Bang-!
Old Niu’s expression turned grim as he staggered a few steps back.
The impact might not have caused him any significant injuries, but it had completely ruined his plan!
He could tell from Zhao Yunxiao and Nie Hanchang’s combat style that Nie Hanchang was the main damage dealer while Zhao Yunxiao acted as the protector. So, as long as he could start things off by taking out Nie Hanchang, everything else would be much easier to handle from there on.
And he almost managed to pull it off too!
Alas, who knew that Nie Hanchang would be able to create such a powerful shockwave all of a sudden?
In fact, this shockwave was not just targeted at him, but also propagated outwards in all directions.
Zhao Yunxiao rushed over to Lou Yuan, using his essence energy to form a shield that guarded the two of them. As for the Iron Sabres, they were not nearly fortunate enough to receive any form of protection.
“Aaahh!”
Members of the Iron Sabres were sent flying in all directions as they were struck by the shockwave, and this also included those who were already lying on the ground, incapacitated by Nie Hanchang’s arrows.
[Invisible Snap]
Nie Hanchang did not even bother looking back, directly dashing towards where Zhao Yunxiao and Lou Yuan were standing.
Rather than potentially putting himself at risk by confronting Old Niu, Nie Hanchang knew that his first priority should be to put some distance between them!
At the same time, Zhao Yunxiao left Lou Yuan’s side and shot towards Old Niu, effectively exchanging places with Nie Hanchang to put himself between the two.
“That is...!” Lou Yuan gaped in shock, unable to take his eyes off of the Grand Annihilator.
He could tell at a glance that this was not just some random bow. It was a very high-quality rare-tier treasure at the very least, and there was even a slight chance of it reaching the mythical tier!
However, Zhao Yunxiao and Nie Hanchang had no interest in explaining things to him right now.
Zhao Yunxiao was directly facing Old Niu, while Nie Hanchang quickly turned around and nocked his bow, aiming it straight at Old Niu.
“What quick reactions,” Old Niu sighed regretfully while casually tidying his robes. “And here I thought that I had already hidden myself quite well!”
“You might have succeeded if it were someone else,” Zhao Yunxiao tried to appear as calm as possible. “It’s too bad that you met us instead.”
“Is that so? How unlucky of me,” Old Niu played along nonchalantly.
“But you are surprisingly sneaky,” Zhao Yunxiao remarked. “Is this why you are always drinking? To use the alcohol smell to further conceal your own aura?”
“Hahaha! You overestimate yourself! Who needs alcohol to get past your weak senses?” Old Niu laughed.
“Perhaps you are right,” Zhao Yunxiao admitted. “But judging from the current situation, I guess the real reason why your past clients tend to meet with tragic ends is not just because they refused to listen to you?”
“Hey, that’s going a little too far. You can’t possibly hold me responsible for everything that happened here in the past. There are indeed many who lost their bearings in the valley and never got to leave,” Old Niu denied. “But since we know that’s going to happen anyway, I might as well not let their precious belongings go to waste!”
“Have you thought that if you truly played your part as a proper guide, perhaps these people would not meet a tragic end, nevertheless?” Zhao Yunxiao questioned.
“Don’t blame the person, blame the game. Why should the powerful waste time and effort on helping those beneath them, when we can just go ahead and directly take everything they have?” Old Niu shrugged. “Just look at those thieves lying there. Didn’t you similarly choose to overwhelm them with strength instead of spending time and effort on guiding them to do good? This is simply a matter of the mantis stalking the cicada, unaware of the oriole behind. While you take care of them, I will take all of you out in one fell swoop!”
“So you are the oriole here?” Zhao Yunxiao scoffed. “I’ve never seen such a greedy oriole in my life. Doing all this just for the sake of some spirit stones, is it really worth it? Are you not afraid that karma will catch up to you sooner or later?”
“Spirit stones? Hahahaha! Do you really think that I care for your valuables? Why don’t you look at your own poor ass? Considering how you hesitated to pay just five spirit stones, how many spirit stones can you possibly have?” Old Niu laughed. “Rather than your spirit stones, your flesh and blood are far more valuable!”
Zhao Yunxiao frowned, as did Nie Hanchang.
Even the members of the Iron Sabres, at least those who were still conscious, could not help but shudder upon hearing that.
“Flesh and blood?” Zhao Yunxiao tried to confirm. “And what do you intend to use that for?”
“That, you will know soon enough,” Old Niu let out a sinister grin. “Well then, let’s not waste more time. I am still hoping to get back to the inn to enjoy some nice late-night drinks!”
Whoosh-!
An arrow of energy shot forward like a thunderbolt, though it hit nothing but air. Old Niu seemed to have expected it, quickly dodging out of the way before charging towards Zhao Yunxiao.
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[Unyielding Stone Bind]
Two earthen chains shot out from the ground to catch Old Niu, but his charge was simply too powerful.
With a loud bang, he charged straight through the two earthen chains, instantly crushing them into harmless bits that fell right back to the earth.
Zhao Yunxiao’s frown deepened.
Considering how sneaky Old Niu had been and his thin physical frame, Zhao Yunxiao had expected him to be a warrior who emphasised technique and speed.
Who knew that Old Niu would suddenly burst forth with a level of power that was completely incongruent to his scrawny figure?
Still, Zhao Yunxiao did not just stand there and watch. He pierced forward with his halberd, determined to stand his ground and meet Old Niu’s charge.
