Chapter 121: A Friendly Spar

In the open space between the encampment and the artillery positions, not only were the people from the conference room present, but A-Bao and his younger sister, Xiao-Bei, had also arrived.

Xiao-Bei looked much like A-Bao, with a round, chubby face and build, two dark circles around her eyes, and two braided pigtails atop her head. She wore a colorful, oversized dress. Each of them held a spiritual bamboo shoot, crunching away happily; feeling they had finally found a wealthy patron, they no longer felt the need to ration their food. Standing side by side, munching away, the pair looked quite like a couple of mascots.

Daoist Yuling smiled at Li Yunfei and said, "Yunfei, I would like to test whether this Yellow Wind Gourd is practical in a battle against a master. How about we have a friendly sparring match?"

He wanted to test more than just the gourd; he also wanted to gauge Li Yunfei’s bottom line and see how his combat power measured up. This was also Ziwei’s intention. The better they understood each colleague, the more precisely they could assign positions, avoiding the waste of combat strength or the pitfalls of overestimating capabilities.

This played right into Li Yunfei’s hands. He, too, was eager to know exactly how far his combat power lagged behind the Golden Core stage. He readily agreed, "That would be excellent. I look forward to your guidance, Senior."

Daoist Yuling nodded. "The Yellow Wind Gourd is, after all, an auxiliary magic treasure. Feel free to coordinate it with your other treasures when you attack."

With that, he drifted upward, hovering in mid-air about ten feet above the ground. With a flick of his wrist, a jade-handled brush shimmering with a faint golden glow appeared in his hand. The brush itself was not a powerful treasure, but having been nurtured by Daoist Yuling’s spiritual energy for so long, it conducted that energy with high efficiency, though it provided no inherent amplification.

Seeing this, Li Yunfei controlled his Blood-Thirst Flying Sword and soared into the sky, positioning himself level with Daoist Yuling. With a thought, he uncorked the Yellow Wind Gourd and sent it, along with his purple-gold hammer, floating to his left and right.

Li Yunfei swallowed a Yellow Immortal Pill and cupped his hands toward Daoist Yuling. "I am about to show my clumsiness."

As he spoke, he moved his mental intent, and the Yellow Wind Gourd and the purple-gold hammer shot toward Daoist Yuling, one from above and one from below. The gourd, positioned higher, tilted its opening downward, while the hammer transformed into a bolt of purple lightning, striking first toward the Daoist.

Daoist Yuling had no intention of dodging. Once a magic treasure has been refined, it can be controlled with a mere thought, making it incredibly agile. While one might dodge slower treasures to save spiritual energy, this purple-gold hammer moved with the speed of thunder; choosing to evade would likely mean losing the initiative and falling into a disadvantage. Thus, in duels between magic treasures, both sides rarely dodged, opting instead for direct confrontation. It became a test of whose treasure was stronger and whose techniques were more profound.

The Maoshan Sect’s Daoist techniques lacked flashy maneuvers; they commanded their treasures with brute force, relying on the inherent power of the artifacts themselves. In contrast, sword-cultivating sects like the Chunyang, Qingcheng, and Emei schools possessed sophisticated sword arts that significantly boosted their combat effectiveness. Consequently, the Maoshan Sect had almost no weaknesses, with a broad, all-encompassing knowledge base, yet they lacked any single outstanding specialty.

Daoist Yuling pointed his brush at the oncoming purple-gold hammer from a distance. Golden light condensed at the tip, and a beam of golden radiance shot out, vanishing in a flash.

*Boom!*

With a muffled sound, the purple-gold hammer spun away. Li Yunfei felt his entire body shudder, and he sighed inwardly. The Yin Spirit and Golden Core stages were truly not in the same league; the quality of spiritual energy was incomparable. Daoist Yuling had clearly used only a casual strike, yet Li Yunfei felt a massive rebound force. Fortunately, the Daoist had held back, so the recoil was not enough to injure him. However, Li Yunfei had only been using the hammer’s base power without pushing his full spiritual output. Otherwise, given the hammer's amplification capabilities, he might have held his own against that casual blow.

As the purple-gold hammer was knocked aside, the Yellow Wind Gourd above was activated. A pale yellow gas erupted like a fire extinguisher. What started as a thumb-sized stream at the gourd’s mouth expanded rapidly upon exiting, billowing out. The gourd had significant power; the yellow gas sprayed nearly ten feet, and by the time it reached its limit, the stream had grown to the size of a house, engulfing Daoist Yuling.

Daoist Yuling still did not dodge. As the gas sprayed, he pointed his brush in front of him, and golden light poured out in a line, instantly forming a glowing talisman. Li Yunfei recognized it immediately as a "Xun Wind Talisman." He heard Daoist Yuling shout, "Swift!"

The glowing talisman vanished into the void, and a fierce wind roared to life behind the Daoist, blowing the yellow gas back toward its source. Li Yunfei paid no mind to the returning wind; he controlled the Yellow Wind Gourd to circle rapidly around Daoist Yuling while using the purple-gold hammer to keep up a frontal assault, pinning down the Daoist’s focus.

Daoist Yuling’s relaxed expression finally turned serious. He sensed the power of the purple-gold hammer growing, requiring him to expend more spiritual energy to parry. Furthermore, Li Yunfei had now released a second purple-gold hammer. It did not attack but orbited the gourd like a satellite, specifically intercepting the Daoist’s strikes aimed at the gourd.

*This kid has some tricks,* he thought.

Daoist Yuling finally moved. The space around them was nearly blanketed by the yellow mist, and if he didn't reposition, he would inevitably be tainted by it. The wind he created with his talismans was not as flexible as the gourd; he couldn't change its direction at will. If Li Yunfei used a Xun Wind Talisman of his own to create a tailwind, the two opposing forces would create chaotic turbulence, causing the yellow mist to swirl uncontrollably, which would be even worse for him.

Daoist Yuling broke free before the mist could swallow him, flying higher into the sky. Li Yunfei followed immediately, keeping the Yellow Wind Gourd in sync and maintaining its position diagonally above the Daoist.

Soon, a vast expanse of roiling yellow mist condensed in the sky, covering dozens of yards, and the area continued to expand. It was fortunate they were sparring in the air; if they had been on the ground, the entire encampment would likely have been incapacitated by now.

The duel had already alerted the cultivators and soldiers in the camp, and many came out to investigate. When they learned that Daoist Yuling was sparring with a newly arrived Great Cultivator of the late Yin Spirit stage, many gathered to watch. The cultivators stationed in the bunkers climbed to the rooftops, looking up at the sky. The soldiers, however, lost interest after a few glances; lacking spiritual energy, they couldn't see through the yellow mist at all, hearing only the occasional booming sound.

Ziwei and the others, however, had a rough idea of the situation. The speed at which the Yellow Wind Gourd dispersed the mist was enough to influence the battlefield on a large scale. Now, they only needed to confirm what level of target the mist could stun.

Ziwei thought for a moment and said to He Ming, "Old He, you are at the peak of the Yin Spirit stage. Go up and test this yellow mist."

He Ming nodded. Cautiously unfolding his protective spiritual energy, he soared into the sky.