Chapter 156: Sense of Crisis?

Over there, the spectators continued to discuss and envy Ouyang Lie's genius talent.

Here, some of Lietian Gang members mocked the remaining twenty or thirty men of Zhanlang Gang.

Chen Dahu was among them; he extended his middle finger and sneered, "A bunch of trash—Cang Luo is trash, you're all trash—how dare you challenge Lietian Gang?"

Seek death!

Wait—once our boss recovers for a moment, it'll be Cang Luo's doomsday, and yours too!"

"Pah!"

Chen Dahu spat, then continued mocking: "Right now, whoever shouts three times, 'Cang Luo is trash, Cang Luo is a bastard,' we'll spare his life and let him escape the gang's massacre."

"Hahaha, how's that deal? If you're going to shout, do it fast—otherwise, once our boss kills Cang Luo, it'll be too late."

Chen Dahu's mockery drew laughter from those around him.

Among the laughing crowd were some who had left Zhanlang Gang last night; now they felt immense relief at having made the right decision.

Thank goodness we left Zhanlang Gang in time—otherwise we'd have been killed by Cang Luo!

Facing Chen Dahu's taunts, most of Zhanlang Gang members dared not speak out, some even looked panicked—after all, no one fears death less, and everyone could see the situation was dire for Cang Luo, with near-zero chance of victory.

If Cang Luo dies, we'll die with him!?

Last night, Cang Luo swore he had a trump card to defeat Ouyang Lie—he could win!

True, at first he unleashed the mutated Fire-Devouring Wolf to create mist, blinding Ouyang Lie; with his boss plus the mutated beast fighting two-on-one, there was real potential to win.

But no one expected Ouyang Lie to be so strong—he smashed the mist with a single punch, completely dismantling the boss's mist-based attrition tactic.

Not only was the tactic broken, his left arm was shattered by Ouyang Lie's punch, and now he's hiding in the mist, too afraid to emerge...

At this moment, Zhanlang Gang members felt deep unease and disappointment in Cang Luo.

Wang Fuhai saw their expressions and immediately declared firmly: "Brothers, don't listen to Chen Dahu's nonsense—the duel isn't over, our boss will win."

Cang Feng said calmly: "Our boss is injured, but he hasn't shown a single hint of despair—meaning he still has confidence. Even if he showed despair, it's deliberate—to make Ouyang Lie underestimate him."

Everyone froze, then realized—it was true. In past battles where he overcame higher-level opponents, the boss always feigned weakness to trick his foes into underestimating him. This time must be the same.

Yun Jiao and the three women also comforted: "We must believe in our boss—he will defeat Ouyang Lie..."

"Yes! We must believe in our boss—he will win!"

"Believe in our boss!"

"Zhanlang Gang will prevail!"

"......"

After being reassured by the Deputy Internal Affairs Chief and the Council Hall Master, along with the three women, the group's resolve strengthened considerably.

In truth, they knew that now, there was no choice but to keep believing in their boss—if they didn't, they'd be scorned and looked down upon as turncoats.

In the corner, Zhao Renli sneered at Wang Fuhai and Cang Feng's words, then leaned close to his brother Zhao Renwu and whispered: "Brother, we..."

He wanted to say they should follow Chen Dahu's advice immediately—but before he could finish, Zhao Renwu quickly whispered: "Wait a little longer..."

Zhao Renli immediately frowned, his face filled with confusion.

Wait longer? Could his brother actually believe Cang Luo still has a chance to turn things around?

Impossible!

In this situation, Cang Luo is certain to die!

We can't die with this group of fools for Cang Luo's sake!

Brother, surrender and lose half! We don't have to die with him!

Zhao Renli screamed inwardly—he believed Cang Luo would lose, and if Cang Luo lost, they'd die with him.

Time dripped away—Ouyang Lie could recover his Qi at any moment; once he did, the duel would end.

If they still hadn't declared themselves by then, hadn't cursed Cang Luo three times as Chen Dahu demanded, they'd die with Cang Luo.

Zhao Renli didn't want to die with Cang Luo—he wanted to go over to Chen Dahu's side—but Zhao Renwu held his shoulder, preventing him from moving, leaving his heart in turmoil.

At that moment, someone suddenly shouted: "Look! Firelight!"

Zhao Renli froze, quickly turned to the arena—and saw several flashes of fire within the mist. He knew Cang Luo's beast was firing again, launching a surprise attack.

But would it work?

Others thought the same—would it work?

