Chapter Forty-Four: Master and Disciple Duel

  Ancient Cloud picked up two physique-enhancing spirit fruits and handed them to the two women, then took one for himself and started eating. As for the two spirit medicines, no matter what, they refused to eat these spirit fruits. Their true bodies were made of this stuff, and unlike beast-class cultivators who liked to kill each other, it was equivalent to killing their own kind, which they couldn't bring themselves to do.

  The bandit saw Gu Yun and the two women had finished talking, then said to Gu Yun: "Little boy, since you've come out, first support half a stick of incense in my hands, otherwise you can stay inside, don't worry, I'll suppress my cultivation to the same realm as yours".

  Looking at the two women's worried eyes, Gu Yun patted their hands and gave them a confident smile before walking to his master's opposite side and standing still. The two women and the two spiritual medicines retreated to a corner of the courtyard, watching the two masters.

  As soon as they retreated, Gu Yun immediately launched an attack on Zei Kuangzi, flashing to his side and smashing a massive fist onto his head. Not even giving a warning before striking, this was seen as a shameful sneak attack by others, and Gu Yun had also thought so in the past. However, he was severely scolded by Zei Kuangzi: "When fighting with others, what's the point of worrying about being shameful or not? Winning is key! If you're dead, what can you do about being shameful?" People only remember the victor, and how they won isn't anyone else's concern. Moreover, facts have proven that Zei Kuangzi's words were correct. Therefore, Gu Yun now had a special fondness for sneak attacks.

  He threw a punch out of the blue, and the bandit didn't dodge in time. The fist heavily smashed onto his head. But Gu Yun didn't feel the expected joy, instead he was shocked. The bandit under his fist also dissipated into thin air at that moment. It turned out to be just an illusion, and he hadn't felt his master move at all. Time didn't allow him to think much, after discovering that he had hit only an illusion, Gu Yun immediately flashed away from the original spot. As soon as he stood still, a strong force surged towards him from behind, and the bandit's teasing voice also sounded in his ear: "Kid, you're still too green at sneak attacks, you need to practice more."

  He barely withstood the blow, and Gu Yun kicked back with one foot, but the result was the same, leaving him with only a phantom. However, the solid punch he received made him feel somewhat surprised, and it actually bled. All along, he had been confident in the strong physique he had cultivated through the Nine Turns Golden Body Technique. He had once used Mo Yan to slash himself without using spiritual power, but only left a white mark on his skin, without breaking it, showing its strength. But just now, Zei Fengzi's punch had smashed that area into a bloody mess, with blood flowing down. Even a Spirit Artifact like Mo Yan couldn't cut through, yet Zei Fengzi's fist had broken through, and Gu Yun could feel that the force behind that punch was completely within his realm, of course, the effect was entirely different.

  After the vital energy of Hui Chun quickly repaired the damage, Gu Yun saw his master standing in front of him, smiling and looking at him, saying: "Little boy, how is it? Doesn't it feel good? Don't you think it's unbelievable that my one punch can break your strong body like a treasure?"

  Gǔ Yún nodded slightly, not saying a word, and suddenly kicked out again at the bandit with a swift movement. Midway through, he immediately changed his move, punching towards his own back with great force, but what he hit was still just an illusion. The bandit's speed was too fast; although his cultivation was suppressed to Gǔ Yún's level, his grasp and application of spiritual energy were completely not something Gǔ Yún could compare to. So even if Gǔ Yún tried to catch him off guard, he could still avoid it with ease. The bandit continued to say, "Youngster, this is what control over spiritual energy means. You need to think about how to achieve the greatest attacking effect with the smallest consumption of spiritual energy. What I used just now was called 'hidden strength.' Spiritual energy is first hidden and not released, then finally bursts out with full force. So, even if you use the same fist, you can't produce this kind of effect." The bandit dodged Gǔ Yún's attacks with ease while explaining to him at the same time.

  It is said that on one hand attacking and on the other hand understanding the bandit's words, even for a moment, cannot grasp the key, and completely fails to achieve the effect of hiding one's spiritual power without releasing it.

  After dodging Gu Yun's sneak attack again, the bandit leader chuckled and said: "Kid, do you admit defeat? If someone like you can hit me, I'll have to call you Master."

  This statement suddenly lit up in Gǔ Yún's mind, yes, how could what the eyes see compare to the perception of the divine sense? It seemed that his master had evaded his attacks in this way. As soon as he thought of this, Gǔ Yún's divine sense also spread out, covering the entire courtyard. This time, the effect was indeed different, everything in the courtyard was clearly perceived by him, even the texture on the stone table in the middle was clearly presented in his mind. The thief's every move couldn't escape his grasp, and even his next action, Gǔ Yún seemed to have a kind of predictable feeling.

