Chapter 4: First Battle

"Fine, do you dare to duel with me?" Liu Zheng's lips curled into a cold smile, his gaze piercing towards Gu Chen.

Gu Chen's face remained calm. He replied indifferently, "Why should I agree to you?"

Upon hearing this, Liu Zheng was momentarily stunned. He hadn't expected Gu Chen would refuse.

However, he quickly thought of a way to provoke, "What, are you afraid?"

Hearing this, Gu Chen smiled faintly. He looked at Liu Zheng and said, "Are you so eager to fight me?"

"Of course!" Liu Zheng responded quickly, as if fearing that Gu Chen would not agree.

"Alright, then I'll give you this opportunity."

Gu Chen chuckled lightly and then started walking towards the training ground inside Jing Tian Department.

Jing Tian Department, being one of the most important institutions in Da Xia, though not the headquarters, still occupied a vast area. Inside, there were numerous buildings and facilities, including a huge training ground specifically used by the patrol officers like Gu Chen for training purposes.

At this moment, the training ground was quite lively with many patrol officers training. There were many tools for auxiliary training such as stone blocks and stone mills, all special tools used to temper the body.

In the center, there was a huge arena specifically for the patrol officers to compete.

After all, Jing Tian Department could be said to be the most crucial military institution in Da Xia, so martial contests were not prohibited and were actually encouraged for the patrol officers, as sometimes, these contests could promote progress better than solitary training.

Of course, this was under the condition that no lives were endangered.

So, from time to time, there would be patrol officers competing on the arena.

And a month and a half ago, the original Gu Chen was defeated by Liu Zheng here, in front of everyone.

Most of the patrol officers training here were in the Body Refining Realm and Blood Refining Realm, as these two realms focused on tempering the body. Once reaching the third realm like Gu Chen, the emphasis shifted to the growth of inner strength.

When they saw Gu Chen and Liu Zheng approaching, all the patrol officers in the training ground paused their actions.

The grudge between Gu Chen and Liu Zheng was no secret. They all knew it. At this moment, they looked at Gu Chen with some surprise because most were present when Gu Chen was injured by Liu Zheng some time ago.

"Hello, Master Gu."

"Greetings, Master Gu."

Although a bit surprised by Gu Chen's recovery, the patrol officers in the first and second realm still greeted him.

Gu Chen smiled and nodded to each person who greeted him.

Seeing this, the people who greeted Gu Chen were even more puzzled, feeling like Gu Chen had changed.

The original Gu Chen was mostly silent and rarely smiled.

Liu Zheng beside Gu Chen was also slightly surprised but didn't ponder much. He jumped onto the arena with a light leap.

"Come on, Gu Chen!" Liu Zheng looked eagerly at Gu Chen, very much wanting to showcase his perfected Iron Palm to Gu Chen, anticipating Gu Chen's shocked and fearful expression.

Hearing this, Gu Chen also jumped lightly onto the arena.

"Let's clarify, just like last time, no matter what happens, I won't hold back. Don't blame me for not telling you in advance," Liu Zheng said confidently, looking very assured.

"Bring it on," Gu Chen's face remained calm. He clearly understood the deeper meaning in Liu Zheng's words but didn't pay it any mind.

Whoosh!

At this moment, Liu Zheng moved, like an arrow off the string, rapidly and fiercely charging towards Gu Chen.

This could be said to be Gu Chen's first battle since coming to this world. Despite absorbing the original Gu Chen's memories and having some combat experience, the feeling was still different when facing it in person.

Compared to Liu Zheng's skillful and smooth moves, Gu Chen appeared somewhat rigid.

After all, it was his first time, like everyone's first time. No matter how much theoretical experience one had, when facing a real battle, it still took some time to adapt.

Gu Chen was naturally the same, only raised his arm to block Liu Zheng's attack after he approached, seeming a bit reluctant.

Bang!

The fist collided with the palm, and a dull sound echoed in the air. Gu Chen took a few steps back.

Seeing this, a smug smile appeared on Liu Zheng's face. Sure enough, even if Gu Chen's injury healed, a month and a half of recovery time had made his martial skills lag behind significantly.

Liu Zheng was certain at this moment, Gu Chen would still not be his match today!

He even intended to use the moment of defeating Gu Chen to achieve a breakthrough in his cultivation, reaching the mid-stage of the Blood Refining Realm!

"Gu Chen, try taking another strike from me!"

