Revolt against the Heavens

Even the air around Cao Yun had turned so cold it was literally visible to the naked eye. Far from the action, Ren Chao himself was cold. To be fair, he was used to the extreme heat of his furnace so he really didn't like this cold. However, he made sure to experience it as much as he could. Since his perception wasn't so good, he wanted to use his own body to understand Cao Yun's martial art better. Having him fight Chief Elder Baishen truly was genius. Indeed, even Ren Chao could tell that she was making sure Cao Yun could showcase all of his strength, and she was even pushing him further.

If Ren Chao could tell it, Cao Yun who was in the middle of the fight could as well. His new technique wasn't very stable. If Chief Elder Baishen were to attack him now, he would probably be unable to defend himself as he was completely overwhelmed by his own momentum. Redirecting his strength or even altering his spear's trajectory was almost impossible at the moment. Thus, Cao Yun also stopped to focus on the fight for a moment. Instead, all of his intent was on his move.

'Dragon General of the South Obeys the Celestial Mandate' was putting together both concepts from Wood and the concept from Water. This was the pinnacle of his family's martial art, 'Three Storms'. Although he had learned it, Cao Yun had not mastered it fully. Besides, he was now using a sword martial art with a spear. Obviously, it was a bit different. Moreover, his understanding of Wood was much deeper and firmer than that of Water. All the ice around him was unstable and could be obliterated by his own thunder and wind at a moment's notice. But, for now, he was dispersing all the white clouds. Behind them, those clouds left the black lightning that was now assaulting Cao Yun.

Black lightning streaked the air all around the young man. Bolts of black lightning struck all the ice shards and were thrown all over the place as the ice exploded into tiny particles.

High in the sky, the Tail Star was shining brighter and brighter. Although Cao Yun wasn't close to forming his sixth constellation, he focused on this star. Since he couldn't control his own momentum, he had to do something about it. Cao Yun focused all of his strength into his arms in order to move his spear out of its straight trajectory. Within himself, he heard his muscles and tendons tearing apart. Any tear was healed almost instantly, but the pain was stacking up. He felt as though thousands of blazing blades were stabbing his flesh. Still keeping it up, Cao Yun finally sensed his spear react to him. His Spear Heart was being circulated to the limit. Unfortunately, he was still too far from Spear Spirit to hope to reach it. That being said, his Spear Heart would improve a little, much more from the fight itself than from this current predicament.

'Dragon's Tail Sweeps the Sky'!

Suddenly, Cao Yun turned all of his body. His 'Tainted Heavenly Pillar' resisted but under Cao Yun's physical strength, it gave way. Even without using his asura cultivation, Cao Yun's strength was exceptional. Even Ren Chao couldn't match his strength, but to be fair, that was when Cao Yun was using his full Qi cultivation. Without cultivation, Ren Chao would beat anyone on the Piaolu planet in raw strength.

When Cao Yun spun, his spear swept horizontally all around him. A mighty hurricane of wind, thunder and hail expanded with him at the center. All the black lightning was engulfed in this gigantic wave. Although Cao Yun tried to redirect his attack toward Chief Elder Baishen, he failed. He had stopped his straight ascension but now, he could only wait for his rotation to end by itself. After using all of his strength, he had nothing else. The spear was in control, not him. Both Chief Elder Baishen and Ren Chao were watching everything that was happening in the air.

Finally, Chief Elder Baishen decided to act. Since Cao Yun couldn't control his own movement, this might be dangerous for him. He would need some time to fully integrate Water into his technique. Indeed, Water nourished Wood. Thus, the technique was stronger, but too strong for Cao Yun. Either he had to improve the balance between the two elements, or he had to improve his cultivation to control it better. Ideally, attaining both would be preferable. And now, Chief Elder Baishen was certain that he had learned this. Learning through experience was much better than her lecturing him about it.

'Steel Bones Split the Sky'!

