Just as the pure Yang energy and Buddhist power of the Seven Treasures Spirit-Awakening Fan were being suppressed by the Yin energy and ghostly power of the Nine Yin Sword, a surge of black mist suddenly erupted from within the fan, followed by a swarm of ferocious, evil spirits that lunged toward the Rakshasa’s devouring embrace.
The black Rakshasa was momentarily caught off guard; its entire body became instantly covered in this layer of fine, swarming vengeful ghosts, much like a great lion crawling with man-eating ants, eliciting a string of furious roars.
Seeing the opponent’s attack stall, the Vajra Guardian of the Seven Treasures Spirit-Awakening Fan immediately counter-attacked, hurling the Vajra pestle in its hand forcefully toward the foe!
The black Rakshasa had previously been evenly matched with the Vajra Guardian; it was only because Zhao Wuji had suddenly nourished the specters with his own blood that the Nine Yin Sword had gained a sudden surge of power, allowing it to attack relentlessly, pushing the Vajra Guardian back step by step. But such a trick could not be performed twice. When the Yin souls refined by the Seven Treasures Spirit-Awakening Fan suddenly emerged as a surprise attack, the black Rakshasa found its limbs instantly restrained, reduced to a spent force, utterly incapable of holding an even match against the Vajra Guardian any longer.
The tide of battle turned dramatically in an instant, leaving the assembled cultivators staring, dumbfounded and speechless. None could comprehend how such a sacred, deeply powerful artifact brimming with pure Yang Buddhist energy as the Seven Treasures Spirit-Awakening Fan could have refined and wielded Yin souls and resentful ghosts!
Before long, the black Rakshasa was finally seized by the six arms of the Vajra Guardian, which gripped its limbs and head, then gave a mighty pull, tearing it into several pieces. The black Rakshasa dissolved into countless vengeful specters that scattered in all directions.
The Nine Yin Sword was similarly cleaved in two by a sharp Zheng sound from the Seven Treasures Spirit-Awakening Fan, clattering onto the ground like two broken pieces of scrap wood.
Zhao Wuji’s face was ashen. With a bitter laugh, he conceded, “I have lost!” Saying this, he violently spat out a mouthful of blood, cried out, and staggered backward. A few well-meaning cultivators rushed to support him, but Zhao Wuji stubbornly stopped them, shaking them off, and stumbled away alone, his figure unsteady.
Once Zhao Wuji departed, every eye in the assembly turned simultaneously toward Li Yundong, a silent dread chilling their hearts: The Seven Treasures Spirit-Awakening Fan was already an incredibly potent magical treasure, yet it had somehow refined an additional layer of Yin soul energy. Since the confrontation between blazing Yang Buddhist power and chilling Yin ghostly force should be mutually exclusive, no one could fathom how True Master Li had managed to unify the two! Miraculous, truly miraculous!
This contest of magical artifacts resembled a great battle between two armies—starting with mutual challenges, moving to probing exchanges, escalating to a stalemate, then Zhao Wuji gaining the upper hand with the Nine Yin Sword, and finally, the Seven Treasures Spirit-Awakening Fan striking back from the impossible, turning the universe around. It was a dramatic, nail-biting sequence that thrilled the casual onlookers.
However, the more seasoned cultivators pondered internally: If I had faced Zhao Wuji in that duel, could my own artifact have won?
After careful consideration, nine out of ten of them arrived at the same conclusion: no. This realization only amplified the fear they held for the victorious Li Yundong.
Li Yundong had won two rounds in a row, yet his expression remained unmoved. He cupped his hands in a gesture toward the crowd and announced, “I have luckily won another exchange. I wonder which esteemed master is willing to offer further instruction?”
He called out, and the cultivators from every sect and faction present exchanged uneasy glances; no one spoke.
Li Yundong called out loudly twice more, but in the silence that followed, nothing answered save the echo of his own voice!
It was in this profound stillness that a short, bald figure suddenly jumped forward, shouting loudly, “Damn it all, I’ll have a go with you!”
Li Yundong glanced over and saw a man who barely reached five feet tall, solidly built, resembling a seasoned lead weight that had somehow gained sentience. Li Yundong cupped his hands and smiled, “Very well. May I ask your honorable name, sir?”
The short bald man rubbed his gleaming, oiled scalp and boomed, “What’s this ‘honorable sir’ nonsense? Who speaks like that these days, all curled-tongued and flowery? I can’t stand hearing people talk like that! Listen closely: I am Dang Qiang of the Penglai Sect.”
Li Yundong smiled faintly and replied, “Very well then, I look forward to your guidance!”
Dang Qiang walked to a spot not far from Li Yundong, rolling up his sleeves as he loudly announced, “Listen here, True Master Li, if we’re going to fight, you can’t take advantage of me!”
Li Yundong asked, confused, “How would I take advantage of you?”
