Yefutidaolu

Chapter 442 Azure Sea
Before he could finish speaking, the ground beneath his feet suddenly exploded!

It wasn't aided by the power of heaven and earth, but purely by the terrifying power unleashed from his physical body! His entire being transformed into a blur that tore through the air, rushing straight towards Gao Jian! His speed was extreme, and his fist was condensed with a vast amount of compressed true essence, without any fancy light, only the purest power!
This punch discarded all techniques and skills, returning to the most essential form of power.

As Yuan Lu said, Gao Jian is currently in a peculiar state of "self-isolation." Although he has avoided being assimilated, he has also lost the ability to interact with and draw strength from the energy of the outside world, as if he were on an isolated island.

Faced with this punch that is purely forceful and leaves no room for trickery, one can only rely on one's own solid cultivation to take it head-on!
Seven Realms versus Twelve Realms?

This is practically like a mantis trying to stop a chariot!

The violent wind from the punches was already hitting him, making Gao Jian's hair dance wildly and his clothes cling tightly to his body.

His pupils constricted, his muscles tensed instantly, and his internal energy surged at an unprecedented speed. He pushed the "Heart Lamp Illuminating Shadow Sutra" to its limit, attempting to find a chance of survival amidst this absolute power disparity!
Faced with Yuan Lu's ferocious punch, devoid of any fancy techniques and focused solely on the source of power, Gao Jian knew that taking it head-on would be tantamount to suicide. Just as the force of the punch reached his body, he made the most correct choice—

Don’t retreat but advance!

Instead of meeting the fist head-on, he moved like a weightless willow catkin, using the terrifying airflow from the opponent's punch to lightly touch the cracked ground with his toes. In a way that defied common sense, he floated upwards!

"Trying to leave?!" Yuan Lu sneered, changing his fist into a claw, his five fingers spread wide, his true essence spewing out, transforming into five incomparably condensed crimson claw winds, like giant eagles reaching out their claws, tearing through the sky, grabbing towards Gao Jian! The speed was too fast for the naked eye to perceive!

However, Gao Jian's inner light had already clearly illuminated every subtle sign of the opponent's slight shoulder movement and the flow of true energy. Just as the claw-like wind was about to strike, he suddenly twisted his body in mid-air, narrowly missing the edge of the crimson light that was powerful enough to shatter metal! At the same time, his rusty knife, without being drawn from its sheath, moved along with the sheath, like a venomous snake emerging from its hole, precisely targeting Yuan Lu's Shenmen acupoint on his wrist!

This sudden change of tactics was absolutely brilliant! It wasn't a direct confrontation, but rather an attack on where the opponent had to defend, disrupting their rhythm of attack!

Yuan Lu remained expressionless, showing no surprise that Gao Jian was able to dodge the punch. With a flick of his wrist, his powerful true energy surged forth, causing the sword sheath to snap open and thrust forward.

But in that brief moment of hesitation, Gao Jian used the momentum to rise again, like a hawk doing a somersault, soaring straight into the sky!

The two chased and dodged, and in an instant they were above the clouds. Below them was a surging sea of ​​clouds, and above them was a clear blue sky.

Gao Jian was surrounded by a sky full of fist shadows, his figure as ghostly as a phantom.

He closed his eyes slightly, relying solely on his divine sense. Under the ultimate illumination of the Heart Lamp, the strength and distribution of each punch, the flow of energy, and even the most subtle ripples of power were clearly presented before his "eyes."

He seemed to be dancing on the edge of a knife. Sometimes he darted between the gaps in the fist's force like a fish, and sometimes he changed direction with the airflow generated by the fist's force like a bird. His movements were minimal but highly efficient. Often, he could avoid a fatal attack by the slightest difference in distance by just a slight turn of his body, a tilt of his head, or a light touch of his toes to the side of another fist's force.

Suddenly, a strange scene appeared in the sky:
One side unleashed a thunderous punch, stirring up the wind and clouds with terrifying power; the other side, however, moved with ease through the raging energy storm, remaining untouched by a single leaf.

Yuan Lu's eyes remained calm and still, and his fist technique changed again. It was no longer a shower of flowers, but a simplification of complexity. His fists were like battering rams striking alternately, each strike containing the power to shake one's soul.

The speed of the punches seemed to slow down, but the pressure on Takashi increased sharply. The pure power began to affect the observation of the soul, making the "gap" for Takashi to dodge narrower and narrower.

