Kong Lanyou rotated the vertical bamboo flute in her hands and stirred up a circle of Genuine Qi waves. She shook her arms and swung them quickly.
The bamboo leaves resembled flying swords. They flew toward Zhang Ruochen like drops of water.
WOO!
In Zhang Ruochen’s eyes, they were not bamboo leaves but people with swords in hand. Like thousands upon thousands of horses and soldiers, they were murderous and mighty, uttering earsplitting whistles.
Kong Lanyou’s swordsmanship was extremely powerful. She forced him to retreat back constantly.
“No, I can’t retreat. My cultivation is higher than her and my strength is stronger than her. Why can’t I fight with all my strength?”
Zhang Ruochen sank his legs and his feet stepped into the ground seven centimeters deep. He stopped retreating and held his sword with both hands, ready to slash.
Soul-repose Shadowing, one of the Thirteen Sword Techniques of Soul Chasing.
This sword technique was very powerful and overwhelming. The bamboo leaves were forced apart on both sides. Many were destroyed by sword Qi and turned into fine powder.
BANG! BANG!
Even so, there were still seven bamboo leaves. Under the control of Kong Lanyou’s Genuine Qi, they cut through his Celestial Bodyshield, leaving seven wounds.
The wounds were small. The bamboo leaves were only a centimeter deep into the flesh at most. They were not vital wounds.
Kong Lanyou uttered a light “eh” and showed surprise in her eyes. “You can open up Chakras. This gets more and more interesting!”
The so-called “Chakras”, one of the extra meridians, was hidden in a warrior’s skin.
If a warrior practiced for a year, an extra layer of skin would grow. Thus, his defensive power would also increase. The way a warrior’s skin grew was kind of like growth rings inside a tree.
Zhang Ruochen had opened up the Chakras, so the wounds from the bamboo leaves did not go deep.
Of course, if Zhang Ruochen used the Dragon Pearl’s Divine Dragon Strength, he could ward off the bamboo leaves entirely without injury. But then, the battle between Kong Lanyou and him would be meaningless.
She controlled her cultivation at the Mid Stage of the Heaven Realm, three realms lower than Zhang Ruochen. Moreover, she only used sword techniques without any other means.
Zhang Ruochen would not use any other means either. He would only use his own power to deal with her.
SWOOSH!
Kong Lanyou launched another attack. She displayed the fourth sword technique.
Zhang Ruochen raised his arm once again to ward off his assailant. He wanted to keep fighting recklessly with her.
With a bang, the vertical bamboo flute she pointed passed through his right arm. It hit his shoulder and sent him flying through the air.
Zhang Ruochen had no feeling in his right arm and half of his body had become numb. Seeing that he was about to fall to the ground, he quickly ran his Genuine Qi, stretched out his left hand to hit the ground, and flew up to land upside down.
Before he could stand firm, Kong Lanyou had launched her fifth strike and hit his glabella.
Instead of dodging, Zhang Ruochen immediately pushed his left palm to hit her lower abdomen.
If she did not take back the vertical bamboo flute, her lower abdomen would be hit. A warrior at the Mid Stage of the Heaven Realm would definitely die after being struck by Zhang Ruochen’s palm.
Kong Lanyou snorted and turned her slender waist. Like a fish in the water, she quickly twisted up and avoided his movement.
She hit downward and pointed the vertical bamboo flute to the center of his back.
“Awful.”
Zhang Ruochen felt his back grow cold and knew that he could not avoid this movement. He immediately mobilized his Genuine Qi to form Celestial Bodyshield and pushed it back.
The Celestial Bodyshield turned into a huge light ball, enveloping him.
The light ball lost its effect when Kong Lanyou’s vertical bamboo flute hit its surface.
“Break!”
Kong Lanyou broke Zhang Ruochen’s Celestial Bodyshield and hit him in the center of his back.
The Celestial Bodyshield, reduced the power of the vertical bamboo flute by half. It struck him with a crash. He was shaken to lunge forward, without any heavy injury.
Zhang Ruochen endured his burning back pain and turned. Just as he turned back, the vertical bamboo flute was pressed against his heart.
If it was a real life-or-death struggle, his heart would have been stabbed by the vertical bamboo flute.
Zhang Ruochen withdrew, saying, “I’ve failed!”
“I defeated you in six movements. You’ve progressed a lot in the last half a month. Your understanding of sword technique was far beyond my expectation.”
Kong Lanyou took back her vertical bamboo flute and returned to the Bamboo Pavilion.
She waved her hand over the stone table and a pot of tea and two celadon cups appeared.
She blew a breath. The teapot slowly flew up and suspended in the air.
PHHT!
Kong Lanyou did not perform any other conjuring tricks. The Spiritual Qi between heaven and earth flew continuously into the teapot.
A section of Spiritual Qi flew into the teapot and blended with the water. Another turned into wisps of fire and coated the teapot.
Shortly afterwards, came the delicate fragrance of tea. It turned to wisps of white mist that pervaded the bamboo forest.
“Zhang Ruochen, I told you that if you withstood my strikes three times, I would treat you to a good drink. You can enter the Bamboo Pavilion,” Kong Lanyou said calmly.
