Suppressing the North and Displaying Might, Chapter 113: The Siege (Part II)
The two of them stared in horror at the axe lying on the ground. In Deng Zhanxuan’s hand, only a broken section of the haft remained.
His eyes were filled with disbelief. His strongest reliance, the battle-axe that had accompanied him as he grew, had actually been broken.
“No… It’s impossible. How could the Black Tortoise Earthshaking Axe break?”
Bi Luo only had to see the expression on Deng Zhanxuan’s face to understand how deeply he was suffering. In all the years they had spent together, Deng Zhanxuan and that battle-axe had never once been separated. It was easy to imagine how important the weapon was to him.
Seeing the despair on Deng Zhanxuan’s face, White Tiger felt inexplicably pleased.
“Foolish humans. Your strength means nothing in my eyes. Accept your fate obediently and become food for me.”
“A-Xuan, I’m sorry. I’ve brought this upon you all. I…” Under White Tiger’s overwhelming power, Bi Luo understood that this would end in certain death. She had thought she could change the fate of Northern Bastion, yet everything had repeatedly gone against her expectations.
But White Tiger’s taunt rekindled the flames of battle in Deng Zhanxuan’s eyes. He picked up the axe, shield still attached, and rose once more.
“Bi Luo, I’m not down yet. I can still fight all day.”
As he spoke, he raised the shield to protect his chest.
“Take this chance to leave. Don’t delay any longer.”
After leaving them with those words, he advanced toward White Tiger with an unsteady gait.
“Miss, what about us?”
Bi Luo glanced at the struggling Deng Zhanxuan and the contemptuous White Tiger before turning around.
“You leave. Go inform General Li.”
“And you?”
Bi Luo nocked her final arrow and turned away.
“I’m going to keep that fool company.”
The female soldiers could not bear to leave them behind, but both reason and instinct urged them to escape.
“Miss, we’ll come back for you.”
With that, the soldier named Ling Lin turned and departed. The others gritted their teeth and followed. White Tiger seemed entirely uninterested in them, paying no attention to their departure. Instead, he stared at Deng Zhanxuan with keen interest.
“You can still endure? Then what about this? Tiger’s Roar!”
He opened his jaws in an instant, and a thunderous roar surged toward Deng Zhanxuan. Most terrifying of all, the sound waves were as sharp as blades, carrying silvery divine essence as they rushed at him.
Deng Zhanxuan clenched his teeth and charged forward behind his shield. But his pitiful martial essence was utterly useless now. Amid the violent waves of sound, he was sent flying once again, crashing heavily into a great tree.
Yet that was clearly not White Tiger’s true objective. The moment Deng Zhanxuan opened his eyes, the shield held before his chest shattered into several pieces.
“What will you use to block me now?”
White Tiger’s eyes were filled with contempt and excitement, as though Deng Zhanxuan’s defeat were an entertaining spectacle.
But just after he spoke, a snow-white divine eagle shot toward him at tremendous speed. It was shattered by his protective barrier like a moth flying into a flame, yet the arrow still drew his attention.
“Human, I gave you a chance to leave. What are you doing?”
Bi Luo drew her bow and slowly stepped in front of Deng Zhanxuan.
“Nothing special. I simply can’t leave this fool here alone.”
“Bi Luo, are you an idiot?” Deng Zhanxuan looked at her helplessly.
“That’s right. I’m even more foolish than you.”
As she spoke, three more arrows flew toward White Tiger. He could not even be bothered to raise a claw. A single glance was enough for several streams of divine essence to slice the arrows apart.
“Now you will all die.”
Deng Zhanxuan took several ragged breaths and somehow stood again. His chest was a horrifying sight. Anyone else would have died countless times from such wounds, but Deng Zhanxuan endured through the powerful body he had forged by surviving injury after injury.
He gently pushed Bi Luo aside and stepped forward.
“The bodies of the Deng family are the strongest shields our comrades possess. As long as I am still alive, no one can harm her.”
As he spoke, a faint black light began to shine once more, denser and more profound than before.
White Tiger paid it no heed.
“Do you truly wish to die so badly? As a human, do you have no attachments or wishes? Are humans not afraid of death precisely because of such things?”
“Of course I do. But upholding my convictions is more important than any of them.”
Deng Zhanxuan spoke with unshakable resolve. Then he remembered something else.
“Bi Luo, I may really die this time. I have one final wish. Will you listen?”
“Tell me. Whether you live or die, you will not be alone.”
Deng Zhanxuan’s tone suddenly softened.
“Bi Luo, I like you. I don’t know whether it’s because my elder brothers often said things like this, but I think I truly do like you. You’re always calling me foolish. My father once told me that a man becomes a fool in front of the woman he loves. I’m telling you this because it is my final wish.”
For a moment, Bi Luo was so startled by the sudden confession that she did not know how to respond.
“I…”
“You don’t need to answer. My wish has already come true. The final person I will protect in this life is the woman I love. I’m satisfied.”
With that, Deng Zhanxuan gathered Black Tortoise martial essence in both hands, forming two tortoiseshell shields. Then he shouted at White Tiger:
“Come on! I don’t care what you are. You may break my shields, but you will never break the shield in my heart!”
“Deng Zhanxuan, if you die, I’ll definitely go with you!”
