"Senior Brother Yang, don't blame the two of us for ganging up on you!" Junior Brother Wu watched Yang Chengzhi across from him as he slowly drew his spirit sword, teasing him.
Once they'd left the Bookstore, they'd noticed that Yang Chengzhi had somehow reached the seventh stage of the Spirit Master realm. It had genuinely surprised them both, which was why they hadn't insisted on fighting him one-on-one.
Yang Chengzhi had actually broken through after being stuck for two years. Something was clearly fishy, so they figured it was better to be careful.
Yang Chengzhi put on the air of a master. Rather than answering them, he pulled another spirit sword from the pouch at his waist. With both swords drawn, he pointed their tips toward the ground at a forty-five-degree angle.
"Enough talk. Let's fight."
Junior Brother Wu and Senior Brother Zhang exchanged a glance. They couldn't figure out why Yang Chengzhi had taken out two weapons, but there was no time to think about it. They drew their swords, charged in, and engaged him.
"Holy crap! Did this kid learn the Art of Mutual Combat?" Most people wouldn't know, but Ma Feifei did! In The Legend of the Condor Heroes, the Art of Mutual Combat was a little trick invented by Old Mischief Zhou Botong. When Little Dragon Girl learned it in the book, her fighting strength shot right up!
"First there was the Breathing and Circulation Method and the Art of Quiet Sitting and Clearing the Mind, and now there's the Art of Mutual Combat. Looks like the reward this book gives its readers is cultivation techniques." Ma Feifei stroked his chin, got up to fetch some paper and a brush, and recorded the effects of The Legend of the Condor Heroes.
He couldn't be completely certain, but it was a fact that this book could grant cultivation techniques as rewards. Books had never produced different kinds of rewards before, so it was almost certain that the reward from The Legend of the Condor Heroes was a cultivation technique.
"But knowing the Art of Mutual Combat alone won't be enough! He's still fighting two people." Ma Feifei finished writing, rubbed his chin, and watched the fight. He wanted to see whether Yang Chengzhi had any other tricks up his sleeve.
The fight was still evenly matched. Yang Chengzhi's Art of Mutual Combat had caught the two off guard, leaving them flustered for a while. But thanks to their higher cultivation, they hadn't fallen behind, and the two sides were evenly matched.
This showed just how important cultivation was. If Yang Chengzhi were at the peak of the eighth stage of the Spirit Master realm, the unexpected Art of Mutual Combat alone would have been enough to catch the two completely off guard.
Unfortunately, the Art of Mutual Combat was only a technique. By this world's standards, it could barely be called a martial skill.
Gradually, Junior Brother Wu and Senior Brother Zhang adapted to Yang Chengzhi's strange fighting style and began to regain control. They pressed forward step by step, and Yang Chengzhi slowly fell behind.
In this world, fights were rarely flashy or dazzling, especially in close combat. The emphasis was on technique. It was rare for two people to stand dozens of meters apart and hurl skills at each other.
Of course, you could fight that way if you wanted. But after only a few attacks, the spiritual energy in your body would be completely spent. Without spiritual energy to support you, you'd be only a little stronger than an ordinary person.
In most close-quarters fights, both sides carefully controlled their spiritual energy, trying to deal as much damage as possible with as little as they could.
The light orb Ma Feifei had recklessly thrown around on Nine Heavens Mountain, for instance, was the sort of move that left you with a thousand casualties for every eight hundred inflicted on the enemy. Ordinary people wouldn't dare try that.
So although the two sides clashed fiercely, occasionally leaping through the air, they didn't damage the courtyard at all. Even the tree that Yun Qingyang was nearly freezing to death remained untouched.
Oh, speaking of the tree—Ma Feifei couldn't help glancing up at Yun Qingyang. He felt he ought to have a talk with this "Dragon Girl."
"Did you take more than a thousand Spirit Crystals early this morning?"
Yun Qingyang raised her chin slightly at the question but said nothing, standing there coolly with her sword in her arms.
