Chapter 139, Part One: Battle Against the Bull Demon King

"Stop right there, Bull Demon King! If you kill them, the Divine Ape King will not let you off." Hu San knew his own strength was no match for the Bull Demon King, so he invoked Yuan Wuji's name, not truly hoping to protect the Fiery Cloud Cave, but praying the Bull Demon King would spare their lives.

"I told you, I only want the Fiery Cloud Cave. It was they who failed to see the bigger picture, forcing me to step over their corpses before they would surrender it."

"Bull Demon King, I understand your intent. If that's the case, we will cede the Fiery Cloud Cave. Will you truly spare our lives then?" Hu San gleaned from the Bull Demon King's tone that as long as the cave was handed over, he wouldn't make things difficult for them. "We must preserve our lives for now. As for the Fiery Cloud Cave, we can settle that when the Great King returns!"

"Naturally. Old Bull values his honor above all."

"Very well, we yield the Fiery Cloud Cave."

Seeing a glimmer of hope, Hu San stepped forward to pull the eight puppet guards away, but he found they had no intention of abandoning the Fiery Cloud Cave and stubbornly remained stationed before its entrance.

Anxious, Hu San tried to persuade them:

"Preserving your lives is what matters most! The Fiery Cloud Cave can wait until the Great King returns."

"If you're scared, get away from the Fiery Cloud Cave!"

"Bull Demon, if you want the Fiery Cloud Cave, you'll have to step over our dead bodies!"

Ignoring Hu San's plea, the eight puppets shouted directly at the Bull Demon King.

"Hu San, are you making a fool of Old Bull? Don't even think about leaving today—you'll all stay here permanently!"

The puppets' defiant response was practically telling the Bull Demon King he had been played.

His reputation in the demon realm was not unearned, yet he was now being played for a fool by a group of cultivators merely at the Celestial Immortal realm. Where was he supposed to put his face?

Enraged beyond measure, the Bull Demon King lost his remaining patience. The pair of iron hammers in his hands surged with lethal destructive power.

"Go to hell!"

The twin hammers were already formidable magical treasures, and now, in the hands of the Bull Demon King, they transformed into a whirlwind of death, beginning their harvest.

*Boom! Boom!*

One of the puppets was thoroughly obliterated beneath the Bull Demon King's iron hammers, reduced to a pulp of fragmented flesh.

"Are you certain you refuse to cede the Fiery Cloud Cave?"

A shred of hesitation still lingered in the Bull Demon King's heart. After all, Yuan Wuji's background was far from simple; if he wiped out all of Yuan Wuji's subordinates, the relationship between the two would inevitably become irreconcilable.

That was not the outcome the Bull Demon King desired, so he had killed one to intimidate the rest, hoping they would back down in the face of insurmountable odds.

Yet the Bull Demon King's warning proved entirely useless. The remaining seven cultivators continued to stand their ground against him, showing not the slightest intention of yielding the Fiery Cloud Cave.

The Bull Demon King's expression darkened significantly. He had originally thought he could effortlessly take the Fiery Cloud Cave and then brush Yuan Wuji off with some flimsy excuse when he returned.

He never expected Yuan Wuji's subordinates to be such a tough bone to chew. This put the Bull Demon King in a difficult dilemma. Killing one left room for mending ties, but exterminating them all was an entirely different matter.

"Bull Demon, do you think I'm afraid of you?"

Refusing to wait passively for the Bull Demon King's slaughter, one of the puppets seized the initiative and charged. Though it was practically a suicide mission, their fearless aura of death struck terror into the hearts of Ruyi Zhenxian and Hu San watching from the sidelines.

Even the Bull Demon King felt a ripple of shock in his heart. Where on earth had the Divine Ape King found such loyal confidants, willing to willingly throw away their lives for him?

"Then you can go die as well!"

His massive hammer struck the puppet squarely in the back, leaving him forever unable to rise again.

