The righteous path punishes Heaven

Chapter 86 Sparring

The other cultivators did not choose to participate in the battle. Their purpose in coming here was to seek opportunities, not to engage in fighting and conflict, so they all scattered and ran in different directions in the valley.

At the same time, Zhu Yi's right Xuanwu Fist was already smashing towards Zhang Yunling's head. The power contained in that punch was terrifying. The aura it exuded was so great that even Ming Shan, who had the strength of the late Nascent Soul stage, couldn't hold back and wanted to go to Zhang Yunling's rescue.

Just then, a cracking sound came from the thick ice sculpture, followed by an extremely dense purple aura accumulating inside the ice. Realizing that something was wrong, Zhu Yi no longer hesitated and threw a powerful punch with his right fist, directly hitting Zhang Yunling's frozen head.

boom!!

Ren Jixing had originally had confidence in his junior brother, but now it seemed that Zhang Yunling had been defeated by Zhu Yi. If he didn't make a move now, his junior brother would probably die on the spot.

"Stop!" Ren Jixing shouted, took a big step, and his right hand revealed his natal magic weapon, a folding fan, which he slashed fiercely at Zhu Yi's back.

Other Quanzhen Dao cultivators couldn't hold back any longer and took out their magical weapons to attack Zhu Yi.

But at that very moment, Zhu Yi's expression changed from joy to utter horror, for he saw that Zhang Yunling, who had been frozen in ice, was now spewing out blazing purple-red flames, which forcefully caught his Xuanwu Fist.

"No need for everyone to intervene! My sparring with Fellow Daoist Zhu is still undecided..." Zhang Yunling shouted in a deep voice, and at the same time, his muscles trembled, and the ice sculpture instantly crumbled and was then completely melted by the blazing purple flames.

A powerful impact followed, sending Zhu Yi flying. Ren Jixing stared at the scene in disbelief, while the other Quanzhen disciples breathed a sigh of relief, their movements ceasing.

Zhu Yi immediately activated his spiritual power to suspend himself in mid-air. After stabilizing his body, he looked at Zhang Yunling again and angrily questioned, "Hmph! You are only at the early stage of the Golden Core realm, how could you withstand my punch?"

The ice surrounding Zhang Yunling melted away, and purple flames encircled his entire body. His long black hair fluttered in the wind, and his white outfit was reflected in the light, making it appear as if he were wearing a purple robe.

"Hahahaha! What? You're allowed to improve your cultivation, but I'm not allowed to become stronger?" Zhang Yunling smiled contemptuously, condensing two balls of flame in his hands, and with a stomp of his right foot, he charged towards Zhu Yi.

"Your control over fire-attribute spells is indeed impressive, but the gap in cultivation level is something that can never be bridged!" Zhu Yi gritted his teeth and met Zhang Yunling's attack head-on.

Both of them cultivate both body and qi, but Zhu Yi has cultivated for over a hundred years, while Zhang Yunling is only a teenager. The experience gained from Zhu Yi's longer cultivation time is something that Zhang Yunling lacks, and it is also Zhu Yi's advantage.

However, he also truly felt the power of the purple flames. This did not seem to be a typical technique for controlling flames, but rather more like... alchemical fire?

The battle was ever-changing, and Zhu Yi had little time to think. He simultaneously activated the Xuanwu Fist with both hands, unleashing tremendous power and striking Zhang Yunling head-on with both fists.

Zhang Yunling also enveloped his arms in purple flames, and the two collided directly in mid-air. The shockwaves generated by the collision of the two powerful forces transformed into a tangible air wave, creating a raging hurricane that tore a hole in the thick layer of dark clouds in the sky.

A fierce wind swept across the land, and dozens of disciples with lower cultivation levels even lost their footing, being thrown to the ground by the shockwave.

Ren Jixing stared intently at the two people in mid-air. Although a battle caused by Golden Core cultivators was already of this scale, he did not expect that the collision of physical strength alone could have such overwhelming power.

Ming Shan stroked his beard and nodded slightly. He hadn't expected that Zhang Yunling could make such progress in just half a year. It was a world of difference compared to when he was in the Xuanxu Ancient Realm.

Neither Zhang Yunling nor Zhu Yi backed down. Although they claimed it was just a friendly spar, not only they knew it, but everyone else could see it too—it was clearly a death match disguised as a friendly exchange.

However, the disciples from Sanqing Mountain remained calm, because they were well aware of the strength of the number one disciple in the inner sect. Zhu Yi had been at the Great Perfection of the Golden Core stage for a long time, and could even be considered to have one foot in the Nascent Soul stage. The foundation of his cultivation alone was something that Zhang Yunling could not match.

