Chapter 265: Starfire's Guidance, Nine Heavens Battle

Wang Yin's Heaven-Toppling Strike was the most devastating move within the Unmatched Fist.

Its subtlety lay in the fist's momentum, which could use one's own Dharma power to trigger the enemy's Dharma power inside their body, creating resonance and ultimately causing dual internal and external damage.

Thus... using the enemy's own Dharma power to attack them from within was not only astonishingly powerful but also impossible to defend against, especially adept at breaking various external hardening techniques.

The reason he had never used Heaven-Toppling Strike in previous battles was due to a single reason.

"I can't kill him."

"If I kill him, how can I sell him at a high price?"

"It's no good to cripple him too badly either; healing him would be an expense."

Unlike Zhang Yu, who was wholeheartedly and single-mindedly focused on the battle.

To Wang Yin, this was not a battle at all; from beginning to end, it was just part of his job. His battle decisions were mainly based on weighing the company's profits, not on the fight itself.

After all, to him, this battle...

"Victory is beyond doubt, so the key to this fight is to win beautifully, to generate promotional value, and to produce higher profits."

"Now without the mental technique's enhancement, the Heaven-Toppling Strike's power won't reach its peak, but it's just right to deal with Zhang Yu."

Wang Yin's fist seal blasted out, carrying surging Gāng Qi, and struck Zhang Yu squarely in the chest.

With crackling explosions, the surrounding air suddenly shattered; the ground beneath their feet, as if crushed by a mountain, instantly caved in under the terrifying force of impact.

And Wang Yin watched his fist seal press into Zhang Yu's pectoral muscles, sternum, internal organs...

Feeling the opponent's flesh and blood gradually sink under his fist.

He was surprised in his heart: "This guy... attacks without defending, completely abandoning defense?"

At the same time, the violent martial Gāng Qi from Wang Yin's fist fiercely blasted into Zhang Yu's chest, devastatingly crushing through his entire body.

Then Wang Yin discovered that Zhang Yu's body was completely empty—there was not a single shred of Dharma power to resist.

Without a single shred of Dharma power, it meant that Heaven-Toppling Strike could not trigger the enemy's Dharma power and could not exert its maximum destructive force.

"This guy knows the secret of Heaven-Toppling Strike, so he simply gave up defense, not even leaving the slightest bit of Dharma power."

"Hmph, that old man Starfire must have told him, right?"

Amidst the bang-bang-bang-bang explosions, accompanied by the fierce blast of Gāng Qi, layers of blood mist burst from Zhang Yu's entire body.

"Even if the Heaven-Toppling Strike didn't exert its maximum power, this single blow alone is enough to gravely injure you."

Wang Yin sneered inwardly: "And this chance you bought with your life can never hurt me... What?!"

Almost at the moment Wang Yin struck Zhang Yu heavily with Heaven-Toppling Strike, wisps of milky white mist suddenly appeared before him.

It was the Formless Cloud Force.

But how could the Formless Cloud Force cross the blood shadow and appear before him?

In the next moment, a palm suddenly broke through the layers of blood shadow and grasped right in front of Wang Yin.

And behind this palm was Zhang Yu's icy gaze.

"Got you."

Feeling the palm that had broken through the blood shadow and reached before him, Wang Yin could never have imagined that the very person who, just an hour and a half ago, without Bai Zhenzhen's help, could do nothing against his Nether Blood Shadow Shield, had now instantly broken through his treasure.

"When?" Wang Yin marveled inwardly. "His move just now actually broke through my Nether Blood Shadow Shield?"

Because Zhang Yu's fully unleashed Formless Cloud Force had veiled his technique in rolling clouds, preventing Wang Yin from seeing its mystery.

Or rather, from the start of this battle, he had not taken Zhang Yu's attacks to heart.

However, just now, during the moment Wang Yin's Heaven-Toppling Strike hit Zhang Yu.

Zhang Yu, using the Eleventh Grade Nine Heavens Cloud Void Force, released in one breath the eleven consecutive strikes he had stored in his Gāng Qi cavity.

In that instant of striking, Sage Starfire's words flashed through Zhang Yu's mind again.

"A fierce, powerful palm force must be driven by a palm technique."

"To guide and pull force, it is best performed with grappling techniques."

"On the contrary, if you push horizontally with a single palm, but there is a dragging force within it, how can you unleash the ultimate power?"

"Your Nine Heavens Cloud Void Force can accumulate the power of your strikes, but to unleash maximum might, you must unify form and force. You need to use your own firmament aura to shape a form best suited for the burst of different powers…"

All kinds of experiences from the 11th level of Nine Heavens Cloud Void Force bloomed in Zhang Yu's mind, and scenes of cultivation flashed through his consciousness.

Under the stimulation of extreme pressure, the Mutilated Ox Self-Sacrifice Heart Art operated wildly, clearing Zhang Yu's mind and allowing him to command his body and spiritual power with exceptional activity, precisely controlling the details of every subsequent move.

Accompanied by surging Formless Cloud Firmament, amid the rolling thick fog, Zhang Yu's 11-hit combo now completely transformed into eleven figures composed of Formless Cloud Firmament, using palm techniques, fist techniques, grappling, embracing… each in a different posture, charging toward the Nether Blood Shadow Shield.