Yuan Lu's fists and feet incorporated the unique supernatural power of the Youming lineage. Although he lacked the fanatical belief of the Martial Arts Divine Intent, the divine gate he had opened granted him the ability to wield 'supernatural powers'.
Just as the oppressive force of the fist pushed Gao Jian to the brink of defeat, and a punch was about to strike his chest, a glint of light flashed in Yuan Lu's eyes, and his divine power was activated—

Supernatural Power: Soul-Shattering!
This is neither an illusion nor a simple mental attack, but a strange method derived from a profound understanding of the "body and mind as one" essence in both the visible and invisible realms.

It does not directly attack flesh and blood, but rather originates from the divine, using an invisible high-frequency oscillation wave to instantly affect the soul and body of the target!
Gao Jian felt an invisible and intangible yet strange tremor that penetrated deep into his soul, like thousands of fine needles piercing into his body at the same time! This shock directly targeted his blood, veins, vital energy, essence, and spirit!

His internal organs felt as if they were being gripped and shaken by an invisible hand, his blood and qi circulation became instantly disordered, and his essence surged like boiling water. The most crucial element, the divine will that supported his "heart lamp reflecting its shadow," was the first to be affected!
When one indulges in licentiousness, one loses one's essence when separated from the internal organs!

A strong sense of detachment washed over me, as if my soul were about to be shaken off my body! My will was in disarray, and my intellect was gone! The scene before my eyes began to blur and double, and my ears were ringing incessantly. The once clear and bright lamp of my heart, which had reflected all things, now flickered violently, like a candle in the wind, and the scene it illuminated became fragmented and distorted!
It was soul-stirring, terrifying, and mind-blowing!
Yuan Lu's goal was clear: Gao Jian's extraordinary divine insight was his greatest asset in resisting a stronger opponent. If he could suppress and disrupt Gao Jian's divine will with the "Soul-Shattering" technique, obscuring his "Heart Lamp" and greatly diminishing his insight, then in the face of this absolute power difference, Gao Jian would be like a mortal whose eyes had been blinded and ears deafened, unable to maneuver with skill and simply crushed by pure force!

Yuan Lu's punching speed did not increase, but the dual pressure of force and supernatural power made Gao Jian feel an unprecedented crisis.

The disorder in his mind caused a fatal delay and error in his judgment of the trajectory of the fist. The gap that was originally so close to dodging became blurry in his "eyes", and even non-existent "illusory gaps" appeared!
As the punch, imbued with the power of the twelfth realm and the "Soul-Shattering" divine ability, was about to land squarely on Gao Jian's chest, he seemed to have nowhere to escape, and the advantage of his divine will was completely stripped away!

However, even in that moment when his mind was almost overwhelmed and his senses were in chaos, Gao Jian remained calm.

He did not try to forcibly stabilize the flickering light of his heart, but completely abandoned the approach of "observation"!
He gathered all his mind and consciousness into his own honed physical instincts and intuition for life-or-death crises!

At the same time, his hand, gripping the rusty knife tightly, maintained the clarity of his heart.

"Om-!"

The rusty knife emitted a soft hum once more, but its resolute sharpness did not expand; instead, it contracted inward, tightly wrapping around the blade.

The next moment, Yuan Lu's fist arrived!
Gao Jian neither blocked nor dodged—when one's divine will is severely disrupted, any complex action could go wrong.

He simply relied on his honed martial arts instincts and life-or-death intuition to hold the rusty knife, which contained the power of isolation, across his chest!

"Boom!!!"

A deep, resounding boom, like the beating of a giant drum, exploded in the sky!

The fist slammed hard onto the rusty blade!
A tremendous force surged forth like a torrent, sending Gao Jian flying backward like a kite with a broken string. He spat out a mouthful of blood, and his right arm, which was holding the knife, emitted a sickening cracking sound, clearly indicating that he had suffered a serious injury.

However, Yuan Lu's brows furrowed slightly.

He clearly felt that the "Soul-Shattering" divine power contained in his punch was completely weakened and isolated by that strange sharp force field the moment it touched the rusty knife! It failed to completely destroy Gao Jian's mental defense as expected.

Although Gao Jian was blasted away and seriously injured by the force, in that split second, he withstood the effects of "Soul Shattering" with the help of his rusty knife!

As he was being sent flying backward, his chaotic divine will was rapidly reforming.

He steadied his body as it tumbled through the clouds.

Supernatural powers... indeed troublesome.

Yuan Lu looked at Gao Jian, who had quickly stabilized the situation, and for the first time, a very subtle hint of seriousness flashed across his eyes.

But he didn't expect to kill Gao Jian just like that, so he just kept throwing punches.

Gao Jian frowned slightly, and the light of his inner lamp flickered rapidly. He no longer simply dodged. In the compressed force of the fist, which was like a cage, he pointed his fingers like knives, occasionally striking precisely at a non-center point where the power of Yuan Lu's fist flowed.

"puff!"

