Chapter Eighty-One: Duel Between Two Generals

After Yang Tianbao’s mount had carried him forward for some ten or twenty meters, it swiftly turned around. Realizing that he had failed to wound Huang Xianlin in the first exchange—and had nearly been hurt himself—Yang Tianbao thought, “I hadn’t expected Huang Xianlin to be so cunning. It seems I’ll have to adapt my tactics as well!”

With that, Yang Tianbao raised his twin hammers once more and charged at Huang Xianlin. Huang Xianlin, too, ran forward about ten meters before stopping; his qilin mount promptly spun around with practiced speed. As soon as he turned, he saw Yang Tianbao bearing down on him, hammers poised to strike. Instantly, Huang Xianlin gave a squeeze with his legs, and his qilin opened its maw, charging at the enemy.

The two adversaries closed the gap, halting only a meter or two apart before clashing in a furious exchange. Huang Xianlin unleashed a rapid sequence of thrusts, smashes, sweeps, and upward strikes, sometimes chaining several moves together in a single breath, all while deftly evading Yang Tianbao’s swinging iron hammers. Beneath him, the qilin mount spat golden flames at the opposing wolf-lion beast, its cries echoing across the field.

Yang Tianbao wielded his great hammers, parrying Huang Xianlin’s blows with one while occasionally swinging the other in attack, his eyes ever-searching for an opening in his opponent’s defenses. His wolf-lion steed glared fiercely at the qilin, its blue wolf eyes burning with challenge. In response to the qilin’s flames, it exhaled chilling winds to block the fire, growling and feinting as if preparing to tear into its rival.

After a stretch of intense mounted combat, neither man able to gain the upper hand, Yang Tianbao suddenly leapt from his wolf-lion’s back, soaring into the air and seeming to stand upon nothing. Facing Huang Xianlin and his qilin below, he swung his twin hammers together with enormous force.

As the two divine hammers collided, a bolt of blinding white light shot forth from the point of impact, streaking toward Huang Xianlin and his qilin with a thunderous roar.

When Huang Xianlin saw Yang Tianbao leap into the sky and swing his hammers, unleashing a white blaze upon him, he realized at last that those massive weapons were none other than the legendary Thunderbolt Celestial Hammers.

It was said these hammers were ancient artifacts, forged from divine iron smelted over a thousand years using rare metals—so pure and hard that nothing could match them. The immortal who had crafted them spent centuries fueling the forge with celestial fire before casting the hammers, imbuing them with a breath of immortality. Then, pouring his own mystical power into the weapons, he transformed them into what they were now.

After the immortal mysteriously vanished, the hammers, too, disappeared for millennia. Who could have guessed they would resurface now in Yang Tianbao’s hands?

Seeing the hammers unleash their white light, Huang Xianlin’s heart clenched. He swiftly leapt aside, his qilin bounding with him. The instant they moved, the thunderbolt beam struck the very spot they’d just vacated. With a deafening crash, earth and dust flew skyward, smoke billowing in its wake.

Realizing Yang Tianbao was now casting spells from above, Huang Xianlin sprang from his mount’s back, soaring to a height of five or six zhang, standing in midair. He adjusted his wolf-fang spear, pointing it at Yang Tianbao, who hovered above him. Uttering the word “Fire,” he unleashed a beam of white light, as thick as a man’s finger, straight at Yang Tianbao.

Yang Tianbao, seeing the oncoming blast, stood his ground. He raised one of his celestial hammers to meet the beam head-on. The spear’s white light clashed with the divine hammer, sparks fountaining in all directions.

Finding his attack blocked, Huang Xianlin withdrew the light with a forceful twist, then twisted his body into an S-shaped path and sped upward, weaving toward Yang Tianbao.

Yang Tianbao, seeing Huang Xianlin approach, brought his twin hammers together with a crash, sending another bolt of white lightning toward his foe. But Huang Xianlin’s unpredictable, twisting flight made him a difficult target, and the divine light failed to strike true.

In a flash, Huang Xianlin was upon Yang Tianbao, whipping his wolf-fang spear at him in a rapid flurry of blows.

The power of Yang Tianbao’s Thunderbolt Celestial Hammers could only be unleashed when they collided together, producing that devastating white light. But now Huang Xianlin was too close, attacking rapidly and relentlessly, weaving his spear between Yang Tianbao’s hands and chest to prevent the hammers from coming together.

With his hammers’ handles being short and Huang Xianlin’s spear being long, Yang Tianbao found himself unable to land a blow, forced to block and dodge instead.

Moreover, every use of the Thunderbolt Hammers’ special power drained a great deal of energy and spiritual force. If their devastating light failed to strike the target, the effort was wasted. Unless he could be at least eighty percent certain of a hit, Yang Tianbao dared not use his weapon rashly.

Locked in close combat, with Huang Xianlin’s attacks coming swiftly, Yang Tianbao had no choice but to exchange blows face-to-face, parrying as best as he could. Frustrated by his inability to strike his opponent, he resorted to clamping his twin hammers onto the shaft of the wolf-fang spear with all his might.

Each time the hammers caught the spear, a tremendous shock reverberated from the weapons down to Huang Xianlin’s hands and arms, making his limbs ache with the jarring force—sometimes so much so that he dared not let the weapons clash directly.

As both warriors found themselves unable to gain the advantage, each began searching for new strategies.

Suddenly, Huang Xianlin leapt above Yang Tianbao, flipping in midair to face downward, gripping his spear with both hands. As his body plummeted, he thrust the spear repeatedly at Yang Tianbao’s head and shoulders.

Yang Tianbao, seeing his opponent descend from above, immediately raised his hammers to guard his head, meeting the descending spear with a mighty upward swing.

Below, on the ground, the qilin and the wolf-lion continued their own battle, trading bursts of flame and chilling wind, occasionally clashing tooth and claw in their fierce struggle.