The big and bulky figure that had been taking care of You Ping suddenly turned toward Yueshi with an abrupt and swift movement.
Yueshi could see its hideous face grinning at him as it grabbed at his spear with humongous hands.
It was with a thunderous bang that the energy stored inside the spear was released in the air, the spear itself being brought to a halt.
Yueshi cursed inwardly and wanted to release his grip on the spear; however, before he could do so, a strong pull made him fly forward.
With his feet leaving the ground, there was nothing he could do to stop his body from flying toward the man. And despite You Ping furious and desperate attacks, the bandit leader did not even spare him a glance.
Yueshi wanted to do something; however, there was nothing he could do.
Time seemed to slow down to a crawl as the imposing and huge figure became closer and closer to him - he could see its blood-red eyes shining with a maniacal light and even its giant body shuddering in delight and excitement.
However, just as everyone thought things were going to end…
A sun appeared above their heads, illuminating the entire region, making it so that all shadows in the pathway disappeared as the artificial sun glowed with intense brightness.
Then, when everyone looked toward the phenomena's origin point, they found out that what stood there was not a sun, but, instead, a giant, golden palm!
Not even an instant passed before the palm pressed down against the humongous body of the bandit leader.
Dust flew everywhere as an explosion echoed in everyone's ears, the ground below the man's feet caving in and cracking outwardly.
The shock-wave released made the entire pathway tremble as stones tumbled down, forcing everyone to dodge them in a hurry.
Thanks to the shock-waves, Yueshi managed to stop dead on his tracks - though it caused even more damage to his inner organs.
It was just that Yueshi had no time to care about his wounds or the sharp pain coursing through his body. How could he not recognize that bright, golden palm – the Golden Vajra Palm?
His heart trembled at the thought.
Hadn't Yuan Yue stayed back? How could she be here, now? However, what made him really afraid was that, if they lost, her future would be dreary.
His entire body shuddered at the thought, his stomach churning – just the idea alone was enough to make him feel nauseous.
He wanted to scream, but, right now, even that seemed hard. In the end, Yueshi could only breathe in and out and try to stabilize his wounds, using his qi to mend his disrupted blood flow and heal his wounded organs.
While he was trying to deal with his wounds, the dust started to settle down.
Some stones were still tumbling down, and more parts of the pathway had been broken off – both by the attack and the huge, falling stones.
As the curtain of dust disappeared, they were finally able to see the result of the last attack.
The bandit leader had just ended rising to his feet, having almost fallen when the ground beneath his feet broke – now, the pathway was missing a huge piece, and anyone wanting to traverse through it would have problems.
However, what Yueshi cared about was Yuan Yue.
The young lady was standing a few meters behind You Ping, in the exact spot where the pathway curved – the one hiding there before had been Liangshi, which was, right now, beside Yuan Yue.
When Yueshi looked at her, Yuan Yue grinned, giving him her usual playful smile.
However, he could see in her eyes that she was in pain. The wounds in Yuan Yue's body were too many to count, and with her running all the way here and also using her qi, they had opened once more.
It was a painful sight to see such a beautiful and young lady covered in blood-soaked bandages that dripped down with the viscous red fluid.
Still, this silly girl was grinning in a playful way, not wanting to worry anyone. She was really one of a kind.
"You… damned, bastards." However, now was not the time to admire her wonderfulness.
As the bandit leader spoke through clenched teeth, one could see his veins bulging all over his body, his appearance becoming even more terrifying.
Without even thinking about it, Yueshi immediately grabbed his spear and jumped backward, creating a gap between them.
Right now, his combat power was at its lowest, he knew he could not deal with him in a frontal confrontation.
However, the monster-like man also knew that. Yueshi was at his weakest and so, he would obviously deal with him first, only then he'd take care of the others.
Fortunately, with the addition of Yuan Yue, their chances had increased again.
Despite being stronger than them all in a one-on-one, it could not ignore You Ping and Yuan Yue when they attacked together.
Although its thick, hide-like skin would be able to defend against their attacks for some time, doing that would, eventually, lead to him being injured, which could cost him dearly later.
"Sky shattering… palm!" Seeing the Golden Vajra Palm aiming at him, the man answered in kind. His hands seemed to release a red-mist as he made a strike toward the golden palm that was even bigger than him.
A resounding boom echoed as the two strikes came into contact, the golden palm breaking in pieces two seconds after the collision.
Yueshi could see Yuan Yue groaning and hissing, however, she soon stabilized her posture and, catching a breath, activated the technique again.
This time, however, the hand hovered in the skies above, suppressing the man – not only slowing his speed and power but even making it harder to use qi.
The bandit leader's eyes flashed with annoyance and anger. He was stronger than any of them, yet, right now, he was being suppressed - that fueled his fury even further.
