“You haven’t heard of Ancient Sage Qiu Wu’s Heavenly Demon Great Sorrow Palm? Back then, unable to pay his final respects to his deceased mother due to compelling circumstances, Ancient Sage Qiu Wu created this technique out of deep sorrow. Due to the concept behind the technique, the Heavenly Demon Great Sorrow Palm is one of the few physical battle techniques that is able to faze a cultivator’s soul! Legend has it that one of its moves consists of a palm art descending from the heavens,” Zhang Jiuxiao quickly explained as he stared at the sight before him with the utmost shock.
As an offspring of the Zhang Clan, while the lacking purity of his bloodline made him unqualified to access the best cultivation resources within the clan, the experiences and relics that he had come into contact with in the Zhang Clan still granted him knowledge and an eye of discernment far superior to the master teachers of the Qingyuan Conferred Empire.
As one of the closest followers of Kong shi, Ancient Sage Qiu Wu was indubitably a legendary figure of the Master Teacher Pavilion. While the Heavenly Demon Great Sorrow Palm was not the strongest battle technique that he had created, the unique properties of the technique still made it rather well-known.
Hu hu!
While Zhang Jiuxiao was explaining the palm art to the other master teacher, more and more power was gathering in front of Zhang Xuan’s palm, stirring up a mini tornado in the surroundings. Everyone could not help but retreat before the powerful air currents.
A tree desires the calm, but the wind batters relentlessly; a child seeks to repay, but his parents wait not!1
“Hmm?”
Seemingly recognizing the move as well, Pavilion Master Gou’s body trembled in astonishment.
The person whom he respected the most happened to be Ancient Sage Qiu Wu, so naturally, he knew about the Heavenly Demon Great Sorrow Palm as well. His mind was almost blown when he saw Zhang Xuan executing the move!
He had searched for Ancient Sage Qiu Wu’s heritage for so many years, but to no avail. Who would have thought that the young man before him would be able to execute the battle techniques of his idol so easily, so smoothly, and so powerfully!
Huala!
In his moment of astonishment, the palm strike finally fell upon him.
Zhang Xuan possessed the Eye of Insight, and he had already achieved the level of Infinitesimal Maneuver as well. As such, he was able to grasp the flow of battle with perfect precision. It took a mere glance for him to notice the huge fluctuations in Pavilion Master Gou’s emotions, and he instinctively knew that this was the ideal opportunity for him to strike.
Under the immense force of the palm strike, Pavilion Master Gou’s Primordial Spirit was forcefully struck back into his body before he retreated eight steps back. His face reddened from the impact, and a mouthful of blood burst from his lips.
That single palm strike had dealt considerable internal injuries to him.
“The Leaving Aperture realm Pavilion Master Gou… was actually injured by Zhang shi?”
“But there is a three-realm difference between the two of them!”
“To be able to bridge this gap and match Pavilion Master Gou squarely, Zhang shi is too formidable!”
The other master teachers did not recognize the Heavenly Demon Great Sorrow Palm, but upon seeing Pavilion Master Gou getting injured from Zhang Xuan’s assault, their bodies could not help but stiffen in disbelief.
To them, Pavilion Master Gou was not only the most powerful expert of the Master Teacher Pavilion but a symbol of its invincibility as well. He was the sturdy pillar whom they could fall back on in times of crisis. Yet, in less than three blows, Zhang Xuan had already managed to push him back and deal considerable internal injuries to him. This was an immense shock to all of them.
“It’s fortunate that we listened earnestly to his lecture instead of challenging him, or else… we might have been lying on the floor at this very moment!”
“Indeed. Thank god for Zhang shi’s magnanimity…”
Wiping the cold sweat off their foreheads, the master teachers patted their wildly beating chest in relief.
Earlier, when they had submitted to Zhang Xuan’s Impartation of Heaven’s Will without putting up a fight, they had felt that they had let the Master Teacher Pavilion down. However, the sight before them had dispelled the deep guilt within them.
Against such strength, even if they had really challenged Zhang Xuan, there was no doubt that they would have been defeated as well! Their involvement would not have made the slightest difference to the ultimate outcome.
“Your move…” Frantically steadying his body, Pavilion Master Gou swiftly suppressed his internal injuries before turning to Zhang Xuan with an anxious look. He opened his mouth, wanting to ask the young man before him about the technique that he had just executed, but before he could finish his words, the young man had already charged up to him to continue his assault.
This time, the young man’s palm strike was much more powerful than before. While it was not augmented by the momentum of his descent, the might that it wielded did not pale in comparison at all.
Humph, I’ll take a look for myself to see if that is the real Heavenly Demon Great Sorrow Palm or not! Knowing that it would be fatal if he allowed himself to be distracted in battle, Pavilion Master Gou swiftly put aside all of his miscellaneous thoughts and turned his attention back to the battle.
