Bearing the blue sky

Chapter 315 Sparring! Little Azure Dragon!

A million demons?

Are you bragging?

Zhu Ge's first reaction was disbelief.

How many demons are there in the entire Dongting Lake area?

Although there are many, how could Liu Jianjian possibly collect millions of demons in a short time?

Moreover, most of the creatures in Dongting Lake are certainly not demons, but other ordinary species.

But no matter what, even if Liu Jianjian accepts it, Zhu Ge will only side with her relative and not with reason.

"Please calm down, Demon King!"

Zhu Ge said loudly, "There must be some misunderstanding. I would be grateful if you could explain it to me. Nothing in the world is more important than reason."

"Hahaha, well said!" The Annihilation True Monarch laughed, then said, "Little Azure Dragon, you clearly saw me, where are you going to get the disguise?"

""

As soon as he finished speaking, the lake surface suddenly exploded, and a huge black shadow rose from the water, accompanied by splashes and turbulent ripples.

Its form writhed underwater for a while before emerging from the lake surface, its dark blue scales gleaming heavily in the sunlight.

Azure Dragon!

"Long time no see," said the True Lord of Annihilation, his voice tinged with amusement. "How have you been?"

The dragon hovered on the water's surface, slightly tilting its head to reveal an eye the size of a water tank. Its gaze first fell on Zhu Ge, then turned to the Annihilation True Monarch in the cabin, pausing for a moment as if it recognized him at a glance.

"Hahaha, Annihilation! You begged me to become your disciple back then, but I refused. Now you've fallen from grace, haven't you?"

It blinked, then let out a long exhale, as if releasing a breath that had been pent up for a long time. Its body sank slightly on the surface of the water before floating back up.

"Tch, I never take on disciples." The Annihilation True Monarch curled his lip: "What a hassle."

"Hahaha, how about this, I'll take you as my disciple now? I've wanted to humiliate you for a long time," Little Azure Dragon laughed.

"Dream on!" The Annihilation True Monarch rolled his eyes, then said, "Come on, let's eat lotus root together. This lotus root is quite delicious."

"That's right, I personally watered it with dragon dung." The little green dragon flew onto the small boat and transformed into human form.

However, what he said almost made Hunmie Zhenjun spit it out.

Zhu Ge didn't complain; instead, she asked, "Could the Azure Dragon Demon King give me some dragon dung? I happen to have some crops growing in my own realm."

Upon hearing this, Little Azure Dragon was speechless.

"Hahaha, how about it? Want a potion?" The Annihilation True Lord laughed loudly.

Zhu Ge also smiled.

He actually sensed it too.

This little green dragon and the Annihilation True Monarch are probably quite familiar with each other.

Don't be fooled by what they say about taking on apprentices or not, or whether they like or dislike them.

But you must know that taking the Annihilation True Lord as a disciple now is tantamount to going against the New Year's Eve Official.

"Oh, right, your little hedgehog."

Little Green Dragon tossed a palm-sized hedgehog to Zhu Ge.

It is a miniature version of the willow tip itself.

At this moment, Liu Jianjian was trembling.

Zhu Ge was both amused and exasperated: "Jianjian, I told you this is a great demon's territory, and look, we ran into a wall!"

Liu Jianjian transformed into human form only after separating from the little green dragon. She shuddered and evaporated the water vapor, then hid behind Zhu Ge, looking at the little green dragon with a frightened expression.

"He's a divine beast, otherwise I wouldn't be able to beat him anywhere," Liu Jianjian said indignantly.

Mythical beast?

Zhu Ge was surprised to hear this.

There are two kinds of divine beasts: one is a divine beast of bloodline, and the other is a divine beast with extremely high strength.

However, in terms of bloodline, after the second stage of the Transformation Realm, the difference in bloodline is actually not that great.

Judging from this, this little green dragon is quite powerful.

"Haha, you little hedgehog have taken in too many demons!" the little azure dragon laughed. "If you don't stop it, my Dongting Lake will be empty!"

"I, I didn't—" Liu Jianjian's eyes darted away.

Seeing this, Zhu Ge knew that Liu Jianjian had probably received quite a lot.

However, Zhu Ge was more interested in the little green dragon itself.

"Senior Azure Dragon, could you please offer some guidance?" Zhu Ge asked with a smile.

When fighting against a divine beast of the same level, Zhu Ge would most likely crush it.

However, this Azure Dragon is a great demon and a divine beast, and it is also an old friend of the Annihilation True Lord.

This is a good opportunity to verify his "end point".

Otherwise, Cao Zhi and his Confucian disciples would not have been able to verify it at all.

Only the demon race, with its brutal, hand-to-hand combat style, is truly suited to the way of martial arts.

