"Big words!" Feng Ning shouted as dark purple qi flared up from his body. The dark purple qi expanded uncontrollably and then suddenly stopped, converging into two spots beside him.
The expansion of the dark purple qi was mainly due to Feng Ning's lack of control over such massive qi. The next part revealed his true intention.
Naturally, Huang Zhi wouldn't allow her enemy to finish whatever he was doing. She directly struck at Feng Ning.
The yellow cage beneath her withered and turned into dust carried by the wind. She also levitated in the air, just like Feng Ning did.
This was a characteristic of their cultivation stage. Once they reached this stage, flying or walking in the air became as simple as breathing for them.
'Golden core? Is it really like I thought? Well, the golden core in this world seems different from the stories I read back then.'
Niu Chang continued to heal his body and increase his proficiency in his new skill. He named this new skill Verdant Will, derived from his skill Verdant Tree Under the Bright Sky.
As long as the will was present, death would be just a phase, and life would be another phase.
'Hey, this seems similar to my Impossible Idea. Is it possible for me to use Verdant Will as a stepping stone to open the second level?'
Excited by this discovery, Niu Chang immersed himself joyfully in delving deeper into understanding the Verdant Will.
Yellow qi surged from Huang Zhi's body, but unlike Feng Ning's uncontrollable expansion, her yellow qi was more controlled, flowing around her body like a stream of water.
Feng Ning frowned upon seeing Huang Zhi's mastery over controlling qi.
He sensed danger and hastened his technique to finish.
The two spots of dark purple qi began to spin and absorb qi faster from Feng Ning's body.
"Yellow Dragon Branch," Huang Zhi said softly as the yellow stream of qi separated from the yellow qi around her body and transformed into a dragon.
The yellow dragon had the face of a dog, horn of a deer, scale of a snake, claw of an eagle, and tail of a fish. It transformed from interwoven yellow qi into a lifelike dragon with solid bones, strong muscles, and shiny scales.
The yellow dragon opened its yellow eyes, resembling Huang Zhi in wisdom. Fixing its gaze on Feng Ning, the yellow dragon roared.
On the ground, Niu Chang opened his eyes. He saw the yellow qi transform into a yellow dragon. His mind was confused, unable to contain himself, he directly asked Huang Zhi about her technique.
"Little Zhi, why must you say the name of your technique?"
Being a friend of Huang Zhi, Niu Chang naturally called her Little Zhi to show their closeness.
However, in the air, Huang Zhi's expression turned cold, her eyes filled with fire and hatred. "Don't call me Little Zhi!"
After angrily shouting at Niu Chang, she turned her face back to face Feng Ning.
The yellow dragon soared into the sky, opening its jaw to swallow Feng Ning whole.
Thanks to his old age, the sudden appearance of the charging yellow dragon didn't cause much disturbance in his heart. He smiled and waved his left hand, directing the spot of dark qi gathering on his left to fly towards the yellow dragon.
The yellow dragon didn't want to eat random things and spewed a large amount of burning yellow qi.
Niu Chang could see the strong invisible connection between the dragon and Huang Zhi. He had also sensed the qi fluctuation from Huang Zhi earlier.
'It's more like an avatar than a mere offensive skill. The name Yellow Dragon Branch is not that simple. Perhaps Little Zhi actually infused a part of herself, a branch, into this yellow dragon, as it doesn't possess any characteristics of a branch.'
With his mind occupied by their problem, Niu Chang once again examined Huang Zhi's body, searching for the part she put into the yellow dragon.
Feeling the leeching gaze that felt like it was licking her body from various angles, Huang Zhi turned her head again. 'This boy really has unmatched audacity.'
However, she couldn't help but feel strange. Previously, she felt an insatiable desire to ravage her body from Niu Chang's gaze, but now it felt even worse.
'Why do I feel like his gaze is prying open my body and exploring every single part of it, like children playing with a dead animal?'
Choosing to ignore Niu Chang's harassment, Huang Zhi focused on controlling her yellow dragon.
The yellow breath faced the ball of dark purple qi, but the dark purple ball kept advancing without giving up.
Huang Zhi didn't want to take any risks, so she turned the dragon's head to the side and continued to advance, using the dragon claw to slash at the dark purple ball.
