At the top of Yun Mountain, more than a dozen large and robust trees had fallen, and there were even massive trees that a person couldn’t embrace with both arms, shattered open, with only half remaining to keep the trees from toppling.
The two figures pursued and confronted each other in the forest. While their path wasn’t completely razed to the ground, it was filled with countless gashes and holes.
Tong Yunshu had already become numb. She simply couldn’t fathom how humans, without any external help, could cause such tremendous destruction.
"Boy, do you think to exhaust this old man’s True Yuan by taking advantage of the mountain forest?" Suddenly, Tong Yan’s voice came.
Yun Shu’s heart stirred upon hearing this.
Did Third Grandpa mean to say that Yang Fei had been driven back all this time?
She began to worry, her mouth opening slightly. She really wanted to shout a warning to Third Grandpa to not hurt Yang Fei, but she was also afraid of making Third Grandpa angry, even more so of hurting Yang Fei’s pride with her reminder.
"Senior, you are still strong despite your age, truly remarkable in power. Fighting hard against you would be unwise for someone of my junior status, thus I can only resort to this strategy," said Yang Fei.
"Hmph, you managing to fight me evenly for dozens of moves was impressive enough, but to think you could exhaust me to death by using the terrain is pure folly!" Tong Yan snorted.
In the forest, Yang Fei dodged and hid behind the trees, avoiding Tong Yan’s fierce attacks while secretly smiling bitterly.
In the beginning, he had managed to exchange blows evenly with Tong Yan for over two minutes without falling short.
He thought he could hold on, but unexpectedly, Tong Yan still had strength in reserve and increased his combat power.
That left Yang Fei with no choice but to give it his all, using moves of Sky Splitting Divine Fist to unleash the maximum power of every strike.
Indeed, his actions took Tong Yan by surprise, almost causing him a disadvantage. However, after several exchanges, Tong Yan stabilized the rhythm and once again overpowered Yang Fei.
Yang Fei didn’t dare to bring his True Yuan up to the critical point for fear of losing control again.
With Qin Yanyang not by his side, he didn’t know whether he could recover on his own if he lost control.
Moreover, he sensed that Tong Yan was not fully intent on delivering a fatal blow, so he was not willing to risk unleashing his strongest fighting strength at present.
Plus, he felt that the old Taoist still had more to reveal.
Even risking control to unleash his strongest force, victory would likely still elude him.
It was no surprise – an existence of a tier unique between the Energy Transformation Realm and the Innate.
, the two of them fought through the forest for more than ten minutes.
Dozens of large trees had fallen in the forest.
Yang Fei fought while retreating, rarely confronting the opponent head-on anymore. In doing so, although the strain on him was significantly reduced, Tong Yan’s condition still seemed to be at its peak.
"Ahem, senior, shall we take a break?" Yang Fei felt that the other party wasn’t intent on teaching him a lesson and couldn’t help but speak up.
Tong Yan let out a cold hum, and his figure suddenly accelerated.
Yang Fei’s pupils contracted in shock.
What kind of movement technique was this, so fast?
He hadn’t expected that the old Taoist still had a trick up his sleeve.
Without any hesitation, not wanting to be beaten and not wanting to lose face in front of a beauty, Yang Fei also employed his Qing Gong technique.
One could see his feet suddenly stomping in midair, stepping consecutively as if solid steps formed out of nothingness, giving him leverage. From his originally shifting position still suspended in the air, his body suddenly shot up like a rocket, springing off the back of a large tree behind him.
The tree was struck, leaving a large hole; the massive trunk shook violently, scattering leaves and many small branches everywhere.
"Stepping on the Air Divine Step, Thousand Mechanism Guide!" Tong Yan’s pupils shrank, his eyes shooting out two beams of light as he exclaimed in astonishment.
He watched Yang Fei, who was clinging to the tree trunk overhead, but he did not continue to chase after him.
Yang Fei clung to the tree, gasping for air.
Faced with that one strike from Tong Yan, he had two options.
One was to mobilize all of his True Yuan, relying on the power of Sky Splitting Divine Fist to meet the blow head-on. ɴᴇᴡ ɴᴏᴠᴇʟ ᴄʜᴀᴘᴛᴇʀs ᴀʀᴇ ᴘᴜʙʟɪsʜᴇᴅ ᴏɴ NoveI[F]ire.net
With his current condition, using that move would most likely result in his body collapsing from being out of control.
