It had been a very long time since Cao Yun had a real fight, not a sparring session, with someone he had no enmity. It was refreshing. Cao Yun liked learning about martial arts more than he liked using them. On the other hand, Long Jian was the exact opposite. He liked learning them alright but just like his little sister, he thrived while fighting. For their father who didn't want them to get hurt, this was the saddest thing. Indeed, this passion that ran in all of their veins was pushing them toward the military. Given his history, Long Cheng didn't want them to join the army, even if it was to protect their own Sunmen Province. But he was also a loving father who wouldn't deny his children their aspirations.
Long Jian and Cao Yun were terribly excited. The most exhilarating part was the prospect of novelty as they had never fought each other. Long Jian had seen Cao Yun a long time ago and he had heard things from his sister but he had not fought against him directly. Similarly, Cao Yun knew Long Jian's martial art since he had fought against his little sister, but he knew that this young man was in a whole different league.
Both men were gauging each other. They saw a complete determination in the other's eyes. A small smile appeared on their faces. They both cupped their fists and bowed.
"Senior Brother Long. I'm looking forward to your pointers."
"Junior Brother Chen. Let me show you my humble talent."
They were on each side of the platform. Long Jian unsheathed his sword. Pure black in color, the scabbard was very simple without any patterns, but the metal seemed special. The sword itself was silver in color with some red linings here and there drawing the image of a dragon with several claws and spheres in them. Most likely, these spheres were representing some moons.
Following suit, Cao Yun grabbed his spear with both hands and assumed his stance.
Finally, Chief Elder Baishen declared the start of the fight. Her spiritual senses were encompassing the entire arena. The old woman was looking forward to this fight, but she was also ready to stop it in order to protect both of them. And she could also feel that Chief Elder Suxian and Guest Elder Xiao were both above the clouds to watch this fight as well.
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As soon as the fight started, Cao Yun circulated his mind cultivation to its fullest. In his sea of consciousness, the Five Agents were rotating, melting all their colors into one, surrounded by the fire from the Shen character. In the sky, the four stars were all shining brightly, the faint image of the Azure Dragon revealing itself. The beast was still missing half of its body, but it was visible now, although faint.
At the same time, Long Jian used 'The Moon in the Eye' to test his opponent. At his current level, he didn't need Cao Yun to look him in the eyes, he only needed to be able to see him. He was pleased when there was no effect. With his mind, Cao Yun was impervious to this level of mental attack.
Knowing that he was probably slower than his enemy, Cao Yun didn't make the first move. He was fully focused on his immediate surrounding, ready for any attack. Thus, the first move came from Long Jian. 'Wolf Walks on the Moon'. Long Jian's speed was incredible. Even with all his senses ready, Cao Yun failed to see him move. He felt a tingle in the back of his neck and knew his opponent was behind him. With the Chamber of Jade, his intuition was more developed and he could sense the sword coming for him. 'Imperial Throne'. By rotating the spear around him, a powerful vortex of wind pushed against Long Jian.
Sensing the opportunity, the moment his rotating spear came near Long Jian's flank, Cao Yun used the Drop of Wrath's intent to focus all of his physical strength. With his new cultivation, his strength had reached the fourth of what a 1st-grade Mortal Warrior was capable of. But he also knew another technique. He added the vibration from 'Slaughtering the Enemy'. All of a sudden Long Jian felt some danger from the spear that was coming for him. In an instant, he retracted his sword.
'Shining Dragon's Fur'. His blade changed its course and followed a downward trajectory to pin the shaft of the spear to the ground. Long Jian's speed and reflexes were way above Cao Yun's. The moment 'Dragon Wolf Fang' made contact with 'Nine Chi Black Dragon Spear', Long Jian felt a tingling sensation in his hand. He suppressed it fairly easily but he finally understood his little sister.
The armor Long Jian was wearing had been advised by his little sister. At first, he had thought that she was just joking around. But apparently, she had been dead serious. Long Jian had been even more excited when he had realized that. If she had insisted, it meant that Cao Yun had probably enough strength to at least harm him a little bit. As such, he had been looking froward to this strength. And he just witnessed it. Cao Yun's first move was enough to make his hand shake. If he gained a bit of momentum during the fight, with the excitement of battle, he could definitely pierce through his Wei Qi and maybe even injure him.
