Art is an Explosion

The Books of the Three Sovereigns—the books of Fuxi, Shennong, and Huangdi—are called the San Fen (Three Tombs), speaking of the Great Dao.

These three books are the oldest known to history. Although times progress forward, it must be acknowledged that the strength of current cultivators is not equal to that of the ancients. The power of Qi Fen lives up to its name as the origin of the Dao of Qi.

Even if it's just scratching the surface.

The wall of True Qi crashed down, divine might surging like a tide, engulfing everything.

Jiang Li's expression changed for the first time, sensing a life-threatening danger. He immediately drew his greatest trump card, instantly emptying forty percent of his True Qi reserves.

"Dingchou extends my life, Dinghai restrains my soul.

Dingyou governs my P'o-soul, Dingwei averts my disasters.

Dingsi saves me from peril, Dingmao delivers me from hardship.

Jiazi protects my body, Jiaxu preserves my form.

Jiashen secures my fate, Jiawu guards my Hun-soul.

Jiachen鎮 [zhèn - suppresses/guards/calms] my spirit, Jiayin nurtures my truth."

The Six Ding Six Jia divine incantation was rapidly chanted. Twelve golden beams suddenly shot into the sky, outlining a massive talisman above Jiang Li's head.

"Grant!"

The talisman descended upon him, covering his body in golden light, even enveloping the long sword in his hand, turning him entirely into a little golden figure.

Previously, merely activating the talisman was enough to render the challengers helpless. Now, with Jiang Li fully utilizing the Six Ding Six Jia Protection Talisman, golden light permeated his body, inside and out, making his strength and physique no less than Zhang Zhenyang who cultivated Hunyuan Gong, and his defense far surpassed it.

Even his mind was protected, stacking with his Dao Fruit ability, allowing him to withstand the suffocating pressure.

"Open."

The long sword left its sheath. Countless trajectories of flowing True Qi reflected in Jiang Li's eyes. The blade, carrying golden light, moved swiftly across the Qi wall like a dragon or snake slithering on land. Every turn and change struck the trajectory of the True Qi flow.

Lü Wangji could be said to be the strongest enemy Jiang Li had ever faced. Facing this person, Jiang Li dared not hold back anything. Talisman arts, sword arts, and the Qi observation technique were all pushed to their limits.

The clash of blade light and True Qi produced incessant sounds. A streak of lightning-fast sword light flashed past, and the overwhelming Qi wall was actually split in two.

"Clang!"

The sword sang sharply. Jiang Li held one hand behind his back, stepped forward with the sword in the other. Talisman after talisman flew from his sleeve, wrapping around the sword body. With one swing, bursts of intense firelight erupted.

"He still has the strength to activate talismans?"

Lü Wangji praised upon seeing this.

Once a talisman is successfully created, it can store a portion of True Qi within its medium. The better the medium, the more True Qi it can store. When activating, if only the minimum power is required, just this stored True Qi is sufficient.

Theoretically, the more talismans prepared, the stronger the talisman cultivator.

But in reality, activating talismans requires mental guidance; they can't be used just by holding them. Higher-level talismans consume more mental energy, and activating multiple talismans simultaneously requires increasingly fine control.

Jiang Li had already used the advanced Six Ding Six Jia Protection Talisman, yet he still had the capacity to use Fire Thunder Talismans. The strength of his Spirit element truly exceeded Lü Wangji's expectations.

But it was merely unexpected.

"Flowing with and against the current."

Lü Wangji brought his palms together. A large amount of True Qi gathered between them, coalescing into a vortex that sucked in the incoming long sword. Even the firelight erupting from the sword body was forcefully suppressed, turning the transparent vortex crimson.

Two opposing forces,顺 [shùn - following/along] and逆 [nì - against/counter], appeared simultaneously within the vortex, gripping the long sword tightly. Lü Wangji stepped back with his right foot, shifted his hands sideways, the True Qi vortex clinging to the long sword, also yanking Jiang Li abruptly forward.

"Clang!"

