Zhang Cailing stood below the Dueling Platform, looking up.
Her gaze drifted back and forth between Fang Yun and Lu Zefeng.
She knew what strategy Lu Zefeng would use against Fang Yun.
He planned to wear Fang Yun down to nothing!
After having fought Fang Yun herself, Zhang Cailing felt that while it was possible for Lu Zefeng to succeed, the chances werenât very high.
Her intuition told her that Fang Yunâs defensive measures werenât that simple.
During her own Magical Combat spar, faced with Fang Yunâs powerful insight, she probably hadnât even forced him to use his better defensive techniques.
As for the actual outcome, she would know after watching this Magical Combat spar.
"Fang Yun, Qi Refining Seventh Layer."
"Lu Zefeng, Qi Refining Eighth Layer."
After the two exchanged salutes, the Magical Combat officially began.
Lu Zefeng didnât give Fang Yun a warning like Zhang Cailing had before.
Three dark-brown flying daggers materialized in front of Lu Zefeng before shooting toward Fang Yun.
The senior brother and sister were clearly familiar with one another, but their fighting styles were completely different.
Fang Yun could tell right from the start of the battle.
Senior Sister Zhang Cailing liked to find openings for sneak attacks, while Senior Brother Lu Zefeng preferred a direct frontal assault.
For Fang Yun, this kind of frontal assault was the easiest to defend against.
Three Profound Iron Shields circled around Fang Yun, all of them Middle Grade Magical Artifacts.
These Profound Iron Shields were more than enough to block the flying daggers.
With a single glance, Fang Yun could tell that the three flying daggers were part of a set of Upper Grade Magical Artifacts.
CLANG CLANG CLANGâ
The sound of metal striking metal rang out continuously. The Spiritual Power fluctuations around Fang Yun also grew increasingly strange.
Fang Yun quickly noticed it.
The rate at which his Spiritual Power was draining had increased.
âThis is no big deal. Even if my Spiritual Power is draining faster, it only means I have to expend a tiny bit more.â
"Senior Brotherâs methods are quite interesting," Fang Yun couldnât help but comment.
It was the first time he had encountered such a situation.
"Junior Brother Fang, now is not the time to be distracted!"
As he spoke, Lu Zefeng intensified his assault.
He wanted to force Fang Yun to switch out his Profound Iron Shields.
These Profound Iron Shields were only Middle Grade Magical Artifacts. If he wanted to exhaust Fang Yun, he had to force him to use Upper Grade Profound Iron Shields.
He had been confident at first, but after seeing Fang Yun take out his Magical Artifacts, much of that confidence had vanished.
He remembered it clearly.
In his first two Magical Combat spars, Fang Yun hadnât used any Middle Grade Magical Artifacts, and the first match had been against an Inner Sect Disciple of the same Realm.
"Break for me!"
He wanted to test the limits of Fang Yunâs Middle Grade Magical Artifacts.
âThe Magical Artifacts Fang Yun refined for himself must be incredibly special. How else could they be so tough?â
The longer he attacked, the more certain Lu Zefeng became of this conclusion.
As the Magical Combat dragged on, his legs began to tremble slightly, while Fang Yun looked completely unaffected.
At this point, the Spiritual Power in his Qi Sea was nearly depleted.
The trembling in his legs was a sign of him having used a massive amount of Spiritual Power in a short time.
"Junior Brother Fang, Iâm impressed!"
Looking at Fang Yunâs condition, Lu Zefeng had no choice but to admit defeat.
He never imagined that his proud offensive style would be completely neutralized by Fang Yun from the very beginning.
As Lu Zefeng thought about this, a sudden idea popped into his head.
âFang Yun must have studied me!â
âIf that werenât the case, he wouldnât have used Middle Grade Magical Artifacts at the start instead of using Upper Grade ones to defend against my attacks.â
âYes, that must be it!â
Realizing this, Lu Zefeng felt his loss was justified.
