in2ebook Chapter 1349 - 652:
Chapter 1349 - 652:
With a loud "bang", the ground was forcibly split open, creating a trench several meters long.
Large fragments of rock mingled with soil shot out in all directions like hidden weapons, striking the armor of the surrounding soldiers with a clanging sound, forcing everyone to retreat repeatedly.
"Die!"
Seizing the moment the halberd blade hit the ground, Fang Cheng’s spine arched back fully, and with his right fist, charged to its peak, he launched a powerful strike from below, aimed squarely at the general’s face.
This punch was unavoidable.
"Boom!"
The incredibly fierce punch struck the center of the iron armor mask.
The heavy steel helmet couldn’t withstand such terrifying fist power, instantly denting and cracking on the surface.
Immediately after, the entire helmet exploded, shattering into pieces.
Shards of metal shot in all directions, embedding themselves into the red lacquered wooden pillars of the main hall, the ends still quivering incessantly.
The violent impact knocked the general flat onto the horse’s back, where his back hit the saddle with a dull thud.
The shattered helmet fell away, revealing a young, handsome face.
At this moment, however, the extreme pain contorted his features sharply.
The instant Fang Cheng recognized the face, his pupils contracted, and his heart jolted.
It was Cheng Jiashu!
The thought flashed, and he discarded the follow-up kick with his left leg.
Using the edge of the saddle as leverage, he performed a light aerial backflip, landing steadily three meters away on the stone steps.
On the horse’s back, Cheng Jiashu gasped heavily, letting go of the long halberd and clutching his helmeted head.
"Quick... kill me..."
His lips moved with difficulty, his voice trembling slightly, laden with deep fatigue and pain;
"Don’t let me... continue killing..."
Fang Cheng frowned tightly, standing still to observe the opponent’s abnormal behavior.
Only two seconds passed before the struggle and plea on Cheng Jiashu’s face were forcibly suppressed by a menacing presence.
His facial muscles twitched, and when his eyes reopened, ghostly green fire leaped deeply in his pupils.
"Shut up! Your life is mine; only I can decide your fate!"
Another hoarse male voice roared from the same throat.
He suddenly straightened, gripping the halberd tightly again, his black hair unfurling without wind, glaring fiercely at Fang Cheng:
"Hehe, I’ve recognized you!"
"So it was you, the masked man who ambushed me that night, using exactly the same technique!"
At these words, a flash of lightning crossed Fang Cheng’s mind, and he looked hesitantly at his opponent:
"Are you... Jiang Chen?"
His gaze swept over the burning temple surroundings and recalled Cheng Jiashu’s stories of Gufeng Temple’s secrets from the past.
Fang Cheng instantly understood.
This was not a mere nightmare; Cheng Jiashu’s consciousness had been taken over by Jiang Chen.
For some reason, in this bizarre dreamscape, Cheng Jiashu was forced to play the role of Jiang Chen from two thousand years ago, uncontrollably reenacting the massacre of Gufeng Temple.
Yet, his residual sanity was continuously fighting back.
The punch just now disrupted Jiang Chen’s spiritual suppression, allowing Cheng Jiashu a brief moment to break free.
But the ancient monster’s depth was extensive, quickly regaining control.
Fang Cheng’s eyes narrowed slightly, quickly contemplating a strategy.
"In half a year, you’ve grown quite a bit, you ant."
A ghostly green light soared in Jiang Chen’s eyes as a cruel smile crept onto his lips:
"But to defeat me, relying solely on brute force is far from enough!"
Even before the words were fully spoken, Jiang Chen, holding the halberd single-handed, leaped down from the horse’s back.
The moment his feet touched the ground, the green bricks collapsed and cracked over a large area.
He turned into a whirlwind of darkness, advancing with the overwhelming force of a mountain shifting and sea overturning.
The attack was far more ferocious and intense than before when he was on horseback.
The long halberd swept across, cutting into a thick wooden pillar in front of the main hall with devastating power.
With a loud "crack," the column, wide enough for two people to embrace, was severed in half.
The unsupported side hall roof cracked with a breaking sound, and a large section of tiles, beams, and fragmented wood came crashing down, sending dust billowing skyward.
Several soldiers, unable to evade in time, had their spines shattered by the heavy beams and were pinned under the debris, screaming in agony.
Kneeling beside the prayer mat, the old monk was dragged and rolled backward by a few young novice monks, narrowly avoiding the collapsing wall.
The courtyard in front of the great hall was suddenly enveloped in swirling dust.
Crash—
The long halberd swept away the splintered wood, with a sharp whistle of the wind promptly retracting, once again thrusting towards Fang Cheng’s face.
As the saying goes, an inch longer, an inch stronger.
Even with Fang Cheng’s swift movements, he found it hard to distance himself facing this type of repeated thrust from a heavy long weapon.
