"Everyone, come back!" Ouyang Tian shouted angrily.

"Come back, my ass! We can’t even save our own lives. You want us to risk it all with you? Are you treating us like fools?"

"Screw this! To hell with the Heavenly Punishment Alliance. Sending us as cannon fodder is clearly a death sentence. You might not care about your life, but I sure as hell do!"

Instantly, the guards from both families, who originally worked together, began abandoning their armor and helmets. Everyone with a keen eye realized they were being played by the Heavenly Punishment Alliance. Rather than being used as cannon fodder, it was better to just run for their lives.

In these times, who wouldn’t think for themselves? Who’s not afraid of death? You really think you’re Iron Man or the Hulk? Getting hacked without bleeding? Taking such risks for others? Everyone knows their limitations; who in their right mind would agree to this... Just gather some people to make a scene and call it a day. Why risk your life for some petty cash?

Even if the South Heavenly Gate is obliterated, the lives of the underlings remain the same. One can’t become the boss, so why try so hard?

"Ahhhhh..."

Boom boom boom... The harrowing screams echoed throughout the mountainside, and no one could escape the nightmare of being crushed into paste by falling boulders.

With several hundred boulders the size of humans crashing down, who would want to play around?

In an instant, nearly four hundred people were crushed to death, leaving only over a hundred of the greatest family masters and some desperate enough to be either crushed or killed...

The entire mountainside was strewn with mutilated corpses, with scarlet blood staining half the slope...

Shangguan Chong and Ouyang Tian were also seriously injured. If not for the family elders protecting them, those boulders might have killed them.

When everything calmed down, Mu Cangtian waved his hand, deciding to save some rocks for future use...

"Haha, Shangguan Chong, Ouyang Tian. How did you like this barrage of stones?" Mu Cangtian stood high above, looking down.

Looking at the mountainside filled with blood and flesh, Mu Cangtian was satisfied with the outcome.

"Damn it! Mu Cangtian, you better not fall into my hands; otherwise, I’ll make sure you die a miserable death!" Ouyang Tian roared furiously, but no matter how much he shouted, Mu Cangtian was already invincible.

Even if he wanted to kill Mu Cangtian, it was impossible.

"Haha... Come talk to me when you have the power," Mu Cangtian laughed heartily, waving his large hand once again.

Swish swish swish...

From the mountaintop appeared rows of skilled fighters, armed with crossbows. Each crossbow was equipped with rows of iron arrows!

"What!!!"

Ouyang Tian’s face turned pale with fear.

"No!!! No!!!"

Some cowardly ones, seeing those rows of crossbows on the mountaintop, felt their hearts shatter with a thump! Knowing that each crossbow held seven or eight iron arrows, with hundreds wielding crossbows, it meant thousands of iron arrows were ready to rain down. Who could withstand that?

Feeling the overwhelming threat of death, Shangguan Chong’s pupils contracted fiercely; almost instinctively, he grabbed the masters nearby and started running down the mountain!

"Retreat! Retreat! Retreat!"

Splash splash splash...

Suddenly, everyone began their deadly escape.

"Shoot them! Shoot them to death!"

Mu Cangtian raised his right hand and casually waved it. Hundreds to thousands of iron arrows were unleashed in an instant; thousands of death-embodying iron arrows rained down like a storm, engulfing everyone below.

"Whizz whizz whizz... Whizz whizz whizz... Whizz whizz whizz..."

The arrow rain was dense, each arrow lethal.

"Thp thp thp..."

"...Thp thp thp..."

In the blink of an eye, almost everyone fleeing met their demise, pierced by arrows, blood staining the mountain foot once more.

"Thp～"

Shangguan Chong’s behind was struck by an iron arrow, making him howl endlessly in pain.

"Barrier!"

Helplessly, Shangguan Chong had to deploy his barrier to protect himself while fleeing downhill, but those under the Sub-Saint Realm without barriers could only use brute force to break through the arrow rain...

A little while later, corpses littered the path from mountaintop to hillside, streams of blood flowed, with countless deaths among the last hundred...

Shangguan Chong and Ouyang Tian barely escaped alive, but their family guards were either dead or gravely injured...

Meanwhile, farther up the mountain, Nolan He carried the injured Nolan Emperor, jumping down to safety amidst the battlefield. Avoiding waves of death traps, he rolled down safely, but the entire family was slaughtered...

This battle was a disastrous defeat!

......

Looking at the disheveled state of Shangguan Chong, Ouyang Tian, and others, and observing his own family’s plight.

Shangguan Chong, Ouyang Tian, Nolan He, and the Nolan Emperor were silent. No one spoke a word.

Nolan He initially thought Shangguan Chong had called them out, but seeing how dire the situation was, they were not much better off themselves!!!

"Alas～" Nolan He wiped away tears at the corner of his eye, then took out a cigarette, found an open spot in the dense forest, and sat down, taking long drags, gazing at Wolong Mountain’s peak. At that moment, apart from residual fear in his eyes, there was nothing else...

Ouyang Tian, seeing Nolan He’s forlorn state, felt his heart bleeding too... He mimicked Nolan, finding an open spot to sit.

Both fell into a dazed state, pondering whether their decision was right or wrong. So many died for nothing... What were they fighting for?

......

On the mountaintop, everyone remained vigilant despite defeating three major families in the first battle. They knew the upcoming battles would be even more brutal!

Mu Cangtian rushed to the mountainside to see the corpses of the Nolan Family guards and a few Hidden Kill and Ming Zhan members, declaring the battle a complete victory.

"Brothers! The upcoming battle will be a hundred times fiercer than now! I hope everyone maintains the utmost vigilance in the coming days! This is our South Heavenly Gate’s final showdown, the last barrier we can hold. If we lose even this last barrier, our hard-won South Heavenly Gate will be utterly destroyed."

Black Hawk roared hoarsely.

Most present were comrades who fought alongside Lin Zifeng, naturally holding deep sentiments for the South Heavenly Gate. If the South Heavenly Gate were to fall in this crisis, those brothers who exchanged their hot blood would have died in vain.

Numerous lives were exchanged for the South Heavenly Gate.