Soon, dust and gunpowder smoke began to fill the air, forming a haze that obscured everything within.
Zhu Youning naturally couldn't see what was happening inside, but whatever Li Cunxiao's condition, he wouldn't let up so easily.
Pull up the weeds by the roots, and root out evil completely!
Zhu Youning issued his orders calmly and rapidly. At the same time, he picked up a jar of Volatile Fire and hurled it toward Li Cunxiao, though he had slipped in a little something extra beforehand.
"Switch to fire arrows! Throw the Volatile Fire! Shoot!"
Another round of violent explosions rang out, continuing until Zhu Youning's men had thrown every last jar of Volatile Fire.
The scene suddenly fell silent, with only smoke billowing through the air.
Then, in the next instant, a tremendous roar rang out. An invisible surge of force swept the smoke from the battlefield, revealing Li Cunzhong and Li Cunxiao.
They were no longer standing where they had been before. Earlier, Li Cunzhong had stood on Li Cunxiao's neck. Now, he stood on Li Cunxiao's palm.
Volatile Fire was essentially a land mine. In this era, it wasn't particularly powerful—not compared to the Great Liang Invincible General Cannon. But Li Cunzhong's own strength was nowhere near enough to withstand dozens of Volatile Fire jars exploding in succession. It looked as though Li Cunxiao had used his body to shield Li Cunzhong from most of the blasts.
Li Cunxiao was now covered in soot, but he didn't seem seriously hurt.
The archers on the rooftops exchanged glances, seeing shock and fear in each other's eyes. Some even rasped, "How is that possible?"
Zhu Youning's expression darkened, but he said nothing.
Li Cunzhong took in everyone's reaction and gave a smug, sleazy grin. "If Hanba, the Corpse Ancestor of the Xuanming Cult, were here, perhaps he could handle my tenth brother. Unfortunately for you, he isn't. Tenth brother!"
Li Cunzhong slapped Li Cunxiao on the neck. The latter immediately marched in place, braced with his left leg, then raised his right foot and sprang into the air.
Then Li Cunxiao aimed his enormous body at the rooftop and came crashing down. With a thunderous boom, the building collapsed, and the archers stationed on the roof tumbled down with it, landing hard and groaning in pain.
But that wasn't the end of it. After crushing one building, Li Cunxiao leapt straight to another nearby, moving with astonishing speed.
A savage gleam shone in Li Cunxiao's eyes, like a beast that had spotted its prey. He raised a fist and roared. His punch tore through the air, radiating peerless ferocity as it slammed toward the building.
Boom!
One punch was all it took to shatter the building and bring it crashing down. The archers stationed on the roof fell with it.
At that moment, Jiang Renjie, who had been watching from the sidelines, finally seized his chance. He launched a Golden Blade Palm at Li Cunxiao from behind. But Li Cunxiao spun around in an instant and brought a fist crashing down at his head.
Jiang Renjie reacted swiftly to the danger. Realizing he was in trouble, he immediately pulled back and crossed his arms over his chest, trying to block Li Cunxiao's punch.
But the moment his arms met that enormous fist, Jiang Renjie knew he was in trouble.
He felt as if a boulder had smashed into him. His arms seemed ready to break. Li Cunxiao's punch sent him flying, and he slammed hard into a wall. The wall collapsed under the impact, burying Jiang Renjie beneath the rubble.
It all happened in the blink of an eye. By the time everyone came to their senses, more than a hundred Longxiang Army soldiers were sprawled on the ground, groaning in pain. Some had even gone still, their fate unknown.
After Li Cunxiao had finished, Li Cunzhong didn't order him to slaughter every last one.
He had no interest in these underlings—not even in the Benevolent Saint Yama King, the foremost of the Five Great Yama Kings of the Xuanming Cult.
As far as he was concerned, none of their lives mattered as much as one man's.
Zhu Youning's.
After all, Zhu Youning was a prince of Liang State!
