Volume One: The Celestial Palace of Mist Chapter Sixty: One Against Four

Chapter Sixty: One Against Four

On the Golden Sands Beach, battle energy surged like waves, and celestial brilliance exploded like fireworks across the sky. Four disciples from Rain Lake joined forces to attack Zhou Hao alone—not because they thought themselves inferior, but because Rain Lake always preached the philosophy of lions hunting rabbits and wolves slaying tigers together. This time, Rain Lake sent eleven, while every other faction dispatched twelve, leaving Rain Lake at a slight disadvantage.

Thus, they split into two squads, having determined their strategy before entering the Grand Immortal's Mansion: a team of four and a team of seven would launch simultaneous, unpredictable treasure hunts. Yet, as is so often the case, reality proved far stranger than any plan. Now, all four Rain Lake disciples struck together, yet were unable to bring down Zhou Hao. The frustration was maddening. He was but a lowly disciple of the Celestial Hall, and even if he had slain a Fire Origin disciple before, so what? This was four against one!

"Kill!"

Eyes bloodshot, the Rain Lake disciples gripped their long spears, each weapon radiating blinding blue light. Zhou Hao parried their attack with a golden celestial sword, but the outcome was inevitable...

Crack, crack, crack!

The golden sword began to emit a series of splintering sounds, cracks spreading across its entire length. At last, as expected, the celestial sword shattered, its fragments falling to the golden sands in a heap of scrap metal.

Bereft of his weapon, Zhou Hao began to falter. The Rain Lake disciples wielded their spears, hacking at him from every angle with such ferocity that escape was impossible.

Shhh! A long spear pierced Zhou Hao's left shoulder, blood instantly staining its tip. He grunted in pain, stumbling backward. The next moment, another spear thrust directly at his heart; if struck, death would be certain.

Zhou Hao's gaze grew cold. Gritting his teeth, he seized the spear just as its razor tip reached his chest—grabbing it with his right hand, gripping the blade itself. Blood seeped from his palm, dripping onto the golden sand in a scene both tragic and beautiful.

"Ah!"

The stabbing pain made Zhou Hao cry out, for the blue spear was no ordinary immortal weapon. By now, his right hand was a bloody mess, his arm trembling violently, but he held on with desperate strength.

Yet the Rain Lake disciples showed no mercy. One pushed his spear with all his might, determined to pierce Zhou Hao’s heart; the other three leapt, grasping their spears mid-shaft, wielding them as javelins. They meant to pin Zhou Hao to the beach like a living target.

Zzzz!

A faint sound emanated from Zhou Hao's right hand. Suddenly, his palm burst with an intense blue-violet light, and arcs of lightning danced from his fingers. The Rain Lake disciple holding the spear became an instant explosion of hair, his hands rupturing in a flash.

"Ah!" The disciple screamed in agony, staring incredulously at his destroyed hands, his eyes wide with shock and pain.

Clang! Zhou Hao twisted the spear in his grip and, cold and merciless, drove it forward. The Rain Lake disciple, having lost both hands, had no chance to flee; his own spear impaled his chest.

Bang! Zhou Hao yanked the spear free, and the Rain Lake disciple toppled backward onto the sand, a gaping hole through his chest.

All these actions took place in a single instant. The remaining three Rain Lake disciples were nearly beside themselves with rage—watching helplessly as their comrade was slain, unable to intervene, for Zhou Hao's movements were as swift and unpredictable as lightning.

"Ah! You wretched disciple of Cloud Mirage, today you die!" the three Rain Lake disciples screamed, hurling their spears almost simultaneously.

"Roar!" Three blue dragons manifested atop their spears, and suddenly the sky changed. Above the Golden Sands, dark clouds gathered, not with thunder but with torrential rain. From the depths of the clouds, countless drops fell.

Each drop was like blue ink. On trees, it corroded them to pulp; on sand, it created dark, gaping pits. The spectacle was otherworldly.

"Come then!"

Zhou Hao’s battle energy erupted anew. Though wounded, his strength was undiminished; in fact, his fighting spirit soared, his blood boiling, thunder rumbling within him.

Three spears streaked down from the heavens like blue arcs, their speed unmatched, tips gleaming like arrowheads. The sound of spears slicing through the void and the roar of dragons echoed together.

Blue rain poured from the sky, dragons coiled around the spears, and the attack could only be described as terrifying. At Zhou Hao’s current cultivation, escape was impossible. He could only meet the assault head-on.

He gripped the dead Rain Lake disciple’s spear in one arm, blue-violet lightning crackling up his arm, encircling it in rings, the space around him trembling.

Whoosh!

A blue arc shot upward—the spear in Zhou Hao’s hand, wrapped in lightning, flying faster than the three thrown by the Rain Lake disciples. This move was tit-for-tat: spear against spear.

Bang, bang, bang...

An awful collision erupted in midair, transforming the space into an ocean of blue light, lightning surging and intertwining. In just a few breaths, that ocean exploded, blue rain flooding the sky, the entire scene shrouded in mist.