Having slain yet another puppet, the Bull Demon King knew the relationship between himself and Yuan Wuji had crossed into treacherous waters.

"It seems you won't surrender the Fiery Cloud Cave unless I slaughter every last one of you."

Since he had already offended Yuan Wuji, the Bull Demon King resolved to take the cave by storm; otherwise, this entire expedition would lose its purpose.

Ramping up his aura, the Bull Demon King prepared to finish the battle swiftly.

This terrified Hu San, who wanted to retreat, but seeing that the remaining six puppets still held their ground, he hesitated, caught in agonizing indecision.

While Hu San wavered, the Bull Demon King launched his assault. Disregarding the severity of their injuries, the six puppets drove their cultivation auras to their absolute peak.

Yet the outcome was painfully obvious. How could six puppets possibly match the Bull Demon King, a powerhouse at the Taiyi Celestial Immortal realm?

*Clang!*

With a decisive strike, five of the remaining six puppets perished beneath the Bull Demon King's twin hammers. Only a single puppet managed to escape death by the skin of his teeth, paying the horrific price of a severed arm.

"Let Old Bull send you off on your final journey!"

Just as the Bull Demon King raised his weapon to finish off the last surviving puppet, Yuan Wuji materialized in the center of the battlefield.

"Great King, that Bull Demon King has—" Hu San rushed over to Yuan Wuji's side, desperate to recount everything that had transpired, but Yuan Wuji raised a hand to cut him off, signaling him to say no more.

Yuan Wuji didn't need Hu San to tell him whose remains littered the battlefield. Every single puppet bore traces of his own lingering aura; even now reduced to mangled flesh, Yuan Wuji could distinguish each of them effortlessly.

"Bull Demon King, you know full well what our relationship is. How dare you slaughter my subordinates?" The killing intent in Yuan Wuji's eyes was completely unmasked as he stared straight at the Bull Demon King.

"They didn't know what was good for them and courted death on their own!"

"What? You, the Bull Demon King, lead a horde of demon soldiers to my doorstep and slaughter my people, yet *they* didn't know what was good for them?"

"You—!"

The Bull Demon King wanted to retort, but he truly lacked a valid argument. After all, he was the one who had originally gifted the Fiery Cloud Cave to Yuan Wuji. However, Yuan Wuji's mocking tone instantly stoked the bull's fiery temper.

"Don't get so arrogant! You know whose backing I have as well, so don't try to frighten me with empty threats. I advise you to hand over the Fiery Cloud Cave willingly, or Old Bull won't be so polite anymore!"

The Bull Demon King laid his cards completely on the table, yet this failed to diminish Yuan Wuji's murderous intent by even a fraction.

"Hah! Bull Demon King, do you take me for a coward? If I don't rip those horns off your head today, I'll write the title of the Divine Ape King backwards!"

Unable to contain his fury any longer, Yuan Wuji drew his Execution Blade, unleashing a torrential wave of pure, unadulterated killing intent directly at the Bull Demon King.

"Since you want to dispense with courtesy, neither will I!"

Matching hostility with hostility, the Bull Demon King gripped his twin hammers and charged straight at Yuan Wuji.

*Splitting Mountains and Shattering Stone!*

Channeling a profound divine technique into his weapon, Yuan Wuji intended to deliver a crushing blow to the Bull Demon King right at the clash.

The Bull Demon King chose not to employ any divine techniques. In his mind, his cultivation realm surpassed Yuan Wuji's, granting him an absolute advantage in raw power; he was confident he could defeat Yuan Wuji relying solely on his physical body.

*Clang... Clang... Clang...*

The two clashed relentlessly. The advantage the Bull Demon King thought he possessed constantly crumbled under Yuan Wuji's ferocious onslaught. He wanted to deploy a divine technique to regain the balance, but Yuan Wuji's offensive was far too dense, leaving him zero breathing room to cast any spells. Plunged into a disadvantageous position, he was continuously beaten back by Yuan Wuji.