Chapter 55: When the Child of Destiny Meets a Cheater

A dull yet heart-palpitating sound echoed throughout the entire estate.

In the next second, everyone could see a white beam of light and a golden beam of light colliding in mid-air. Then, the golden light was instantly swallowed up by the white, shooting straight out of the courtyard like a trapped dragon ascending to the heavens, vanishing from sight.

Only then did a violent surge of vital energy burst forth, knocking over the younger generation who were standing a bit too close, causing a brief commotion.

Only a few of the strongest cultivators could barely manage to steady themselves, yet they all stared in disbelief at the direction where the white light had vanished, their faces filled with utter shock.

"Brother... did you see that clearly just now?"

"..."

Among the younger generation, a tea-haired boy with hedgehog-spiked hair said with cold sweat dripping down his forehead, as if he were still immersed in the scene just witnessed, unable to stop a shudder from running through his body.

The other tea-haired boy, whom he had called "Brother," wore a bitter smile at that moment, then sighed and said:

"Sigh... A-ci, after we return this time, the two of us must really work hard."

"...Mm!"

Meanwhile, at a nearby seating area, Zhang Jingqing had already stood up directly, gazing somewhat blankly into the distance, before turning his head to look at Zuo Ruotong with an expression of immense complexity.

"Brother Zuo, you were truly far too modest earlier."

Yet upon hearing Zhang Jingqing's words, Zuo Ruotong wore a rather intriguing expression.

What could he say? Tell Zhang Jingqing that that move just now had startled him as well?

In fact, earlier, upon seeing Zhang Zhiwei defeat Lu Jin with a single slap, Zuo Ruotong had evaluated the combat prowess of both him and Wu Xian, concluding that they were a match for each other, evenly matched.

In his imagination, if these two little fellows were to fight, even if Wu Xian could ultimately win against the other, it certainly wouldn't be easy, and he might even suffer a minor setback.

In that way, it would more or less dampen the pride within Wu Xian's heart, and Zuo Ruotong's objective would be largely achieved.

Yet who would have thought that the moment Wu Xian made a move, he displayed a level far exceeding his usual standard, leaving Zuo Ruotong, as his master, both astonished and delighted.

What astonished him was that Wu Xian was even stronger than he had imagined, while what delighted him was that this kid must have been hiding his true strength in the past and wasn't as arrogant and bloated as he had imagined, allowing the heavy stone in his heart to finally settle down.

However, a new problem arose: since he had been pretending all this time, why stopped pretending today?

"Hehe, the Celestial Master flatters him. We should hurry over and take a look, lest the two little fellows fight with true fire, which won't be easy to wrap up then."

Having regained his composure, Zuo Ruotong first responded to Zhang Jingqing's words, and then his figure flashed, disappearing directly from his seat.

The others reacted upon seeing this and successively employed their methods to leave the courtyard. Old Master Lu, in particular, moved as nimbly as if flying, not looking at all like an octogenarian elder.

Only Zhang Jingqing remained standing in place, looking up at the sky, and murmured, "I never expected that such a monstrous talent would truly exist in this world, yet of all places, he ended up in the San-I Sect."

"The Inverting Form of the Three Primes... Sigh!"

...

A few minutes later, accompanied by numerous sounds of piercing through the air, everyone had run beyond the perimeter of the Lu family estate and, following the residual vital energy lingering along the path, tracked it down to a patch of mountain forest two miles away, which also fell within the Lu family's territory.

As soon as they drew near, everyone felt a violent tremor coming from ahead. Looking closely, they saw smoke and dust billowing in the forest, spreading continuously amidst a series of muffled booms, and it quickly approached their direction.

Seeing this scene, a practitioner skilled in controlling the wind gave a low chuckle, waving his hand to summon a strong gust of wind that blew the smoke and dust away, allowing the successively arriving crowd to clearly see the scene inside.

To put it simply, a single sentence could describe it.

