Chapter 113: Challenging Kong Guang
The difference between the Foundation Establishment Plane and the Meditation Plane lies in the genesis of the divine mind.
Once the divine mind was completed, the power of the spell was enhanced, and it was possible to comprehend heaven and earth.
Once the comprehension deepened, it could be magnified with spells or sword vapor in the form of ‘will.’
In the celestial clans, there were not too many detailed records or descriptions of such things.
The only important thing was if one understood or mastered it.
There was not much written description of its nature.
But Chen Jingzhai was different in that aspect. When he cultivated, he would take time to think about it.
He would use the views and thoughts gathered from his previous lives and analyze them step by step.
This was also the reason why he comprehended the Dharma Intent so quickly.
The root of it was, of course, his natural-born talent and the five elements of his celestial bones.
Comprehension and the legacies of past lives also played a role.
After comprehending the Dharma Intent, Chen Jingzhai began to ponder the sword’s will.
Since he had mastered the Dharma Intent, he thought that the sword’s will should not be too difficult either.
He did not expect that after he became proficient in these two sword methods, he was still unable to touch the heart of it.
Then, he tried to find ways to see if he could catch whatever was keeping him stuck.
But, before he could identify the issues, he ended up mastering all the fantastic features of the Five Bamboo Sword.
Technically speaking, it would have been very difficult for him to use the Five Bamboo Sword, which was an Intermediate Grade 3 item.
But this sword was originally complete with all five elements, which just happened to complement his celestial bones perfectly.
This item was specially sent by Headmaster Fuyunzi when he first joined Hongluan Peak.
He controlled the Five Bamboo Sword with Dharma intent and finally perceived this move.
The five elements rotated in different but harmonious ways!
Just like on the Eight Trigrams Platform at this time, the sky was full of bright green bamboo, complete with branches and leaves.
The power of the five elements gathered together, all without the slightest bit of dissonance.
This was the manifestation of power, just like Shen Yurong’s White Luan Bird sword vapor.
The only difference was that Chen Jingzhai’s move had completely relied upon the power of the sword, which was a magic treasure.
In the face of this space full of green bamboo, Shen Yurong’s face was cold and somber, with seriousness in her eyes.
She felt a massive threat as well as immense coercion.
This feeling was far beyond the aura that she had perceived from Chen Jingzhai before.
Suffice to say, his blow had already threatened her and exceeded the level of the Advanced Foundation Plane.
If that was the case, she could not afford to hold back!
Shen Yurong drew a deep breath and threw the White Luan Bird sword the moment the green bamboo fell.
The sharp sword traversed through the air as she clasped her hands together, urging the sword seal.
At the moment when the green bamboo fell, the White Luan Bird flew out from behind her and became one with the White Luan Bird Sword.
The illusion of the White Luan Bird immediately became a reality.
The bird flapped its slender wings as its sharp claws reached for the green bamboo.
Seeing this, Chen Jingzhai immediately flipped the bamboo over.
The branches and leaves trembled, just barely missing the White Luan Bird.
But there was one bamboo leaf that fell.
It fell gently but charged in Shen Yurong’s direction with a sharpened edge.
Shen Yurong was not surprised to see this. This was the exact modus operandi that she had come to expect from the Little Master-Uncle.
He was ever-changing, but the devil was in the details.
So, an idea came to her, and the White Luan Bird also dropped a feather in a similar manner.
That feather was lifelike and extremely detailed, appearing exceedingly beautiful.
It not only blocked the bamboo leaf but also broke through it and continued to rush toward Chen Jingzhai.
However, halfway through, it lost all its strength and evaporated in mid-air.
When Chen Jingzhai saw this, he burst out into a string of hearty laughter.
His left hand frantically cast the spells while, at the same time, the ice spear and quills took turns attacking Shen Yurong.
Shen Yurong frowned. She was getting tired as she coped with the attacks. Soon, she was falling to a disadvantage.
As reluctant as Shen Yurong was, after hesitating, she decided to give it her last shot.
A golden light twinkled in her eyes, and Shen Yurong’s aura increased manifolds for no apparent reason.
The White Luan Bird chimed and immediately made a reverberating buzz inside Chen Jingzhai’s head.
Moreover, though the White Luan Bird’s body had shrunk by a third, its strength was more than doubled. The bird flew directly into the bamboo and dispersed all the bamboo everywhere.
“Nonsense!” Kong Guang shook his head when he saw what had transpired.
“The Golden Sword Talisman of the Azure Sparrow lineage.” Wang Yao smiled. “One of the life-saving measures left by Golden Core Sages. Now, it all depends on how long the Little Master-Uncle can hold on.”
“Little Master-Uncle will prevail!” Jiang Youning said nonchalantly.
Wang Yao glanced at him with a smile but did not speak.
Most of the green bamboo that enveloped the Eight Trigrams Platform had dissipated by then, and Chen Jingzhai decided to simply detonate the whole thing.
