Chapter 019: The Four Fiendish Beasts

“Young master, let me go help them.” Old Mark could no longer stand by. Such a huge disparity in numbers made it increasingly difficult for the workers to resist. If this continued, they would all die soon.
Du Fan nodded. It wasn’t that he didn’t want to intervene; he had to be wary of the four men not far away, whom Bati called the Four Fiendish Beasts. He knew the real battle would begin then.
Quickly drawing the long sword at his waist, Old Mark channeled his combat energy, causing the sword to emit a stunning pink glow.
He pushed off the carriage with his toes and rushed forward. Seeing that the two robbers in front had just killed one of the workers and were about to chase after the drivers who dared to resist, Old Mark immediately swung his sword. Two sword auras were released, forming two crescent-shaped beams of light that instantly pierced the robbers’ waists.
Pfft!
There was no loud noise, and the robbers didn’t even have time to scream. The two crescent-shaped sword auras completely penetrated their bodies, causing blood to gush out instantly. With confused expressions, the robbers suddenly realized they could see their own buttocks—right in front of them.
After killing the two robbers, Old Mark didn’t stop. With a few quick movements, he quickly reached Bati’s side—where the robbers were attacking frantically and also the direction closest to Du Fan.
Yah!
Old Mark let out a loud shout as his combat energy ignited, forming a flaming armor.
He rushed headlong toward the thickest cluster of robbers, his sword flashing up and down. Anyone who dared to block him became a victim of his blade.
In just one round, Old Mark killed nearly ten robbers. This might well be the record for a level-6 warrior killing the most second- or third-tier warriors in such a short time.
Soon, the robbers were screaming in pain. They couldn’t focus on charging forward anymore and desperately used their combat energy to flee in the opposite direction. Perhaps subconsciously, they all wanted to stay as far away from this plague of Old Mark as possible.
Seeing this, Alexander slapped his horse’s back and called out to the largest man at the back.
With a wide grin, the man excitedly raised the heavy club on his shoulder and leaped lightly to Old Mark’s side, appearing weightless.

But Old Mark didn’t think so. The war club in this giant’s hands weighed at least three to four hundred pounds—how could such a powerful weapon belong to someone weak? Moreover, the earth-yellow combat energy on the giant’s body had already ignited fully, its immense pressure even making Old Mark feel suffocated.
That was strength—true strength. Old Mark himself had already reached the peak of level six, yet this giant’s strength was definitely at level seven or even higher.
“Old Dad Mark, be careful! This is Utreid Fei Yi, the most terrifying of the Four Fierce Beasts.” As soon as the giant entered the arena, Barty immediately warned loudly.
With a laugh, Utreid swung his war club at Old Mark, the powerful force creating a whirlwind.
Yah!
Old Mark exhaled sharply, his combat energy burning even more intensely. His long sword was enveloped in red combat energy, its scorching heat forcing those around him to dodge aside.
Seeing the war club coming down with combat energy attached, Old Mark swung his sword to meet it, wanting to test just how strong Utreid really was.
Boom!
With a loud crash, the war club and the sword collided violently. Even though Old Mark used all his strength, he could only briefly halt the war club. Under the immense impact of the earth-yellow combat energy, his sword shattered into pieces, and the red fire-type combat energy scattered like torn red cloth.
“Reverse Fire Flow.”
As the war club neared his face, Old Mark’s eyes suddenly turned red, and the red combat energy burning in his body was instantly drawn back.
Then, an incredible moment occurred. Above Old Mark’s head, the combat energy he had absorbed burst forth, forming a nearly tangible, fiery red sword that aimed straight at the descending war club. The scorching flames made the surrounding air seem to burn as well.

