Chapter Thirty-Nine: Stalemate

“Bastard!”
The youth with three eyes spat out a mouthful of blood, and soon blood began to stream from his nostrils and ears as well. The Dan Yuan cultivated by Ji Hao’s Nine-Word Mantra Pill Scripture was unpredictable in its transformations; the force just blasted into the three-eyed youth’s body was domineering and wild, like the collapse of the heavens, like a volcanic eruption. The instant burst of power inflicted tremendous damage on his internal organs.

Tuoba and Tuo Ao struggled out of the muddy pit in disgrace, wiping their faces clean only to witness their leader sent flying and gravely injured by Ji Hao’s punch.

“Die!” Tuoba raised his horse sword, and a streak of azure wind howled along the blade, a sword light several feet long flashing forth, poised to slash at Ji Hao.

Tuo Ao, meanwhile, wielded his hammer-headed flail, trailing a series of afterimages as he rushed toward the three-eyed youth. He spread his arms and puffed out his chest, determined to use his own body as a human shield.

A shrill screech echoed from above; Raven Lord, flung high by the three-eyed youth’s blast, plummeted like a meteor. His wings vibrated, unleashing countless black feathers that shot out in torrents. The feathers, burning fiercely, rained down from the sky, each trailing a long stream of black smoke.

Tuoba and Tuo Ao let out anguished roars, bracing themselves against Raven Lord’s onslaught. They took deep breaths and stood firm. The surface of their heavy armor lit up with smooth lines; dozens of fist-sized twisted runes surfaced from deep within the armor, flickering with dazzling brilliance. With their heads bowed, they allowed the burning feathers to fall upon them.

Thunderous crashes resounded endlessly as Raven Lord’s feathers overwhelmed their bodies like a raging tide. Raven Lord screeched sharply, fire pouring from his scarlet eyes. Tuoba and Tuo Ao’s bodies trembled violently, the flow of light on their armor flickering rapidly. Occasionally, the feathers pierced the flowing light and struck the armor itself, leaving deep scars in the thick metal.

With every snap of his wings, Raven Lord released tens of thousands of feathers; it was unclear where they originated, but the torrent seemed inexhaustible, surging like an endless river. The feathers battered Tuoba and Tuo Ao’s armor, damaging it, showering sparks, and causing fragments to flake off.

Suddenly, a miserable howl broke out. Tuoba’s shoulder armor was destroyed by a falling fire feather, and three burning raven feathers, each six feet long, pierced through his shoulder, embedding deep into the scapula.

The feathers were wreathed in golden-red flames, scorching Tuoba’s shoulder and releasing a pungent smell of roasted flesh. Tuoba’s face twisted in agony.

Tuo Ao could no longer shield the three-eyed youth; instead, he spread his arms to block the incoming feathers aimed for Tuoba.

Ji Hao slid behind the bleeding, fleeing three-eyed youth, his hands moving like lightning, raining down dozens of fist shadows. The youth’s body shuddered violently, blood gushing from his mouth.

“Die!”
The three-eyed youth, his organs nearly shattered, turned with fierce malice, the vertical eye on his brow suddenly blazing. A wind blade over ten feet long shot forth with a piercing howl.

But before he could fire, Ji Hao’s slap came faster than lightning. The wind blade barely left his brow, and the youth spun on the spot three times, the wind blade grazing Ji Hao and slicing a thousand feet away.

The wind blade was incomparably sharp, splitting mountains and vegetation in its path. Dozens of unlucky savages in its way were cleaved in two before they could even cry out.

A mist of blood followed, and after a thousand feet the wind blade exploded, unleashing a blue-green whirlwind that rose abruptly. The whirlwind, a yard thick, howled and raged, stirring hundreds of palm-sized wind blades that pulverized everything within a dozen yards before slowly dissipating.

Ji Hao’s teeth ached at the sight—the wind blade’s power was astonishing, enough to slaughter hundreds of enemies on the battlefield.

Before the three-eyed youth could recover from the slap, Ji Hao seized his pale blue hair and delivered a practiced kick to the groin. The youth, still shaking his head in resistance, shrieked, instinctively doubling over and clutching his violated vitals.

“Kneel! Kneel before me!” Ji Hao roared, his right foot crashing down.

In the span of a single breath, Ji Hao kicked the youth's calves over a hundred times, each strike ringing out with a deafening clang, nearly shattering Ji Hao’s own toe bones. Only then did the youth’s shin bones snap with a crunch, breaking into several pieces.

“Damn you, bastard!”
The youth writhed and screamed, tears and snot streaming from his face.

Ji Hao drew a dagger, and as the youth cursed, he thrust the blade into his mouth and twisted viciously. Ji Hao’s wrist trembled as if sawing rawhide with a blunt knife; with tremendous force, he finally severed the youth’s tongue. The agony sent spasms through his body, which suddenly went limp, all resistance lost.

With a series of harsh caws, Raven Lord plummeted to the ground, spewing golden-red flames from his beak. Tuoba and Tuo Ao, seeing the three-eyed youth fall into Ji Hao’s hands, wailed in despair and, ignoring Raven Lord’s fire, darted forward, grabbing the wounded Ji Ying and Ji Lang and using them as shields.

Just as the flames were about to engulf Ji Ying and Ji Lang, Raven Lord’s eyes widened; he inhaled sharply, sucking the fire back.

With a bang, the returning fire surged into Raven Lord’s belly, detonating inside his abdomen. Black smoke billowed from his nostrils, choking him into rasping cries, and tears gushed from his bloodshot eyes.

Ji Hao pressed his dagger against the three-eyed youth’s temple, twisting the blade, already cutting through the flesh. A slight push would drive it deep into the youth’s skull.

“Release them! Let them go!” Ji Hao shouted, seeing Ji Ying and Ji Lang in Tuoba and Tuo Ao’s grasp. “If you don’t want this three-eyed brat dead, release them!”

“Let them go! Release our captain!” Tuoba and Tuo Ao’s eight eyes were bloodshot, their bronze skin tinged with black. “Besides these two, we have plenty of your clansmen in our hands!”

From the dense woods behind, a squad of the three-eyed youth’s followers emerged, each holding a warrior from the Fire Raven Clan or the Qingyi Clan. Those warriors, heavily wounded by Tuoba and Tuo Ao, had no strength left to resist.

Ji Hao was about to speak when Tuoba barked, “We’ll kill three first!”

Three dark-skinned burly men shouted and, with a swift motion, decapitated the Fire Raven warriors they held.

“Kill!” Ji Hao roared without hesitation, stabbing his dagger into the three-eyed youth’s right eye socket and prying out the eyeball whole.

“Do you think I won’t kill? Let’s all die together!” Ji Hao howled, tossing the eyeball to the ground and stomping it into pulp.

Tuoba and Tuo Ao stared at Ji Hao as if seeing a ghost, and Cold Creek Valley fell into a deathly silence.

***

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