Chapter 160 The Value of Seeking a Fight

Exchanging a glance, both men inwardly praised the other.

At their level of martial arts, their perception of a person was no longer limited to appearance or demeanor; they looked at one's spirit.

An Qisheng's gaze swept over, sensing beneath the old man's powerfully built, lion-like frame a rebellious heart. His divine intent was like a roc soaring through the nine heavens, bold and tyrannical, fierce and arrogant.

As for Yan Kuangtu, he saw that the Daoist, seated in meditation, possessed a divine intent as radiant as the sun, brilliant and flawless, whether in mental cultivation or spiritual attainment, everything was perfectly integrated.

To nurture such a divine intent from a physical body was akin to raising a Kun Peng from a pond, leaving him astonished.

With such a divine intent, not to mention the Taiyin Wuji (Grand Yin Limitless), even walking the path of the Taiyang Wuji (Grand Yang Limitless), there was likely a seventy percent chance of success.

No wonder he was so confident, even unconcerned with his presence.

It was no wonder he struggled to sever the divine meridians; this divine intent was already infinitely close to the Taiyin Wuji. There were only eight or nine people on the Weaponry Index capable of fighting him.

At this level, whether the divine meridians were formed or not seemed inconsequential.

"The name Yan Kuangtu lives up to its reputation."

An Qisheng retracted his gaze.

Yan Kuangtu harbored no hostility, for no one in this world could fight him while carrying a child.

Pang Wanyang could not, and Yan Kuangtu even less so.

His approach within ten zhang could be considered a provocation for ordinary divine meridians, but for him, it was a show of goodwill.

For the world knew of his unparalleled physique and formidable external training; the closer the distance, the greater his advantage.

"I did not expect that after three years of seclusion, the world would produce a figure like you, Daoist brother."

Yan Kuangtu stood with his hands clasped behind his back, somewhat in admiration.

His head of graying hair hung loose, and his appearance was unremarkable. While not ugly, he certainly could not be called handsome, yet his every movement possessed a natural grace.

It seemed as if heaven and earth were cooperating with his every action.

Beside him, the boy kept sizing up An Qisheng, seemingly quite curious about him.

An Qisheng simply smiled and asked, "Brother Yan has come from afar; may I ask the reason?"

"Just a restless spirit, that's all. Yan is not one for idleness. After three years of seclusion, I emerged and heard of Daoist brother's exploits in defeating the Dafeng Dynasty, which pleased me greatly, so I came to see you."

Yan Kuangtu smiled slightly.

Throughout his life, his relationship with the imperial court had been extremely poor. Before establishing the Great Dragon Gate, he had many conflicts with the court, and only after establishing the Great Dragon Gate did he restrain himself somewhat, but he still held no goodwill toward the court.

Conversely, he naturally felt more favorably inclined toward those who acted like An Qisheng.

"Brother Yan seems to harbor much dissatisfaction with the imperial court as well."

An Qisheng heard the dissatisfaction in his tone and shook his head slightly. "I have heard that your Great Dragon Gate holds a separatist grip on You Province, and the court's officials, prefects, and generals must all bend to your will. How can you still be dissatisfied with the court?"

Although Yan Kuangtu had long been absent from the martial world, the Great Dragon Gate had only been established for a few decades yet had firmly secured its place among the top sects in the world. How could he not know?

Compared to the composed and low-key demeanor of the Royal Awakening Temple, the Great Dragon Gate acted more wildly. All the large and small sects in You Province had submitted, and within You Province, from official changes to passing merchants, everything had to pass through the checkpoints of the Great Dragon Gate.

And You Province was also the most peaceful of the Dafeng Dynasty's seventy-three provinces.

Whether bandits or brigands, horse thieves or major criminals, none dared to commit crimes in You Province!

This was hardly a sect; it was essentially a country within a country.

"It is precisely because of this that I despise them. If one person is arrogant before and obsequious afterward, they are a petty man, so what are we to make of a court that is arrogant before and obsequious afterward?"

