After a moment, Zhang Yang slowly nodded. "I promise you, no matter the outcome between us, it will not affect the overall relationship between the Hua and Zhang families!"

"Thank you!" A brilliant smile returned to Hua Feitian’s face.

Around Hua Feitian, streams of energy began to continuously converge, forming a vortex of power. The leaves and dry twigs on the ground near him started to lift and drift slowly.

This was the turbulent airflow caused by his energy. Hua Feitian was ready to make his move.

Zhang Yang watched him, a slight surprise in his eyes, but he made no move.

Today, Hua Feitian could no longer pose a significant threat to him. He had too many concerns, caring too deeply for the entire Hua family.

This was where he differed from Hu Yanfeng. Hu Yanfeng also cared for the Hu Yan family, but he cared for himself even more. For his own sake, he dared to cultivate Soul Devouring, which was forbidden by both righteous and demonic paths, even keeping his own sect elders in captivity to fuel his vitality.

It was precisely for this reason that he dared to ignore the threat of Zhang Yang’s Great Perfection realm, pursuing Zhang Yang across a thousand miles. No matter what trouble he brought upon the Hu Yan family, he would do it.

He wasn't afraid of being ruthless. His thought process was: If you dare do anything to my Hu Yan family, I dare to do the same to you, retaliating a hundredfold. His nature was selfish, like a rogue, but such a rogue was the most difficult to deal with.

Hua Feitian was different; his concern for the Hua family completely surpassed his concern for himself.

After Zhang Yang had reminded him, even enlightened him, he understood that defeating Zhang Yang would not be easy, and killing him was almost impossible.

Zhang Yang's comprehension of the Dao of Nature was no less than his own.

At the Great Perfection level, comprehension of the Dao of Nature was paramount. The difference between the mid and late stages of the Fourth Layer was actually quite small. Moreover, Zhang Yang possessed the ability of energy materialization, which, though Hua Feitian hadn't witnessed firsthand, he completely believed in.

At this moment, without certainty of victory over Zhang Yang, his resolve naturally wavered.

After all, the recent lesson from Hu Yanfeng was fresh. He could not, and would not, place the entire Hua family’s fortunes on a single gamble, which was why he had spoken those words.

In essence, what he meant was that the struggle today was between the two of them, and unrelated to their families.

Yet, for someone as proud as Hua Feitian to voluntarily say such a thing was incredibly difficult. This was also why Zhang Yang respected him; he was a man who truly placed his family above all else, valuing the family's interests above everything.

Zhang Yang finally understood why Hu Yanfeng had said Hua Feitian would never let him go. Zhang Yang's growth would inevitably hinder the Hua family's advancement. A Great Perfection expert like Hua Feitian would do anything for the sake of his family.

At this moment, a flicker of curiosity ignited within Zhang Yang.

What would Hua Feitian’s loyalty rating be within his system? Had it reached the maximum of one hundred? It was a shame his system couldn't query the various numerical values of other families or sects; otherwise, he would have definitely checked.

However, Zhang Yang was certain that even if it wasn't one hundred, Hua Feitian’s loyalty was definitely above ninety-five.

Looking at Hua Feitian, Zhang Yang nodded again.

Truly worthy of achieving Great Perfection through self-comprehension of the Dao of Nature; the purity of his energy surpassed that of Hu Yanfeng and Zhang Pinglu. Regrettably, it hadn't yet reached a visually discernible level.

Seeing Zhang Yang remain unmoved, Hua Feitian was slightly taken aback, but he did not hesitate. He extended his right hand, his body leaving two afterimages as he rapidly lunged toward Zhang Yang.

As his right fist moved, it transformed into a claw, and five streams of powerful energy shot forth from between his fingers.

This was emitted Heavenly and Earthly Energy, definitely far more potent than outwardly projected internal force.

All of this occurred in the blink of an eye. Zhang Yang shifted his body slightly, pivoted his foot, and the five energy streams whistled past him, allowing him to evade Hua Feitian’s fierce strike.

For Hua Feitian, this strike was merely a probe, and Zhang Yang evading it was not unexpected.

What surprised him was that Zhang Yang hadn't even begun to mobilize his energy yet. There was no trace of inherent Heavenly and Earthly Energy around Zhang Yang.

By acting this way, Zhang Yang clearly wasn't taking Hua Feitian very seriously, carrying the implication that Hua Feitian wasn't his match at all.

Hua Feitian was a proud man; one who wasn't proud could never have reached this level, much less achieved Great Perfection through self-comprehension of the Dao of Nature.

Even though he held a degree of admiration for Zhang Yang, a spark of anger flared in his heart at this moment.

Shifting his stance, Hua Feitian pressed both hands down, sending a stream of internal force through each. Soon, his two hands took on two distinct colors: one red and one white.

Mighty Heavenly and Earthly Energy began to gather between these two hands.

"Hua Family Mountain Splitting Palm!"

Zhang Yang's eyes narrowed slightly. The Mountain Splitting Palm was a supreme technique of the Hua family, one of their uniquely transmitted secret arts.

This was a high-level cultivation method. Long ago, an elder of the Hua family relied solely on this Mountain Splitting Palm to defeat all opponents of the same level, eventually reaching Great Perfection himself.

From then on, the name Mountain Splitting Palm spread far and wide.

This technique was notoriously difficult to master; even within the Hua family, fewer than one in ten disciples who attempted it succeeded. Each successful practitioner was treated as a treasure.

