Lieutenant Chen stumbled back, covering the wound on his chest.
It was a fierce claw strike from Sha Xing, which not only rended the flesh from the chest but also shook his viscera, which made it impossible to recover even with the help of his breathing technique.
"You are too weak to stand against me with your two bronze life rings," Sha Xing sneered at Lieutenant Chen. "Well, take it easy for now, I will kill Liu Guang first and then get back to you."
Lieutenant Chen growled angrily and was about to charge again, but was stopped immediately by the other three masters from the Yungang League.
Liu Guang was injured on the calves and his meridians were seriously damaged. The green air flow under his feet became fainter and he was moving much more slowly than before.
Sha Xing reached closer and closer to him with his terrible claws. Liu Guang had no way to counterattack and kept trying to dodge, but there were only more and more cuts on his arms and legs.
"I cannot wait any longer." Jiang Shaoliu narrowed his eyes and threw the stone in his hand.
On a big branch more than 500 meters away, the Yungang League sniper's body suddenly exploded in a shower of bones and bits of flesh.
"Who did that?" Sha Xing stopped in his tracks, his silver eyes staring furiously into the thick forest.
Liu Guang kept both his arms folded protectively and kept low as he retreated more than ten meters away. The soles of his boots were rubbed out and emitted a burnt smell, leaving bloodstains along the way.
The three masters surrounding Lieutenant Chen all stopped and looked around in confusion.
The mantis stalks the cicada, unaware of the oriole swooping down on it. So, who was the oriole?
Jiang Shaoliu walked out of the bushes and stepped forward slowly, his eyes grimly fixed on Sha Xing.
Lieutenant Chen and Liu Guang gasped in unison.
"Jiang Shaoliu!" they shouted with one voice, then looked at each other for a moment in surprise.
He knows Jiang Shaoliu too?
"Is his name Jiang Shaoliu?" Sha Xing squinted and said in a cold voice, "Well, good to know. But this is the last you'll ever see of him!"
Jiang Shaoliu kept silent. He was preparing the Great Sage's Formula, letting the warm flow run wild inside him.
After observing the fight from the bushes, he had a good estimate of Sha Xing's power. He had to try his best to save Lieutenant Chen and Liu Guang.
Jiang Shaoliu made his move. He clenched the fists and began to run faster and faster like a charging bull, his life ring ringing violently within him.
Sha Xing met him head on, just as fast. His body glowed silver-white, his fingers like sharpened hooks.
Grass and pieces of branches surged and stormed in Jiang Shaoliu's wake like a great dragon, with him as its head and his fists as its teeth.
Boom!
The storm dragon and the silver claws crashed into each other with a huge shockwave, flattening the plants and rocks around them. The two figures bounced backwards. Jiang Shaoliu fell down and rolled on the ground, a throbbing pain in his right arm.
Jiang Shaoliu focused on the Great Sage's Formula and let the stream of warmth flood into his right arm. The muscles and tendons across the limb trembled slightly and the feeling of pain slowly faded.
Standing up from the ground, Sha Xing rubbed his trembling knuckles and wrists, his breath rough.
"Equal strength?" Lieutenant Chen looked to Liu Guang in surprise.
Did Jiang Shaoliu have the power of two silver life rings?
"No," Liu Guang squinted, "Jiang Shaoliu is at a disadvantage, since he has retreated further and stood back up slower than Sha Xing did."
Glancing over Liu Guang's injury, Lieutenant Chen clenched his fists and cried: "Hold on, Liu Guang, we're coming!"
The other masters from the military rushed out from behind the pangolin's corpse to join him, but they were blocked again by the three masters from the Yungang League as they attempted to approach Liu Guang.
Jiang Shaoliu and Sha Xing had finished their breather on the edge of the thick forest, and were ready to fight again.
Sha Xing lashed out with his silver claws, aiming at the opponent's throat or chest, while Jiang Shaoliu threw his fists like battering rams, following the simple and well-rounded style of the Ape Fist.
"Die!" Sha Xing lunged forward , slicing through Jiang Shaoliu's T-shirt. Jiang Shaoliu felt a burning sensation on his arm.
It was a minor injury, but the surface of the skin was broken and beads of blood were pushing out of him.
"Let's see how long you can keep standing!" Sha Xing licked Jiang Shaoliu's blood from the tip of his finger-claw and let out a shoulder-shaking peal of laughter, before abruptly charging forward again.
Jiang Shaoliu felt sweat soak his forehead, but he remained calm and clear even though his body temperature was rising. He was consuming too much energy, and it was starting to make him a little hungry.
"Hu…" Seeing Sha Xing attacking again, Jiang Shaoliu exhaled and quickly changed his fighting stance.
If anything could successfully turn the tide, it was the Demon Fist from the mysterious golden hoop.
Standing firmly with his legs planted solidly into the rocks and his body steady, he let the warmth flood him and felt his life ring rotate violently as shadowy fists flew around him in all directions.