Dang Qiang pointed at the Seven Treasures Spirit-Awakening Fan behind Li Yundong. “I don’t have any mighty artifacts like the Seven Treasures Spirit-Awakening Fan or the Nine Yin Sword. I only have a pair of fists and a pair of feet. How about it, True Master Li? Shall we test our bare-knuckle skills? I won’t use my artifact, and you won’t use yours. What say you?”
Before Li Yundong could respond, an injured but not severely wounded disciple from the Fox Charm Sect shouted out, “You bald head have no shame! Our True Master Li has an artifact; does that mean he should be barred from using it?”
“Exactly! You make no sense! True Master Li, don’t fall for his trick!”
For a cultivator, an artifact was a weapon. Fighting without one virtually guaranteed a loss. Even the cultivators from other sects showed looks of contempt and disdain, thinking: How shameless of this bald monk to try and corner Li Yundong with words?
However, Li Yundong was deeply confident in his own skill with fists and feet, and he laughed confidently, “Fine, I will fight you with fists and feet!”
With that, he placed the Seven Treasures Spirit-Awakening Fan behind him, slapped the tail end of the fan frame, and with a thud like a pile driver, drove the artifact several inches into the ground.
Li Yundong then stood at the long line drawn between the two large bronze cauldrons, setting his feet neither too wide nor too narrow. He cupped his hands and said, “Please.”
He then dropped his hands, not assuming any particular stance, merely fixing his gaze steadily on Dang Qiang.
Seeing Li Yundong standing open and exposed, with numerous openings in his posture, yet possessing a stillness as immovable as a mountain, revealing the bearing of a grandmaster, Dang Qiang was both shocked and intrigued. He rubbed his forehead and boomed, “Strange, strange! You are young, yet how did you cultivate such skill? Have you been training since you were in the womb? Hey, who is your master?”
Li Yundong smiled faintly. “Are you going to fight or not?”
Seeing Li Yundong unwilling to answer, Dang Qiang let out a short laugh, shifted into a bow stance, and roared, “Kid, watch out!” With a sudden burst of strength from his legs, he launched a powerful cannon punch straight at Li Yundong!
Li Yundong observed that although the punch carried great force and weight, it was inferior to that of Lin You. He chose not to block the attack, instead driving a punch toward the opponent’s shoulder socket, relying on his longer reach to strike first despite moving later!
Unexpectedly, just as Li Yundong’s punch was about to land, Dang Qiang suddenly lunged forward, opening his mouth wide and spitting out a ball of fire directly toward Li Yundong’s face.
This attack was completely unforeseen. If Li Yundong’s cultivation had not greatly increased, enhancing his foresight and divine senses, he would have been struck the moment Dang Qiang opened his mouth; a tingling numbness suddenly spread across his face, prompting him to duck instinctively. At that precise moment, Li Yundong was hit!
Li Yundong felt a searing heat across the back of his head as the fireball grazed past, leaving him smelling the acrid scent of burnt hair!
Li Yundong was inwardly enraged. Although dropping his head exposed the vital points of his nape and back to his opponent, he instantly shifted his weight onto one leg in a ‘golden rooster stands on one leg’ pose, while the other leg whipped back like a steel whip, slamming forward toward Dang Qiang. With a sharp pa, Li Yundong’s foot squarely connected with Dang Qiang’s face.
Dang Qiang, seeing Li Yundong evade his extremely concealed strike just as he was about to press the attack, suddenly felt a sharp slap across his face. He recoiled two steps, wildly wiping his face with both hands, and shouted, “Damn it, what the hell was that?”
At this point, the crowd finally snapped back to reality. The disciples of the Fox Charm Sect roared a collective condemnation: “The Penglai Sect member has no honor! You agreed to a fist-and-foot match, yet you secretly used sorcery! Shameless!”
The senior disciples of the orthodox sects were busy explaining to their juniors the brilliance of Li Yundong’s move—the ducking motion followed by the whipping counter—which both evaded and struck.
After forcing Dang Qiang back, Li Yundong roared, “Didn’t you say we were fighting with fists and feet?”
Dang Qiang burst into loud laughter. “I only said no magical implements, I never said no magic! True Master Li, war favors trickery! If you can use magic, you’re welcome to! Watch out!”
With that, he spat out another fireball.
This stream of fire erupted like a fiery dragon, clawing and twisting toward Li Yundong. Before it even reached him, Li Yundong felt an intense heat blast his face, causing his hair to curl.
Li Yundong frowned inwardly. He pressed his palms together, forming a mudra with his hands held in prayer, only his two little fingers slightly curved inward, palms slightly open and facing forward. He let out a mighty shout: “Hūng!”
It was the Mudra of the Heavenly Drum Thunder Sound Tathagata!
This sudden hand seal struck out, instantly shattering the incoming fire dragon with a deafening boom into countless smaller fireballs that scattered everywhere.