Liu Zheng laughed loudly, one arm shot out like lightning towards Gu Chen's chest.

Seeing this, the patrol officers watching from below shook their heads, believing Gu Chen would be defeated by Liu Zheng again.

Bang!

With another dull sound, to everyone's surprise, Gu Chen actually blocked this strike.

A hint of surprise flashed across Liu Zheng's face. He thought that with Gu Chen's reaction speed, this strike should have hit, but unexpectedly, it didn't.

However, it didn't matter. Liu Zheng's lips curled into a cold smile, he increased his attack speed, his arms became shadows, launching numerous attacks simultaneously, making it hard to determine which strike was real and which was fake.

"Liu Patrol Officer's inner strength is so robust and smooth, supporting such fierce and swift attacks," a second-rank patrol officer exclaimed below.

"Looks like Liu Patrol Officer is about to break through to the mid-stage of the Blood Refining Realm. Truly fast cultivation speed," another third-rank patrol officer said enviously.

"Master Gu is in trouble, it's too difficult to defend," mentioning Gu Chen made the onlookers shake their heads.

On the arena, at the beginning, Gu Chen indeed found it slightly difficult to dodge, fortunately, he had a solid inner strength base, keeping him unscathed for now.

As time passed, Gu Chen's movements became more skilled and smooth. With continuous exchanges with Liu Zheng, he gradually integrated the original Gu Chen's combat experience.

Liu Zheng, on the other hand, started feeling increasingly uneasy, as Gu Chen's movements became quicker, eventually, it was Liu Zheng who struggled to keep up with Gu Chen.

Liu Zheng knew, if this continued, he would likely lose!

Realizing this, Liu Zheng's face darkened. Quickly, he seized an opportunity, exploiting a gap in Gu Chen's attack, gathering his inner strength into his left palm. At this moment, his left palm looked like a red-hot iron, emanating heat waves.

"Iron Sand Palm at the perfected stage!" someone exclaimed.

"Master Gu is doomed!" the patrol officers thought inwardly.

At this moment, Liu Zheng's perfected Iron Sand Palm struck Gu Chen's chest solidly with a bang.

Liu Zheng looked at Gu Chen with a proud smile, sneering, "It's over."

But the sight he had anticipated, of Gu Chen in pain, didn't appear. Instead, Gu Chen looked at him calmly, smiling as he asked, "Why did you stop?"

"Hmm?!"

Liu Zheng was shocked, instinctively withdrawing rapidly to distance himself from Gu Chen.

It could be seen that the center of Gu Chen's chest had some charred marks, evidence that Liu Zheng's Iron Sand Palm had landed accurately.

"How is it possible, why are you unharmed after taking my Iron Sand Palm?"

Liu Zheng looked incredulously at Gu Chen. The last time, Gu Chen was defeated because of his iron sand palm, the scorching effect had injured Gu Chen's organs, making him unable to suppress the evil aura invading his heart.

But this time, even with his Iron Sand Palm at its peak, it had no effect on Gu Chen, who looked as if he had only been tickled.

Naturally, Liu Zheng had no idea that the current Gu Chen was vastly different compared to before. Having perfected both his Iron Shirt Technique and Thirteen Grand Protectors' Horizontal Skill, Gu Chen's body was already iron-like, perhaps even stronger.

Additionally, Gu Chen had sixty years of internal power protecting him internally. Given Liu Zheng's initial stage of Blood Refining Realm, even a perfected Iron Sand Palm couldn't harm Gu Chen.

Let alone one palm, even if Liu Zheng hit him ten times, he still wouldn't be harmed.

The gap between them was too large. If not for it being Gu Chen's first real battle, Liu Zheng would have been down long ago.

"Impossible, absolutely impossible!"

Liu Zheng shouted, his expression a bit frantic, eyes wide, looking at Gu Chen, "You must be pretending, yes, you must be pretending. I don't believe you could withstand my Iron Sand Palm!"

"A perfected Iron Sand Palm, paired with twenty years of hard-earned strength, you couldn't possibly withstand this strike!"

Liu Zheng roared, once again charged forward, channeling all his strength into one palm, aiming to end it all in one strike.

His palm, glowing red and emitting scorching air, fully displayed the power of his perfected Iron Sand Palm.

Seeing this, Gu Chen's face remained calm. He slowly spoke, "Since that's the case, why don't you take a strike from me?"