After Ryu agreed to do his best to learn from Du-Bai and stop his evil ex-disciple, Du-Bai set up a large formation. With his fingers, he drew random but complicated symbols in the air. Square shaped mirror-like objects formed and stacked around them.
“You know this?” Du-Bai said as he observed Ryu’s face. Of course Ryu recognizes the formation. It’s an Enchanting ability, one of the seven Forgotten Professions. Du-Bai had managed to set up a durable barrier within the next kilometer that is sound proof, informs him if an intruder passes by, and camouflaged from the outside. Ryu meekly nodded.
Enchanting can’t be learned by everyone according to Vi’Ta’En. Currently perhaps only a handful out of a million people could learn Enchanting but that’ll depend on their luck to find such a master. These seven lost professions came from an era long in the past, eons ago. Rumor has it that at one point, the continents across the world was actually one. An advanced and powerful civilization had thrived there and that’s where the origin of these lost professions came from. Perhaps they are the ones that left the tomes in the sacred caves. Sadly these are just rumors, no one knows for sure. The Sky Continent has history as far as seven hundred million years ago but even then there was already twelve continents.
“Pft. Seriously, what a know it all.” Du-Bai said childishly. He thought he would impress Ryu but somehow his knowledge and experience is wider than Du-Bai could ever imagine. “It seems like you know what Enchanting is already. Sometimes we are called Symbol Masters or Formation Specialists. We will be safe to practice all we want inside here. For the next phase of practicing, we’ll be sparring. Here, wear this garments. It’ll restrict our cultivation to around level 40.”
Ryu wore the garments that Du-Bai handed out. Wearing Qi suppressing garments made from Enchanting can actually suppress your cultivation more than Qi nullification from the Sage Arts but the problem is that the time it takes to get rid of the garment, you might be killed already.
“The Drunken Dragon Fist has eight forms. The first one is obviously how to throw a punch. The rest have nothing to do with fists, it was only called the Drunken Dragon Fist because the eight immortals that created this set of arts had a competition and the one who won got to name it according to legends. The next one is actually a palm stance called “Crushing the Dragon’s Head”. The difference between this move and the previous is that first one was purely an external art. This one is an internal one, like the name suggests you will be able to bypass your enemy’s defense and crush their heart.” Du-Bai suddenly struck the ground with an open palm and a tree behind him abruptly blew into countless pieces of splinters.
“Wow.” Ryu said in awe. He saw what happened yet he understood nothing at all. It seems like there was some throbbing force that was shot into the ground.
“There’s a feet stance called “Dancing with the Dragons”. There’s also an agility move – “Riding the Eight Dragons”. Next we have the elbows and knees, this stance is called “Shattering Heaven and Earth Dragons”. It also uses the rest of our body like head, chest, hips, and what not. Then there’s the claws, “Slaying the Dragon”. Then there’s a roar – “Dominating the Dragon”. Lastly we have “Conquering All Dragons”, Qi projection.” Du-Bai explained in a hurry as he also put a set of enchanted garment on. “Let’s have a spar to our hearts content. I even recommend you to use a weapon.”
“Yes sir.” Ryu said with a bow. Du-Bai motioned Ryu to attack and Ryu easily obliged. Ryu jumped backwards and spat out a puff of mist while throwing a few Qi blades at Du-Bai at the same time.
With a humph, Du-Bai stood firmly and flexed his chest muscles against the incoming Qi blades. The results was unexpected, the blades shattered to pieces while only a few minor scratches was inflicted on Du-Bai.
“What a cheeky brat.” Du-Bai said in surprise. He didn’t expect himself to be scratched, the steel inside the Qi blade was totally outside his expectation. The mist had already surrounded Du-Bai. Suddenly an upbeat music tune can be heard, it was forceful and carried a deadly Qi with it.
Du-Bai was instantly alarmed, he felt his Qi fluctuating and his mind disturbed. Ryu was now a three hundred meters away and still setting up the mist as he offensively blew into a bamboo flute. Suddenly an ear-piecing, ground breaking roar shot towards him. He had no choice but to stop playing the flute as he sensed the Qi he injected into the music getting ripped apart and defend himself. When the roar hit him, he already had Qi layered around him but he still felt the urge to cough up blood.