The fine steel long sword, covered in golden light, was actually twisted and snapped by the True Qi vortex. Lü Wangji then rotated his palms, bringing them parallel to the broken sword, simultaneously striking towards Jiang Li's chest and abdomen.

"Bang!"

At the critical moment, Jiang Li decisively abandoned his sword. His left hand was no longer held behind his back. He intercepted with both hands, using the Chasing Wind Palm to block in front of his chest and abdomen, colliding with Lü Wangji's palms.

However, one side was attacking with accumulated momentum, while the other defended hastily. Coupled with Lü Wangji's superior cultivation and Jiang Li's arms being in an awkward position to exert force, upon contact, Jiang Li's arms were pushed back by the palm force, striking his own body with a muffled thud. The golden light around him flickered violently.

If not for the protection of the Six Ding Six Jia Talisman, this blow would have severely injured Jiang Li.

Suffering the heavy blow, Jiang Li flew backward about a zhang, landed on his feet, and was dragged rapidly backward across the Wind Cloud Platform!

"Victory is decided!" Luo Yi on the cliff edge finally breathed a sigh of relief. "Jiang Li's left hand is out. Lü Wangji definitely won't let him continue using the Louguan Sword Art to anticipate moves. Even with the Six Ding Six Jia Talisman protecting him, it's difficult to reverse the tide of battle."

As expected, just as Jiang Li retreated two zhang, a sudden whining sound arose. Lü Wangji aimed his left palm towards Jiang Li, fingers spread wide, palm center indented. True Qi spun rapidly, creating the whining sound. An invisible force grabbed the rapidly retreating Jiang Li, pulling him back towards Lü Wangji again.

Qin Long Gong (Dragon Capturing Skill)!

The retreating figure was pulled forward like a kite, the three-zhang distance rapidly shrinking.

As Jiang Li slid, both his sleeves vibrated. Countless Fire Thunder Talismans flew out from them, drawn towards the Dragon Capturing Skill first.

Each talisman emitted spiritual light, and intense firelight flared repeatedly.

"Boom boom boom boom..."

A chain of thunderous explosions erupted. As many as thirty Fire Thunder Talismans were activated. The strength of Jiang Li's Spirit element was truly astonishing.

But Lü Wangji's strength was equally remarkable.

"Disorderly and confused."

Lü Wangji noticed that although there were many Fire Thunder Talismans, the explosions showed signs of counteracting and interfering with each other. Clearly, his opponent, forced to use his left hand, hadn't had time for precise calculations with the Louguan Sword Art.

"Kong He (Crane Controlling)."

Lü Wangji pushed his right palm forward. An invisible wall seemed to appear before him. The intense firelight crashed against it, becoming a flat plane, unable to cross the boundary by even half a step.

Furthermore, a powerful force surged forward, scattering the explosion formed by the thirty Fire Thunder Talismans with a single palm strike.

"Bang!"

The exploding fire rained down. Lü Wangji's sleeves fluttered as he strode forward, True Qi surging around him. Wherever he passed, the fire rain parted. However, when the firelight before him dissipated, an utterly shocking scene appeared in his eyes.

Talismans. Talismans as far as the eye could see.

Countless talismans danced wildly in the wind, the bright yellow color filling his vision.

Using the firelight to obstruct vision, Jiang Li had thrown out all the Fire Thunder Talismans from his storage bag. The fluttering talismans surrounded both him and Lü Wangji.

"You have divine arts; I have fire thunder."

Through the dancing talismans, Jiang Li gave Lü Wangji a faint smile, quietly swallowed the pill Feng Ziyang had secretly given him, and simultaneously, activated the mental energy attached to the talisman papers.

Allahu Akbar. Art is an explosion.

"Boom boom boom boom boom..."

Although Fire Thunder Talismans were merely unranked talismans, quantity creates quality. When anything becomes numerous enough, it can produce power beyond its limits.

Just like Lü Wangji, the reason he could suppress Jiang Li was because his cultivation level far surpassed Jiang Li's.

Like heavenly thunder igniting earthly fire, flames shot towards the sky, explosions echoed incessantly, and rolling flames swept outwards, instantly covering nearly half of the Wind Cloud Platform.