Chapter 169: Clash of the Five-Elements Spells
“Dao-Seeking Sect, Lu Yang.”
“Five-Elements Sect, Bai Ming.”
Bai Ming tensed up as if facing a formidable opponent. Though Qiu Jin’an's expression shifted, he showed no intention of halting the match. This means that the Lu Yang before me goes against common sense but doesn’t go against the rules and is not considered cheating.
That’s truly terrifying.
Swoosh! The sound of a spear slicing through the air marked the commencement of the battle.
Bai Ming wielded a silver spear that shone brilliantly under the sunlight. He made the first move to attack Lu Yang, which the latter calmly tackled by sidestepping to his right. His Qingfeng sword scratched the spear, igniting sparks in all directions. With this momentum, he slid across the spear to slash at Bai Ming’s hands.
Bai Ming flicked his wrists. The spear vibrated and deflected the Qingfeng Sword’s strike.
Rays of sword descended like rain, morphing into a river that continuously cascaded downward, while the spear was bold and aggressive, moving in wide arcs. It remained unflinching in the face of Lu Yang’s sword technique, choosing to meet it head-on.
The sword and spear clashed, the whole display dazzling the audience’s eyes. It seemed as if the outcome could be determined at any second. The disciples of the Five-Elements Sect were astonished; they had never seen anyone at the same cultivation stage tie with Bai Ming in a weapon duel.
“A tie?” Meng Jingzhou scoffed. From the beginning, Lu Yang has only been using the most basic sword moves. It’s just that he joined them so seamlessly that the Foundation Establishment cultivators from the Five-Elements Sect couldn’t discern anything.
Meng Jingzhou knew best how powerful Lu Yang’s sword technique was. Up until now, Lu Yang had yet to showcase any complex sword technique. Although Lu Yang rarely unsheathes his sword, that doesn’t signify that his swordsmanship is weak. After all, with a Sword Spirit Root, how could his sword technique be anything but strong?
Tao Yaoye’s fiery gaze was fixed on Lu Yang’s figure in battle, but she was thinking of another matter. She had been right by Lu Yang’s side when he learned the Tree-Planting Mantra. I clearly remember that the maximum distance between Lu Yang and the vegetative person is only twenty meters. But no matter how I look at it, the distance between the spectator stand and the Martial Plaza’s stage is much more than twenty meters.
What Tao Yaoye didn’t know was that Lu Yang had obtained a spell to command ghost servants after defeating the tiger demon. However, it turned into an Out-Of-Body Soul Technique when he tried to learn it. Therefore, upon creating the Bodhi tree clone, Lu Yang had his soul leave his body and enter his clone. That way, he didn’t have to worry about the distance between his original body and his clone.
In other words, Lu Yang’s soul was on the battle stage, while the Lu Yang at the spectator stand was fully controlled by the Everlasting Immortal Fairy.
In the arena, Lu Yang seized an opportunity to flip himself. While he was spinning in mid-air, he raised his right leg and channeled all his power toward it, stomping down on the head of the silver spear. Bai Ming tried to pull his spear free, but Lu Yang’s body weighed down like a mountain.
The Qingfeng sword drew an arc through the air and broke the sound barrier as it aimed straight at Bai Ming.
The crowd erupted in gasps, but a disciple from the Five-Elements Sect quickly collected themselves. “Don’t panic. Don’t forget that Senior Brother Bai Ming’s strength lies in his Five-Elements spells. His spear technique is just a distraction!”
Bai Ming released his grip on the spear and swiftly retreated while forming a hand seal. A gigantic earth serpent surged forth from the ground.
The Martial Plaza was not constructed with stone bricks but with loess, a unique yellow soil, and was stabilized by an array.
“It’s the Earth Dragon from the Five-Elements spells!” Long Xiang of the Five-Elements Sect cried out.
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The form of a dragon held special significance in the cultivation world. At Bai Ming’s current stage, he was still unable to transform the earth into a dragon, so he could only create an earth serpent. Even so, easily summoning an earth serpent was not something any ordinary Foundation Establishment cultivator could achieve!
Lu Yang appeared unperturbed. He softly muttered two words and passed through the earth serpent. “Shrinking Earth.”
Bai Ming’s pupils constricted. What spell is this? A Five-Elements spell? I didn’t expect Lu Yang to be capable of using Five-Elements spells too, and not just any, but the extremely difficult Earth Escape Technique! Even I have only scratched the surface of this highly demanding spell!
Could his talent in spells be above mine?! But how could that be? I possess the Five-Elements Celestial Physique, just like the founder of the Five-Elements Sect! I’m born to excel in the Five Elements!