“That’s Dominating the Dragon.” Du-Bai shouted through the mist. Ryu didn’t hesitate at all and summoned the Gold Keeper right behind Du-Bai. The size is significantly smaller than before now, it’s just a foot taller than Du-Bai. Na’Vi told Ryu that if all experts used the same skill as Ryu then there would be Qi giants the size of mountains walking around. It’s better to concentrate the Qi into something more durable. The Gold Keeper put its two hands together and slammed forward. At the same time the ground beneath Du-Bai became alive and two stone golems shot out to restrain him.
“Ambidextrous freak.” Du-Bai muttered. He shrugged his whole body and shattered the stone golems. Then he leaned his head back and then slammed it against the incoming gold fists from the Gold Keeper. Bam, the Gold Keeper and Du-Bai were forced to take a few steps backwards.
Ryu secretly praised Du-Bai as he sensed what was happening through the mist. The mist was already blocking Du-Bai’s aura but he was using his five senses to detect his surroundings.
The Gold Keeper charged again and this time formed a two meter long spear in its right hand. Ryu materialized a steel stick in his right hand as well and charged from behind. Du-Bai instantly threw a fist strike out at the closer target which was the Gold Keeper. As the fist collided with the spear, the Gold Keeper’s right hand was flung backwards from the impact. Then Du-Bai quickly followed up with a palm strike that landed on the Gold Keeper’s chest, dispersing it. Ryu couldn’t imagine the internal damage that it’ll bring against a real human being.
Ryu managed to approach Du-Bai’s back during this time and slammed the stick downwards at Du-Bai’s head, it was aimed at a vital temple. Du-Bai instantly ducked but the stick still struck his shoulder, Du-Bai instantly sent a repelling force upwards by lifting his should but unexpectedly the stick contained no power and borrowed the force he just sent to strike his own head. He had no choice but to duck once again which sent him retreating. Ryu didn’t let this opportunity slip, he attacked swiftly and only aimed at the vital points.
Du-Bai was constantly stepping backwards, Ryu’s stick was like a blur that attacks from all directions. If Du-Bai attacked Ryu he would be struck first. Also Ryu’s Invincible Stick Technique is not any less profound than his Drunk Dragon Fist. The variations were endless and Ryu was able to connect each move after another. Du-Bai secretly praised Ryu inside his heart. Suddenly Ryu kicked out a Qi blade from his feet which Du-Bai barely avoided as he dodged the stick that almost hit his head. Then unknown to Du-Bai, Ryu had materialized a second stick in his other hand and secretly struck his blind spot.
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Luckily he had countless years of experience so his instincts warned him in time. Du-Bai retreated backwards using the move “Riding the Eight Dragons”. It’s as if his feet had wheels underneath him that allowed him to glide away. Observing closely Ryu could see that there is a concentration of Qi under Du-Bai’s feet that resembled a head of a dragon.
What a deadly brat. He is insightful and fights like a veteran. If I don’t pay attention, he might just land a move on me for real. Du-Bai thought as he charged back against Ryu and threw an elbow out. Because of the sudden increase in speed, Ryu wasn’t able to defend properly and his sticks snapped.
Dropping the broken sticks, Ryu intercepted the incoming elbows with an open fist. He’s using the void to intercept the solid force and nothingness to cancel out the shockwaves. This was the basics of Tai Chi and he was also adding dancing into the mix. Yes, dancing. The shamans are a peaceful race, the origin of their skills come from nature, dancing, singing and harmony with the spirits. Ryu has learned from Na’Vi’s group how to be graceful and add rhythm into his attacks. However, how can his mastery of Tai Chi be enough to counter Du-Bai’s countless years of experience? Barrage of elbows and knees came at him continuously. At first Ryu was able to push it away, alter its momentum or follow its flow to avoid getting hit but it was evident he couldn’t keep it up. Ryu then decided to borrow the momentum from one of the knee strikes and used it to propel himself backwards.
The ground beneath Du-Bai began trembling again however this time thick vines short forth and wrapped around him. Unlike the golems, he couldn’t just shrug like last time and use force to destroy them since they absorb shockwaves. This slowed down his movements dramatically.