He had come here on the orders of the Holy Lord of Tongwen Hall, Li Siyuan, to take Wang Shifan's life. But now he had stumbled upon Zhu Youning—a truly huge prize!
The credit for killing Zhu Youning would be worth as much as the credit for killing ten Wang Shifans!
"Protect the prince!"
When Wu Yi saw Li Cunxiao closing in, he immediately placed himself in front of Zhu Youning. He gripped his sword hilt, swept his arm out, and held the blade across his chest, shouting for the prince's protection. The other soldiers seemed just as eager to protect him, and more and more Longxiang Army soldiers rushed over. Those too far away drew their bows and kept firing arrows at Li Cunxiao.
But it was useless.
Li Cunxiao charged forward with a roar, batting aside the arrows with his body as he swept ahead like a whirlwind. His heavy footfalls made the ground quake, and he seemed unstoppable.
His huge hands swung like iron hammers, forcing the soldiers in his path to scatter. Some were even slapped clear off their feet.
Before long, fewer than a hundred Liang State soldiers nearby were still able to stand. Zhu Youning's face darkened. These were the brothers who had ridden with him through countless campaigns, risking their lives at his side. Now the dead and wounded were piling up—he would make them pay!
But Li Cunxiao was at the Great Heavenly Rank. Zhu Youning couldn't hope to face him with his current strength.
In the eyes of a Great Heavenly Rank expert, Mid-Heaven Realm and Small Star Rank were no different.
If he wanted to win, he could only rely on something else!
He could only hope that thing would work soon.
By now, Li Cunxiao had broken through the remaining hundred soldiers and was barely ten meters from Zhu Youning. More than a hundred soldiers were still rushing over from a hundred meters away, but they wouldn't arrive in time—and even if they did, they might not be able to stop Li Cunxiao.
Although dozens of soldiers were still standing around them, fear had clearly begun to creep into their hearts.
Li Cunzhong chuckled, not even sparing the soldiers a glance. He sneered, "Zhu Youning, my tenth brother is the fiercest man under heaven. With a bunch of shrimp and crab soldiers like you, you think you can stop us?!"
"Is that so?"
Taking advantage of a moment's inattention, Zhu Youning aimed at Li Cunxiao's brow and immediately hurled a spear.
Li Cunxiao was enormous, which gave people the mistaken impression that he was clumsy. But he was actually fast, with sharp eyes, quick hands, and keen hearing.
As the spear Zhu Youning had thrown came flying toward him, Li Cunxiao thrust out his huge hand and caught it by the tip.
"Trying to ambush my tenth brother with a throw that slow? You've got a long way to go!"
Li Cunzhong grinned smugly, full of confidence.
Li Cunxiao's thick fingers suddenly clenched around the spearhead, crushing it out of shape.
Then Li Cunxiao opened his hand and let the spear, its tip crushed into a lump, fall to the ground.
The spear was Zhu Youning's weapon, no ordinary one. Its tip was sharply tapered and razor-sharp, yet Li Cunxiao's palm bore not a single scratch.
"No wonder he's the fiercest general under heaven." Zhu Youning couldn't help praising him, though the killing intent in his heart remained undiminished.
Li Cunzhong grinned smugly. "With my tenth brother's Great Heavenly Rank strength and my own brilliant mind, even if all of you attacked together, it'd be useless."
Hearing Li Cunzhong's words, Zhu Youning's face darkened at just the right moment.
"I didn't expect you to be this troublesome."
Then Zhu Youning wore a resentful expression and gritted his teeth deliberately. "Looks like I have no choice but to reveal my trump card!"
Hearing his tone, Li Cunzhong really did fear Zhu Youning might have a trump card, and grew wary.
But Zhu Youning turned and ran, first whispering an order to Wu Yi.
Li Cunzhong froze. Only then did he realize Zhu Youning was trying to flee—but in the blink of an eye, Zhu Youning was already gone.
"He's quick on his feet! Tenth brother, after him!"
Li Cunxiao pounded his chest, then took a huge stride in pursuit of Zhu Youning. The ground trembled beneath his feet.
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