…

In Zhang Yu's mind, the earlier teachings of Starfire True Man surfaced again: “…A single move of Nine Heavens Cloud Void Force contains several strikes, which must coordinate with each other.”

"For example, if three people attack a big man at the same time, is it more effective if all three use the same move 'Black Tiger Steals the Heart' and strike at him in unison?"

"Or is it better if one pushes him horizontally, one grabs his head, and one trips his feet? 'Multiple strikes in an instant, different moves coordinating with each other—that is how astonishing lethality is unleashed.'"

…

On Zhang Yu and Wang Yin's battlefield.

The eleven firmament aura figures exploded fiercely.

The first two firmament aura figures to bear the brunt charged left and right, using Formless Cloud Firmament as a carrier and the Dragon-Elephant Mountain-Collapsing Palm technique to unleash Zhang Yu's full palm power, violently slamming into the Nether Blood Shadow Shield.

Watching the blood shadows block left and right, leaving the middle blood shadow thin, Zhang Yu thought to himself: "Starfire True Man was right."

"The one controlling the Nether Blood Shadow Shield is just a low-level artifact spirit, lacking intelligence—it mainly defends wherever the attack comes from."

"And after Wang Yin crippled his own cultivation, he can't control this Nether Blood Shadow Shield freely, so I can actively create flaws in this Dharma treasure."

"First, use the first two strikes to draw the blood shadows to the left and right, then…"

Then the remaining nine firmament aura figures simultaneously attacked the center line.

One of them slapped horizontally onto the Nether Blood Shadow Shield, creating a gap.

!

Another used a grappling technique to intercept the blood shadow's reinforcement ahead of time.

Another firmament aura figure borrowed force to redirect, smashing the subsequent reinforcing blood shadows into each other.

Yet another firmament aura figure punched to shake the path ahead, blasting open an even larger gap…

Under nine consecutive strikes, various different techniques coordinated with each other, just as if nine Zhang Yus were exerting full strength before an extremely solid rock layer—digging, supporting, moving stones… forcibly opening a narrow but incredibly firm path forward.

And as the eleven firmament aura figures each unleashed their full power and gradually dissipated, Zhang Yu's palm had already passed through the Nether Blood Shadow Shield, through the briefly opened gap, and grabbed hold of Wang Yin's face.

The twelfth strike!

Zhang Yu's own full-force palm!

Boom!

Wang Yin's head, as if struck violently by a heavy cannon, suddenly tilted backward.

"Impressive…"

As Wang Yin's head was knocked back by this palm strike, a hint of appreciation arose in his heart: "Knowing you can't outlast me, knowing that the longer the fight, the lower your winning odds, so you give up defense from the start and go for this life-risking attack."

"And you even managed to open a flaw in my Nether Blood Shadow Shield."

"Zhang Yu, Zhang Yu, even though you bare your teeth at me and try to bite me back, I have to say—"

"You really are a good dog."

At the same time, a cold smirk appeared at the corner of Wang Yin's mouth, and he forcefully withstood Zhang Yu's twelfth strike, enduring that palm… slowly pulling back his knocked-back head.

"No matter how many schemes you come up with, you can't break through this skin dharma body of mine."

"This is the absolute gap in strength."

Wang Yin's other hand clenched slightly into a fist, ready to unleash the second Heaven-Toppling Force.

With this blow, he was confident of completely incapacitating Zhang Yu.

"It's over…"

But in the next moment, Wang Yin’s expression changed once more.

He distinctly felt that the residual fist-force and impure energy from the Qingtian Strike he had just unleashed were being rapidly absorbed as if encountering a black hole.

The power of the Qingtian Strike flowed through Zhang Yu’s body, was channeled out of him, and poured into the void points of the Formless Cloud Qi, and then…

The 13th strike!

Qingtian Strike!

This was precisely the special effect attained only when the Nine Heavens Cloud Void Art was cultivated to Level 10—the ability to absorb an opponent’s incoming technique, infuse it into the void points, and then release it again using impure energy as a carrier.

How much power could be absorbed depended on Zhang Yu’s own cultivation level.

The stronger his own cultivation, the stronger the power that could be absorbed through the void points.

“What?!”

Feeling that familiar impure energy slam fiercely into his own body, even beginning to stir up a turbulence in his internal mana, Wang Yin’s face was full of disbelief.

“Qingtian Strike? How could he possibly know the Dominating World Fist?”

“No, is it some kind of martial art that borrows force to strike, or even absorbs techniques?”

“To be able to do this… could it be a military-grade cultivation method?”

Without time to think further, Wang Yin immediately運功 (circulated his energy) to suppress the turbulent mana inside his body.

Taking advantage of this opportunity, before the Nether Blood Shadow Shield closed again, Zhang Yu slipped through the gap and darted inside.

…

Zhang Yu recalled Sparkfire True Person’s instruction: “The Nether Blood Shadow Shield has a defensive range. It’s like a glass dome covering Wang Yin, not clinging to his skin for defense; otherwise, it would interfere with daily movement.”

“In other words… as long as you open a gap, slip inside, and engage him in close-quarters combat, this treasure can’t defend against you.”

He concluded: “You must remember, every treasure in this world has its flaws. Only our own bodies and will can be tempered a thousand times, adapt to any situation, and surpass all treasures.”

At the time, Zhang Yu was lying on the operating table and thought to himself: “Isn’t it really just because we’re too poor and can only rely on ourselves?”