"Oh? You're only at the second realm?"

Qinglong narrowed his eyes: "Are you sure?"

Zhu Ge smiled and said, "How about we go to the shore?"

"good!"

Zhu Ge and Xiao Qinglong stood on the sandy ground by the lake. The ground was soft, and the watermarks left after the water receded still formed light-colored ripples on the surface of the soil.

Not far away, Liu Jianjian crouched behind a willow tree, peeking out half her head, her fingers gripping the bark, revealing her eyes and nose—

尖。

The True Lord of Annihilation was still sitting on the boat, which was moored not far from the shore.

He didn't disembark, but simply turned the bow of the boat so that he could face the open space on the shore.

The boatman had already rowed away, leaving only Hunmie Zhenjun on board, holding a freshly refilled bowl of lotus root slices.

"Are you sure you want to fight?" Little Green Dragon asked.

After transforming into human form, he looked like a man in his early thirties, with a slender build and moderately broad shoulders.

He wore a dark blue long robe with no other accessories except for a dragon scale-shaped pendant hanging from his waist.

His skin had a cool, slightly damp feel, typical of someone who spends a lot of time by the water, but his eyes were deeper than most people's.

"I'll strike harder than you think," Little Azure Dragon chuckled.

"A little heavier is just right." Zhu Ge nodded and said, "That suits me perfectly."

He drew the Purgatory Star Staff from his waist and weighed it in his hand.

The stick gleamed with a faint silver-red light in the afternoon sun, with a layer of mixed-color textures faintly visible at the edges, like the thin layer of light before the new snow melts away, slowly receding into the twilight.

He flexed his wrist, the tip of the stick drawing a shallow arc in the sand.

Xiao Qinglong did not take out his weapon, but simply lifted the hem of his long robe and tucked it into his belt, revealing the dark blue underpants underneath.

His hands hung at his sides, his wrists slightly relaxed, without any clear starting stance, as if he was used to directly starting the action from this relaxed state.

One moment it looks like an old tree standing in the wind, the next it might leave a new mark on the ground in front of it, so clear that it looks like the pattern left by repeated washing by water.

"Come on," he said.

"Okay!" Zhu Ge said without hesitation.

He took a step forward, and the Purgatory Star Staff swept forward at an extremely low height, the staff brushing against the ground and kicking up a layer of fine sand.

Xiao Qinglong did not retreat, but merely turned slightly to the side, letting the tip of the staff glide past his waist by a hair's breadth.

He raised his hand, spread his five fingers, and pressed his palm down lightly, causing an invisible force field to descend from above.

Like a tightly wrung-out sheet of cloth, it pressed down on Zhu Ge's shoulder, then paused briefly above his shoulder blade.

It was as if he was measuring the depth of the palm strike, or as if he was confirming whether the other person would move in different directions at the same time.

Zhu Ge felt the pressure field pressing down on her.

Instead of resisting it head-on, he used his waist strength to rotate his body and dissipate the edge of that force field.

As he spun, the staff changed from a horizontal to a vertical slash, smashing down towards Xiao Qinglong's shoulder.

Xiao Qinglong did not dodge, but simply raised his left arm and used the outside of his palm to block the path of the falling staff.

When the stick made contact with the palm, it made a duller sound than expected, as if it had been slapped on a thick wooden board.

The little green dragon's shoulder remained motionless, as if the stick had landed on a stone that had been polished by water for many years.

"Not bad in strength." Little Azure Dragon nodded slightly. "But not heavy enough."

"This is a test." Zhu Ge let out a long breath: "It hasn't even started yet."

He retracted the staff, readjusted his center of gravity, gripped the middle of the staff with both hands, and assumed a starting stance that was lower than before.

Then he moved again, this time faster than before, leaving a silver arc in the air, like a line stretched taut by the wind, arriving just before the landing point.

Little Azure Dragon's eyes narrowed slightly, and his left palm met the staff again, but at the moment of contact, it slightly deflected, causing the force to slide out along the edge of his palm.

He took a half step to the side and back, as if he had been swept away by a stream of water.

"This one was heavier than before," Little Azure Dragon smiled. "But it's still a little short."

"And what about this time?"

Zhu Ge struck again, this time using the Dawnbreaker Stance.

The golden light flashed briefly on the staff before quickly merging into the surface luster, like a shimmering light being gathered by a layer of water ripples, already blending with the staff before it even reached it.

Xiao Qinglong's expression changed slightly for a moment. Instead of catching it with his palm, he turned to the side, letting the staff pass by him.

As the stick brushed against the edge of his clothes, a very short crease appeared on the dark blue fabric, which then quickly returned to its smooth state.

