In Emei, start by obtaining golden attributes.

Chapter 248 This thing? Is it really a person?

Finally, after being "trampled" for several breaths.

Sun Baifa seemed to feel that this kind of defense without offense, being trampled on like a wooden stake, was really damaging to his reputation.

"You brat, how can you play like this? Don't you have any shame as an old man?"

Just as Gu Shaoan was about to deliver another powerful kick, aiming straight for Sun Baifa's left shoulder blade as he raised it to block, Sun Baifa suddenly shrank back.

Instead of directly resisting, he used the force of that step, combined with his exquisitely crafted technique of deflecting the force, to gracefully drift backward a foot or so, like a wisp of weightless smoke.

This distance of about one foot was just enough to perfectly escape the range of Gu Shaoan's most powerful kick.

In the instant he stepped back, Sun Baifa's right hand, which had been hanging by his side, suddenly shot out backward.

With his five fingers like iron hooks and steel claws, he precisely and swiftly grasped the mottled old tobacco sticking out of his belt at his lower back.

The moment his withered hand grasped the end of the pipe.

In Gu Shaoan's perception, Sun Baifa, who had been as majestic and powerful as a pillar supporting the sky and whose blood and energy surged like the blazing sun just a moment before, suddenly vanished the moment he grasped the pipe.

The gaunt old man in front of me was still standing there, his figure clearly visible in the moonlight, and I could even see the subtle movement of his white beard being blown by the wind.

However, in Gu Shaoan's perception, that space seemed to be empty and desolate.

Like a lifelike ink painting, no matter how realistic the people in the painting are, they ultimately lack the vitality of life!
That feeling wasn't that Sun Baifa had hidden himself perfectly, but rather that he had completely merged into the land beneath his feet, into the night breeze flowing around him, and even into the clear, cold moon overhead, becoming a part of nature.

"Ok?"

Sensing the change in Sun Baifa, Gu Shaoan moved like a ghost. Under the special energy transformed from the Yin and Yang energies of the "Great Shift of Heaven and Earth", his body seemed to be suddenly pulled backward by invisible threads.

The long, golden-white robe traced a breathtaking arc in the air before landing three zhang away.

The moment his toes touched the ground and he stabilized his body, the surging internal energy within Gu Shaoan did not subside. Instead, it instantly gathered and condensed, spreading throughout his limbs and bones.

He stood with his feet apart, his muscles and bones taut, like a fully drawn bow, and he entered a state of unprecedented alertness.

Those deep eyes, like the brightest cold star in the night sky, were firmly fixed on Sun Baifa, who was three zhang away, holding a pipe and whose breath had "disappeared" without a trace.

To be more precise, Gu Shaoan's gaze was fixed on the pipe in Sun Baifa's right hand.

Or rather, it's on that Heavenly Secret Staff that looks like a pipe.

Sun Baifa was nicknamed "Old Man of Heavenly Secrets".

The reason he has this nickname is because of Sun Baifa's weapon, the "Heavenly Secret Staff".

The reason why it is called "Heavenly Secret" and why its staff technique is named "Heavenly Secret" is not merely because it is mysterious and enigmatic, but because it is a genuine and firsthand experience that has inspired awe and admiration.

The two words "heavenly secret" encapsulate even a fraction of the essence of this staff technique.

When using the staff technique, it is like the workings of the heavens, the great Dao is formless, and no one can avoid it.

Even though Gu Shaoan had gained a slight advantage in his previous battle with Sun Baifa, he was not complacent at all.

This was because Gu Shaoan knew that Sun Baifa's skills were almost entirely focused on weapons.

Only Sun Baifa, who wields the Heavenly Secret Staff, is the Heavenly Secret Elder, ranked number one on the Hundred Weapon Rankings.

Just as Gu Shaoan regained his footing and his vigilance reached its peak, in the next instant...

Sun Baifa, standing three zhang away, soared into the air like a shadow, then glided towards Gu Shaoan like a wild goose.

As Sun Baifa rapidly approached Gu Shaoan, the tobacco pipe in his hand, covered in soot and with a mottled copper tip, was suddenly swung out through the air with a seemingly effortless yet incredibly powerful flick of his wrist!
"Om~"

In Gu Shaoan's suddenly constricted pupils, this simple wave of his hand brought about an unbelievable change!
That ordinary pipe, which was originally only a foot long, suddenly twisted and expanded wherever it was swung, as if the space could not withstand the ultimate condensation and pure power it contained!
In an instant, what I saw was no longer just one pipe, but countless pipes.

The shadows of the sticks overlapped, forming a dense, impenetrable barrier.

Each staff shadow was as solid as a mountain, carrying the immense power of a staff that had been buried for thousands of years and was now breaking through the earth, condensing the overwhelming force to the extreme.