Sha Xing's claws were immediately deflected by the shadow fists no matter how he tried to strike. "What kind of fist is that?!" he snarled. He had never seen such a technique before.
Jiang Shaoliu didn't reply and shouted loudly: "Lieutenant Chen, Liu Guang, get out of here!"
"To hell with you!" Sha Xing barked anger and turned back toward Liu Guang and Lieutenant Chen.
He wasn't planning on letting anyone leave.
Jiang Shaoliu cooled down and switched back to the Ape Fist before rushing after Sha Xiang to try his best to stop him.
It wasn't hard to tell which side was stronger, as Lieutenant Chen and Liu Guang were both seriously injured and the other military masters were not nearly as strong as them.
"Don't hesitate, just go!" Jiang Shaoliu roared between strikes.
He was getting hungry now and his strength would soon start waning. If he were defeated, everyone there would die.
"None of you can escape!" Sha Xing sneered. Each slash of his claws was fiercer than the last, all aimed at Jiang Shaoliu's vitals.
Jiang Shaoliu changed techniques again and used the Demon Fist to counter. "You will be a laughingstock if you can't defeat me!" he snarled angrily through gnashing teeth.
His only option was to provoke Sha Xing and prevent him from going after Lieutenant Chen and Liu Guang, buying them time to escape.
"You are risking your neck!" Sha Xing struck with both claws simultaneously, accompanied by a violent blast of wind.
Jiang Shaoliu dug his feet firmly into the earth, his blood boiling inside his chest, his life ring and his body shaking together.
The feeling of hunger in his stomach was even more terrible than the force of Sha Xing's claws. He felt like his stomach was devouring all of his entrails and most of the warm flow gathered there, leaving little to power up his limbs.
White steam spewed from Jiang Shaoliu's mouth and nose with every rough breath. He was putting all his energy into the Great Sage's Formula, but it was as if there was a black hole inside his stomach that could never be filled no matter how much of the warm flow he flooded it with.
With two silver claws descending upon him from either side, Jiang Shaoliu retreated two steps out of the way.
"Getting tired?" With a flash of silver in his eyes, Sha Xing became even faster and fiercer as he lashed out again with his claws against Jiang Shaoliu.
Slice!
Jiang Shaoliu shook as a sharp pain burned his skin. He began gradually slowing down.
Meanwhile, Liu Guang, Lieutenant Chen and the others had managed to defeat the three Yungang League masters, scattering them in all directions.
"Let them go, let's help Jiang Shaoliu!" Lieutenant Chen picked up the alloy combat knife he had previously dropped. The battle dragged on and he was still bleeding and coughing up blood. The bandage on his arm had fallen off and the gunshot wound was bleeding again.
Liu Guang staggered towards him, one hand holding onto his alloy longsword and one covering the wounds on his chest.
He was like an arrow that had run out of momentum.
The military sniper was shot and couldn't do anything. The other military masters were energetic enough, but they couldn't defeat Sha Xing with their single bronze life rings.
Lieutenant Chen put a hand on the sniper's shoulder: "Ying Yan, you can leave with Liu Guang and get support from HQ."
The sniper was about to protest but Lieutenant Chen glared at him: "That's an order."
With a shaking hand, Ying Yan saluted and turned away to leave.
"Liu Guang, you…"
Liu Guang didn't wait for Lieutenant Che to finish and shook his head: "I'm staying here. Sha Xing is too strong, you can't fight him alone."
Before Lieutenant Chen could say anything, Jiang Shaoliu spread his arms wide and roared into the sky like a wild beast, thunderous echoes booming from mountaintop to mountaintop.
A massive whirlwind built up around him, sweeping small branches and weeds mixed with dust and stones up into the sky.
Sha Xing retreated briskly, with one arm in front of his face to keep the dust out of his eyes.
Jiang Shaoliu stood in the middle of the tornado with his eyes completely closed. He could feel a continuous rumble between his chest and abdomen.
A golden life ring had appeared in his stomach.
It should have been completely golden, full of brilliance and strength, but it had been pressed down into bronze by the golden hoop again after being successfully condensed, just like his first life ring.
"Ah…"
Jiang Shaoliu was stilling roaring wildly, every bone and muscle in his muscle trembling as a faint golden glow passed briefly over his skin.
A short distance away, Sha Xiang was gathering his strength for the next attack. His whole body gleamed and his right claw appeared as if it was made from pure silver light.
He was going to give the final blow.
Now that his second life ring was complete, Jiang Shaoliu opened his eyes and droped to a knee, wheezing violently.
The dust storm vanished as suddenly as it had appeared and there was nothing between them.
"Time to die!" Sha Xing rushed out like a silver bullet, his silver claws ripping through the air.
Jiang Shaoliu straightened his back and stood up, facing him.
"It's your time to die."