Chapter 152: 147 The Rooster's Crow

The Great Sun Gang Qi erupted; the Martial Venerable struck with ferocity!

"Rooster Crowing Chain Fist!"

His left and right fists moved like wheels, alternating crazily, resembling a rolling black and white ring; his body, covered in black and white Gang Qi, lunged straight at Tang Zhao.

Of the two present, Jiang Shenyi was in the sky and Tang Zhao was on the ground, so naturally, he targeted Tang Zhao first.

Tang Zhao stared straight ahead, appearing to have entered a state of facing the enemy head-on.

As Peng Duanhai lunged over, unable to turn while in mid-air, Tang Zhao pulled his feet back slightly.

In an instant, he vanished from where he stood.

Hm?

Suddenly losing his enemy, Peng Duanhai's expression shifted slightly, but he immediately noticed something wrong with the light in front of him; it seemed to be distorted by something.

An ordinary person might not have noticed, but as a Loose Practitioner, Peng Duanhai's Spirit was significantly heightened, and he saw the problem at a glance.

"A blinding trick, a petty skill!"

Covered head to toe in black and white Gang Qi, as if wearing invincible armor, he was now an indestructible body, and he plunged headlong into the light screen of the Refraction Mirror.

"Sun Explosion!"

Behind the light screen of the Refraction Mirror, Tang Zhao was indeed still in place, and seeing him arrive, he immediately detonated his most proficient Art!

A mass of light suddenly exploded on the spot, as blinding as the sun.

A blinding shot first!

In the sky, a winged figure flew down, electric arcs flashing in his hands like a spear thrusting explosively!

Hit!

These two attacks coordinated like flowing clouds and water; almost the instant of the Sun Explosion, the Thunder Spear had already descended from the sky and struck his back.

"Sss—"

Like water dripping into a frying pan, electric arcs scattered everywhere!

Jiang Shenyi's expression changed; this spear, condensed from dozens of electric arcs, could not penetrate this layer of black and white Gang Qi! The spearhead pressed against the Gang Qi, continuously releasing electric light; electric snakes danced wildly, creating a burnt smell from the friction with the wind, yet it could not advance a single step!

Peng Duanhai, with his back to him, grinned slightly and threw a punch backward, straight at his face!

"Rooster Crowing—Sky-Piercing Cannon!"

This punch was unexpected and incredibly fast; Jiang Shenyi was floating a few feet behind him and could barely dodge, only managing to bend one wing in front of him in his haste.

That was a Wind Wing!

The Wind Wing was pure white, woven from strands of wind, and was not a wall of bronze or iron. The punch thrust into the wind and moved like splitting bamboo, but it was deflected slightly by the wind blowing in various directions, brushing past Jiang Shenyi's body.

However, it still tore a large hole in the Wind Wing!

As the Wind Wing folded, a gale rose, and countless turbulent currents wrapped around Jiang Shenyi, sending him flying away while spinning!

Peng Duanhai sneered, retracted his fists, black and white Gang Qi steaming, and looked back at Tang Zhao in front.

Tang Zhao divided a portion of his focus to watch his senior brother, but mostly he watched the person before him with a grave expression:

"You weren't disturbed by the Sun Explosion?"

Peng Duanhai laughed loudly and said, "A petty skill, what can it do to me?"

"Besides, do you think you are the only one who can use such tricks?"

"Rooster Crowing Fist, Rooster One Crow Sees the Sun Rise!"

In an instant, white light bloomed on his fists, equally dazzling!

It was the same blinding white light, only the white light contained wisps of black, clearly a mixture of Gang Qi, but it was bright and blinding enough. As the white light shone, his fists transformed into bucket-sized balls of light, left his hands, and charged straight at Tang Zhao.

"Not good!"

Tang Zhao narrowed his eyes; the white light before him was so vast he couldn't even see the opponent's punch. Amidst the chaos, he released his close-range defensive Sword Art—

Yumen Guan!

