Chapter 128: A Duel of Arts

“Daddy, Daddy, you flew it so high! Give it to me—I want to play too!”

On the broad lawn of Licheng Park, the afternoon sun was warm and gentle, while a refreshing breeze swept by. Many people had come to fly kites, and Jiang An was one of them. With a casual motion, he sent his kite soaring into the wind. The moment little Xixi saw it, she clapped and cried out excitedly, bouncing up and down as she insisted on trying it herself.

Jiang An crouched down and patiently taught her a few things to watch out for. Then he let her take over and fly it on her own. The little girl had grown another inch since last year, and she had become even more delicate and beautiful. She looked exactly like an exquisitely crafted doll. Spoiled by Jiang An, she was bright, lively, and carefree.

He let Xixi play by his feet. After all, the white tiger was watching over her nearby.

The tiger had grown considerably since the day Jiang An found it. Its original yellow-and-white fur had mutated after absorbing the life essence of the black tiger, turning almost completely white. Even more astonishing were its eyes, which carried a faint, pure-gold hue and shone with extraordinary brilliance.

“Your Highness, the little princess grows more beautiful by the day. When she grows up, she will surely be as virtuous as the Mistress,” Gao Chao said with a laugh from nearby.

Jiang An smiled lightly. “Enough flattering me. You should pay more attention to your own cultivation instead. Cheng Yang should be coming out of seclusion soon, shouldn’t he?”

Gao Chao scratched his head and chuckled. “Yes. He said he was fairly confident he could advance to the Grandmaster realm on his own, so there was no need for Your Highness to trouble yourself over him. The day he emerges from seclusion will be the day he attains the Grandmaster realm.”

“Excellent. Yumen will have another Grandmaster. After that, he can begin cultivating immortal arts as well. That leaves only you and Fan Jun. Fan Jun’s situation should be resolved once I return from Divine Medicine Mountain. As for you, if I’m not mistaken, at your current pace, you’ll probably need another year or two before you can even touch the threshold of the Grandmaster realm—and that’s with the aid of medicine. Hah, you should temper your temperament a little. I won’t need you following me around from now on. Learn from Cheng Yang and enter seclusion to cultivate.”

As he spoke, Jiang An gently stroked Xixi’s smooth hair.

Yumen’s accumulated wealth was growing rapidly. In particular, after the battle at Great Solitary Reef, the two products Frost Dew Pill and Longevity Pill, which had previously been difficult to circulate in other provinces and cities across the country, suddenly found their way into the market on a massive scale.

Jiang An had no intention of keeping the profits for himself. He acted merely as the supplier, leaving all sales and promotion to the major conglomerates in various regions. Even with production limited, the two highly sought-after bestsellers brought Yumen enormous profits.

By a conservative estimate, Yumen’s assets had already reached several tens of billions, and they continued to grow steadily. Aside from ordinary capital operations, Jiang An himself had spent very little money. His greatest expense was purchasing rare medicinal herbs from all over the world and refining them into various medicines that aided cultivation and nourished the spirit.

Such ordinary medicines were no longer useful to Jiang An himself. They were mainly supplied to his wife, daughter, and subordinates for cultivation. When it came to those close to him, Jiang An had always been generous. He would have been delighted if Dao Mo and the others could all become experts.

Yumen was an important part of his future plans, which was why he was so concerned about Gao Chao’s cultivation. After all, Gao Chao was both loyal and capable.

Gao Chao could hear the concern in Jiang An’s words, and warmth filled his heart.

“Your subordinate understands! I absolutely will not bring shame upon Your Highness!”

“Mm.”

After offering that brief reminder, Jiang An said nothing more. He devoted himself to playing with his daughter instead. He would have less and less time to spend with her in the future. Song Wan Shuang had been cultivating independently these past few days, and in another couple of days, Jiang An himself would have to travel to the headquarters of the Protectorate Manor in the capital.

“Daddy, Xixi is thirsty,” the little girl suddenly said, lifting her pretty face.

“All right. Let’s go take a break.”

As he spoke, Jiang An lifted the little one by the waist and placed her on his shoulders. Father and daughter chatted and laughed as they walked away together.

…

The capital.

The headquarters of the Protectorate Manor.

In a beautiful little valley behind the Four Divine Halls of Jade Sun Peak, Jiang An stood several dozen meters away from an old man. A number of people surrounded them, including Wang Bixuan and the woman surnamed Han whom Jiang An had encountered before, along with several other unfamiliar men and women. There were more than ten people in all, and every one of them was a spellcaster.

“Lord Xuanwu, shall we begin?” Jiang An asked the old man before him.

The old man had an ordinary appearance, but his bearing was extraordinary. He resembled a great scholar from ancient times, a man who had immersed himself in books for decades. He was none other than the Xuanwu Envoy, one of the four great envoys of the Protectorate Manor.

“Fellow Daoist Jiang, you must go easy on me. These old bones of mine cannot withstand too much shaking,” the Xuanwu Envoy said with a mild smile.

