Although Yan Hongxia was the one who called for a stop, she had not actually lost to Lu Zheng.
Her sword pellet was terrifyingly sharp. Lu Zheng had thrown out flying swords, cloud techniques, True Dragon Grand Palm Seal, Western Ultimate Wind-Calling Spell, and finally the Golden Palace Mind Sword, yet none had truly stopped her sword pellet.
If she wanted to keep fighting, she absolutely could.
But Lu Zheng had too many tricks. If she unleashed her full sword qi, she risked losing control and hurting someone; if she held back, she would only be dragged around by his endless techniques.
Continuing would no longer be friendly sparring. Since neither way felt satisfying, she might as well stop.
The two ended the fight and flew together to the mountain peak where the others waited.
Yan Hongxia could not help asking, “It’s only been two years. How did you pick up so many new moves? Wind-calling spells, true dragon martial arts, even Jinhua Sect techniques?”
“When we last met, I had literally just come down from Jinhua Mountain,” Lu Zheng said.
Yan Hongxia’s eyes widened. “You stole their scriptures?”
Lu Zheng rolled his eyes. “Can you think better of me? I went to return scriptures!”
Yan Hongxia nodded in understanding. Same reason she herself planned to return the sword manual to Feiyu Mountain.
“What kind of luck do you have?” Yan Hongxia gave him a strange look. “Are you Heaven’s own son or something?”
“Heh.” Lu Zheng raised an eyebrow smugly.
“Young Master Lu!”
“Hm?” Lu Zheng turned to see Ao Qi approaching.
Ao Qi cupped her fists, eyes blazing. “Hongxia’s sword qi is too fierce for simple sparring. Might Ao Qi have the honour of exchanging pointers with the young master?”
Ao Qi’s feelings toward Lu Zheng were complicated.
From Yan Hongxia she had heard he was a genius disciple of White Cloud Temple.
In person he seemed like a lazy, spoiled young master.
After a night chatting with Ao Qian, he came across as a refined, multi-talented gentleman.
Watching him tease Yan Hongxia, he was a humorous, close friend.
Only during the fight with Yan Hongxia did he finally reveal his true depth: countless techniques, ten thousand laws in one body. Shocking.
So…
Ao Qi’s hands itched. She wanted to test him personally.
“Sure, why not!” Lu Zheng nodded casually, then waved a hand. “We’re all friends. No need to be so formal, Miss Ao. Sparring helps us improve together.”
Ao Qi nodded inwardly. Lazy he might be, but his character was decent.
The next instant, her figure shot into the sky, reaching a hundred zhang in a blink. With a grasp of her hand, an ice-blue long spear appeared.
“Brother Lu, please!”
Lu Zheng looked up. Ao Qi’s ice-blue battle skirt fluttered in the wind, her half-body scale armour gleaming. Her spear pointed diagonally, her posture proud, her phoenix eyes blazing, true qi surging like a tide.
She was Hua Mulan reborn, Mu Guiying reincarnated. Compared to the other female general Lu Zheng knew, Gao Junyu, she had three parts less ferocity and five parts more sharpness.
“Miss Ao, after you!”
Lu Zheng’s eyes flashed. He leapt upward, drew his cloud-patterned sword with a reverse grip, and sent three pure white sword blooms forward, followed by more than ten strands of white cloud sword qi straight at Ao Qi.
“Well met!”
Ao Qi laughed brightly. Within several hundred zhang, wind and rain erupted. She swung her spear like a staff, smashing downward. The strike carried the storm with it, sweeping away all of Lu Zheng’s sword qi.
Then countless droplets of rain fused with azure dragon might and blasted toward Lu Zheng.
Good grief! A melee mage!
Lu Zheng grew excited too. His sword danced into blossoms as he closed in for close combat.
Wind-and-Rain Flying Immortal activated, Western Ultimate Wind-Calling Spell activated, agility maxed. Lu Zheng flickered constantly through the air, attacking Ao Qi from all sides.
Ao Qi was no less impressive. Wave after wave of storm clashed against Lu Zheng’s own wind and rain techniques. Her movements were agile; she twisted and turned in the sky, repeatedly forcing Lu Zheng out of his storm cover.
The two fought on equal footing, true rivals, neither yielding an inch.
They darted back and forth, rising higher and higher, their battlefield expanding. The storm spread dozens of li. Even though they deliberately shifted eastward, it still engulfed half the county. A light rain began to fall over Tonglin County.
…
Inside the county, Wang Xiaowan sensed Lu Zheng’s aura amid the wind and rain. Shocked, she shot out from her seclusion courtyard like a wisp of smoke, heading east.
At White Cloud Temple on Little Tong Mountain, Daoist Mingzhang’s eyelid twitched. He instantly appeared outside, glanced at the overcast sky and drizzle, then rode a cloud southward.
…
On the battlefield, the storm raged.
Ao Qi rose higher, swept her spear in a circle, gathered the surrounding storm into a towering water tornado infused with true dragon might, and thrust downward with earth-shaking power.
Lu Zheng inhaled deeply, waved a hand. Western Ultimate Wind-Calling Spell summoned a wind dragon tornado carrying endless moisture. His sword stabbed forward, forming a dozens-of-zhang white cloud sword qi at its centre.
BOOM!
A massive explosion scattered wind and rain in all directions.
Yan Hongxia stood in front of the women, countless sword qi weaving a net that blocked every stray blast of spiritual power.
Her eyes shone; she was itching to jump in again.
The clash of ultimate moves broke Ao Qi’s water tornado. She retreated a step, spun her spear, and finally dispersed the opposing wind.
“Geng Metal Divine Wind?”
Ao Qi’s eyes lit up. She hadn’t expected Lu Zheng’s wind spell to have such heritage.
Having long ago consumed destiny light to max out the Wind-Calling Spell’s proficiency, and now with cultivation catching up, threads of Geng Metal Divine Wind now laced his spell, vastly increasing its power.
“Excellent wind technique! Taste my gale!”
She had lost the last exchange by a hair and refused to accept it. Her spear traced a circle in the air, ready to continue.
At that moment, a white cloud flew in from the horizon bearing a daoist.
From the western official road, another figure sped toward them, eyes gleaming, staring into the sky.
Ao Qi paused. Lu Zheng smiled. “One is my master, the other a friend.”
Ao Qi nodded, withdrew her spear, dispersed her techniques, and hovered in place. She cupped her fists toward the approaching Daoist Mingzhang. “Ao Qi of the Azure Dragon clan pays respects to the Perfected One.”
“Well met, Miss Ao!”
Mingzhang arrived on his cloud. The two exchanged courtesies, then descended together.
Yan Hongxia hurried forward and bowed. “Yan Hongxia of Ascending Cloud Mountain pays respects to the Perfected One!”
Meanwhile, Wang Xiaowan arrived at the peak, greeted Liu Qingyan and the others first, then was introduced to Yan Hongxia and Ao Qi.
“So that’s how it is. I thought my senior brother was under attack.” Wang Xiaowan let out a relieved breath and relaxed.