A stern stone gate rose from the ground, with a tiger-head relief carved upon it.

This punch, radiating white light, slammed instantly into the tiger head.

Bang!

The tiger head caved in, and the stone gate shook, but it was not smashed open. Although this Gang Qi punch had immense power, it could not break through this Yumen Guan, leaving only its own fist print on the gate.

"Art Tools really cannot compare to Sword Art."

This is why a Talisman Sword Master cannot fight relying solely on Art Tools.

If Xing Ji used Yumen Guan, the energy drawn would be Sword Essence; as long as the Sword Essence did not perish, theoretically, Yumen Guan would not disappear. Even if it were momentarily damaged by explosive force, he could immediately supplement it with another gate, not to mention using Yumen Guan to form a Great Array, with Bi'an guarding between the passes, watching and helping each other to form an array capable of both offense and defense.

But an Art Tool draws the Yuan Qi stored in its materials; low-level Art Tools made of ordinary materials only possess One Yuan Power, and not every Talisman Art has the intensity of one One Yuan. It is a one-time extreme burst, and it can only exert the effect of a total of one One Yuan. Furthermore, doing so renders a precious Art Tool useless. Higher-level Art Tools naturally have higher limits, but they still have limits. This one of Tang Zhao's is a Protective Artifact, far from comparable to an ordinary One Yuan Art Tool, but its strength still has a limit.

Seeing the flattened tiger head, Tang Zhao truly felt sorry for Chief Xing.

Furthermore, there is the issue of triggering Art Tools. It is fine if Tang Zhao's Inspiration is strong, but others have a delay when activating Art Tools; the more mentally exhausted they are, the more severe the delay, and when exhausted to the limit, it is difficult to activate them at all. Moreover, no matter how strong Tang Zhao's Inspiration is, there is a basic reaction time, whereas any Sword Guest whose Sword Heart has reached the "Mutual Understanding" realm can exceed the limits of reaction.

"An Art Tool, huh..."

Staring at the slowly disappearing Yumen Guan, the previously arrogantly laughing Peng Duanhai stopped laughing, his eyes wide open, anger erupting.

"Art Tool—it's an Art Tool again! You little thieves, what else can you do besides using Art Tools? What is so great about using Art Tools!"

He lunged again, fists like the wind, striking toward Tang Zhao, and roared, "What kind of bullshit Sword Art, it's all just petty trifles! Heretical ways! Cheating! Bah, Art Tools, disgusting! Eat my Double-Sound Rooster Crowing Fist!"

Tang Zhao took a deep breath, casting aside the minor setback. After the time gained by the Yumen Guan, he had prepared himself once more. His body was like a solid mountain, his palms pushed forward as if pushing a mountain! His Bing Fire Internal Energy and Great Sun Gang Qi exploded with full force!

Hard against hard!

The collision of Gang Qi was silent, yet it was rigid.

Internal Energies can entangle with each other, but Gang Qi is like water and fire; the white-gold and black-white collided head-on, stalemated for a moment, and then the victor was decided in an instant.

The black and white Gang Qi was superior!

The two-colored Gang Qi immediately surged forward, as if a wall were being pushed over, with the momentum of a tsunami. Tang Zhao retreated gradually with the Gang Qi, but he did not collapse.

At the same time, the opponent's black and white Heavenly Gang underwent a subtle change. This fist had originally been dominated by white Heavenly Gang mixed with threads of black Heavenly Gang, but as the Heavenly Gang pushed forward, the white Heavenly Gang grew brighter while the black Heavenly Gang dissipated unawares. The two-colored Heavenly Gang turned into a single-colored one, and in the end, both sides' white Heavenly Gang collided. Finally, it swirled before Tang Zhao's eyes—a sheet of pure white!

At this moment, Tang Zhao split off a portion of the Lihuo Sword's flames and mixed it into his Heavenly Gang; there was fire within the light.

