Bang! Bang! Bang!
A fierce clamor of fighting suddenly erupted in a secluded corner, as though the entire space were trembling beneath it.
Ming Hao and the others were surrounded by dozens of opponents. This was already their sixth operation of the day.
This time, however, they had run into a truly tough nut to crack-an exceptionally powerful opposition.
The two sides had fought fiercely for over ten minutes, yet neither could gain the upper hand.
Ming Hao and the others had initially thought little of their opponents, but now they realized how terribly wrong they had been.
At first, after lying in wait for a long time, Ming Hao and the others had watched two groups battle. One group had scraped out a victory, though every member had suffered injuries of varying severity, while the other group had fled in defeat.
So they had waited until the victors lowered their guard and sat down to rest and recover their strength.
Then Ming Hao and the others had seized their chance and struck without warning. Each had unleashed a full-power attack, expecting to knock all four of their targets to the ground in one fell swoop.
To their surprise, however, those blows had only severely wounded their targets, rather than immediately putting them out of action.
Worse still, the remaining dozen or so opponents had quickly closed in at the sight, forming a tight encirclement.
The twenty-odd disciples who had just been fighting that group had also swept in from behind like ghosts to reinforce them.
Clearly, they were all working together. Everything had been a carefully planned trap.
Ming Hao and the others instantly realized they had been duped. Their opponents had merely been putting on a show, using a ruse of self-inflicted suffering to lure them into taking the bait.
Presumably, Ming Hao and the others had robbed too many people that day and put them on their guard. That was why these disciples had joined forces and spread a net that covered heaven and earth, waiting for Ming Hao and the others to walk straight into it.
There were nearly fifty opponents in total, all at the ninth level or Great Perfection of the Nascent Soul Realm.
At that moment, Lin Yong, Lin Hao, and Lin Zihan stood pressed tightly back-to-back, forming a compact defensive circle.
Under siege from more than twenty enemies, they were in an extremely difficult position.
Lin Yong and the others were already covered in wounds, with blood trickling from the corners of their mouths.
Lin Yong in particular had two glaring wounds across his chest. He had suffered them when he deliberately took the enemies' attacks to create an opening for Lin Hao and Lin Zihan.
Yet that very move had allowed them to eliminate the four disciples who were already badly wounded.
It had undoubtedly given Lin Yong and the others a brief chance to catch their breath, but against so many powerful enemies, they remained at an overwhelming disadvantage.
Ming Hao's situation was no better. He had clearly suffered considerable injuries as well, and more than a dozen disciples still surrounded him.
Just moments earlier, Ming Hao had finally found an opening to take out three particularly aggressive disciples who had charged ahead alone, but he had been badly injured in the process.
These well-prepared disciples were exceptionally powerful, on an entirely different level from those his group had encountered before.
Not only was their fighting strength off the charts, but they were also experienced, with formidable cultivation methods and physical combat techniques.
More importantly, some subtle connection seemed to exist between them, almost like a formation, allowing them to coordinate seamlessly and multiply their power.
"Brat, you'd better stop resisting and hand over all the monthly stipends you stole!
"If you do, we might spare you some pain.
"Otherwise, hehe, you'll have plenty of suffering coming your way!"
The speaker was one of the disciples leading this ambush, a man named Luo Junhang. He was tall and imposing, with a fierce presence.
His cultivation at Great Perfection of the Nascent Soul Realm made him seem even more overbearing, and his mastery of the Ethereal Movement Technique was nothing short of supernatural.
Wang Baishun, another leading disciple standing beside Luo Junhang, chimed in:
"Why waste words on him? We've got every advantage. Just attack!"
Wang Baishun was also at Great Perfection of the Nascent Soul Realm. His hands were extraordinarily nimble, and his Snake-Scorpion Palm was astonishingly powerful. Even Ming Hao found that move a considerable headache.
Yet just as Luo Junhang and Wang Baishun were about to attack, Hao Wu, who had remained silent until then, suddenly spoke:
"Don't rush. If we can avoid fighting, we should. After all, if this continues, we'll probably all end up badly injured."
Hao Wu's voice was low and steady, revealing a thoughtful attitude.
Hao Wu's Body Refining techniques were exceptionally powerful, even surpassing Lin Yong's by a fair margin, making it difficult for Ming Hao to inflict a fatal injury on him in a short time.
Meanwhile, the other disciples began shouting as well, their voices brimming with the confidence of victory already in their grasp.
Ming Hao's keen gaze caught sight of more disciples gradually closing in from the perimeter. Clearly, the enemy's reinforcements had arrived.
His expression darkened at the sight, and he shouted, "Cut the crap! Whoever comes first gets crippled first!"
Despite his tough words, however, Ming Hao's mind was racing.
He knew perfectly well that all four of them were in poor condition. If he could not quickly devise a way out, they truly might suffer a crushing defeat here.
Just then, Wang Baishun stepped forward and taunted him:
"Who do you think you're scaring with that big talk? Look at how little you've got left! I, Wang Baishun, will take you on!"
Before his words had faded, Wang Baishun swooped in like lightning, unleashing a vicious Scorpion Palm straight at Ming Hao's vital points.
The other disciples joined the attack, fists and palms crisscrossing as their assault surged like a tide.
Ming Hao darted aside, deftly evading Wang Baishun's Scorpion Palm, then swung a fist back toward his waist with a howl of wind.
Unfortunately, Wang Baishun reacted swiftly, raising his arm in time to block and neutralize the force of Ming Hao's punch.
In the blink of an eye, Luo Junhang slipped behind Ming Hao like a ghost, without making a sound.
His gaze turned cold, and he whipped out a kick, sweeping toward Ming Hao as swiftly as a gale.
Alarm shot through Ming Hao as he felt the fierce wind at his back. He immediately stamped down on the floor with all his strength, hoping to use the recoil to shoot out of the encirclement like an arrow loosed from its bow.
Yet just as he was about to break free, Hao Wu and three other disciples barred his path like a wall of bronze and iron, sealing off his escape completely.
Anxiety burned through Ming Hao. He knew time was running out, and if Luo Junhang and the others caught up, the consequences would be unthinkable.
At that critical instant, he gritted his teeth and decided to stake everything on a single throw.
He darted sideways, charging toward two disciples like a bolt of lightning.
The two disciples clearly had not expected Ming Hao to change direction so suddenly and were caught off guard.
Ming Hao showed no mercy. At the cost of taking a blow head-on, he unleashed the ultimate move he had only recently learned-Tathagata Divine Palm!
With a deafening bang, the Tathagata Divine Palm slammed into the two disciples with the force to topple mountains and overturn seas.
In an instant, both disciples were sent flying like kites with severed strings. They crashed heavily to the ground and could not get up again.
Ming Hao rode that momentum out of the encirclement. Like a bird plunging into the forest, he was suddenly beyond their restraint, charging straight toward the ring surrounding Lin Yong and the others.