Chapter 22: The War of Zhenyuanzi

  Zhenyuanzi held a book in his hand, without making any gestures. In an instant, the earth light flashed, and a room-sized spiritual aura shield protected Zhenyuanzi. A burst of energy was released, blowing away the surrounding spiritual energy.

  Zhuang Xiong's heart was filled with curiosity, and he secretly thought of testing the defensive power of the Earth Book. He slightly rotated his right foot on the ground, and a surge of spiritual energy emerged. In an instant, he saw that the ground beneath Zhen Yuanzi's feet began to shake violently, and a mountain peak suddenly rose from the earth, carrying the defensive shield of the Earth Book upwards. In a flash, it had risen to a height of several dozen meters, but it was still rising. Zhen Yuanzi was slightly stunned, but his reaction was not slow. He let out a cold hum, and with a pause of his foot, the growth speed of the mountain peak slowed down. Accompanied by a few ear-piercing "creaking" sounds, it finally came to a stop, having risen to a height of just over a hundred meters.

  "That side Fuxi shouted: 'Dumb bear you're being deceitful, we agreed not to use force, how can you go back on your word?'"

  Nüwa didn't give him a second glance, saying: "Brother Xiong was just making a slight probe. Don't you see that the place where Zhenyuanzi is standing is flat and even? The two of them haven't really started fighting yet, so don't shout randomly, Brother Xiong has his own measure."

  Fuxi's heart was filled with resentment, that foolish bear had a bit of skill, and I was just randomly shouting? Uncontrollably angry, he turned to Zhuang Xiong and said: "Foolish bear, you use such petty tricks to test Town Yuanzi Dao brother, don't you look down on him?"

  Zhuang Xiong smiled slightly, not taking it to heart. He swung his hand and grasped the Qiankun Sword, laughing: "This turtle shell is quite hard, I'll try using my sword." As he spoke, he swung his sword, sending a sword energy towards the Earth Book's defensive shield.

  Zhenyuanzi knew that this must be Zhuang Xiong's congenital spiritual treasure, and it was not ordinary. How dare he really let him cut it? With a wave of his hand and a swing of his sleeve, he actually retracted the sword energy, which was precisely Zhenyuanzi's Sleeve Inside Qiankun Shentong. Zhenyuanzi couldn't help but laugh: "Fellow Daoist uses such a small trick to test my defense, could it be that you really look down on me, Zhenyuanzi? You don't dare to come and receive it."

  Zhuang Xiong didn't use much strength and wasn't concerned, seeing that Zhen Yuanzi was indeed as rumored, with unparalleled defense. He thought to himself, "This is a great sleeve-ripping divine ability, but I wonder what kind of attacking method he has." With a smile, he said: "My cultivation is originally higher than yours, but it's not good for me to take the initiative. Why don't you come at me instead? Let me see your divine abilities too." Zhen Yuanzi smiled and took out a sword from his sleeve. Zhuang Xiong suddenly realized that Zhen Yuanzi was the ancestor of the Earth Immortals, and most of the Earth Immortal friends used swords, so it wasn't surprising that Zhen Yuanzi used a sword either.

  The sword was light and agile, but the way Zhenyuanzi used it was different. Zhuang Xiong only saw him make one sword strike, which was also sharp and piercing, with a flash of light cutting through the air, but it brought with it a whirlwind of sand and dust, suddenly filling the sky and earth with flying sand and rocks, rumbling thunder, and shaking the ground. It was truly an astonishing display of energy.

  Zhuang Xiong dodged and weaved beneath his feet, occasionally swinging his sword to block a few times, but in his heart he couldn't help but laugh: "This Zhenyuanzi's swordsmanship is good, but it's no wonder that later on he didn't use a sword and instead used the floating dust. It's truly embarrassing to lose face like this."