Explode!

The flames were like sparks igniting a combustible material; the Heavenly Gang erupted with a boom into a cyclone, and Tang Zhao borrowed the force to spin his body and retreat several zhang.

In the Heavenly Gang confrontation, Tang Zhao had lost by a small margin, but he had retreated unscathed.

However, he had already achieved his goal—he now had a grasp of the foundation of his opponent's Heavenly Gang.

Peng Duanhai roared, "Art Tool, you used an Art Tool again! You cowardly little thief, refusing to fight me fair and square—bah, you are truly base!"

Tang Zhao could not help but say, "Why are you shouting so loudly? What is wrong with an Art Tool? You can use one too. No one has forbidden you from using one."

Except for special occasions where the use of external objects is explicitly prohibited, martial arts duels have always been about using whatever means one has; even hidden weapons and poisons fly everywhere, so how could Art Tools alone be restricted? Ordinary people who cannot use a Heavy Art Tool can still find a Light Artifact for Body Protection.

Peng Duanhai's face turned purple, and he said, "I... I..."

Tang Zhao asked in confusion, "You cannot use one?"

Watching Peng Duanhai's increasingly ugly expression, Tang Zhao curled the corner of his mouth and said, "No way? Really? It couldn't be that someone has cultivated Heavenly Gang but cannot even use an Art Tool, could it?"

Aside from cultivating Heavenly Gang, the Mysterious Technique can also enhance the Spirit and has the effect of stimulating Inspiration. Even if an average person is born with low Inspiration, practicing the Mysterious Technique can gradually raise it. Even if they cannot reach the level of a Sword Guest, it is still enough to use an Art Tool.

That Peng Duanhai's Heavenly Gang was already so vigorous and even fused with the power of nature, yet he still could not use an Art Tool, meant that his aptitude was a different kind of "one in a hundred."

Peng Duanhai wheezed, his eyes bloodshot and the Heavenly Gang on his body burning even higher, and he yelled, "Sure enough... I knew you all looked down on me! I followed Big Brother earlier than you, worked harder than you, and practiced martial arts better than you. Just because you could hold a broken sword, you all got ahead of me—on what grounds?!"

He roared, his Heavenly Gang leaping frantically, like a blooming black and white fire lotus:

"You mocked me for having no talent, drove me off the mountain, and shoved a broken hill at me, not even giving me the status of a branch stronghold! I hadn't cultivated Heavenly Gang, and you looked down on me; I cultivated Heavenly Gang, and you still look down on me! A shitty Sword Guest who practiced swordplay until he went crooked dares to come to my mountain to throw his weight around, bully me, and occupy my place to force me off the mountain! You people are too overbearing! Let's see how many days you can be smug! Look at that crazy look of yours, you're even attracting flies! You will die a miserable death, hahaha!"

For some reason, he started laughing to himself again, calling others crazy while it was unclear who was more like a madman.

After laughing for a while, he regained some of his senses, stared fiercely at Tang Zhao, and said, "Although you look down on me, I am not afraid of you. I will use my Heavenly Gang to fight you to the finish!"

"What a tragic story."

Tang Zhao thought for a moment, but decided not to continue with the sarcasm. He was just learning to use words to disturb an enemy's mind, not actually such a mean-spirited person. Instead, he said solemnly, "Why would I look down on you just because you cannot use an Art Tool? Talent is innate and cannot be forced, but to strive unceasingly, never give up, and finally achieve success is actually something to be admired."

"However... you are a thief, a robber who has committed countless evils and lacks all humanity. That is why I truly look down on you."

"I already know your Heavenly Gang. I originally thought it was light and dark, but after testing it just now, it is far from enough to be called light and dark. It should be called dawn and dusk. That is to say, it is sunlight and Shadow—"

"Quite a coincidence. It is similar to mine."

"It is time for you to prepare. Now, this great flood of mine is about to wash over your tiny Dragon King Temple."