"What is happening? Why did my attack miss?"
Tian Ming's eyes flickered with surprise as his strike grazed Ye Ling's cheek.
"Could it be that I've been confined in the consciousness space for too long and am hallucinating?" Tian Ming muttered to himself, condensing spiritual energy at his fingertips once more and aiming for Ye Ling's forehead.
"This time, I'll send you to the afterlife!"
Whoosh!!!
As Tian Ming declared, the white beam, capable of piercing even the strongest, flashed past again, grazing Ye Ling's cheek and piercing the textual land behind him.
"This is!!!"
Seeing his attack miss yet again, Tian Ming's pupils contracted sharply, and a tempestuous wave surged within his heart!
If it had been once, it could still be explained as coincidence or accident. But now, twice in a row, it couldn't possibly be a coincidence…
A profound sense of fear washed over Tian Ming. He pointed at Ye Ling again, but his attack still went wide!
"Impossible! Why is this happening?"
Tian Ming cried out in shock. He immediately condensed a demonic sword in his hand, instantly appearing before Ye Ling and slashing ruthlessly at Ye Ling's neck.
However, just as the demonic sword was about to touch Ye Ling's neck, Tian Ming suddenly stopped. The demonic sword halted inches from Ye Ling's neck, unable to advance another millimeter!
"Wh-why?" Tian Ming's sword-wielding hand trembled slightly, sweat beading on his forehead!
There was no barrier around Ye Ling, and Tian Ming felt no resistance. He knew that with just one more push, he could sever Ye Ling's head.
But…
He couldn't move forward any further!
It was as if he himself was unwilling to kill Ye Ling!
"Why? Why can't I act?"
Tian Ming couldn't comprehend his current state. He raised his demonic sword again and slashed down fiercely at Ye Ling.
But nothing changed. No matter the angle of his slash, the moment his sword was about to harm Ye Ling, it would simply stop!
Ye Ling looked at Tian Ming's terrified expression and smiled faintly. "Tian Ming, you must be wondering why you can't kill me, right?"
"Is this your doing?" Tian Ming exclaimed, glaring at Ye Ling.
"Who knows?" Ye Ling chuckled lightly and extended a finger, reaching towards Tian Ming's sword blade.
However, as Ye Ling's finger neared the blade, Tian Ming involuntarily moved his sword away, as if afraid his blade would sever Ye Ling's finger.
"What in the world is going on?"
Seeing that he genuinely couldn't harm Ye Ling, not even passively, Tian Ming was utterly bewildered.
He finally understood. It was his own subconscious that didn't want to harm Ye Ling.
That thought was imprinted deep within his soul, like a conditioned reflex.
Tian Ming was stunned, unable to comprehend the situation.
His strength far surpassed Ye Ling's. Logically, no matter how heaven-defying Ye Ling's methods were, they shouldn't directly influence his thoughts!
Moreover, he had inherited all of Ye Ling's memories and thoughts, meaning he knew Ye Ling's trump cards better than anyone. In his memories… Ye Ling had no means to restrain him!
"Tian Ming, just accept your fate. You can't kill me, and you can't replace me." Ye Ling smiled at Tian Ming, then struck Tian Ming with a fierce palm of his own!
Seeing Ye Ling actively attack him, a trace of ferocity flashed in Tian Ming's eyes.
"Since I can't harm you, I'll let your own power kill you!"
Tian Ming circulated his spiritual energy, preparing to reflect Ye Ling's attack back, causing Ye Ling to suffer the backlash of his own power.
However, just as Tian Ming circulated his spiritual energy to reflect Ye Ling's power, he inexplicably withdrew all his spiritual energy and took Ye Ling's palm strike head-on!
A multitude of runes appeared on Tian Ming's chest, and then they were shattered by Tian Ming's own spiritual energy.
The runes existed for less than a tenth of a second!
'No… after Tian Ming's soul merged with Zhou Wen's, I can only write one stroke in his soul at a time… it's almost impossible to manipulate his thoughts again. I should have written more earlier…'
Seeing the runes on Tian Ming's body rapidly dissipate, Ye Ling's gaze sharpened. He immediately abandoned the idea of manipulating Tian Ming's thoughts again.
Tian Ming didn't know that his soul had transformed into text, and his thoughts were influenced by it… But if Ye Ling frequently injected text into Tian Ming's soul, Tian Ming would surely realize it.
By then, if Tian Ming erased the foreign information Ye Ling had written into his soul, Ye Ling would truly be finished.
"Ye Ling, do you think your petty tricks can harm me?" Tian Ming hadn't noticed Ye Ling's intention. Relieved that he was unharmed, he condensed a barrier around himself and taunted Ye Ling coldly.
He had also slowly calmed down from his shock.
Although he didn't know why he couldn't harm Ye Ling, he was currently occupying Zhou Wen's body and was not inside Ye Ling.
The current Ye Ling was completely incapable of harming him!
The worst-case scenario for him now was merely that they couldn't do anything to each other.
Realizing this, Tian Ming immediately set up a spiritual energy cage around Ye Ling, trapping him, while he began to search for a solution.
'Tian Ming is the second personality derived from me. He possesses all my memories and thoughts. It's likely he'll discover the truth of this textual continent soon. I must eliminate him before then!'
Within the cage, Ye Ling watched Tian Ming begin to study the textual world, his gaze sharpening. He lowered his head to look at the textual continent beneath his feet, contemplating a way to break free.
Ye Ling's only advantage now was knowing the characteristics of this textual continent. He had to rely on it to turn the tables.
'Since the rules of this world can influence Tian Ming, it means these rules are superior to Tian Ming. If I can utilize this point…'
Ye Ling thought this, and secretly carved runes into the textual land, modifying its attributes.
Rumble!
Suddenly, a massive hand made of text surged from the textual land and forcefully grasped Tian Ming, who was deep in thought!
"What is this?"
Tian Ming's train of thought was disrupted by the sudden giant palm. His expression changed slightly, and he immediately released his spiritual energy, shattering the textual giant palm!
'It worked!'
Seeing that he had indeed summoned a giant palm, Ye Ling's eyes lit up. He once again injected runes into the land!
Whoosh! Whoosh! Whoosh!
In an instant, endless textual sword energy erupted from the textual land, shooting towards Tian Ming in the air, who had just shattered the textual giant palm!
Those textual sword energies contained immense power, which even Tian Ming couldn't underestimate. He could only temporarily set aside Ye Ling's matters and deal with the sword energy with all his might.
While Tian Ming's attention was occupied by the endless textual sword energy, Ye Ling, with a surge of effort, channeled all the spiritual energy within him to condense runes and inject them into this textual continent!
Feeling the surging textual power beneath his feet, a glint of joy and madness flashed in Ye Ling's eyes.
The power surging from the textual land validated all his conjectures!
Ye Ling looked up at Tian Ming in the air and said in a low voice, "Tian Ming, just you wait… I'll send you a big gift later!"