Chapter 1233: Tyrant King Halberd, Unparalleled Fists

“Hahaha... Let us begin!”

Taba Xuanwu laughed and jumped into the air. At the same time, a narrow beam of black light erupted from the Cloud Hue Pass and soared over his head.

When Taba Xuanwu reached the highest point of his jump, the black light landed firmly in his raised hand.

It was a war halberd. Pitch black in color with its blades pointed at four different directions, it was engraved with patterns of the sun, the moon, and the clouds. It looked mysterious and profound, imposing and domineering.

The halberd was the weapon that was considered on par with the Sun Shooting Bow, the Tyrant King Halberd.

The moment the Tyrant King Halberd entered Taba Xuanwu’s grip, his aura abruptly grew vast and dominating.

“Take this!”

𝙛𝒓𝒆𝙚𝒘𝒆𝓫𝙣𝓸𝙫𝓮𝒍.𝒄𝒐𝓶

The next moment, Taba Xuanwu held the halberd with both hands and swung down at Ye Qing.

The halberd fell with the man, and the man swung downward as one with his halberd. It looked like he could split the earth in half with his power.

“Tyrant King Halberd: Earth Split”

“Well met!”

Seeing this, Ye Qing’s eyes turned as black as the night. Dragons and serpents began slithering out from under his skin and wrapping around his body to form a terrifying, savage-looking suit of armor. It was Blue Demon.

Ye Qing raised his arm after arming himself with Blue Demon. A bronze halberd immediately flew out from behind his back and into his hand.

Ye Qing’s aura too became thick, vast, and seemingly unstoppable.

The next moment, Ye Qing reversed his grip on the halberd and rotated a full circle on his feet. As the bronze halberd spun, the wind and force within three hundred meters of him gathered around the halberd and danced like a divine dragon.

When Taba Xuanwu was thirty meters above his head, Ye Qing finally performed an upward swing and unleashed the divine dragon at him.

Kaboom!

There was a massive explosion, and the divine dragon was split in half by Taba Xuanwu’s attack. Logic dictated that Taba Xuanwu’s strength would be slightly depleted after cutting the divine dragon, but not only did his strength remain the same, his momentum was even greater than before.

The next moment, the duo clashed. First, the ground within a radius of two kilometers depressed ten meters as if a god had struck the giant drum that was the ground. Thunderous booms could be heard rumbling in the underground like tidal waves and washing out in every direction. Then, the ground within three hundred meters broke into countless pieces and surged upward like a giant splash.

At the center of the splash of earth were Ye Qing and Taba Xuanwu. Neither man had moved an inch despite the surging elements around them.

“Weight!”

Taba Xuanwu roared, and pitch black light burst out of the Tyrant King Halberd. Vigor and the stench of death burst out in waves as his strength suddenly reached an all new level, and the bronze halberd Ye Qing screeched loudly under the strain. Even the dark yellow light surrounding Ye Qing was dissipating bit by bit.

What incredible strength!

Ye Qing thought in shock. This was the first time he encountered another opponent whose strength was equal to him ever since he reached the journeyman level of the Earthly Sovereign True Body.

Crack!

Taba Xuanwu’s Tyrant King Halberd descended another inch, and Ye Qing’s bronze halberd finally could not endure it any longer and broke in half.

Losing the weapon left Ye Qing wide open as a matter of course. Taba Xuanwu did not miss the opening and swung his Tyrant King Halberd straight at his head.

Ye Qing’s expression remained unchanged despite the dangerous situation. The dragons and serpents curled around his armor immediately surged toward the descending halberd.

The halberd easily cut them all into pieces. The bronze dragons and serpents simply did not possess the power to stop its descent.

That was fine though. Ye Qing knew there was no way they could stop the halberd. The reason he commanded them forward was to buy just a bit of time for himself. Just a bit.

It worked. They bought him just enough time to raise his arm, clench his fist, and aim a punch at Taba Xuanwu’s chest.

Taba Xuanwu neither guarded nor dodged the punch. He ignored it as if it did not exist and continued to swing his halberd at Ye Qing’s head.

For an instant, it looked like the duo were going to trade blow for blow, life for life.