On the other end, Old Niu similarly did not waver despite seeing the halberd aimed straight at him.
Instead, his skin started to turn dark green. Not only that, but his skin also gained a metallic sheen, smooth enough to reflect light.
Just like that, he charged head first into Zhao Yunxiao’s halberd!
Clank-!
The sound of metal striking metal reverberated across the prairie as Old Niu directly met the halberd’s spear tip with his forehead, testament to just how hard Old Niu’s skin had become.
Zhao Yunxiao was the one who ended up staggering back from the heavy collision, though Old Niu thankfully lost all momentum as well and was stopped in his tracks.
“Damn, you have some thick skin!” Zhao Yunxiao complained while hurriedly returning to a battle stance.
He frowned deeper upon taking a quick look at Old Niu.
Even with such a heavy collision, his halberd still failed to leave a single scratch on Old Niu’s reinforced skin!
Old Niu had no time to engage in random banter. Even before he had regained his bearings, arrows of energy were already raining down upon him.
Bang-! Bang-! Bang-!
Old Niu put his arms up as a guard, using his reinforced skin to directly withstand the onslaught of arrows from Nie Hanchang.
Shockingly, the arrows of energy actually failed to penetrate the skin of the scrawny Old Niu!
Fortunately, it was not like they were not completely ineffective, either. Even though the arrows failed to penetrate Old Niu’s skin, there was still enough strength behind them to at least suppress him for the time being.
Zhao Yunxiao did not just stand idly by while Old Niu was occupied. Instead, he quickly retrieved an array flag and planted it into the ground.
He did not know how long Old Niu’s reinforced skin could last, but it was clear that none of their attacks were truly working on him at the moment.
It would be good if this was just a short-lived technique. But in the worst-case scenario where this reinforcing technique could even last for days, there was simply no way that they could keep him at bay for that long!
Under most other circumstances, Zhao Yunxiao would have already resorted to using poison to take Old Niu down.
Unfortunately, that was a little too risky this time.
Zhao Yunxiao had no idea how the thick fog around them would interact with poison clouds, so there was a chance that the poisons he had at his disposal could go out of control after coming into contact with the fog.
If used carelessly, he might just end up poisoning the entire Ghost Fog Valley, harming countless innocents in the process.
Unless he was left with no other choice, he would definitely refrain from doing so!
Zhao Yunxiao knew himself well – he did not have any attacks that were more powerful than Nie Hanchang’s arrows.
So, if they wanted to take down Old Niu with certainty, they would have no choice but to rely on killing arrays!
“Don’t even think about it!” Old Niu shouted furiously.
The very next moment, demonic energy suddenly burst forth from within him.
Old Niu’s dark green skin that initially only covered the front half of his body started extending more and more to cover his entire body. His face grew longer, and his scrawny body grew huge and muscular. His teeth turned sharp, and two horns akin to swords grew out from the top of his head.
He resembled a huge green bull that was standing on his back hooves, reaching twice the height of an adult male.
Compared to his initial physique, which was a scrawny figure in his mid-fifties, the contrast was simply incredible!
“Bull demon!” Lou Yuan exclaimed in shock, finally turning his attention away from the Grand Annihilator for the first time.
“Why are you surprised?” Old Niu harrumphed. “Don’t y-”
Bang-!
Old Niu raised his arm and directly swatted away an oncoming arrow of energy. Nie Hanchang was startled to see that, and finally stopped with the relentless barrage of arrows.
“That’s better!” Old Niu smirked. “As I was saying, why do you look so surprised? Don’t you know who the true owners of Ghost Fog Valley are?”
“True owners of Ghost Fog Valley?” Zhao Yunxiao asked.
“Do you remember the name of the inn where we first met?” Old Niu prompted.
“Green Bull Inn...” Zhao Yunxiao recalled. “Are you the owner?”
“Wrong train of thought,” Old Niu corrected. “I am a descendant of the green bull demon herd that once ruled Ghost Fog Valley. In other words, the entire valley is my home! So, tell me, what’s wrong with me taking care of any intruders? You only have yourselves to blame for entering without my permission!”
“Ghost Fog Valley has always been unclaimed territory,” Zhao Yunxiao corrected. “If it is truly as you say, then where are the rest of your herd? Where is the proof that the valley belongs to you?”
“Unclaimed territory, my hoof!” Old Niu harrumphed. “This is the territory of us green bull demons, and it will always be! It is just that these accursed flowers started appearing in the valley all of a sudden, turning the entire valley into its current strange state. Unable to adapt to the strange environment, all my kinsmen started leaving one by one. Now, I am the only one left defending our home.”
“You were here since even before the fog appeared?” Zhao Yunxiao raised an eyebrow. “Who can attest to that?”
“The Green Bull Inn is the best evidence, having been named in honour of my herd. Why else do you think they would name it that?” Old Niu said. “That being the case, the inn has been established for a long time. I won’t be surprised if even the current owner is unaware of the origin of the inn’s name...”
“How convenient,” Zhao Yunxiao rolled his eyes. “Without proof, I can also claim that the entire Duyuan Empire used to belong to my family, but everyone simply forgot about that!”
“As unreasonable as expected,” Old Niu spoke through gritted teeth. “Then again, it makes no difference either way. In any case, you will not be leaving here today!”
This time, Old Niu did not wait for Zhao Yunxiao’s response, directly charging towards Zhao Yunxiao once more!