Ouyang Senior Brother wasn't afraid of the Fire-Devouring Wolf's flames; even if he couldn't see the wolf in the mist, seeing the fire was enough—he'd just dodge, then smash the mist with a punch, then kill the wolf.

Sure enough, another hurricane appeared on the arena—Ouyang Senior Brother's fist wind—blowing the mist apart...

But this time, the mist wasn't fully cleared; the punch's power had weakened considerably.

The temporary commentator continued: "Clearly, Ouyang Senior Brother's Qi hasn't fully recovered—but not far off—the mist is mostly blown away, and the Fire-Devouring Wolf and Cang Luo's figures are now visible, though blurry."

"Hahaha, Cang Luo is practically begging to die—how dare he attack again?"

"Ouyang Senior Brother, punch Cang Luo to dust!"

"Ouyang Senior Brother, first smash that mutated Fire-Devouring Wolf... cough, cough, cough!"

"Yes... cough, cough—smash the wolf first, this smoke is too annoying..."

After a brief silence, the battle erupted again—this time, Cang Luo struck first.

Ouyang Lie easily dodged the flame from behind, then punched out—though he didn't fully clear the mist, he could now faintly see Cang Luo and the Fire-Devouring Wolf.

"You pathetic fool," Ouyang Lie sneered.

Originally, he'd planned to recover a bit more Qi, first clear the mist and kill that damned mutated Fire-Devouring Wolf, letting Cang Luo feel the agony of his beast's death tearing his soul-link apart—then kill Cang Luo himself.

But this worthless fool, eager to die, dared to attack him—so he'd no longer bother with the beast first. He'd just torture and kill Cang Luo outright.

Boom!

Ouyang Lie threw another punch—but its power weakened further; he had to conserve his Qi, saving one final punch to shatter Cang Luo.

After this punch, the mist dissipated further—Cang Luo's position was fully exposed. Ouyang Lie moved decisively, activating his body technique to rush toward Cang Luo.

Opposite, Cang Luo was sprinting away, and he transmitted his voice to Erha, ordering it to continue spewing white smoke to create a fog, to hide him, and to create an opportunity for him to attack.

The Dragon-Slaying Palm had finished charging, but it could not be used lightly before finding an opportunity to kill with a single strike.

There is only one chance; the Dragon-Slaying Palm, which fused three types of primal energy, charges very slowly, and Ouyang Lie would not give him a second chance.

Cang Luo was fleeing at full speed; his right hand appeared to be dragging his injured left arm, but in reality, it was hiding the Dragon-Slaying Palm, this killing move.

Behind, Ouyang Lie approached rapidly; his speed was faster than Cang Luo's, yet because of the fog's existence, several times it seemed he was about to catch Cang Luo, only to be dodged by Cang Luo again.

"Damn beast, the fog has restored itself so quickly; is the primal energy of mutated demonic beasts so abundant?"

Ouyang Lie was somewhat annoyed; after thinking for a moment, he still decided to blast the fog apart first, otherwise it would be extremely difficult to catch Cang Luo. Although it wasted a lot of primal energy, the remaining primal energy was still enough to punch Cang Luo to death with a single blow.

Boom!

Boom!

Boom-boom!

Ouyang Lie stood in the center of the arena, crazily circulating his primal wheel to mobilize primal energy, and threw four punches in all directions; the fist winds were fierce, instantly blowing the fog away.

These four punches, plus the previous four, had already consumed about seventy percent of his primal energy; now only thirty percent remained, but that was enough to kill Cang Luo.

After the smoke dissipated, Cang Luo had nowhere to hide; he stood at the edge of the arena, his injured left arm trembling, looking at Ouyang Lie with a face full of 'panic'.

"This time, let's see where you hide..."

Ouyang Lie sneered, did not waste time with useless words, and quickly rushed to kill Cang Luo; that beast in the corner was spewing white smoke to create fog again. Having expended a huge amount of primal energy to blast the fog apart, he could not let it go to waste.

The Life-and-Death Arena was neither big nor small; it was a square with a side length of nine zhang, that is, thirty meters by thirty meters.

Thirty meters; for an ordinary person, including the start-up time, it would only take five or six seconds to run across. For Ouyang Lie, a martial artist, it was even faster, at most two or three seconds.

Moreover, Ouyang Lie had just been standing in the center of the arena, a distance of no more than fifteen meters from Cang Luo.

