Chapter 278

Jiang Jinshi blocked with the tail of his halberd and countered with a sweeping strike of immense force—his experience was truly seasoned!

The Chanyu dared not take it head-on; while ducking to avoid the long halberd, he struck again with his curved saber, aiming for Jiang Jinshi's throat.

He had been trying to get close to Jiang Jinshi the entire time; otherwise, using a curved saber against a long halberd offered no advantage whatsoever.

Little did he know that this strike was a flaw Jiang Jinshi had intentionally exposed. Since you want to get close, let's see how your martial prowess holds up at close quarters!

Getting close didn't just give the Chanyu an opportunity; it did the same for Jiang Jinshi. At such a close distance, once there was the slightest mistake, the outcome would be decapitation, with no chance to escape.

Jiang Jinshi dodged the blade and countered with a direct thrust at the Chanyu's throat; both sides were using lethal moves.

The Chanyu hurriedly leaned to the side; the tip of the halberd grazed his neck, taking a lock of hair with it.

He followed through by flicking his curved saber upward, hacking at the halberd shaft, intending to break Jiang Jinshi's weapon.

Jiang Jinshi flicked his wrist, spinning the long halberd, and the crescent blade knocked the curved saber aside.

It looked as if the two were locked in an inseparable struggle, but only the Chanyu knew the danger involved. Beads of sweat gradually covered his forehead, while Jiang Jinshi, by contrast, still looked as if he had energy to spare.

The Chanyu gritted his teeth and attacked again; he absolutely would not allow himself to fail. Slashing, hacking, and thrusting, his offensive accelerated, hoping that such a rapid frequency would force Jiang Jinshi to reveal a weakness.

Jiang Jinshi switched from offense to defense, dancing his long halberd. No matter how tidal the Chanyu's offensive was, he remained unmoved, neutralizing every single blade strike.

"Clang! Clang! Clang-clang-clang—!"

The sound of collisions rang out incessantly, but anyone with a discerning eye could see that Jiang Jinshi had already gained the upper hand and even had energy in reserve.

The Chanyu delivered a full-force downward hack, which Jiang Jinshi finally seized as an opportunity. This time, he did not defend, but instead thrust his long halberd upward.

Saber and halberd collided; the Chanyu's web between thumb and forefinger split, and his curved saber nearly flew from his hand.

In that very instant, Jiang Jinshi decisively swung his long halberd, following through with a downward hack.

The Chanyu had no time to block and could only watch helplessly as the long halberd descended upon him!

"Sshh!"

The Chanyu was knocked off his horse, taking the crescent blade of the halberd directly on his shoulder; the wound was extremely deep.

The Chanyu's eyes were full of palpitations; if he hadn't fallen from his horse to cushion the force, he suspected that strike would have split him in two.

But he had no way out. Bowing his head to the enemy was not the style of a Grassland Wolf King; a Wolf King could die, but he must die standing.

He gripped his curved saber tightly and struck at the legs of Jiang Jinshi's mount, preparing to force Jiang Jinshi to dismount and fight him on foot.

Jiang Jinshi saw through the opponent's intent and snorted coldly, flipping off his horse directly. He blocked the curved saber with his halberd and used the momentum to thrust the tip toward the Chanyu's face.

The two tangled together again. The Chanyu was severely wounded but became even more fearless, his saber technique becoming increasingly devious, even seeking to trade wounds for wounds.

How could Jiang Jinshi trade wounds with such a broken body? Merely defending was enough to drag him down.

As for this final madness, it was nothing more than the last remaining pride of a Grassland Wolf King.

The sound of saber and halberd colliding became a continuous stream; it was impossible to count the strikes. The Chanyu's offensive, however, began to slow down more and more. His eyes even began to blur, and Jiang Jinshi's long halberd appeared to flicker with double images in his vision.

"Grassland Wolf King, is that all you have?" Jiang Jinshi even had the spare capacity to speak and disturb his opponent's mind, which showed the gap between the two at this moment.

The Chanyu gritted his teeth and said nothing, praying internally for strength; he needed the power to strike his opponent down.

