In Emei, start by obtaining golden attributes.

Chapter 353 The Demon Master was the first enemy to see this sword strike.
The "Great Method of Planting Demons in the Heart of the Dao" is a closely guarded secret of the Demon Master Palace. Pang Ban has deeply experienced its power over the past year.

Not only is the purity of his own Gang Yuan far greater than before, but the Gang Yuan within his body can also constantly switch between the two energy properties of Demonic Gang and Dao Gang.

The former is sinister and difficult to defend against, while the latter is as vast as an abyss. Combined with Pang Ban's own skill, the same martial art in Pang Ban's hands can contain two different characteristics, one yin and one yang, which can be switched at will, making it difficult for people to resist.

What's even more remarkable is that when the demonic seed and the Dao heart within the body operate simultaneously, the surrounding天地势 (heaven and earth forces) will naturally be drawn in.

This would increase Pang Ban's martial arts power by 30% under the influence of these forces of heaven and earth.

Pang Ban himself was a top-tier master of his time, possessing unparalleled strength.

Now that he has mastered the "Great Demon Seed Technique of the Dao Heart," even Meng Chixing himself said that Pang Ban is now virtually invincible below the Celestial Realm.

But now, in the short time it takes to meet him, after two consecutive moves, Pang Ban has not only failed to gain any advantage over Gu Shaoan, but is also clearly in a state of being suppressed.

Moreover, this was without Gu Shaoan drawing his Heaven-Slaying Sword.

Compared to last year at the Golden Summit of the Emei Sect, Pang Ban felt that his strength, even after mastering the "Dao Xin Seed Demon Technique," was not only not superior to Gu Shaoan's, but he also felt like he had been left behind by Gu Shaoan.

Even Pang Ban felt a sense of utter mischief, as if the door had been opened by some eerie force.

Although he was shocked, Pang Ban's expression remained unchanged.

Pang Ban circulated his spiritual energy, pulling his body up and then landing on the ground.

Looking at Gu Shaoan, who landed lightly on his feet, Pang Ban said in a deep voice, "I didn't expect that your strength would improve so much in just over a year."

At this point, Pang Ban paused, his gaze falling on the Heaven-Slaying Sword held in Gu Shaoan's left hand.

“But last year at the Golden Summit, you weren’t arrogant enough to face me without drawing your sword.”

Hearing Pang Ban's words, Gu Shaoan paused, then chuckled and said, "The Demon Master is right. Even though we are defeated generals, it would be rather arrogant if we didn't even draw our swords."

"That's perfect. My purpose in coming here today is not to spar with the Demon Master."

After saying that, Gu Shaoan placed his right hand on the hilt of the Yitian Sword.

Pang Ban: "."

Pang Ban's heart skipped a beat when he saw Gu Shaoan's actions.

Just as Gu Shaoan gripped the sword hilt with his right hand, Pang Ban suddenly sensed a special aura within Gu Shaoan's body.

With Pang Ban's knowledge and experience, he naturally sensed something was wrong immediately.

"This aura... Has his swordsmanship entered the second realm of swordsmanship?"

Seeing Gu Shaoan gripping the sword, Pang Ban pushed his Dao Heart and Demon Seed to their limits, and his internal Qi and spiritual energy circulated wildly like a runaway horse.

Even so, a sense of unease still grew in Pang Ban's heart.

Seeing Gu Shaoan standing three zhang away, sword in hand, Pang Ban couldn't help but send a telepathic message to Zhu Wushi: "Why aren't you making a move?"

Faced with Pang Ban's telepathic message, Zhu Wushi narrowed his eyes and looked at Gu Shaoan.

Just as Zhu Wushi was contemplating whether or not to make a move, a voice quietly entered his ears.

"If you want to step into the Celestial Realm, you'd better stay put and watch from the sidelines."

Upon hearing the sound, Zhu Wushi looked up at Gongzi Yu in the distance, and their eyes met.

Zhu Wushi, who already had some doubts about what had happened today, first frowned, and then, as if he had thought of something, his gaze suddenly turned to Pang Ban.

A bold idea suddenly popped into Zhu Wushi's mind, causing a glint of light to flash in his eyes.

Then, out of the corner of Pang Ban's eye, Zhu Wushi lightly touched the ground with his toes and swung back two zhang, widening the distance between himself and Pang Ban.

Noticing Zhu Wushi's actions, Pang Ban's expression changed, and the unease in his heart suddenly intensified.

He had a vague feeling that today's events might have deviated somewhat from his initial expectations.

However, before Pang Ban could think further, Gu Shaoan's voice suddenly rang out from the other side.

"Since I created this sword move, the Demon Master is the first enemy to see it."

"A newly created martial art?"

Hearing Gu Shaoan's words, Pang Ban's unease intensified.

