Ling Tian’s horse-shafte spear danced in his hands, a blur of motion as he fought fiercely with three opponents, all three locked in a brutal struggle.
Meanwhile, Hu Lan stood more than ten meters away, holding up two New Year’s pictures, their gaze fixed on Qin Qiong and Yu Chi Gong. He maintained this pose with great effort, his face reddening from the strain.
Upon closer inspection, one would notice that the backgrounds of the New Year’s pictures, originally colorful, were slowly turning black and white with the passage of time.
Once all the colored portions of these paintings turned monochromatic, the two generals, Qin Qiong and Yu Chi Gong, released from the pictures, would vanish from the world, returning to their painted forms.
To reactivate these paintings, one would need to find a way to replenish their energy to release the generals once more.
Hu Lan’s heart bled at this moment. He had initially believed that releasing these two generals would allow him to dispatch Ling Tian in mere moments, like cutting through melon and vegetables. However, reality proved far different.
Watching Ling Tian’s horse-shafte spear wielded with formidable power, engaging the two historical generals on equal footing, it seemed the battle was destined for a prolonged engagement.
But a pressing reality was that the energy stored within these two New Year’s pictures would not last for many more minutes.
It was known that while the power of these paintings was immense, their energy consumption was equally significant. If all the energy within them were depleted, it would likely take decades to replenish, and Hu Lan himself did not have many years left to live. This practically meant the paintings would be rendered useless!
For Hu Lan, these two New Year’s pictures were undoubtedly his trump cards.
After a few more minutes, less than two-thirds of the colored sections on the paintings remained. On the other side, Ling Tian was still fighting enthusiastically with the two generals.
Ling Tian’s horse-shafte spear skills were learned from his second master, Monk Jie Nu, on Dragon’s Ridge Mountain. This eminent monk was proficient in all eighteen types of weapons.
Ling Tian had truly learned a great deal from his second master, especially in the use of the horse-shafte spear, which could be used for thrusting, parrying, chopping, smashing, and blocking, offering a multitude of variations.
Moreover, the two opponents Ling Tian faced today were renowned historical generals. The encounter between these three was truly a match of equals, a meeting of talented individuals.
Ling Tian even wished to spar with these two for hundreds more rounds. Perhaps the insights gained from such battles could lead to breakthroughs in his martial arts. As for Hu Lan’s feelings, Ling Tian, caught in the thrill of combat, had no inclination to pay attention to him.
However, at this very moment, a new variable emerged. The Monk Cheng’e, who had been resting and recovering his strength from a distance, now approached with his Zen staff.
Although the monk was somewhat depleted in his spiritual energy, having vanquished numerous fierce ghosts, he had accumulated a vast amount of intangible energy within him. This energy allowed him to rapidly recover his physical strength and magical powers.
Monk Cheng’e, seeing that Er Gou’s battle was going smoothly, had also brought his weapon.
Hu Lan felt a tremor of apprehension upon seeing this burly monk exuding a formidable killing aura.
Although this great monk’s strength and methods seemed far inferior to Ling Tian’s, his martial arts combined with Buddhist teachings made his combat power quite astonishing.
Hu Lan also knew well that without the aid of his esoteric arts, he would be no match for this great monk! Engaging in close-quarters combat with the monk would only result in being ravaged, repeatedly and thoroughly!
“You… you don’t come any closer!”
Seeing the panic on Hu Lan’s face, Monk Cheng’e wore a sinister grin.
“Amitabha, this humble monk perceives you to be an ill-intentioned person. Your continued existence only endangers more people. How about this, allow this humble monk to guide you to transcendence!”
For Monk Cheng’e, a wretch like Hu Lan, described as having maggots at his feet and smoke rising from his head, could potentially yield immense energy if struck down with a Zen staff. He was eager to join the fray.
As Monk Cheng’e spoke, he reached into his robes and produced three Vajra Pills.
Although these three metallic spheres no longer held much Buddhist power, they were inherently formidable weapons!
The three metallic spheres spun continuously in the monk’s palm, as large as a fan. Then, with a sudden exertion of force, the monk hurled the three metallic spheres towards Hu Lan.
Hu Lan, startled by the sudden attack, felt his soul flee his body. He quickly ducked his head, and one Vajra Pill whizzed past his scalp.
The gust of wind created by its passage made his scalp tingle. Had it been even a centimeter lower, it might have shattered his skull!
At that very moment, the other two Vajra Pills, one to his left and the other to his right, pierced through the two New Year’s pictures he held.
Instantly, two large holes appeared in the paintings, and a significant amount of energy leaked out through these openings.
The colored portions of the paintings began to turn black and white at an accelerated rate.
And the two Door Gods, Qin Qiong and Yu Chi Gong, who were fighting Ling Tian, suddenly vanished as the paintings completely turned monochrome.
Ling Tian, sweeping his horse-shafte spear, nearly sprained his back!
He turned to look at Hu Lan and the two damaged New Year’s pictures in Hu Lan’s hands. Ling Tian immediately understood what was happening.
These two New Year’s pictures were actually two exquisitely crafted magical artifacts, and the two generals were merely energy projections cast from the artifacts.
The surface of the paintings appeared as mere drawings, but beneath the artwork lay numerous formations.
These formations were incredibly complex, and their combined effect was profoundly mysterious. It was akin to the underlying control program written into a car’s ECU, with the formations even including spirit-gathering arrays, allowing the paintings to continuously absorb ambient spiritual energy to replenish their power even when simply placed there.
The remaining energy within the two New Year’s pictures could have sustained them for a few more minutes, but Hu Lan never anticipated Monk Cheng’e’s intervention at that moment. This monk, disregarding conventional combat, struck without hesitation!
As a result, two Vajra Pills coincidentally drilled two holes into the paintings, thereby destroying all the formations within them.
With the formations disrupted, all the energy from the paintings dissipated. Without energy support, the divine generals Qin Qiong and Yu Chi Gong could no longer exist.
Monk Cheng’e, holding his weapon, prepared to physically guide Hu Lan to transcendence. Hu Lan, terrified, turned and fled. While running, he reached into his satchel, and when his hand emerged again, it held a handful of small, white objects, the size of soybeans.
He blew on these objects and then directly tossed them towards Monk Cheng’e!