"Satisfying!" he roared.
The Gang Qi in his body surged, and specks of gold appeared. His body turned a brilliant yellow, as if cast from gold.
He activated the Golden Gang Skill. His robes billowed, and a tyrannical aura erupted like a volcano, sweeping out to suppress the roiling of his blood and qi.
"The Golden Gang Skill!" A blinding light flared in Yan Guiyun’s eyes, and his killing intent surged.
’Xu Yang still has a hidden ace!’
With the appearance of the Golden Gang Skill, the slight advantage in power he had painstakingly gained was instantly nullified. He no longer held any superiority.
"Again!"
Xu Yang’s will to fight soared. The few clashes had given him an exhilarating sense of satisfaction. The earth beneath his feet shattered as his body suddenly vanished, shooting forward like an arrow loosed from a bow. He left behind a piercing shriek and a terrifying gale of Gang Qi.
A massive, golden hand of Gang Qi materialized, carrying a suffocating pressure. He simply and brutally slapped out another palm.
"BOOM!"
Following the deafening roar, the air seemed to have an invisible channel punched through it. In a flash of light, his palm was already inches away, the pressure forcing the flames on Yan Guiyun’s body to flicker violently.
"As if I’m afraid of you!"
Yan Guiyun’s hand, burning like a blood-red flame, struck out like lightning. It contained immense force, like a mountain collapsing or the earth splitting apart.
"BANG!"
The two palms collided, creating a terrifying explosion. Xu Yang’s bones and sinews hummed in unison, his face flushing red. With a CRACK, his Golden Gang Qi was directly shattered by the horrifying vibrational force, kicking up a tidal wave of earth around him.
"PFFT!"
A pained expression appeared on Yan Guiyun’s face; his internal organs felt displaced. The flame-like Gang Qi burning outside his body was extinguished, revealing his swollen, taller frame and twitching muscles.
His Protective Gang Qi reappeared as Xu Yang’s massive golden hand struck out again, each palm heavier than the last.
The Fuyue Bear King’s Palm was an inherently unyielding and ferocious Palm Technique. It was grand and open, lacking any flashy or ornate moves. Both men were geniuses who had succeeded in Body Refining, and their physical bodies could withstand strikes from Half-Spirit Weapons.
For a time, it was as if two steel giants were clashing in the forest. The ground for dozens of yards around them vibrated and continuously shattered. The dust they kicked up enveloped a hundred-yard-wide swath of the mountain woods.
The more he fought, the more exhilarating it was for Xu Yang. This kind of brutal, close-quarters, flesh-on-flesh combat made his fighting spirit soar, and his excitement reached its peak.
Yan Guiyun, however, grew more alarmed with every exchange!
Both of their Physiques were extremely formidable, and they were both protected by Gang Qi. After twenty or thirty techniques, he still couldn’t do anything to Xu Yang. He felt that the result would be the same even after several hundred more exchanges.
Although Xu Yang hadn’t been cultivating for as long as him, he had no weaknesses to exploit.
They continued their life-or-death struggle, and in the blink of an eye, over a hundred techniques had been exchanged. Even with their powerful Physiques, they could feel their stamina starting to wane. After all, they were both top-tier experts trading blows head-on; even a body made of iron couldn’t withstand such a constant barrage.
"You can’t defeat me, and I can’t defeat you. How about we stop here and call it even? Otherwise, shall we settle this with Weapons?" Yan Guiyun shouted.
He no longer wanted to fight.
If they continued, it would lead to mutual destruction. Even if he won, it would be a pyrrhic victory, and the loss would far outweigh the gain.
He had no confidence in a duel with Weapons, either. For Xu Yang to have tempered his physical body and Physique to such a degree, his attainments with Weapons were definitely not low. If they really brought out their weapons, they might truly end up destroying each other.
Their bodies could withstand Half-Spirit Weapons, but it depended on whose hands those Half-Spirit Weapons were in.
"I can’t defeat you? Call it even?" Xu Yang’s long hair whipped about. His entire body was golden, faintly glowing with a red light.
After a fierce battle of a hundred techniques, his vigorous blood and qi felt like they were about to vaporize and erupt from his body. New blood surged through him with the roar of thunder.
It wasn’t that he couldn’t defeat Yan Guiyun. It was just that it was rare to encounter such an expert, and in such a quiet, undisturbed place. He couldn’t bear to kill him so quickly, so he was using his opponent to stimulate his own will to fight.
"BOOM!"
A thunder-like sound echoed as his power suddenly turned berserk. The battle intent he had accumulated to its peak surged like a tide, bursting forth from his body.
The void twisted, and a golden Fuyue Bear, roaring at the sky, rapidly materialized behind Xu Yang!
Martial Dao Imagery!
A terrifying pressure swept out, and a ferocious aura blanketed the area. Xu Yang’s own aura skyrocketed. His body, as if cast from gold, swelled until he resembled a bear standing upright on its hind legs.
