Chapter 1183: Not Teaching

"It's very famous, the Great Sorrow Demon Palm left by the ancient sage Qiuwu! Legend has it that the ancient sage Qiuwu, lamenting his mother's death and unable to fulfill filial piety by her side, created this palm technique in his grief, mourning heaven, earth, and man... It has the ability to attack the soul and primordial spirit. It is said... one of its moves descends from the sky!"

Zhang Jiuxiao quickly explained, his throat dry.

As a member of a clan, though his bloodline was impure and he couldn't obtain the best resources for cultivation, his knowledge and experience were still far beyond what a titled empire like the Qingyuan Empire could compare to.

The ancient sage Qiuwu, a former attendant of Master Kong, was extremely famous. Even if the Great Sorrow Demon Palm wasn't his peak palm technique, it was still well-known.

Whoosh! Whoosh!

As he spoke, the power gathering in Zhang Xuan's palm grew stronger and stronger, like a whirlwind, forcing everyone to step back in unison.

The tree desires stillness, but the wind does not cease; the child wishes to care for his parents, but they are no longer there.

"Hmm?"

As if recognizing the move, Hall Master Gou's body trembled involuntarily.

The person he admired most was the ancient sage Qiuwu, and he naturally knew the Great Sorrow Demon Palm. Just one glance left him so excited he felt like exploding.

He had sought it for years without success, never dreaming... that this young man before him would execute it so effortlessly, and with such purity and power!

Crash!

As he was still in shock, he felt the palm force pressing down on him.

Zhang Xuan possessed the Eye of Insight and had reached the Subtle Realm, allowing him to grasp combat down to the finest detail. With the opponent's emotions stirred, such a glaring flaw was immediately apparent.

Hall Master Gou's primordial spirit was struck back into his body, and his body swayed, involuntarily retreating seven or eight steps. His face flushed, and blood seeped from the corner of his mouth.

He had clearly suffered a significant injury.

"Hall Master Gou of the Out-of-Body Realm was... injured by Teacher Zhang?"

"They are three major realms apart..."

"This is too incredible..."

The other master teachers didn't recognize the Great Sorrow Demon Palm, but seeing Hall Master Gou injured, they all stood stiff, unable to believe it.

Hall Master Gou was the symbol of invincibility in their eyes, the strongest in the Master Teacher Hall. To be forced back and spitting blood in less than three exchanges was utterly shocking.

"Good thing we listened attentively to the lesson and didn't challenge him; otherwise... we'd probably be lying on the ground by now!"

"Indeed, Teacher Zhang is merciful..."

Wiping the cold sweat from their foreheads, everyone felt relieved.

Earlier, they felt guilty for receiving the Heaven's Bestowal of Teachings without demonstrating their strength, but now they no longer had any such feelings.

With this level of strength and true qi density, even if they had charged in, they couldn't have won!

"This move..."

Steadying himself, Hall Master Gou suppressed his injury and quickly looked over, intending to ask clearly, when he saw the young man opposite strike again.

This time, the palm force was even more vigorous. Though it didn't rely on the momentum of descending from the sky, its power was no less.

"Let me see if this is truly the Great Sorrow Demon Palm..."

Knowing he was in battle and couldn't afford distractions, Hall Master Gou stopped overthinking and met the attack.

Earlier, he had been using the spatial seal unique to Out-of-Body Realm experts, but now he wanted to use his true qi power to truly engage in a great battle.

His palms crossed before his chest, striking forward layer by layer like ripples on water. With each strike, a ripple appeared in the air, accompanied by sharp sonic booms.

Saint Realm mid-grade martial technique... Ten Thousand Waters Overlapping Clouds!

Legend has it that this technique was created by a master teacher inspired by watching streams and flowing water. The palms overlap like endless flowing water, and when combined, they cover the sky like clouds.

Hall Master Gou had immersed himself in this technique for countless years, reaching the pinnacle of mastery. With one move, the Great Sorrow Demon Palm was blocked and could no longer descend.

Zhang Xuan did not retreat. He continued his right palm's force while raising his left hand, gently pointing. At his fingertip, stars spun, and a swift beam of light shot forward.

"Great Star Luo Finger Force?"

"Executing a palm technique with one hand and a finger technique with the other?"

Everyone was stunned, even Zhang Jiuxiao was dumbfounded, unable to believe it.

Palm techniques and finger techniques are two different martial arts, and the methods of circulating true qi in the body are unrelated. Normally, executing the palm technique first and then the finger technique, or the reverse, is not a problem... but doing both simultaneously, with the right hand performing the palm technique and the left hand the finger technique... is difficult!

Not to mention them, even Hall Master Gou probably couldn't do it.

Woo-woo-woo!

The Great Star Luo Finger Force pierced through the air, immediately puncturing a small hole in Hall Master Gou's Ten Thousand Waters Overlapping Clouds. The palm force, like turbulent water, lost its defensive power.

Crack!

At the same time, the force of the Great Sorrow Demon Palm crushed down, forcing him to retreat repeatedly.

"Impressive!"

