Actual Combat (Seeking Recommendations and Collections!)

The green-clad maid was no minor character within the Ming Cult.

To remain by He's side and plot the foundation of several prefectures, martial arts were just as essential as administrative ability.

Only in this way could she handle all manner of unexpected situations.

But this suited Huang Shang's intentions perfectly.

At the beginning, a few beggars from the Beggar Sect could threaten him when he knew no martial arts.

By the time he first grasped Literary Qi, a single stroke of his pen in the Worry-Free Cave was enough to instantly kill a Beggar Sect disciple.

Now that his use of Literary Qi had become increasingly proficient and he had begun cultivating his Ancestral Aperture, it was time to clash with a named mid-level figure of the Ming Cult.

The green-clad maid's goal was to take him hostage, yet she showed no mercy; her fingers hooked into claws, a fierce wind rushing toward his face with such viciousness that it seemed she intended to gouge out his eyeballs.

Huang Shang focused his entire attention, the Zhuge Pen swishing twice as two symbols, resembling both hexagrams and characters, coalesced in the air.

Thunder!

Heaven!

Great Power Hexagram! Masculine and vigorous!

The moment the Great Power Hexagram appeared, a wave of heat surged through the narrow secret chamber in an instant.

It did not reach the level of blood-energy eruption seen in Xu Feng's punches, but for an ordinary expert, it was a force that could not be ignored.

What shocked the green-clad maid even more was the peculiar attack method of the person before her.

There was clearly not a shred of true qi fluctuation, so where did that surging, torrential power come from?

"Zhu Yan!"

Just as she subconsciously faltered, a deafening sound suddenly rang in her ears.

It was He's Mind-Settling Sound, a method usually used to soothe believers, now employed to snap her back to reality.

The green-clad maid, Zhu Yan, shuddered, instantly casting aside her distracting thoughts as she reached out with a long arm, her five fingers clawing forward.

Regardless of what strange methods you possess, in the end, it is simply a matter of the victor taking all!

Bang!

Literary Qi and internal force collided, producing a dull thud as Huang Shang's body swayed and retreated.

Facts proved that there was still a gap in combat power between a decade of studying literature and a decade of practicing martial arts.

After all, the purpose of martial arts in a low-martial world was pure—it was solely for combat—whereas the scope of Literary Qi was far broader.

Breadth inevitably led to dilution, making it naturally inferior to a specialized focus.

However, as he stepped back, he flicked the Zhuge Pen, and the dispersed Literary Qi immediately returned to him.

Great Power again!

Bang! Bang! Bang!

The sounds of collision rang out incessantly.

Huang Shang appeared to be retreating, yet with every step back, he launched an attack.

Zhu Yan appeared to be advancing, yet with every step forward, she had to block a strike.

Her complexion gradually turned pale.

Her energy recovery could not keep up.

True qi was generated in the dantian, circulated through the limbs and bones and every meridian, and then unleashed through techniques; this was the basic principle of ancient martial arts.

No matter how powerful a divine art was, it still had to account for consumption and replenishment.

The Ming Cult's heritage was definitely not weak, and Zhu Yan was a direct disciple; her cultivation was no sham.

But no matter how solid it was, she could not withstand such continuous, rapid-fire attacks!

On the other side, Wu Que had already firmly suppressed He, forcing her upward to continue their clash inside the Fairy Temple.

Even so, he could still spare the focus to watch the secret chamber.

With Wu Que's strength, he could have easily intercepted Zhu Yan and fought two against one.

However, he felt a spark of curiosity, wanting to see just how strong Huang Shang's practical combat ability was.

After all, when all was said and done, the Heavens Consciousness was a place where strength reigned supreme.

Seeing this scene, his heart settled.

What is most suitable for oneself is the strongest.

In the eyes of a star-ranked Reincarnator, Huang Shang's current strength was still nothing to speak of.

But this rate of improvement was truly staggering!

How long had it been, and he already possessed such combat power!

One could easily imagine how brilliant his future would be!

Wu Que steeled his resolve; no matter how much he had to invest, as long as he could obtain this Character Card, it would all be worth it.

He even cast a glance at Nightingale, who stood with hands behind his back, watching Huang Shang's battle without blinking, and secretly made a decision.

Of course, relying solely on the fact that Literary Qi was not easily depleted would not be enough to defeat his opponent.

Zhu Yan had never seen such a bizarre method of attack and temporarily lost the ability to respond, but she quickly came to her senses. Realizing she would not gain the upper hand in a direct clash of techniques, she spun around, and several hidden weapons instantly flew from her sleeves.

Witnessing these hidden weapons scattering like flowers in the sky and closing in from all sides, Huang Shang dared not take them head-on and quickly wrote two strokes.

Heaven!

Mountain!

