Chapter 13: Confrontation

After the Wind Blades dissipated, Zhou Heng collapsed directly to the ground, gasping for air, his heart filled with lingering fear.

The soul power within his body had been completely exhausted, not a drop remaining; the membrane formed by the compressed metal elements dissipated on its own, and the Element Spirit Tree martial soul also returned into his body.

If not for the Profound Thunder Purple Bamboo helping him control the surrounding metal elements this time, he would have been sliced into mince by those Wind Blades.

Qingluan Titled Douluo watched Zhou Heng from not far away with a chuckle, "Little Heng, how was Master's move? Were you scared?"

Zhou Heng looked at Qingluan Titled Douluo with a pale face, saying with an ugly expression, "Master, what are you trying to do? Something like this could cost me my life!"

Qingluan Titled Douluo laughed out loud: "Little Heng, you don't need to be so afraid. Master can still control those Wind Blades; once you can no longer hold on, Master will naturally stop those Wind Blades and won't let you get hurt."

Zhou Heng did not agree with Qingluan Titled Douluo's words; this concerned his own life, and if Qingluan Titled Douluo's strength weren't so great, Zhou Heng would definitely have given him a punch to make him remember this lesson.

Zhou Heng sat cross-legged on the ground again, beginning to practice his meditation technique to recover his soul power and mental strength.

While Zhou Heng was practicing, he subconsciously released his Battle Instrument martial soul; as he sat cross-legged on the ground, the Battle Instrument martial soul on his right hand trembled slightly.

A formless power was released from the Battle Instrument martial soul, silently merging into Zhou Heng's body.

Zhou Heng only felt that his soul power had increased again, and the Profound Thunder Purple Bamboo he had subdued seemed to have increased in age as well—not by much, only about three years.

This increase in age was not much; if Zhou Huan had not carefully sensed it this time, he would never have felt the increase in the Profound Thunder Purple Bamboo's age.

"What is going on? The age of the Profound Thunder Purple Bamboo has increased a bit too much, hasn't it?" Zhou Heng was a bit puzzled about the increase in the Profound Thunder Purple Bamboo's age.

The Profound Thunder Purple Bamboo was only a mid-to-high-tier Spirit Beast, yet it was able to increase its age cultivation by three years in less than three days; this was simply impossible to achieve.

The excitement Zhou Heng originally felt due to his soul power increase sank bit by bit; this matter concerned his path of cultivation, and he could not afford to take it lightly.

Zhou Heng injected the bit of soul power he had recovered into the Battle Instrument martial soul, and through the power of the Battle Instrument martial soul, he carefully sensed the condition of the Profound Thunder Purple Bamboo.

Time passed second by second, and although Zhou Heng spent nearly an hour, he could never find the reason for the Profound Thunder Purple Bamboo's increase in age over such a short time, so Zhou Heng buried this matter in his heart, preparing to investigate the cause after his own strength had improved.

Subsequently, Zhou Heng began his confrontation with Qingluan Titled Douluo once again.

As Zhou Heng's soul power was exhausted and recovered time and time again during his confrontation with Qingluan Titled Douluo, his soul power gained a not-insignificant increase.

In one day, his soul power had actually increased by nearly half a level, which left Qingluan Titled Douluo extremely astonished.

However, thinking of Zhou Heng's special talent, Qingluan Titled Douluo considered this a normal phenomenon and did not take it to heart.

Returning to his room, Zhou Huan, with the help of a maid, entered the prepared medicinal bath and began to circulate his soul power to nourish his meridians.

This was also the drawback of exhausting his soul power multiple times in a short period and then practicing; it would cause damage to his meridians, and if the Offering Hall had not prepared the medicinal bath in advance, Zhou Huan would have long since proposed a rest to Qingluan Titled Douluo.

The water in the wooden tub was a grayish-green color and carried a bitter scent of herbs; Zhou Heng sat cross-legged within it, silently circulating his soul power.

As Zhou Heng circulated his soul power, the nutrients in the medicinal bath soothed his exhausted meridians and liberated his weak body.

Zhou Heng practiced for an hour, and when he stopped, the medicinal water in the tub had become much clearer.

"It seems I absorbed quite a bit of medicinal power while practicing." Zhou Heng sensed his body; his physique had improved slightly, and his soul power had also increased somewhat, a smile on his face as he spoke in a relaxed tone.

A night passed, and when Zhou Heng woke up the next day, washed up, and finished breakfast, he arrived at the Martial Arts Arena again; Qingluan Titled Douluo was standing on the arena, smiling as he watched Zhou Huan arrive.

Zhou Huan was not surprised and charged directly toward Qingluan Titled Douluo, simultaneously releasing both his Battle Instrument martial soul and Element Spirit Tree martial soul.

The Profound Thunder Purple Bamboo was released and took root on the Martial Arts Arena; the First Soul Ring of the Element Spirit Tree martial soul flashed, and the metal elements within five meters were immediately controlled by Zhou Huan.

Several golden rays were controlled and compressed by Zhou Huan, transforming into small swords, which then turned into streams of light that fiercely pierced toward Qingluan Titled Douluo.

A flash of surprise crossed Qingluan Titled Douluo's face; yesterday this little fellow hadn't thought of compressing metal elements into shapes for attacks, but today he had achieved this level—the speed of his growth was too fast.

"Little Heng, the idea is good, but the control is still too poor; you need to compress them a few more times before Master can feel anything!" Qingluan Titled Douluo said with a smile on his face.

Qingluan Titled Douluo did not move his body, only using his soul power to draw upon the surrounding wind elements, and then several bird-shaped green lights took form around him.

The bird-shaped green lights automatically met the incoming golden streams of light.

"Boom— boom—"

The golden streams of light and the bird-shaped green lights collided, and after a few sounds, both sides canceled each other out.

Zhou Heng looked at Qingluan Titled Douluo; the opponent had no intention of moving, so Zhou Heng took the initiative to act, gathering the soul power in his body to flow toward his limbs, and moved his body to approach Qingluan Titled Douluo.

Qingluan Titled Douluo watched Zhou Huan actually dare to charge at him, and he couldn't help but raise an eyebrow, "You actually dare to charge over?"

Green light gathered around Qingluan Titled Douluo, and streaks of green light orbs struck toward Zhou Heng like lightning; Zhou Heng saw the attack Qingluan Titled Douluo had released toward him.

The soul power flowing within his body accelerated, allowing Zhou Heng's speed to increase, and he charged toward Qingluan Titled Douluo at high speed.

Facing these streaks of green light orbs, Zhou Heng dodged what he could, and for what he couldn't, he mobilized his soul power to resist head-on.

Soon, Zhou Heng approached within five meters of Qingluan Titled Douluo, and Zhou Huan controlled the metal elements to compress and deform.

Finally, the metal elements were controlled by Zhou Huan and turned into a flying sword; the blade flashed with a sharp, cold light, and this flying sword was driven by Zhou Heng's soul power, piercing straight toward Qingluan Titled Douluo.

Qingluan Douluo saw the flying sword heading toward him and shook his head indifferently; a green whirlwind instantly took form around him.

The moment the whirlwind took form, the flying sword also arrived at Qingluan Douluo's side.

The flying sword struck, but was blocked by the whirlwind; at the same time, the thrust of the flying sword was also guided by the whirlwind, circling around Qingluan Douluo and flying, no longer under Zhou Heng's control.

Seeing this, Zhou Heng immediately withdrew his control, the metal elements dissipated on their own, and the flying sword slowly vanished into the air.