The other option was to employ the Qinggong technique his master had taught him.
Although it was "just" a Qinggong technique, it actually demanded a high level of Cultivation, requiring powerful True Yuan to achieve its full effect.
Therefore, after executing that move, he indeed successfully evaded Tong Yan’s attack but also suffered a substantial depletion of True Yuan within his body. Sweat poured out like syrup, and he began to gasp for air heavily.
Upon hearing Tong Yan shout out the name of his Qing Gong technique, Yang Fei was secretly astonished and, looking down at him, said, "Senior recognizes this movement technique?"
Tong Yan’s complexion was also vividly flushed, suggesting that the consumption had been significant for him as well.
Without answering Yang Fei, he reached into his chest and took out a porcelain bottle, from which he poured an elixir into his mouth.
Then, he closed his eyes and regulated his breath for a moment.
Yang Fei could clearly feel that his energy had stabilized, and like a charged battery, his power seemed to have recovered substantially.
This old Taoist has no sense of martial honor, actually replenishing himself during battle.
After thinking for a moment, Yang Fei let go with both hands and jumped down from the tree. Thickening his face, he stretched out a hand and said, "Senior, give me one too."
Tong Yan saw his shameless appearance and couldn’t help but twitch his mouth, but in the end, he generously gave him an elixir.
Yang Fei had no doubts and immediately swallowed it.
The elixir dissolved as soon as it entered his mouth, a rich heat spread throughout his body. His inner True Yuan excitedly welcomed it, continuously absorbing the warmth.
"Good pill!" Yang Fei praised.
Tong Yan replied with a proud look on his face, "Naturally, it took me decades of collecting to refine just over a dozen of these. They are spiritual elixirs that quickly restore True Essence Inner Breath."
"Thank you for your generous gift, Senior." Yang Fei said.
Tong Yan waved his hand and said, "I had no intention of killing you; you shouldn’t have wasted it just now."
"It’s just an elixir, for me, maintaining the best condition at all times is the most important thing," Yang Fei said.
Tong Yan’s eyes brightened and he laughed, "You, kid, think the same as I do. Hehe, as Martial Artists, we inevitably offend many people. Thus, keeping ourselves always in the best condition is what allows us to live long."
Yang Fei chuckled, and the two shared a moment of mutual understanding.
Tong Yan asked, "Do we need to continue fighting?"
Yang Fei was very straightforward and shook his head, "No more fighting, no more. It’s a waste of effort. I’m no match for Senior right now, but if I really wanted to run, I am afraid Senior would not be able to stop me."
Tong Yan thought for a moment and nodded, saying, "Indeed, if I cannot completely overpower you and you only wish to flee to save your life, killing you would come at a cost."
Yang Fei responded with a hint of disbelief, "By what you’re saying, you’re confident that you could kill me if I truly decided to leave?"
Tong Yan nodded, "If I’m not afraid of the cost, I can kill you."
Yang Fei’s mouth twitched, "Really? Senior, I haven’t used all my strength. If I go all out with my powerful moves, even you might get hurt."
Tong Yan, reminded of the previous battle, couldn’t help but look at Yang Fei and ask, "Did you hold back, as if you didn’t dare to give it your all?"
Yang Fei nodded and said, "Yes, I was critically injured by someone a year ago, and haven’t recovered from it yet."
Tong Yan was taken aback, sizing him up. After a moment of observation, he shook his head, "No, your body shows no abnormalities, you’re not injured."
Yang Fei said, "It’s not an injury of the flesh or anything like that, but a problem with the True Qi in my body. I can’t mobilize all of it. Currently, I can only access about fifty percent."
Tong Yan was utterly shocked and thought he heard wrong, "How much percent?"
"Fifty percent," Yang Fei honestly replied.
For some reason, he felt an inexplicable kinship with Tong Yan and trusted him a bit more.
Moreover, he felt there was nothing to hide about this matter; there was no harm in speaking openly.
Watching Yang Fei boast shamelessly right in front of him, Tong Yan wished he could slap him.
Goddamn, showing off in front of me?!
Even if you are that person’s Direct Disciple, to have achieved your current Cultivation Realm is already a sign of extraordinary talent.
And yet you’re still boasting that you only used fifty percent of your power?
All the bulls in Binhai are about to be blown to the sky by you.