"Clang!"
A clear ring of clashing metal rang out high in the starry night, resounding across Dragon Head Plateau.
An austere, slender three-foot blade caught a crescent halberd over ten feet long, its tip resting against the halberd's edge.
Murong Yan's pupils abruptly contracted.
The tremendous force transmitted through the halberd's blade nearly tore the weapon from his grasp. Numbness shot back from the web of his hand, making even his forearm tremble.
The next instant, Murong Yan's crescent halberd was knocked aside by the sword, leaving an opening. Cheng Xinzhan spotted it. He could only say that this Demon Fiend had underestimated him too much. An extra inch of reach meant an extra inch of strength; wielding a long weapon, he should never have come so close. He must have been certain Cheng Xinzhan would not dare receive that strike and would dodge, giving him another opportunity to press his attack.
With his opponent's center wide open, Cheng Xinzhan naturally would not let the opportunity slip. He flicked his free left hand, and the Flowing Beads wound around his wrist flew out, unfurling in an instant into a spinning ring of beads that struck toward Murong Yan's chest.
These were precisely the beads Shi Yiniang had given him.
Anything Shi Yiniang gave was naturally excellent. Every bead had an impressive provenance, and together they accorded perfectly with the principles of the five elements. Most importantly, Shi Yiniang was clever enough to give only precious materials, without drawing legs on a snake by engraving restrictions on them. Every bead was perfectly clean.
Cheng Xinzhan had been very pleased upon receiving them. As he rolled and fingered the beads, he had worked restrictive spiritual patterns into them.
When refining this string of beads, he had used the consecration method of Peacock