This Clone isn’t your Golden Finger 28
On the day of the duel, numerous spectators arrived at the mountain outside of Chang’an. A hundred martial grandmasters had arrived and waited for the fight. The number of martial masters was even greater than ten thousand, much less regular martial artists. The sheer number of people made them look like ants from a distance.
“Look, he’s here!” With one of the onlooker’s words, more and more people turned towards where he was pointing.
Walking up the mountain path was a man in the prime of his life. His aura was majestic, his momentum even greater. Behind him were over four martial grandmasters and over a hundred peak martial masters.
Still, there were many who weren’t cowed by Teng Wuba’s entrance. One of them even said, “What’s with the number of people. Grandmaster Teng wouldn’t be thinking of eliminating the Leng Clan’s brat if you lost, right?”
Teng Wuba glared at Gu Dulong, the current emperor of the Gu Dynasty. “Isn’t Your Majesty busy with governmental affairs? If you have the leisure to watch this farce, I have to worry for the empire.”
“Grandmaster Teng doesn’t have to worry about Our affairs. You should pay attention to your own safety.” After saying those words, Gu Dulong jutted his chin towards the bottom of the mountain, where a young man was slowly making his way up.
Unlike Teng Wuba’s grandiose entourage, there was only one other person besides Leng Junfeng, Li Qiu’ai. When the martial grandmasters saw Li Qiu’ai, they couldn’t help but furrow their brows. Women loved beauty, and many of them deliberately made themselves appear young, but Li Qiu’ai’s appearance was an exact match for her age. When did such a terrifying new martial grandmaster appear? Many of the spectators couldn’t help but ask. In comparison, Leng Junfeng seemed average, but that was only at first glance.
The more they observed Leng Junfeng, the more serious their gaze became. Leng Junfeng seemed like an ordinary child of a wealthy family with no martial arts training at all. However, if one looked closely, one could observe that the wind seemed to bend around him.
In fact, Leng Junfeng hadn’t worn this style of clothing ever since the Leng Clan’s fall. He specially took it out today just for this match against the perpetrator of his family’s massacre. Logically, Teng Shifang orchestrated the massacre, but he had already ascended, so Leng Junfeng could only look for Teng Wuba to settle grievances.
As for Teng Shifang? He’ll get his due when Leng Junfeng ascends too. This, the last survivor of the Leng Clan vowed.
“I’m surprised you could wait so long without sending assassins after me.” Leng Junfeng said.
“Don’t frame me. When have I ever sent assassins after you?” Teng Wuba returned.
Leng Junfeng only smirked, and Teng Wuba’s eyes narrowed. “I’ll give you a chance. Renounce your accusations. I might leave you with your life.”
“What accusations? Everything I said was the truth. What? Afraid of your Teng Family’s crimes coming back to haunt you?” Leng Junfeng said.
Teng Wuba snorted. “The truth will be revealed with time.”
Leng Junfeng sneered. The time of the duel was scheduled at noon, so both of them quietly waited. As the time started to near the appointed time, more and more hidden martial grandmasters appeared. They appeared with clouds, lightning, sandstorms, and various spectacular sights, making the spectators’ eyes widen, wondering if they were dreaming.
‘She isn’t coming?’ Leng Junfeng thought with some sadness.
Suddenly, a piercing phoenix cry was heard. A giant bird made of white flames with three long tail feathers soared over from a distance, scaring the weaker martial artists. The martial grandmasters, on the other hand, became wary.
When the fire phoenix was above the mountain, the fire dispersed and revealed a figure. It was a young girl not yet grown, laying indolently on a cushy throne of red. Her fiery eyes contained a slight trace of arrogance as she looked down on everyone below her.
‘My entrance was awesome.’ Fenghua thought to herself.
“May I ask for your excellency’s identity?” One of the peak martial masters asked. He was an attendant for a martial grandmaster, but his master couldn’t lower himself to ask.
“Juedai Fenghua. I’m that youngster’s teacher.” Fenghua lightly said.
