Gao Wu insists on cultivating immortality.

Chapter 197 Two Dragons Clash
The Nine Transformations of the Heavenly Dragon is extremely profound, focusing more on the subtle changes of source power and rarely having specific movements or techniques.

After all, the human body has a fixed shape. Whether it is boxing or swordsmanship, most of the moves are universal. The real changes are at the level of source energy.

Different changes in the source of energy can produce different variations of the same move.

In the Nine Transformations of the Heavenly Dragon, there is only one set of true combat techniques: the Battle Dragon Hand, which consists of ten variations of power: chopping, collapsing, straightening, drilling, horizontal, entangling, grabbing, flipping, sweeping, and pulling.

The War Dragon Hand is much more complex than the Swimming Dragon Palm, but it doesn't have a specific name. High-level martial artists use the War Dragon Hand in combination with the Swimming Dragon Palm.

Variations such as "The Dragon Regrets" and "The Dragon Swings Its Tail" do not actually have fixed moves; it mainly depends on how the user controls them.

Just like a teacher teaches students problem-solving methods and formulas, how to solve different types of problems depends entirely on how students apply these methods and formulas.

Gao Wu actively integrated the Soaring Dragon Palm into the Nine Transformations of the Heavenly Dragon. At this moment, when facing the peerless genius Chu Shenxiu, he launched a powerful attack, his body moving like a soaring dragon and his palm striking out like a thunderclap.

His movements were agile yet his palm strikes were powerful, with a natural and seamless coordination between strength and gentleness.

To the untrained eye, Gao Wu's movements seem fast and fluid, graceful and beautiful. But a master can see that Gao Wu has already achieved a profound level of mastery over the Nine Transformations of the Heavenly Dragon.

Lu Yuan nodded slightly. Gao Wu had only learned the Nine Transformations of the Heavenly Dragon three months ago, and he had already grasped three-tenths of its true meaning. Just considering his talent, it was exceptionally high. Perhaps Gao Wu was naturally suited to the Nine Transformations of the Heavenly Dragon.

However, Gao Wu's Nine Transformations of the Heavenly Dragon differs considerably from his. While Gao Wu emphasizes the killing power of the Heavenly Dragon, Gao Wu's is more imposing, possessing a heroic spirit that can swallow the universe.

On the arena, Chu Shenxiu calmly raised his palm to meet the challenge. Although the Divine Dragon Scripture he cultivated originated from the Nine Forms of the Dragon, it was vastly different from the Nine Transformations of the Heavenly Dragon.

The Divine Dragon Scripture contains seven dragon forms, each representing a powerful source of transformation techniques.

Chu Shenxiu unleashed the Black Dragon Form, his source energy shifting smoothly and continuously like water, to counter Gao Wu's powerful and unparalleled palm strike.

He was actually far superior to Gao Wu in terms of source power, but he didn't want to fight Gao Wu head-on.

Yan Qiushui and Qu Tianji were both stronger than Gao Wu, yet they were still defeated by Gao Wu's ultimate burst of power. Qu Tianji's raging flames, in particular, charred Gao Wu's arm.

Looking at Gao Wu's hands today, they have completely recovered, with no burn marks visible at all. His physique is truly extraordinary!
For various reasons, Chu Shenxiu was unwilling to fight Gao Wu head-on.

He has three rounds to test the waters. With his martial arts skills, he can always find a weakness in a superior martial artist.

Chu Shenxiu's moves were as soft and gentle as water, yet graceful and agile. No matter how fierce and violent Gao Wu's attacks were, he could deal with them with ease.

The two constantly shifted positions on the ring, the sounds of fists and palms clashing echoing continuously.

The audience outside could only see the blue and red figures flashing and crisscrossing all over the place, and could not see where they were or their fighting movements.

Only through a large screen can a large audience see the details of the fight between the two sides.

From the perspective of watching the battle, the audience at the scene can't see as clearly as the online audience, since there are many viewing angles on multiple online platforms, and there are also guest hosts explaining the battle.

However, those on-site can personally experience the imposing presence of both sides; the mere roar of their fists clashing is filled with a heart-stirring power—an experience that online viewers can never obtain.

In the VIP section, King Qitian watched intently. Gao Wu and Chu Shenxiu were both very strong, and he couldn't quite understand them, which made him somewhat interested in these two geniuses.

Looking at it now, Gao Wu's physical talent is indeed strong, which allows him to unleash his full potential without any restraint. He was also able to maintain a high level of output even when facing Chu Shenxiu.