Well, aren't you proud of yourself. Ma Feifei pursed his lips. As he counted the Spirit Crystals, he said casually, "From now on, you can take as many Spirit Crystals from the drawer as you want."
Yun Qingyang lowered her head and looked at Ma Feifei, her eyes showing seven parts delight and three parts confusion.
"Of course, there are conditions." Ma Feifei finished counting the Spirit Crystals and took out ten. Holding them in his palm, he offered them to Yun Qingyang and said, "First, protect me. Second, help me look after the shop."
Yun Qingyang glanced at the Spirit Crystals in Ma Feifei's hand, reached out and took them, then uttered two words: "Broke wretch."
"???" Ma Feifei's face darkened.
"Pfft!"
Zhou Zhuling, who'd been eavesdropping nearby, couldn't hold back her laughter.
Leaving Ma Feifei's predicament aside, the fight between the three had now reached its climax. Although Yang Chengzhi had mastered the Art of Mutual Combat, his cultivation lagged about two stages behind Junior Brother Wu and Senior Brother Zhang's, and he was beginning to get beaten down.
In the world of cultivation, techniques could often provide an advantage only when the two sides had similar cultivation. If the gap was too great, even the most superb technique was useless.
The difference between the early seventh stage and the peak of the eighth stage of the Spirit Master realm wasn't that large. There had even been cases of people at a lower stage thoroughly beating opponents at a higher one, but those had all been people with exceptionally deep foundations.
Yang Chengzhi was just an ordinary person. He'd made it this far because he had some talent, and he'd even needed to wager his prized possession just to place a bet. How could he have a deep foundation?
And he wasn't facing just one opponent a stage above him. He was facing two.
That wasn't as simple as one plus one. The difficulty was far greater.
Although he'd learned the Art of Mutual Combat, the gap was too great. Now he could only defend himself.
Junior Brother Wu and Senior Brother Zhang had both made it into the top hundred of the Dragon Ranking; neither was a pushover. As they fought, they noticed that Yang Chengzhi's spiritual energy was gradually weakening. They exchanged a glance and increased the spiritual energy behind their attacks by another three parts.
Pfft!
Junior Brother Wu thrust his sword. Yang Chengzhi blocked it with his right-hand sword, but the force knocked it aside. The spiritual energy clinging to the blade surged into Yang Chengzhi's chest. He spat out a mouthful of blood and staggered back three steps.
Seeing this, Senior Brother Zhang smiled faintly. He twirled his spirit sword, and the spiritual energy on its blade surged by another three parts. Then he thrust straight at Yang Chengzhi.
They were clearly going to get serious.
They were all students at Zhenguan Academy. Although they couldn't kill a fellow student, injuries during a spar were unavoidable. The academy wouldn't intervene even if Yang Chengzhi's cultivation was crippled.
How could Yang Chengzhi not know what they were thinking? But if he'd been confident enough to take on two opponents, how could he have had no trump card? He threw down the spirit swords in both hands. Then he raised his hands into position: his left palm faced upward, thumb curled in against his little finger, with the other three fingers extended. His right hand was held before his chest, palm facing left, with the thumb, middle finger, ring finger, and little finger curled inward and the index finger extended. Then he lifted both hands above his head and pressed his palms together, fingertips pointing skyward.
The spiritual energy within Yang Chengzhi began streaming toward his fingertips. It gathered there, swirling into a spiral. The Heaven and Earth Spiritual Energy all around them was drawn in as well, converging at his fingertips.
"Why does that hand sign look so familiar?" Ma Feifei murmured to himself, stroking his chin as he watched from a short distance away.
Across from him, Junior Brother Wu and Senior Brother Zhang were both startled by Yang Chengzhi's move. The spirit sword Senior Brother Zhang had thrust forward hadn't even reached Yang Chengzhi before the Heaven and Earth Spiritual Energy around him repelled it.
The two of them hurriedly retreated several steps and cried out, "Heaven and Earth Spiritual Energy!"
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