Niu Chang closed his eyes again, as the battle no longer piqued his curiosity. He was unable to find the part he suspected was severed from Huang Zhi's body.
'Maybe it's different from what I thought. Instead of using a part of her body, a branch, Little Zhi uses the characteristics of her golden core cultivation stage to remotely control this dragon.'
Niu Chang only knew about cultivation up to the grandmaster stage from the five books he gathered from the dying old beggar in the forest.
Although the books mentioned the stages up to the grandmaster stage, they lacked crucial information about the master stage and the grandmaster stage. This meant that the five cultivation books didn't have the cultivation methods for those stages.
Without any information about what masters and grandmasters could do, Niu Chang had to rely on his knowledge from his previous life to fill the gaps, even if they were mere assumptions.
The dark purple ball sharply turned after realizing that the yellow dragon had turned its head, avoiding the incoming sharp claw.
Huang Zhi moved her delicate hands together, guiding the flow of her qi into a specific circulation path. When it was completed, the flowing yellow qi rose from Huang Zhi's body and transformed into a tree.
The tree trunk was large, and its crown was full of yellow branches and leaves. But it appeared illusory, like an ink painting floating in the air.
"Go," Huang Zhi commanded her yellow tree. The tree swayed gently, and the yellow branches lashed out like a whip, launching the yellow leaves in a barrage of bullets.
Feng Ning noticed the sudden appearance of the yellow qi and distanced himself. The yellow dragon was entangled with the dark purple ball, but the dark purple ball was suppressed by the yellow dragon.
Holding the dark purple ball with its claws and coiling its body around it, the yellow dragon moved toward Feng Ning.
Feng Ning narrowed his eyes, calculating his next move. He decided to take care of the yellow dragon first, as it was a vanguard for Huang Zhi.
He made a hand seal with his right hand, and the dark yellow qi shone on top of his index and middle fingers. He pointed it at the dark purple ball on the yellow dragon's body.
As if receiving a command, the dark purple ball became restless, loosening its grip and allowing the dark purple qi inside to expand and envelop the yellow dragon.
The yellow leaves rapidly approached Feng Ning, but they were obstructed by the yellow dragon, covered by the dark purple qi.
Huang Zhi smiled at this scene. The yellow leaves entered the dark purple qi and transformed from leaves into roots. Various small roots started to absorb the dark purple qi as nutrients, and small sprouts began to grow.
Feng Ning was stunned, his anger evident on his face. "Hehe, you can deceive me with your little tricks."
Niu Chang opened his eyes to observe the development. He saw the dark purple qi being absorbed rapidly by the yellow roots. The yellow roots that had sprouted then moved toward the yellow dragon and fused with it.
The seemingly transparent yellow dragon became more vivid and real.
'It seems that Little Zhi utilizes the characteristics of plants, taking nutrients from its surroundings to enhance itself as the core of her cultivation technique.'
'But still, this kind of battle doesn't seem like something a "martial artist" should have. Where are the fancy choreographed movements? Instead, it feels more like two mages casting their skills. Is this world in the genre of xianxia rather than wuxia?'
After observing for a few seconds, Niu Chang closed his eyes again and focused on improving his skills.
The yellow dragon continued absorbing the yellow sprouts into its body. It became more vivid, and its body slowly grew bigger.
The dark purple qi around the yellow dragon continued to decrease before finally dissipating. The yellow leaves that hadn't sprouted transformed back into yellow leaves and fell back to the yellow tree.
The energized yellow dragon roared at Feng Ning and increased its speed.
Feng Ning maintained his composure and continuously waved his hands, pushing dark purple palms toward the yellow dragon.
However, the palms were unable to hinder the yellow dragon's advance and were effortlessly destroyed.
Feng Ning kept retreating from the yellow dragon. The dark purple palms kept hindering the yellow dragon by taking advantage of their numbers.
Seeing Feng Ning cast numerous dark purple palms continuously without any issues, Huang Zhi frowned. "What a strange cultivation technique. Is he unafraid of wasting his qi? Does he believe that the qi for the golden core stage is endless just because he keeps using those small moves?"
Realizing the uniqueness of Feng Ning's cultivation technique, Huang Zhi paid closer attention to the dark purple ball on the right side of Feng Ning.
She felt a sense of danger brewing in her heart as she saw the ball continuously absorbing seemingly endless qi from Feng Ning.