A martial artist's source energy is limited. Even if a martial artist completes the source energy cycle, once the source energy is consumed too much and cannot be replenished, the source energy will soon be exhausted.

The first thing a skilled martial artist should do is to allocate their source energy reasonably. Gao Wu, however, completely ignored this and immediately began to unleash all his source energy through all his acupoints, maintaining a state of full-force output.

Despite Chu Shenxiu's source power being significantly stronger than Gao Wu's, he refused to directly confront Gao Wu's ferocious attacks, instead instead unleashing a gentle, water-like black dragon response.

A minute passed quickly, but Gao Wu, who was unleashing his full power, showed no signs of weakness, and his palm strikes remained sharp and fierce.

Qi Tian couldn't see anything wrong either. He could only see that Gao Wu's source energy flowed smoothly and naturally through his acupoints, which was obviously not due to external force. It was simply because his source energy was extremely pure.

Yan Qiushui, sitting next to Qi Tian, ​​was exceptionally focused and attentive. Her position was excellent, allowing her to overlook the arena from a slightly elevated angle. While this perspective might lose some details, it provided a clear and comprehensive view of the situation.

As an observer, Yan Qiushui was able to calmly analyze the details of the battle between the two sides and understand their thoughts and tactics.

In her view, Chu Shenxiu's martial arts cultivation was clearly a level higher than Gao Wu's. Including herself, Qu Tianji, Wei Yue, and other young martial artists, they were all firmly suppressed by Chu Shenxiu in terms of martial arts cultivation.

The opponent had only recently become a Martial Arts Master, yet their profound martial arts skills absolutely deserved the title. They were even stronger than many veteran Martial Arts Masters!

Gao Wu appeared to be in the lead, but that was only because he was unleashing his full power. Once his source energy couldn't keep up, he would immediately be defeated...

Yan Qiushui had mixed feelings about Gao Wu. His method of breaking the Star Shift technique was so crude and direct that she couldn't really admire him.

However, being able to be so straightforward and forceful is also a kind of strength. If Gao Wu had won the championship, her defeat would have been more understandable, and she would have felt better.

The problem was that watching the live competition, Chu Shenxiu was superior to Gao Wu in every aspect. The superb martial arts skills she displayed impressed her greatly, and she felt that Gao Wu was not worthy of winning the championship!

Who do you think will win?

A sudden remark interrupted Yan Qiushui's thoughts. She turned her head slightly and realized that a man had appeared beside her at some point.

The man had long, dark eyebrows, bright black eyes, a straight nose, and was very handsome. He had long, gray hair parted in a 3/7 ratio and slicked back, and a neatly trimmed mustache around his mouth.

He was dressed in a gray-white Chinese casual suit with Chinese knot buttons, with a long string of Bodhi seeds hanging from his chest, and a string of small-leaf sandalwood beads full of stars in his left hand. A gold watch was visible under his rolled-up sleeves.

Judging from his appearance and build, he was probably in his thirties. His clothes were clean and tidy, but ordinary, and his gold watch and bracelet were not expensive.

Overall, he's the kind of middle-aged man with an artistic flair. He's a little money but not much, and he enjoys artistic activities like reciting poetry and composing couplets. He's one of the people in society who loves to show off and pick up girls.

Although Yan Qiushui rarely goes online, she has encountered quite a few self-important middle-aged men trying to pick her up in real life. The problem is, this is a VIP room; where did these greasy, pretentious middle-aged men come from?

As Yan Qiushui was wondering about this person's background, Qi Tian stood up beside her, smiled, and bowed slightly, saying, "Lord Hai, you've arrived."

The middle-aged artsy man laughed heartily: "It's the final, I had to come and see."

Yan Qiushui then realized that this seemingly typical middle-aged, artistic man was actually the Sword Saint Hai Wuji.

She had long heard that Sword Saint Hai Wuji did things as he pleased, but his appearance and demeanor were truly surprising.

Sword Saint Hai Wuji must be at least seventy or eighty years old...

Yan Qiushui hurriedly stood up, bowed, and greeted, "Greetings, Lord Hai."

Hai Wuji nodded slightly: "No need to be so formal."

He looked Yan Qiushui up and down: "You've mastered the Seven Star Sword of the North Pole quite well, and you also have spatial talent. As far as records show, there are no more than five martial artists in our alliance with spatial talent. This is a very powerful talent."

Hai Wuji looked at Qi Tian and said, "Your disciple is very well taught."

Qi Tian smiled and said, "I've been teaching him for ten years now, taking him under my wing every day. I've put a lot of effort into this disciple."