Seeing Gu Shaoan already in a sword-drawing stance, Pang Ban felt a cold sweat break out on his back, but it was immediately absorbed by the fabric of his clothes.

Immediately afterwards, the feeling of having one's own energy locked down returned.

"Zheng——"

The next instant, a clear and melodious sound, like a phoenix's cry in the heavens or the clash of metal and jade, suddenly resounded throughout the entire Zhenwu Hall.

Accompanied by the sword's cry, a warm, elegant, and resolute golden light suddenly appeared in the air.

It wasn't the blinding golden light of the sun, but rather the first rays of dawn, shining through gaps in the thick clouds onto the silent earth at daybreak.

It is not particularly fiery or unrestrained, but it possesses an unstoppable, vibrant penetrating power. Its color is warm and soft, as if it can dispel all gloom and coldness, yet it contains a flavor that tears apart the night and announces the arrival of day.

Gu Shaoan drew his sword so fast that only a blurry afterimage remained. At that moment, man and sword seemed to become one, transforming into the dawn's first rays of sunlight as they hurtled towards Pang Ban.

Without complex variations or unpredictable trajectories, it is simply the most direct, fastest, and most focused strike.

The golden light at the tip of the sword was concentrated to its extreme, becoming the brightest, sharpest, and most central source of light in this dawn. The air was silently cut open, leaving a straight, subtle, yet long-lasting golden trace. The scenery around the trace was slightly distorted, as if the space itself had been "ironed" smooth by this warm and sharp sword light.

Faced with Gu Shaoan's seemingly warm and gentle yet incomparably sharp sword strike that proclaimed the will of "dawn" and "penetration," Pang Ban's pupils shrank to pinpoints, and his heart felt as if it were being gripped tightly by an invisible hand.

The warm sword intent that locked onto him brought no warmth whatsoever; instead, it chilled him to the bone.

"Drink~"

At the critical moment of life and death, the demonic seed and the Dao heart within Pang Ban resonated wildly at an unprecedented speed. He let out a low roar, then lowered his waist and stood on his horse, his feet sinking deep into the ground like iron pillars. Instead of blocking or dodging as usual, he used an extremely ancient, heavy, yet domineering posture, as if he were conquering a battlefield and sweeping away thousands of troops. He brought his fists to his waist, then twisted his body, thrust his shoulders forward, and his arms swung forward like an invisible, incomparably heavy halberd.

The moment he threw that punch, Pang Ban's aura suddenly changed drastically. The incomparably pure internal energy within him was no longer simply demonic or Daoist energy, but under the control of the demonic seed and the Dao heart, it entangled, swirled, and merged, forming a vast, pitch-black torrent.

What's even more chilling is that, as he swung his right arm, the condensed spiritual energy, full of chaos and domineering will, surged out like an invisible army, blotting out the sky and completely merging with the pitch-black energy.

As Pang Ban unleashed his punch, all the Wudang disciples in the Zhenwu Hall, as well as Gongzi Yu and Pang Ban who were watching from the sidelines, felt a sudden blur before their eyes. The scene before them suddenly collapsed, distorted, and reassembled.

The majestic and solemn Zhenwu Hall has disappeared, and the bronze doors, incense tables, statues, and other things in front of it have become blurred and faded away.

Instead, there was an endless, blood-soaked ancient battlefield.

Under the gloomy, oppressive sky, broken halberds and tattered flags were stuck in the scorched earth soaked with dark red blood. The smoke from the gunpowder mixed with the heavy stench of blood assaulted the nostrils, making one want to vomit.

All around were deafening shouts of battle, the cries of the dying, the mournful neighing of warhorses, and the muffled thuds of weapons piercing flesh and bone. The ground beneath their feet trembled under the weight of countless iron hooves and footsteps.

They themselves, in a daze, seemed to have transformed into insignificant soldiers on this battlefield, wearing tattered armor, holding dulled swords, surrounded by an endless, indistinct "enemy army" exuding overwhelming killing intent.

The fist strike that Pang Ban unleashed, which was originally just a condensation of internal energy, seemed to be infinitely magnified, stretched, and deformed in their affected perception.

It was no longer a fist, but a colossal halberd that stretched from the sky to the earth, its terrifying will to crush mountains and rivers, slaughter armies, and dominate the world ever larger before their eyes.

The reason why illusions are called illusions is that they directly affect consciousness.

Just as a person in a dream is completely unaware that they are in a dream, their state of mind and reactions will change with the changes in the illusion.

Gazing at the overwhelming, domineering fist energy that seemed to blot out the sky, an indescribable heavy pressure acted on their minds and bodies, causing the flow of internal energy within Gongzi Yu, Zhu Wushi, and the others to become momentarily sluggish.

If others are like this, then Gu Shaoan, who is Pang Ban's target, must be even more so.

