Chapter 298: Fighting Meng Shan

He He Lingchuan did a backflip, landed behind Meng Shan, and slashed again!

This time he aimed at the back of Meng Shan's neck, the part that the leather armor couldn't cover. Even without a sharp

Sun Sun Fuling, watching from below the ring, frowned slightly and shook her head gently.

Meng Shan ducked down just in time, avoiding the wooden saber.

After that roar of his, his movements were clearly a beat faster, and his physique actually shrank by a full size. With an agility that defied his build, he performed a diving turn, his mace striking straight at He He Lingchuan's upper body, both fierce and fast.

A thick red light actually erupted from the wooden spikes of the mace.

These weapons were all plain wooden practice gear with no inherent properties. That it suddenly glowed now could only mean Meng Shan was exerting his true power to unleash his finishing move.

He He Lingchuan, caught in mid-air with nowhere to dodge, took the blow head-on and was sent flying more than three zhang away!

He nearly fell off the ring.

Meng Shan followed like a shadow, his speed shockingly fast, catching up to He He Lingchuan in two steps.

The commoners only saw a flurry of mace shadows, unaware that in just half a second, he had frantically delivered three heavy blows in three different directions! But the commoners leaning on the railings had their hair blown messy by the wind of the mace.

With no room to dodge, He He Lingchuan had no choice but to pour strength into both arms and grip his saber to block.

Every block felt like being struck by a giant hammer, leaving his arms numb and the web of his thumbs split.

Even more terrifying was that with every blow Meng Shan struck, his momentum increased, until the surging, tidal-like pressure threatened to crush him.

He He Lingchuan felt his entire body locked down; Meng Shan's power seemed to squeeze in from all directions, pinning him firmly in place, unable to move.

That was exactly how the wild boar had fallen earlier.

In the past, when He He Lingchuan challenged Meng Shan, he had been eliminated this way at least twice.

Meng Shan's three heavy blows grew stronger with each strike, the final one always a downward smash aimed directly at the crown of the head, fierce and peerless. His posture was like a pile driver running at full tilt.

Honestly, at this moment, it made no difference whether he used an iron mace or a wooden one; the victim would be head-shattered by a single blow anyway. The surrounding Da Feng soldiers watching the battle also felt a chill on their own heads, calculating how they would handle such a move.

Yet, He He Lingchuan dodged the third blow.

To be precise, he braced his hand on the ground and performed a roll, sliding away from Meng Shan's waist.

It was as if he had been squeezed out.

Xiao Captain Xiao Maoliang Maoliang let out a long "Oh," and Hu Min rubbed his eyes.

He He Lingchuan's figure was like a fish swimming in water, his twisting angle tricky yet agile, and he used the strength of his waist and back to spring away with a 'whoosh.' He had finally found a tiny crack in that all-encompassing, seemingly inescapable pressure.

In the nick of time, he seized the opportunity.

Sun Sun Fuling narrowed her eyes.

She caught He He Lingchuan's wooden saber taking the opportunity to poke Meng Shan's waist, like a needle prick.

But there was leather armor protecting that spot, and the wooden saber couldn't pierce it.

And with a "crack," the weapon actually shattered on impact.

The next second, Meng Shan's hand shield arrived, smashing toward He He Lingchuan's temple.

A gasp rose from the commoners below.

In their eyes, this was He He Lingchuan attempting a counterattack but failing to even break the opponent's defense, resulting in his own weapon shattering.

The skinny man let out an "Ah" and clenched his fists tightly.

How was this any different from their previous fights? Everyone knew that if it continued like this, the winner would be Meng Shan again.

Sure enough, no sooner had he finished speaking than several dozen people appeared in the bushes below, surrounding the black dots.

Who doesn't make mistakes? Time was on Meng Shan's side.

Fortunately, He He Lingchuan was neither distracted nor obsessed with the fight; he grabbed the remaining wooden hilt and moved, dodging the shield bash at the last hair's breadth and rolling five feet away.

Meng Shan's hand shield smashed into empty air.

That wooden saber had taken three heavy blows from Meng Shan; no matter how good its quality, it had reached the end of its lifespan. He He Lingchuan had seen the visible cracks on the blade and felt its fragility, knowing it couldn't take another hit, which was why he had desperately dodged Meng Shan's overhead strike.

A martial artist must have a clear judgment of the state of their weapon.

After Meng Shan swung and missed, he followed up with a powerful stomp, lunged forward, and then swept with a gust of mace wind.

The ring floor trembled, like an eight or nine-magnitude earthquake. Xiao Captain Xiao Maoliang Maoliang and the other Da Feng soldiers felt deeply moved seeing this move. During the Battle of Yanhe Valley half a year ago, Meng Shan had toppled many people with this very move.

Now, his timing was also impeccable; He He Lingchuan had just climbed to his feet and was not yet steady—if he fell, he would certainly not be able to block the following mace wind.

That long mace swept across, the wind of the blow extending over two zhang, a sharp "shoo—" sound piercing the air, full of oppressive force.

Although invisible and intangible, there would be no good outcome if hit by it.

With this move alone, Meng Shan was enough to rank among the military generals.

It was clear that He He Lingchuan was not the only one who had improved over the past half-year.

The knowledgeable ones below erupted in cheers.

However, He He Lingchuan knew what Meng Shan was planning the moment he saw him lift his knee. When the enemy's giant foot stomped onto the ring, he braced with one hand and jumped backward, just avoiding the damage from the stomp and landing behind the weapon rack.

This rack was firmly nailed to the edge of the arena, taking the brunt of the mace wind for him.

With a chaotic clatter, the rack snapped in two, and the weapons on top fell in a mess.

