The First Venerable of the Prosperous Age

As he spoke, Helai produced a giant red axe with his other hand and chopped it down on Yuanhe in the deep pit.

"Drink!" A violent red wave suddenly erupted from the hoe, instantly sending Yuan He flying backward, leaving a crater in the ground as he dodged the blow.

"Can we use the waves we just absorbed now?" Tsurugi wondered.

"Red wave? That...that's Crane's wave. He's not even a Class A fighter, yet he only fights Class A fighters." This spirit of facing difficulties head-on deeply moved Lu Xiaosan.

Yuan He slowly crawled out, panting heavily, his eyes bloodshot, and an endless killing intent about to burst forth.

No sooner said than done. Under the moonlight, Yuanhe ran towards Helai with a hoe, only managing to catch a few fleeting black shadows.

Ning Konglou frowned. "Is this the speed that someone below Grade A can achieve?"

Tsurugi, dragging his broken leg, limped towards the shadowy figure. One moved extremely fast, the other extremely slow, creating a stark contrast.

As they met, Yuanhe's iron hoe flew straight at Helai's face.

He Lai's leisurely figure suddenly flashed, and a red light gun appeared in his hand, which he thrust swiftly at Yuan He.

Yuanhe swung his hoe to block, and then engaged in hand-to-hand combat with Helai, who was wielding a gun.

He found that every time his hoe was about to land on the leisurely Crane, it was either suddenly dodged by him or deflected by him with his gun.

"No, this can't go on!" Yuanhe changed his strategy, switching from offense to defense.

As expected, Helai launched a counterattack.

He stood firmly on his feet, slightly turned his body, and his spear suddenly thrust forward like a whirlwind.

Yuanhe retreated and blocked, then suddenly swung his body downwards. Helai leaped up, turned around, and thrust his spear straight at her.

"A counterattack?!" Yuan He tried to dodge, but it was too late.

Fortunately, the spear pierced the empty, torn sleeve, and he narrowly escaped this disaster.

Yuan He was still in shock. "It seems my arm wasn't broken in vain!" he said, and then used all his strength to fiercely suppress He Lai, giving him no chance to counterattack.

The two fought for dozens more rounds, with He Lai holding his own in spear technique. However, the red glow on the spear was being eroded, causing the red spear to gradually disappear.

Seeing this, Helai flicked his hand and conjured two red swords.

He unleashed both swords simultaneously, and with a flash of red light, he was once again entangled in battle with Yuan He.

Crane's first sword strike was like a tiger, booming like thunder. The other sword strike was like a silver snake, swift as lightning. The two complemented each other, and the sword energy surged forth in an instant, enveloping Yuan He in a crimson sword light.

The two swords attacked simultaneously. Yuan He felt that one of the swords was extremely fierce, but not very fast. Every time he was about to counterattack with his hoe, the other sword would suddenly launch a sneak attack.

They attacked him relentlessly, leaving him defenseless and unable to defend against their attacks.

After barely managing to withstand a few dozen rounds, Yuan He was already on the defensive. In addition, he was bleeding heavily from his wounds and his head was already spinning.

"Hey!" Yuan He cried out as a sword struck his left shoulder. After a few more rounds, his abdomen and forehead were slashed by the cold sword.

Fortunately, the two had been clashing for some time, and the heavy sword had already dissipated. Only a short sword remained. After fighting for several more rounds, both of them lost both swords and simultaneously jumped back to their respective positions.

Yuan He was seriously injured and breathing rapidly, his vision gradually blurring.

On the contrary, He Lai remained calm and composed. Although his severed arm was bleeding, he seemed completely unaffected, as if nothing had happened.

Seeing the red light condense in He Lai's hand again, Yuan He rushed forward with his hoe, while He Lai lightly touched the ground with one foot and leaped backward in an instant.

Just as Yuanhe was about to attack, something suddenly flew out from Helai with a "whoosh".

Yuanhe tried to block it with his hoe, but was instead thrown back by its powerful impact.

Yuanhe shook his head and stood still, just in time to see Helai dancing with two long red whips under the moonlight.

Yuanhe gritted his teeth and charged forward again with his hoe.

As soon as he got close, a whip lashed out, the powerful force sending him flying once again.

Before he could even get up, the long whip swept across the ground again.

Yuan He suddenly leaped up, but his ankle was caught in mid-air by Ling Yi's whip.

He was then slammed to the ground, and another whip came down, which entangled the iron hoe.