The fingertips made contact with the true energy on the side of the fist, producing a slight muffled sound. Gao Jian felt as if he had been electrocuted, and was thrown backward by the force, his face slightly pale, clearly having suffered some shock. But Yuan Lu's sure-hit punch also showed a slight, almost imperceptible pause and deflection as a result.

He cannot directly confront the power, but with unparalleled insight, he can, at the most critical moment, carry out the most effective "interference" and "deflection" at the lowest cost.

Yuan Lu remained calm, as if everything Gao Jian had done was within his expectations.

He was no longer in a hurry to achieve quick results, and his boxing style became more and more steady and profound, like a slowly advancing barrier between heaven and earth, compressing Gao Jian's room for maneuver step by step with absolute power.

No matter how extraordinary one's insight or divine will, or how exquisite one's skills, within this cage constructed of pure power, the space for maneuvering and maneuvering is being constantly stripped away.

Gao Jian's breathing also began to become somewhat rapid. Frequently pushing his divine will to its limit and enduring the shockwaves from the aftershocks of the power were also taking a huge toll on him. Yet his eyes remained calm, like a deep pool, searching for a possible way out that might not even exist within his ever-shrinking "living space."

The battle in the sky was silent yet deadly.

There were no roars, no exclamations, only the roar of power tearing through the air, and two figures calmly chasing and battling each other above the clouds.

One side uses force to intimidate others, advancing step by step; the other side uses skill to maneuver, walking on thin ice.

but--

While Gao Jian and Yuan Lü were engaged in a silent yet extremely dangerous duel above the clouds, the Imperial Academy below was already alarmed by the energy fluctuations and strange phenomena in the sky that could not be completely concealed.

Many students and lecturers from the Imperial Academy came out of their rooms and looked up at the sky where the clouds were churning and occasionally torn apart by the dissipating energy.

They could see two blurry figures crisscrossing and colliding at an extremely fast speed, and they could feel the immense pressure that, even weakened by distance, was still terrifying.

Among the crowd, Cang Hai—a senior student who had cultivated at the Imperial Academy for many years and had repeatedly regarded Gao Jian as a potential rival and sought to suppress his brilliance—was standing there with his mouth agape, his pupils dilated, his face filled with utter astonishment and disbelief.

He stared intently at the rather slender figure in the sky, who was able to maneuver continuously under the terrifying offensive, almost bursting his eye sockets!
That...that was...brilliant insight!?

This realization struck him like a thunderbolt, shattering all his common sense and pride!

How can it be? !
Fragments of memories about Gao Jian flashed uncontrollably through Cang Hai's mind.

That arrogant brat who, not long after entering the Imperial Academy, openly blocked the entrance and boasted of being "invincible in the Five Realms"; that seemingly unassuming newcomer who always managed to cause a stir unintentionally; that challenger he secretly added to his list of those "who need to be taught a lesson to prevent them from becoming arrogant"...

He always thought that Gao Jian was just a somewhat unruly and unrepentant student who relied on a bit of talent and luck.

Having cultivated diligently at the Imperial Academy for many years, Cang Hai possessed profound knowledge and skills, making it only natural that he could easily surpass Gao Jian. He had even mentally rehearsed countless times how, in front of everyone, he would use his absolute strength and the demeanor of a senior to properly "educate" this ignorant junior.

However, at this moment, the scene in the sky shattered all his expectations and all his sense of superiority into dust!

He's...fighting with a celestial being?!

Although one cannot see the person's exact appearance, the aura that could move heaven and earth and control the wind and clouds, and the suffocating feeling brought by the pure power, all indicate that the person's status is far beyond that of ordinary cultivators—that is an Earth Immortal!
They are beings standing at the very top of the Divine Dynasty's cultivation system!

Meanwhile, Gao Jian, the junior he thought he needed to "suppress," was currently engaged in a seemingly evenly matched yet extremely dangerous battle with such an existence high above the clouds! That calmness, that terrifying insight and skill in finding gaps and maneuvering even with an absolute power gap, was a realm that Cang Hai could not even imagine!
Then... what am I?
A chill ran up my spine, then turned into a burning, shameful embarrassment that instantly swept through my entire body.

The alternating hot and cold temperatures left Cang Hai feeling a tingling sensation in his hands and feet. His previously prized cultivation, seniority, and established position within the Imperial Academy... all seemed so laughable, so insignificant, in the face of Gao Jian's current display of power!

He had once regarded Gao Jian as a challenger he looked down upon, but suddenly realized that the other party had already reached a height that he found difficult to even look up at. His own secret scheming and his airs of seniority now seemed like the babbling of a frog at the bottom of a well, full of embarrassing absurdity.

It turns out that he never even had the qualifications to be an opponent.

(End of this chapter)