Chapter 38: The Dragon’s Fist

Ao clenched his fist.

The spiritual energy surrounding his arm collapsed inward, instead of outward. The air around his hand became heavier, and some golden scales appeared beneath his skin before disappearing inside his sleeve.

The Ironwood Clan Head did not move.

He had felt the change.

Whatever Ao was preparing to do, it was not going to be the spatial technique he had just seen.

The Clan Head walked forward.

His right palm gathered a layer of condensed green spiritual energy before flying towards Ao.

Ao moved forward as he did so

His fist met the incoming palm.

The impact sent shockwaves across the courtyard.

Stones split beneath their feet, and a wave of force pushed the surrounding buildings away. Ao’s sleeve tore from the impact, and the Clan Head’s robes flew off his back.

Neither pulled away.

Ao felt the Nascent Soul spiritual energy pressing against his fist. It was heavier than before, as if it possessed the power of an entirely higher realm.

Ao rotated his waist and redirected the force not at the palm, but at the arm. His other fist flew forward towards the Clan Head’s ribs.

The Clan Head brought his elbow down.

Bang!

Ao’s fist connected with the man’s forearm.

The Clan Head immediately followed up with a knee strike, but Ao twisted his body away. The knee barely missed his robes.

Ao pushed forward with his shoulder, ramming it into the Clan Head’s chest. The man was sent reeling backwards several paces. He planted his foot on the ground and cracked the earth beneath him. Ao was already there, his fist driving forward. The Clan Head blocked, and another punch followed. And another. The two men flew across the ruined courtyard so fast the surrounding cultivators could barely keep up.

A fist.

A palm.

An elbow.

A knee.

Each strike and block lasted only a moment before one of the two moved out of the way.

Ao’s body moved with the instincts of thousands of years of combat. He did not waste any movement, shifting his stance or rotating his body to redirect the force of an oncoming strike. When the Clan Head attacked high, he moved low, and when the man’s palm came for his chest, he twisted his torso, turning the momentum of the strike against him.

The Clan Head was different.

He had the advantage of realm, spiritual reserves, and a body reinforced by his own cultivation technique. Every time Ao landed a punch, the Ironwood Mountain Body absorbed a large portion of the impact before withstanding the follow-up strikes.

Then Ao’s fist met his ribs.

The technique triggered.

Heaven-Shattering Dragon Fist.

There was no explosion, only the force of the strike disappearing into the Clan Head’s body.

The man’s expression twisted.

A deep impact resonated in his organs.

He staggered back, a wisp of blood trickling from the corner of his mouth.

Ao stood several meters away.

The Clan Head slowly wiped the blood away.

His eyes grew colder.

"You’ve been hiding your physical strength."

Ao rolled his shoulder.

"My strength isn’t what it used to be."

The Clan Head’s eyes narrowed.

"That answer tells me very little."

"It wasn’t meant to tell you much."

For several breaths, the two men stood motionless. The Clan Head studied Ao carefully. He had thought the battle would be over quickly. A Nascent Soul cultivator fighting against a Core Formation cultivator should have been over far more swiftly. In fact, that was how the cultivation world worked.

Ao had already used multiple techniques to try and push him back.

More importantly, the young-looking dragon cultivator had not displayed any signs of panic.

Even as his body was injured, he fought as if calculating the battlefield rather than trying to survive.

The Clan Head’s expression darkened.

"You’ve given me a reason to change my opinion of you."

Ao looked at him.

The man’s tone remained calm, but the arrogance had evaporated from his voice.

"I came here believing you were an unusually strong Core Formation cultivator who had become too confident after defeating one of my elders. I was wrong. Whatever your background is, your combat experience is far beyond what your cultivation suggests."

Ao’s eyes remained fixed on him.

"You’ve also made one mistake."

The Clan Head waited.

"You keep trying to judge me by my cultivation."

A smile flickered across Ao’s face.

The Clan Head’s fingers curled.

"Then I will stop doing that."

His spiritual energy erupted.

The ground trembled, and green light burst from beneath his feet. Countless roots erupted from the earth.

"Ironwood Ancient Domain!"

The battlefield vanished beneath a forest.

Massive trees shot up from the ruined estate, their trunks impossibly thick. Their branches interlocked overhead, blocking out the sky. Every single leaf contained a trace of the Clan Head’s spiritual energy.

Ao stood amidst the tangle of wood and leaves.

A wooden spear flew toward his chest.

He moved.

The spear passed by his side.

Another appeared from behind him.

Ao folded the space beneath his feet and shifted several meters forward. The spear missed, and three more appeared from the trees.

Ao sidestepped, lowering his body so that the first one passed over his head. He caught the second in his palm and redirected its energy into the third. The two spears collided and shattered. A fourth flew up at him from above.

Ao raised his arm, and the force sent him down to his knee. Before the spear could hit, he pushed against the ground and vanished.

A brief Voidstep.

Not far.

Only enough to escape the attack.

He appeared beside one of the trees.

Another wooden blade was already waiting.

Ao turned.

The blade carved into his side, staining his robes with blood.

He landed and immediately moved forward again.

The Clan Head remained hidden within the domain.

The forest was his eyes.

Every root, branch, and blade contained his spiritual energy.

Ao could feel them.