Moreover, if it wasn't because he was injured before coming here, he would have long dealt with all of them!
"Burning Demon Blade!" His eyes growing increasingly colder, he slashed with his saber.
On that instant, wails and cries sounded across the canyon as his blade released a red-mist. Yueshi could even swear that the red mist formed crying and horrified faces, although that disappeared in an instant.
Then, as the man swung the blade down, flames spread through the blade and exploded toward You Ping.
However, this wasn't merely an attack, but a two-layered one.
Just as You Ping dealt with the raging flames that threatened to consume him, he felt his entire body being assaulted by an abrupt coldness – it was as if he had been plunged into a frozen lake!
Immediately, he kneeled on the ground and grabbed his head, wailing.
"Argh!" His screams boomed across the canyon.
Right now, his mind was being assaulted by the deadly, red-mist. He could hear wails and screams of thousands and thousands of people, and they tried to bring him down, clawing at him and chewing at his flesh!
However, instead of dealing with him, the man gazed at Yuan Yue.
He could easily deal with You Ping right now, however, he was afraid that, if he wasted any time, the girl would cause even more trouble. Other than that, he believed that You Ping would take a while to recover from the mental attack.
Seeing him rush toward Yuan Yue, Yueshi's eyes opened wide as his pupils trembled.
He knew that even if she tried to flee, the man would be able to catch her eventually, and he knew how things would end by then.
'Then let us see. Will my body break first, or will yours?' Not willing to let that happen, Yueshi firmly tapped on the ground with his feet before springing forward.
Without concerning himself about the consequences, he immediately prepared his third spear move.
An azure trail was left behind as he moved forth, all the while withstanding immense pain.
He could feel his blood flow reversing as his organs seemed to be crushed – his lungs desperately gasped for air, only for a sharp pain to strike at him as the world seemed devoid of oxygen.
However, he bit on his tongue and continued, not letting the pain or lack of oxygen make him give up.
Moving forward, he was like an almighty dragon striking at his prey, his spear becoming the fierce claws of an enormous, humongous and powerful beast.
In the end, even the bandit leader could not ignore such a move and, immediately, turned back to defend, just a few meters away from Yuan Yue.
"Demonic Guard!" At his words, Yueshi felt the urge to cuss - how could he have so many cultivation techniques?
Seeing a protective, red screen form in front of the man, while a vague and ethereal image appeared above him, he really wondered if they could leave this place alive.
As the spear came into contact with the red screen, there was no explosion or sound of something breaking.
Instead, there was a strange stillness that lasted for a single instant – no sound, no shock-waves, no explosion. It was as if time had stopped. Then…
A cracking sound echoed as the protective screen started to shatter piece by piece, and Yueshi's spear finally passed through a small hole.
However, the man had also prepared his saber in a defensive stance, and as the two weapons came into contact, Yueshi could feel a great deal of resistance as his spear tried to push forward.
Gritting his teeth, and holding back the blood that tried to gush out through his throat, he placed all his power in the thrust – this would be his last move, whatever it worked or not.
Finally, the man's blade was not able to hold on and broke in two, Yueshi's spear piercing through it and direct attacking his body.
And while it had already lost a great deal of power, it was still enough to pierce through his hard skin and leave through his back, the subsequent shock-waves wounding his inner organs and bones – and causing a great deal of damage to the region around them.
Seeing he had succeeded, Yueshi gave a victorious smile as he wobbled from one side to another, his vision starting to become blurry.
Whether he killed the man or not, did not matter right now. With such a heavy injury inflicted on him, You Ping and Yuan Yue would be able to deal with him, somehow.
While thinking so, and just as he was going to collapse, Yueshi heard a scream…
"Yueshi!" Just as the familiar voice of Yuan Yue reached his ears, immediately after a pair of huge hands grabbed him by the throat.
While they were smaller than the Queen Ape's gigantic hands, he did not doubt they could easily crush his head.
At the same time, he felt a feeling of extreme weakness for the first time. After doing all he could, he was still not able to win.
However, just as the man was going to tighten the grip and break his neck, the sound of cracks spreading caught their attention.
Looking down, Yueshi saw that the ground below their feet had long sustained too much damage, and was now breaking apart.
He grinned, thinking that, in the end, he still won.
Flashing a contemptuous smile toward the bandit leader, he saw fear appear in his eyes for the first time. And just as the middle-aged man wanted to jump backward and leave the area that was breaking down…
The sound of the ground giving away echoed, his huge body immediately plunging downward together with the debris.
And under the intense and scared eyes of his companions, Yueshi felt his body becoming almost weightless as he was immediately dragged alongside the man to the depths of the canyon!