Chapter 28: The Duel between Faao

Twenty members of the Zhu family arrived above the canyon, exchanged smiles, and then flew off in twenty different directions.
The Yuwen family sent two Human Soul Immortals, Yuwen Ningfei and Yuwen Chuanpeng, to monitor all activities in the canyon. At that moment, their immortal senses detected the movements of the twenty Zhu family members.
“Disgraceful!” Yuwen Ningfei and Yuwen Chuanpeng shouted simultaneously.
They clearly understood the Zhu family’s plan—by flying in different directions, they could only track two of them at a time, leaving the other eighteen out of their sight.
Soon, Yuwen Ningfei and Yuwen Chuanpeng exchanged glances and communicated through their immortal senses.
“The Zhu family is deliberately trying to provoke us. We should each target one of the mid-level Human Soul Immortals and kill them if necessary,” said Yuwen Ningfei.
“Agreed. Among these twenty, there are five mid-level Human Soul Immortals. We’ll each choose one and follow them,” replied Yuwen Chuanpeng.
In an instant, Yuwen Ningfei and Yuwen Chuanpeng took off and locked onto two mid-level Human Soul Immortals from the Zhu family. Yuwen Ningfei targeted Zhu Xiao, while Yuwen Chuanpeng flew toward Zhu Bao.
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Following Qu Yi’s orders, Zhu Bao took on the task assigned by the Yuanxing Sect and flew alone toward the central region of the Xiyang Continent.
As the only beast-taming sect on the Xiyang Continent, the Yuanxing Sect had always been sought after by various factions. To avoid offending any of them, it maintained a neutral stance.
After reviewing information about the Yuanxing Sect, Zhu Bao grew uneasy. Having existed for tens of thousands of years as a neutral sect, it had never wavered despite attempts by many factions to win it over. Thus, he was very puzzled by Qu Yi’s decision to go there.
However, he didn’t dare ask and continued flying swiftly through the air.
“Zhu Bao, someone from the Yuwen family is following you. There’s a forest ahead—enter it and hide,” Qu Yi’s voice suddenly came through.
The Artifact God, inside the Dimensional Sphere, had already detected Yuwen Chuanpeng’s movements using his Earth Immortal-level immortal sense.
Zhu Bao showed no change in expression, pretending not to have noticed Yuwen Chuanpeng, then accelerated and flew above the forest a hundred miles ahead.
The entire forest was shrouded in a hazy white mist, appearing dreamlike and elusive.

Zhu Bao immediately fell into the forest below and then into a pond. With his cultivation as a mid-level Human Soul Immortal, he had mastered the secrets of the Water Flow Submersion Technique and the Coldness Technique. Now, using the Submersion Technique, he transformed his entire aura into ripples in the water, allowing him to drift downstream along the stream starting from the pond.

The Submersion Technique enabled him to instantly switch between the force of submersion and the force of descent. In other words, when Zhu Bao used the force of submersion, he could directly transform it into the force of descent if needed.

At this moment, Zhu Bao was skillfully applying the Submersion Technique to hide himself.

Yuwen Chuanpeng soon arrived above the forest and scanned the area with his immortal sense. He found no trace of Zhu Bao’s aura in the pond and then scanned the stream as well, still finding nothing.

“Hmph! Even if you’ve mastered the Water Flow Submersion Technique, you won’t be able to escape today,” Yuwen Chuanpeng snapped angrily.

Yuwen Chuanpeng was a high-level Wood Element Human Soul Immortal who had mastered all three fundamental techniques of the Wood Element: the Growth and Withering Technique, the Stretching and Flexing Technique, and the Tightening and Loosening Technique. This time, Yuwen Qitian sent him to monitor the Zhu family precisely because of his cultivation level and sharpness of mind.

His immortal sense scanned the forest once more, but Yuwen Chuanpeng still detected no trace of Zhu Bao, which only intensified his anger.

“You’re forcing me to use my ultimate technique. Then I’ll show you just how powerful I am!” Yuwen Chuanpeng shouted in fury.

Immediately afterward, Yuwen Chuanpeng placed his hands together, palms facing downward, and slammed them downward toward the forest below.

One hand produced a green energy mass, and the other also produced one—both composed of Wood Element energy. The difference was that the energy in the left hand represented the force of growth, while that in the right hand represented the force of withering.

Yuwen Chuanpeng had actually used the Growth and Withering Technique in such a manner.

The two green energy masses descended simultaneously, expanding to a length of a thousand meters each, falling on either side of the stream.

On the left side of the stream, the trees suddenly thrived wildly—their trunks doubled in size, branches stretched longer, and leaves enlarged by half. Yet before long, the trees withered again. This was the “first growth, then withering” aspect of the Growth and Withering Technique.

On the right side, the moment the green energy masses landed, all the trees and grass were destroyed, turning the land into a desert. Soon, the entire desert turned into fertile farmland, with weeds and trees growing back to their original state. This was the “first death, then rebirth” aspect of the same technique.

As the two energy masses descended, Yuwen Chuanpeng’s immortal sense remained focused on the changes within the stream.

Trees are directly connected to water currents, and throughout their life cycle of growth and decay, they can influence the flow of water. This is why Yuwen Chuanpeng uses the Life and Death Technique—to locate Zhu Bao within the water currents.