  This wonderful thing was something he had never felt before, all along, when he fought with people, it was based on his eyes seeing, and his divine sense had not been used at all, until now he finally experienced the wonder of his divine sense.

  The entire courtyard was enveloped by Gu Yun's divine sense, and a hint of a smile appeared on Zei Fengzi's face. This little guy had finally come to his senses. With a "haha" laugh, he said: "Little guy, do you think this is enough?" As soon as the words were spoken, Gu Yun felt that Zei Fengzi became blurry under his divine sense, and the feeling of being able to predict his next move also disappeared, leaving Gu Yun perplexed. How could he escape his divine sense within its range? It was as if Zei Fengzi had guessed what Gu Yun was thinking, and his voice rang out again: "Little guy, you can use your divine sense to lock onto others, but others can also use their divine sense to escape your lock. The key is how you use your divine sense. However, looking at your current state, you're just a beginner. For now, let's see if you can survive this half incense stick first."

  As soon as the words fell, Gu Yun felt a strong gust of wind rushing towards him. Without thinking, he directly threw a punch, and as soon as they made contact, he felt a surge of powerful energy pouring into him. Gu Yun was immediately knocked flying out, but fortunately his physical body was robust, and the Revitalizing True Qi quickly circulated to heal the injury. By the time he landed, Gu Yun had completely recovered from that slight harm.

  As soon as his feet touched the ground, Gu Yun swung both hands and five jade plates with a cyan glow flew out of his hands, rotating in mid-air according to certain rules. A golden light column instantly enveloped Gu Yun in the middle. This was one of Gu Yun's achievements during this period. The five jade plates he had just flown out arranged a Five Elements Golden Light Array in mid-air, which was a defensive array technique that Gu Yun had learned. It converted all the Five Elements' power around the array into golden power, forming a golden light column to protect everything within the array.

  Looking at the ancient cloud shrouded in golden light, the corner of Zei Fengzi's mouth floated up with a smile. This kid really didn't disappoint me. With his current cultivation level suppressed to the same realm as Gu Yun's, wanting to break through this light pillar was almost impossible, because human power couldn't contend with the power of heaven and earth. However, for someone like him, how could he lack methods? Charging towards Gu Yun with a smile, he also swung his hand, and five identical jade tokens flew out from his hand, similarly forming a Five Elements Array that surrounded Gu Yun's Five Elements Golden Light Array. As Zei Fengzi's hand seals changed, the five jade tokens flipped up and down, while the golden light protecting Gu Yun in the middle quickly dimmed, because Zei Fengzi's Five Elements Array had absorbed all the surrounding heavenly spiritual energy, how could Gu Yun's array maintain itself without absorbing heavenly spiritual energy?

  The ancient cloud said that nature would not allow this situation to continue, otherwise the formation would collapse on its own. With a change in hand gestures, the golden light protecting the ancient cloud suddenly changed direction and shot up into the sky with five jade tokens, charging towards the center of the thief's formation. As long as it broke through, the thief's formation would be destroyed. However, the thief would not let him have his way. With a change in hand gestures, a massive pillar of fire erupted from the center of the formation and collided with the ancient cloud's golden light. If they collided, the ancient cloud's golden light would surely be no match. In the five elements, fire overcomes metal, and when both parties' cultivation is equal, the side that is overcome by attributes will certainly perish.

  Looking at the momentum of the fire pillar coming down, Gu Yun also knew the result of the collision. His hand seal changed again, and the golden light instantly turned into a water pillar, which made his master's fire pillar being restrained. Watching Gu Yun manipulate the formation with this series of changes, Zei Kuangzi's smile at the corner of his mouth grew even bigger. This kid was really making him more and more satisfied, mastering the five elements transformation in such a short time. His hand seal moved again, but this time his fire pillar did not change into earth to restrain Gu Yun's attribute. Instead, it split into two from the middle, one continuing to rush towards his water pillar, and the other rushing towards Gu Yun from the side. This way, even if the formation was broken, Gu Yun would still be hit by that fire pillar.

  But Gu Yun didn't panic, his eyes fixed on the two fire pillars, and he lightly spat out a word "Explode". The water pillar controlled by him suddenly burst apart, releasing a massive amount of energy that scattered in all directions. The two fire pillars controlled by Zei Kuangzi were dispersed without any unexpected consequences, recondensing into spiritual energy that dissipated into the air. At this moment, the difference between the two became apparent: Gu Yun's formation was destroyed by the massive energy impact, but Zei Kuangzi's five jade plates only spun around twice before stabilizing again.