But what responded to him was a body that felt increasingly heavy, and an arm that could no longer hold the saber.

Jiang Jinshi looked at the opponent's body, which was almost entirely dyed red, and knew that the opponent had lost too much blood and was reaching his limit!

"I... I will not lose... I am the... most... on the grasslands..."

The Chanyu roared at the sky, his eyes still filled with unwillingness and anger.

But before he could finish his words, Jiang Jinshi's crescent blade had already sliced across the Chanyu's neck.

Watching the Chanyu's head fall to the ground, the Ming Army erupted into unprecedented cheers.

"The Commander is the greatest in the world!!!"

"Our Ming Army is peerless!"

"Mere Xiongnu, if you dare to step into our Beijiang territory again, you will be executed!"

"Hahahaha! Ten-plus years! We finally won!"

"Those brothers who died can finally rest in peace!"

Unlike the Ming Army, the Xiongnu now had no will to fight. They had already been pincered by the Ming Army, and their Chanyu had been cut down from his horse by the enemy commander.

And to die without even wounding Jiang Jinshi in the slightest—that was the most despairing part!

The Left Worthy King and Right Worthy King could not care about anything else at this moment and hurriedly shouted to the Xiongnu, "Retreat! Everyone retreat!"

But the Ming Army's encirclement was not so easily broken, especially now that everyone's morale was high. They had all received Jiang Jinshi's previous order to annihilate the Xiongnu completely.

The Right Worthy King raised his curved saber high, first glancing at Jiang Jinshi, who was to the front-left, before shouting, "Lads, follow me and break out to the right!"

Xiexiezi grinned hideously, "Big Brother is indeed not to be trifled with, but do you think I'm a soft persimmon just because you want to break out through me?"

Then Xiexiezi gave the order without mercy, "Everyone, raise your spears and charge! Big Brother said to annihilate the Xiongnu, so we cannot let a single one escape!"

Jiang Ze also organized the Ming Army within the city to sally forth, "Encircle and suppress them! This battle is the most critical one in Beijiang in over a decade; we will all be remembered by the people!"

The Ming soldiers yelled at the top of their lungs as they charged toward the Xiongnu, muttering things about starting a new family lineage and leaving their names in history.

The Xiongnu fought back desperately, unwilling to be besieged to death, but the Ming Army's morale and combat power had reached an unprecedented peak. They tried to break out several times, only to be beaten back each time.

As more and more Xiongnu fell, the Left and Right Worthy Kings finally could not withstand the pressure and shouted toward the direction of Jiang Jinshi, "We surrender! We surrender!"

Jiang Jinshi replied indifferently, "Those not of our race will surely have different hearts; we do not accept surrendering troops!"

"Kill them all!" Xiexiezi shouted, charging into the Xiongnu crowd like a meat grinder, covered in blood like a demon god.

Hearing that the opponent would not accept surrender, the last hope of the Left and Right Worthy Kings was completely shattered, "Lads! Kill!"

In such a narrow space, looking around, there were Ming soldiers everywhere. The cavalry could not charge at all and could only watch as the outermost Xiongnu fell one by one, the encirclement shrinking bit by bit.

The Right Worthy King grew anxious; he did not want to die here.

"Jiang Jinshi, the Chanyu is dead. From now on, we will follow your lead; can you grant us a way to live?"

Jiang Jinshi did not even look at him properly, nor did he respond. He had plenty of fierce generals under his command; he did not need the loyalty of an alien race.

Furthermore, with such a deep hatred between their nations, how could he dare to keep the opponent by his side? Dead men were the most reassuring!

As time passed, the sixty thousand Xiongnu cavalry were completely strangled; not a single one was truly let go!

It was now sunset. This battle had been fought from sunrise to sunset, and it had also determined the outcome of the decade-long conflict between Beijiang and the Xiongnu.

Many people choked up on the spot; the people of Beijiang had waited too long for this victory!

They felt that this victory had come a bit late, but seeing their own Commander, Jiang Jinshi, they understood in a daze that it was he who had brought the victory!