NOVEL SIMPLE CHAPTER 279
Chapter 279 Lu Ming's Wrath—A Battle Reclaimed
The scattered saber aura formed an intricate, dense web of blades, golden light flashing in every direction. The entire world seemed to transform into a mountain of sabers floating in a sea of shimmering gold. Tang Chongye had unleashed his full power, and the sheer magnitude of it was awe-inspiring.
But as overwhelming as his strength was, it still couldn’t keep up with the mystery and unpredictability of Lu Ming’s movements.
Amidst the pervasive saber web, a massive, ferocious shadow surged forward with incredible force. Occasionally, bursts of airflow erupted from Lu Ming’s body, propelling him sideways to evade the razor-sharp blades. At other times, his body twisted and stretched like noodles, slipping through the tiniest gaps between the sabers, avoiding their lethal edges by mere fractions of an inch.
In an instant, hundreds of attacks and counterattacks had been exchanged. Blades flashed and fists flew in a whirlwind of combat, but in that same fleeting moment, Lu Ming had closed the gap. He had already covered over 10,000 meters, rushing headlong toward Tang Chongye.
With a predatory gleam in his eyes, Lu Ming leaped into the air, his fists clenched tight. “It’s my turn, Iron Lump!” he called out, his sinister smile widening as he faced Tang Chongye mid-flight.
Tang Chongye, however, didn’t flinch. He merely sneered at Lu Ming’s taunt. “Close combat?” he scoffed. “Do you think my Demon Gold body fears your flesh and blood?”
His golden right arm, gleaming like a razor-sharp saber, swept up in a slashing motion aimed directly at Lu Ming’s neck.
Clang!
The sound rang out as Lu Ming’s fist collided with Tang Chongye’s golden blade-like arm. For a brief moment, both fighters froze in place, their attacks suspended as fatal waves rippled outward from the impact, forming clear rings of energy in the air.
But the pause lasted only a heartbeat.
Almost immediately, the clash escalated into an even faster, more intense exchange of blows. Their movements became a blur of fists, sabers, and raw, unrelenting berserk.
Lu Ming relied primarily on his fists and kicks for his assault. His body was honed through years of cultivating fist techniques, making his strikes his most lethal weapon. Tang Chongye, on the other hand, was a master of saber techniques, each strike designed to bring out the full potential of his Demon Gold body.
With every punch Lu Ming threw, the air around him compressed to the point of liquefaction, exploding behind him in a series of massive, ring-shaped shockwaves. His fists and feet were like bombs, each blow carrying the devastating dual effects of [Annihilation Explosion] and [High-Speed Fist]. The raw power unleashed in his onslaught was terrifying beyond measure.
But even in the face of such overwhelming power, Tang Chongye chose a bold and direct strategy—pure offense, no defense.
He smirked to himself. “How could my Demon Gold Body fear a mere flesh-and-blood body?” he thought.
The resilience of his Demon Gold form gave him confidence. All he needed to do was outlast Lu Ming, cutting him down piece by piece. Even if Lu Ming could tear at his body, Tang Chongye believed his victory was only a matter of time.
A relentless barrage of “dong, dong, dong” sounds echoed through the battlefield as Lu Ming’s fists hammered against Tang Chongye’s Demon Gold body. Each impact rang out like metal striking an anvil, the noise sharp and piercing, drowning out all other chaos around Archean City. At that moment, it was as though the only sound left in the world was the rhythmic pounding of their battle.
Yet, despite bearing the brunt of these ferocious blows, Tang Chongye remained unmoved. He stood firm, his body unshaken by the strength of Lu Ming’s strikes.
“Striking metal?” Tang Chongye thought with a grim smile. “This body of mine has been forged from Demon Gold, tempered thousands of times. Why would I fear the blows of an iron hammer?”
Tang Chongye raised his massive saber high, preparing for a decisive strike. The golden patterns on his right hand flickered briefly but dimmed after barely a tenth of a second. In contrast, the golden saber in his grasp blazed even brighter, like a rising sun at its peak.
“Die!” Tang Chongye roared.
With that cry, the golden saber light surged with explosive force. The strike was so intensely compressed that it released a tidal wave of energy as it slashed through the air. The saber aura became almost tangible, displacing the air between them and creating a brief, eerie vacuum.
The suction force that emanated from the edge of the saber was powerful, pulling at Lu Ming’s body and causing him to involuntarily lean toward the blade’s deadly path. The saber's edge inched closer, cutting through the air with terrifying speed.
In the blink of an eye, it was nearly upon Lu Ming’s forehead.
Then, a dull thud reverberated through the battlefield.
The massive saber light streaked past Lu Ming, continuing its deadly path toward a distant mountain. The moment it connected with the towering peak, the entire hundred-meter-tall structure exploded, reduced to flat ground in an instant. The sheer force of the strike obliterated everything in its wake.
“It’s over...” Esek muttered from the sidelines, his voice low with finality.
Although he hadn’t witnessed every moment in detail, Esek understood all too well the outcome of Tang Chongye’s strike. The saber light had sliced clean through the middle of Lu Ming’s body, and the residual force was powerful enough to level a distant mountain. That could only mean one thing—Lu Ming’s body, like a fragile sheet of paper, had been torn in two.