Chief Elder Baishen flew directly into the gigantic storm. With her fists covered by her 'Iron Tiger Maw', she punched many ice shards and even literally, physically grabbed lightning bolts to crush them in her fists. At last, she reached Cao Yun in the center. His spear was so fast it was causing a sonic boom, but she didn't bat an eye. Her right fist struck her own forearm while the back of her left fist met Cao Yun's 'Tainted Heavenly Pillar'. When they collided, a powerful roar erupted and spread like a shockwave. The storm got destroyed from within. In an instant, the violent air turned docile. Cao Yun's spear had completely stopped and Chief Elder Baishen immediately grabbed it with her right hand while the back of her left fist was still on it.

No matter what he tried to do, Cao Yun could not move his weapon. Suddenly, Chief Elder Baishen's roles changed. Her left fist turned and grabbed the spear, pulling it toward her hip, thus pulling Cao Yun toward her and her right fist. In the same movement, the back of her right fist went directly for Cao Yun's face. If he took that, there was no doubt that he would suffer. In fact, a weaker cultivator would simply lose their head, or even be turned into a mist of blood. On a battlefield, Cao Yun had no illusion over the fact that Chief Elder Baishen's fists could annihilate entire Mortal, or even Mortal Warrior battalions with each strike.

Since he had no hope of getting his weapon back, Cao Yun changed his technique. Indeed, Chief Elder Baishen's Qi was over his weapon so he couldn't even send it back into his spatial ring. Without batting an eye either, Cao Yun let go of his weapon and used 'Axiu Qian's Blood Wrath'.

'Forging the Fort'!

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Cao Yun tried to block the blow with his forearm. When Chief Elder Baishen's fist hit, all the bones in his forearm shattered. If he had a slightly weaker body, they would have turned to dust in his arm. Under the pressure, his arm was pushed back against his own chest and his tendons ruptured. Before Cao Yun could counter, Chief Elder Baishen's right fist had grabbed his arm. Her grip was so strong that his muscles got crushed as tiny pieces of his own bones were piercing them. The old woman also released the spear and let it fall toward the ground. With her left fist free, she went to pound on Cao Yun's face.

'Shaking the Earth'!

Since he needed his other arm to defend himself, Cao Yun kicked Chief Elder Baishen. He aimed directly at her Lower Dantian. In fact, he targeted her Qi Hai, the Fake Dantian. Pouring all of his Qi into this attack, he could disrupt the flow of her Qi, and even Jing, within her Lower Dantian. In turn, it would affect her overall strength. But she wasn't easily duped. Chief Elder Baishen moved her body slightly. Since she was holding Cao Yun's arm, her movement also shifted his body and disrupted his trajectory. Then, her left fist struck his knee and completely obliterated it. His leg would heal fast, contrary to his arm. Indeed, his arm was trying to heal but her grip on it was preventing his bones from reforming.

'Dyeing the Ground'!

With his free arm, he tried to slice Chief Elder Baishen's throat while both her hands were busy. Instinctively, she retracted her head backward. At that moment, Cao Yun's hand changed its course. It had simply been a feint.

'Pushing the Sky'! 'Slaughtering the Enemy'!

His free arm struck Chief Elder Baishen's right shoulder with its palm. Then, a powerful vibration entered her body and spread throughout her arm. She lost enough strength in her arm that Cao Yun was able to free himself and finally heal. He was ready to strike back when Chief Elder Baishen's head encountered his. The old woman almost shattered her skull on his, which was much sturdier. But Cao Yun was a bit stunned for a mere instant. It was time enough for her to punch him right in the head. This time, her 'Iron Tiger Maw' made contact with the young man's flesh. At the very last moment, she reduced the strength of her attack seeing that Cao Yun would never be able to react in time. She was wrong though.

The very moment she reduced her strength, Cao Yun tried to move out of the way. Unfortunately, he was not fast enough and the punch hit him in the jaw. The force behind that strike was enough to take an early Spirit Warrior's head clean off. Thankfully, Cao Yun's cultivation and his body cultivation were enough to protect him, but he still felt that. Just like his spear, he fell directly toward the ground. With a loud noise, he collided with the ground. When he tried to stand up, he felt dizzy and had a hard time focusing or even standing up straight without moving.

