Facing the giant palm of Dao Skill,
Xu Qing astonishingly stood still, unmoving.
Those around thought that even if he was a Refining Internal Master with intense Qi-Blood, in the cold winter season, facing this nearly fully-manifested peak attack of Dao Skill, how could he remain unharmed?
But Xu Qing indeed stood unyielding like a mountain.
It was only when the giant icy palm fell,
a faint golden light surfaced on his body.
"Protective Divine Skill!" Gu Wuji and others, with their keen eyesight, recognized that this was an extremely powerful Protective Divine Skill.
Red-haired Yan Kong, secretly astonished,
He could see that now Xu Qing’s Golden Light Spell, compared to during the battle at the Golden Ray Monastery, had become even more formidable.
Using the Innate Finger, damaging his Lifebound Essence Qi, yet he was able to advance further in such a short time.
This innate talent startled Red-haired Yan Kong immensely.
What he did not know was that in that battle against Red-haired Yan Kong, Xu Qing broke through and established a foundation, having a faint understanding of the Thunder Skill within the Golden Light Spell, further transforming the Five Tigers Breaking Gate Saber and creating the Five Thunder Wuji Saber Technique connected with Thunder Skill.
Thus, even the Golden Light Spell benefited from it.
Xu Qing’s Golden Light Spell, carrying the Thunder Sound, hinted at an onset of Thunder Skill.
His Qi-Blood surged forth, catching the Divine Soul Power of the icy palm.
Part of the Divine Soul Power was dispersed, while a large portion entered into Xu Qing’s Sea of Consciousness.
However, inside Xu Qing’s Sea of Consciousness, the Vajra Bell trembled, oscillating this Divine Soul Power.
Led by the Vajra King, the Three Great Demon Gods appeared and dissolved this portion of Divine Soul Power, so how could the remaining Divine Soul Power shake the Lifebound Ziwei Star and the illuminated parts of the Seven Azure Dragon Constellations in Xu Qing’s Sea of Consciousness?
This is the formidable aspect of Dual Cultivation of Magic and Martial Arts.
Had Xu Qing not used the Golden Light Spell to withstand the initial impact of the Dao Skill and used his Qi-Blood to dissolve part of the encapsulated Divine Soul Power, Xu Qing could never have caught this strike.
The five elders of Zhong Mountain, entirely unsuspecting, thought their full-powered strike with Dao Skill could be resolved by Xu Qing.
Moreover, that layer of golden light, they faintly felt the onset of Thunder Skill, greatly restraining their Dao Skill.
Otherwise, when this giant palm struck, it could have suppressed Xu Qing’s physical body while continuously gathering surrounding water vapor into ice, completely freezing Xu Qing alive.
The five elders of Zhong Mountain, failing their strike, each held a black flag at once, whirling around them creating a dense black fog vaguely roaring with fierce ghosts, yet not used to attack, only for protection.
Zhong’s eldest loudly said: "Xu Jieyuan, your martial arts are outstanding, your Daoist Skills are strong, we admit defeat."
He was straightforward, knowing that their own Dao Skills were unlikely to suppress Xu Qing, and thus conceded directly.
After all, he feared that continuing the fight, even if it could cause Xu Qing injuries, would also damage their Divine Soul, at which point the gains would not cover the losses.
After all, a Refining Internal Master could heal physical injuries, but injuries to the Divine Soul, for the five elders who still achieved Great Success of Exorcism, are definitely a serious trouble.
In reality, let alone Great Success of Exorcism, even if manifesting masters, without the means or Elixir to treat Divine Soul injuries, they would find it difficult to resolve such injuries.
At most, through prolonged Meditation, calming the mind and spirit, they would slowly resolve the injuries to the Divine Soul; not only does this take a very long time, but recovery might not be complete.
With the lineage of the Cold Ice Dao of Zhong Mountain’s five elders, rich in malevolence but lacking in majesty, naturally, they had no way to treat injuries to the Divine Soul.
Xu Qing was also aware of the fears in the hearts of Zhong Mountain’s five elders, and knowing that the flags in their hands were quite formidable Magic Artifacts of the Cold Ice Dao lineage, he did not pursue further after the victory.
However, this exchange was enough to elevate Xu Qing’s expectations for the Thunder Skill of the Golden Light Spell.
But the entry-level Palmar Thunder of the Golden Light Spell is naturally most authentic in the Heavenly Master’s Dao, he planned to wait until the Xuantian Treasure Vault was retrieved to think of a solution.
Or perhaps, inside the Xuantian Treasure Vault, there would already be what he wanted, which would naturally be the best.
He smiled faintly, nodding gently towards the five elders of Zhong Mountain, then turned to Gu Wuji and said: "Sect Leader Gu, please proceed."
He had fought Ren Tianyou, Yan Fu, and the five elders of Zhong Mountain, yet still appeared spirited, showing no signs of fatigue. Even if he had taken Elixirs in between, it was evident his strength was profound.
Gu Wuji said: "No need, I have already observed Xu Jieyuan’s martial arts and Daoist skills, and can’t think of a way to break them. I am willing to admit defeat."
He thought it through clearly, winning was merely like getting a pie drawn by Duke Wei.
He had already witnessed Ren Tianyou’s methods, with Red-haired Yan Kong assisting by his side. In normal circumstances, Yan Kong was already not his match, let alone this Evil Monk.
Gu Wuji weighed the pros and cons.
Since they lost, he could still observe the techniques of Innate Finger, so why fight desperately?
He just had to present his own Heavenly Gang Wuji Heart Method for Xu Qing to observe.
The key was, Xu Qing’s inheritance of martial arts and Daoist skills was still superior to his Heavenly Gang Wuji Skill, so whether he provided his Heart Method to Xu Qing made little difference, and might even tie up Xu Qing’s energies making his cultivation more varied.
Moreover, the path of Dual Cultivation of Magic and Martial Arts was the toughest on its own; Xu Qing taking on this path would mean his prospects of advancing to a Martial Arts Grandmaster would be much dimmer.
"Young man, always aiming higher than the heavens, wanting everything. This will ultimately harm yourself," Gu Wuji thought momentarily.
He even felt somewhat regretful.
If Xu Qing focused on martial arts alone, given his age, let alone Martial Arts Grandmaster, even Martial Saint might be possible.
Now taking the toughest path of Dual Cultivation of Magic and Martial, truly acting as if he was the reincarnation of the "Patriarch Chongyang" from Quanzhen Dao.
Even as Gu Wuji felt regretful at heart, he wouldn’t remind him but somewhat gloated secretly.
Meanwhile, his swift concession left Yan Fu a bit caught off guard.