Esek couldn’t help but feel a twinge of regret. Though they had only recently crossed paths, Lu Ming had shown immense talent, and in another life, perhaps they could have gotten along.
"It’s a pity, little brother," Esek muttered to himself, his voice heavy with resignation. "It seems I’m truly lacking in strength."
With a sigh, he began to scan his surroundings, searching for an escape route. But before he could move, a chilling, almost sinister voice interrupted his thoughts.
"You... can't do it..."
Esek froze, his eyes widening.
"You really can't do it!" the voice repeated, growing sharper. "Combat skills, combat experience, even your instincts—you're far too inferior!"
Esek’s gaze whipped back to the battlefield, disbelief flooding his mind.
“You’re just a boorish man with strength but no skill!”
To his shock, it was Lu Ming who spoke. Despite having been split in two by Tang Chongye’s saber, Lu Ming was still standing, seemingly unscathed. Esek's eyes narrowed as he looked closer. While Lu Ming’s body had indeed been divided, the wounds didn’t resemble clean saber marks at all. Instead, they appeared more like the result of a deliberate, self-induced separation.
Across from him, Tang Chongye raised an eyebrow, finally recognizing the strange quality in Lu Ming’s movements from moments earlier, when he had dodged the saber web.
A flicker of realization dawned in Tang Chongye’s eyes.
“He avoided my saber light by splitting his own body in two...?”
As this thought settled in, Tang Chongye prepared to launch another attack. But Lu Ming wasn’t about to give him the chance.
The slight pause after Tang Chongye’s devastating strike had given Lu Ming the perfect opportunity to counter. And for a master of combat techniques like Lu Ming, once he seized the advantage, he wasn’t the type to let his opponent recover.
In the blink of an eye, Lu Ming’s bisected body began to twist and coil like a serpent. His two halves moved in unison, snakelike and fluid, wrapping themselves around Tang Chongye like ropes, ensnaring him tightly.
A terrifying low growl echoed in Tang Chongye’s ears.
“I told you, it’s my turn,” Lu Ming snarled, his voice dripping with menace.
“So, from now on, it’s all my turn!”
In the next instant, hundreds—no, thousands—of small beastly heads, each about ten centimeters in diameter, erupted from various parts of Lu Ming’s body. They lunged at Tang Chongye with savage ferocity, gnawing at every exposed inch of his Demon Gold form.
Before the invention of weapons, human teeth had been one of mankind’s most powerful tools. And now, in his [Desperate State], Lu Ming resembled nothing less than a wild beast unleashed. His teeth, sharper than those of any exotic beast, surpassed even the finest divine weapons in their cutting power.
Fists and kicks had proven ineffective against the seemingly impenetrable defenses of Tang Chongye’s Demon Gold body. But if his fists couldn’t work, Lu Ming had decided on a more primal approach—his teeth.
The answer was clear.
The grinding, unsettling sound of teeth against metal filled the air. Under the tremendous bite force of Lu Ming’s jaws, even Tang Chongye’s Demon Gold armor began to warp and deform. Hundreds of sharp teeth left behind hundreds of jagged impressions, creating thousands of deformities across the once flawless surface of the Demon Gold.
But what made Lu Ming’s attack even more insidious was the additional effect of [Annihilation Explosion]. Every time his teeth sank into the Demon Gold, tiny explosions of annihilation triggered at the points of friction. These continuous bursts slowly eroded the Demon Gold bit by bit, weakening Tang Chongye’s once impenetrable defense.
In the blink of an eye, Tang Chongye’s body was ravaged, his Demon Gold armor pocked with countless deformities.
“Argh!”
A roar of pain and fury ripped from Tang Chongye’s throat as he struggled against the vicious assault. Anger flashed in his eyes, but even he couldn’t hide the agony tearing through his body.
Tang Chongye’s body rapidly transformed, growing sharp barbs that protruded from his surface, as if to pierce through and free himself from Lu Ming’s constricting grip.
But it was all in vain.
Lu Ming, in the form of a giant python, was not about to relinquish his hold on his prey.
Some of the barbs were crushed immediately by Lu Ming’s powerful coils. A few managed to evade his grasp during his transformation, but the majority were firmly withstood by Lu Ming’s resilient flesh.
The struggle was fierce. Tang Chongye’s barbs inflicted numerous injuries, causing crimson blood to splatter and stain the battlefield.
Despite the pain and damage, Lu Ming’s formidable regenerative abilities quickly healed these wounds, which were mere scratches compared to his overall endurance.
The battle raged on with a relentless, crocodilian death roll. Lu Ming’s continuous twisting and coiling not only amplified his biting force but also disrupted Tang Chongye’s attempts to break free or counterattack.
The ground shook violently as Lu Ming’s massive form wreaked havoc, while Tang Chongye, akin to a stubborn lump of iron, struggled against the onslaught.
Their fierce entanglement and the tremendous force Lu Ming exerted against the earth created a chaotic scene, reminiscent of a crumbling bed beneath passionate turmoil.
Cracking and breaking sounds filled the air, mingling with swirling dust that rose like a sandstorm.
In this chaotic moment, Esek’s arrival proved to be the tipping point.
“Brother, let me assist you!” Esek called out.
Having regained his strength after a brief rest, Esek’s golden pattern power was now fully restored.
End of Chapter 279