Despite the excruciating pain throughout his body, Yuan He gripped the hoe tightly, not daring to let go of the red whip attached to it, and immediately withdrew it.

When the double whips struck again, it was like a raging storm. Dust and fallen leaves were swept into the air.

The scene was dramatic, but Yuanhe could only dodge and block with his hoe, looking quite disheveled.

The beauty of this whip lies in the fact that it doesn't need to be in contact with the iron hoe for a long time to be absorbed, and it can also repel fast-moving enemies.

Moreover, although the whipping appeared to be random and disorderly, each lash actually blocked Yuan He's path forward, gradually disrupting his pace and preventing him from advancing at all.

He Lai seized the opportunity and attacked again, his wrist twisting sharply as he swung the whip horizontally with one hand and vertically with the other. He unleashed five lightning whip strikes with a series of crackling sounds!

Yuan He was seriously injured and thought that if this dragged on, he would inevitably be defeated.

He immediately stepped forward, receiving several lashes to his face and body, but he did not back down.

He Lai thought to himself, "So you're planning to charge in headfirst? Well then, I'm sorry." With that thought, he began to lash out with his long whip even more recklessly.

"Slap! Slap! Slap!" The sound of skin being torn open rang out continuously.

Suddenly, He Lai felt as if the long whip was being tightly gripped by something. Looking closely, he saw Yuan He holding the whip in one hand and biting it with the other, his whole body covered in red welts from being whipped.

He Lai tried to pull back, but the whip remained unmoved. It turned out that Yuan He's hands and face were already bulging with veins, and his blood-stained face was filled with intense killing intent.

Yuanhe roared and kicked the hoe high into the air. Then, with a powerful pull, Helai, who was on one leg, stumbled and lost his balance.

Seeing that the whip had been taken over by someone else, Helai took it off.

Yuan He's lips curled up slightly. "This is exactly what I've been waiting for."

As soon as he finished speaking, he leaped into the air, picked up the iron hoe that had burst out with a violent red wave, and attacked He Lai at lightning speed.

"These red waves were absorbed from your weapons just now. You think you can conjure up weapons of equal strength while I'm taking this step? Absolutely not! So, die, Helai!"

Facing the massive red hoe so close at hand, He Lai remained expressionless, only a faint red light flashing in his hand.

Upon seeing this, Yuan He thought, "A hidden weapon?" He immediately focused all his attention on the red object in his hand, ready to dodge at the slightest movement.

"Huh? This guy didn't attack immediately. Hmph, now that he's attacking, it'll be too late... Ugh." He was suddenly struck in the ankle, and his entire lower body became incredibly numb and tingly.

And so, Yuanhe fell from the sky, and Hongchu grazed Helai's face, making a large crater when they landed. Throughout this ordeal, Helai didn't even flinch.

Yuan He lay on the ground, filled with resentment. His carefully prepared attack had been thwarted just like that...

"Damn it, I was clearly paying attention to his red hidden weapon, so what... hit me?"

Yuan He struggled to sit up, and only after the thick smoke dissipated did he see that He Lai was holding a red slingshot in his hand!

What hit him just now was an ordinary pebble that Helai fired when he drew his bow with his thumb.

Yuan He lay on the ground, feeling both amused and exasperated. He had been completely focused on when the red object would arrive. He had no idea that what had attacked was actually a pebble the size of a fingernail.

He Lai limped toward him, and Yuan He looked up and laughed, “Truly worthy of being the master of ten thousand troops, even children’s toys are handled so well. I am truly impressed, impressed, hahaha, cough cough cough.”

He Lai also joked, "Children's toys? Children are the scariest. Look, if I'm not careful, a child will dislocate my arm."

Yuan He smiled, stood up with difficulty, and murmured, "Now, kill me... I said I would only decide life or death, and I can accept whatever method is used."

“Okay…” Helai’s tone was tinged with reluctance.

The red light in He Lai's hand condensed again, gradually forming a wolf-tooth iron club. He said, "Brother Yuan, I had a very enjoyable battle. If you had not been injured, I might not have been able to win."

Yuan He chuckled self-deprecatingly, "Hmph, wasn't it obvious enough that He Yingxiong was holding back? If you had used your full strength earlier, I'm afraid I would have been dead long ago... But to die at He Yingxiong's hands would make this life worthwhile."

He Lai looked ashamed. "I'm sorry. No matter who the opponent was, I should have gone all out, but... I was truly moved by Brother Yuan's indomitable spirit, which is why I was a little slow in my attack..."

"Goodbye, Brother Yuan..." He Lai raised his stick and struck.