Chapter 323: Chapter 237: Sitting Firm on the Fishing Platform, Devising Stratagems (Part 2)

"I have long heard of your renown, Fellow Daoist Yu! It is truly my great fortune to be able to spar with ’True Master Changqing,’ the lone paragon of the Mingcang Marsh."

Feng Yuan flew into the Conception Heaven and took up a corner. Without another word, he formed a technique seal and pointed upward. Above his head, two layers of clouds began to shine brilliantly, a clear sign of his profound Merit.

"Be on your guard, Fellow Daoist Yu."

Feng Yuan’s gaze was steady as he focused his mind for the fight. Channeling a bit of his Magical Power, he caused lotuses of flame to bloom one after another, rapidly expanding to cover a hundred-li expanse.

"Bring it on!"

Yu Changqing let out a long laugh. With a single thought, three layers of clouds appeared above his head, glowing with a dense, jade-green light.

In the blink of an eye, tens of thousands of wooden swords materialized, intertwining like the vigorous branches of a qiu-dragon.

’My Cultivation is higher than Feng Yuan’s,’ Yu Changqing thought. ’I’ll suppress him with my Magical Power first and probe his techniques.’

With a glint in his eye, he sent the tens of thousands of wooden swords whistling through the air!

The lotuses of flame released by Feng Yuan collided with the rain of jade swords, and the sky instantly erupted with a cacophony of CRACKLING sounds.

At times, fire scorched wood; at others, the jade light devoured the flames. The battle was a complete stalemate.

Feng Yuan knew his Cultivation was slightly inferior to Yu Changqing’s. He had spent too much time on Refining Techniques, which delayed the growth of his Merit. Although his Dao Foundation was at the stage of Perfection, he couldn’t afford a protracted battle.

"Try this move, Fellow Daoist Yu."

A brilliant light flared in Feng Yuan’s eyes. The spot between his brows twitched, and the Three-Essence Fire shot forth.

It shot forward with ferocious momentum, like a brilliant rainbow, heading straight for Yu Changqing.

The tens of thousands of wooden swords shattered inch by inch, exploding into charred ash, utterly unable to withstand the Three-Essence Fire.

A glint appeared in Yu Changqing’s eyes. It was widely known that the True Disciples of Li Peak cultivated the Three-Essence Fire. This flame could incinerate anything and was the ultimate counter to Cultivators of Wood Virtue.

’He’s taken the bait.’

A subtle smile touched the lips of the Taifu Sect’s True Disciple. He formed a technique seal with his right hand, and several wisps of jade light poured from his mouth and nose, transforming into plumes of smoke that shot forth.

CRACK!

The Three-Essence Fire instantly shattered "Yu Changqing’s" body, but it felt like striking a piece of rotted wood, not a body of flesh and blood.

The plumes of smoke, thick with jade-green qi, swirled twice before coalescing into Yu Changqing’s true form.

Cultivators of Wood Virtue were masters of misdirection, using clones to deceive their enemies.

Yu Changqing knew that the Three-Essence Fire was incredibly tenacious. Once it locked onto a person’s Qi Mechanism, it clung to them like a festering sore, impossible to shake off.

So, he had simply sacrificed a wisp of his life force to create a clone as a countermeasure.

For any other Cultivator, trying to deceive the Three-Essence Fire with such a crude trick would have been a fool’s errand.

This fire had three variations: the Essence fire, which harmed the body; the Qi fire, which incinerated objects; and the Spirit fire, which vanquished Demons.

As long as it seized even a single wisp of its target’s Qi Mechanism, the Three-Essence Fire would not go out.

It was precisely because Yu Changqing understood this that he had been able to neutralize it so easily.

As a cultivator of Wood Virtue, he naturally had profound insight into the internal and external transformations of Jia Wood and Yi Wood.

Jia Wood reaches for the heavens, its essence being life; Yi Wood is rootless, its essence being change.