There had been various rumors concerning Leng Junfeng in the past year after he challenged Teng Wuba. Among those was his mysterious teacher. Some said that she was an immortal from a higher realm. Others said that she was actually an old monster that had taken a shine on the sole survivor of the Leng Clan. None of them thought that Fenghua would look so young and come so grandiosely.
Still, many who gazed upon her felt predisposed to good feelings. Only the experienced martial grandmasters’ willpower was strong enough to combat Fenghua’s charm. Even Teng Wuba felt goodwill toward her. Gu Dulong felt a trace of danger and worry not far from him, and only his steel will stopped him from being affected.
Fenghua ignored all of this and stared at Leng Junfeng. She narrowed her eyes as she felt the abundant breeze around Leng Junfeng. ‘Did he reach grandmastery of the Divine Wind Fist? It feels like he’s almost completely comprehended a wind-based concept. Learning concepts should be more difficult than in the higher realm. It feels like he surpassed me.’
Unaware of Fenghua’s thoughts, the corner of Leng Junfeng’s eyes began to tear up. Next to him, Li Qiu’ai glanced at Fenghua. She hadn’t seen much of Leng Junfeng’s teacher, but she had a feeling in her heart that her biggest obstacle was Juedai Fenghua.
“Teacher!” Leng Junfeng. The joy conveyed was nothing a single word could contain.
“Junfeng, you’re already twenty-five. Why does it seem like you’ve regressed to a five year old?” Fenghua asked with a laugh.
Leng Junfeng took a moment to compose himself, but afterward, his whole aura shot up, reaching another level. If he was giving one hundred percent before, now he was giving a hundred and twenty percent.
Teng Wuba, who saw this, frowned. He couldn’t help but give an aggrieved look towards Fenghua, who ignored him. ‘Ugh, you’re a manly man, what’s with that expression on your face. I want to throw up.’
It was just one more reason for Leng Junfeng to kill Teng Wuba. “Teng Wuba, the time of your death is about to arrive.” Hearing this, Teng Wuba also focused back on Leng Junfeng. “That remains to be seen.”
The spectators cleared a space for the two duelers to fight. Fenghua was still on her throne and floated directly next to Teng Wuba’s entourage, preparing to stop them if they had any wrong ideas. Since she had fully healed, she no longer had any fears.
There was no one to announce the start of the match. When their respective shadows no longer stretched from their body, the two charged at each other.
The first clash already unleashed explosive sounds. Off to the side, Fenghua’s eyes couldn’t help but twitch. The suppression of the lower realms was too weak, so even acupoint opening masters could cause loud noises with mere punches. In the Huang Realm, only immortals clashing could replicate the same sound.
“Without leeching off, Mei’er, I didn’t expect you to advance.” Leng Junfeng said.
The current Teng Wuba was already at the peak of the Acupoint Opening Realm. His immense strength and qi were enough to compare to the old monsters, but to Fenghua, he was a fool. Not only could his technique not match his cultivation, but his foundation was shallow due to his rushed breakthrough.
“When have I needed to rely on a mere woman?” Teng Wuba said as he covered his fist in qi and launched an attack towards Leng Junfeng.
In response, Leng Junfeng backstepped until he was ten meters away and punched the air ten times. Teng Wuba crossed his arms in front of him as he felt ten air cannonballs hit him, causing his arm pain but numbness.
“Leng Junfeng!” Qi exploded out of Teng Wuba’s body, covering him in a shocking aura. And it wasn’t just regular qi release, but controlled, forming a strange armor.
“Is this the Teng Family’s legendary Qi Armor Technique? I heard that only martial grandmasters are qualified to learn.”
“Not only can it boost attack, defense, and speed, but it can also make the user fly without any need for artifacts.”
Hearing this, Fenghua almost couldn’t hold back her ridicule. Such a technique was very common in the Huang Realm and more profound than the Teng Family’s qi armor. In fact…
The spectators watched with gaping mouths as they saw qi also cover Leng Junfeng’s body. In addition, his qi was slightly green, and the wind seemed to be swirling around him.
“How do you have that technique?!” Teng Wuba said, his shock obvious. Before, Leng Junfeng also clad himself with qi, which was only the most basic application. Condensing it to a qi armor was another matter.
