Chapter 3: The Fish and Dragon Situation, Carp and Dragon Turn Against Each Other

  Du Ming's shock had just subsided, and he rubbed his sore ribs, which was the spot where Xu Yang had punched him.

  "Song Ge, that little brat... is really something, he actually dared to resist today!" Du Ming ran to Lu Song's side, tripping halfway and causing Lu Song to frown.

  "Resist?" Lu Song snorted, "Then just beat him up and drag him back. What's the big deal?"

  Du Ming's face turned bright red as he stuttered, unable to speak for half a day. Firstly, he felt humiliated and secondly, he thought it was shameful that he had been beaten by a good-for-nothing young master who allowed others to bully him.

  "What's wrong, staring blankly like that?" Liu Zishan sneered beside him, "You can't be beaten by that waste, can you?"

  It was originally an unintentional remark, Liu Zishan didn't believe that Du Ming, a mid-term Xuantu, could not beat Xu Yang, an early Xuantu. Moreover, the latter's image of being willing to suffer humiliation had already deeply entered people's hearts.

  Seeing Du Ming with his head hung low in despair, Lu Song's thick eyebrows furrowed tightly.

  "It's really like that, you're quite impressive." Lu Song said coldly, "You were beaten by a useless person and came back, aren't you more useless than the useless person?"

  "No, Song Ge, I..."

  Lu Song stood up and slapped him with a loud "slap", Du Ming's eyes sparkled with golden stars, he was pulled and turned half a circle, and fell to the ground.

  This slap was so powerful that it revealed Lu Song's inner anger!

  "That little brat will have to come back, and when he does, I'll teach him a good lesson!" Lu Song said with a scowl on his face, rubbing his palms together.

  "Be careful, don't cause any loss of life." The only middle-aged man in the group, who had been watching with a cold eye, spoke up calmly.

  "Don't worry, Master Song, I have my own measure." Lu Song replied with a hint of a sly smile on his face.

  The middle-aged man sighed, it seemed that the useless young master named Xu Yang was in trouble. However, as a guide on the path of asceticism, he didn't care about the conflicts between these young cultivators; he just needed to ensure they completed one lap around the path, and if their survival rate could pass the threshold, that would be enough.

  The sky gradually darkened, and the cool autumn wind picked up, causing the dry leaves to flutter and dance.

  "It's been half an hour and that kid still hasn't come back?" Lu Song was getting impatient, "Could it be that he doesn't dare to come back?"

  "It's better if he doesn't come back," Liu Zishan said coldly. "The Giant Python Mountains are full of ferocious beasts at night, and he is outside the valley with no fire or shelter, more likely to meet disaster than good fortune."

  "Song, calm down and have a drink of water," said Du Ming, his left cheek swollen, as he handed over a canteen. "That kid got off easy, being bitten to death by a wild beast without suffering much pain. If he dared to show up in front of me..."

  Lu Song didn't take the water bag, but instead stared straight at the valley outside. A slightly thin but straight-waisted young man walked towards the mountain valley with big strides.

  "What if I appear in front of you?" As soon as the words fell, Xu Yang slowly walked into the valley from the entrance.

  His shoulder-length black hair was blown into disarray by the wind, fluttering behind his neck. Under the cover of his bangs, a pair of dark eyes shot out a chilling cold light, and he laughed coldly.

  "Brother Song......" Du Ming looked at Lu Song beside him, his palms were sweating profusely.

  "Go on, Du Ming," Lu Song said coldly. "You are one realm higher than him and won't lose to him. This is a chance for you to prove yourself, seize it well."

  Du Ming's hand shook and the water bag fell to the ground, a puddle of water spilled out and slowly seeped into the earth.

  Upon seeing this scene, Xu Yang became even more disdainful and sneered: "You truly are a cowardly mouse, with your current mindset, you have no hope of breaking through the Xuanwu stage in this lifetime."

  As soon as this was said, everyone looked like they had seen a ghost.

  Ordinary Xuyang is usually humble and reserved, with a bullied appearance, who would have thought that he would be like this now, as if standing high, pointing at others.

  Du Ming's face was like a burning fire, he loudly shouted: "Stop pretending to be mysterious and intimidating, I'm not afraid of you!" With one swift step, he charged forward.

  Bow Step Charging Fist!

  A simple basic move, Du Ming used it with a furious face, pouring in 100% of his power, five times the strength! This punch, even if it hit a cow's head, could knock it over.

  "Welcome!" Xǔ Yáng also stepped forward with big strides, the sound of cracking bones spread out, and his unadorned fist struck against Dù Míng's fist.

  "Has he gone mad?!" This was what everyone thought. Xu Yang's cultivation was only at the initial stage of Xuan Tu, his physical strength was only two or three jin, how could he possibly defeat Du Ming who had a strength of five jin through brute force?

  The result, however, was beyond everyone's expectation. Du Ming let out a loud cry of pain and retreated several steps in succession, feeling numbness and severe pain in half his body, as if his fingers were about to break off.

  Xu Yang showed no mercy, and as Du Ming was a lackey, he bullied him in the past. The scene was still vivid in his mind. Xu Yang's eyes flashed with ferocity, and he took a step forward, elbowing Du Ming in the chest.

  Du Ming spat out a mouthful of blood and his whole body flew backward like a kite with its string cut, crashing into the ground several meters away, still rolling over and over several times.

  As soon as the punch was thrown, all four seats were shocked. The young men who sat together to watch the excitement stood up in unison, and several people even took a step back involuntarily, looking at Xuyang in shock and doubt.