At the last moment, Taba Xuanwu suddenly exerted strength into his arms, causing the unbelievably heavy, impossibly tough Tyrant King Halberd to bend like a crescent.

Because of this, the blade of the halberd continued to swing toward Ye Qing’s head, and the pole met Ye Qing’s fist like a spear.

As it turned out, Taba Xuanwu wasn’t just strong enough to split mountains. He was skillful enough to sculpt flowers out of a mustard seed as well. Who would have thought that a grand and forceful martial art like the Tyrant King Halberd Art could be wielded in such an exquisite and microscopic manner? Clearly, the general’s skill with the halberd had reached a godlike level.

Thanks to the minute change, Ye Qing’s attempt to trade blow for blow was completely neutralized.

Taba Xuanwu had definitely caught him by surprise, but Ye Qing was no slouch himself. He immediately took a step and leaned half an inch forward.

It was only half an inch, but it meant that Ye Qing’s fist was now moving a breath faster than the halberd striking down on his head.

Sometimes, one breath was enough to turn the tables.

Ye Qing’s fist clashed against the halberd’s pole a breath faster than expected, and the exploding force pushed Taba Xuanwu back a step. Because of this, the halberd’s trajectory deviated by several inches and sailed harmlessly past Ye Qing’s face instead.

“Disarm”

The halberd was about midway through its swing when Taba Xuanwu suddenly but smoothly gave its halberd a shake, causing it to leave countless afterimages in the air. So light and silent was the sudden change in technique that it was like he was wielding a feather.

Now, the halberd was moving nimbly and unpredictably. It was as if the barbaric warrior in front of him had suddenly transformed into an elegant dancer. Ye Qing immediately found himself surrounded by countless afterimages.

He did not wait to see what would happen. A terrifying fist intent burst into the sky, dispelling the afterimages and causing a loud bang. As if on cue, the two men retreated three hundred meters away from each other at the same time.

As soon as the two men stood still, the ground they were standing on a moment ago abruptly shattered into pieces and collapsed inward.

“What a Disarm...”

Ye Qing looked at his distant opponent with clear respect. As soon as he finished, the armor that was Blue Demon abruptly shattered into a million pieces and fell to the ground.

He had no idea what was the principle behind Taba Xuanwu’s “Disarm”, but the technique had somehow cut off his connection with Blue Demon temporarily. In other words, the Strange Artifact was useless to him at this moment.

“You’re not bad yourself. My arm is numb from that punch.” Taba Xuanwu’s hair and beard fluttered as he stared at Ye Qing with blazing eyes. “This is the first time ever I encountered someone whose strength is equal to mine.”

“Again!”

Taba Xuanwu shouted and charged toward Ye Qing once more.

Fearless, Ye Qing ran up to meet Taba Xuanwu at the center.

Ye Qing and Taba Xuanwu were both body-tempering Great Grandmasters. Taba Xuanwu’s Tyrant King Halberd was unstoppable, domineering and barbaric. Ye Qing’s fists were heavy, forceful, and lofty. Although their fight didn’t boast too many variations in technique, Magia or secret arts, it was still a titanic fight that looked like it would destroy the corner of the world they were standing on.

It wasn’t long before the ambient energies became completely distorted, and the earth crumbled earnestly beneath their feet.

Still, a victor could not be decided.

The fight extended to a teatime, an incense stick, two hours...

Time passed quickly. They had started the battle at noon, and it was evening now. The sun was setting, and the clouds looked red as fire in the sky.

Still, the duo’s fight wasn’t over yet.

As if they had finally met the match they had been waiting for their whole life, they fought from Cloud Hue Pass all the way to Cloud Hue Old Road, then from Cloud Hue Old Road all the way back to Cloud Hue Pass. They had traveled at least several hundred kilometers and traded several thousand blows through the battle. They had shattered mountains and rivers and darkened the sky and the earth during the fight. There wasn’t a single intact spot within fifty kilometers of their starting point, and the combatants themselves were covered in wounds and panting heavily.

Still, their momentum could not be stopped. Still, their fighting spirit burned brightly.

After all, a victor had not yet been decided.