“It’s only a simple application. What, you think only your Teng Family can do it?” Leng Junfeng said as he attacked.
Teng Wuba knew it would be disadvantageous for him to fight in range combat, so he closed the distance between them. However, he discovered a major difference between their qi armors. His increased every parameter, and so did Leng Junfeng’s, but Leng Junfeng became twice as fast as him.
As time passed, Teng Wuba was being pushed to a corner. He had expected Leng Junfeng to use artifacts to suppress him, but he didn’t even bring out one, surprising him. He thought that he would force Leng Junfeng to bring them out so he could openly use his, but he never expected himself to be the one pushed to the brink.
Teng Wuba continued to hesitate. If he did so, it would mean that he, a peak martial master wasn’t as good as someone decades younger than him and who was in a lower stage. As Leng Junfeng’s strikes became more and more fatal, Teng Wuba decided to throw caution to the wind and brought out all his artifacts.
He punched the ground and created a dust cloud to hide his figure and retreated, allowing him to pull the artifacts out of his shrinking pouch. First was the robe refined from Thunder Lion’s mane. The second was boots created from Cloud Leopard leather, and the last one was a sword made from Azuresky Eagle bones.
“You forced me!” Teng Wuba said as he unleashed a sword slash.
The spectating grandmasters couldn’t help but sigh and click their tongues. Teng Wuba might seem twice or thrice as strong now, but the mindless pursuit of brute strength lowered his skill even more. Furthermore, they could discern that Teng Wuba only had the basic skills with the sword.
Leng Junfeng quickly adjusted his position, but the sword still managed to graze him. Seeing the injury on his arm, Leng Junfeng continued to retreat, but Teng Wuba was unrelentless. It was true that Teng Wuba resembled a mindless beast and could easily be defeated. Provided, of course, that Leng Junfeng had the necessary amount of speed and strength.
As more and more injuries appeared on Leng Junfeng, Teng Wuba became more and more excited, and so did his slashes. But this also made his move predictable, allowing Leng Junfeng a chance. Taking a book out of Teng Wuba’s book, Leng Junfeng unleashed the Divine Wind Fist on the ground and created a dust cover.
How could Teng Wuba allow Leng Junfeng to arm himself? He slashed the air and dispersed the cloud, but he was too late as Leng Junfeng was already holding a spear. Before Leng Junfeng could take out any more weapons, Teng Wuba charged forward, to which Leng Junfeng reciprocated.
Unlike Teng Wuba, Leng Junfeng had obviously mastered the spear to a high level. Although it wasn’t as exquisite as his barehanded martial arts, it still outclassed Teng Wuba’s beginner swordsmanship. Furthermore, thanks to his grandmastery of the Divine Wind Fist, Leng Junfeng was able to apply a wind cutter with his qi onto his spear. Even without defensive and speed artifacts, Leng Junfeng was matching Teng Wuba blow for blow. It was a heated match that neither backed on. Backing down met death.
Finally, hours later, Teng Wuba fell onto his knees, and Leng Junfeng raised his spear above him, ready to deliver the final blow.
“Master Teng!” Teng Wuba’s retainer couldn’t watch anymore and prepared to strike, but before they could, a wall of flames erupted from the ground.
“Don’t you know this is a life-and-death duel? If you interrupt, I’ll kill you.” Fenghua said.
“You! Kill her first!” The leader said. Under his orders, the four grandmasters charged toward Fenghua. Fenghua was flying, so only they could fight with her. In addition, they already formed a grudge when Fenghua killed two of the martial grandmaster elders.
The spectating grandmasters who had received guidance from Teng Shifang wanted to intervene, but they were too slow. When Fenghua’s flame turned silver-white, it felt as if their minds had slowed down. And in that little time, Fenghua burned the four grandmasters to ashes.
“What, you want to fight too?” Fenghua asked as she glanced at the hundred martial masters and non-affiliated martial grandmasters. None of them responded, cowed by Fenghua’s strength.
Satisfied, Fenghua turned her sight back towards the duel.