Previously, he had been relying on the abilities unique to Leaving Aperture realm cultivators to deal with Zhang Xuan, but this time, he wanted to rely on his own zhenqi and body and fight a proper battle with the other party.
Placing his palms together before his chest, ripples of shockwaves began spreading out one after another from the meeting of his hands, inducing a deafening sonic boom.
Saint intermediate-tier battle technique, Myriad Waves Layered Clouds!
Legend had it that a master teacher had created this battle technique when inspiration struck him while studying the flow of water within a river. Ripples of shockwaves would burst forth relentlessly like the river that flowed tirelessly, overwhelming the surroundings through its multiple layers just like the clouds concealed the sky.
Pavilion Master Gou had devoted countless years of his life to refining this technique of his, and he had long achieved a high level of mastery in it. The Myriad Waves Layered Clouds easily halted the advancement of Zhang Xuan’s Heavenly Demon Great Sorrow Palm, keeping it firmly at bay.
However, Zhang Xuan did not back down just because of that. Instead, while continuing to exert force on his right hand, he raised his left hand and gathered the Power of the Stars on his fingertip before shooting a blinding ray of light forward.
“The Grand Constellation Finger?”
“A palm art in one hand, a finger art in the other?”
The crowd was stunned by what they were seeing. Even Zhang Jiuxiao was shocked speechless by the sight, not daring to believe his eyes.
A palm art and a finger art were two entirely different battle techniques, and the zhenqi circulation pathways required for executing the techniques were completely different from one another as well. It was possible to execute the palm art first before executing the finger art, or vice-versa, but… to execute them simultaneously on a hand each… that was a nigh impossible feat!
Putting aside them, not even Pavilion Master Gou would have been able to accomplish such a feat!
Wuuuuuuuuuu!
The Grand Constellation Finger swiftly tore a small hole in Pavilion Master Gou’s Myriad Waves Layered Clouds, causing the might of the latter’s battle technique to disperse swiftly like flowing water, thus undoing the defense that the other party had built up.
Kacha!
The Heavenly Demon Great Sorrow Palm swiftly tore through Pavilion Master Gou’s weakened defense with overwhelming might, forcing the latter to retreat in a fluster.
Incredible!
Not expecting that he would still be outdone despite having exerted his full strength, Pavilion Master Gou assessed the young man before him grimly. Swapping his palm with a fist, he charged forward once more.
Boom boom boom!
Both sides moved with incredible agility. Within less than a minute, they had already exchanged more than a hundred blows.
Watching the battle, one of the master teachers could not help but mutter to himself in absolute shock. “Pavilion Master Gou was known as an unparalleled genius in his earlier days, and he has mastered countless powerful battle techniques. In that series of exchanges previously, he must have used at least ten different battle techniques. Considering his background, it’s understandable how he is able to pull that off, but… if my eyes are not playing tricks on me, Zhang shi seems to have used more than eighty battle techniques in the same period of time.”
Pavilion Master Gou was already nearing nine hundred, so it was not surprising for him to have learned and mastered many battle techniques. But Zhang Xuan was only twenty years old! To execute so many formidable battle techniques with ease, it was apparent that he had a deep understanding of every single one of them…
How could that be possible?
“I have been counting, and he has used a total of 87 battle techniques so far,” another master teacher added.
Those words swiftly caught the attention of others, and they widened their eyes in disbelief.
As master teachers, they knew how difficult it was to master every single battle technique. Yet, every single battle technique that the young man had executed was at a mastery of Major Accomplishment at the very minimum… Inconceivable!
“It seems like it’s about time for the title of the number one genius of Qingyuan City to change hands!”
The crowd could not help but agree with that statement.
In the past, they had viewed Zhang Jiuxiao as a hurdle that they would never be able to overcome, but after seeing the young man before them, they realized that a true prodigy was actually an existence who was far beyond the comprehension of mortals like them.
Contrary to everyone’s shock, Wu shi frowned in incomprehension at the sight before him instead. “Something is wrong…”
Another master teacher stepped forward to ask, “Wu shi, what’s wrong?”
Wu shi contemplated for a moment, trying to put his finger on the feeling of incongruence that he felt. “Principal Zhang specializes in identifying the flaws of others and capitalizing on them to subdue his opponents, but he has not done so in this battle. Instead, he began displaying an array of battle techniques. It almost as if he’s intentionally prolonging the battle to temper himself!”
While the other master teachers might not have been familiar with Zhang Xuan’s abilities, he could not have been any clearer about them, especially after what they had gone through together in the Qiu Wu Palace.
The fellow had a remarkable eye that allowed him to accurately discern the flaws within the battle techniques or cultivation techniques of any cultivator, and he had always relied on this ability to catch his opponent off guard and subdue them in a single move.
