A great battle-now that's what you call genius!

By the river outside the village, Chen Xugu stood with sword in hand.

Opposite him stood two mischievous children.

What do you mean, children?

We're nineteen, okay!

Zhang Qingyuan and Zhang Junbao stood thirty feet away from Chen Xugu.

None of the three moved. Although this was only a spar, they had finally gotten a chance to fight one of the strongest masters of the age. They had to prepare thoroughly, without the slightest carelessness.

The brothers' talk of beating him up had been nothing more than indulging their mouths.

They certainly could not beat him, but they could use this to experience what a higher realm of martial arts was actually like.

The two mobilized their True Qi simultaneously. This time, the brothers did not use the same kind: Zhang Qingyuan mobilized Supreme Yang, while Zhang Junbao circulated Supreme Yin.

They wanted to use this opportunity to test the specific effects of different kinds of True Qi against an opponent.

To understand how different kinds of True Qi worked, they had to fight someone stronger than themselves.

Against those rough-and-tumble martial artists or ordinary passersby, any kind of True Qi would kill their opponent instantly.

Even without True Qi, they had more than enough to handle ordinary people.

It was like asking what an enemy would feel when shot in the head with a 7.62 mm bullet versus a 5.56 mm bullet.

Both were headshots. What could he possibly feel!

So, to test the specific effects of different kinds of True Qi, they needed a master!

Once the two had circulated their True Qi to its limit, two differently colored streams flowed within three feet of them, one red and one blue.

The red True Qi carried a savage violence, like flowing lava, thick and scorching.

The blue True Qi resembled a stream of water, gentle yet dangerous, impossible to sever or drain dry.

"Senior brother, watch out!"

Chen Xugu held his sword, looking a little impatient from waiting. "Hurry up. Once I've sorted you two out, I still have to go back and eat."

Zhang Junbao struck first. Sword light flashed, and two thunderbolts shot out of his Sword Qi. At the same time, his nimble footwork carried him toward Chen Xugu alongside the thunderbolts, one on either side.

Zhang Qingyuan followed close behind, flicking a streak of white force from the sword fingers of his left hand. Immediately afterward, his sword fingers opened into a palm, and a huge orange-red palm imprint burst forth, slamming toward Chen Xugu.

"Pretty flashy."

With a tap of his blade, Chen Xugu broke both thunderbolts.

Zhang Junbao had already flown to his side and slashed horizontally, but Chen Xugu drifted away from the blow and followed through with two palm strikes. Zhang Junbao defended with the first form of the Purple Firmament Thunder Ultimate Sword Technique.

At the same time, Zhang Qingyuan reached Chen Xugu's back and sealed off his retreat with Thunder Flash.

Looking slightly harried, Chen Xugu turned and blocked, then raised his hand in the same motion to break the Nine Yang Palm imprint before dodging the streak of finger force.

The two flew after him again, their sword techniques full of unexpected moves. Lightning within their Sword Qi grew increasingly dense, while their left hands switched back and forth between palm and finger techniques.

Under this onslaught, stray Sword Qi blasted the river water apart and sent grass flying, actually whipping up a whirlwind.

Chen Xugu retreated again and again, finally sweeping his sword up at Zhang Qingyuan and punching at Zhang Junbao.

Zhang Qingyuan met sword with sword, while Zhang Junbao met fist with palm.

Bang!

The collision of the three men's martial power blasted even the turf away within a radius of forty to fifty meters.

After the exchange, Chen Xugu had not retreated a single step. Zhang Qingyuan and Zhang Junbao stumbled back seven or eight steps before dissipating the lingering force on their bodies.

"Ha! Who'd have thought that after a year apart, you brothers would be this good? Your martial power has actually reached this level."

Chen Xugu was secretly astonished. He had to admit that he really had been a little overconfident just now.

He knew about their battle with the Wang Family's band of shrimp soldiers and crab generals a year earlier. The sneaky bastard had actually arrived long before, but had watched from the sidelines for a while, only making his grand entrance after Juekong lost control.