However, while the disciples thought this way, Li Zijian, the second elder of Sanqing Mountain, saw through the deception: "Although that white-robed youth only has the cultivation of the early Golden Core stage, his dantian doesn't seem to be that of an ordinary Golden Core cultivator. The strength he's displaying now is definitely not as simple as just being in the early Golden Core stage..."

Bang! !

The impact of their punches and elbows clashing was shaken apart. Zhang Yunling quickly countered, combining the Daoist technique of One Qi Transforms into Three Pure Ones that he had once comprehended. He rapidly gathered the surrounding spiritual energy and integrated it into his palms, directly unleashing two huge purple palm prints several meters wide from a distance, which flew towards Zhu Yi at high speed!

"Interesting!" Zhu Yi was not to be outdone. He made hand seals and revealed his natal magic weapon, the Wind and Thunder Axe.

The axe blade gleamed coldly, and the handle alone was over a meter long. Zhu Yi poured his spiritual power into it, gripped the handle tightly with both hands, and cleaved out a dark blue wind blade with one swing of the axe, forcefully breaking through the two palm prints.

Zhu Yi then rushed out and once again raised his axe to attack Zhang Yunling. Zhang Yunling chose to keep his distance and continue to use his magic to attack from a distance. He activated the One Qi Transforms into Three Pure Ones technique again, further strengthening the purple pill fire surrounding his body and condensing it into a purple fire dragon that rushed towards Zhu Yi!

Zhu Yi raised his Wind and Thunder Axe in a defensive stance to block the fire dragon, but the moment he touched the axe blade, the fire dragon suddenly exploded, turning into countless fireballs that scattered in all directions. Zhang Yunling then clasped his hands together and shouted, "Condense!"

It turned out that the spiritual power contained in the fire dragon had already been gathered by Zhang Yunling in a chaotic form. As long as Zhu Yi used the Wind and Thunder Axe to forcibly break it open, the spiritual power contained inside would surge out wildly from the pierced gap, directly scattering this seemingly whole fireball. Each ball of pill fire was controlled by the spiritual power condensed by Zhang Yunling using the One Qi Transforms into Three Pure Ones technique.

At this moment, all the flames were scattered around Zhu Yi. Zhang Yunling then directly activated the spiritual power in each flame, gathering it around Zhu Yi to completely surround him, leaving him with no chance of escape!

"What?!" Zhu Yi only realized at this moment that he had fallen into Zhang Yunling's trap, but now the purple flames had blocked all his possible escape routes, and he was doomed.

Seeing that he had the upper hand, Zhang Yunling wanted to press his advantage. He activated the inner fire in his hands again and said coldly, "You used ice magic to turn me into an ice sculpture, so now I will use this purple fire to surround you and burn you into a charred corpse!"

"Fellow Daoist! Show mercy!"

Just as the raging purple flames filled the sky and were about to completely annihilate Zhu Yi, a yellow figure suddenly flew in and dispelled all the flames enveloping Zhu Yi.

Zhang Yunling became even more vigilant, and the purple flames around him once again enveloped Zhu Yi. He shouted, "Who are you? Why are you interfering with our battle?"

The man held his spear in front of Zhu Yi and looked up at Zhang Yunling, replying, "This man is a close friend of mine. Since you two are just sparring, then stop when you've made your point. There's no need to go all out."

Zhang Yunling frowned. He noticed that the other party's clothing was not the blue robes of Sanqing Mountain, but the group of cultivators wearing brown Taoist robes that he had seen before.

The man bowed to Zhang Yunling and spoke again: "My name is Chen Tianfan, and I am an inner disciple of Wudang Mountain. Let's end this sparring here. Zhu Yi lost. If we cause a death over such a trivial matter, it will be difficult for our sects to deal with each other, right?"

Moreover, the Immortal Ruins are fraught with danger. We have all come here seeking opportunities, so let's avoid killing each other and join forces to find them together. What do you think, fellow Daoist?

Zhang Yunling said nothing, nodded slightly, then put away all the pill fire around him and turned back to the Quanzhen Sect.

Chen Tianfan was right, and Zhang Yunling had his own plans this time. If he were to provoke Wudang Mountain again in order to kill Zhu Yi, the situation would become too complicated and troublesome, and it was indeed unnecessary.

Ming Shan patted Zhang Yunling on the shoulder, and the Quanzhen Sect and many families in Chang'an City stopped paying attention to the Sanqing Mountain and headed towards another direction in the valley.