Fierce Battle

The sun slanted westward, and dusk was not far off.

Mount Hua was famed for its rugged steepness since ancient times, with barely any human traces.

Usually at this hour, there should only be the cries of flying birds and the roars of tigers and wolves, but today a group of visitors was here on the summit of Mount Hua.

Seeing the two people facing off in the arena endlessly holding back, Huang Rong grew somewhat impatient. Noticing that her father was not continuing to regulate his breathing and recover his true qi, she brought Guo Jing over.

Huang Rong asked Huang Yaoshi doubtfully, "Dad! Why aren't Qigong and Ouyang Feng making a move?"

Huang Yaoshi glanced at his daughter. This daughter of his was born pretty and clever, and her martial arts aptitude also satisfied him greatly, except that she was somewhat unwilling to endure hardship and practice martial arts. Otherwise, she wouldn't have been unable to make out the situation in the arena.

With a soft expression, Huang Yaoshi said to Huang Rong, "Look at Ouyang Feng: both palms braced on the ground, shoulder-width apart, both feet extended straight back with the tips touching the ground, both hands bending at the elbows. This is clearly the starting stance of the Toad Skill. The two of you should have witnessed the might of this martial art before, but you don't understand its characteristics."

Huang Rong said disdainfully, "Isn't it just crouching on the ground and acting like a toad? What's so great about it? Can it be mightier than Dad's Finger Flicking Divine Skill and Qigong's Eighteen Dragon Subduing Palms?"

Huang Yaoshi shook his head and said, "Rong'er, you're wrong. Aside from Wang Chongyang, the martial arts of us Five Greats are actually peerless arts of the same tier. There's no saying whose is mightier or stronger; it's simply that their traits are different."

Pointing at Ouyang Feng's direction with his finger, Huang Yaoshi said to the daughter beside him, "The toad is a creature that hides deep in the earth for a long time, accumulating energy, and needs little food after emerging. The Toad Skill also stresses the way of gathering and storing power, which is why the practice of its internal art is incomparably difficult. If one practices even slightly incorrectly, one cannot avoid suffering heavy injuries, or even vomiting blood and dying. The Toad Skill is purely based on subduing movement with stillness, the whole body containing vigor and storing potential without unleashing it. The moment the enemy launches an attack, extremely fierce strength instantly rebounds outward. Not only is it immensely powerful, fierce, and sharp, but it is also unpredictable, profound, and miraculous, capable of striking down the opponent on the spot."

Huang Yaoshi then pointed toward Hong Qigong's direction: "Your master's left palm is rounded in force, while his right palm is straight in posture. I imagine this should be Dragon Appearing in the Field from the Eighteen Dragon Subduing Palms. This move is purely defensive; I've seen it plenty of times when crossing blows with Hong Qi. This move sets up a solid wall in front of the body—if the enemy comes, it blocks; if the enemy doesn't arrive, it dissolves into nothingness. Among us Five Greats, basically no one dares to take Ouyang Feng's charged Toad Skill head-on."

Huang Rong asked in surprise, "Then isn't he invincible?"

Huang Yaoshi shook his head again and said, "Otherwise. The longer it is charged, the greater the harm, but there is always a limit. This is like a powerful bow: the fuller it is pulled, the sufficient the strength, but pulling past the excess will ruin the bow."

Huang Rong's eyes lit up as she said, "Dad means that this Toad Skill charges for too long, and instead it will harm oneself."

Huang Yaoshi's gaze still watched the two people in the arena, and he continued to reply, "Precisely. Therefore, to deal with the Toad Skill, either don't let him charge from the very beginning, or widen the distance and wait for his limit."

Guo Jing was full of doubts. After all, he had been tortured for a very long time by this Ouyang Feng in the stone house, and he asked dubiously, "Is this Toad Skill so easy to break?"

Huang Yaoshi turned his head and glanced at Guo Jing. In his heart, he still disliked Guo Jing, but this daughter-slave couldn't win against his precious girl and had to accept it.

For the sake of his daughter, Huang Yaoshi explained, "If the charging time is short, it's flexible and easy to hit the enemy; if the charging time is long, the might is great but it's not easy to control."