  "Clap", "clap", two sudden and loud applause came, everyone looked around to find the source of the sound, surprisingly it was Lu Song.

  "Not bad, you were able to knock down Du Ming with brute force, your physical strength has at least doubled," Lu Songpi applauded with a smile that didn't quite reach his eyes, a hint of jealousy flashing in them. "Looks like you've had some kind of lucky encounter and consumed some kind of spiritual herb that enhances the body! Indeed, good fortune is upon you."

  Many young people were amazed, no wonder one move defeated Du Ming, it turned out that they had taken the spiritual grass. Otherwise, with Xuantu's initial strength, defeating an opponent of a higher level would be too hard to believe.

  Xu Yang looked at Lu Song with no expression, saying lightly: "When you hit a dog, its owner will come out. Are you going to take responsibility for Du Ming? Conveniently, I also want to settle an old score with you, make your move."

  "Tsk, tsk, tsk," Lu Song shook his head and said disdainfully, "It seems that eating another spiritual herb has ruined your brain. What is the foundation of a cultivator? It's always cultivation and realm! I'm already in the late stage of Xuantu, my physical strength has reached 10 jin! Whether it's cultivation or physical strength, I far surpass you. In my eyes, you're still that useless young master, no different from before. The only difference is that it's more fun to bully you now."

  Xu Yang hooked his finger and made a provocative gesture, this completely careless attitude thoroughly enraged Lu Song.

  "Die!" Lu Song shouted loudly, his legs fiercely kicking out like a giant spear, shooting out suddenly! His entire body crackling with explosive sounds, twice as powerful as Du Ming's, with an even more ferocious momentum. His fist, just like the tip of a giant spear, aimed straight at Xu Yang's chest and struck with force.

  Xu Yang's lips curled into a cold smile, his body as straight as a bamboo pole, directly falling backwards, narrowly avoiding the fierce punch. Immediately afterwards, he bent down and counterattacked, both legs exerting force, one foot kicking at Lu Song's abdomen.

  This is the "Fish Dragon Stance" in the "Moving and Stillness Qigong", a short and close-range technique.

  Xu Yang's current physical strength is not enough to defeat Lu Song in a hard-hitting battle, but he possesses the Xuanzhe close combat skills of ten thousand years later, and it's naturally impossible for him to be on the same level as the barbarian who only knows how to wildly swing his fists.

  Xu Yang has six jins of strength, and he can exert eight or ten jins of destructive power. Lu Songkong has ten jins of strength, but he can't even bring out half of his destructive power, so it's no surprise that he loses.

  The main reason is that they are all in the Xuan Tu level, no one will use Xuan Shu, so the close combat skills become prominent. If both parties are at the Xuan Shi level and understand Xuan Shu, it's about who has stronger cultivation and more powerful Xuan Shu, then combat skills can't dominate the outcome of the battle.

  Lu Song was kicked by this heavy foot, and he flew into the air with a loud cry. He felt severe pain in his lower abdomen, as if his intestines were being twisted by a knife and were about to break off.

  Xu Yang borrowed the force of his legs rebounding, "Fish Dragon Stance" next segment "Carp Dragon Rebound", jumped up, and the next moment was "Galloping Horse Stance" stepping out, sinking his shoulder into Lu Song's chest.

  This blow directly caused Lu Song's eyes to roll back and nearly faint, losing his combat effectiveness.

  Just that one round of fighting, swift and unparalleled, the young men hadn't even seen how Xu Yang moved before they saw Lu Song fall heavily to the ground like a broken sack, coughing violently, with small pieces of blood foam spitting from his mouth.

  "This is a ruthless blow, Lu Song has suffered heavy internal injuries. Even if he recovers from the wound, he will still be left with lingering ailments unless a Dan Master concocts spiritual medicine to regulate his inner wounds." The middle-aged man, Song Dashi, was the only one who saw through it, and his mind was shocked.

  "Wait a minute!" Coach Song was startled to see Xu Yang continuing to approach Lu Song, who had fallen to the ground and couldn't get up. What's wrong with Xu Yang? He seemed to have changed into a different person, so cold-blooded and cruel. Looking at this situation, he still wasn't satisfied that Lu Song wasn't injured enough, did he want to take Lu Song's life?

  Master Song was unaware that Xu Yang came from a thousand years later, an era where spiritual energy was scarce, leading to extreme rarity of heavenly materials and earthly treasures. A single high-quality spiritual medicine could make people's eyes turn red with envy, causing dozens or even hundreds of cultivators to fight to the death. With schemes and intrigues, backstabbing and no holds barred, Xu Yang had come from that era, and under its influence, his methods were naturally ruthless.

  "Xu Yang, you can severely injure Lu Song, but killing him is not allowed." Master Song intervened.

  "Why can't we kill him?" Xu Yang retorted, raising his head to look at Master Song. His heart suddenly became vigilant as he sensed the aura of a true Xuan cultivator emanating from this person, whose entire being was shrouded in a faint, mysterious energy that signified a high level of mastery.

  Xuantu and Xuanshi differ by only one level, but the gap in their abilities is huge. At the Xuantu realm, they mainly rely on physical combat. At the Xuanshi realm, they can cultivate mysterious techniques, causing their combat strength to surge.

  "It's my duty as a guide," explained Master Song, "on the path of ascetic practice, the guide is responsible for ensuring the safety of the practitioner's life."

  "So when I was being beaten half to death by them, why didn't you intervene?" Xǔ Yáng questioned.