“Son of a … It’s absorbing my Qi!” Du-Bai said in alarm as he sensed the vines sucking up the Qi from his defensive Qi protection around his skin. Na’Vi has taught Ryu an important lesson, nature is like on gigantic living organism that eclipses any human beings. They can also gather Qi like humans as well. All you have to do is immerse yourself and be one with nature then it’ll help you out.
With a shout, Du-Bai transformed his fist into a claw and in an instant the vines got shredded to pieces. Du-Bai threw a claw at Ryu and five visible slashes in the air charged at Ryu. There was around a hundred meters in distance between them. Ryu instantly put his hand on the ground and a huge wall of stone immerged, it was like a small hill. However the slashes tore apart the wall of stone that Ryu summoned like butter.
“Shit, I lost track of him.” Du-Bai swore as he sensed that there was no one behind the pile of stone he tore apart. For the first time he had no idea where Ryu is and he is fully aware how dangerous Ryu could be at the moment. He still can’t see due to this mist so with a huge breathe, he spun around and roared. The magnitude of this roar was many times louder than the previous one. The mist dissipated quickly as it was blown away but Du-Bai was instantly met with Ryu’s next wave of attacks.
A ball of fire that’s taller than Du-Bai suddenly approached from his left, on his right a streak of lightning charged towards him, above him countless Qi large blades poured downwards. Du-Bai instantly kicked outwards with his legs, it was like a storm of kicks. He spun around so fast that it looked like a tornado, only countless shadow of feet was seen. Bam, bam, bam, everything was destroyed or repelled by his kicks.
After stopping all of Ryu’s attacks, Du-Bai found Ryu floating above midair which he did not expect. They were restricted to the Grandmaster Domain. Flying should have been impossible. Ryu was using the element of air to temporary float in the air as he performed this move.
“One with the world…” Du-Bai stared in shock. Ryu right now was completely one with his surroundings. His eyes are closed and his Qi has assimilated to the environment. It’s a supreme state of martial art that countless fail to achieve. It’s similar to how ultimate sword experts can become one with the sword. Du-Bai acted promptly in response, he realize that Ryu was going for a finisher. He bent down and held one fist in front of him, he was going to gather all his Qi into this one strike.
Everything around Ryu started pouring out their Qi to Ryu, lending him power. Borrowing power from nature was one of a shaman’s unique characteristics. It was gushing towards Ryu non-stop and Ryu slowly held both hand up. A dense ball of Qi was forming. It was so pure and white, like a miniature sun that can illuminate the land for miles to come. Sensing the limit he could control this unbelievable powerful source of raw Qi, Ryu threw it downwards. It was that this time Du-Bai sent out a war cry and threw a punch out and shouted, “Conquering all Dragons!”
Eight dragons shot forth from his fist, they were entangled together into a single line. These dragons looked different from the dragon that Cao’Po’Li owned. There were skinnier but much longer. Their limbs were also much shorter. Kind of like a lizard but definitely much scarier. Like a deadly spear it charged forward at Ryu’s ball of raw Qi. The collision between the two deadly forces obviously created an explosion beyond reason. Everything within the Enchanted Barrier lit up, every inch of the place was covered by light. This lasted for half a minute before the light started dimming.
Du-Bai stood from the ground and looked up in disbelief. Ryu had something as destructive as that last move in his arsenal was beyond his imagination. Even though it took longer to charge up then his Conquering all Dragons move, it was still extremely formidable. With new found respect Du-Bai shouted, “Let’s finish it once in for all.”
Turns out that Ryu was still standing, he was just flung backwards from the explosion until he hit the barrier set up by Du-Bai. Thankfully the barrier was set up with Du-Bai’s original cultivation so no matter how destructive these two get, their Grandmaster Domain Qi couldn’t break it.
Ryu only had portion of Qi left but he complied. He shot towards Du-Bai like an arrow and as he approached him, he unleashed the Superman-Mode. All of his remaining Qi was released and he was covered by a layer of Qi. However, there was something particular about this layer of Qi. It’s as if a wild beast manifested around Ryu.
Du-Bai who was preparing a counter suddenly stopped in his tracks and stared dumbly. Ryu who was about to strike Du-Bai stopped in his tracks right in front of him. Du-Bai put two hands on Ryu’s shoulder and shouted excitedly, “Kid… What did you just do?”