Chapter 553 - 188: Defeating a Formidable Opponent, Another Breakthrough

After the exchange of blows, Yang Jing felt an exhilarating satisfaction surge through his entire body. The fighting spirit in his heart grew even stronger.

In his previous fights, whether against Ma Guoliang or other opponents, the gap in strength between them had been significant. It was rare for him to feel the soaring battle spirit that came from meeting a worthy opponent.

Su Muyuan was indeed a fine opponent. His Flowing Cloud Sword Technique was exceptionally sharp. The strike that had just landed on his fist actually carried a faint, stinging pain and sent a slight numbness through his arm.

From that single, hasty clash, Yang Jing had already gotten a rough measure of Su Muyuan’s strength.

Su Muyuan’s strength was indeed great, but not so great as to be insurmountable. In fact, when it came to sheer, overwhelming power, Yang Jing even held a slight advantage.

Su Muyuan had specialized in the Flowing Cloud Sword Technique, cultivating this Top-grade True Skill to the absolute Peak of the Qi Eating Realm. He had also delved deep into the study of Swordsmanship, and every move he made contained the true essence of the Sword Dao. His strength placed him among the top-tier of the entire younger generation.

Fortunately, Yang Jing had cultivated two martial arts to the Qi Eating Realm: the Top-grade True Skill, Indestructible True Skill, and the Mountain-Breaking Seal, whose power was comparable to a Top-grade True Skill.

The Inner Qi produced by these two martial arts was inherently pure and powerful. Only by fusing them could he gain a slight upper hand over Su Muyuan in a head-on confrontation.

Of course, this was also because neither the Indestructible True Skill nor the Mountain-Breaking Seal had been cultivated to the Peak of the Qi Eating Realm. Otherwise, it wouldn’t just be a *slight* upper hand.

However, this only served to prove how powerful Su Muyuan was.

If it had been a Martial Artist who had cultivated two ordinary Mid-grade True Skills, even if they had also broken through to the Qi Eating Realm with both, they would most likely have been defeated by Su Muyuan, completely unable to block his unpredictable, cloud-like sword moves.

The fighting spirit in Yang Jing’s eyes blazed. Without any further hesitation, he pushed off forcefully, his figure shooting forward like an arrow.

His fists, wrapped in the potent, fused Inner Qi, struck out fiercely at Su Muyuan. The force of his punches was as heavy as a mountain, carrying the astonishing power to shatter stone tablets.

Su Muyuan’s expression became extremely solemn. He took a deep breath, the Inner Qi in his chest surging like a tide, and the longsword in his hand hummed and vibrated as he unleashed a brilliant killing move from the Flowing Cloud Sword Technique.

Layer upon layer of sword shadows appeared, like a cascading waterfall, instantly enveloping Yang Jing.

The flashes of the sword were as fast as lightning and left no openings, with every strike aimed at one of Yang Jing’s vital points.

Even though Yang Jing’s Body Technique was agile and his fists moved like wheels to intercept most of the sword flashes, a few inevitably slipped through.

Three or four cunning sword flashes found an opening and struck his body.

However, when these strikes landed on Yang Jing, they only resulted in minor, superficial wounds.

The sharp sword tip merely sliced through his tunic, leaving a few shallow white marks on the surface of his skin. Not a single drop of blood was drawn.

During battle, the Inner Qi of his Indestructible True Skill circulated across the surface of Yang Jing’s body, forming an invisible protective shield that had already neutralized most of the sword flashes’ power.

Furthermore, having cultivated the Indestructible True Skill for many years, Yang Jing’s physical body had long been tempered to be extremely tough, comparable to refined iron. The remaining power in those sword flashes was nowhere near enough to truly harm him.

Yang Jing glanced down at the few shallow marks on his body. Far from feeling any fear, his fighting spirit surged even higher.

He snapped his head up, looked at Su Muyuan opposite him, and laughed heartily, his voice shaking the entire arena. "Excellent! Again!"

Su Muyuan’s expression instantly darkened, and he couldn’t hide the shock in his eyes.

The strength Yang Jing displayed far exceeded his expectations.

He was confident that his Sword Qi was incomparably sharp, enough to sever a tree as thick as a man’s embrace. Yet, when it struck Yang Jing’s body, it couldn’t even leave a wound that drew blood, only a few shallow white marks.

’What kind of external-strengthening martial art did this Yang Jing cultivate?’ Su Muyuan was secretly alarmed. ’This level of defense is astonishing, practically Copper Skin and Iron Bone.’

The two were instantly entangled on the fighting stage, their figures weaving back and forth. The wind from the fists and the light from the sword clashed, producing a series of metallic ringing sounds.

The situation on the stage quickly became clear. Yang Jing was primarily on the offensive, his heavy fists swinging wide with the force of a thunderbolt, every move aimed straight for Su Muyuan’s vital points.

Su Muyuan, on the other hand, could only brandish his longsword to block the fists while moving swiftly, using the agile Body Technique of his Flowing Cloud Sword Technique to evade and weave. He was trying to avoid the brunt of Yang Jing’s assault while searching for an opening to counterattack.

However, Su Muyuan soon discovered that Yang Jing was much faster than he had imagined.

Although the *Heng Jiang Du* Body Technique Yang Jing cultivated hadn’t fully broken through to the Qi Eating Realm, it was on the verge of doing so. When he used it now, his movements were as nimble and swift as a light boat on a river, just barely able to keep up with Su Muyuan’s evasive footwork.

With their speeds roughly equal, Yang Jing’s advantage in strength became fully apparent.

With every clash of fist and sword, Su Muyuan could feel an utterly tyrannical force surge up the blade, making his arm go numb and his chest churn with roiling qi and blood.

After too many of these head-on collisions, Su Muyuan felt a sweet taste in his throat, and a trickle of blood involuntarily escaped the corner of his mouth.

In contrast, Yang Jing remained completely unscathed no matter how many times the longsword hacked at his body, and his assault did not let up.

As a result, Yang Jing’s advantage grew larger and larger.

The tide of battle on the stage gradually tilted in Yang Jing’s favor.

Another violent collision between fist and sword occurred. Su Muyuan felt a violent tremor run up his arm, and his grip on the sword hilt loosened. He hurriedly retracted his sword and retreated, trying to create some distance to catch his breath for a moment.