Long Huafang had seen Cao Yun fight against Guan Mo these past weeks. His strength had skyrocketed. And she felt as though he had not given it his all yet. If he were to put everything in a single strike, she had the feeling that even a 1st-grade Mortal Warrior could be seriously injured.
Anyway. The spear was pushed back against the floor and the vortex of wind that was forming around Cao Yun faded away. Reacting quickly, Cao Yun threw the butt of his weapon toward Long Jian. When he dodged, Cao Yun grabbed it back and jumped backward using 'Cutting the Retreat'.
'Crafty Harassment'. Once a bit of distance was put between them, Cao Yun immediately sent more than twenty 'Dragon's Twin Horns' toward his opponent. None was enough to pierce through Long Jian's Wei Qi, but they were only meant to delay him. Speed was Long Jian's best advantage. The Long family's martial art 'The Dragon Howling at the Moons' was created on the battlefields and this art put a lot of emphasis on speed. With this technique, you could slash down hundreds, if not thousands, of enemies in a single flash of silver lightning. As Long Jian also had a higher strength than Cao Yun, letting him get close was too dangerous, but being faster than him was impossible.
The only way was to control the flow of the battle to keep him at bay. A powerful roar erupted from Long Jian's throat. 'Wolf and Dragon's Howl'. The vibration in the air destroyed the 'Dragon's Twin Horns'. They were not Qi Manifestation but mere whirlwinds in the air. By vibrating the air with a powerful roar, Long Jian had crumbled them all.
'Silver River Overflows'. A flash of light crossed over the platform. Long Jian was so fast that only the light shining on his blade was visible.
Cao Yun used two techniques at once. 'The Pillar Piercing the Sky' and 'Dragon's Chest'. He spun the spear in his hand and pierced through the air. The moment the spear hit, a figure had appeared in this spot. Even though Cao Yun could not follow Long Jian with his senses, he had guessed where he was going to attack him from. His defense was also at his highest just in case. But luckily, Cao Yun had been right, and fast enough. If he had had an instant of hesitation, Long Jian would have struck first.
Cao Yun hadn't put all of his strength in this attack as he was also focusing on defense. Consequently, the spear didn't pierce all the way through Long Jian's Wei Qi. Even while suppressing his own cultivation, there was still a natural layer of Wei Qi around him. And the Qi from a Mortal Warrior was way denser than the Qi from even a 9th-grade Mortal. However, the shock was still enough to push back the swordsman. It didn't stop him though.
'The Dragon Bears its Fangs to the Wolf'. Long Jian followed through with a penetrating blow. It sank into Cao Yun's robe. In an instant, he changed from 'Dragon's Chest' to 'The Son of Heaven's Spear and Shield'. Most of the shock was diverted but a part still hit Cao Yun. The diverted force of the blow traveled through his body and went into his spear to counter. This time, Cao Yun used his whole strength. Long Jian who was now retracting his sword jumped backward instinctively.
The spear grazed him a bit and he did feel that this blow would have been powerful enough to cut through his Wei Qi and hit his armor. Cao Yun really was powerful.
All the spectators were astounded. This fight was only a friendly duel and there was no Qi Manifestation. Yet, it was already extremely intense. For everyone, it was clear that any 8th-grade Mortal would have been pulverized by Cao Yun. And most 9th-grade Mortals wouldn't fare well against him. And he was still rather defensive for now.
That would change! Cao Yun knew it but after exchanging some moves, he was sure of it. If he kept on defending, he would ultimately get suppressed and he wouldn't even be able to do a thing about it. Long Jian had a higher cultivation, hence he had better stamina. Cao yun was already using almost all of his strength. Still, he had kept some trump cards for a decisive blow, but he was feeling exhausted already.
Thanks to Chief Elder Baishen's 'Walking in the Mud Without Staining the Silk' and his new intuition, he had perfected the Room Star. Unable to be faster than Long Jian, he would have to block his movements. Cao Yun began to move way faster all of a sudden. Seven afterimages appeared all around the platform and small 'Dragon's Twin Horns' flew everywhere.
