In cramped terrain like this, Wulu's nimble footwork gave him the upper hand.
What was more, the origin power rippling from his body caused intense agony to the berserk ape every time he struck its palms and wrists.
"Roar!" The ape bared its fangs in a grimace of pain. It would rather trade blows with True Monarch Musu again than fight generals imbued with origin power—it hurt like hell!
Just when were those two going to make their move?
Wulu jabbed the ape's thumb once more, but the moment he drew back his hand fork, a sudden chill seized his spine!
Something was coming—danger!
Without hesitation, he took a diagonal stride aside, while the giant puppet bear spun around just in time to shield its master.
Yet the spine-chilling dread Wulu felt did not fade.
In the next instant, a shadow appeared behind him out of thin air, thrusting a long saber silently toward the back of his heart.
This heart-plucking strike was savage beyond compare, unleashed without the slightest warning, like a tiger stalking right up before baring its fangs. The gleam of the Fusheng saber flashed and vanished in an instant, piercing Wulu's protective astral qi, puncturing his back heart-protecting mirror, and shattering two defensive barriers in succession.
Right through Wulu's chest, a bloody blade tip inexplicably emerged!
Looking down, his eyes went wide in disbelief.
The giant puppet bear raised a paw to swat the shadow away, but the gold-armored bronze automaton anticipated the move and slammed into it a beat earlier, knocking it aside.
Automaton fought automaton; master clashed with master for their lives.
The master of the giant puppet bear was Wulu, and the master of the gold-armored bronze automaton, He Lingchuan, had finally found his moment to strike!
He had lain in wait in the dark for so long—lying motionless until the right moment, then striking with thunderous effect.
The Bailong tribe's signature technique was truly handy: a single execution of "Shadow Follows Form" had brought him right to Wulu's back, opening directly with Black Tiger Steals Heart.
He had copied this move from Fu Shanlie.
No wonder the Fu Shan family loved ripping out hearts—killing someone like this was thoroughly exhilarating.
Fusheng unmistakably gave the tactile sensation of piercing through a heart; He Lingchuan could even feel the feral ecstasy of this cursed weapon gorging on human blood. Wulu let out a roar of agony and lunged violently forward!
The burst of force was tremendous, as if igniting every shred of his life potential, and He Lingchuan failed to maintain his grip on his shoulder.
He instantly knew something was wrong.
The heart was the wellspring of physical vigor. Wulu's heart had been pierced through; by all rights his strength should have dissipated, so why had he suddenly grown so fierce and explosive?
Sure enough, before He Lingchuan could react, Wulu's figure vanished into thin air.
When he reappeared, he was already straddling the back of the giant bear's neck.
Crack. Something shattered in Wulu's robes.
Only he knew that his death-substitute puppet had been destroyed!
Without that talisman, he would already be a dead ghost under the ambusher's blade.
His puppet giant bear possessed a special ability: within a distance of fifteen zhang, it could pull its master onto the back of its neck in one swift motion, usable only once every two quarters of an hour.
The moment the death-substitute puppet took effect, he had activated this ability, tearing himself right off He Lingchuan's blade.
Right then, the gold-armored bronze automaton thrust its spear forward.
Although He Lingchuan had not upgraded the construct, he had won a fine bronze spear for it at an auction on Platinum Island. Around two zhang in length, it had a modular design that could be detached into two short spears to suit different combat scenarios.
He had zero patience for fools who insisted on brawling with bare fists when they could easily be equipped with proper weapons.
The moment He Lingchuan spotted Wulu atop the puppet bear, the bronze automaton's spearpoint shifted, driving straight toward the back of the bear's neck.
Stabbing the man through the heart once wasn't enough; he intended to skewer Wulu like a kebab all over again.
Retreating or dodging was useless now. The puppet bear was caught between the gold-armored bronze automaton and the berserk ape, flanked front and rear, and on the ground stood an unknown yet even fiercer opponent. Wulu's choice was to urge the giant bear into a sudden burst of acceleration, preemptively slamming into the bronze automaton's chest.
Whatever happened, he still had nearly two hundred men at his back, each possessing origin power, which gave them an inherent advantage over these demons and giant automata.
As long as he could stall until the main army arrived, his side would be invincible.
Yet this mountain path was far too narrow, and several colossal brutes clogged the way, preventing his troops from capitalizing on their numerical advantage. He had to shift the fight to suitable ground first.
The giant bear's lunge consumed its core power, its joints glowing with azure light as it unleashed more than triple its normal strength, moving far more agilely than before. Caught off guard, the gold-armored bronze automaton was knocked over head-on.
Tangled together, the two heavy automata tumbled down the slope, rolling all the way to the bottom!
Like a golden mountain toppling and a jade pillar collapsing, the Ya Kingdom guards scrambled wildly to dodge. Two unlucky fellows failed to clear the path in time and were crushed into meat patties before they could even let out a squeak.
Several dangling spider threads hung across the route, but the sheer momentum of the two massive automata was staggering; the trees anchoring the silk could not withstand the strain and snapped at the waist with sharp cracks!
By the time the puppet bear reached the base of the slope, several of its components had broken off, promising a hefty repair bill later. Even so, it had successfully escaped the narrow path and reached an open clearing at the bottom.
The clearing covered three to five hundred square paces, with sparse trees and scattered boulders—an ideal arena for an army to deploy.
When the two heavy automata struggled back to their feet, Wulu was gone.
As the puppet bear tumbled down the mountain path, he had slipped into its torso beforehand. Looking through the eyes of the gold-armored bronze automaton, He Lingchuan could not spot where he was hiding.
This giant bear certainly had plenty of features; it would be great if he could get his hands on the blueprints.
As the bronze automaton rolled to the bottom, He Lingchuan immediately sprang onto the berserk ape's shoulder and pointed downslope. "After him!"
If Wulu managed to escape, all their efforts would come to nothing.
He could tell this General Wulu possessed formidable cultivation, yet after being ambushed, the man refused to face him head-on, choosing instead to evade and look for an opening.
Evidently, Wulu had a crystal-clear head: Why get tangled in a duel with the enemy? Once his main force arrived, wouldn't the problem be resolved automatically?
To be honest, this was the exact kind of opponent He Lingchuan hated most:
Indifferent to personal glory, with none of the fiery pride of a reckless warrior.
If the Ya Kingdom had many more generals like this, they would truly be formidable adversaries in the future.
Given He Lingchuan's close rapport with its master and his steadily growing prowess, the berserk ape had long lost its former resentment toward him. At his command, it launched into a massive leap without hesitation.
The Ya Kingdom guards were already closing in; the blows had stung terribly, and it was all too eager to break out of their encirclement.
The leap carried it ten zhang, assisted by the downward slope. When the ape landed, a resounding crash shook the ground violently.
"There!" Crouched on its shoulder with his divine sense fully extended, He Lingchuan pointed toward a large boulder four zhang away.
The ape had slammed down like a boulder, sending shockwaves of gravel and grass flying in all directions amid billowing dust.
Yet beside the boulder, a cluster of wishbone flowers remained completely still.
That fleeting abnormality did not escape He Lingchuan's sharp eyes.
The ape scooped up a handful of sand and hurled it over. Something beside the boulder suddenly dissolved, and in the next moment, it and He Lingchuan saw a figure darting toward the Ya Kingdom guards, swift as smoke.
Chapter 1071