His words were as gentle as a spring breeze, but almost the instant his voice fell, Xuanwu raised both hands. A dense mass of talismans in every color shot into the air and exploded in an instant, transforming into fireballs, water arrows, wooden stakes, rolling boulders, golden blades, wind knives, and countless other attacks that came crashing down upon Jiang An from all directions.

Jiang An was just about to strike when his feet suddenly gave way. The ground beneath him transformed into a quicksand pit that dragged him downward. Then two verdant vines shot out from either side of the pit and wrapped tightly around his arms, instantly preventing him from moving.

The spectators were astonished. Lord Xuanwu’s first move was indeed extraordinary. No wonder he was a great spellcaster capable of contending with a warrior in the third realm of the Grandmaster stage. He could actually release so many spells at once.

Faced with this onslaught, Jiang An remained utterly calm. He opened his mouth, and a thick bolt of lightning flashed forth, striking a fireball descending through the air.

Boom!

The fireball collided with the lightning and erupted into a cloud of flames that swept up the surrounding attacks. Explosions rang out one after another, and Xuanwu’s attacks were instantly annihilated.

Jiang An’s method of countering a simultaneous assault of the five elemental arts was an eye-opener.

After spitting out the bolt of lightning, Jiang An circulated his magical power. Blazing flames immediately rose around his body. The fierce flames burned the vines binding his arms to ash, then blasted apart the quicksand beneath his feet, freeing him at once.

Now it was Jiang An’s turn to attack.

The flames around him suddenly coiled inward and transformed into a mighty suit of blazing armor that enveloped his body. Almost the instant the armor took shape, four sharp earthen spikes thrust up from the ground around him. All of them were blocked by the flaming armor and shattered.

Jiang An then rubbed his hands together violently. With a sharp tearing sound, a brilliant white ball of lightning appeared in his palm. He thrust out his hand, and the sphere shot into the air. Growing larger as it flew, it suddenly transformed into a lifelike giant thunder wyrm.

With a roar, it lunged toward Xuanwu.

The instant the thunder wyrm appeared, lightning flashed across the sky, and a terrifying aura spread through the valley. Xuanwu felt his vital energy completely locked onto him. His expression turned solemn. He immediately cast a spell, stomping one foot onto the ground. A small earthen mountain rose before him, followed by a thick wall of ice behind it.

Still unwilling to take any chances, he activated three layers of golden protective light around his body.

“Quickly! Strengthen the barrier! Everyone!”

The spectators’ expressions changed drastically as well. They scattered at once and poured their magical power into the spell formation beneath their feet. The transparent barrier surrounding Jiang An and Xuanwu flashed white and instantly solidified.

Boom!

Under the watchful eyes of everyone present, the thunder wyrm slammed into the earthen mountain and ice wall. They shattered at once as if they were made of paper. The thunder wyrm continued forward without losing momentum and crashed into the golden barrier.

The first layer broke instantly. The second lasted only a breath before shattering as well.

The thunder wyrm had shrunk considerably, but it continued onward and struck the final layer of the barrier. This layer was far more resilient. Sweat appeared on Xuanwu’s forehead as he slapped several more talismans onto his body, strengthening the barrier until it grew larger and larger, finally managing to withstand the thunder wyrm’s assault.

But then Jiang An, standing in the distance, lightly pointed a finger and uttered a single word:

“Explode.”

Bang!

With a deafening roar, the thunder wyrm exploded completely, transforming into a dazzling mass of lightning. Its unleashed power caused even the enormous outer barrier to tremble violently. The entire valley shook as though struck by an earthquake, tottering on the verge of collapse.

The surrounding spellcasters gritted their teeth and poured every last trace of magical power within them into the great barrier. Through their combined efforts, it held.

Before long, the terrifying lightning faded, and clarity returned to the valley. Everyone let out a long breath of relief.

“Excellent! I concede defeat!” The Xuanwu Envoy emerged unharmed, but his face was frighteningly pale, clearly showing that he had expended too much energy. He was not angry in the slightest. Instead, he admitted defeat with magnanimity and asked, “Fellow Daoist Jiang, what exactly is the name of that spell?”

“They are intermediate spells—the Thunder Wyrm Art and the Flame Armor Art. As for victory or defeat, Lord Xuanwu, you are being too gracious. Those two spells exhausted all my magical power, while you are still standing perfectly well. Strictly speaking, I should be the one who lost,” Jiang An said with a smile.

“Hahaha, Fellow Daoist Jiang, you need not spare this old man’s pride. A loss is a loss. Though I still have some magical power left, it would be difficult for me to continue fighting. It seems that the ancient cultivation lineage truly follows the correct path. Whether in casting speed or spell power, it surpasses our methods by a considerable margin. As for the matter we agreed upon before the exchange, we shall proceed according to your wishes.”

It turned out that before their spar, the two of them had made an agreement.