Guo Jing also understood. What was most formidable about this Toad Skill was when the charging was stuck right in the middle—that was the most perfect state. Therefore, between these two methods, the former was to clash head-on and palm-to-palm with Ouyang Feng, not giving him time to charge. The latter was to use lightness skill to dodge, making him waste his efforts.

Huang Yaoshi set his mind on the arena, not wanting to miss the wonderful moment, but still said to the two people beside him, "Your master and Ouyang Feng should be planning to decide the outcome in a single move. If Ouyang Feng hits with this move, Hong Qi will undoubtedly lose; if he misses, there will be a brief period of weakness, and he will inevitably face Hong Qi's continuous counterattacks, at which point he will only meet defeat and destruction."

Hearing this, Huang Rong and Guo Jing immediately grew tense, beginning to worry about Hong Qigong's safety.

Thump.

Ouyang Feng exerted force through both feet and kicked backward, his entire person shooting straight at Hong Qigong like a cannonball. If uncharged full damage was ten, the force of this charged strike at this moment was twenty.

What Hong Qigong had originally put on display was Dragon Appearing in the Field, but internally he was running Shocking a Hundred Li—this was a move of immense might within the Eighteen Dragon Subduing Palms. He felt that after cultivating the Nine Yin Manual, his strength had undergone a rebirth, and he figured that withstanding this strike would not be a problem, so he had no intention of dodging at all.

Clang.

Instantly, the two figures' palms intersected, emitting a loud slapping sound.

At the same time, the powerful vital energy carried between the two palms also collided with one another, canceling each other out at the point of impact.

The aftershocks radiated in all directions, and the vegetation and stones within eight meters were combed through as if by a comb, leaving behind only leveled yellow soil.

Li Mochou used her sword to deflect a stone sent flying toward Wang Ming by the battle's aftershocks. Glancing at Wang Ming, who was still attentively recovering his true qi, she looked back toward the center of the combat.

She saw Hong Qigong's body flying backward two to three zhang before steadying his stance.

Wiping a trace of blood from the corner of his mouth, Hong Qi said, "Old Poison, I never expected your martial arts to progress at such a blistering pace."

Ouyang Feng walked forward a few steps, closing the distance with Hong Qigong, and then assumed the starting stance of the Toad Skill once more.

"Hahaha, I have mastered the Nine Yin Manual. In this Mount Hua Sword Debate, I am certain to claim the title of The First Under Heaven," Ouyang Feng said frantically.

Hearing this, the two people in the distance, Guo Jing and Huang Rong, stared at each other with faces full of doubt.

Huang Rong said, "Brother Jing, when did you give him the Nine Yin Manual?"

Guo Jing shook his head and said, "I didn't. Back on the boat, only you guys let me write a Fake Nine Yin Manual for him."

Guo Jing then asked abruptly, "Did you give him the Nine Yin Manual?"

Huang Rong replied, "No. I was captured by him and told to explain the Nine Yin Manual to him; I simply kept giving him wild explanations the whole time."

Hearing this, Huang Yaoshi was instantly shocked: "Ouyang Feng is extraordinary—he forcefully mastered the Fake Nine Yin Manual that you guys randomly altered!"

During the time the few of them were discussing this, the two had exchanged a few more rounds, but Ouyang Feng held the upper hand in all of them.

Ordinarily, taking this Toad Skill head-on should have brought Hong Qi to his knees.

Fortunately, he had practiced the Nine Yin Manual, causing his martial arts to greatly advance, and at the final moment he suddenly changed his mind, abandoning Shocking a Hundred Li and switching to Dragon Ascending to Heaven, which attacked three parts while keeping seven parts in reserve.

Although this move was not the one with the greatest might, it was the most peculiar.

Dragon Ascending to Heaven—this move had a very ordinary posture, merely bending the left leg slightly, curving the inner right arm, and drawing a circle with the right palm to push outward, but its refinement lay in the exertion of force.

When first pushed out, it seemed light and casual, but upon encountering resistance, it could successively add ten layers of recoil force in a flash, each wave stronger than the last, overlapping layer upon layer, simply indestructible and unbreakable.

However, it was also true that after studying the Nine Yin Manual and advancing greatly in martial arts, he had grown overly arrogant. Not expecting Ouyang Feng to be this formidable, he had blundered by taking this Toad Skill head-on; now his subsequent strength was exhausted and he was a spent force, so defeat and death were only a matter of time.