In this fierce exchange, both sides battled to a draw!

In the sky, the three Rain Lake disciples watched Zhou Hao below with grim faces; he stared back, equally impassive. Clearly, the three were at a loss...

Their last attack was Rain Lake’s ultimate move—never before defeated by an equal opponent, and now performed together, its power capable of shattering mountains and overturning seas. Yet the youth below had nullified it completely; their confidence was shaken.

As blue rain scattered across the sky, the downpour ceased, heavy clouds parted, revealing blue skies and white clouds once again.

"Rain Lake is nothing special," Zhou Hao said, shaking his forefinger lightly.

At these words, the three Rain Lake disciples flared with anger, launching another attack. Though weaponless, their momentum was stronger than ever before.

Zhou Hao realized that the three were now unleashing their full strength. If earlier they were like lions hunting rabbits, now they were wolves fighting a tiger—giving everything.

"Whoever insults Rain Lake—dies!" they shouted in unison, their voices echoing with a strange power that seemed to reverberate through the heavens themselves.

Ahead, the sea churned, waves towering a hundred feet crashed forward. Behind, the heart-shaped island trembled, trees near the beach uprooted, the whole island seemed to breathe with a heavy pulse. Somewhere, an unfathomable force was at play.

Witnessing this, Zhou Hao narrowed his eyes in confusion. He marveled at the bizarre power—how could a mere sentence trigger such upheaval?

Yet the disturbance lasted only a moment, vanishing as quickly as it came. The next instant, Zhou Hao and the Rain Lake disciples were locked in combat, immortal blood splattering across the sands...

Boom!

A massive fist, wrapped in blue-violet lightning, slammed into a Rain Lake disciple’s chest, killing him instantly, a gaping hole through his torso.

The disciple’s eyes were filled with unwillingness. His last sight was Zhou Hao’s fist withdrawing from his body, as the other two disciples struck Zhou Hao in unison, sending him flying.

"Give me your life!" The remaining Rain Lake disciples were wild with fury, desperate for revenge.

On the beach, Zhou Hao staggered to his feet, drenched in blood, facing three elite Rain Lake disciples—the pressure was immense!

Moreover, he could no longer use the Grand Solar Palm or the Void Immortal Step, for his celestial energy was depleted.

“Mama mia, kid, can you handle this? If not, I’m out of here. This place is way too dangerous—can’t even sunbathe without being chased!” The turtle, now only the size of a fist, poked its head from Zhou Hao’s bosom and asked.

Shing, shing!

The two Rain Lake disciples attacked, their hands forming claws, moving at blinding speed, aiming for Zhou Hao’s throat. He snorted coldly and pulled the turtle from his robes...

“Let me borrow you!”

“What the—^O^@#”

Clang! The disciples’ claws struck what felt like a steel plate—the turtle’s shell was impenetrably hard, sending pain shooting up their arms, causing spasms.

Thud, thud, thud!

Fierce-eyed, the disciples spat, unleashing countless blue rain-like ice needles at Zhou Hao. Unable to dodge, he was hit everywhere but his vital spots.

Zhou Hao fell to his knees, exhaustion overwhelming him. His vision blurred, yet he gripped the turtle tighter, increasing the pain in his arm, already riddled with ice needles, blood oozing blue—the needles were poison.

“Argh!” Zhou Hao howled at the sky, his right arm shuddering violently, expelling all the ice needles from his body. Blue-violet lightning flickered across his skin.

Thanks to this shield of lightning, Zhou Hao had not died, for the needles were deadly—fatal upon contact, highly corrosive, impossible for flesh to withstand.

“A lightning talisman? It can make him immune to all poisons!” Zhou Hao opened his right hand, revealing a diamond-shaped mark with a golden lightning bolt at its center.

“He was hit by the Blue Rain Ice Needles and still survives?” The Rain Lake disciples were the most astonished. They could not believe their famed Blue Rain Ice Needles had failed.

“His blood is blue—he must be poisoned. Finish him off now!” One disciple eyed Zhou Hao kneeling on the sand, a sinister smile on his face.

As he spoke, both Rain Lake disciples unleashed a deadly immortal technique, blue crystalline beams shooting from their palms, shining brightly in the sunlight, aimed at Zhou Hao’s forehead.

Faced with this attack, Zhou Hao did not sit and wait. He threw a punch, but nearly spat blood in frustration—the punch showed no power, the lightning on his fist sputtering and dying out.

“Are you kidding me?” Zhou Hao’s expression turned wry, his heart collapsing.

Was this truly a joke played with his life?

Just as Zhou Hao was about to use the turtle to shield himself from the blue crystal beams, a sharp sword light descended behind him.

Buzz!

The crystal beams shattered against the sword light, scattering into fragments. At that moment, a figure appeared before Zhou Hao.

The newcomer, holding a long sword, faced the Rain Lake disciples directly, shielding Zhou Hao firmly behind them.