Chapter 274: I Taught Him That

Seeing Di Nufeng's triumphant expression, Wang Xuanling looked annoyed.

He snorted coldly and said, "I wonder which one of our sect’s members was so kind that they taught your student for you."

It was no wonder that Wang Xuanling was unhappy. His position as Mount Shu’s grand peak master brought him considerable prestige among the thirty-six peak masters. He wasn’t very close with the other peak masters, but at least, his relationships with them were a hundred times better than his relationship with Di Nufeng.

Army of Beans was no ordinary immortal art; only a handful of Mount Shu’s elders had mastered it. Di Nufeng definitely couldn't have taught Chu Liang this immortal art. The only powerful person she was relatively close to was Daoist Yan, but Wang Xuanling knew that Army of Beans wasn't part of Daoist Yan's repertoire of immortal arts, as she focused more on swordsmanship.

That meant someone else, who was well aware of the bet Wang Xuanling had with Di Nufeng, had secretly helped teach Di Nufeng's disciple for her. It was clear that the person in question was helping Silver Sword Peak deal with Jade Sword Peak.

That’s why when he made that remark, he’d raised his voice, ensuring that all the peak masters sitting in the spectator stands could hear him. Wang Xuanling had done it to show them a little of his displeasure, as there was nothing else he could do.

Right then, a faint voice rang out from above. "I did."

Wang Xuanling turned to look and found that it was a Guardian Elder sitting in a seat that was even higher up in the spectator stands. It was the Alchemy Master!

Wang Xuanling's stern face froze slightly.

The Alchemy Master taught him?

Then there's no issue.

Wang Xuanling was aware that the Alchemy Master had mastered the Army of Beans, but he hadn't considered at all that the Alchemy Master might be the one who taught Chu Liang. Everyone on Mount Shu knew that Silver Sword Peak and the Hall of Alchemy had gotten into a conflict a little while back. Di Nufeng had even stormed into the Hall of Alchemy, and in the end, the Alchemy Master had suffered a minor loss.

After that incident, the enmity that the Alchemy Master harbored toward Di Nufeng was even greater than Wang Xuanling’s!

Nevertheless, now...

But why is the Alchemy Master siding with our enemy?

While Wang Xuanling was feeling stunned, the Alchemy Master actually felt a little surprised too.

This matter had actually all started when the Mountain God Memorial Ceremony ended. The Alchemy Master had approached Chu Liang, wanting to teach him the Dao of Alchemy. Chu Liang ultimately agreed to become an attendant disciple of the Hall of Alchemy, but it would have to wait until the Mount Shu Summit was over.

Chu Liang said he wanted to participate in the Mount Shu Summit, but he was still weak in combat. He hoped to use this time to learn more divine skills and spells, especially immortal arts.

The Alchemy Master then replied that he had an immortal art that he could teach Chu Liang, and Chu Liang was naturally overjoyed about that.

That immortal art was Army of Beans.

Of course, the Alchemy Master had his own reasons for teaching Army of Beans to Chu Liang. A cultivator could use Army of Beans to turn a handful of beans into puppets, but how much spiritual energy could beans have?

Unless the cultivator was an extremely powerful Eminent One, they would have to refine some special materials and turn them into puppets. For instance, the Alchemy Master often used a type of Puppet Pill.

The Alchemy Master wanted to make use of this opportunity to first have Chu Liang learn how to concoct that Puppet Pill. The purpose of that was to have Chu Liang spend more time understanding the Dao of Alchemy.

In any case, getting Chu Liang to learn how to concoct the pill was the main objective. As for the immortal art, the Alchemy Master simply didn't think Chu Liang would be able to master it.

Army of Beans was an immortal art derived from the Dao of Illusion and Reality, elusive and incredibly profound—so much so that even training for a year or two wouldn’t be enough to master it. Yet, Chu Liang thought he could master it in just a month or two? It was simply wishful thinking.

The Alchemy Master imparted the immortal art to Chu Liang and gave him a bit of guidance on the key points. Then the Alchemy Master waited for Chu Liang to get stuck and return to him for advice, but Chu Liang never did. However, as a Guardian Elder, it wasn’t appropriate for someone of his status to lower himself and take the initiative to follow up on a disciple, so he let things be.

Unexpectedly, the Alchemy Master ended up seeing Chu Liang use that very immortal art in the main competition today! Moreover, Chu Liang had already concocted four Puppet Pills, which meant he could control four puppets simultaneously!

No one else knew how much time Chu Liang had spent on learning how to concoct the pills and mastering the immortal art, so they might think that he had been hiding his skills for a very long time. The Alchemy Master was the only one who knew that Chu Liang had spent less than two months on the pills and the immortal art!

His astonishment quickly turned into delight.

The Alchemy Master said to the Conservation Master beside him, "Our sect has gained another peerless genius!"

...

"Heavenly Sword Seal... Dimension Compression... Army of Beans..." Elder Sun said in amazement. "Chu Liang is showing an astonishing level of power right from the start."

Chu Liang was at the middle stage of the Golden Core Realm. Additionally, he had mastered more than one immortal art. Just these two points were enough to place him among the best in the nine provinces!