Long Jian sensed that he was getting trapped and tried to escape but a 'Dragon's Twin Horns' hit him right behind the knee. It wasn't very powerful but many others followed. A constant barrage of smaller attacks was enough to hinder his movements.
'Wolf and Dragon's Howl'. The 'Dragon's Twin Horns' disappeared but new ones took their place at once. Feeling the trap around him, Long Jian tried to find where the real Cao Yun was. He was moving too fast for many people but not for him. However, several 'Dragon's Twin Horns' kept interfering, breaking his concentration. Whatever! He decided to attack one of the spots where an afterimage was.
'Wolf's Pounce'. Long Jian pushed through the barrage of 'Dragon's Twin Horns', taking several of them in strategic locations on his body. However, he had finally left the makeshift array formation. The Cao Yun he had targeted was unfortunately not the real one.
But before he could savor his victory, he felt an intense force pinning him down. This attack had only been a distraction. Cao Yun was using his newest technique, the first variation of the Room Star, 'The Dragon's Belly is Contorted'. It was a kind of array formation as well, also formed by Cao Yun's own movements and attacks. Anyone in the array formation felt as though a gigantic dragon was crushing them with its full body.
It wouldn't hold Long Jian for long but Cao Yun only needed one instant. During his training, he had caught a glimpse of the fifth star. It had flashed only once before disappearing but thanks to his mind cultivation, he had been able to engrave it in his memory. Cao Yun wasn't absolutely sure of this technique, but he still had tried it out. That was the technique that had convinced Long Huafang to ask her brother to wear an armor.
The star he had seen was a gigantic red ball of fire that was so distant it looked like a little red dot in the sky. But Cao Yun had the impression that he had seen a beating heart. He didn't even know the name of this technique yet, but he still decided to use it. All of his mind, his Qi and his physical strength got focused on the exact point where he had felt this red dot. All his muscles bulged and Cao Yun felt his strength being multiplied. This was so taxing on him that he couldn't even concentrate on a move and he just stabbed straight with the spear.
The moment he focused on this new technique, 'The Dragon's Belly is Contorted' faded away. Long Jian was still a bit shaky and couldn't dodge in time as Cao Yun's speed had increased tremendously. 'Baring its Fangs to the Moon'. However, he tried to put his sword in front of his body pointing toward the sky as a shield.
Then, the spear of Cao Yun collided with his weapon. That strength of his was at least of thirty thousand dan, six times his usual strength. Even an average 1st-grade Mortal Warrior could only reach twenty thousand dan. Long Jian at full strength was around twenty-seven thousand dan himself. Time seemed to slow down. Long Jian was seeing his own sword slowly moving toward his chest to protect himself while the spear of Cao Yun was advancing toward him.
'The Dragon's Belly is Contorted' had shaken Long Jian too much. With Cao Yun's sudden acceleration, his defense came at the very last moment. His sword wasn't stable enough and the spear slid on the blade, going for Long Jian's armor. Cao Yun's spear collided with his Wei Qi, it was literally torn apart as though it was paper. The force of the blow ripped through his uniform and the tip of the spear began to touch his 'Nightly Wolf Hide'. Long Jian clearly felt that without his armor, this attack could have pierced his flesh. Even with the armor, he would feel the shock in his bones.
However, before the spear could fully transfer its kinetic energy, 'Dragon Wolf Fang' came to the rescue. The blade collided with the shaft of the spear to push it away. A terrible noise of metal against metal echoed through the area. Many onlookers had to cover their ears. The spear was pushed to the side with many sparks as it scratched the black armor. With his heart palpitating like crazy, Long Jian sent 'The Dragon Bears its Fangs to the Wolf'. Long Jian was so excited and shocked that he unconsciously used all of his strength against Cao Yun. However, Cao Yun was slowly falling to the ground, completely spent.
When Long Jian finally came to, he realized that his attack was going to hit Cao Yun right in the head and he couldn't stop at all.