He He Lingchuan grabbed a few wooden throwing knives and flung them straight at Meng Shan's eyes and throat.

Meng Shan held his shield in front and charged, all the throwing knives hitting the shield.

The distance between them was only two zhang; with his height and long legs, he reached him in two steps.

He He Lingchuan grabbed another wooden long saber and engaged him in battle.

In an instant, they exchanged over a dozen rounds.

Hu Min watched intently: "That 'Broken Saber' kid, he's not bad."

Facing an opponent who dominated the entire arena, He He Lingchuan always dodged at the last hair's breadth, and a few times even took the hits head-on. He knew Meng Shan's attack patterns by heart, appearing increasingly at ease.

One fierce and powerful, one agile and flexible—the duel was a spectacular sight.

The surrounding soldiers and civilians applauded repeatedly, feeling they had gotten their fill of excitement. However, the two parties involved had entered a state of ignoring everything else, focused solely on life and death! Xiao Captain Xiao Maoliang Maoliang suddenly said: "Meng Shan is slowing down."

Those watching from outside the No. 7 ring weren't quite sure, but keen observers could see Meng Shan's attack speed had slowed; his turns, strikes, and even his footwork for attacking and dodging were at least half a beat slower than before.

Once the speed slowed, that mountain-like oppressive force was reduced by at least half.

Looking at Meng Shan again, his facial muscles were twisted, and the veins on his forehead were throbbing non-stop.

Sun Sun Fuling suddenly said: "Meng Shan's internal injuries are not light."

Her voice was very soft, heard only by Commander Xiao, who frowned slightly.

Was it He He Lingchuan's earlier attacks that had taken effect?

Meng Shan was indeed injured.

Every time he turned, the spot on his waist hit by the wooden saber was a burst of sharp pain; every time he breathed, his diaphragm felt as if it had been stabbed, difficult and stinging. He He Lingchuan's two earlier saber strikes had appeared not to break his defense, but both had sent a surge of true qi inside, rampaging and refusing to dissipate.

Others didn't know, but only Meng Shan felt it—his liver, gallbladder, and lungs were likely all injured.

His vision had already gone black a few times, and he couldn't help but want to vomit.

No, he had to end this quickly!

Meng Shan, who had always dominated the ring and defeated opponents like a cat playing with a mouse, finally felt for once that the time on the ring was too long.

His eyes rolled, and he deliberately stumbled, leaving his chest wide open.

Such an opportunity didn't come often, and his opponent certainly wouldn't miss it.

He He Lingchuan turned his saber tip, aiming straight for his throat.

Meng Shan endured the sharp pain, puffed out his chest and abdomen, and unleashed a roar at the enemy directly in front of him! This sound was like a lion's roar in one's ear, enough to shatter one's liver and gallbladder.

He was still facing away from the outside, but several commoners at the edge of the ring still collapsed at the sound, unconscious.

And He He Lingchuan, directly in front of him, faced the powerful sonic attack head-on; that shockwave was ten times more explosive than thunder in the sky, even pushing his entire body backward!

Meng Shan used all his strength in this roar, spraying blood from his lungs. Finally catching He He Lingchuan, he wouldn't let go of this last chance, swinging his giant mace horizontally and finally sweeping it across his opponent!

However, as He He Lingchuan was sent flying, his long saber also flew from his hand, and Meng Shan leaned back to avoid the tip of the blade.

Yet, there was still a foot-long invisible qi blade on the tip of the saber, which precisely struck his Adam's apple! Amidst the crowd's gasps, He He Lingchuan was swept a zhang away, rolled twice upon landing, spat out a large mouthful of blood, and tried to climb up twice but failed.

Opposite him, Meng Shan stood motionless.

The wooden saber landed and rolled half a turn.

Sun Sun Fuling said silently: "He won."

The arena was silent for several seconds before Meng Shan suddenly vomited blood.

Once it started, it was unstoppable; blood sprayed like a fountain, and he collapsed like a falling golden mountain or a jade pillar, crashing to his knees.

He felt his internal organs churning, as if two blades of ice and fire were scraping them in turn, and his mind was a blur of dizziness; looking at He He Lingchuan running toward him, he saw several overlapping images.

A gasp went through the crowd below.

Most people hadn't seen clearly what had happened, only knowing that He He Lingchuan had been sent flying and knocked down by Meng Shan's mace, yet Meng Shan appeared to have suffered more severe injuries, unable even to stand.

It was truly baffling.

He He Lingchuan reached Meng Shan in two steps and tapped his fingertip lightly on his temple.

Even this light touch was more than Meng Shan could bear, and he collapsed headfirst.

The area around the No. 7 ring was silent, disbelief in everyone's eyes.

Naturally, they didn't know that Meng Shan, having endured the force of the first two saber strikes, was already fighting with difficulty, and the internal injuries had gradually worsened; at this moment, triggered by the damage from He He Lingchuan's third strike, they erupted all at once! This was the result of one, two, and three.

Looking at He He Lingchuan, he had suffered nothing more than superficial wounds from start to finish. In truth, time was on his side.

He He Lingchuan held his left arm and shouted to the courtyard: "Someone, he needs medical attention!"

Alo rushed onto the ring carrying a medicine box and ordered two soldiers to flip Meng Shan over, only to see him bleeding from all seven orifices, his eyes staring blankly.

Only then was the enthusiasm of the audience below ignited, with applause and cheers flooding the air.

Alo, busy with his hands, couldn't help but ask: "How did you beat him like this?" He hadn't seen clearly what had happened just now either.

"I got lucky."

"Your shoulder injury is also severe, let me treat it for you!" After all, they were on the same side, and Alo's heart had been biased from the start.

As for Meng Shan, he could wait.

(End of chapter)