  On the other side, the Three Pure Ones were also skilled in swordsmanship. Especially Laozi Tongtian, one was a renowned disciple of the Shu Mountain Sect who had created a great reputation, and the other was the master of the heavenly Xianjian Sword. Although Yuanding Zhenren didn't emphasize swordsmanship as much, he was also quite skilled. At this time, seeing Zhenyuanzi's swordsmanship, they couldn't help but shake their heads in dismay. Tongtian, however, was someone who couldn't hold back his words and commented: "Zhenyuanzi's swordsmanship is indeed not bad, but somehow... it doesn't seem like swordsmanship at all?" For a moment, he didn't know how to describe it properly, but what he said wasn't far off the mark. Zhenyuanzi's swordsmanship was indeed good, but when he used it himself, it just didn't look like swordsmanship. Later on, he only taught others swordsmanship and never used it himself. Fortunately, when facing enemies, it wasn't because his magic or cultivation was inferior, but rather that he had a different approach. As a result, although some people suspected that he must have been skilled in swordsmanship since he taught it so well, very few knew that his own swordsmanship was actually astonishingly unusual.

  Zhenyuanzi had already anticipated this outcome when he first unsheathed his sword, and was mentally prepared. His face only slightly flushed as he pretended not to notice, but his swordsmanship became even more ruthless. The duel between Zhenyuanzi and Zhuang Xiong was a different experience altogether. Zhenyuanzi's aura was not due to his swordsmanship or divine powers, but rather the power granted by the Earth Book, which he carried with him like a personal domain. It was extraordinary. At this point, Zhenyuanzi had yet to fully grasp and control it, but if he could master it, he would have an unbeatable advantage wherever he went. Zhuang Xiong couldn't help but feel secretly shocked, seeing that Zhenyuanzi's strength had increased again. He became serious in an instant, and a flash of sword light cut through the sky, causing the wind and sand to stop momentarily, as if time itself had frozen. The world was plunged into darkness for a moment, with only the sword light seeming to exist, drawing everyone's attention to it.

  Zhenyuanzi was greatly shocked, and with a loud roar, he instantly activated his Fa Li to the limit, pouring it into the Earth Book in an instant. The primordial energy of heaven and earth surged, and the flying sand and stones dancing in the air, as well as the scattered spiritual energy, all gathered around Zhenyuanzi in an instant, forming a powerful Yuan force shield that was like a copper wall and iron fortress.

  Zhuang Xiong smiled slightly and continued to press down the sword light, which broke through the air with a soft "hiss" sound. The sword light disappeared, but Zhen Yuanzi retreated tens of feet, only to be seen panting heavily with sweat dripping from his head when the dust settled. His body was intact without any injuries, but he was shocked and disoriented.

  Zhenyuanzi saw that Zhuangyong was still standing in his original position, unmoving. His face slightly flushed with anger, he said: "Good you, foolish bear! You really scared me half to death. My Earth Book defense was broken through by your one sword strike, and even my primordial spirit suffered a slight injury. If you had struck again, wouldn't I have been done for? But what is the name of this sword move?"

  Zhuang Xiong laughed and said: "What kind of nonsense is that? You're just a coward, my friend. This isn't the time to discuss Taoism; if you want to discuss it, let's do it after we've finished fighting."

  Zhen Yuanzi said with a bitter face: "How can we fight again now? With one sword from you, I've already lost half my life. Let's not fight anymore, let's not fight anymore."

  Tongtian was also stunned by the sword light at that moment, and unexpectedly did not shout loudly to replace him on the battlefield.

  Zhuang Xiong slightly sank into thought, then smiled and said: "Forget it, I won't use my sword. I'll change to a different weapon." As he spoke, he put away the Qian Kun Sword and took out the Qian Kun Staff. Fuxi couldn't help but roll his eyes in disdain towards Zhuang Xiong. He had never seen Zhuang Xiong use a sword, but this staff was something he often used. It seemed that using the staff might be even more natural for him than using a sword. Changing to the staff was just an excuse to conserve some of his strength for now.

  Zhenyuanzi was a straightforward person, and upon hearing this, his face turned red, but he couldn't say anything. He immediately put away his sword and took out a feather duster, which he used to sweep the air, causing a gust of wind and dust to blow towards Zhuang Xiong, darkening the sky. Just as he was trying to get his bearings, he felt a surge of sword energy shooting up into the air, straight at the back of his head. He quickly leapt up and turned around, using his staff to block it.