In fact, Old Mark hadn’t expected Utrecht to be so terrifyingly strong. It was an attack from a seventh-tier powerhouse, yet Old Mark managed to withstand it with his long sword. But he never imagined his sword would be so weak under Utrecht’s attacks that by the time he realized it, he no longer had a chance to escape. Left with no choice, Old Mark used his last life-saving skill—Backflow of Reverse Flame, a skill that caused immense damage to himself. This skill allowed Old Mark to channel all his combat energy at once and gain attack power twice his normal level through the reverse flow of energy. However, it also inflicted severe damage on him. After using it, Old Mark would be unable to use his combat energy for at least half a year; in severe cases, or if the opponent’s attacks were powerful, he might even lose all his cultivation and die on the spot.

“Not good!” Seeing this, Du Fan immediately cried out in alarm. He leaped forward and appeared beside Old Mark in an instant. Several layers of magic shields appeared around him. Without even glancing at Utrecht and his mace, Du Fan placed a hand on Old Mark’s shoulder and said gently, “Grandpa Mark, now isn’t the time to fight desperately. These people are after me. Let me handle it.”

Du Fan reluctantly used his myriad techniques, channeling them through his arm into Old Mark’s body to calm the fluctuations and damage caused by the reversed combat energy.

Du Fan was now at the peak of the ninth tier, just one step away from the sacred tier. Yet even he found it difficult to stabilize the reversed flame combat energy within Old Mark, showing just how powerful Old Mark’s final skill would be.

Boom!

With a soft sound, the magic shields of various elements released by Du Fan shattered layer by layer. Although the speed of Utrecht’s massive mace was slowed by these shields, it continued to fall due to the infused combat energy and didn’t stop at all.

Crash!

With the final loud explosion, Du Fan’s last defense—a mid-level earth magic wall—also collapsed. The mace, now unimpeded, rushed toward Du Fan even faster.

“Hmph! Seeking death!” At this critical moment, Du Fan finally withdrew his hand from Old Mark. With a shake, Frostfall Snow appeared in his hand.

As frost covered the air and ice formed three feet thick, as soon as Frostfall Snow entered Du Fan’s hands, he immediately activated his myriad techniques. Intense cold energy surged out, instantly creating an ice shield around him.

Heh, so many magic shields couldn’t stop me—will this thin layer of ice really do it?
Utrede laughed cruelly. Their mission here was to kill Du Fan, and now that they could easily complete it, how could he not be happy?
“Lord, get away!” Bati cried in terror. He knew Utrede well—although Utrede only reached the peak of level seven, his combat energy was known as giant giant’s combat energy. In terms of strength and damage, even an eighth-level warrior might not be able to withstand Utrede’s full-powered strike.
As everyone watched in shock, the war club slammed hard into the ice shield formed by Du Fan.
A shrill sound rang out. Though the ice shield was thin, it remained unharmed under the attack, not even cracking. With tremendous momentum, the war club slid along the edge of the shield. Its sharp spikes, which had drunk countless lives, tried desperately to find a weak point in the ice shield, but in the end, they could only slide away reluctantly.
Boom!
Unable to damage the ice shield, the war club released its remaining energy into the ground. With a loud explosion, a bottomless pit appeared beneath Du Fan’s feet.
“Frost Falls from the Heavens!”
At the same moment the war club hit the ground, Du Fan also moved. His sword, Frost Falling Snow, shot out instantly. With Du Fan’s combat energy infused into it, the sword blade began to tremble. At the same time, sword energies filled with a chill separated from it and floated lightly toward the nearby area, as if weightless.
These sword energies seemed aimless, but they were all part of Du Fan’s careful plan. Most of them targeted Utrede. The countless sword energies made it impossible for Utrede to dodge. Left with no choice, he pulled back his war club to block these attacks.
The other sword energies, however, were less polite. After bypassing Utrede, they suddenly accelerated, like white lightning, disappearing in an instant.
Ah! Ah!
Continuous screams echoed as one after another robber fell. Caught off guard, some didn’t even have time to scream. With expressions of regret and shock, the remaining hundred or so robbers all collapsed in pools of blood. Until their death, they never understood who had killed them so quickly.