Chapter 1382: One-Sixth of His Power

If it were merely that he, at the peak of the Out-of-Body realm, displayed power no weaker than his own, that would be one thing. But the crucial point was that the timing and position of the opponent's punch were exquisite, striking precisely when his previous force had dissipated and the next had yet to arrive!

In other words, the opponent seemed to have seen through the flaw in his combat technique, found the root cause in a single move, and intended to blast him to death.

The techniques and martial skills he cultivated were all passed down from his teacher, and were in no way inferior to the most core secret arts of the Zhang and Luo families.

Such profound martial skills and techniques—even if Teacher Fei wanted to see through them at a glance, he couldn't. Yet this person before him understood them in an instant and found the flaw; he probably knew a great deal about them.

"Hmph, you think you can win against me that easily? Not so fast!"

This surprise lingered in his mind for less than a tenth of a breath. Feng Ziyi's eyes sharpened, his body shifted to one side, and he changed direction, meeting the attack with a punch of his own.

His fist aimed at Zhang Xuan's chest, the same spot the latter had targeted on him. Unexpectedly, he used a tactic that would leave both sides injured.

"Let's see how strong your defense is!"

A ruthless glint flashed in his eyes. Zhang Xuan did not change his move; his muscles writhed all over, as if golden light swirled within them.

Bang!

His fist landed on the opponent's chest, and he immediately felt as if he had struck stone; his fingers went slightly numb. The opponent's fist hit him, and he again felt a tightness in his chest, stumbling back a few steps.

"Your physical body..."

Zhang Xuan was astonished.

He cultivated the Heavenly Dao Golden Body, and his physique was incredibly powerful, in no way inferior to a half-step top-grade saint artifact. He hadn't expected the opponent to have a similar body-tempering secret technique, and his physical body was no weaker than his own!

In the contest of brute force, they seemed evenly matched, but in reality, limited by his cultivation level, he was at a slight disadvantage.

"Haha, exhilarating!"

In head-on clashes, this person before him showed no sign of weakness. Feng Ziyi roared with excitement, and with a shake of his arms, the muscles on his body swelled as if inflated, filling out his originally loose clothes.

It seemed that in a mere instant, he had taken some kind of super tonic, transforming from a lean figure into a super strongman.

Bang!

He stamped again, and an intense oppressive force crushed down.

In that brief moment, Feng Ziyi's aura and strength had nearly doubled.

"What kind of secret technique is this?"

Full of surprise, Zhang Xuan clenched his fists.

Throughout his journey, he had seen many methods that could instantly boost strength, but he had never seen one that increased muscle mass without any warning and seemed to have no side effects.

However, knowing that the opponent would not give him much time to think, the hot blood in his body was stirred. He activated the Heavenly Dao Golden Body to its limit and threw another punch.

Bang, bang, bang, bang!

In the blink of an eye, they exchanged over a dozen moves, almost all head-on collisions. Wind howled around them. Sun Qiang, who had been following closely behind Zhang Xuan, and Zhang Jiuxiao had both retreated out of the hall.

Even so, they still felt a fiery pain all over their bodies, as if scorched by flames.

"Back then, my strength was about the same as Teacher Zhang's. How long has it been? How did the gap become so huge?"

Zhang Jiuxiao was horrified.

When he first met Teacher Zhang in Qingyuan City, their strengths were comparable. He thought that with hard training during this time, he would close the gap a bit, but he never dreamed... the gap had only widened!

Now, even if the opponent didn't come close, a single punch from afar would probably turn him into a meat patty and kill him on the spot.

The two were now as different as clouds and mud, no longer comparable.

Swish!

While he was still marveling, he saw Feng Ziyi suddenly flip his wrist, and a long sword appeared in his palm. He slashed through the air, and the air in the room began to twist.

"Do you dare to compete with me using weapons?"

"Happy to oblige!"

Zhang Xuan pointed his finger, and over a hundred long swords materialized before him.

"What are you..."

Feng Ziyi's pupils contracted. Before he could finish speaking, he felt an ocean of sword qi crashing down on him.

Bang! Bang!

He was sent flying backward, his back smashing a large hole in the room's wall. Then the fierce force continued to bombard him, and his back shattered the courtyard wall into dust.

After flying seven or eight hundred meters, he finally felt the attack stop. His face was pale, his arms trembled uncontrollably, and his tiger's mouth seemed about to tear at any moment.

"You... what move is that?"

After taking several deep breaths to suppress the boiling true qi in his body, he looked over in disbelief.

He was at the initial stage of the seventh level of the Saint Domain, the Void Entry realm, while the opponent was only at the peak of the fifth level. With such a gap in cultivation, a single sword strike had repelled him and nearly split him open. What kind of move was so powerful?

"It's Sword Elder's One Sword Splits the Sea!" Zhang Xuan nodded.

There was nothing to hide. Since Sword Elder had made a name for himself with this move, it should be easy to find out if one wanted to investigate.

"Impossible!"

Feng Ziyi shook his head. "Not to mention Splits the Sea, even One Sword Reaches the Sky doesn't have such power!"

