Chapter 21: Challenge (Please Favorite)

Black Mountain.

"This mountain has indeed become different."

Zhong Shenxiu slowed down his horse and inspected the area carefully.

Speaking of which, Su Daoshi was quite fated with this Black Mountain, patrolling it for many years, memorizing every stone and grain of sand.

This mountain was barren all over, with sparse vegetation and strange rocks protruding everywhere. Su Daoshi once guarded it with his bow and arrows for several days but couldn't even shoot a rabbit.

However, over the past month, some changes had occurred.

Black wild grass started to sprout between the cracks in the rocks.

The grass was tough, with some patterns on its surface, twisted and chaotic, making it impossible to discern anything.

But as Zhong Shenxiu looked at it for a long time, he felt as though he was seeing eyes opening and closing incessantly.

He didn't do anything else but reported the situation. Feng Xixi took it seriously, saying that the mountain's earth energy was budding, and a great change was coming, hence the patrols were significantly increased.

"This mountain... is becoming more and more sinister."

With this change, Zhong Shenxiu didn't dare to go to the great canyon anymore, directly returning to the military camp to practice the Azure Dragon Cloud-Exploring Hand.

After all, his Spirit Turtle Breathing Skill had already reached its pinnacle, and Feng Xixi wasn't tied to his family; without achieving merit, he would not be passed down new techniques.

"Although my strength hasn't increased in the past few days, I feel the Spirit Turtle True Qi is becoming more active, it seems I have made up for it..."

Having finished a set of martial arts, Zhong Shenxiu stood with his hands behind his back, pondering to himself.

Every half month on the night of the full moon, that resentful spirit indeed came out to cause trouble again, devouring a large amount of Spirit Turtle True Qi, almost depleting Zhong Shenxiu's energy completely.

Fortunately, he relied on the second layer of the Xuanyin Soul-controlling Technique to barely hold on, but he felt increasingly disheartened.

Besides that, there was another troublesome matter that annoyed him.

He glanced around, murmuring to himself that it had arrived.

He saw a Black Armor Cavalry Commander, eight feet tall, imposing, followed by Wang Lun and Ma Jing, who shouted, "Su Daoshi, why aren't you out patrolling? Are you slacking off here?"

This man was the commander of the Xuanjia Cavalry, named Tang Xiu, who rose up from the bottom rank by rank, never having any fondness for the children of noble families.

Especially, Zhong Shenxiu watched with a cold eye and noticed that this man seemed to also harbor some feelings for Feng Xixi.

Of course, such a thing was utterly impossible.

The man had enough self-awareness; a single compliment from Feng Xixi would make his day.

Unfortunately, during this period, he saw that Feng Xixi seemed to show extra favor towards Su Daoshi, and thus the trouble began.

Even because of Feng Xixi's face, Zhong Shenxiu couldn't expose this matter and had even less of an explanation, even if he did explain, Tang Xiu was certain not to acknowledge it.

"I have already completed patrolling today's area and am now practicing martial arts."

Zhong Shenxiu gave his excuse.

Tang Xiu looked at Zhong Shenxiu's face, which was just average before, but had recently turned whiter, giving off an increasingly unpleasant impression of a handsome, fair-faced lad.

He thought it over and suddenly laughed, "How could you improve by practicing martial arts alone? Let me be your sparring partner."

Tang Xiu didn't care whether Zhong Shenxiu was ready or not. After saying this, he gracefully stepped onto the field.

As a commander of the Xuanjia Iron Cavalry, leading fifty elite riders, his actual status was even slightly higher than that of the camp leader Xu Wenling. By now, he had mastered five arts from the Ten Directions Beast Skill, namely: White Tiger Seven Killings Fist, Mang Bull Hard Skin Skill, Tiger and Leopard Thunder Sound Roar, Heavenly Toad Swallowing Sun Technique, and Ape Demon Fighting Victory Skill.

With a step forward, he first let out a roar, resembling the Tiger and Leopard Thunder Sound, which poured directly into Zhong Shenxiu's ears.

If it were an ordinary martial artist, this would have caused their head to spin and their brain to swell, defeated before the fight had even begun.

Zhong Shenxiu stepped back several times, his face seeming to pale for a moment.

Tang Xiu took a deep breath, a surge of Heavenly Toad True Qi from his Dantian erupted, his five fingers coming together to form a fist, fierce and unmatched—it was the White Tiger Seven Killings Fist!

"No offense taken," he said.

Zhong Shenxiu, seeing more spectators gathering around, rejoiced inwardly and shouted, extending his left hand in the Cloud Dragon Probe Claw, with strands of True Qi emerging from his fingertips.

Slap!

Like a heavy hammer striking cowhide, a thud followed, and Zhong Shenxiu only felt as if he had grabbed onto a piece of cowhide extremely tough and solid. His grip loosened, and his hand actually slipped away.

Seeing this, Tang Xiu let out another furious roar and charged forward, smashing his fists towards Zhong Shenxiu's temples.

'To think he's a warrior who fought his way up through the ranks, his battle experience is incredibly rich.'

'Not only that, but he is proficient in many arts of the Ten Directions Beast Skill, yet there is no obstruction in their execution. It must be that among them there is a master technique coordinating in the middle, linking all the skills together, creating an effect where the sum is greater than its parts.'

Zhong Shenxiu lightly tapped the ground with his foot, like a nimble fish leaping out of the dangerous range of a ferocious tiger, and a thought flashed through his mind: "This must be the merit of the Ape Demon Fighting Victory Skill! It's a pity... I don't know it!"

"Good, let's go again!"

Tang Xiu, seeing Zhong Shenxiu escape, also secretly praised him and continued the pursuit.

He had also seen that this pretty boy had only cultivated two arts of the Ten Directions Beast Skill, and although both were refined to perfection, they indeed were no match for his own.

The young lady... hadn't been too biased after all, no, she hadn't been deceived by this pretty boy.

'His "Azure Dragon Emerges from the Water" movement technique is well executed, but I am not afraid...'

Thinking this, Tang Xiu kept on roaring, his aura growing even more violent, and it seemed as if there was a massive ball of flesh at his throat that rolled down into his Dantian, abruptly enhancing his True Qi by several degrees.

This was a trick within the Heavenly Toad Swallowing Sun Technique that could temporarily stimulate the body to burst forth stronger True Qi.

With this surge of True Qi aiding him, he immediately cornered Zhong Shenxiu, raising a fist high to smash down.

He was forcing the other party into a brute force clash.

After all, the opponent's True Qi was inferior to his, and he didn't possess a protective martial art like the Mang Bull Hard Skin Skill. As long as he forced a direct confrontation, he would win!

At this moment, Zhong Shenxiu also seemed to have no room to avoid, directly using a move called "Dragon and Snake Wild Dance," clashing head-on with Tang Xiu.

Bang, bang!

The next moment, within the circle of the fight, a figure flew out and landed awkwardly on the ground—it was actually Tang Xiu!

"How is this possible?"

He exclaimed, the color draining from his face.

"I've been honored by your concession," Zhong Shenxiu said, standing with his hands behind his back, the very picture of a master. He thought to himself, 'I never said I wouldn't use any Daoist arts...'

Strictly speaking in terms of martial skills, he might be somewhat lacking, but relying on his experience and knowledge, he might have managed to take down his opponent after a few hundred fierce exchanges. However, it was far more shocking to win by exchanging just a few hard blows.

During the final moments of the duel, he had merely slightly drawn upon the breath of something within him, easily suppressing the opponent's True Qi and winning the match without much effort, all while harvesting a wave of Heavenly Show Points.