Frenzied Battle

A bloody, savage aura spread through the forest. Coupled with Yang Que's bearing at that moment, it sent chills down the spine!

"Wh-what... Boss, what kind of monster is that?" Ming San's voice trembled!

Ming Yi did not answer. His eyes reddened as he thought of the three of them. They had risen from a small tribe thirty-two years ago. They were not brothers by blood, but they were closer than brothers—true comrades who would face life and death together! Now one of them was dead, and rage surged through him!

"Ah! I'll kill you!" Nearly out of his mind, Ming Yi charged at Yang Que!

Seeing his boss rush forward, Ming San gritted his teeth and charged too!

A bloodthirsty smile crossed Yang Que's face as the two men came at him!

The three fought furiously. Though Yang Que faced both men alone, he gave no ground. If anything, he held a slight advantage!

After taking the Berserk Pill, violent power had overwhelmed Yang Que's reason. He attacked without pause!

Yang Que fought as though he had no life to lose, trading wound for wound!

Ming Er's death had filled Ming Yi with fury, but he did not want to die! He stalled, waiting for Yang Que to come out of this state!

Ming San was worse. He kept defending, barely contributing to the fight, saving his strength!

He hoped Yang Que and his boss would cripple each other. Then he could reap the fisherman's profit and claim a Titled Douluo's reward for himself!

Yang Que fought on in a frenzy, unleashing Soul Skill after Soul Skill without regard for the cost in Soul Power. Fortunately, the Berserk Pill had raised his Soul Power by ten levels, and he had cultivated the Azure Yang Art. Otherwise, he would have fallen after only a few dozen exchanges!

The Berserk Pill kept clouding his mind, but the last thread of reason within him told him he had to kill one man and severely wound the other before its effects wore off! Once they did, his Soul Power would enter a period of weakness anyway. He might as well use it all!

Driven by that thought, Yang Que chased Ming Yi and Ming San relentlessly, hacking at them and unleashing Soul Skills without pause!

Ming San only defended. He feared Yang Que would turn his attacks on him!

Relying on the Azure Yang Art and his powerful body, Yang Que attacked without defending at all! Neither man dared clash with him head-on. As one side weakened and the other surged, Yang Que fought with growing ferocity!

The wounds on his body kept multiplying and worsening, yet he never stopped attacking!

Ming Yi and Ming San were little better off. Their necks, arms, thighs, and waists all bore wounds from Yang Que's Soul-Slaying Sword! The Blood Fiend Aura within the sword ate into those wounds, leaving them bleeding without end!

"Damn it, what kind of monster is he? He's only a Soul Elder, yet his Soul Power is greater than both of ours combined!"

And Ming San is barely lifting a finger. He clearly wants to reap the fisherman's profit! I treated you like a brother, and you're scheming against me? I won't let you have your way. I need a plan! A glint flashed through Ming Yi's eyes!

"Ming San! Stop saving your strength! We can't drag this out any longer! If we do, we'll both die! He's badly wounded and already a spent arrow. If we strike together with everything we have, he'll fall!" Ming Yi roared. He had plainly noticed Ming San holding back!

"All right, Boss! I'll follow your lead!" Ming San answered through gritted teeth!

"Good! I'll count to three. We'll use our fifth Soul Skills together!" Ming Yi said!

"One!"

"Two!"

"Three!"

"Now!"

Fifth Soul Skill: Spirit Cat Charge!

Ming San charged at Yang Que!

Yang Que had heard their exchange. The pill's effects were about to wear off, and he had thought he could only unleash one final, strongest strike. Even then, he might fail to kill either man. That was not what he wanted!

But when he saw that only Ming San was charging toward him, Yang Que smiled—a smile of genuine delight! The human heart was a terrifying thing. It could turn two men as close as brothers against each other. How interesting!