Qiu Jin’an was visibly moved. “No, this isn’t the Earth Escape Technique!” He knew what the Five-Elements spells comprised and how they should be cast better than anyone. However, the spell Lu Yang unleashed didn’t match any of the spells he recognized.
A completely new spell yet again?!
“How did you invent this?” Qiu Jin’an turned to ask the Everlasting Immortal Fairy.
She replied dispassionately, “Learned it while learning Shrinking Earth To Inches.”
“Huh?” Qiu Jin’an’s mind still couldn’t process what he had just heard. How are these two spells related?
Back in the arena, the tides had turned once again. Bai Ming switched from defense to offense. As he formed a seal with his hand, a murderous aura of metal congealed on the stage. Dozens of small daggers flew out from his robe, moving at his command.
“It’s the Metal Manipulation Technique!” Fang Hao of the Five-Elements Sect shouted.
The Metal Manipulation Technique allowed one to mobilize anything made of metal. At advanced stages, one could even control the opponent’s magical artifacts, which was a truly terrifying prospect.
However, Bai Ming could only command his own magical treasure for now, similar to the Object Manipulation Technique, though his version was more combat-oriented.
The dozens of daggers were like murderous weapons demanding their target’s life as they were shot from all directions, aiming right at Lu Yang’s vital points.
Unable to avoid the attacks, Lu Yang pulled out the Golden Light Incantation and stuck it to himself, emitting an intense golden light that formed a protective barrier around him. He had purchased it with the contribution points awarded by Dai Bufan when he just returned to the Dao-Seeking Sect from Yanjiang Commandery.
As soon as the daggers hit Lu Yang, they were deflected away.
Bai Ming sneered. “Hmph, it’s just a talisman with limited use and duration. How many times can it save you?”
Hearing this, Lu Yang removed the Golden Light Incantation.
Bai Ming continued to snigger, “Giving up already...”
Lu Yang stuck the talisman back on, and he flared with intense golden light. Then, he removed it and stuck it back, repeating this over and over. The jarring transitions from the flickering rays of light almost blinded Bai Ming’s eyes.
Bai Ming never imagined that the Golden Light Incantation could be used in this manner.
As it was his first time encountering such a situation, his eyelids instinctively tried to close. However, when he realized that closing his eyes now would render him vulnerable to Lu Yang’s attack, he struggled against his body’s natural instinct and squinted his eyes.
In that moment, as he fought against his natural instincts, Lu Yang dove into the ground and suddenly emerged beneath Bai Ming, delivering a solid punch to Bai Ming’s jaw and knocking out a tooth!
“Jinwu Crow Flame!”[1] Bai Ming unleashed his most powerful attack in a bid to end the fight with one decisive strike.
Crimson gold flames rampaged as faint cries of the jinwu crow echoed from within. The scorching blaze instantly increased the temperature of the entire Martial Plaza by more than twenty degrees. Even the audience below the stage could feel the flames assaulting their senses.
The person with the most intense reaction to the jinwu crow was Long Xiang, whose Water Spirit Root was incompatible with fire. The appearance of the jinwu crow gave off a suffocating feeling, and he even felt that the circulation of spirit energy within him had slowed down slightly.
~~~
Someone commented, “Is this the Jinwu Crow Flame that established Senior Brother Bai’s status as the number one person among those at the Foundation Establishment Stage? It’s indeed very powerful!”
“I heard the sect leader say that Senior Brother Bai’s Jinwu Crow Flame is evolving into the more advanced version, that is, the Sun True Fire. Once he reaches the Golden Core Stage, the Jinwu Crow Flame will smoothly transform into the Sun True Fire. Able to wield true fire right after one enters the Golden Core Stage? That’s terrifying!”
Long Xiang turned his head and was very surprised to see that Li Haoran was not the least bit concerned about Lu Yang. As someone with a Fire Spirit Root, he should be well aware of how frightening the Jinwu Crow Flame is.
“Aren’t you worried about Lu Yang?”
Li Haoran flashed a smile, not giving a direct answer to his question. “Senior Brother Lu once commissioned me to craft a flying carriage. We worked together for three days and finally achieved results.
“During the whole crafting process, Senior Brother Lu was responsible for supplying the flames. Do you know what kind of fire that was?”
“What was it?”
“Three Esse True Fire.”
~~~
Meanwhile, on the battle stage, Bai Ming suddenly felt uneasy despite feeling certain of his victory just a moment ago. However, the Jinwu Crow Flame had blocked his vision of Lu Yang.
Suddenly, his expression completely changed. He sensed a much more fierce and domineering fire emanating from Lu Yang’s direction.
This sensation...it’s true fire!
1. Jinwu, sometimes known as the “Golden Crow,” is the three-legged crow. It resides in the sun and is the spirit of the sun in Chinese mythology. ☜