“Hmph, you escape quickly, but you’re doomed not to escape,” Yuwen Chuanpeng snapped angrily after realizing his first attack hadn’t forced Zhu Bao to reveal himself.

Immediately afterward, he continued to use the Life and Death Technique along the direction of the water flow, causing the trees on both sides of the stream to alternate between flourishing and dying, constantly searching for Zhu Bao.

“Haha, you can’t escape now!” Yuwen Chuanpeng exclaimed excitedly after unleashing another strike with the technique.

He had already determined Zhu Bao’s location in the water flow.

“Go!” With a fierce slap of his right hand, Yuwen Chuanpeng sent out a green energy sphere the size of a bowl. Upon touching the water, it transformed into a sharp, long thorn that plunged straight into the stream.

Boom!

Suddenly, Zhu Bao surged out of the water, holding two ice pillars that blocked the green thorn. With a loud explosion, both the ice pillars and the thorn shattered simultaneously.

“Who are you from the Yuwen family? Why are you so ruthless from the start?” Zhu Bao demanded angrily as he rose into the air.

Earlier, while in the water, Zhu Bao had been affected by the Life and Death Technique and, through carelessness, lost his energy signature, allowing Yuwen Chuanpeng to locate him and force him to defend himself.

Yuwen Chuanpeng glanced at Zhu Bao indifferently and sneered, “You need not know my name. You must die today to serve as a warning to your Zhu family—Fangyang Star is not a place your family should dare to interfere with.”

Hearing this, Zhu Bao’s expression turned solemn, and a murderous intent flared in his eyes.

“Is that so? Then I’ll accept your warning and settle this now!” he shouted fiercely, his eyes gleaming with violence.

Although Zhu Bao was only a mid-tier Human Soul Immortal who knew only two techniques, battles between Human Soul Immortals weren’t necessarily determined by the number of techniques one knew. It also depended on the amount of Immortal Essence each possessed and their skill in using those techniques. Thus, Zhu Bao felt no fear at all facing this superior Human Soul Immortal from the Yuwen family.

Yuwen Chuanpeng’s eyes sharpened as he suddenly drew out a wooden sword emitting a green glow—it was actually a celestial weapon of the Earth Soul Immortal level, crafted from the heartwood of a 100,000-year-old precious jade tree.

“My Precious Green Sword, which has slain countless foes—now it will take your head,” Yuwen Chuanpeng declared coldly.

As Immortal Essence was infused into the sword, it transformed into a phantom and shot straight at Zhu Bao—much faster than a superior Human Soul Immortal.

Zhu Bao was shocked, his whole body trembling as suddenly a transparent ice wall rose in front of him, with glowing white lights flowing within it.
Bang!
The Jade Sword collided with the ice wall, only managing to pierce it slightly before it could advance any further.
“Hmph, even if you possess a Divine Instrument of the Earth Immortal realm, you’re still just at the Human Soul Immortal level—how powerful can you really be? My Frost Art can freeze your Wood Element immortal essence. No matter how sharp your Jade Sword is or how fast it moves, it won’t be able to break my ice wall,” Zhu Bao shouted coldly.
Yuwen Chuanpeng immediately retracted his Jade Sword, his expression turning icy as he sized up Zhu Bao again before suddenly smiling.
“You’re just a mid-tier Human Soul Immortal, and you’ve only just reached that level. How much immortal essence do you have? I’ll drain it all from you,” Yuwen Chuanpeng declared coldly.
Suddenly, the Jade Sword shot out like a phantom once more, aiming at the ice wall.
The sound of the ice wall cracking continued intensely, as if it might break at any moment. But Zhu Bao fought desperately, constantly pouring Water Element immortal essence to maintain the integrity of the ice wall.
After attacking ten times in a row and finding that Zhu Bao could still hold up the ice wall, Yuwen Chuanpeng was somewhat surprised and quickly retracted his Jade Sword.
“You’re a mid-tier Human Soul Immortal with plenty of immortal essence, but I know you’re almost out of it. Now, experience my Expansion and Contraction Art and see if you can still resist!” Yuwen Chuanpeng shouted with a wild laugh.
The Jade Sword was sent out again by Yuwen Chuanpeng. This time, as it flew toward the ice wall, its size increased tenfold, striking the wall like a celestial sword. The ice wall cracked instantly, on the verge of completely shattering. Then, the Jade Sword rapidly shrank to half its original size, moving like a phantom through the cracks and aiming at Zhu Bao behind the ice wall.
This was the Wood Element Expansion and Contraction Art—alternating expansion and contraction, dispersing and gathering immortal essence to control the changes of the Jade Sword.
Fear flashed in Zhu Bao’s eyes; he could no longer resist the Jade Sword.
Just as Zhu Bao felt despair, he found his body involuntarily drawn into a space, and the Jade Sword naturally failed to reach him.
The Weapon God used the Dimensional Sphere to trap Zhu Bao inside.
At the same time, the Gold Lord, Wood Lord, Water Lord, and Earth Lord left the Dimensional Sphere. The Gold Lord, Water Lord, and Earth Lord, each wielding a mid-tier Divine Instrument, flew straight toward Yuwen Chuanpeng, while the Wood Lord held the Wind-Controlling Drum to confront the Jade Sword.

Yuwen Chuanpeng looked astonished.