Chapter 170: Chapter 153: The Grace of War_1
Gu Chen, with his own strength alone, had fought against five great experts and had severely wounded four of them in a short while. This scene immediately caused countless martial artists present to stare in shock and become speechless.
Mo Zilin, Xu Shu, and Dian Chu, along with Liu Feng, lay on the ground, feeling an intense burning sensation within. Gu Chen's punch just now was too powerful; even if the four of them joined forces, they were still no match for him.
They forced themselves to stand up. After all, their physical bodies had reached a state like that of a barbaric dragon, and they also possessed the full cultivation of the Vajra Stage inside them, so they were not so easily defeated.
However, Gu Chen's strength indeed shocked them.
Gu Chen had a calm expression on his face, standing in place with his robe fluttering about him, exuding an extraordinary demeanor.
"Brother Tang, how much longer do you plan to watch from a distance?" Mo Zilin asked with a somber face, glancing toward Tang Xiao.
It was clear to any discerning eye that Tang Xiao had never used his full strength. Otherwise, the five of them fighting together would not have been defeated so miserably.
Tang Xiao's eyes were closed as he stood still, stabilizing the injuries caused by the backlash he had just suffered.
A moment later, he opened his eyes and stepped forward to stand in front of Mo Zilin and the others.
Even Tang Xiao had to admit that in a one-on-one fight, he truly was no match for Gu Chen.
With the five young prodigies joining forces and Gu Chen still losing today, his reputation would be thoroughly spread far and wide.
"Attack!"
With a deep shout from Mo Zilin, he took the lead with his saber and charged forward. Specializing in saber techniques, Mo Zilin had perfected three superior martial skills from the Heavenly Saber Sect. At this moment, as he approached Gu Chen, he displayed one that he was most adept at.
Long River Saber Technique!
This technique was continuous and unending, with numerous saber lights linking together as Mo Zilin's internal energy surged through his meridians. Like a long river manifesting, it released astonishing cold brilliance as it cleaved toward Gu Chen.
Clang!
A glint of golden light blossomed on Gu Chen's body as he utilized the Golden Bell Shield, not pushing it to its extreme, but instead, with a light flick of his finger, he struck the back of the saber.
A light hum sounded, and Mo Zilin's body trembled immediately. The robust internal energy and fierce force of Gu Chen's punch transmitted along the long saber into Mo Zilin's body, causing him to spit out a mouthful of fresh blood once again.
In the next instant, Gu Chen casually threw a palm strike, and Mo Zilin was sent flying backward.
"Big brother Zilin!"
Yang Mingyue, who was in the back, was startled and turned pale. She quickly addressed Hu Wanyuan not far from her, "You must go and help brother Zilin!"
Upon hearing this, Hu Wanyuan frowned. What business did he have getting involved in the squabbles of these youngsters?
But Yang Mingyue was the daughter of the Heavenly Saber Sect's leader, Yang Ling, so Hu Wanyuan could not completely ignore her request, putting him in a difficult position.
"Kill!"
At this moment, Dian Chu looked frenzied as he charged forward once again. It had to be said that he was indeed resilient, with a strong ability to recover. Even after suffering several attacks from Gu Chen, he had not fallen and stayed on the ground.
Dian Chu's burly body approached Gu Chen, his vehemence condensed in his fists, as he unleashed another fully mastered superior martial skill aimed at Gu Chen's face.
"Bewildering God Skills!"
Before Gu Chen could make a move, Tang Xiao's pupils further away released a strange light, using the Bewildering God Skills, a spiritual martial skill, to its greatest potential to disturb Gu Chen's mind.
Hum!
A sense of discomfort surged in his mind once again. Gu Chen, seeing this, raised his eyebrows. Focusing his attention, the roar of the dragon and the howl of the tiger rose sharply, canceling out Tang Xiao's attack.
Simultaneously, as he faced Dian Chu's punch, Gu Chen did not dodge but resisted it with his incomparable physical body.
"Dark Thunder Strength!"
In an instant, Xu Shu of the Shen Martial Sect looked fierce, holding a long spear as he charged forward. His muscles quivered in a particular manner, his internal energy circled through specific meridians, and the long spear he wielded began to tremble. A peculiar strength was contained at the tip of the weapon, accompanied by crackling sounds, as strands and streaks of electrical light appeared.