That was why he had not thought they could have improved much today.

In one year, without pills or rare treasures, how fast could their cultivation possibly advance, however quickly they cultivated?

But he had not underestimated them, either. He had treated them as his own equals, considering how much he himself could improve in half a year back then and applying his own progress to them.

Who would have thought that even this underestimated them!

Had his combat instincts not been sharp and his reactions quick, he would have suffered for it just now.

This old Daoist is such a genius, yet these two cultivate even faster than me. Incredible, incredible.

Although he knew they were talented, he had never imagined their talent could be this great. What kind of godlike talent was this, damn it?

Zhang Qingyuan and Zhang Junbao panted in excitement. Those few exchanges had passed in a flash of lightning and a spark off flint, but the feeling really was different!

"Brother Gu, if you keep fooling around like this, you really are going to get beaten up!" Zhang Qingyuan reminded him with an infuriating grin.

Hearing this, Chen Xugu puffed out his beard and glared, putting on a fierce look. "Come on, let your big brother see how many more surprises you've got!"

"Satisfaction guaranteed. Come again if you like our service!"

The two advanced again. This time, they added Taiji Fist intent.

Moves,

Sword Qi,

finger techniques,

palm force,

along with Wandering Body Footwork-their speed was such that an ordinary person could see only two streaks of light, one red and one blue, attacking the golden light between them.

Their swords grew faster and faster, their movements more and more ethereal. The martial power erupting from the three ravaged every plant along the riverbank, and even the river water seemed to have stopped flowing.

The three fought all the way onto the river's surface. Chen Xugu continued to counter with the Pure Yang Nine Palaces Sword Technique. His golden sword radiance extended only a little over ten feet, yet Zhang Qingyuan and Zhang Junbao could not advance another step.

Chen Xugu was like a nesting doll. No matter how they attacked, after breaking through one layer, there was another; after breaking through that layer, there was yet another.

The two were astonished, but Chen Xugu was even more astonished.

Inside, he shouted, Freaks, freaks, absolute freaks!

He had seen plenty of geniuses make breakthroughs in battle, but never any who could break through repeatedly.

After getting serious, he had first used thirty percent of his strength to fight them in earnest.

Yet after only a few exchanges, Zhang Junbao, whose attacks had still been somewhat rigid, seemed to gain a sudden enlightenment. His very next move was like that of an old hand, utterly different from how he had attacked before.

Immediately afterward, Zhang Qingyuan would do the same, his experience surging.

He had thought one enlightenment would be the end of it, but unexpectedly, a dozen or so exchanges later, Zhang Qingyuan suddenly understood how to use sword force.

No sooner had he understood than Zhang Junbao would grasp it too.

Ordinary geniuses gained experience after one sudden enlightenment, then spent a dozen days or even several months digesting it to stabilize their sharply increased experience. Three to five enlightenments a year and two or three major increases in martial power were plenty.

But these two little bastards seemed to have no upper limit.

Whenever they understood something, they could immediately digest the experience gained through enlightenment, then move on to the next question.

A dozen or so exchanges later, they would find the answer to that next question.

It did not feel like something humans could accomplish. It felt as though they had originally been top masters who had lost their memories, then gradually recovered their old combat memories as they fought.

Even the sword immortals and sword saints of the present age did not improve as quickly as these two!

And it was not just their combat experience. Their experience in applying martial arts was soaring too.

Even the internal arts they were circulating made breakthroughs in the process.

Fuck, increasing your internal power while fighting-do you think you're me back in the day?!

Back then, Chen Xugu had erupted in the face of certain doom and experienced an enlightenment that broke his limits, which was why his Pure Yang Mental Cultivation Method had advanced several levels in succession.

These two were different from Chen Xugu. Rather than surging all at once, they broke through one notch, then another a little while later.

Chen Xugu had originally thought that however quickly their combat experience grew, what good would it do? Once their True Qi ran dry, their big brother could take his time sorting them out.

He had even prepared the badass lines he would use when instructing them after the fight...

