Chapter 205: The dragon destroys the rampart

As the shockwave from Cao Yun's attack still echoed within the square, the crowd was entirely silent. No one was able to register what had happened. Cao Yun had used almost every card he had up his sleeve in that single attack. Even Chief Elder Tingyu who had seen his actual strength a few days ago was astonished. This attack had more than forty-five thousand dan of strength behind it. Even with spiritual senses, it was hard to discern the precise number. However, Xiao Xuefeng was among the chief elders. She could sense several eyes darting in her direction, as though they were waiting for her.

"Sixty-one thousand dan." For a Spirit Warrior, this was nothing. But this kind of strength was the equivalent of an early or middle Mortal Warrior while using Qi Manifestation. Even with a Golden Silk Body, reaching this kind of physical feat as a Mortal was impossible. "It wasn't just his physical body." Xiao Xuefeng had seen what had happened more clearly than anyone else.

"It got blurry because of Yun Ping's own Qi Manifestation, but Chen Guo used Qi in his attack as well."

"What? He manifested his Qi?! That cannot be! He's only an 8th-grade Mortal. That some phenomena appear, maybe, and even that is a stretch. But he cannot manifest anything yet."

"He did not manifest his Qi. If you've seen Zhi Yin fight, you'll understand right away."

As she reminded them of that fight, the chief elders finally understood what had happened. Qi Manifestation was the control of Qi outside of the body to produce mystical phenomena that depended mostly on the martial arts of the cultivator, but not only. What Zhi Yin had done during her fight was merely unleashing her Qi within her own attack. Then, the energy followed the wind she had created in order to amplify said attack. But she had not been able to manifest her Qi. Instead of controlling it, she just poured it out and let the wind pressure carry it. But then, it was less dense and more prone to follow wrong patterns than an actual Qi Manifestation.

Cao Yun had just copied her technique. When he had unleashed his 'The Pillar Piercing the Sky', the young cultivator had used the acupoints already mastered on his forearms to unleash a great quantity of Qi. Since he was so close to the Qi Manifestation of Yun Ping, it had been harder to discern. But that meant that he had to use more Qi than his opponent since he couldn't control it at all. For example, Yun Ping could retract his Qi Manifestation and restore most of his stamina like that. But once Cao Yun unleashed his Qi in an attack, it was gone. He would need several days or the use of some pills to restore it completely.

In a fight, this was a huge flaw. But, on the other hand, his mere physical strength was not enough to fight off against Qi Manifestation.

Being so close to him, Yun ping had noticed. And like the chief elders, he had found out the worst flaw in Cao Yun's technique. There was a clear limit to how many times he could unleash such powerful attacks. But Yun Ping was excited like he had never been before. As a 9th-grade Mortal, he had fought against a 1st-grade Mortal Warrior soon after his return from the Ancient Ruins. And faced with his Qi Manifestation, he had been powerless. No matter how powerful he was, he couldn't harm him at all. None of his attacks were even able to pierce through his Wei Qi that was too dense for him. Yet, here he was fighting someone capable of such a feat.

After a silence that seemed to last forever, great clamors rose from the crowd. The dam had broken and everyone's excitement echoed throughout the entire square. They were so loud that the platform itself even shook a little.

A late Mortal putting up a fight against an early Mortal Warrior was not unheard of in history. But it was so rare that even the chief elders, for the majority of them, had never seen this happen. Chief Elder Baishen, for example, had seen a fighter a few centuries ago who had been able to fight against a 2nd-grade Mortal Warrior while being almost a Mortal Warrior herself. Those occurrences were exceptional though.

Yun Ping's heart was beating like crazy under his excitement. All the resentment he still had deep in his mind against Cao Yun had completely disappeared. The truth was that Cao Yun did not deserve his reputation and the constant mention of his name. He deserved way more than that. It should have been more than four or five centuries since a fighter like him had appeared in the Wubei Sect, or even the entire Hongchen Kingdom. The Wubei Sect was known to be the strongest martial art sect, and it had produced many geniuses. Clearly, Cao Yun would enter into the legend of the sect.