The feeling was like a starry sky suddenly collapsing, with countless heavy, concentrated force of the staff falling like billions of stars, crashing down on Gu Shaoan's head and body.

Each strike contained terrifying power capable of splitting mountains and shattering rocks.

Its speed and the angles it used were so sharp that they pushed the limits of visual perception.

Even with Gu Shaoan's amazing eyesight and fully activated mental perception, he could only vaguely catch a trail of afterimages as heavy as mountains and as imposing as a crushing force. That sea of ​​stick shadows was filled with an oppressive sense of certainty of hitting its mark and breaking through defenses.

Moreover, just as Sun Bai was about to unleash his pipe, Gu Shaoan was surprised to find that the surrounding night wind seemed to be drawn towards Sun Bai's hair by an invisible force.

It clearly stirred up the power of the surrounding heaven and earth.

Upon noticing these changes, Gu Shaoan's expression shifted.

At this critical moment, a clear, dragon-like roar from Gu Shaoan's waist tore through the air, and a cold light like autumn water suddenly appeared!
The Emei Sword Manual - Sword Eight: Startling Wind.

With the longsword in hand, Gu Shaoan moved with the sword, the sword in his hand no longer possessing any ethereal quality, but instead dancing wildly in an extremely flexible and delicate way.

The sword light was no longer a straight line, but suddenly split into thousands of fine and rapid golden streams.

Each sword light was like a gale tearing through the sky, or like the drizzle being torn apart by a gale in late spring.

The fast, dense, rapid, and sharp sword tips and sword energy pierced the air, emitting a chilling shriek, and crashed fiercely into the dense shadows of the staff that pressed down from the sky!

"Ding ding ding ding."

Across the wilderness, the deafening clang of metal clashing exploded like a torrent bursting its banks.

No longer sporadic collisions, but thousands upon thousands of red-hot iron balls were instantly poured onto the cold iron plate, jumping, bouncing, and colliding with each other in such a dense manner that there was no gap at all!
The gleaming longsword transformed into a sweeping golden storm, colliding violently with the deathly heavy torrent of staff shadows.

Each impact created a visible, pale white ripple in the air, like countless pebbles thrown into water.

The scattered sparks briefly illuminated the two figures, outlining the extreme focus between Gu Shaoan's brows and Sun Baifa's expressionless face, which seemed as ancient and silent as the ancient staff in his hand.

Gu Shaoan pushed his movement technique to its limit at this moment, but even though Gu Shaoan's sword light was as fast as the wind, Sun Baifa's seemingly heavy staff shadow could always arrive first even though he was behind.

They always manage to land at the most crucial and subtle points, from the most impossible angles.

Like mercury spilled onto the ground, it seeps into every nook and cranny.

That feeling wasn't about the opponent forcibly suppressing you with brute force. Rather, it was as if all your responses, all your reactions and changes, were already calculated the moment the opponent made their move, as if you had fallen into a pre-set "trap".

The trajectory of this staff technique aligns with some invisible "mechanism" between heaven and earth, as natural as the rotation of the sun and moon, as inevitable as the changing of the seasons! You want to "avoid" it, but you find yourself "actively" crashing into its next inevitable point; you want to "block" it, but you find that your strength always falls into empty space, or is just neutralized by the opponent's neutralization.

Just when the clash of swords and the shadows of staffs were at their most intense and the sounds were at their loudest and most deafening!
A tiny, almost drowned-out sound, like a drop of water falling into boiling oil. "Drip!"

The countless shadows of clubs vanished abruptly! The deafening clang of metal on metal ceased abruptly.

Time seemed to freeze at this moment.

Gu Shaoan's swift, ghostly figure suddenly froze in place.

The longsword in his hand was still poised to thrust forward, its gleaming tip half a foot away from Sun Baifa's chest.

But the end of the pipe in Sun Baifa's hand, bearing the marks of time and with a slightly warm copper tip, had somehow silently and gently rested on Gu Shaoan's left shoulder, which was clad in a plain white robe.

It contained no immense power, and one could not even sense the slightest murderous intent or downward pressure.

It's just gently placed there.

Once his inner energy had calmed down, Sun Baifa gently took back the pipe that had been draped over Gu Shaoan's shoulder.

Then, tobacco shreds are inserted, and as the fingers rub together, tiny sparks appear among the tobacco shreds.

As Sun Baifa smacked his cigarette, thick smoke quickly enveloped him.

At this moment, Gu Shaoan closed his eyes slightly, as if he was thinking about Sun Baifa's last move.

Sun Baifa silently smacked his cigarette, occasionally glancing up at Gu Shaoan.

But that gaze seemed rather strange.

"This thing? Is it really a person?"