"You used your power," said the little green dragon, his tone as if confirming a known detail, his gaze falling on the faint golden afterglow remaining on the staff.

"Um."

"Then I should move around too."

The little green dragon took a step forward, raised its right hand, spread its five fingers slightly, and pushed forward.

An invisible force surged from his palm, more concentrated than the previous force field, like a compressed mass of water, heading straight for Zhu Ge's chest.

Zhu Ge did not take the blow head-on; instead, he held the staff upright, allowing the force to strike the middle section of the staff.

The impact traveled through the stick to his arms, as if he were being pushed backward by a stream of water, leaving a shallow drag mark on the sand with the soles of his boots.

He didn't wait for the force to completely dissipate, but instead used the momentum of his backward movement to lower the staff and then accelerate forward.

This time, he used the footwork from the Xu Family Swallow Fist.

His figure traced a rapid, directional arc across the sand, approaching the little green dragon several times, only to leave just as the invisible force field was about to settle.

It's like searching for a gap that hasn't been sealed off in a body of water that's about to close in.

Little Azure Dragon's attacks were faster than before, each time reacting at the last second before touching his body.

The two exchanged blows for dozens of rounds on the sand.

Zhu Ge's staff technique has no fixed routine; some of his variations come from fragments of martial arts skills he had previously learned.

Some of his responses were impromptu adjustments based on Xiao Qinglong's attack angle.

The Little Azure Dragon's moves also lack a fixed shape, resembling more like a constantly flowing water surface that can absorb falling force and redirect it in another direction.

The branches of several willow trees on the bank swayed constantly as the blast wave passed. The willow tree with its pointed tip was also affected by the blast wave, its branches swinging back and forth above her head.

After retreating once, Zhu Ge put away his stick and stood up: "That's about enough."

"Next, I will use my latest insights to correspond with this concept, which I call the 'End Point'."

"Oh? Nice name." Little Azure Dragon smiled dismissively.

This little green dragon is indeed as sharp-tongued as the Annihilation True Monarch—Zhu Ge's lips twitched, but the next moment he regained his composure and his breathing became slow.

"While it's described as representing the destination, it could also be called 'the sense of speed' or 'the sense of pace'."

Zhu Ge's voice fell softly on the sandy shore of the lake, as if speaking to the little green dragon in front of him, or as if confirming something to himself.

He didn't rush to attack, but first adjusted his breathing to stabilize the newly formed intent within his body.

That feeling is quite different from the dawn's momentum.

The dawn is like tearing a hole in the darkness, carrying a tension that pushes outward.

The destination, on the other hand, is more like the end of a journey that has already been long enough, confirming that you have indeed arrived there.

Little Azure Dragon stood there, his hands still hanging at his sides, his gaze lingering on Zhu Ge for a moment: "Judging from the name, it seems there's more to it than meets the eye."

"Hmm." Zhu Ge smiled and explained without hesitation, "It can go from fast to slow, or from slow to fast. It's not a fixed rhythm; it depends on where I need it to land."

This explanation does not cover the core issues.

Knowing something doesn't mean you can use it, nor does it mean you can avoid it.

Just like knowing the blast radius of a nuclear bomb, even if you know it, you can't escape it.

He gripped the Purgatory Star Staff tightly again, but instead of immediately making a move, he first let the staff slowly rotate in his hand, as if feeling its center of gravity.

The little green dragon didn't urge him, but waited quietly, as if it were used to staying still in the water.

Then the blessing song started.

His movements were slower than before, and the stick traced a longer arc in the air.

The speed was slower than the previous probing attacks, as if it were being dragged along by an invisible resistance, carrying a sense of unhurried and continuous movement.

Little Green Dragon raised his left arm to block, but just before contact, the speed of the staff suddenly increased for a moment.

It wasn't a significant acceleration, just a slight increase in speed compared to the previous slow pace, like a river flowing at a constant speed that naturally increases its velocity as it passes through a narrow passage.

Xiao Qinglong's parry was slightly off-time. The force field did not completely block the end of the staff when it arrived. The tip of the staff grazed the edge of the back of his hand, leaving a faint red mark.

"interesting."

Little Azure Dragon glanced down at the red mark on the back of his hand, his eyes lighting up: "Your intention, is it related to time? Or space?"

He glanced at the Annihilation True Monarch watching from afar: "He even knows this?"

"I taught myself," Zhu Ge said with a smile.

Fast and slow blades!

In fact, Zhu Ge's technique can be described as a combination of fast and slow knife techniques.

One fast, one slow; movement and stillness combined; reality and illusion intertwined.

"Nice move! Then you take one of mine!"

"Reverse Scale!"