"Wow," Elder Huang uttered in surprise. "This kid sure hid his abilities well! Pulling off a move like that so suddenly... I bet Xu Ziyang didn't see it coming."

"

Heheh.

Are you panicking?" Elder Sun asked.

"Not yet." Elder Huang shook his head, still feeling confident that he bet on the right person. "Chu Liang is unexpectedly powerful, but if he thinks he can defeat a fifth-realm genius at his level, he’s just dreaming."

Right then, Xu Ziyang, in the middle of the enchanted formation, finally regained his composure. He had indeed gotten caught off guard by Chu Liang's explosive display of power.

Even a cultivator who had mastered two immortal arts would find it difficult to use them simultaneously. Chu Liang had used Dimension Compression twice and Army of Beans once. That was the same as if he’d used three immortal arts in the blink of an eye.

Using immortal arts consumed a frighteningly large amount of foundational qi. For the average cultivator at the middle stage of the Golden Core Realm, using three immortal arts in succession was enough to drain their Sea of Qi dry!

Yet, Chu Liang looked as composed as before; it didn’t seem like he was even struggling at all. Was this the power of an ultimate-tier Golden Core?

Chu Liang had truly gone to great lengths to hide his abilities for so long... but that all came to an end here.

𝙛𝓻𝒆𝒆𝒘𝙚𝓫𝙣𝙤𝒗𝙚𝓵.𝙘𝙤𝙢

Surrounded by five Chu Liangs, Xu Ziyang was indeed under great pressure. If it were purely a matter of physical strength, he might not even be a match for Chu Liang, let alone against him and four of his puppets.

Nevertheless, would Xu Ziyang sit and wait for death?

Despite being surrounded by the five Chu Liangs, Xu Ziyang remained totally calm. He swiftly formed hand seals, and a split second later, he was encompassed by a shimmering light.

A second head suddenly sprouted from one of his shoulders! Then it was followed by another on his other shoulder! Simultaneously, two additional arms emerged from each of his shoulders, making his physique much larger and quite bizarre. This was the Three-Headed and Six-Armed Form!

It was a rather unseemly divine skill. Although it was not an immortal art, it was said that if a martial artist mastered this skill, it would be on par with an immortal art.

The forte of this divine skill was that it eliminated one of the cultivator's key vulnerabilities—their unguarded back. With three heads and six arms, the cultivator would have three lines of defense, allowing the cultivator to fend off enemies from all directions. The cultivator wouldn’t need to be afraid of getting surrounded by enemies! The Three-Headed and Six-Armed Form was a brilliant choice for a cultivator when they were outnumbered!

The transformation happened quickly, much quicker than it took to describe.

At this moment, Chu Liang and his puppets had already launched their attacks on Xu Ziyang. They were punching and kicking him simultaneously!

Xu Ziyang's Three-Headed and Six-Armed Form easily fended off the four puppets, but Chu Liang didn’t hold back. He threw a speedy punch, accompanied by a burst of wind. The force of his punch was on par with Ling Ao's in the previous match!

Boom!

Xu Ziyang managed to catch the punch with his hand. However, the force of the punch wasn’t neutralized, and the collision produced a thunderous bang! It was like a meteor crashing into a towering mountain!

...

Below the stage...

Ling Ao, who had returned at some point, was standing quietly on the sidelines as he watched the match.

He realized that if Chu Liang had wanted to, he could have brought the battle to a swift end with his physical strength alone. Instead, he had held back and waited to give Xu Ziyang this huge "gift."

Ling Ao was the only one who could sense the presence of a True Dragon’s aura on the stage. Chu Liang’s destiny was what Ling Ao had been incredibly hungry for. For the first time, Ling Ao compared himself to Chu Liang and wondered if he was lacking anything else other than talent[1].

...

After receiving Chu Liang’s punch, Xu Ziyang took two steps back.

Meanwhile, Chu Liang's right fist was trembling uncontrollably.

He had already been running the Secret Dragon Blood Technique on full blast since a while ago. His qi and blood had gotten so hot that flames of qi were rising from his body. The immense power that his punch contained was absolutely not something an ordinary person could withstand!

Nevertheless, Xu Ziyang wasn’t physically weak. He had clearly put a lot of effort into the foundation of his cultivation. Moreover, he gained a new mystical ability after entering the first phase of the Realm of the Five Elements.

His geng metal spiritual qi spread through his whole body, and his skin turned bronze. He exuded a powerful divine light as his body became as hard as metal and stone! This was the Metallic Body of the fifth-realm!

Chu Liang was more powerful than Xu Ziyang, but Xu Ziyang’s Metallic Body provided incredible defense and prevented Chu Liang’s attacks from dealing any damage to Xu Ziyang. Now, neither one of them had the upper hand.

At this moment, Xu Ziyang stood tall with his three heads, six arms, and metallic body, looking as imposing as the God of War!

The five Chu Liangs surrounded Xu Ziyang. With Chu Liang’s real body taking the lead and his puppets assisting him, they fought with reckless abandon at close quarters, unleashing a barrage of punches and kicks onto Xu Ziyang!