A few years ago, in Sun Baifa's eyes, although Gu Shaoan was highly talented, the excellence that Gu Shaoan showed at that time was still within Sun Baifa's comprehension level.

At most, he's on par with prodigies like Li Xunhuan and Lang Fanyun.

But today, Gu Shaoan's talent and strength have exceeded Sun Baifa's expectations.

Sun Baifa couldn't understand it no matter how hard he tried. How could a young man in his early twenties have such profound strength and background?

Just from what Sun Baifa sensed just now, there were two different martial arts styles.

Moreover, that final sword strike, just like his, stirred up the surrounding winds and energy.

For a young man in his early twenties to be able to manipulate the power of heaven and earth with his martial arts is simply bizarre beyond belief, utterly bizarre.

The power of heaven and earth is something that Gu Shaoan, at his age, should be able to grasp.

Sun Baifa knew that the Yangtze River's back waves push the front waves, and the front waves die on the beach.

This is why Sun Baifa has been hiding and living in hiding with Sun Xiaohong all these years.

However, the younger generation that Sun Baifa was trying to prevent were people like Shangguan Jin Hong or Li Xunhuan, who were already over forty and no longer confused.

It's not like Gu Shaoan, who's only in his early twenties and is considered a late bloomer.

Although Sun Baifa emerged victorious in the recent sparring match.

But Sun Baifa knew that this was just for the purpose of exchanging skills.

If it were a life-or-death struggle, he might not be able to defeat Gu Shaoan.

Sun Baifa had been hiding for so many years, and he was thinking about whether he should make a comeback in a few years to contribute his remaining energy and let the name "Old Man of Heavenly Secrets" resound throughout the martial arts world once again.

But after witnessing Gu Shaoan's strength today, Sun Baifa felt that things were fine as they were.

Seeing that the two had finished fighting, Huang Xuemei and Sun Xiaohong, who had been far away, also used their lightness skills to quickly approach.

Seeing that the two remained silent, Huang Xuemei and Sun Xiaohong exchanged a glance and then quietly waited to the side without making a sound.

After a short while, Gu Shaoan, who had been reviewing the battle, suddenly looked up at Sun Baifa.

"May I ask, Senior Sun, have you already reached the state of oneness with your staff?"

Sun Baifa glanced at Gu Shaoan and said, "You kid, your martial arts skills and knowledge have improved a lot over the years!"

Gu Shaoan pressed further, "Senior, was your last move just now a manifestation of the power of heaven and earth, triggered by your state of oneness with the staff?"

This was something Gu Shaoan had always been curious about.

Sun Baifa nodded and said, "That's right!"

"really!"

Having received confirmation from Sun Baifa, Gu Shaoan's face showed a look of sudden realization.

"I never imagined that after reaching this level of mastery in weaponry, one could actually manipulate the power of heaven and earth. No wonder a martial artist's strength would increase so much after reaching this level of mastery in weaponry."

As he spoke, Gu Shaoan understood why Sun Baifa was able to rank first on the Baixiaosheng Weapon Ranking with the Heavenly Secret Staff.

Gu Shaoan believed that the blow that had just struck him, which felt like a million stars falling from the sky, could only have been delivered by using "Sword Nine: One Sword Separates Worlds".

Otherwise, even he would find it difficult to cope now.

Sun Baifa said, "If it weren't for the old man's unexpected breakthrough in his early years, reaching the state of oneness with his staff, he probably wouldn't be here anymore more than ten years ago."

At this point, as if remembering something, Sun Baifa lowered his head and touched the pipe in his hand, a hint of melancholy on his face.

Immediately afterwards, Sun Baifa looked at Gu Shaoan and said, "The old man successfully manipulated the power of heaven and earth by relying on his martial arts realm of becoming one with his staff. How did you do that just now, kid?"

Gu Shaoan said, "I received guidance from Master Zhang at Wudang and unexpectedly created a martial art that can manipulate the power of heaven and earth."

"Zhenzhen Zhang?"

Sun Baifa first glanced at Gu Shaoan in astonishment.

Then he slapped his forehead and said, "That's right. Your Emei Sect and Wudang Sect have always had a very good relationship. As a direct disciple of Miejue, it's normal for you to meet Master Zhang and receive a few pointers from him."

After a pause, Sun Baifa looked at Gu Shaoan with a complicated expression.

"Even with Master Zhang's guidance, it is still astonishing that you, at such a young age, were able to create a martial art that could move the heavens and earth."

Gu Shaoan didn't elaborate, but changed the subject and said, "Since I entered the Emei Sect, I have been studying swordsmanship. However, although I have created some powerful sword moves, I have not made any progress in my swordsmanship. I would appreciate your guidance, senior."

(End of this chapter)