He could also feel something else.

The energy moved.

It flowed across the entire domain before converging on a single point.

Ao dodged another attack.

Then another.

His breathing grew heavier.

Every time he used Voidstep, it consumed a portion of his spiritual energy. His current cultivation was far from enough to treat it as something he could use carelessly.

He did not need to.

Ao stopped using it to escape each attack.

A wooden spear flew toward his chest.

He shifted half a step.

It passed by.

Another came toward his neck.

He leaned back.

It missed by an inch.

A third came toward his back.

Ao turned and caught it.

The wooden spear trembled in his hand, and black and white spiritual energy curled around his fingers. The momentum of the attack changed, and instead of flying toward him, it curved and shot into the trees. Several branches shattered, and Ao released the spear. The surrounding forest reacted instantly, sending more attacks toward him.

He continued moving.

The Clan Head’s expression grew more serious.

Ao was no longer simply defending.

He was learning the rhythm of the domain.

A spear came from the left.

Ao redirected it.

A blade came from above.

He avoided it.

A root erupted from beneath his feet.

He used a brief Voidstep.

A branch struck from behind.

He ducked.

Another attack came.

He caught it.

Again, the black and white energy spun around his palm.

The attack was sent back into the forest.

The Clan Head finally stepped out from between the trees.

"You’ve found the flow."

Ao looked toward him.

"You made it obvious."

The Clan Head’s expression did not change.

"Then you understand that this domain belongs to me. Every piece of it carries my spiritual energy. You can avoid it for a while, but your cultivation cannot sustain this forever."

Ao glanced at the forest around them.

"I know."

The Clan Head frowned slightly.

Ao’s expression was calm.

"That’s why I don’t intend to stay here forever."

The Clan Head’s spiritual energy surged.

The forest moved.

Hundreds of wooden blades appeared at once.

Ao’s eyes narrowed.

They came from every direction.

He did not retreat.

His fist tightened.

Golden energy condensed around his arm.

The first blade reached him.

Ao struck it.

Bang!

It shattered.

The second came.

He destroyed it with another punch.

The third.

The fourth.

The fifth.

Ao continued forward.

The wooden blades grew faster.

His body twisted between them.

One cut his shoulder.

Another struck his thigh.

He ignored the pain.

His eyes were fixed on the Clan Head.

The distance between them vanished.

The Clan Head raised both hands.

The forest roared.

Massive roots erupted from beneath Ao.

Ao jumped.

A wooden sword fell.

He used Voidstep.

The sword passed beneath his feet.

Ao emerged directly in front of the Clan Head.

The man’s eyes widened.

Ao’s fist drove forward.

The Clan Head crossed both arms.

BOOM!

The impact sent him flying.

He crashed through three enormous trees before coming to a stop. Ao landed, and the Ironwood Ancient Domain shook violently. Cracks spread through the spiritual trees. The Clan Head pushed himself upright, blood running down his face.

He looked at Ao.

Ao was breathing heavily now.

Blood stained his side and shoulder.

Neither man looked away.

The Clan Head suddenly laughed.

It was not mocking this time.

It was the laugh of someone who had finally encountered an opponent worth taking seriously.

"Very well."

He wiped the blood from his cheek.

"I understand why you were so confident."

Ao remained silent.

The Clan Head looked toward the ruined estate in the distance.

"The Lin family has nothing to do with this anymore. If we continue fighting here, the entire estate will be destroyed."

Ao glanced toward the direction of the family.

Lin Qingshan and the others were still fighting the Ironwood cultivators farther away.

Ao looked back at the Clan Head.

"Then move."

The Clan Head smiled.

"Agreed."

His spiritual energy suddenly exploded.

The remaining trees of the domain collapsed outward.

Ao stepped into the air.

The two cultivators shot away from the Lin estate at the same time.

They crossed several kilometers in a matter of breaths.

The mountains beyond Azure Cloud City swallowed their figures.

Ao landed on a barren ridge.

The Clan Head appeared opposite him.

For a moment, neither attacked.

The distance between them was several dozen meters.

The Clan Head’s robes were torn.

Blood stained his face.

Ao’s clothes were in even worse condition.

His shoulder was bleeding, and the cut across his side had stained half of his robe.

Yet his golden eyes remained calm.

The Clan Head slowly raised his hand.

The spiritual energy around him began climbing again.

Ao’s gaze sharpened.

The pressure was different.

Much heavier.

The Clan Head had stopped treating this as a battle between realms.

He was preparing to use the full strength of a Nascent Soul cultivator.

Ao lowered his body.

His fingers loosened.

Then closed again.

Golden energy gathered around his fist.

The Clan Head’s spiritual pressure continued rising.

Ao expected another attack.

Instead, the man raised his hand toward the distant Lin estate.

Ao’s expression changed.

A thin green line of spiritual energy appeared between the Clan Head’s fingers.

It wasn’t aimed at him.

It was aimed at the city.

Ao’s eyes narrowed.

"You wouldn’t."

The Clan Head looked at him calmly.

"You said you wanted me to stop holding back."

The green light condensed.

"Then stop me."

Ao disappeared.

The Clan Head smiled.

And for the first time that night, Ao wasn’t moving toward his opponent.

He was moving to protect everyone behind him.