Finally, he had to admit it. He cupped his fists and bowed forward.

"This clumsy student admits his defeat."

The next instant, Chief Elder Baishen was near her student. Her hand touched his shoulder as she was sending her Qi and spiritual senses into him to assess the damage, just in case. As she had surmised, Cao Yun's injuries were already healed. If she had doubted his ability to recover, she wouldn't have gone so far. Maybe, she had been a bit carried away by his spear technique. Unfortunately, his fist technique wasn't as good. It wasn't terrible at all. Honestly, she was one of the best fist fighters in the Hongchen Kingdom, if not the best. But she was intrigued by his technique. It was still a bit raw, and even primitive. But it had potential.

What Chief Elder Baishen didn't know was that Cao Yun's 'Axiu Qian's Blood Wrath' was just his cultivation routine 'Dance of Slaughter' adapted to the fight. Obviously, it wasn't very good when she compared it to real martial arts. Although Cao Yun had altered it, he lacked the proficiency he had with the spear. Besides, he used memories from Axiu Qian, but in them, Axiu Qian often relied on his sheer physical strength and rage. Unless Cao Yun unsealed his asura cultivation, he couldn't really display the full might of his 'Axiu Qian's Blood Wrath'. In itself, it was a weakness.

Ren Chao ran toward the two of them with the 'Tainted Heavenly Pillar' he had picked up. Although it was extremely heavy, Ren Chao was carrying it as though it were a tree branch he had just picked up from the ground.

"Brother, brother, you were great! I have everything I need and some more. I'll get to work as soon as I get home. Chief Elder Baishen, thank you for pushing my brother far enough so I could enjoy such a great show. Thank you!"

Ren Chao tapped Cao Yun in the back. In his current state, Cao Yun felt that as another attack. In his joy, his brother had forgotten himself.

"Take care, Brother. You should go to the Heavenly Swallow Faction when you have some time. But I'll be in my workshop. I swear that I'll make a weapon even better than everything you can imagine. I can't tell you for sure, but I should be done within eight months. As soon as I'm done, I'll make sure you get the weapon. And don't you worry about me, right?! Good, good!"

And just like that, Ren Chao left with a mind full of ideas. For an instant, Cao Yun wondered whether he was anxious about making a weapon for him or just about trying out new blacksmithing ideas. Anyway, the result would be the same. But Ren Chao had quite literally dragged Cao Yun here just to leave him without looking back even once before he could even answer him.

Chief Elder Baishen was also a bit taken aback by that comedic scene. But she had things to discuss with Cao Yun, so she was quite happy about this development.

"Young Sect Master, I imagine that you have ways to conceal our thoughts... Use it."

Cao Yun didn't even ask why she wanted such secrecy. If they were about to talk about martial arts, it stood to reason that there would be some secrets involved. Thus, he complied without thinking too much about it. He used the same array formation plate he had used with Ren Chao. This time, the concealment would be even better since they were deep underground and Chief Elder Baishen could also respond to him telepathically. None of them needed to actually make sounds and they had enough control that they could direct their spiritual senses straight into the other person's mind. Unless someone was able to intercept them, no one could read their thoughts.

"The last spear move you used, there was 'Three Storms' in it, right?"

Her first words shocked Cao Yun. All this time, he had refused to fight with his sword in the Hongchen Kingdom so as not to be recognized as a member of the Cao family, just in case someone might recognize their martial art. But it had never occurred to him that someone could recognize, not the martial art, but its very concepts. Unfortunately, Chief Elder Baishen was just peerless when it came to understanding martial arts. She had seen through it instantly as soon as Cao Yun tried to merge all three concepts together. Apart from 'Three Storms', she knew of no martial art that attempted such a thing. Cao Yun didn't know how to answer. Should he reveal himself to her too?

"Never mind where you got it. I have some pointers for you. I once talked with Cao Beiwen about his creation. It was a very long time ago, but he had some good ideas you might appreciate."