This distance, without the interference of the fog, allowed Ouyang Lie to instantly appear less than one meter in front of Cang Luo; among the onlookers, except for the inner sect disciples and Warden Wang, almost no one could clearly see his movement.

At this moment, the corners of Ouyang Lie's mouth curled up slightly, and he looked at Cang Luo with a confident expression.

This position, this distance, was an excellent attacking range.

Trash! Finally caught you!

"Die!"

Ouyang Lie let out a low shout; his body bent slightly, forming a long bow, then he retracted his right arm into a punching stance, instantly pouring ninety percent of the remaining primal energy in his Lower Dantian into it.

The fiery red aura on the surface of his fist was almost burning, like a rocket about to erupt!

In the next moment, the fist shot out, driving straight into Cang Luo's chest.

Before the fist arrived, the fist wind had already arrived!

Boom!

This punch was three parts stronger and three parts faster than the one that had shattered Cang Luo's left arm before!

In his mind, Cang Luo absolutely had no way to dodge and no way to block.

If a god blocks, kill the god!

If a Buddha blocks, kill the Buddha!

However, in the instant he threw the punch, Ouyang Lie vaguely felt a fatal crisis coming from an unknown source...

Where did this sense of crisis come from?

From this trash in front of him?

Impossible!

Ouyang Lie did not believe Cang Luo could pose a threat to him; it must be that he was somewhat distracted by that mutated beast, thus producing an illusion.

Yes, it must be an illusion...

Ouyang Lie believed this sense of crisis was his own illusion and should disappear very soon.

But the fact was, in the instant he threw the punch, this sense of crisis not only did not disappear, but became more and more real.

So real that it seemed... as if a killer was hiding in the darkness!

Ouyang Lie's heart shook greatly; he felt this crisis getting closer and closer, but under his gaze, he could not see any abnormality at all...

"Beneath your feet!"

Ouyang Lie was suddenly startled; he knew where this sense of crisis came from—it was right beneath him!

However, it was already too late!

Just as Ouyang Lie's fist was about to hit Cang Luo, Ouyang Lie suddenly felt his feet sink; then, more than half of his body actually sank into the ground, leaving only the part above his chest remaining on the surface.

And his fatal punch, which had condensed the remaining ninety percent of his primal energy, missed, easily dodged by Cang Luo.

"What is going on?"

Ouyang Lie, with more than half his body buried in the soil, roared in his heart; he felt something pulling at his feet, that thing had pulled him into the ground.

Damn it!

Who is it? What thing is it?

Ouyang Lie had no time to think much, because at this moment, that trash was smashing a palm down toward the top of his head...

This trash! Dare to, dare to!

In this instant, Ouyang Lie exploded with all his remaining primal energy, using it to condense body-protecting aura on his upper body to defend against Cang Luo's attack.

However, his primal energy was already running low; after that punch missed, less than half a percent of primal energy remained in his Lower Dantian.

In the end, the aura was successfully condensed, but it was only half a finger thick; under conditions of sufficient primal energy, he could condense an aura two fingers thick, and maintain it for the burning of an incense stick.

Although the aura was only half a finger thick, he felt it was enough, because Cang Luo was very trashy!

However...

Bang!!!

A dull, thunderous roar sounded from above Ouyang Lie's head.

The right palm of Cang Luo, wrapped in orange-red, pale blue, and pale cyan vortex qi, unleashed the Dragon-Slaying Palm that fused the primal forces of Yang, Thunder, and Wind, instantly flattening Ouyang Lie's body-protecting vortex qi and nearly smashing directly onto his forehead!

Instantly, Ouyang Lie's head snapped violently backward, and his body-protecting vortex qi vanished in an instant.

Then, dark red blood slowly flowed from Ouyang Lie's eyes, ears, nose, and mouth...

Bleeding from all seven orifices!

Eyes glazed over!

The injuries looked extremely severe, but Ouyang Lie was not yet dead.

Because Cang Luo had only flattened his vortex qi just now, not struck his forehead directly, but rather through a thin layer of body-protecting vortex qi.

But it was nearly the same; the power unleashed by Cang Luo's palm was such that even a Martial Master would need to condense body-protecting vortex qi to stand ready in defense, let alone Ouyang Lie whose primal force was almost exhausted?

If not dead, then half-dead, and there was a high chance he would become an idiot, after all, it was struck on the head.

Cang Luo knew that he had won this life-and-death duel, and Ouyang Lie had lost!

But, the duel was not yet over.

Because, Ouyang Lie was not yet dead...