But now, making breakthroughs in their internal arts while fighting was going too far!

From using only thirty percent of his martial power at first, Chen Xugu had now brought out almost sixty percent of his ability.

His sword technique had also changed all the way from the Pure Yang Nine Palaces Sword Sword Technique to the Pure Yang Two Forms Sword Technique, then to the Pure Yang Brahma Sword Technique.

He mixed in plenty of palm techniques and footwork as well.

The three fought several hundred more exchanges in succession, until Chen Xugu no longer wanted to feed them moves.

He could not fill them up, simply could not. They digested everything they swallowed, demanding even more than their sister-in-law had the year she turned forty.

Finally, Chen Xugu brought out ninety percent of his strength and began to counterattack!

Why ninety percent? Because even seventy or eighty percent did not feel safe.

Sure enough, once he counterattacked, the two could barely keep up.

In the end, Chen Xugu split the river water vertically with one sword strike before finally forcing them back.

Zhang Qingyuan and Zhang Junbao held their swords, bent at the waist, their bodies drenched in sweat.

Neither spoke. Both were digesting the experience gained from this battle, as well as the breakthroughs in their internal arts.

Zhang Qingyuan's Supreme Yang Meridian-Concentrating Divine Skill had broken through to the eighth realm, and Zhang Junbao's Supreme Yin Meridian-Concentrating Divine Skill had also reached the eighth level.

The two simply stood there. Chen Xugu watched them with one hand on his hip, panting too.

What fucking freaks. They create cultivation methods quickly, cultivate quickly, and consolidate their experience even more quickly!

Now they're fucking consolidating it all together again. After so many sudden enlightenments just now, they'll probably need three to five months to digest it.

The battle here drew the Pure Yang Palace disciples over. The Daoists had thought the Demonic Cult's leader had emerged from seclusion.

When they hurried over to look, they found roughly a sixth of an acre of grassland ruined beyond recognition. Even the river had forked.

Yuan Heqing cautiously approached his master and asked in bewilderment, "Master, what happened here?"

Chen Xugu handed his sword to his disciple and explained, "Just a spar. I fed your two martial uncles a few moves. After receiving my guidance, they gained sudden enlightenment and need to digest those insights."

"Oh."

Hearing this, everyone looked at the devastated ground, the grassland resembling somewhere blasted several times over by a creeping artillery barrage.

You call this giving them a few pointers?

We saw the special effects from the mountain. They were even flashier than the fucking effects in Creation of the Gods II. You call this giving pointers?

Chen Xugu ignored whatever they thought and instructed, "A few of you, build two shelters beside them, then get a few disciples to stand guard here.

"They won't be able to digest this seclusion's gains in less than two or three months."

"Your disciples obey!"

Chen Xugu headed back, muttering curses as he walked.

I'm never feeding anyone moves again. It's too hard!

In a life-and-death duel, the two in their initial state could not have withstood even ten of his moves.

In their final state, they still would not have lasted thirty moves.

But that was a fight to the death!

Feeding them moves was another matter. He had to maintain an elegant, effortless demeanor, make sure the two enjoyed the fight, and avoid hurting them. It was fucking exhausting.

Chen Xugu felt that if he had not forcibly stopped just now, they could have fought him for three days and three nights.

After Chen Xugu left, their junior sister Jiang Qinyue came running over. While directing the inner disciples to build shelters, she asked Yuan Heqing a question.

"Senior brother, those two martial uncles have caught up to you in martial arts, haven't they?"

Yuan Heqing nodded blankly. "More or less."

"They're only nineteen, and you're already thirty-five. Master could go to Fengtian City and snatch Mistress back when he was twenty-eight. You need to feel some pressure. You can't keep comparing yourself to us."

"Exactly, Old Qing. Your talent is impressive compared to ours, but you need to look upward." The fourth disciple stepped forward and patted his shoulder, then continued, "If I quit being a Daoist, I still have the Phoenix Sect back home. You don't. Apart from becoming the Daoist head, you have no other choice!"