Chapter 36: The Decisive Duel of the Instructor

  "Why have you never mentioned this before?" asked Nuo Yilong.

  "Uncle Nuo, this is already a matter of three years ago. My duel with Cai Zhong was just between the two of us and won't affect Long Zu and Wu Zong." Lei Yu replied.

  "Ridiculous!" Shangguan Xi Hong slammed his palm heavily on the tea table, "Do you know? Your duel with Cai Zhong is ostensibly a mutual sharpening of skills, but in reality it concerns the actual strength confrontation between the two major forces of Wudang and Mingjiao! Explain clearly why such a thing happened!"

  "Uncle Shangguan, it's all my fault. If it weren't for me, such a thing wouldn't have happened." Ai'er said softly standing beside Nuo Yifeng.

  "What's going on?" asked Nuo Yilong with a frown.

  "It's like this..."

  "It turned out to be like this." Nuoyilong and Nuoyifeng cast grateful glances at Lei Yu, but Shangguan Xihong, the highest ruler of the Wu Zong, remained cold and detached. "I don't know if you have the qualifications to confront Cai Zhong. To tell you the truth, Ming Jiao has already notified me, Wu Zong, yesterday that they will be changing the location of the battle and have invited two other major powers, Xianren Pavilion and the Lei Family, to come and watch. Do you know what this means? Ming Jiao wants to take advantage of this opportunity to dampen the morale of my Wu Zong!"

  "Sir, I will fight with all my might!" Lei Yu said confidently.

  "Ridiculous! As the master of a sub-hall of Mingjiao, you think the opponent's strength is weak? This isn't something that can be won with just confidence! You should know, this concerns the face of Wu Zong. If we lose, I will definitely not let you off!" Upper Official Xi Hong angrily said.

  "Xiao Yu he..."

  "That's enough, don't say any more." Xī Hóng stopped Nuò Yī Lóng's explanation. "Extremely childish! You actually took the initiative to accept the challenge without my consent, you'd better be prepared, otherwise... humph!" After saying this, Xī Hóng turned around and left in a huff.

  "Alas! Xiao Yu, you should have told us about this matter earlier. Why didn't we ever hear you mention it?" Nuoyi Long asked with a frown.

  Lei Yu looked at the few people present, he didn't know what to say, originally it was just a promise between two people, but unexpectedly it involved the reputation and strength of Wu Zong and Ming Jiao, which was equivalent to putting a thousand-pound burden on Lei Yu's shoulders.

  "Uncle Nuo, it's no use saying more now. There's still over a month left, I want to focus on my training." Lei Yu let out a deep breath and headed towards the second floor's training hall.

  "Brother, don't you have confidence in Xiao Yu?" asked Nuo Yifeng.

  "Yes, Father, Xiao Yu is very powerful now. He's already the most powerful one in the Dragon Team." Nuo Hu said beside him.

  "It's not that I don't have confidence in Xiao Yu, you know? Before Shangguan Xihong arrived, he had already contacted me by phone. That Cai Zhong, the deputy hall master of the Northern Sect, has been promoted to the position of Hall Master. You know what that means? At least a four or five-tier strength. The Ming Cult's demonic path is sinister and ruthless, even if Xiao Yu's strength is evenly matched with his opponent, it's hard to guarantee there won't be any unexpected events. Moreover, we don't have any clear information about Xiao Yu's strength right now, not even what level he has reached." Nuo Yilong's concern was indeed reasonable, as demonic cultivators are known for their cunning and ruthlessness. Someone like Lei Yu, who always uses brute force, indeed has a significant weakness.

  "Then... should Xiaoyu and I still proceed with our challenge?" asked Fan Hongchang.

  Nuo Yilong thought for a moment, "I think it's still necessary, at least we can know what level his strength has reached."

  "When?"

  "Let's call it a night."

  "Alright, I'll go prepare and inform Xiao Yu at the same time." Fan Hongchang nodded and left.

  That night, the training hall on the second floor was cleared out. On the spacious blue carpet stood Lei Yu and Fan Hong Chang. This challenge had been postponed for several days and was something all members of the Dragon Team had been eagerly anticipating, so there were no absentees, including Nuo Yi Long's two siblings as well as Nuo Hu and Ai Er.

  "Xiao Yu, it's time to test your skills!" Fan Hongchang said with a smile.

  "Officer Fan, sir!" Lei Yu said with a bow and a fist salute.

  Fan Hongchang is a descendant of an ancient martial arts family, relying on the family's inherited heart method to reach the strength of a 4th-tier warrior in just over 30 years, which is already considered a talented figure in the country.

  Many martial artists often encounter a bottleneck that is difficult to break through in the third stage. People with extremely high talent may be able to break through smoothly within one or two years, while those with average talent may be stuck in the third stage for ten, twenty years, or even a lifetime. Breaking through from the fourth stage to the fifth stage is another hurdle. Fan Hongchang has been stuck at this hurdle for some time and still hasn't broken through from start to finish. If we say which one is the most difficult, it would be breaking through from the fifth stage to the sixth stage. Nuo Yilong and Nuo Yifeng are already top-notch figures in Tenglong Country, of course, except for the leaders of the four major forces. However, Nuo Yilong was also stuck in the fifth stage for a full ten years and still hasn't shown any signs of breaking through.

  This matter can't be helped but to say that Leiyu was lucky, relying on the jade pendant left by his mother during the process of breaking through from third-tier to fourth-tier, and only after a narrow escape between life and death did he successfully break through. Perhaps what Leiyu felt was just the fear of life and death, but he didn't experience the hardship of advancing tiers.

  "Ah!" A loud shout, Fan Hongchang's body surged with a dense white aura, the power contained within it rippling through the air like waves, as if constantly gathering towards him. In an instant, more than half of the air in the great hall was sucked away, and most people felt a bit short of breath, but everyone was no ordinary person, so they could naturally bear it easily.

  Lei Yu remained as calm as ever, using stillness to respond to all changes, waiting for Fan Hongchang's attack to arrive. The true energy in his body also surged up instantly, attached to every part of his body. Lei Yu, who had already reached the stage of gathering energy, relied on his own power of thunder and lightning to hide his personal strength perfectly, giving people a mysterious feeling that was difficult to fathom. It was precisely this mysterious feeling that would make people have an illusion, thinking that Lei Yu was not a strong person.

  Fan Hongchang's body moved, bringing up a rapid whistling sound, as if a cheetah, rushing towards Lei Yu at an extremely fast speed. His fists contained powerful explosive force, but Fan Hongchang's strength was only released after careful consideration, and he didn't want to cause any irreparable harm to Lei Yu, so he still held back some of his power. However, his concern was unnecessary, as Lei Yu's abilities were in no way inferior to Fan Hongchang's. As someone who had already reached the later stages of Qi gathering, Lei Yu could easily sense the strength of any attack through his own gravitational pull.

  The corners of his mouth curled up into an arc, and as Fan Hongchang approached, he seemed to effortlessly raise his right arm, "Bang"!