This was another superior skill from the Shen Martial Sect, which Xu Shu had perfected and understood the corresponding martial meanings.
But unfortunately, such a fierce attack was still no match for Gu Chen.
Gu Chen responded with the Four Extremes Propping Heaven Fist. With the Golden Bell Shield perfected, he did not need any weapons to protect himself. His own body was not inferior to any superior treasure weapon in Shen Zhou.
At this moment, Gu Chen's internal energy followed the special path of the Four Extremes Propping Heaven Fist, the ferocious energy penetrating to his fists. His punch created a thunderous explosion in the air, even more powerful than Xu Shu's strike with the Dark Thunder Strength.
Bang!
After their exchange, Xu Shu nearly failed to hold onto his weapon. A gush of fresh blood poured from his mouth, the wound on his tiger's mouth widened, and his entire palm was almost torn apart.
As for the punch Dian Chu landed on Gu Chen, with the Golden Bell Shield resonating with the roar of the dragon and the howl of the tiger, Gu Chen did not sustain any injury. Instead, Dian Chu was injured by the strong rebound force, causing him to spurt blood from his mouth.
Another round of fighting, and the four great experts were still defeated.
But at this time, Tang Xiao from the Da Guangming Sect finally took action, no longer simply harassing Gu Chen from a distance with his spiritual martial skills.
"Mysterious Light Finger!"
Tang Xiao's face was stern as he pointed out from afar, and immediately, a beam of light shot out from his fingertip at incredible speed, as if it truly reached the speed of light, leaving no time to dodge.
Hisss!
Gu Chen saw the situation and responded with the Condensing Pulse Sword Wave. With a flick of his finger, sword intent congealed into sword energy, making grand sweeping gestures, with an imposing vigor. It collided with the mysterious light finger that Tang Xiao had unleashed in midair, and then both dissipated into nothingness.
But that was not the end. Gu Chen's ten fingers kept pressing down on the void, wave after wave of sword energy carrying astonishing sword intent incessantly shot out, filling the void and heading straight for Tang Xiao not far away.
Tang Xiao saw this and his face instantly changed. He had not expected that the internal energy within Gu Chen's body was so profound, allowing him to launch so many sword energy attacks at the same time.
Moreover, facing the encirclement and attack of the five of them, Gu Chen was still breathing smoothly without the slightest pause, which showed the meridians inside his body were also incredibly tough; otherwise, it would have been impossible.
"Strong Wind Palm!"
At this moment, the last of the heroes, Liu Feng from the Huan Yu Sect, made his move. He stood in the distance with a solemn expression and slowly pushed out his palms from his chest. A hurricane, condensed from exquisite internal energy, lanced towards Gu Chen, and in a radius of several zhang around him, a wild wind suddenly rose, whipping up the sand and rocks.
Gu Chen remained unchanged in composure, battling until now, always with an air of calm and ease. Compared to Mo Zilin and the others who fought with all their might, it made people utterly unable to perceive the limit of his abilities.
Boom!
Inside Gu Chen's body, the internal energy of five hundred and ten years flowed through his meridians. Without using any martial arts techniques, he simply pushed out an ordinary palm strike. Over five hundred years of internal energy burst forth from the palm meridians, and a fiercer gale suddenly appeared out of nowhere, causing many warriors to struggle even to stand firm.
"Pu!"
Even the attack Liu Feng had launched was rolled back by the gust from Gu Chen's palm, striking Liu Feng himself and sending him flying horizontally away.
Fortunately, half of his internal energy had already been converted into Gangqi; otherwise, based on that one attack, Gu Chen could have taken his life.
Strictly in terms of cultivation, Liu Feng was a cut above Xu Shu, Mo Zilin, and others, not much different from Tang Xiao.
Liu Feng managed to halt his backward flight in midair forcibly, using half of his body's Gangqi and gritting his teeth, he moved to Gu Chen's rear and delivered a palm strike laden with Gangqi towards Gu Chen's back.
This was Liu Feng's all-out attack!
Clang!
Suddenly, waves of golden light fell like a golden rain. A Golden Bell Shield appeared out of nowhere, protecting Gu Chen's front.