The crowd erupted in shock: “The True Word Great Hand Seal! That’s Buddhist technique!”
“Is this fellow a combination of immortal and Buddha? Is he from the Wu Liu Sect?!”
The onlookers whispered amongst themselves, but the duel did not cease. After shattering the fireballs with one palm strike, Li Yundong stomped his foot, kicking several incense sticks and candles scattered on the ground up into the air. Li Yundong snatched a few mid-flight and moved with blinding speed toward Dang Qiang.
Seeing Li Yundong rushing in, Dang Qiang immediately took a deep breath, his entire body inflating like a balloon, and then violently spewed out a torrent of fire!
This gout of flame was several times larger than before. Li Yundong felt every hair on his body stand on end. He pushed off the ground, soaring over Dang Qiang’s head like a fleeing swan. However, as he flew over, he thrust the hand holding the incense sticks into the raging fire, igniting them all, and pressed the burning incense sticks onto the top of Dang Qiang’s head!
Instantly, with a hiss, Dang Qiang leaped up, frantically clawing at his scalp and yelling curses: “Motherf—what the hell is going on? My head is burning hot!”
The crowd saw that Li Yundong had seared several circular scars onto Dang Qiang’s bald head. They erupted in roaring laughter: “Perfect! A monastic scar to match your bald head! Brother from the Penglai Sect, you can just find a temple now; you don’t even need to change clothes!”
The disciples of the Fox Charm Sect, who had been worried sick about Li Yundong, now saw him defeat three challengers from three different sects and became wildly excited, shouting, “True Master Li is magnificent! Well done teaching him a lesson!”
The Fox Charm Sect was inherently strong in Yin and weak in Yang, with far more female disciples than male. With the only remaining male pretender, Gu Feng, already killed by Liu Ye, the women’s cheers sounded like an unbearable, screeching cheer squad.
The male cultivators from the major sects wore strange expressions, muttering to themselves: This fellow certainly has luck with the ladies. When he collects all these vixens into his sect, he’ll have a life of carefree pleasure! No, no, we absolutely cannot let this brat get away with such a prize!
Ruan Hongling, who had been thrilled by Li Yundong’s successive victories, immediately fell sullen upon hearing the loud shouts of the Fox Charm Sect disciples, coldly scoffing, “What are you shouting about, a bunch of fox demons, born to attract attention!”
Li Yundong, now pointing the burning incense sticks at Dang Qiang, stated grimly, “Do you admit defeat or not?”
Dang Qiang initially considered stubbornly refusing, but when he saw Li Yundong’s gaze sweep deliberately toward his lower region, and the incense sticks casually swinging in that direction, he shuddered. A few burns on the head is one thing, but if I get burns down there, will I even be a man anymore?
Dang Qiang instantly plastered a fawning smile on his face, cupped his hands, and said, “True Master Li has amazing skill, I submit!” With that, he retreated off the field, rubbing the scars on his head and constantly sucking in sharp breaths.
Li Yundong dropped the incense sticks, returned to the center line, and announced loudly while cupping his hands, “Who else is there?”
Counting the two he had killed earlier, Li Yundong had now won five consecutive matches, and the method of victory in each was unique: the marvelous Nine Revolutions Golden Elixir technique, artifact dueling, close-quarters combat, and even the demonstration of a grand Buddhist hand seal!
The cultivators from every sect felt that Li Yundong was like a vast treasury, holding an endless array of skills yet to be displayed. What was most awe-inspiring was his superb improvisation in the moment—it was impossible to tell if this was his usual level of performance or simply his peak exertion.
When Li Yundong first entered the field, everyone had been dismissive, especially when he first challenged the major sects, whose members preferred direct engagement over challenging the line he drew, choosing to defeat him head-on—a clear sign of the arrogance stemming from their prestigious backgrounds.
But as Li Yundong won match after match, his aura soared, and the fear in the crowd deepened.
Among the Six Great Sects, several cultivators with good private relations began whispering amongst themselves. One taller man leaned in and murmured, “This Sun Monkey is really too formidable. Do any of you have a chance against him in a direct fight?”
The others shook their heads one after another.
The tall man continued in a low voice, “Since he already said crossing the line counts as a loss, why don't we take turns attacking him? I don't believe we can't push past that line if we rotate our efforts?”
A person beside him hesitated, saying, “But that would be an unfair victory, and it won’t sound good when the story gets out later!”
The tall man scoffed, “Right now, no one can defeat him, and you’re thinking about reputation? Do you want this fellow to steal all the glory? When True Master Zhang of the Zheng Yi Sect steps up, we Six Great Sects will have no standing left!”
His words swayed the others. They exchanged glances and nodded secretly.
The tall man was delighted. “Then I’ll take the vanguard! Let this brat see the combined might of our Six Great Sects!”