Feng Xiangming's spear technique had reached great mastery. With a single thrust, he possessed the aura of splitting mountains and rivers, carrying a silver cold glint towards Chen Jiuyang.
Chen Jiuyang watched this spear thrust, his eyes shining brightly, and he couldn't help but shout, "Well met!"
The spear moved like a dragon, an aura of ultimate sharpness causing Chen Jiuyang's brow to ache slightly.
This spear thrust gave him a sense of danger.
Despite it being just one spear thrust, it felt as if thousands of troops were charging at him simultaneously, giving him the sensation that this spear was unavoidable.
And Chen Jiuyang had no intention of evading.
In the path of martial arts, technique is paramount, which is to break.
This spear thrust, much like his Yuan Dao Instant Flash, was meant to break through anything before him.
This was the true technique a martial artist should wield.
Chen Jiuyang raised his hand, gripping the Yan Sheng Saber tightly, and cleaved forward.
"Hiss—"
The saber and spear immediately collided. As the blade met the spearhead, a piercing metallic friction sound erupted.
The immense power of this spear thrust made Chen Jiuyang's hand, which held the Yan Sheng Saber, go slightly numb. It even forced him to step back.
In his martial arts journey thus far, this was the first opponent who, in a head-on confrontation, could shake him and force him to retreat a step.
"Good!"
Chen Jiuyang had met Feng Xiangming's spear thrust head-on with his saber. He had only retreated one step, and a violent sonic wave exploded, causing both their clothes to rustle loudly.
Judging by the outcome, the two seemed evenly matched. With one move, neither had gained an advantage or suffered injury; it was a draw.
Chen Jiuyang's eyes gleamed as he looked at Feng Xiangming and asked, "This spear thrust is excellent. It should have a name. What is the technique called?"
"My Feng family has been in the military since ancient times. Every move and stance has been honed on the battlefield. This move, this spear thrust, has no name," Feng Xiangming replied to Chen Jiuyang.
Chen Jiuyang was surprised, and his heart was also greatly stirred.
His full-power spear thrust, delivered first, had not harmed Chen Jiuyang in the slightest, only forcing him back one step. This made his heart sink, as if a heavy stone had been placed upon it.
What did this signify?
It signified that Chen Jiuyang's strength and vitality were more formidable than his own.
Chen Jiuyang remained silent for a moment: "The spear is good, but nameless. Martial arts that take extreme paths are difficult to truly hone."
"However, it is also true that techniques are for killing. As long as one can kill, the name of the technique is unimportant."
"This spear thrust is overbearing, without restraint. The righteous shall break the forbidden."
"You should know that martial artists of your caliber are not supposed to act within city limits, as it is extremely easy to harm ordinary people."
"Since you dared to do so, and despite your spear thrust being good and powerful, you did not harm any ordinary people. If you can withstand one saber strike from this Marquis, I will let you go."
Chen Jiuyang felt a spark of admiration for a spear master like Feng Xiangming. The martial path of Long Country should be diverse, and masters who specialized in killing moves like Feng Xiangming should not be absent.
"One saber strike?" A hint of mockery flashed in Feng Xiangming's eyes. This Marquis Xuanyang, Chen Jiuyang, was too arrogant.
Did he mean that Feng Xiangming might not even be able to withstand one saber strike from Chen Jiuyang?
"Zheng!"
Before he could react, he felt his hands go numb. Chen Jiuyang's Yan Sheng Saber vibrated slightly, knocking his silver spear away.
Then.
An unparalleled, overbearing aura erupted from Chen Jiuyang. His golden-red vital energy burned like substance. The saber in Chen Jiuyang's hand contained terrifying power, and saber energy materialized. The saber's form suddenly expanded, and from several meters away, he cleaved towards Feng Xiangming.
"Boom!"
Feng Xiangming's pupils contracted sharply, and he quickly thrust his spear out again.
Just as he had actively thrust his spear earlier, with Chen Jiuyang defending, it was now Chen Jiuyang who was on the offensive, and Feng Xiangming who was defending.
The peerless, overbearing saber strike descended. His spear could only resist for a moment before it was shattered with overwhelming force.
"Bang—"
Feng Xiangming fell backward onto the ground, creating a human-shaped crater.
"Cough, cough, pfft—"
Feng Xiangming instinctively coughed, wiping his mouth with his hand. He saw blood and fragments of his internal organs in his palm. His eyes immediately dimmed: "What an overbearing saber strike…"
"I actually couldn't even withstand one saber strike from Marquis Xuanyang?"
Chen Jiuyang's previous saber strike had surpassed his understanding of martial arts. He couldn't even react to it. How had he been injured so severely by Chen Jiuyang's strike?
He would likely never understand this in his lifetime.
"Cough, cough!" Only then did Feng Xiangming feel the intense pain coursing through his body. An unknown number of his bones had been broken by this saber strike, and his internal organs were shattered. He no longer had a chance to live. As he faced Chen Jiuyang for the last time, he slowly said:
"To have witnessed true martial dao, I die without regret…"
With that, Feng Xiangming closed his eyes, his life force extinguished.
"Alas…"
Chen Jiuyang sighed softly and said, "I initially thought you could withstand my strike, but your martial path is flawed. I overestimated you…"
Feng Xiangming's previous spear thrust had genuinely surprised Chen Jiuyang. He had expected Feng Xiangming to have more powerful techniques and to engage in a hearty battle with him.
But Feng Xiangming only knew that one spear thrust. His martial path was incomplete, and his understanding of martial arts was too narrow.
"Disappointing…"
Chen Jiuyang sheathed his saber and no longer returned to the city. Instead, he walked alone in the night, wanting to know, to see, how many more martial artists awaited him ahead, and whether they could hone and advance his martial path.
Ten minutes after Chen Jiuyang's figure disappeared, Enokifu and the old man in red robes appeared.
"That saber strike just now… is likely Chen Jiuyang's true strength…" The old man in red robes' eyes narrowed slightly as he looked at Feng Xiangming's corpse.
Enokifu looked at the faint, overbearing saber energy lingering in the air and commented, "Vital energy, soul, and true qi, all condensed without dispersing. Chen Jiuyang has indeed walked far on the path to invincible divine abilities…"
"Zhou Fangzun and those who intended to target Chen Jiuyang have likely miscalculated. They never expected Chen Jiuyang's martial path to advance to such a degree."
"It should become quite lively from now on."
"If truly powerful martial artists are not dispatched, anyone who comes will only be sending themselves to their deaths, hahaha…"
The old man in red robes felt his blood pressure rising at his granddaughter's seemingly world-inciting demeanor.
Immediately, the two followed the direction Chen Jiuyang had left.
Not long after, another group of martial artists arrived at the scene.
"The battle ended so quickly?"
"Feng Xiangming was also a master of spear techniques, yet he died so obscurely. Judging by the appearance, he likely didn't even last three moves before dying at Chen Jiuyang's hands."
"We miscalculated. Chen Jiuyang's martial strength is far more dangerous than what is recorded in our intelligence."
"Quickly report this message and see how they intend to respond."
Over the next four days, Chen Jiuyang traveled three hundred kilometers and encountered no more enemies attempting to intercept and kill him.
It was incredibly peaceful.
However, Chen Jiuyang knew this was the calm before the storm.
When enemies reappeared before him, it would likely be the true test of his mortal peril.