Even though he had condensed a divine seed, Gu Shaoan was still pulled into the illusion immediately under the influence of the spiritual energy unleashed by Pang Ban's full-force demonic power.

If it were six months ago or last year at the Golden Summit of Mount Emei, even Gu Shaoan might only have been able to cope with Pang Ban's even stronger, more bizarre, and more powerful spiritual energy by relying on the "Immovable as a Mountain" attribute.

However, the sword move "Sword Ten: Dawn" used by Gu Shaoan at this moment was a combination of "Sword Drawing Technique" and "One Sword Separates Worlds", a sword move with an indomitable momentum, and no regrets once the sword was drawn.

Having already entered the second realm of swordsmanship, Gu Shaoan had already formed his own sword intent.

Even if consciousness is temporarily lost, a body that has merged with sword intent will already follow a swordsman's instincts.

Immediately, within the sight and perception of Gu Santong and Gongzi Yu, strands of the power of heaven and earth quietly merged into the Yitian Sword in Gu Shaoan's hand.

After the fusion of these forces of heaven and earth, the golden light on the Yitian Sword in Gu Shaoan's hand became even brighter, warmer, and more dignified.

Until that gentle golden light propelled the Heaven-Slaying Sword to "pierce" into the fist energy condensed by Pang Ban's punch in front of him.

Like the first ray of sunlight in the morning, it gently yet firmly pierces through the thick, oppressive leaden clouds that have accumulated all night.

Wherever the sword light reached, the vital energy and spiritual power containing Pang Ban's life's work were brutally torn apart, annihilated, and dissipated under the sword intent as bright as the morning sun.

Pang Ban's fist and halberd intent, powerful enough to shatter mountains and split rocks, could not slow down the speed of the sword light even slightly.

But the warm sword light continued to advance steadfastly.

In an instant, the golden dawn sword light had completely pierced through the dark, all-encompassing aura.

Pang Ban didn't even have time to make any effective dodge or secondary defense. He could only watch helplessly as that point of sword light, condensed to its extreme and warm, sliced ​​through his right fist and then moved forward until it separated his right arm from his shoulder.

A sharp pain surged up from the wound at that moment.

A scream burst forth from Pang Ban's mouth at that moment.

Gu Shaoan's consciousness was also pulled back by this scream.

As the illusion dissipated and Pang Ban came into view, Gu Shaoan's Yitian Sword moved like a gazelle leaping from its horns, striking Pang Ban's Qihai acupoint, three inches below his navel, at an extremely tricky angle as Gu Shaoan turned to the side.

"puff."

A soft sound, like a drop of water falling into a deep pool.

Time seemed to freeze at this moment.

Pang Ban trembled violently. He felt that his Qi Sea Qi, which he had cultivated for decades and which was as surging as a river, suddenly fell into unprecedented chaos and stagnation under this "point".

Immediately afterwards, the flow of vital energy in the meridians suddenly became disordered and surged upwards.

"Wow--"

A large mouthful of dark red blood, which could no longer be suppressed, gushed out from Pang Ban's mouth, staining the ground in front of him red.

His imposing body swayed a few times, the purplish-black aura and flush on his face faded completely, turning into a bloodless paleness. The domineering, arrogant, and shocked look in his eyes was quickly replaced by a deep disorientation and an incredulous dejection.

He tried to mobilize the remaining Qi, but found that his Qi Sea was as if it were sealed, and the response became extremely weak and sluggish.

His legs buckled, and he almost collapsed to his knees. Only an indomitable will kept him upright. He barely managed to touch the ground with one knee and support himself with his fist, preventing him from falling completely. But he was already swaying precariously and looked utterly pathetic.

He gracefully stepped back half a step, stood with his sword in hand, his expression still calm and indifferent, as if the sword strike that had just torn apart the domineering fist energy and shattered the demon master's sea of ​​qi was merely a casual gesture.

Inside the Zhenwu Hall, there was a deathly silence.

Looking at Pang Ban kneeling on the ground, and the severed arm and the glaring crimson blood on the ground, Zhu Wushi looked at Gu Shaoan with an unprecedented level of solemnity and apprehension.

Meanwhile, Gongzi Yu, standing to the side, also brightened up when he saw Gu Shaoan standing there with his sword sheathed.

Recalling that sword strike, even after pondering for a long time, Gongzi Yu could only describe it as "stunning".

"What is the name of this sword strike?"

Despite the excruciating pain in his body and the weakness caused by the destruction of his dantian, Pang Ban raised his head and spoke with some difficulty.

"Sword Ten, Dawn".

As soon as he finished speaking, Gu Shaoan flicked his wrist, and the warm, dawn-like sword light of the Yitian Sword suddenly receded, and the Yitian Sword returned to its sheath.

(End of this chapter)