Liu Feng's hit struck the Golden Bell Shield. The surface of the bell rippled, and a powerful force rebounded back, sending Liu Feng flying once again into the distance, landing on the ground and raising a cloud of dust, lying there for a long time without getting up, already without the strength for another bout.
Chuff chuff chuff!
Tang Xiao was in a very sorry state, exhausting every trick to just barely fend off the dense sword energy attacks from Gu Chen. At this moment, his clothes were greatly torn, and he no longer retained the composed demeanor of before.
His eyes were chilling, and he had never anticipated that after descending the mountain, he would meet someone like Gu Chen in Shen Zhou, a monstrously talented individual. Seeing that even Liu Feng, who had cultivated half of his internal energy into Gangqi, could not injure Gu Chen at close range, Tang Xiao's heart sank immediately.
But fortunately, he still had one last ace up his sleeve!
At this moment, Tang Xiao looked solemn and cold as he slowly brought his palms together and called out in a low voice, "Holy Light Skill!"
Whoosh—
In an instant, countless blinding rays of light burst from Tang Xiao's body, illuminating the heavens and earth. At this moment, Tang Xiao seemed to transform into a miniature sun, releasing dazzling light.
"The Superior Martial Skill of the Da Guangming Sect, Holy Light Skill!"
Several Gang Qi Stage warriors saw Tang Xiao utilize this move, their eyes sharpened, and the ability of the six Vajra Stage warriors to fight to this point dazzled countless onlookers.
They all wondered whether Gu Chen could withstand this attack of Superior Martial Skill from Tang Xiao.
Numerous blinding rays of light shot out from Tang Xiao's body, flashing through the air, akin to golden small swords, piercing towards Gu Chen.
It was rumored that if one could fully master the Holy Light Skill, a Superior Martial Skill, just the light emitted by oneself could destroy and incinerate things around, proving its overwhelming power.
However, at the moment, Tang Xiao had only just barely cultivated it to the introductory stage, yet even so, it was a Superior Martial Skill. In the past, once the Holy Light Skill was unleashed, Tang Xiao found himself on invincible ground, and he believed this time would be no different!
Gu Chen will not be able to withstand a Superior Martial Skill!
But just then, in the void, there suddenly came a resounding clang, a deep bell toll echoing as if morning and evening temple bells were resonating in everyone's ears.
On Gu Chen's body, he officially activated the Dragon Roar Tiger Howl Golden Bell Shield, a Superior Martial Skill. The Golden Bell Shield became more solid, even the patterns on it clearly visible as if it were a real object, magnificent and imposing as if a world-subduing bell from the Great Thunder Sound Monastery in the Buddhist sacred mountain had descended to the world.
"Golden Bell Shield? No, this is not just the Golden Bell Shield. Even if it reached perfection, it couldn't emit such a terrifying aura. It is a Superior Martial Skill. Gu Chen has also mastered a Superior Martial Skill, and it's more than just the introductory stage!" one of the Gang Qi Stage warriors exclaimed sharply, greatly alarmed.
The glowing rays emitted by the Holy Light Skill shone on the surface of Gu Chen's Golden Bell Shield barely causing ripples and were utterly unable to break through.
Seeing that Gu Chen had also mastered a Superior Martial Skill, and to a higher realm than himself, Tang Xiao could no longer maintain his composure, feeling extreme panic in his heart.
He had exhausted all his techniques and had not even managed to touch a thread of Gu Chen's clothing; a deep sense of defeat and powerlessness arose in Tang Xiao's heart.
"I'm defeated..." Tang Xiao said dejectedly.
Bang!
Gu Chen showed no mercy, as a gust of wind surged from his palm and struck Tang Xiao, whose internal energy was exhausted. He spat out a mouthful of fresh blood, and his expression swiftly wilted.
At this moment, of the six great prodigies, Gu Chen had fought the five alone, knocked all of them to the ground, and stood there alone, his expression serene, displaying the poise of a dragon and the dignity of a phoenix.
It seemed as if those present were witnessing the rise of a new star in martial arts, nearing its zenith in the firmament.
This was a demeanor forged of battle, as he fought alone against the top powers of Vajra Stage experts in the Nine Provinces, and subdued them one by one. After today, Gu Chen's fame would climb to new heights in the Jianghu!
Among all the Vajra Stage warriors across the world, there would be none who could rival him!