Zhang Yang had not expected Hua Feitian to have mastered this palm technique. When used by a Great Perfection expert, this skill was far more potent than when used by others.

Mountain Splitting Palm, as the name suggested, was a palm technique capable of splitting mountains—an extremely domineering style.

The winds on all sides intensified. The visible red and white palm winds, like two enraged, charging dragons, roared forward.

A faint white hue suddenly manifested around Zhang Yang. He had finally begun to condense the surrounding Heavenly and Earthly Energy, no longer merely dodging as before.

After observing closely for a few glances, Zhang Yang slowly nodded.

The Mountain Splitting Palm was not undeservedly famous. When wielded by a Great Perfection expert, it possessed a nascent quality of energy materialization.

Unfortunately, this wasn't pure energy materialization; its color contained components of internal force.

Even so, it was an extraordinary technique among the Fourth Layer skills.

Of course, it was still far inferior to Fifth Layer techniques. While Zhang Yang’s overall strength might not be that much higher, his perspective had long broadened. Having continuously studied the arts of Fifth Layer experts and having mastered the Fifth Layer's unique Sky-Shattering Sword Art, his insight already surpassed that of most Great Perfection practitioners.

Seeing the colored energy manifesting around Zhang Yang, Hua Feitian was slightly stunned.

He could clearly distinguish that the color drawn out by Zhang Yang was different from the color mixed with his own internal force. This was genuine energy materialization. Although it hadn't fully taken shape, it was far superior to his own hybrid energy materialization.

Puchi!

Two streaks of silver-white sword qi shot out, tearing through the red and white palm winds manifested by the Mountain Splitting Palm—this was Zhang Yang's first counterattack.

"Energy materialization!"

Seeing those two sword qi streaks, clearly visible to the naked eye, a hint of stupefaction appeared in Hua Feitian's eyes.

This was true energy materialization, distinct even from the faint colored energy Zhang Yang had condensed earlier. This level of energy materialization was not something a Fourth Layer Great Perfection expert could easily achieve.

After a brief pause, a faint smile returned to the corner of Hua Feitian's mouth.

"Just relying on two nascent materialized energy projections cannot break my Mountain Splitting Palm!"

Hua Feitian thought to himself, while across from him, Zhang Yang's expression suddenly changed.

The two palm winds, which had been pierced by the sword qi, split into four smaller palm winds upon separation, rushing toward Zhang Yang even faster.

The palm winds hadn't been completely dispersed. The four palm winds of different colors carried a momentum no less than before, and at this moment, Zhang Yang didn't have time to launch another Sky-Shattering Sword Qi.

Even if he could, he couldn't guarantee that these four palm winds wouldn't split again, turning into eight.

"Pa!"

"Pu!"

"Boom!"

Several distinct sounds rang out in an instant. Zhang Yang managed to dodge two of the four smaller palm winds by shifting his body, while he endured the other two head-on with his body.

The intense collision forced Zhang Yang to retreat continuously, moving back over twenty steps before stopping.

Half of Zhang Yang’s clothing was torn, and there were red marks on his hand. He looked quite disheveled, but fortunately, his physical body's toughness already surpassed that of late-stage Fourth Layer experts. Combined with the temporary energy shield he condensed, these two palm winds made him look ragged and caused minor injuries, but they didn't inflict serious harm.

The destructive power of the palm winds, having been broken by the sword qi, had decreased significantly.

However, in this exchange, Zhang Yang had clearly suffered a small loss, and it exposed the weakness of his insufficient strength. If he had also been a late-stage Fourth Layer Great Perfection expert, he absolutely wouldn't have retreated that far from this strike.

After this successful strike, Hua Feitian did not press his attack. He understood that this single move couldn't cause Zhang Yang significant harm.

Pressing the attack now might result in Zhang Yang counterattacking. His age might not compare to Zhang Pinglu's, but his actual combat experience was in no way inferior—it was even slightly higher than Zhang Pinglu’s.

"Brother Hua, excellent skill. To return courtesy for courtesy, Brother Hua, try this sword move of mine!"

Zhang Yang kicked up a tree branch from the ground, channeled his internal force through it, and used it directly as a long sword. The sword move he referred to was naturally the Sky-Shattering Sword Art. A ball of silvery-white energy enveloped the long branch, making it look exactly like a true sword.

Energy materialized directly, manifesting the shape of a sword. Hua Feitian’s smile vanished, replaced by a trace of solemnity.

He could clearly sense the pure energy in the branch-sword Zhang Yang held. It was a hundred times purer than the energy Hua Feitian had condensed. Regardless of the quality of the sword art itself, this aspect alone was something he couldn't achieve.

This made him realize that Zhang Yang's sword move was certainly not simple. Having just suffered a small setback, Zhang Yang was finally unleashing his true capability.

With the branch-sword formed, Zhang Yang flicked his wrist, drawing the long sword in a beautiful circle. A surge of majestic Heavenly and Earthly Energy manifested within this circle. The surrounding gale grew stronger, causing even some small nearby trees to bend, appearing as if they might collapse at any moment.

"Brother Hua, receive this!"

As Zhang Yang spoke, the first move of the Sky-Shattering Sword Art was unleashed. His understanding of the sword art had deepened; the technique, which could initially only emit simple sword qi, finally began to show form, truly carrying a hint of the Fifth Layer's power.