Unexpectedly, even going all out, he was forced back again. Hall Master Gou's expression turned serious. He changed his palms into fists and charged again.

Boom! Boom! Boom!

The two moved extremely fast, exchanging over a hundred moves in less than a minute.

"Hall Master Gou, in his youth, had unparalleled talent and mastered countless martial techniques. In this series of exchanges, he used at least a dozen... That's understandable. But... Teacher Zhang seems to have used even more, already over eighty techniques..."

A master teacher, pale-faced, watching the battle, couldn't help muttering to himself.

Hall Master Gou was over nine hundred years old and had been a hall master for over five hundred years. With such a long life, learning many martial techniques and mastering them was understandable... But this Teacher Zhang was only twenty, yet he also displayed so many techniques, each with great power, effortlessly, clearly with deep understanding...

How was this possible?

"He's used eighty-seven now..." another master teacher said.

Hearing this, the others also paid attention, their eyes wide in disbelief.

When they practiced martial techniques, each one required immense effort, and even a lifetime of immersion might not reach the pinnacle of mastery. Yet this man, with a casual move, had at least reached the Great Accomplishment level... It was astonishing.

"It seems... Zhang Jiuxiao's title as the number one genius will have to change hands!"

Everyone sighed inwardly.

Previously, they thought Zhang Jiuxiao was an insurmountable height, but seeing this young man, they realized the two were not even on the same level.

"This shouldn't be..."

Unlike the others' shock, Teacher Wu, standing aside, frowned.

"Teacher Wu, what's wrong?" a master teacher approached.

"Teacher Zhang's greatest strength is finding flaws in the smallest details and attacking them. But in this battle, he didn't do that. Instead, he displayed so many techniques... It feels like he's honing himself."

After pondering for a while, Teacher Wu voiced his doubts.

Teacher Zhang's abilities, though unknown to others present, he had witnessed firsthand.

He could spot flaws in others' techniques and use them to achieve unexpected results...

But fighting Hall Master Gou for so long, using a variety of techniques without attacking the flaws, it seemed he wasn't trying to defeat the opponent quickly but rather... honing his own power!

"Honing?"

The master teacher was taken aback.

If someone had told him earlier that a Spirit Realm cultivator fighting an Out-of-Body Realm cultivator wouldn't try to win but instead focus on honing, he would have thought the person was crazy or stupid... But having witnessed so many miracles and hearing Teacher Wu's words, though hard to believe, he knew it was true!

Fighting Hall Master Gou just to hone himself... How much confidence and how formidable a combat ability did this man possess?

Boom! Boom! Boom!

After three more moves forcing Hall Master Gou back, Zhang Xuan finally exhaled a turbid breath.

Teacher Wu guessed correctly; he was indeed honing his martial techniques.

Finally encountering such an opponent, he pushed his power to the limit, and the many techniques he learned in the War Teacher Hall became increasingly smooth and integrated.

"As expected of an Out-of-Body Realm cultivator. I'm indeed no match for him now..."

Shaking his head, Zhang Xuan sighed inwardly.

Though his combat power had increased repeatedly, without breaking through to the Embryonic Realm, the gap with the Out-of-Body Realm was still too large. Relying solely on raw power, he couldn't win.

Although winning in a normal fight was extremely difficult... he had many means to defeat the opponent!

Rolling his palm, he pressed down to block the opponent's attack. Zhang Xuan raised his eyebrows and flicked his finger lightly.

Swish, swish, swish, swish!

With a whining sound, over a hundred formation flags shot out, landing around Hall Master Gou in the blink of an eye.

He lightly stamped his foot on the ground.

The formation was instantly activated.

In Qiuwu Palace, he had already reached the peak Seven-Star formation level. Winning by pure strength was difficult, but with the help of formations, it was much easier.

Whoosh!

Mist arose, enveloping Hall Master Gou.

The formation Zhang Xuan set up was a mid-grade seventh-level formation, not too powerful, but even Hall Master Gou would need at least ten breaths to break it.

The two were already closely matched in combat; ten breaths... could decide life and death.

With the formation in place, everyone could see nothing, and their spiritual sense couldn't penetrate it. They only felt the ground shaking violently, the rumbling growing louder, and they were all filled with horror.

Crack!

After about fifteen seconds, the formation slowly dissipated. Zhang Xuan waved his hand, retrieving the formation flags into his ring.

Seeing the battle end so quickly, everyone looked at Hall Master Gou and froze.

The hall master, who had been immortal-like with rosy cheeks and white hair, now had his head buried in the ground, covered in blood, with no part of him intact.

Clearly, in that short time, he had been viciously attacked, beaten beyond recognition.

Splash!

Hall Master Gou pulled his head out of the ground. Instead of feeling pain from defeat, he looked at the young man before him, his eyes full of anticipation and excitement: "Teacher Zhang, dare I ask... was the palm technique you just used the Great Sorrow Demon Palm of the ancient sage Qiuwu?"

"Yes."

Zhang Xuan nodded, not denying it.

"Could you..." Hall Master Gou hesitated, then gritted his teeth: "Teach me?"

"Oh? Want to learn?"

"Yes!"

"Not teaching."

"..."