The Qi Mechanism of the clone he had created was completely indistinguishable from his own.

"A fine technique!"

Feng Yuan also understood. Yu Changqing was well-versed in the techniques of Wood Virtue; to think he could be subdued by the Three-Essence Fire alone was pure fantasy.

He took an object from his sleeve. It was a crudely made, palm-sized wooden saber. Tossing it into the air, he wrapped it in his Magical Power, and it instantly grew to four or five feet long.

Fierce flames erupted from the saber’s surface with a loud CRACKLE, marking it as no ordinary item.

"The Burning Wood Magic Saber!"

In the Taifu Sect’s designated area, Xu Wan cried out in alarm. It was no wonder she lost her composure; the wooden saber Feng Yuan held was an extremely famous Magical Treasure.

Legend had it that eight thousand years ago, two True Monarchs had engaged in a great Magical Combat.

One of them had successfully ascended after obtaining the "Fire in the Furnace" Dao Fruit, while the other had achieved Perfection by cultivating "Willow Wood."

In the end, Fire in the Furnace emerged slightly victorious over Willow Wood.

This event imbued Wood Virtue with a trace of "flammability," making it fundamentally weak against Fire Virtue ever since.

Although countless ages had passed and this conceptual weakness had diminished, it had never been completely erased.

’The Burning Wood Magic Saber... He’s carrying one of Li Peak’s greatest treasures with him.’

Fu Lizi sucked in a sharp breath. That wooden saber had been refined from a branch of a divine tree that was once burned by the "Fire in the Furnace."

Therefore, not only did it contain a trace of a fierce Fire Attribute, but it also suppressed all Cultivators of Wood Virtue in the world.

No matter how profound their Cultivation, any Wood Virtue Cultivator struck by this saber would immediately suffer the agony of incineration.

’But Junior Brother Yu was confident enough to challenge Feng Yuan, so he must have prepared for this.’

After his initial shock, Fu Lizi’s worry subsided.

’Yu Changqing is steady by nature and thorough in his considerations. He must have anticipated this.’

"If you surrender now, Fellow Daoist Yu, you can spare yourself some suffering."

Holding the Burning Wood Magic Saber, Feng Yuan looked as if victory was already in his grasp.

But Yu Changqing remained silent. He channeled his Magical Power, drawing upon his Dao Foundation. Jade-green light flooded the sky, transforming into coiling thunder dragons that formed a massive net of lightning spanning a hundred-li area!

In the heavens, Jia Wood manifests as thunder and dragons, which is why it is also known as "Thunder Wood," born from the surging of Yang Qi.

That Yu Changqing could so effortlessly generate wood qi and form thunder dragons showed the incomparable depth of his Merit in Wood Virtue.

"Why continue to struggle, Fellow Daoist Yu?"

An arrogant expression appeared on Feng Yuan’s face, as if he no longer saw Yu Changqing as a threat. He swung the Burning Wood Magic Saber left and right, unleashing beams of fiery energy that spanned a thousand zhang!

He forcefully hacked the immensely powerful magical net to pieces!

"With the Burning Wood Magic Saber in my hand, your defeat is certain, Fellow Daoist Yu!"

Feng Yuan strode forward, his presence heroic and imposing. No matter what Daoist Technique Yu Changqing employed, he cleaved through it with a single slash of his saber.

"Senior Brother Feng is magnificent!"

"This match is in the bag!"

"A Wood Virtue challenging a Fire Virtue... I think Yu Changqing was far too arrogant..."

Seeing Feng Yuan press his advantage, leaving Yu Changqing struggling to defend himself, the disciples in the Eight Peaks’ encampment erupted in thunderous cheers, their spirits soaring.

Gu Changling’s recent defeat at the hands of Yue Ziqi had been a major blow to their morale.

No one could have guessed that the number one True Disciple of the Eight Peaks’ Grotto-Heavens would actually lose to a junior from the Taifu Sect!