Bi Luo shouted toward him.
Hearing Deng Zhanxuan’s words, White Tiger felt as though he had heard something similar in the depths of his long memory.
Seven hundred years ago, the divine beasts still roamed the continent, and the gods still ruled the world.
“Black Tortoise, why can I never break through your defenses? I refuse to believe there is anything in this world that my White Tiger divine essence cannot cut apart. You must have used some trick.”
A colossal tiger, a hundred meters tall, stood before a black divine tortoise and questioned him in a harsh voice.
Faced with White Tiger’s overbearing accusation, Black Tortoise replied in his deep, unhurried voice:
“It is true that your White Tiger divine essence can be called the sharpest divine essence in the world. Combined with your power of slaughter, there is no material you cannot destroy.”
“Then tell me why I still can’t break your shell!”
Black Tortoise smiled.
“Your temper is simply too fierce, and you are far too impatient. Otherwise, how could you have lost to Azure Dragon, our eldest brother?”
At the mention of Azure Dragon, White Tiger’s expression immediately darkened.
“I’m talking to you about us. Why did you bring up Azure Dragon? Answer my question properly!”
“Very well, I’ll tell you. Just as your powerful offensive ability comes from your terrifying heart of slaughter, my indestructible defense comes from my unwavering conviction to protect all living beings. As long as you cannot break my conviction, you will never break my defenses. My desire to protect is the same as your intent to kill. Asking me to abandon my convictions would be like asking you, White Tiger, to give up slaughter. Do you think either of us could do that?”
“Hmph! I don’t believe you.”
White Tiger turned around and stalked away angrily.
“Black Tortoise, you bastard! You chose a divine warrior with the same temperament as you!”
Suddenly, White Tiger roared and raised his claw high. An attack several times more powerful than the previous one descended from the heavens. The air shrieked as it was torn apart, and even the surrounding space split open in numerous cracks.
“Farewell, Big Brother. Second Brother.”
Deng Zhanxuan thought this would be his final moment. But at that very instant, a powerful surge of Black Tortoise divine essence shot into the sky and met White Tiger’s heaven-splitting claw head-on.
The instant black and white light collided, the terrifying shock wave flattened everything around them. The towering trees and century-old boulders were reduced to ash, while even the earth was churned up to a depth of three feet. Dust filled the sky.
When the dust finally dispersed, Deng Zhanxuan and Bi Luo were still alive beneath the black barrier. Above their heads, the Black Tortoise Earthshaking Axe—which had shattered into dozens of pieces—now hovered in the air, completely restored.
“My axe! My axe is back!”
Deng Zhanxuan shouted joyfully.
The gentle Black Tortoise divine essence descended upon him and slowly healed his fatal injuries.
Sensing that familiar aura, White Tiger addressed the axe suspended in the air in a deep voice:
“You finally decided to come out, Black Tortoise.”
A deep, resonant voice slowly emerged from the axe.
“It has been a long time, old friend.”
The scattered black light gathered together, forming a martial tortoise of roughly the same size as White Tiger, an infernal serpent coiled around its body.
“Lord Black Tortoise, can you finally manifest yourself?”
Deng Zhanxuan cried out happily.
Black Tortoise lowered his head and smiled.
“Zhanxuan, haven’t you realized that you have already broken through to the Martial Grandmaster realm?”
“Really? Then does that mean I have to begin hibernating?”
“That’s right. After today, you must find a place to begin your hibernation. Once it ends, your combat strength will undergo a complete transformation.”
Black Tortoise spoke with certainty.
“But I have something important to do. I have to help my elder brother take the city.”
Black Tortoise smiled and looked toward White Tiger.
“It’s fine. Someone will help him.”
Feeling the ill intent in that gaze, White Tiger said warily:
“What do you mean?”
In truth, from the moment he saw Deng Zhanxuan, White Tiger had sensed that his old friend was inside the axe. That fellow had shown no intention of appearing, however. Thus, White Tiger had forced Deng Zhanxuan into such desperate circumstances solely to make Black Tortoise reveal himself.
“White Tiger, have you noticed the changes taking place across the continent?”
Black Tortoise suddenly asked.
“Of course. The Five Pillars have merely appeared in the world. Once someone unifies the continent, everything will return to the way it was before. Isn’t that how humanity has always developed?”
White Tiger spoke with complete indifference.
“It is true that human history consists of division followed by unity, and unity followed by division. But that is not all I wish to say.”
“What else is there?”
White Tiger looked puzzled.
“The heir of the Limitless One has appeared.”
“What? Already? It has only been three hundred years.”
White Tiger’s expression finally changed.
Black Tortoise nodded firmly.
“And that person is not far from here. I personally sensed him draw upon the power of the Yin-Yang Dragon-Patterned Staff.”
“Those two little fellows are far too willing to acknowledge others.”
“Regardless, the continental calamity foretold by the Limitless One is likely approaching. You should still remember the promise we made to him.”
White Tiger sighed.
“Of course. The Limitless One destroyed the core of the Celestial Realm at the cost of his life, together with all the great martial artists. We surviving divine beasts also promised him that we would give our all to aid his heir. I simply never expected it to happen so soon. The overall strength of the continent has yet to recover to the level it possessed back then. In fact, there is still a considerable gap.”