Soul-Body Dual Cultivation was Lu Shangâs ultimate trump card.
It was also the method personally chosen by Elder Hun as the best way to deal with Cultivators.
But now, facing a young man three years his junior, the Soul Fire that Lu Shang had spent immense resources and effort cultivating couldnât even break through his opponentâs Shield.
How could he not be dejected?
Li Changâan didnât rush forward to continue the fight. Instead, he asked again, "Can we sit down and talk now?"
Lu Shang was crestfallen.
He remained silent for a long moment before shouting hysterically, "Talk? No way! Elder Hun said youâre all just dogs raised by Cultivators. I may not be a good person, but I wouldnât stoop to talking with a dog! Come on! Even without my Soul Fire, I can still tear you to pieces!"
As he spoke, Lu Shang retracted the Soul Fire cage that had enveloped Li Changâan, forming it into a suit of Flame Armor that clung to his body before throwing a fierce punch at Li Changâan.
âUnless I beat this guy to a pulp,â Li Changâan thought, âhe probably wonât calm down.â
And so, he no longer held back.
Although Lu Shang had already retracted the Soul Fire he controlled, the armor it formed still made Li Changâan quite wary.
He condensed the Shield over his hands, dodged Lu Shangâs fist, and in the same motion, grabbed Lu Shang by the shoulder and violently hurled him out of the inn.
BANG!
A tremendous crash echoed. Because Li Changâan truly hadnât held back at all this time, Lu Shang was sent flying nearly a hundred meters. He smashed through dozens of houses before finally collapsing a section of the border townâs wall.
Lu Shang practiced Soul-Body Dual Cultivation.
He primarily cultivated the soul, with the body as a secondary focus.
More than half of the power in this Cultivation System was concentrated in the Soul Fire.
Now that his Soul Fire was blocked by Li Changâanâs Shield, it couldnât display its formidable properties.
Stripped of his soul cultivation, Lu Shang was merely a Martial Saint at the Blood Refining Realm. Before the current Li Changâan, a mere Martial Saint was laughably weak.
Lu Shang had just hit the ground and hadnât even had a chance to get up when Li Changâanâs ghost-like figure appeared before him again. He grabbed Lu Shang by the collar, punched him squarely in the face, and said coolly, "What was that you said? I didnât quite hear you. Why donât you say it again?"
Even though the armor condensed from his Soul Fire blocked most of the force, the punch to the face still made Lu Shangâs head spin. He laughed hysterically and spat through gritted teeth, "The people of the Jiuzhou Continent may be a bunch of weeds and pigs, harvested by your kind again and again, but we still have some backbone! You canât kill me today, but even if you could, Iâd never surrender to you!"
As he spoke, he spat a mouthful of saliva.
Li Changâan let go and dodged, chuckling. "Well, look at you. You started out acting like a little punk, and now youâre playing the part of a lone hero!?"
Lu Shang sneered, "Where do you think Iâve been all these years? How much death and bloodshed do you think Iâve witnessed with my own eyes?"
As he spoke, he urged his Soul Fire to burn furiously.
But this time, he wasnât trying to burn Li Changâan with the flames.
Instead, he was burning his very own Soul Fire as fuel. Amidst the furiously burning flames, his speed and strength suddenly skyrocketed, briefly approaching the limits of a Martial God!
However, not all Martial Gods are created equal.
And Li Changâan was no ordinary Martial God.
BANG!
Lu Shangâs fist collided with Li Changâanâs. Li Changâan retreated three steps, but Lu Shang was once again sent flying nearly a hundred meters, smashing through an untold number of buildings along the way.
Li Changâan was about to give chase, but after taking just one step, he saw a gaunt old man shrouded from head to toe in a black robe watching him from a short distance away.
Sensing danger, Li Changâan stopped and sized up the black-robed elder.
The black-robed elder was also sizing him up. After a long moment, he finally spoke, "Just who are you?"
Li Changâan glanced at Lu Shang, who was stumbling a short distance away and struggling for a long while before barely getting to his feet. Then he looked back at the black-robed elder and said coolly, "So, are you finally willing to listen to me now?"
Lu Shang coughed up several mouthfuls of blood, his gaze toward Li Changâan still filled with rage and resentment.
Of course, there was also a trace of... fear, which he was desperately trying to conceal!
He had encountered Li Changâan twice, and both times he had been utterly thrashed. Even though Lu Shang had a very high opinion of himself, he couldnât help but feel afraid now.
His opponent was simply terrifyingly strong, instilling in him a deep fear of Cultivators as a whole!
He limped over to the black-robed elderâs side and said with a bitter expression, "Elder Hun, I have disappointed you..."
The black-robed elder glanced at him but didnât reply.
His gaze returned to Li Changâan, his expression still impassive. "What is it you want to say?"
Li Changâan replied calmly, "First, as long as we can communicate properly, we donât have to be enemies. Second, you seem to have some sort of misunderstanding about me!"
The black-robed elderâs expression didnât flicker; he continued to watch him intently.
Seeing that he kept a stony face, like a block of wood, Li Changâan couldnât help but look at Lu Shang and say, "Kid, your master here doesnât seem very human..."
He paused, his tone turning playful. "So, should I call him a vessel for the Heaven and Earth Consciousness, or the personification of the Heaven and Earth Consciousness?"
Hearing these two terms, a look of confusion crossed Lu Shangâs face.
Apparently, he didnât know Elder Hunâs true identity. In his mind, Elder Hun was just a mysterious old man in a black robe who acted as both a father and a mother to him, always ready to offer guidance and help in any matter.