As the Retreat Hexagram manifested, his figure flickered, and he dodged away, prioritizing his own safety.

But this evasion caused him to fall into a passive position.

Zhu Yan seized the opportunity, pouncing like lightning and pressing the attack relentlessly with fists, claws, and hidden weapons, leaving no stone unturned.

Huang Shang could not help but become flustered, forced to dodge again and again.

His current Literary Qi techniques relied on the I Ching and the Bagua, specifically the sixty-four hexagrams.

These hexagrams all required the impetus of Literary Qi and were brought into existence by the act of writing them down.

Writing two characters to form a technique might look cool, but it required a process.

No matter how fast this process was, for a martial artist, it was a flaw.

Now, Zhu Yan was using speed to counter his speed.

Huang Shang retreated repeatedly, and as soon as the momentum of Zhu Yan's assault weakened, he immediately switched from the Retreat Hexagram to the Great Power Hexagram, intending to turn defense into offense.

But before his first move was even finished, Zhu Yan had already delivered two punches and a claw, completing three strikes.

Bang! Bang! Bang!

As their energies clashed, Huang Shang was forced to retreat once more, while Zhu Yan's energy surged forward like a continuous, raging river.

Huang Shang had no choice but to manifest the Retreat Hexagram again to avoid the brunt of her force.

As expected, real combat is not a tournament, nor is it turn-based...

Huang Shang was chased all around the secret chamber, appearing quite disheveled, and though he felt nervous, he also felt he was gaining valuable experience.

It was just like solving a difficult problem while studying; temporary advantages or disadvantages were secondary, as the final result was what mattered most.

Sure enough, Zhu Yan pressed her advantage with all her might, but Huang Shang remained steady, focusing on the Retreat Hexagram until he seemed to have truly mastered the Lingbo Microsteps, appearing before her one moment and behind her the next.

Strong winds whipped through the secret chamber, and Nightingale drifted back into the secret passage, sealing the exit and watching Huang Shang's performance with leisure.

She could already see that Zhu Yan's true energy was depleting rapidly, and she was becoming more desperate with every strike.

As one waned and the other waxed, Huang Shang grew more stable, and while circling Zhu Yan, he finally found an opening to counterattack.

The Great Power Hexagram appeared once more!

Under the pressure of real combat, his brushwork became even more fluid, and the time required to activate it shortened by a breath.

"Hah!"

Facing this move, Zhu Yan could no longer hold back and let out a sharp, piercing shriek. Using the sonic attack to catch Huang Shang in a moment of hesitation, she lunged forward.

While in mid-air, her body twisted in a bizarre fashion, her arms bending outward in an unnatural posture as she slashed a palm toward Huang Shang's ribs.

In the current Ming Cult, many martial arts still retained foreign styles, and this Ming Venerable Palm had quite a bit of a yoga influence.

The Middle Ages were indeed the era when yoga spread to Persia.

Zhu Yan chose her timing perfectly, leaving Huang Shang with no room to dodge, yet he did not panic; he simply struck out with his other empty palm.

Their palms met.

Huang Shang's body swayed, and he took advantage of the momentum to retreat three steps, dissipating the force. His face paled, but he stood his ground and began to regulate his breathing.

In contrast, Zhu Yan's killing blow failed, and having been struck by the Great Power Hexagram, she was sent flying backward by the recoil. She stumbled upon landing, her face turning shades of green and white before she suddenly spat out a mouthful of blood, her expression ugly and her lips trembling.

She could no longer speak, but Huang Shang knew exactly what she was angry about.

The palm he used did not rely on Literary Qi.

It was true energy.

Extremely pure true energy.

Zhu Yan had practiced since childhood, possessing over a decade of internal strength, and although she had depleted much of it, she was not yet at the end of her rope.

However, in their clash, while her true energy had caused Huang Shang some damage, it had failed to penetrate deep into his body.

Conversely, Huang Shang's true energy was like an arrow, piercing through obstacles and striking straight into her core.

It was not a matter of the depth of their cultivation, but the "quality" of their true energy—the difference was like heaven and earth!

Zhu Yan had bet the outcome of the fight on that palm, only to suffer for it.

Huang Shang used a wisp of pure true energy born from his Ancestral Aperture to carefully expel Zhu Yan's energy from his body. Not giving her a chance to catch her breath, he wrote with the Zhuge Pen again, and the Great Power Hexagram struck Zhu Yan with the force of a raging thunderbolt.

At the same time, inside the Fairy Temple, Wu Que struck He's acupoint with a fan, and the old woman's eyes filled with endless resentment as she collapsed to the ground.

Job done.

Thanks to book friends "Heaven Crystal Hun Tian Treasure Mirror," "Xi Ru," "Floating Dream Ice Sincerity," and "This Shore That Shore" for their tips.