  That scene was only visible to the crowd as a flying sand and walking stone, covering the entire Qilin Cliff, and for a moment, the sky was dark and the earth was dark. The entire Qilin Cliff was blurred, and only the sound of constant clashes of weapons came from within, without even seeing a shadow. Everyone had great magical powers, so they wouldn't be hindered by this small matter. With their magical powers operating in front of them, they saw the situation in the field in an instant. It turned out that Zhenyuanzi was floating dust as a sword, with an atmosphere like a rainbow, and one sword stabbed out like a dragon coming out of the water, carrying thunder and lightning to attack Zhuang Xiong. Zhuang Xiong had not yet adapted to the changes in the field at the moment, only dodging left and right, without even counterattacking. For a while, the two were actually evenly matched.

  Zhenyuanzi was the incarnation of Wu Tu, in charge of the terrestrial book, and was the ancestor of the terrestrial immortal. He was good at earth travel magic, while Zhuang Xiong was the spirit of the pre-heavenly great earth and was also good at earth travel. The two were indeed a match made in heaven, and soon after meeting, Zhuang Xiong adapted to the changes in the arena.

  Actually, it was also because Zhuang Xiong had too little combat experience, especially no experience in fighting against magical enemies. The two battles he had fought before were a crushing victory against the lamp spirit and a furious battle against Hong Yun, where he didn't give Hong Yun any chance to fight back. At this moment, this could be considered his first real battle, and for a moment, he was somewhat unaccustomed to it. As soon as he adapted, Zhuang Xiong began to show his power. Suddenly, Zhuang Xiong let out a long howl towards the sky, "Aooooo..." The Qian Kun stick, wielding the power of the universe, pressed down on Zhen Yuan Zi, with a whistling wind sound and a magnificent aura.

  Zhenyuanzi was greatly shocked, hastily rolled up the floating dust, and flashed open, but still being blown to make his face door sore, couldn't help but be even more careful.

  Zhuang Xiong swung his stick, feeling refreshing and exhilarating, with hot blood boiling over. He wanted to display all of his Qian Kun Wu Quan techniques at once. At this moment, he didn't care about Zhen Yuan Zi, and started dancing with his stick on his own. The crowd outside watched as Zhuang Xiong's Qian Kun stick dance was dense and impenetrable, with the sound of the wind whistling and a long dragon rising up. With each movement, it would sometimes soar into the air, and sometimes strike the ground with a loud rumble, sweeping across the sky. Even from several miles away, people could feel their faces stinging in pain. The crowd hurriedly raised their magical powers to defend themselves, but Tong Tian didn't bother to defend himself, letting the wind and sand sweep over his face, which was filled with excitement. His eyes stared fixedly at Zhuang Xiong's dancing stick, without blinking.

  Fuxi saw this and rolled his eyes, muttering: "People are crazy." Nüwa thought to herself: "This fool has gone off topic again, I wonder if he's forgotten what he's doing?"

  Zhenyuanzi couldn't help but feel embarrassed, yet he couldn't laugh or cry about it. Zhuang Xiong had said he wanted to compete with him, but in the end, he was the one who started dancing with his staff. Wasn't he treating me like I didn't exist? Zhenyuanzi didn't want to be ignored, but for a moment, he really couldn't find an opportunity to intervene. Zhuang Xiong's dance was awe-inspiring, and although he didn't know how powerful it truly was, Zhenyuanzi didn't want to personally experience it. Even if his true spirit wouldn't be harmed and his physical body could recover at any time, he still didn't want to try.

  Nangong Xiong had almost completely forgotten about the trial, and it wasn't until he finished a set of staff techniques after nearly half an hour that he discovered Zhenyuanzi watching from the side like a spectator. Seizing the opportunity, he loudly shouted: "Fellow Daoist, come and engage in a great battle with me for 300 rounds!" Without waiting for a response, his staff coiled up into a long dragon shape and struck down through the air.

  Zhenyuanzi didn't want to engage in close combat again, so he used his left hand to support the "Tudi Shu" defense, and with a wave of his right hand, a huge mountain suddenly rose from the ground, its peak bursting out of the earth. The mountain was at least several miles wide. But Zhuang Xiong didn't care, swinging his stick in a wide arc, and with a deafening crash, he struck the mountain back down, causing it to collapse and sending rocks flying everywhere.