The headquarters of the Master Teacher Pavilion gathered all the martial arts of the world. Although Sword Elder had not passed on this move, having comprehended the offensive true essence of sword intent, one could still estimate the power of the sword technique.

Not to mention Splits the Sea, even the most powerful of the Three Swords of Lingxu, One Sword Reaches the Sky, might not be able to unleash such power.

"Sword Elder's original sword technique indeed didn't have this power, but I modified it a bit..." Zhang Xuan explained.

One Sword Splits the Sea, though not weak, was far inferior to what he had just displayed—they were not on the same level.

The reason it was so powerful, even sending Jian Qinsheng flying back then, was mainly because he had filled in all the flaws, turning a secret technique with over a hundred defects into a perfect one, forming a true Heavenly Dao sword technique.

"Modified it a bit?"

Feng Ziyi was startled.

If his teacher had modified Sword Elder's secret technique, that would certainly be no problem. But this person, only at the peak of the Out-of-Body realm, how could he modify it to be so powerful?

"Yes. If I hadn't modified it, how could I have sent you flying with just one-third of my power?"

Zhang Xuan nodded.

"One-third?"

Feng Ziyi's face twitched, his skin trembling.

He had used his strongest means to block the opponent's sword qi, yet he was still sent flying dozens of meters. He had thought the opponent had used his full strength, but he never expected...

Suppressing the urge to spit blood, he couldn't help but look over. "This sword technique of yours is magnificent and grand, like an ocean overturning. It can't be accomplished with just one-third of your power..."

In a fight, psychological warfare was also important. They had been locked in a fierce battle just now; in fact, the opponent had been under his suppression. How could he, after using a weapon, overwhelm him with just one-third of his power?

Could it be that he was deliberately exaggerating to shatter his confidence?

"Well... you saw through me. Actually, I'm a very modest person. In truth, I only used one-sixth of my power just now..." Zhang Xuan scratched his head.

After all, the opponent was a student of 'Teacher Yang,' so when he struck, he held back a lot. To be precise, as he calculated, he had only used one-sixth of his power!

He had originally been modest to give the opponent some confidence, but he hadn't expected to be seen through.

Since that was the case, he could only admit it.

Feng Ziyi's vision went dark, and he nearly vomited blood.

He had meant to ask if the opponent had used all his strength, and by saying one-third, he intended to demoralize him. How could he have imagined that the opponent was actually being modest...

"Don't hold back! Attack with all your strength. I want to see just how powerful this move of yours really is!"

Suppressing the frustration in his heart, Feng Ziyi gritted his teeth.

He didn't believe it was that powerful!

"Attack with all my strength?"

Zhang Xuan frowned. "If I use all my strength, I'm afraid I won't be able to control it and might kill you!"

He hadn't dared to use his full strength earlier. One reason was that the opponent was Teacher Yang's student, but more importantly, once he unleashed his full power, he had to exhaust all his true qi before he could stop... Before, with less true qi, it was manageable. But now, with his dantian transformed by the gourd, his true qi reserves had increased more than fivefold. If he couldn't control it again... big trouble might arise.

(The ring-shaped space in his dantian could increase true qi reserves tenfold, but most of Luo Xuanqing's thunder had been absorbed by the gourd and his clone. He had only completed about half of the tenfold increase, so it was only a fivefold boost.)

"Can't control it?"

Feng Ziyi gritted his teeth. "Don't worry. I'm a Void Entry realm expert with many means. Even if you lose control, it won't be easy for you to hurt me!"

"Well..."

Zhang Xuan still hesitated, looking troubled. "You are very strong, and I admire that, but... this is the freshman dormitory area. If the moves are too powerful, I'm afraid they'll destroy the buildings..."

He had been back from outside for less than half a day and had already destroyed two places: the Heavenly Mechanism Master Guild and the Awakening Master Guild. If he also destroyed this freshman dormitory, he was afraid that the top-grade spirit stones he had just obtained would be taken for compensation before they even warmed in his hands.

"Well..."

Feng Ziyi looked around.

Their battle had indeed shattered this small courtyard. If they continued, without any protective formations here, it would indeed cause great destruction.

"How about this: let's go to the Rites Hall. As it happens, Teacher Fei is leading the elite class there for practical combat training today. Do you dare to fight me there?"

After a moment's hesitation, Feng Ziyi nodded.

"The Rites Hall? Fine!"

After thinking it over, Zhang Xuan nodded.

The Rites Hall was the venue for students' competitions and battles. It had the best defensive formations and mechanisms for observation and data analysis. Competing there would not only avoid destruction but also allow them to analyze their own data and flaws, making their combat strength even stronger!

"Let's go!"

Seeing him agree, Feng Ziyi turned and headed straight for the direction of the Five Great Halls.

Without hesitation, Zhang Xuan followed closely.

Of the Five Great Halls, he had already visited the Wisdom Hall, the Rites Hall, and the Benevolence Hall, but he had never been to the Rites Hall. It would be good to go and see it. If it truly was resistant to destruction, he could come here to train in the future without worry.