I never upgrade

Zhou Ziheng instantly sprinted to the ground, landing behind Xu Lun—

Xu Lun sensed a threat behind him and immediately turned around, striking out with a palm, intending to use the force of his palm to drive away his opponent!

However, Zhou Ziheng was not intimidated by such basic techniques. He moved his feet quickly, causing his whole body to rotate. The four wings on his back were flung up like four huge cloaks, and the wind force created by the palm strike was completely canceled out by his wings!

The next second, before Xu Lun could react, Zhou Ziheng suddenly pulled a sharp sword from his wings and thrust it out, hitting Xu Lun's right shoulder directly!

[Feather Sword Style 1: First White Snow]

Apart from Xu Lun, everyone present recognized the sword strike and realized that:

Zhou Ziheng has begun to use his martial arts skills!

This sudden sword strike caught Xu Lun completely off guard; he didn't even have time to feel the pain.

Zhou Ziheng pulled his arm back and instantly retrieved the feather sword. Then, he swung his hand upwards!

【Feather Sword Second Form: Wind and Cloud Swirl】

The move was very freehand, as if he had just casually swung his sword and blood gushed out from Xu Lun's chest, splashing like ink!

At the same time, this sword strike also had a gale effect. As the sword was swung, a violent gale was generated out of thin air along the trajectory of the sword's edge. The rising airflow directly swept Xu Lun up and blew him into the sky!

Zhou Ziheng's attack wasn't over yet; he followed suit, soaring into the sky and instantly reaching a position even higher than Xu Lun—

Suddenly, he began to spin in place, his four wings unfolding almost like an umbrella, flinging out countless feathers as he spun, like petals falling from the sky—

【Feather Sword Three Forms: Falling Flower Shadow】

Concealed by rapidly spinning wings and a flurry of feathers, Zhou Ziheng suddenly thrust his sword downwards, aiming directly at the crown of Xu Lun's head—

At that moment, time seemed to slow down, just as everyone thought the sword was about to strike—

Xu Lun clenched his fists. He felt an incredibly powerful force coursing through his spine, as if his back was about to split open!

He roared, as if releasing long-suppressed pain, and the skin on his back suddenly burst open, revealing four white wings stained with blood, which unfolded rapidly from Xu Lun's back like butterflies emerging from their cocoons!

The sudden energy fluctuation deflected Zhou Ziheng's sword. A fierce wind suddenly arose around Xu Lun's body, which had sprouted four wings. The chaotic airflow repelled everything around them, forcing Zhou Ziheng to adjust his posture and quickly flap his wings to move away from the area.

But after he had flown far away, he looked back with eyes full of shock and disbelief:

Four-winged form... The opponent actually used [Soaring Wings] under those circumstances?!

Behind them, including Zhang Yuan, Zhou Bo, and Steward Zhou, everyone was stunned:

I thought Xu Lun had only learned a smattering of the Wind God Path and didn't know the [Flying Bird Wings] at all, but he just pulled out the [Soaring Cloud Wings], which completely stumped everyone—was my previous analysis all wrong?!

At this moment, Xu Lun stood suspended in mid-air, his two pairs of blood-stained wings fully unfurled. His blood-soaked body made him look like a blood angel, descending upon the world with slaughter and fury.

Xu Lun didn't waste any words; this force was too powerful, and he couldn't withstand it for long.

The next second, he endured the excruciating pain, flapped his four wings, and flew into the sky, looking down at Zhou Ziheng from a higher position.

Xu Lun roared, his outstretched arms suddenly bringing together, his hands clasped together, fingers interlaced, pointing down at Zhou Ziheng—

boom!

With a loud bang, the four wings on his back exploded simultaneously, turning into countless sharp feathers that rushed towards Zhou Ziheng in a swarm!

【Seven Forms of Feather Sword: Maple Forest Dye】

"Maple dyeing?!?"

Steward Zhou's eyes nearly popped out of their sockets. He never expected that this guy not only knew the [Soaring Cloud Wings], but also mastered the seventh move of the [Nine Transformations of Feather Sword] – Maple Forest Dye!

A massive swarm of feathers swept in, already stained with blood. Now, tens of thousands of feathers, like red leaves drifting in the wind, converged into a red tidal wave, seemingly about to devour Zhou Ziheng!

This shocking scene momentarily stunned Zhou Ziheng, but he quickly regained his composure, pulling back to create distance and swinging his arms in a circle in front of him—

Suddenly, all four wings on his back opened, and countless feather swords flew out instantly, forming a spiral sword array in front of him along the trajectory of his arm swings!

[Six Forms of Feathered Sword: Hundred Lotus Blossoms]

That's right, Zhou Ziheng had only mastered the sixth move of the [Nine Transformations of Feather Sword], which was already his strongest move. Although it wasn't as powerful as the seventh move, [Maple Forest Dye], he could only grit his teeth and try to block it at this moment!

With a loud shout, Zhou Ziheng slapped his palms upwards, and the spiral sword formation immediately began to rotate at high speed, constantly generating new sword formations. It looked like blooming lotus flowers, one after another, spiraling upwards, colliding with the overwhelming maple forest!

boom!

A deafening roar echoed across the golden wilderness.

The crimson tide and the white lotus collided instantly. Tens of thousands of red leaves continuously devoured the sword formation. Zhou Ziheng's expression was ferocious as he frantically exerted force with both palms. The four wings on his back continuously released feather swords to maintain the sword formation, but under the sweeping red tide like a waterfall, his figure still crashed to the ground!

"Ziheng..."

Seeing this, Steward Zhou was extremely anxious. His fists clenched involuntarily, and he subconsciously wanted to rush forward to help his grandson out of the predicament!

But the next second, he froze, stopping in time, and a warning bell suddenly rang in his mind—

His reason told him he couldn't do that, after all, there were many outsiders present, and his repeated displays of favoritism towards his own people in front of them would damage his reputation.

Moreover, the young princess is also watching. If even she thinks that he has a tendency to protect his own, and this gets back to the city lord, it will have a very negative impact on him.

"The difference between martial arts techniques isn't as great as that between cultivation methods, so Ziheng should be able to handle it..."

Steward Zhou could only console himself with this thought to suppress his anxiety and continue to observe from the rear.

Just then.

With a loud "bang!", Zhou Ziheng landed on his feet. Facing tens of thousands of flying feathers, he tried his best, but was eventually forced to the ground.

However, he was not crushed. Instead, he braced himself, keeping his hands raised above his head to maintain the spiral sword formation, wrestling with the red storm.