"You let me win," Fang Yun said, returning the salute while checking the state of the Spiritual Power in his Qi Sea.
âSenior Brother Lu Zefengâs assault was fierce, and he even had a way to make me consume extra Spiritual Power. Unfortunately for him, the Magical Combat spar was too short, so I didnât actually use up much Spiritual Power at all.â
âStill, that technique for increasing my Spiritual Power consumption was pretty good.â
From this Magical Combat spar, Fang Yun had once again accumulated more experience.
It is said that a person with little experience is easily surprised. Once he had seen more, his future battles would only become easier.
As soon as the Magical Combat spar ended, a single person jumped onto the Dueling Platform.
Before Fang Yun could even speak, Lu Zefeng spoke up for him.
"Junior Brother, this was Junior Brother Fangâs third Magical Combat spar. Youâve missed your chance."
Apparently, this Qi Refining Seventh Layer Inner Sect Disciple didnât know this was Fang Yunâs third spar.
He had been happy getting on the platform, but now he was embarrassed getting off it.
âSo thatâs why no one was fighting me to get on the Dueling Platform.â
Seeing his predicament, the other disciples burst into laughter.
After that brief interlude, Fang Yun and Lu Zefeng went to register with the Steward, with Zhang Cailing trailing behind them the whole time.
After they finished registering, Lu Zefeng and Zhang Cailing continued to follow behind Fang Yun.
Lu Zefeng shot Zhang Cailing a look, signaling for her to speak up soon.
Zhang Cailing indicated that she understood.
Just as Zhang Cailing was about to speak,
Fang Yun stopped, turned around, and beat her to it, asking, "Senior Sister Zhang, Senior Brother Lu, is there something you need?"
He had found it strange when he saw Zhang Cailing following him after he got off the Dueling Platform.
"Itâs like this, Junior Brother Fang. I was wondering if you might be interested in a mission to the Black Ghost Cave Earth Realm?"
Hearing this, information about the Black Ghost Cave surfaced in Fang Yunâs mind.
The Black Ghost Cave, like the Celestial Demon Sect, was one of the Evil Sects.
The difference was that Celestial Demon Sect Cultivators cultivated Demon Power, while Black Ghost Cave Cultivators used Yin Qi to cultivate Yin Power.
"Well, Senior Sister Zhang, Senior Brother Lu, I donât plan on going out on missions for the time being. However, if you two encounter any difficulties on your missions, you can come talk to me. For instance, if your Magical Artifacts need repairs, Iâll give you a fair price."
Fang Yun first refused, then proposed a different way they could cooperate.
Since a senior brother and a senior sister had invited him, he felt he should make a small gesture and try to gather some useful information about the outside world.
Fang Yun didnât know how big this world was.
He only knew that the region where the Celestial Cloud Sect was located was called the Qionglin Domain.
In this area, there werenât many Orthodox Sects like theirs. Including the Celestial Cloud Sect, there were only seven Orthodox Sects with Core Formation cultivators or higher.
Compared to the Orthodox Sects, the Evil Sects were far more numerous.
Fortunately, due to their different cultivation paths, the relationships between these Evil Sects werenât very good.
For example, the relationship between the Celestial Demon Sect, which followed the path of Demon Power, and the Black Ghost Cave, which followed the path of Yin Power, was rather mediocre.
From what he had learned from his parents as a child, he knew the outside world was dangerous, but he didnât know the specifics. As he learned more and more, his understanding of the outside world grew clearer.
There had to be a specific reason why the Orthodox Sects were weak while so many Cultivators walked the crooked paths of the Evil Dao.
Fang Yun had his suspicions, but he didnât have enough information to be certain.
"Thank you, Junior Brother. Everyone says your Artifact Refining skills are unmatched. Weâll have to see them for ourselves later."
To be honest, this outcome was better than Zhang Cailing had expected.
"By the way, Senior Sister Zhang, Senior Brother Lu, how much do the two of you know about the Black Ghost Cave?"