Qi Tian respected Hai Wuji very much, but he had known him for a long time and had received a lot of help from him.

In his heart, Hai Wuji was both a teacher and a friend. Because of their close relationship, he naturally didn't need to be reserved.

Hai Wuji walked to the middle chair and sat down casually. He then said, "Please sit down."

Yan Qiushui and Qi Tian sat down on either side. Although Yan Qiushui was usually calm, she was still a little reserved next to the Sword Saint, and could be said to be sitting upright.

The Sword Saint, however, sat with his legs crossed, his posture casual and relaxed, showing no trace of the demeanor expected of a Sword Saint.

Qi Tian was very familiar with Hai Wuji's personality, knowing that Hai Wuji had always been so carefree. He asked, "Lord Hai, what do you think of Gao Wu and Chu Shenxiu?"

"They're both excellent. I heard Gao Wu hasn't even become an apprentice yet; he's a godsend."

Hai Wuji laughed as he spoke. He hadn't expected that such a talented genius hadn't yet taken a master, which was quite illogical.

He added with a hint of regret, "What a pity for Chu Shenxiu. His martial arts talent is truly exceptional, and his future is limitless. Yet he followed Tian Wuji; it's like casting pearls before swine..."

“Young people deserve forgiveness even if they make mistakes. We should give them a chance,” Qi Tian said solemnly.

Hai Wuji looked down at Tian Wuji in the rest area below, his gaze somewhat complicated.

The problems in Nanzhou and Dongzhou are extremely complex and are by no means solely Tian Wuji's problem. A vast network of collusion between superiors and subordinates has been formed.

Conversely, this network also maintains order and ensures stable and prosperous commerce. These issues cannot be simply measured by good or evil.

Dealing with these issues requires weighing the pros and cons and striking a balance; it's not about him using force to do whatever he wants.

No one would burn their house down just because mice got in...

Hai Wuji didn't want to discuss these things right now. He said, "After the competition, help me contact that kid named Chao Fengying."

Qi Tian was a little surprised: "Is she the only one?"

Hai Wuji smiled: "And your disciple. Add Gao Wu and Song Mingyue, and that makes four."

“Song Mingyue?” Qi Tian looked at the calm girl in the rest area who was wearing sunglasses and had her hands in her pockets. He nodded and said, “Her source power is indeed very strong.”

"What about Chu Shenxiu?" Qi Tian still felt it was a pity. Such a peerless martial arts genius might have become a Martial Saint in the future, or even surpassed a Martial Saint!

It's important to understand that a Martial King is already comparable to a human nuclear bomb, while a Martial Saint is a powerful figure capable of suppressing the fate of a nation. Adding another Martial Saint would represent a completely different situation.

Hai Wuji thought for a moment and said, "You're right. Let's give the young people a chance, along with Chu Shenxiu."

Just then, the battle on the arena took a dramatic turn.

Chu Shenxiu, who had been fighting erratically, crossed his palms to block Gao Wu's direct right palm strike. As Gao Wu continued to circulate his source energy and unleash his palm power, Chu Shenxiu not only did not retreat, but also simultaneously activated his Black Dragon and Crimson Dragon divine forms.

At the same time, a huge divine image appeared behind Chu Shenxiu, with black and red dragons intertwined.

The black dragon was deep and cold as an abyss, while the red dragon was fiery and domineering as the sun. The two divine dragon forms, one yin and one yang, one soft and one hard, intertwined, triggering a transformation of water and fire in harmony.

In an instant, the yin and yang forces of water and fire converged. The deep, abyss-like water dissolved Gao Wu's palm strike, while the blazing, sun-like fire unleashed its source power.

Chu Shenxiu's complex and wondrous transformation of the Twin Dragon Divine Form not only neutralized Gao Wu's attack but also unleashed his source power for a most violent counterattack.

The difference in martial arts level between Gao Wu and Chu Shenxiu caused him to react a beat slower. He also suffered a loss when their forces clashed, his whole body numb from the impact of Chu Shenxiu's Yin-Yang combined palm strike.

Taking advantage of the opportunity, Chu Shenxiu silently kicked Gao Wu in the abdomen. Gao Wu pulled back and retreated, but Chu Shenxiu's kick swung like a dragon's tail and landed squarely on Gao Wu's abdomen.

The seemingly gentle kick sent Gao Wu flying more than ten meters into the air...

Many experts watching the match had the same thought: "Gao Wu has lost!"

(End of this chapter)