When he walked into the Bamboo Pavilion, the fragrance of tea was stronger.
Taking a deep breath, he inhaled the fragrance into his abdomen. All of a sudden, he felt a current of mighty Spiritual Qi flowing into his Blood Meridian. His blood seemed to be boiling.
Zhang Ruochen immediately ran the Scripture of Emperor Ming’s Empyrean. Genuine Qi rapidly moved through the 36 Meridians in his body for a large cirde of vital energy.
Kong Lanyou took a deep look at Zhang Rouchen as he performed the Scripture of Emperor Ming’s Empyrean. Her eyes were full of confusion and intricacy.
“What on earth is inside that teapot? Why do I benefit so much by taking a deep breath? If I take a sip of tea, will I benefit even more?” Zhang Ruochen said to himself.
Zhang Ruochen put aside his doubts temporarily. He went to the opposite side and sat down.
Kong Lanyou lifted her eyelids and stared at him. She said, “You’re only a warrior of the Heaven Realm. How dare you sit opposite me to be on a par with me? You’re quite unscrupulous!”
Zhang Ruochen remained relaxed. “Predecessor, you invited me to drink tea in the Bamboo Pavilion. Why can’t I sit down?”
Even if Kong Lanyou had extremely high cultivation, Zhang Ruochen was not afraid of her. He treated her still as his cousin, without pressure.
After meeting her twice, Zhang Ruochen could tell that Kong Lanyou had no enmity toward him from 800 years ago. Moreover, she had been very concerned about him that year.
Even so, Zhang Ruochen did not intend to tell her the truth.
If she knew the truth, she would certainly plan his future. She would bring him back to Ming Hall, with her current cultivation, experience, status, and will.
If he returned to Ming Hall, how would he get along with her in the future?
How did Zhang Ruochen know that she was from Ming Hall? It was actually very simple. When he had gone to Sword Sanctum, Jade Saint had asked him if he was a member of Ming Hall. Now, Kong Lanyou was here again, and she was connected with Sword Sanctum. She had to be a member of Ming Hall.
He was only a young warrior in the Heaven Realm; she was an 800-year-old Saint from Ming Hall. The difference between them was huge. Kong Lanyou would not submit herself to him as she had 800 years before.
Moreover, Zhang Ruochen did not want to expose his identity. He was a proud person and had his own cultivation plan. He did not want to resort to Kong Lanyou and Ming Hall.
Tell her?
Or not tell her?
Suddenly, countless ideas flashed across his mind.
Kong Lanyou seemed to be thinking about something. She did not say anything and fell into silence.
Zhang Ruochen put his hands together. He swallowed and enjoyed the tea fragrance. He performed his exercises and quickly cultivated himself.
Zhang Ruochen’s mind was empty after he inhaled the tea fragrance. His doubts about martial arts were settled in an instant.
“If I could keep inhaling and exhaling the tea fragrance and maintain my current status, I would be able to break through the Final State of the Heaven Realm within a month.”
His Spiritual Power was strong; he had reached 41st level. He quickly did three things at once.
He swallowed and inhaled tea fragrance and performed exercises.
He recalled the process of fighting with Kong Lanyou to grasp the quintessence of her sword technique.
Meanwhile, Zhang Ruochen’s Heart of the Sword changed into a human shape inside his Qi Sea. He exercised sword techniques repeatedly.
GURGLE!
The water in the teapot was boiling.
Under Kong Lanyou’s control, the teapot flew to Zhang Ruochen. A full cup of jade-green tea was poured.
Then, the teapot flew back. Another cup of tea was poured for her.
Zhang Ruochen opened his eyes and looked at the tea before him. “Is it possible that this tea is boiled with the legendary holy medicine ‘Blue Sky Herb’?”
“You’re quite knowledgeable. There’s a leaf of Blue Sky Herb in the teapot.”
Kong Lanyou put the small delicate teacup to her red lips and gently took a sip.
In legends, Blue Sky Herb grew in the clouds rather than on the earth. It absorbed moisture and Spiritual Qi, collected the light of the sun and the moon, and finally formed into a grass-blade of holy medicine.
Such a treasure was more precious than Five Elements Spirit Treasure. If a Blue Sky Herb came on the scene, many Half-Saints would struggle to seize it.
Blue Sky Herb could not only help warriors to improve their cultivation but also help them to comprehend the Holy Road.
Therefore, Blue Sky Herb was extremely precious to a figure at the Ninth Change of the Fish-dragon Realm or a Half-Saint. It was extremely wasteful for a leaf of Blue Sky Herb to be used to make tea for a warrior of the Heaven Realm.
“She treated me with Blue Sky Herb, such a holy medicine. Is it possible that she’s recognized me?”
Zhang Ruochen wondered.
Kong Lanyou put down her teacup and stared at Zhang Ruochen. She said, “If you stop drinking it, the efficacy of Blue Sky Herb will decrease.”
Zhang Ruochen did not consider it anymore. He lifted his teacup and drank it to the last drop.
Then he almost dropped the teacup. He was frightened by her words.
Kong Lanyou watched him, saying, “You practiced Scripture of Emperor Ming’s Empyrean?”