Zhang Zhiwei, shrouded in Golden Light, was being pressed to the ground and ruthlessly thrashed by Wu Xian, who had entered the second stage of the Inverting Form of the Three Primes, leaving him completely defenseless.

Meanwhile, on the branch of a large tree dozens of meters away from the two, the Immortal of Great Surplus, Zuo Ruotong, quietly watched the scene, as if standing guard for his own disciple.

Because of this, some of the younger generation could not help but mutter inwardly, suspecting that today's fight was a meticulously prepared plan by the San-I Sect, with the purpose of overshadowing the Dragon and Tiger Mountain under the watchful eyes of the crowd, thereby displaying the style and heritage of the orthodox Xuanmen.

Of course, this was merely the thought of most of the juniors. The heavyweight experts in the circle who were present possessed such piercing insight that they soon discovered some clues, and looking at the two young figures fiercely battling in the arena, they could not help but show expressions of admiration, thinking that the younger generation was truly formidable.

Wu Xian, needless to say, was indeed terrifyingly strong.

Such powerful, weighty, and unadorned fierce offensives would make even the Quanzhen lineage, who single-mindedly tempered their physical and spiritual cultivation, exclaim in wonder like monsters upon seeing them.

Moreover, he had now entered the state of the second stage of the Inverting Form of the Three Primes, raising his overall strength to yet another tier, sufficient to rival most of the senior experts present, and perhaps even surpassing them.

As for Zhang Zhiwei, who was currently taking the beating, he was no ordinary person either.

Although he appeared utterly disheveled, being wantonly battered by Wu Xian like a rag, one could tell from the Golden Light on the surface of his body—which had never dissipated—that this battle was far from over. This was also the reason why Zuo Ruotong had not stepped in to stop it.

Rumble————！！！

A descending axe-like flying kick landed, fiercely smashing Zhang Zhiwei—who had nowhere to leverage his force in mid-air—into the earth, creating a small crater.

Yet looking at the crumbling Golden Light within the pit that still refused to dissipate, Wu Xian could not help but feel a slight ache in his teeth.

"As expected of the Eight Divine Incantations of Taoism, it really is tough enough."

The Golden Light Incantation, one of the Eight Divine Incantations of Taoism, was a foundational skill that must be mastered by advanced disciples of Dragon and Tiger Mountain in this world.

Though called a foundational skill, its grade was by no means low.

It could be said that apart from the Five Thunders Orthodox Method, the Golden Light Incantation was Dragon and Tiger Mountain's signature external technique. Especially in terms of defense, it could already be considered top-tier in the world of practitioners, and the methods capable of surpassing it in this regard were definitely few and far between.

Compared to defense, strengthening the body and cultivating health was the true foundation of the Golden Light Incantation. After all, this divine incantation was created by the legendary Patriarch of Dragon and Tiger Mountain who had ascended, and it was absolutely impossible for it to be used merely for taking beatings.

Its true function was to elevate the practitioner's foundation of life and spirit, and the so-called Golden Light was merely an incidental special effect produced in conjunction with certain incantations and rituals.

Just as Zhang Zhiwei said in the manga, the simpler something is, the sturdier it is. The so-called Great Dao tends toward simplicity; nothing more could be said.

Clearly, Zhang Zhiwei deeply understood this principle, which was why he put so much effort into the cultivation of the Golden Light Incantation. Coupled with his monstrous talent, his physical and spiritual cultivation stood far ahead of his peers, allowing him to become a supreme being among mortals relying solely on his bare palms without any other techniques.

Yet alas, this son of destiny was out of luck, having happened to encounter a cheater who should never have existed in the first place...

"Senior Brother Zhang, stop pretending."

Looking into the quiet crater, the corners of Wu Xian's mouth curled into a smile as he said:

"Just these few hits aren't enough to hurt you. Let's finish early; I'm still waiting to go back and listen to Master's lecture."