The energy of the five elements, which was derived from each other, was now mutually restrained by one another.
A violent explosion erupted on the Eight Trigrams Platform.
The White Luan Bird Sword was blown out of the Eight Trigrams Platform, and Shen Yurong was forced to retreat to the edge.
Part of her hand was out of bounds over the Restriction zone of the Eight Trigrams Platform.
“Master-Uncle is impressive. This blow already has the power of the Golden Core!” Shen Yurong said.
“It still has room for improvement.” Chen Jingzhai shook his head. “This time, I got lucky.”
He didn’t expect that the power would be so great.
Indeed, the way of the five elements was the right one to take, but unfortunately… he couldn’t go back.
“What does luck have to do with it? Losing is losing. Disciples from the celestial clan will never argue about their shortcomings. And, it’s no shame to lose to Master-Uncle!” Shen Yurong smiled as she saluted Chen Jingzhai.
Then, she turned around and left the Eight Trigrams Platform.
The jade token wrapped her up to bring her to her seat.
When she saw the concerned looks on her fellow disciples, Shen Yurong could only shake her head with a resigned smile as blood flowed down from the corner of her mouth.
Even though it was just a trace, it also highlighted the nature of the issue.
“You’re hurt?” Kong Guang frowned. “And the Golden Sword Talisman was not able to protect you?”
“In addition to the magic treasure’s own innate power, there was also the power of destruction from the five elements.” Shen Yurong sighed. “I underestimated the Master-Uncle. He would have no problem dealing with rogue cultivators at the Beginning Golden Core Plane.”
If it weren’t for the Golden Sword Talisman that defended her against the destructive power of the five elements, she would probably have been grievously injured.
Rogue cultivators in the Golden Core Plane did not seek to establish a true foundation. Conceivably, the quality of their path would be less than satisfactory.
Even so, that still qualified as bona fide Golden Core Sages.
The power of Chen Jingzhai’s blow was so mighty that it had already exceeded everyone’s imagination.
Kong Guang opened his mouth as if he meant to say something, but the jade token in his hand suddenly lit up.
Slightly startled, Kong Guang looked at the Eight Trigrams Platform, just in time to see the smiling face of the Little Master-Uncle.
Taking a deep breath, Kong Guang grabbed the jade token as he appeared on the Eight Trigrams Platform in a flash.
“Master-Uncle thinks that I’m not as good as Junior Brother Jiang?” Kong Guang asked, dropping his eyes.
“Why do you ask?” Chen Jingzhai answered with another question instead.
“Master-Uncle has been challenging from the weakest to the strongest. It was like this in the Beginning Foundation Plane and the Intermediate Foundation Plan,” Kong Guang said. “In the Advanced Foundation Plane, it has to be the same as well. In the mind of Master-Uncle, I can’t even compare to Junior Brother Jiang Youning and Junior Brother Wang Yao? Aren’t you underestimating me just a little?”
The best is saved for last—those were Chen Jingzhai’s own words.
Kong Guang did not expect that he would be Chen Jingzhai’s last opponent, but he certainly did not expect his turn to be up so quickly.
At the very least, he did not think he was weaker than Jiang Youning!
“It’s not that I underestimated you,” Chen Jingzhai said. “Azure Sparrow lineage has a particular swordsmanship. I haven’t fully digested the essence of my fight with disciple nephew Shen. This time, I want to have a good session with you.”
“Since the Master-Uncle said so, I will believe it!” Kong Guang looked at him. “I will definitely use all my strength so that Master-Uncle can experience the swordsmanship of Azure Sparrow.”
“Very good!” A smile appeared on Chen Jingzhai’s face.
When the Restriction was lifted, Kong Guang waved his hands to unleash a fast-moving streak that rushed directly at Chen Jingzhai.
This streak was like a flash of lightning. Its speed was so fast it was unbelievable.
But Chen Jingzhai didn’t make a move to evade it. Instead, a golden shield was now in front of him.
The shield was shattered layer by layer by the sword vapor. After it was completely shattered, Chen Jingzhai wielded his sword to clear out the remainder of it, and then a bright sword vapor was unleashed from the Five Bamboo Sword.
“Does the Master-Uncle intend to switch to swordsmanship?” Kong Guang’s mouth curved up into a smile as he waved to deal out another sword vapor.
The two sets of sword vapors collided and annihilated each other, but Kong Guang’s sword vapor proved to be just a bit stronger.
This energy rushed in front of Chen Jingzhai with its remaining momentum.
“We said we’d learn from each other. Therefore, it’s better to use swordsmanship.” Chen Jingzhai waved his Five Bamboo Sword and continued, “Azure Sparrow sword lineage has always been the very best. Today, let me see just how powerful you are!”
“As you wish!” When Kong Guang finished speaking those words, a blue light was glowing in his eyes.
A gigantic blue illusion emerged from behind him and spread its wings gently.
At that moment, it solidified from illusion to reality and was in the semblance of a peacock.