"Martial Dao Imagery..." Yan Guiyun’s face changed drastically, his voice turning sharp.
Martial Dao Imagery!
Xu Yang had actually comprehended Martial Dao Imagery! He had actually cultivated the Fuyue Bear King’s Palm to the Perfection Realm, where he could manifest its Martial Dao Imagery! His true talent was even more terrifying than he had previously estimated.
’One must know that a power like Martial Dao Imagery is typically exclusive to Celestial Essence Strong Persons. Only a few rare geniuses can grasp it upon reaching Marrow Cleansing Great Success. Even a genius like him—formerly first of the Ten Heroes and third of the Ten Elites, who was already on the verge of breaking through to the Celestial Essence Realm—had not cultivated Martial Dao Imagery.’
In an instant, he felt his hair stand on end, terrified beyond belief. It felt as if a giant boulder was crushing his Heart Spirit.
The person he had come to ambush was a genius who had comprehended Martial Dao Imagery less than three years after starting his Entry Level training.
As far as he knew, the Purple Sun Sect might not produce a person like this even once in a decade. None of the current Peak Masters or Elders in the Purple Sun Sect had comprehended Martial Dao Imagery while in the Bone Marrow Cleansing Realm.
He had thought Xu Yang was good at hiding his strength before, but now he knew what true concealment was.
"With Martial Dao Imagery, can I defeat you now?" Xu Yang let out a long cry. His surging battle intent transformed into a world-shaking Martial Dao Imagery, and the hundred-yard expanse of mountain forest around them seemed to tremble.
He strode forward, his body dazzling with golden light. The Fuyue Bear behind him let out a soundless roar as his palm punched through the air, striking out with Mountain-Shattering and Mountain-Breaking force.
"ROAR—"
A tremendous roar echoed in his Heart Spirit, nearly shattering it. Yan Guiyun’s expression changed dramatically. Xu Yang’s Heart Spirit Cultivation was actually this formidable! The attack of his Martial Dao Imagery had even reached the level of the Heart Spirit!
He forcibly broke free, and the roar that shook his Heart Spirit vanished. But the indestructible Palm Force was already inches away.
At this moment, he felt as if a great mountain was crushing his entire body. He struggled to breathe. Before the Palm Force even arrived, its tyrannical pressure had already forced his feet to sink into the ground.
"Agh, I can’t die here! I still need to break through to Celestial Essence and achieve a Secondary Dragon Ascension!"
At the precipice of life and death, he roared in his heart. His rage ignited his Gang Qi, and scorching flames erupted from his pores.
He pushed both hands forward, pouring all his life’s strength into intercepting the palm strike backed by Martial Dao Imagery.
Xu Yang’s gaze was sharp as he watched the third of the Ten Elites, who was already scared witless.
"BANG!"
A vast power surged toward him. Yan Guiyun felt as though he wasn’t fighting a person, but battling a Fuyue Bear King from the Ancient Wilderness. This Mountain-Shattering and Mountain-Breaking power was simply not something a body of flesh and blood could block.
His arms trembled violently for an instant. The flames covering his body were blasted away, and blood sprayed from his pores.
The body he had cultivated with the Heaven-Burning Flame Body, a body that could withstand a Half-Spirit Weapon, let out an agonized cry as if under an unbearable load. Countless meridians were shattered, and his internal organs were displaced.
Pain instantly filled Yan Guiyun’s face, turning it crimson. Horrifying cracks spread from his palms all the way up to his shoulders, revealing scarlet flesh and jade-like bone.
"PFFT!"
He spat out a mouthful of blood. He was completely crushed, sent flying backward like a scarecrow with his feet leaving the ground.
An aura spread across the ground like a tide. Amidst the billowing dust, Yan Guiyun’s miserable scream cut through the smoke-filled air.
He looked down. Although his arms weren’t completely broken, multiple bones were riddled with fractures. He had no idea how many meridians had been severed. He had become a man drenched in blood.
’Martial Dao Imagery can shake the heavens and move the earth. So this is Martial Dao Imagery? It’s practically the power of invincibility among one’s peers,’ Yan Guiyun thought, horrified.
The moment the Martial Dao Imagery appeared, Xu Yang, who had previously only been his equal, had almost killed him in a single move. It was utterly tyrannical.
It wasn’t just an increase in strength; under the pressure of the Martial Dao Imagery, he could only unleash seventy to eighty percent of his full power.
"CLANG!"
A sharp ring sounded as Yan Guiyun finally had the chance to draw his Half-Spirit Weapon. However, he had already been scared witless by Xu Yang. Even with the Half-Spirit Weapon in hand, he no longer had the courage to continue fighting.
Dragging his heavily injured body, he brandished the Half-Spirit Weapon, turned, and fled.