Chapter Thirty-Eight: A Momentous Discovery!

In the arena, the two youths exchanged blows, their figures intertwining as golden and silver streams of light danced around them, dazzling the spectators with their brilliance.

On the viewing platform, everyone sat frozen, their bodies rigid, only their eyes following the movement of the two combatants as they shifted across the arena. The entire crowd was silent, not a sound to be heard.

"Indeed, how could I be so foolish? In the Five Elements, metal generates water. Rather than taking advantage of the mutual reinforcement and restraint of the elements, I chose to meet the fierce and overwhelming metallic spiritual power head-on. Truly, I must have lost my senses..."

In a sudden moment of clarity, Yang Yan felt his mind clear. He immediately switched from offense to defense, wielding "Moonshadow Frost" to parry, using his sword to absorb and neutralize the powerful force contained in the long spear.

Previously, the two had been evenly matched, each attack met with a defense, but as the crowd watched Yang Yan shift into a defensive posture—only parrying and dodging—they assumed his spiritual power was spent, that defeat was inevitable. They shook their heads and sighed, but Elder Li’s eyes gleamed with sharp light, his gaze fixed intently on Yang Yan. After a long moment, he murmured to himself:

“This boy… his future achievements will certainly not be low!”

Yang Yan’s sword danced as he dodged and blocked, like a lone boat tossed among raging waves, seemingly in peril. Yet Elder Li noticed that as Yang Yan evaded Liu Zhengqing’s spear strikes, his sword—infused with water-based spiritual power—would guide and dissipate the force of each attack. With every clash, the golden radiance of the spear dulled a little, while the water power on Yang Yan’s sword grew ever richer.

Yang Yan had battled Liu Zhengqing for hundreds of rounds, and with the latter a master of the spear, their contest was fierce and evenly matched. Immersed in the thrill of battle, Yang Yan had overlooked his fatal weakness: insufficient spiritual power.

His "Nine Nether Yin Art" was only at the lowest level of the Yellow rank, whereas Liu Zhengqing’s technique was certainly much higher. If things continued this way, Yang Yan’s defeat was inevitable.

As he pondered desperately, inspiration struck. He remembered the principle of mutual generation among the Five Elements, and the solution became clear.

He switched to defense, using the method of "metal generates water" and the resilience of water power to absorb some of the metallic spiritual force from Liu Zhengqing’s spear, converting it into water power for his own use. By leveraging the principle of harnessing strength, this exchange of power meant victory for Yang Yan was only a matter of time.

At this moment, Liu Zhengqing’s expression grew increasingly grim. For the first time, a hint of nervousness appeared on his face.

Each spear thrust he launched carried the might of a thousand warriors, destroying all in its path. But since Yang Yan had switched to defense, every strike felt as though it was plunging into cotton; even his sharp metallic spiritual attacks vanished like mud into the sea, having no effect.

“I can’t hold back any longer. If this continues, I’ll surely lose!”

In the arena, Liu Zhengqing suddenly retreated, standing firm with his spear and fixing his gaze on Yang Yan.

“You are indeed strong…”

Yang Yan was deep in the heat of battle, experiencing for the first time the subtlety of employing the mutual generation of the Five Elements in combat—a method of transforming an opponent’s spiritual power into his own. He was intoxicated by its brilliance, but was startled when Liu Zhengqing abruptly withdrew, ceasing his assault.

“You’re impressive as well,” Yang Yan replied with a slight smile, his admiration and acknowledgment evident in his words.

“Next, you’d better use that pale blue spiritual power, or you won’t be able to defeat me.”

Liu Zhengqing, seeing the sincerity in Yang Yan’s words, replied earnestly.

“Could it be…”

As he murmured, Liu Zhengqing spread his arms and let out a clear roar to the heavens, the sound like a tiger’s call or a dragon’s cry. His robes whipped around him, and from his lower abdomen, at the spiritual center, countless dazzling golden rays erupted. At the same time, Liu Zhengqing’s aura surged higher and higher.

“That’s…the aura of the third layer peak of the Spiritual Sense Realm!”

“How is that possible? If so, Liu Zhengqing would be the undisputed leader among the young generation of Jinhuan City!”

“With such a prodigy, the Liu family will rise. They might even one day join the ranks of the city’s ‘three great families’!”

“After the tournament, we must find an opportunity to draw closer to the Liu family…”

...

“So this is your true strength?”

Yang Yan’s expression became serious, and he gripped "Moonshadow Frost" tightly. With a thought, ten strands of pale blue spiritual power surged from his "spirit sea," blending with translucent water power and gathering at the hilt of his sword.

Just as Liu Zhengqing had said, unless he used the pale blue spiritual power, he would not be able to contend with him.

Yang Yan could sense that Liu Zhengqing was now truly at the third layer of the Spiritual Sense Realm, and at its peak. Compared to Xu Shaoguang, whose aura had been artificially boosted by medicine, Liu Zhengqing was far stronger.

“Be careful!”

Liu Zhengqing called out in a low voice, then his figure suddenly blurred, appearing less than half a meter before Yang Yan. The spear swept toward him with electric speed.

Yang Yan was startled, hastily activating "Shadow Step" to evade the spear, and as he dodged, he struck back with his sword, its blade wrapped in blue light, targeting the spear’s head and shaft.

“It actually works!”

Seeing the effect on the spear, Yang Yan was overjoyed.

He had never underestimated the pale blue spiritual power within him, but now realized he had still undervalued its strength. When "Moonshadow Frost," coated in pale blue power, touched Liu Zhengqing’s spear, the metallic spiritual force was devoured bit by bit.

This happened much faster than when he had relied on the conversion of "metal generates water" among the Five Elements. Yang Yan was certain this was entirely due to the pale blue spiritual power.

Yesterday, in his duel with Xu Shaoguang, Yang Yan had discovered that his pale blue power could devour fire power. Now, with a bold guess, he tried it, and to his delight, it was confirmed—it could devour metallic power as well!

“If that’s the case, then wood, earth, even water spiritual power—if all can be devoured…”

At this thought, Yang Yan was overwhelmed with excitement. If his conjecture was correct, then regardless of the elemental affinity of any opponent in the future, he would always hold the advantage.

Though using the pale blue power carried risks, fortune favors the bold. The path of cultivation was always fraught with danger, and if great rewards were possible, Yang Yan was willing to accept those risks when necessary.