiang Pingchuan no longer had the strength to swing the Asura Spear a second time. In a flash of deep blue light, someone wrapped their arms around his waist and pulled him backward. The Wind Tiger lunged into empty air and glared at the person who had rescued Jiang Pingchuan—none other than Hu Mei'er, dressed in flowing blue gauze.

Hu Mei'er gazed down at Jiang Pingchuan in her arms. This was the third time she had rescued him; the first two times were out of affection, while this time was to repay a favor. Jiang Pingchuan's entire cultivation had temporarily detached from his physical body due to the emergence of the ninth Dao crystal, and Hu Mei'er had coincidentally absorbed it, directly shattering the suppression of the Thousand-Sealing Saber and greatly increasing her own strength.

Hu Mei'er had been lingering around the perimeter of Jiang Pingchuan's activities all along. She hadn't intended to intervene, but upon seeing Jiang Pingchuan in mortal peril, she ultimately couldn't hold back. Jiang Pingchuan managed a weak smile as he looked at her.

"Young Master, Mei'er has arrived late..."

Hu Mei'er spoke softly to Jiang Pingchuan, who merely shook his head.

"You should leave quickly—"

Before Jiang Pingchuan could finish speaking, Mei'er pressed her finger against his lips, shook her head, gently laid him on the ground, and erected a defensive array using her True Qi.

Jiang Pingchuan noticed that the array Hu Mei'er was using to protect him was precisely the Wind-Breaking Formation, a technique he had previously mastered himself. He hadn't expected that Hu Mei'er not only absorbed his True Qi but also acquired parts of his spell-casting methods.

Hiding within the Wind-Breaking Formation, Jiang Pingchuan rapidly circulated his restorative cultivation technique to mend his body and replenish his True Qi. Through the barrier of the Wind-Breaking Formation, he could clearly observe the situation outside.

Hu Mei'er was locked in battle with the Wind Tiger and the Thunder Tiger; the Crimson Qilin, Lord Gong, Long Heng, and Xia Ha were fighting the beasts within the miasma formation; Iron Bull and the others were leading troops against the beastmen; and his own ghostly soldiers were rapidly charging into the miasma formation.

Yet, deep down, Jiang Pingchuan felt as though he had missed something crucial, though he still couldn't put his finger on it. This lingering thought filled his heart with profound unease, much like a seed waiting to erupt, quietly germinating and growing.

(PS: The power went out, Wuya is melting in front of his computer. To be continued.)