However, it was apparent that Cao Yun had exhausted a huge part of his stamina with this attack. Contrary to everyone else, he had been disappointed by his performance. He was sure that his attack could pierce through Yun Ping's defenses. However, the tip of his spear had barely stabbed through the wall of his 'Impassable Fortress'. The gust of wind that should have been unleashed by his technique got completely neutralized and Yun Ping's Wei Qi was not affected at all, not even talking about his physical body. Yet, Cao Yun had really poured all he could muster in this attack. If he had tried to use more Qi, he would have damaged his acupoints. His meridians could still take maybe a little more pressure but not his acupoints. He would need to work on that. If his acupoints could not follow his meridians, there was no point in having trained those meridians in the first place.

Cao Yun still had enough stamina in him to use this kind of attack two or three times. Then, he would just fall down, unable to even move. Trying to use the opportunity of the wall crumbling before his eyes, he retrieved his spear and got ready for another attack right away. But, for the first time during the duel, Yun Ping moved away from Cao Yun. He put some distance between them and struck the ground with his gigantic spear.

As 'Eternal Rampart''s butt hit the platform, a powerful thunderclap resounded throughout the square. The sound completely silenced the clamor of the crowd. Even the audience had to hold their ears to resist the sound. But the vibration from the sound alone pierced their flesh and bones. Even the few 1st-grade Mortal Warriors felt their innards vibrate with the sound, and their Qi became a bit chaotic. Cao Yun, who was closer to Yun Ping, felt his Qi being disturbed in his entire body. Since he had been ready to attack again, he had used 'Dragon's Heart' to accelerate his Qi in various parts of his body. If he were to lose control over his highly-accelerated Qi, it could cause severe damage, or even death. As such, Cao Yun was forced to stop moving in order to focus his intent and keep his Qi under control.

This lapse in his movement allowed Yun Ping to recover completely from the earlier shock. Contrary to the audience's expectations, he did not try to solidify his 'Impassable Fortress'. He did the exact opposite in fact. All around him, the walls collapsed and a gray energy condensed right in front of him. Yun Ping had put himself in a corner of the platform. And now, his Qi Manifestation was agglutinating to form a curved wall from one end of the platform to his left to the other one to his right. Behind him was the edge of the platform and in front of him the gray energy.

'Wall of Eternal Thunder'.

The energy now formed thousands of spears, ready to skewer anyone getting too close. But instead of actual spears, they looked like lightning bolts.

"Chen Guo! You gave me a fantastic show. This 'Wall of Eternal Thunder' can stop even 4-core demonic beasts charging at full speed. I tested it in the wild this very month against an Ivory Hide Rhinoceros." That demonic beast was entirely covered in a matter looking like ivory. It was known to be amongst the most brutish beasts, able to ram into incredible fortifications. As a 4-core demonic beast, it could even contend with a 3rd-grade Mortal Warrior. But if it was charging with all its strength, it could probably crush a middle Mortal Warrior with its horns, before trampling him under its hooves.

When Yun Ping announced that, everyone got amazed. Such a defense was not only powerful, but it was covered in sharp weapons. Although Yun Ping's Qi Manifestation was still very faint, the shapes of those lighting spears were very vivid, especially their tips. If Cao Yun tried to attack, he would get impaled before his spear could even penetrate the defense. And he could not really attack Yun Ping from behind.

"Chen Guo. Your fight was incredible! I haven't had so much fun in a very long time. Truly, your reputation is even low compared with your actual talent. However, I do not believe that you can go through my defense. This is my most powerful technique. If you can defeat it, I will admit that I have lost."

Yun Ping could clearly see that Cao Yun was approaching the limit of his stamina. And he didn't want to win just by exhausting him out. To end this great fight properly, he was ready for one final showdown.

"I believe that you haven't given me your best shot yet."