  Zhenyuanzi's mouth twitched, and he hastily conjured up a cloud of dust, connecting the dots to form eight great mountains. He himself retreated back, waiting for the other party to withstand this attack before making his next move.

  Na Zhong Xiong, however, seemed to not give Zhen Yuanzi a single chance, spinning a Hunyuan stick in circles, swinging it left and right like a mad demon, striking the eight great mountains, either sending them flying or slapping them back into the ground, or shattering them on the spot. The earth shook, rocks pierced the air, several mountain peaks broke through the void, and giant boulders filled the sky.

  "That's the spirit, that's dominance, that's exhilarating! I'm so eager to go down and fight a battle right now!" Tongtian exclaimed. Just as he was excitedly gesticulating, several massive boulders came flying through the air, their momentum overwhelming. He hastily brushed them aside and raised his defenses, only then did he carefully observe, still muttering to himself.

  Nüwa saw Zhuang Xiong's mighty display, and her eyes sparkled with excitement. Her face flushed red as she gazed at him in a daze, lost in thought. Fuxi snorted coldly upon seeing this, muttering to himself: "This muscle-brained guy, I really don't know how he managed to deceive my sister. What's so good about him? He's obviously brainless! I just can't understand why my sister likes him." Doesn't Fuxi know that every girl has a heroic dream in her heart? Although Zhuang Xiong was usually quite unreliable, at this moment, his actions weren't entirely unheroic. Amidst the swirling dust and smoke, he exuded an aura of majesty, truly possessing a hint of heroic flair. No wonder Nüwa liked him.

  Zhuang Xiong was a impulsive person who would forget everything once he got excited, but at this moment, he didn't know what everyone else was thinking. The few sticks that were swung around shattered the mountain and opened it up, unstoppable, with a solid and powerful feeling that was truly exhilarating. For a time, his attack became even more fierce.

  Zhenyuanzi was secretly lamenting at this time, but the eight mountains that had risen up were not even able to stop Zhuang Xiong for a moment. Looking at Zhuang Xiong's eyes, which seemed like those of a mad demon, his aura did not weaken in the slightest. At this point, he did not dare to resist head-on and could only retreat while blocking, but in his heart, he also had some resentment. With a fierce determination, he used the "Floating Dust" technique to brush away the mountains with his hands, using the "Mountain Moving" and "Yue Taking" techniques to their fullest extent. It was as if the heavens were falling and the earth was rising, with mountains appearing out of thin air, flying about in all directions, making it impossible to see anyone's shadow. The Three Pure Ones and Fuxi Niangniang couldn't help but stare blankly. After a long while, Tongtian finally murmured: "You can't bully honest people, when honest people get angry, they are truly terrifying. I wonder how many mountains in the Hongyuan will be destroyed today."

  Yuanshu didn't look at him coldly, saying: "Brother Xiong's offensive is so fierce, but Brother Zhenyuan only has time to take the mountain, and now he can only use his life-saving divine ability to capture it casually. Each time, he only takes a hundredth of the mountain, and can't destroy several mountains." Everyone suddenly realized.

  That town's Yuanzi suddenly came up with so many boulders, which indeed blocked Zhuang Xiong for a moment. Zhuang Xiong saw so many boulders and didn't care about Yuanzi anymore, excitedly shouting as he charged towards the boulders, his Qiankun stick dancing in a blur, smashing into every mountain and striking every rock into flight, causing the faces of the onlookers to turn black with worry.

  At this time, Zhenyuanzi finally had some free time to prepare for a counterattack. He suddenly became fierce and with a long stroke of his brush, the sky was torn apart by a huge crack. A mountain peak appeared out of nowhere and came crashing down towards Zhuang Xiong. Everyone saw that this mountain peak was a real one, several thousand acres in size, tens of thousands of feet high, towering and majestic, with an aura of grandeur. The oppressive energy emanating from it made people feel suffocated. The sky turned dark, even the sun was obscured. In their hearts, everyone couldn't help but think again, "A gentle person is indeed not to be trifled with, a gentle person's fury is truly terrifying." It was clear that the gentle person in everyone's heart was Zhenyuanzi.