Mentioning the imperial court, Yan Kuangtu's expression darkened, and he asked:

"Does Daoist brother know how many people the current number one of the demonic path, Pang Wanyang, has killed in his lifetime? How many has Yan killed?"

"I do not know."

An Qisheng shook his head slightly.

"Pang Wanyang has killed as many as several thousand in his lifetime. Yan is untalented, but that's ten times that! However, the karmic burden of our killings is less than that of any corrupt official in the imperial court!"

Yan Kuangtu said calmly:

"When I was a child, You Province suffered a major disaster. At that time, Yin Yingguang, the governor of You Province, concealed the disaster for the sake of promotion, neglecting to provide relief and only seeking pleasure. To protect his political achievements, he collected grain from mountain villages to supply the cities. In just one year, the mountain villages of You Province were nearly emptied!

To save my brother and me, my mother boiled a pot of meat porridge after my father starved to death..."

"Uncle-Grandfather!"

The boy, his face pale, grabbed his hand.

He was not hearing these words for the first time, but every time he heard them, his heart would turn cold, unable to imagine the horror and despair of those times.

"Deserves to die!"

An Qisheng sighed softly.

In truly disastrous years, when the land stretches red for a thousand li, and people exchange children to eat, can it be said that they are inherently evil?

In the face of life and death, even high-ranking monks and virtuous people can only see through it in a rare case, let alone disaster victims?

What is sad is that in disastrous years, the disaster victims who starve to death the most are often farmers, who grew the most grain but still starved to death.

With the land and crops nourished by the spiritual energy of the Jiu Fu Realm, unless there is a major disaster and rampant exploitation, people should never starve to death.

"I've said too much."

Yan Kuangtu stopped talking about this matter and instead said:

"Daoist brother might as well undergo your tribulation first."

"There's no hurry. What harm is there in letting the lightning wait a while?"

An Qisheng's expression was calm, unhurried.

Yan Kuangtu was slightly surprised. The divine meridians were so close, within reach. Anyone else would surely cross that threshold first before doing anything else.

This Wang Quan Daoist, however, could remain so calm, demonstrating his mental cultivation.

As he spoke, the dark clouds in the sky, spitting out lightning snakes, just refused to disperse, and the lightning seemed to be holding back, maintaining a balance.

The boy was left speechless.

"Haha, not bad! What does it matter if we let the heavens wait a while!"

Yan Kuangtu laughed heartily, feeling that although this Daoist was gentle and slow, his temperament suited him quite well.

"Brother Yan, you've come for the battle between Yixiu and Pang Wanyang on the second day of the second month of next year, haven't you?"

An Qisheng looked at Yan Kuangtu. Although it was a question, he was already certain in his heart.

For figures like Yan Kuangtu, few things in the secular world could arouse their interest. He called himself a solitary man, naturally not putting wealth and honor in his eyes. What he pursued in his life was none other than the Dao of Heaven and Man.

And in the current world, the closest to the Dao of Heaven and Man was naturally Pang Wanyang.

"That's exactly the matter."

Yan Kuangtu nodded slightly, not hiding anything:

"When one's cultivation reaches our level, seeking battle is not about victory or defeat, nor is it about personal loyalty, but about the sublimation and elevation of one's divine intent between life and death, capturing that subtle sense of qi interaction in the dark, in order to look upward toward the Great Dao of Heaven and Man.

In this world, only Pang Wanyang is the best opponent. To miss him would be a great pity."

When martial arts are cultivated to such a level, wealth, power, and beautiful women are all within reach. What is truly pursued is no longer these things.

Only the Great Dao of Heaven and Man is their pursuit.

In fact, as early as twenty years ago, he had climbed the Six Prison Sacred Mountain, but at that time, he turned and left upon seeing Pang Wanyang, knowing that he was no match.