Seeing the halberd blade pressing towards his brow, he shifted his upper body to the left in a slip step, while his right forearm flipped outwards, precisely striking the non-force bearing part of the halberd’s shaft midsection.
Utilizing the impact force of the thrusting halberd, he backflipped in the air, evading Jiang Chen’s subsequent sweeping attack.
The halberd blade grazed his clothes as it swung past, harshly chopping into a half-human height stone lion statue beside the steps.
The hard bluestone statue instantly exploded into countless fragments, dust everywhere.
Fang Cheng landed in an instant, lightly tapping his toes.
Like a swift-swallow flying close to the ground, his body moved sideways several meters to the right, dodging another Mountain Shifting and Sea Overturning slash.
Facing a dense netlike array of heavy halberd shadows, Fang Cheng moved agilely like a monkey.
Sometimes he darted and maneuvered using Butterfly Step, sometimes he leaped to avoid sweeping attacks hugging the ground.
Due to being unable to strike Cheng Jiashu, to avoid causing harm, Fang Cheng was forced to switch to defensive maneuvers.
However, Jiang Chen apparently had no qualms, relying on his overwhelming power to swing the halberd continually, compressing Fang Cheng’s dodging space.
The sturdy stone steps were plowed into crisscrossing deep grooves by the sharp halberd blade, shattered stone pieces shot out like hidden weapons in front of the great hall.
While avoiding attacks by borrowing and deflecting force, Fang Cheng quickly analyzed the situation.
This is a dream realm, a world of subconscious combat.
The density of bones and the strength of muscle fibers don’t exist here; the only reliance is on battle technique memories honed through rigorous practice.
In dream battles, it’s a contest of whose Spirit Attributes are higher, whose consciousness is more formidable, thereby transforming into tangible attack power and speed.
Currently in someone else’s dream realm, not his own Inner World of Absolute Control, the variables are significant.
Moreover, a Ghoul King like Jiang Chen, who has lived for two thousand years, surviving by devouring flesh and souls, possesses immense spiritual power.
In this guest environment, in terms of a war of attrition, there’s absolutely no way he could outlast the opponent.
Therefore, he must fight quickly and decisively!
Fang Cheng’s face was like water, his deep gaze firmly locked onto the long halberd’s trajectory.
But the key is, he is now shackled by Cheng Jiashu’s life, unable to fully unleash lethal moves.
If this body were to be destroyed, Cheng Jiashu’s consciousness might also vanish into thin air.
"Daring to be distracted after just a few rounds, this is not interesting enough!"
Jiang Chen keenly caught Fang Cheng’s emotional change, shouted coldly, and his arm muscles bulged while gripping the halberd.
Whoosh, whoosh, whoosh!
The long halberd like a venomous snake launching from its cave, with a chilling sound piercing through the air, instantly manifesting three afterimages.
This move "Phoenix Three Nods" deeply understands the essence of spear and halberd thrusts, its moves are extremely quick.
At an extremely tricky angle, it completely sealed Fang Cheng’s lateral retreat path, directly aiming at his face and throat.
Fang Cheng’s eyes sharpened.
If there’s no escape, then don’t evade!
He advanced instead of retreating, risking being pierced through the neck by the long halberd, stepped forward into the confrontation.
At the critical moment when the halberd blade was about to touch the skin, Fang Cheng’s upper body folded backward at an inhuman angle.
The cold blade scraped past his jawbone, the sharp edge cutting off a piece of fabric at the neckline.
Taking advantage of Jiang Chen’s exhaustion of old force and yet unaired new force, Fang Cheng’s feet slammed onto the ground, his body sliding in, instantly penetrating into the extremely hard-to-defend inner line of the long halberd area.
Fang Cheng again executed close-combat techniques!
His left hand grasped Jiang Chen’s right wrist holding the halberd, exerting force with his five fingers to grip the pulse.
His right arm reached through the gap of the opponent’s armor, with a reverse grip securely locking onto the edge of the armor at the back of the neck.
His waist suddenly exerted force and sank, right leg cut into the back of Jiang Chen’s support leg from the outside.
Displaying Jujitsu’s throwing techniques with sweeping kicks disrupting the center, pulling and grabbing combined.
The tremendous leverage force directly flipped Jiang Chen’s massive form wrapped in heavy armor.
With a loud "clang" sound.
The two entangled as they heavily crashed to the ground.
The thick armor struck the bluestone slab, creating large web-like cracks.
At the moment of landing, Fang Cheng’s movements didn’t pause for a moment.
His legs twisted like a python, swiftly locking Jiang Chen’s right arm and neck, ankles securing his knee joint, quickly transforming into the most ferocious Jujitsu triangle choke.
Simultaneously, his hands reversed grip on Jiang Chen’s left arm, pressing the opponent’s elbow joint against his hips, executing an armbar to the limit of human endurance.