No one could have expected that this match would turn into such an intense fight focusing on hand-to-hand combat!

Boom, boom, boom

—

Chu Liang hadn't learned any special punching techniques, but he had learned the Turbulent Stream Movement Art and the Brick Combat Technique from Yun Chaoxian, so he knew some martial arts principles.

Xu Ziyang, on the other hand, had obviously studied some martial arts before, specifically for such situations. He was pretty skilled!

In the blink of an eye, the two had exchanged hundreds of blows, each one landing a solid hit!

This was clearly a duel in a fighting tournament, yet it had the atmosphere of a brawl!

Boom, boom, boom!

The more they fought, the fiercer their attacks became. It got so bad that the stage beneath their feet actually cracked!

The spectators were stunned.

The only exception was a tall and well-built disciple of the Great Astral Sect. He was beaming with joy as he watched the match.

Pointing at the rather dashing and heroic Chu Liang, Yun Chaoxian said to Tang Shi beside him, "Did you see? I taught him all that."

Wham.

Chu Liang was hit with a punch at that moment.

Seeing that, Yun Chaoxian calmly added, "I taught him a movement art. I didn’t teach him punching techniques."

Wham.

Chu Liang was hit with another punch.

That was when he realized something was off.

Chu Liang had grown bolder with his attacks as the fight went on, but Xu Ziyang’s attacks had become fiercer as well.

His attacks are getting more powerful than mine!

It hurt way too much when that rock-hard metallic body punched me in the face!

It seems like he’s gradually implementing a martial arts technique!

That was indeed the case.

In the past, Xu Ziyang hadn't studied punching techniques much. However, having seen Chu Liang use Forbidden Ground to defeat Mu Yueting, Xu Ziyang realized he needed to be more diligent in his preparations for his match with Chu Liang.

Aware that Chu Liang had that move in his repertoire, Xu Ziyang had to find a way to defend against it. So, he learned and practiced an ancient punching technique before the match.

Xu Ziyang thought that with his fifth-realm Metallic Body and a special martial arts technique, he would be able to hold out for at least a while regardless of how strong Chu Liang was physically. He just needed to hang on until the effects of Forbidden Ground wore off.

Chu Liang had no intention of using the same trick twice though. He didn't even have the Forbidden Ground stored in his art-storing jade talisman.

So far, Chu Liang had carried out all of his plans successfully. He had caught Xu Ziyang off guard and closed the distance between them in an instant, engaging in close combat with the smallest possible gap between them.

Yet, Chu Liang hadn’t expected that he wouldn’t be able to defeat Xu Ziyang in hand-to-hand combat. If they continued fighting like this, Chu Liang would end up at a disadvantage.

Of course, this wasn’t the result of Xu Ziyang's hastily learned martial arts technique but rather Chu Liang's lack of understanding of the fifth-realm’s Metallic Body.

In the geng metal phase of the fifth realm, Xu Ziyang’s foundational qi enhanced his corporeal body and made it unexpectedly powerful!

Under these circumstances, Chu Liang could only change to a different tactic.

When he noticed that the cracks in the stage were deepening, he leaped backward, creating some distance between him and Xu Ziyang.

Then Chu Liang stomped with one foot!

Thud!

The part of the stage beneath his foot broke into pieces instantly. He picked up one of the broken chunks of brick and felt its weight in his hand for a moment. Then Chu Liang revealed a satisfied smile.

The stage had been made with a very solid material. He was only holding a chunk of it, but it was still quite hefty. This was rather convenient for him.

Xu Ziyang watched puzzledly as Chu Liang and his four puppets all picked up half a broken brick.

Their fists should be just as hard as those bricks, so what’s the point of using the brick as a weapon?

Xu Ziyang wondered inwardly.

Nonetheless, Chu Liang didn't think the same way.

Holding the half-brick, his eyes lit up with confidence as he darted forward.

When I have a brick in my hand, the world is mine!

With his three heads, six arms, and metallic body, Xu Ziyang braced himself for the oncoming attack. A moment later, he heard a thud. The back of one of his heads had been ruthlessly smashed with a brick.

It seemed that Chu Liang's attacks had suddenly become more fluid.

Thump, thump, thump...

Chu Liang didn’t give Xu Ziyang much time to react. He smashed Xu Ziyang’s three heads with the brick eight times in just a short amount of time!

With a brick in hand, Chu Liang's combat power had increased by at least fifty percent!

The spectators wore bewildered expressions as they watched this scene. They had already seen many shocking things in this match thus far, but this scene was way too bizarre for them to watch calmly.

There was a person with three heads, six arms, and a metallic body. Despite resembling a deity, this person was being chased by a group of youths wielding broken bricks, swinging them wildly. It looked like a street brawl, with heads being smashed with loud thumps.

It appeared that Chu Liang had done some specialized training in this brick technique, but who would train with such a weapon...? Even if a brick could be called a weapon, wasn’t it too strange to be used as one? What kind of fighting technique was this?

A certain burly man in the spectator stand grinned proudly. "This is the Brick Combat Technique. I taught him that too."

1. Yes, more than you could ever imagine. ☜