Ming San found Yang Que's smile terrifying, no matter how he looked at it. At the same time, he realized Ming Yi had set him up. He looked back. "Boss, you..." Before he could say more, Yang Que charged at him. There was no time to worry about anything else. The arrow was already on the bowstring; he had to release it!

"Don't blame me, Ming San. If you'd fought beside me in earnest, I would have shared the reward with you. But you shouldn't have schemed against me!" Ming Yi murmured as the two drew closer to each other!

Third Soul Skill: Burning Blade!

First Soul Skill: Blood Blade!

Boom!

Two mighty forces collided! The impact snapped the trees around them!

Soul Power from the blast's shockwave spread for dozens of miles!

Thud! Inside the cave, Zhu Zhuqing, who had been turning a white herb over in her hands, sprang to her feet!

That was...? One of those powers seemed to belong to one of the three Soul Kings. The other seemed to be that bastard's. Has something happened to him? Dragging her injured body, Zhu Zhuqing ran toward the explosion as fast as she could!

"Don't let anything happen to you, you bastard! If you lose your life saving me, what am I supposed to do?" Zhu Zhuqing murmured!

The two figures flew backward even faster than they had rushed into the collision!

As they hurtled away, both coughed up mouthfuls of blood!

Whoosh! Yang Que twisted around in midair. As he fell, he forced down the blood surging in his throat and pulled the Ice Sword from his bag!

Sword Shadow Thrust! The Ice Sword shot toward Ming San's chest at blinding speed!

Ming San's pupils contracted at the sight of the incoming sword!

"No! Boss, save me!" Ming San screamed!

Ming Yi only watched coldly. He made no move to help. After all, he had barely a tenth of his strength left and was badly wounded. He still had to kill Yang Que. How could he spare any strength to save someone else?

Seeing that his boss would do nothing, Ming San closed his eyes in despair!

Thud! The sword plunged into his heart! In his final moment, he remembered the days when the three brothers had struggled and fought together. They had helped and supported one another all the way to this day. He had never imagined it would end like this! He seemed to see Ming Er beckoning to him, and a smile touched his lips. Ming Er, I'm coming to find you!

The smile on Ming San's face as he died sent a stab of pain through Ming Yi's heart! But he quickly buried it, and excitement rose in its place. Once he killed Yang Que, a lavish reward would be his!

He looked at Yang Que, who seemed to have collapsed unconscious on the ground, and could not help smiling!

Ming Yi walked to his third brother's corpse and pulled out the Ice Sword without a trace of expression. Then he limped slowly toward Yang Que!

"You! This is all your fault! If not for you, how would two of us brothers have died? Today I'll avenge them both! Hahahaha!" Ming Yi snarled with laughter!

He raised the sword and drove it toward Yang Que's heart!

Yang Que's eyes flew open. He shifted his body in an instant. Thud! The sword pierced him, but missed his heart!

"How..." Before Ming Yi could finish, Yang Que sprang up, clenched his fist, and drove it toward Ming Yi's heart!

Bam! The punch struck squarely over his heart! Ming Yi's eyes went wide as blood poured from his mouth. "You were... pretending!"

Thud! Ming Yi's body gave out, and he fell!

"Cough, cough!" Yang Que kept coughing up blood, with what looked like fragments of his organs mixed in! "Of course I was pretending. Otherwise... how could I have... killed a greedy old bastard who'd sell out his own brothers?"

Yang Que slowly pulled the Ice Sword from his body. Looking at the three corpses, he began to laugh!

"Cough, cough! The human heart... nothing's more terrifying! Ha! In the end, I won! Hahaha... ha..." As he laughed, Yang Que lost his footing and fell backward!

Thud! Instead of the painful impact with the ground he expected, he landed against someone's soft body!

"Cough... cough! You came?" Yang Que opened his eyes and slowly spoke those words. Then he passed out, utterly unconscious...

"Mm. I'm here!" Tears glistened in Zhu Zhuqing's eyes. She gently lifted Yang Que and, dragging her injured body, carried him deeper into the forest...