But despite utilizing so many powerful battle techniques, that fellow did not center his attacks on Pavilion Master Gou’s flaws. From this, it could be deduced that he was not intending to defeat the latter immediately. If so, there could only be one possibility… he was trying to temper his strength through battle!
“Tempering himself?” The master teacher could not believe what he was hearing.
If it was on any other occasion that someone had told him that a Spiritual Perception realm cultivator was battling a Leaving Aperture realm expert but was thinking of ways to temper himself through the battle instead of achieving victory, he would have surely thought that the other party was fool or a lunatic. However… with what was happening right before his eyes, no matter how inconceivable the matter was, he knew that it was the undeniable truth!
To actually be thinking of tempering himself while fighting against an expert three cultivation realms stronger than he was… just how confident was the other party in his fighting prowess?
Boom boom boom!
After trading three more blows, Pavilion Master Gou was suddenly forced back, giving Zhang Xuan a moment to catch his breath.
Just as Wu shi had guessed, he was intending to use Pavilion Master Gou to temper his mastery of the battle techniques.
It was not easy for him to find a worthy opponent who could take him at his full might. Furthermore, he had just learned many new battle techniques from the Combat Master Hall, so he wanted to test them out and heighten his mastery in them as well.
As expected of a Leaving Aperture realm expert, I’m indeed no match for him at the moment. Zhang Xuan shook his head and sighed.
Even though his fighting prowess had risen after grasping the Heavenly Art of Dimension Unravel, it would still be too difficult for him to match a Leaving Aperture realm expert until he achieved a breakthrough to the Embryonic Soul realm. Otherwise, just by the overwhelming gap in their fundamental capabilities and strength, it was nigh impossible for him to emerge victorious.
Nevertheless, while it would be difficult for him to achieve victory in a proper duel, there were actually many other ways he could subdue the other party.
Raising his palm and crushing it downward to halt the other party’s advancement, Zhang Xuan snapped his fingers.
Sou sou sou sou!
More than a hundred flags suddenly materialized from Zhang Xuan’s storage ring, and they swiftly took their positions around Pavilion Master Gou.
As soon as that was done, Zhang Xuan stomped on the ground lightly, and the formation instantaneously came to life.
He had achieved a proficiency comparable to 7-star formation masters in the field of formations back at the Qiu Wu Palace. Although it would be difficult for him to fight against Pavilion Master Gou with just his own strength, with the help of a formation, his chances of victory would be enhanced significantly.
Hula!
A mist swiftly shrouded the entire area, concealing Pavilion Master Gou within as well.
Zhang Xuan had set up two 7-star intermediate stage formations, and while they were not too powerful, it would still take Pavilion Master Gou more than ten breaths to undo them.
That period of time was more than enough for Zhang Xuan to subdue Pavilion Master Gou.
As the formation whirred into operation, the crowd found their vision completely blocked by the mist.
Kacha!
After fifteen minutes, the formation finally dissipated, and with a wave of his hand, Zhang Xuan returned all of the formation flags to his storage ring.
Seeing that the battle had ended so quickly, the crowd quickly turned their gazes toward Pavilion Master Gou, only to freeze the next moment.
The dashing Pavilion Master Gou from a moment ago had his head planted in the ground. His entire body was covered with blood and wounds, such that there was not a single spot of unblemished skin on his body.
It was apparent that he had come under a frenzied torrent of attacks within the short period of time, and it was doubtful whether even his closest kin would be able to recognize him given the current state he was in.
Huala!
Pavilion Master Gou plucked his head out from the earth. He did not seem to feel disappointed or humiliated by his loss. On the contrary, his eyes were filled with excitement and anticipation as he asked, “Zhang shi, may I ask if the technique you displayed earlier is Ancient Sage Qiu Wu’s Heavenly Demon Great Sorrow Palm?”
“That’s right.” Zhang Xuan nodded, admitting to the matter.
“May I know… if it’s possible for you…” Pavilion Master Gou hesitated. Gritting his teeth in determination, he continued. “… to impart the battle technique to me?”
“Why? You are interested in learning the technique?”
“That’s right!”
“Then I won’t teach you.”
“…”
Just some background information:
Qiu Wu is a real figure in the Spring and Autumn Period (771 BC to 476 BC), and he is known for his filial piety. Just to give a brief summary of the encounter between Kong Zi and Qiu Wu: Kong Zi was walking by the streets when he suddenly hears sorrowful cries. Perplexed, he heads over to investigate the matter when he encounters Qiu Wu. When he inquires Qiu Wu the reason behind his sorrow, these are the words that Qiu Wu returns to him: A tree desires the calm but the wind batters relentlessly, a child seeks to repay but his parents wait not!