"Brother Yun, you are right." Hearing Cao Yun confirm that he had an even more powerful attack surprised everyone but Chief Elder Baishen and Xiao Xuefeng. Both women had heard exactly what had happened in the Lunar Marsh. Cao Yun had discovered the variation of the Heart Star. Obviously, this technique which had killed a pseudo-4-core Soul Weaving Cyrtophora had to be incredible.

"However, I am ashamed to admit that I do not fully control this technique..." Cao Yun hesitated but he finally added his concern. "If I use it, I fear that I might kill you."

At first, Yun Ping was unsure whether this was just bravado or not. However, looking into Cao Yun's eyes, he saw his sincerity.

"Great, Brother. Now, I really want to see it. Brother, this is me asking you. Do not worry about my life, I know how to take care of myself. Show me your last technique before you completely exhaust yourself."

This time, it was Cao Yun's turn to look into his opponent's eyes. And what he saw was also sincerity. That man was ready to take the risk just to witness his most powerful attack.

"Fine." Cao Yun assumed his stance and circulated his entire cultivation. Deep in his sea of consciousness, the Heart Star shined more and more brightly as it expended. Very soon, it completely drowned his entire sea of consciousness with a red light. In the blackest depths of the reddened ocean, the Insight Writings Cao Yun was unaware of also started to change. A tiny part of the red light from the giant star seemed to nourish them.

His Drop of Wrath also got excited but still under the control of his Five Agents. It was different from the times it had acted out. Cao Yun was fully in control of everything. In his mind, the audience disappeared, the platform disappeared, even Yun Ping disappeared. Right now, there was only him and his spear. Then, even him and his spear disappeared as only the shiny tip of his weapon remained.

Absolutely everything that constituted Cao Yun was focused on this tiny point.

On the chief elders' platform, Xiao Xuefeng and Chief Elder Baishen were amazed by this technique, both in terms of martial arts and of mind cultivation. Xiao Xuefeng had seen Cao Yun's 'Sealing the Seven Demons in the Nine Peaks', but she was still amazed that such a young boy could focus his mind so much.

Sensing the power behind the attack, Chief Elder Baishen got ready to intervene. According to the rules, it was forbidden to willfully try and maim or kill one's opponent. From Yun Ping and Cao Yun's exchange, it was clear that Cao Yun didn't want to intentionally kill Yun Ping. But the risks were high and his opponent had accepted them as well. However, Chief Elder Baishen was not ready to lose a talented martial artist, either Cao Yun or Yun Ping. Because if Cao Yun were to fail in breaking down Yun Ping's defense, he could very easily skewer himself on his 'Wall of Eternal Thunder'.

This attack of Cao Yun was concentrating all his strength in a single direction. And that would also be the case with his Qi. As such, it would condense it in that single direction, amplifying its destructive power. It would be extremely close to the actual power of a Qi Manifestation.

The tension built up. If Yun Ping had not let Cao Yun focus his technique, he probably would have never been able to use it. Right now, he had still not mastered it. But, as it was the second time he was using it, this would be a great help in mastering him.

Suddenly, time stopped. All the audience stopped breathing and no sound could be heard at all. The world had halted for an instant. A terrible noise spread from Cao Yun's feet as they left the platform. Where he was standing an instant ago, there was a small smoking crater. Then, a flash of light went straight for Yun Ping. Its sonic boom blew away the air around both fighters and echoed in the square.

Only the chief elders were able to discern what was going on.

Cao Yun's spear collided with one of the weapons forming the Qi Manifestation of 'Wall of Eternal Thunder'. The 'Nine Chi Black Dragon Spear' took no damage, but the Qi Manifestation was literally pulverized. The shock was so intense that even the vicinity of that particular Qi manifested spear also got blown away. Yun Ping saw Cao Yun disappear and then, he had the tip of his spear right in front of his heart. His speed was so high that Yun Ping could do nothing at all. He tried to raise his own weapon, but he saw that he wouldn't have the time.

Then, he felt his Wei Qi he had focused on the anterior part of his body being pierced through by the mere air pressure from 'The Son of Heaven's Cavalry'. Right now, he was sure of it. He was going to die...