Chapter 152: A Peerlessly Awesome Strike

Sun Licheng was exceptionally sharp-eyed. The very moment the Minotaur's left hand reached into his tunic, he sensed something was amiss and immediately stepped up his offense.

Realizing how troublesome Sun Licheng was, the Minotaur, who had been hesitating, gritted his teeth and made up his mind. With a few heavy swings of his axe, he forced Sun Licheng back, and in the split second he leaped backward, he finally pulled the object from his chest.

"Good grief, and here I thought it was some formidable weapon. Turns not to be just a little wooden stick."

Seeing that what the Minotaur held in his hand was an exquisitely crafted short wooden rod, the hanging stone in Sun Licheng's heart finally dropped.

"Hmph, let me show you the might of the Great Minotaur God."

Contrary to what Sun Licheng imagined, the Minotaur wore a cold, confident sneer in his heart.

As it turned out, this wooden stick was actually a stone pestle—specifically, the kind with pointed ends that bore a strong resemblance to a calligraphy brush, carved from a special kind of stone.

According to the legends of the Minotaur tribe, during the ancient divine wars, the great Minotaur God possessed a tribe warrior, transforming him into the mighty Minotaur God of War and ultimately defeating enemies that had nearly destroyed heaven and earth. Afterward, this stone pestle was left behind.

All right, the story sounded rather cliché, but weren't most myths crafted in much the same way?

Regardless of the tale, this stone pestle could still produce an effect, and the Minotaur was at least prepared to unleash it.

Sun Licheng watched in shock as the Minotaur chanted a string of unintelligible syllables, causing the short wooden rod to instantly flash with blinding brilliance.

When he opened his eyes again, a colossal Minotaur clad in golden armor stood before him. This creature was at least five meters tall, and the breath venting from its nostrils blew like the smokestack of a steam locomotive, roaring with a heavy, chuffing sound.

"What on earth is that?"

Terror gripped Sun Licheng's heart.

"Foolish mortal, receive my punishment!"

The giant Minotaur God of War let out a roar like rumbling thunder, and his massive battleaxe whistled through the air as he cleaved straight down toward Sun Licheng.

Seeing the bronze giant axe crackling with electrical currents, Sun Licheng dared not meet it head-on. Abandoning all dignity, he dropped into a frantic roll across the ground, barely managing to evade the blow.

With a deafening crash, the giant axe smashed into the earth, instantly shattering countless stones into flying shards.

Seeing the tide turn, the members of the Crimson Flame tribe fell silent. They desperately wanted to step in and help, but their way was blocked by the clash between Caroline and Dazhuang, leaving them to stand on the sidelines and stare in helpless frustration.

The Minotaur God of War grew fiercer with every strike, forcing Sun Licheng into a continuous retreat and even distracting Caroline slightly.

"I cannot let this go on."

Watching the sinister smile at the corner of the Minotaur God of War's mouth and the relentless, blurring sweep of the battleaxe, Sun Licheng made up his mind.

"Go to hell!"

The Minotaur God of War roared, bringing his axe down like a sudden flash of lightning.

At that exact moment, a sudden change occurred. A vast torrent of whirling energy violently erupted across Sun Licheng's entire body, and in the next instant, he hurtled forward like a shooting star.

"Seeking death!"

Seeing that Sun Licheng failed to defend himself and instead charged straight at him, the Minotaur God of War felt a surge of elation and poured even more strength into his blow.

"No! Sun Licheng!"

Seeing Sun Licheng apparently lose his mind and throw his life away, Caroline shrieked in absolute despair.

With a thunderous explosion, the Minotaur God of War, having landed his strike, wore a look of triumphant satisfaction. But in the next split second, shock took hold; his massive battleaxe was deflected directly upward, sent soaring high into the air by the swirling vortex of energy enveloping Sun Licheng.

"No! How can this be?"

Now it was the Minotaur God of War's turn to emit a despairing, miserable scream.

Yet his roaring could not halt Sun Licheng, who slammed fiercely into the Minotaur God of War's chest like a cannonball.

Accompanied by a bone-jarring shriek, the towering Minotaur God of War was sent flying high into the air. The golden armor covering his body shattered continuously, fluttering away like snowflakes along the trajectory of his ascent.

"Good grief!"

The canyon fell completely silent, countless minds inwardly marveling in stunned disbelief.

Such a peerlessly overpowered Minotaur God of War had been defeated by Sun Licheng in a single blow—it was simply too unbelievable.

Watching the Minotaur God of War crash heavily onto the ground and kick up a massive cloud of dust, Sun Licheng stood there in a momentary daze.

The move he had just executed was called the Death Impact, an enhanced version of the all-out charge. By mobilizing the Taiji vortex within his body and abandoning all defense, it was a desperate, do-or-die combat method.

Ever since the great battle against the Silver Moon Goddess, where countless companions had perished, Sun Licheng had understood that in this world, evasion would only plunge him into boundless suffering; in all matters, one had to risk it all. That was why he had researched this technique, though he had not expected it to succeed on the first try.

"No, even if this technique is powerful, it shouldn't possess such immense force. Something must be amiss."

Observing the Minotaur, who was still unable to climb back up, Sun Licheng caught onto the problem.

The beaten-down Minotaur had already reverted to his original form. He struggled for a moment before managing to flip himself over.

To everyone's surprise, the Minotaur did not attempt to flee; instead, he simply stared blankly at the stone pestle, which had broken into several pieces.

"Waah..."

What shocked Sun Licheng even more was that after staring blankly for a moment, the Minotaur completely disregarded the battlefield around him and burst into loud, bitter tears.

Facing this fellow's unexpected display, Sun Licheng was utterly bewildered and remained frozen in place.

Just as Sun Licheng and the Minotaur fell into a strange, stagnant standstill, a tremendous scream shattered the silence and startled them both.

They watched as the One-Eyed Giant King spewed a mouthful of blood and then crashed down onto the ground like a collapsing mountain, the impact sending a violent tremor through the earth.

As it turned out, the Minotaur's defeat had severely disrupted Dazhuang. Having already been flustered and rushed by Caroline, he instantly exposed countless openings.

As the reincarnation of the God of Metallurgy and Combat, Caroline naturally would not let such an opportunity slip by, and she struck the massive beast down to the ground in a single move.

"Don't kill him! We surrender!"

Seeing Caroline brandishing her spiked club and leaping toward Dazhuang's head, preparing to smash it down, the Minotaur immediately cried out in despair.

"Caroline, don't kill him."

A thought flashed through Sun Licheng's mind, and he hurriedly called out to check his wife, whose heavy club was already hovering right at the tip of the One-Eyed Giant King's nose.

Fortunately, as a peerless powerhouse, Caroline pulled her strike back in time. At that very moment, Dazhuang rolled his eyes upward and passed out cold.

Twenty minutes later, Sun Licheng was seated on a pelt, facing the Minotaur, who was kneeling before him.

Beside them squatted a cluster of dejected mountain bandits, and even the towering one-eyed giant sat obediently with his legs crossed.

"My name is Clark Ironhoof, from the Ironhoof Tribe of the Orc Wastelands," the Minotaur introduced himself.

"Clark, you are a warrior. How did you end up sneaking into the Goblin Kingdom to become a bandit?" Sun Licheng asked with a puzzled expression.

The status of a warrior was no small matter, certainly not something dime-a-dozen. For such a person to be hiding out here to shake down travelers—Sun Licheng hardly believed banditry was a career with such a promising future.

"Heh. Since I have lost, I will speak the truth. I stayed here because I received precise intelligence that an astonishing treasure is hidden within these great mountains," Clark said with a helpless sigh.