Only after cultivating the Taiyin Wuji this time, when his martial arts had finally reached an impasse, did he emerge from seclusion, wanting to seek a battle with him to break through the final step.

"A pity?"

An Qisheng simply shook his head.

He naturally understood the pursuits of the various divine meridians, but while he understood, he did not agree with them.

The so-called Dao is not sought externally; why rely on the hands of others?

Is it necessary to have a life-and-death struggle with a master of the same level to advance?

If not, is there no way to advance?

"Daoist brother seems to disagree?"

Yan Kuangtu raised an eyebrow slightly.

He was not one with an outstanding appearance; his face was ordinary, but as he raised an eyebrow, his entire demeanor changed completely.

Raised eyebrows appeared fierce and unruly, but it was not that he harbored hostility, but that his heart was inherently so.

"It's not that I disagree, but..."

An Qisheng smiled casually:

"If I want to kill someone, it must be because I want to kill him, not to gain something. Even external objects do not need to be bestowed by others, let alone one's own Dao."

Yan Kuangtu's gaze narrowed slightly, understanding the meaning in An Qisheng's words.

"What Daoist brother says makes sense, but it is just that. Like that Yixiu, although he was not a very outstanding figure two hundred years ago, he has lived for more than two hundred years after all, and is somewhat more accomplished than I am now. But he has been cautious for two hundred years; has he ever glimpsed that change in qi?

The reason why he challenged Pang Wanyang is because he only has this one chance.

But if Yixiu is like this, I may not be much better. A bottleneck is a bottleneck. If you can't cross it in sixty years, you may not be able to cross it in three hundred years!"

Yan Kuangtu smiled faintly:

"I'd rather seek defeat, seek death. How can a good man like Yan live a life of mere survival?"

"That day, when Pang Wanyang's divine intent borrowed a body, the one move was actually not exhausted, but the sheep-snake body could not bear all the essence of that stance..."

Hearing this, An Qisheng didn't say much and instead said:

"If Brother Yan fights him, the odds of winning are no more than thirty percent."

"Thirty percent?"

Hearing this, Yan Kuangtu was not annoyed and nodded to himself:

"In my opinion, thirty percent is too much, but when it comes to fighting, you have to fight to know."

"That's right."

An Qisheng sat still, but slowly raised an arm:

"This punch is the punch that Pang Wanyang threw at the time. Unfortunately, this punch does not fully conform to my heart, and I can only unleash about seventy or eighty percent of its meaning..."

Whoosh~

As the words drifted, An Qisheng slowly clenched his fist and threw it.

Empty and hollow, ethereal and illusory, like the starry sky, the heavens, and like a falling meteor, seemingly slow, but actually unimaginably fast.

Almost as soon as the words fell, the punch was already like a mountain collapsing, rumbling and suppressing.

"Hmm?"

The moment An Qisheng raised his arm, Yan Kuangtu felt a daze in his heart, as if the person in front of him was no longer the Wang Quan Daoist, but had been replaced by Pang Wanyang, who had been invincible on the Six Prison Sacred Mountain for decades.

"Good punch!"

Yan Kuangtu casually flicked, and the boy's cry of alarm was blocked in his mouth, but he had already been thrown far into the air.

At the same time, a long howl like an eagle's cry and an ape's roar tore through the sky.

Ten zhang was only a finger snap away.

How fast was An Qisheng's punch?

At the same time Yan Kuangtu flicked the boy away, it had already reached within a zhang of Yan Kuangtu.

In just an instant, the layer of protective gangqi had already been broken through by the fist imprint.

And at this time, it was also when Yan Kuangtu let out a long howl.

Faced with the rumbling punch, he whipped out an arm, throwing out a strange angle, actually meeting this punch head-on!

Boom!

The two fists were simultaneously thrown and withdrawn, never truly colliding, but the air currents in the entire courtyard had already been blasted apart in an instant, rising into the air like a tornado.

Whoosh~

An Qisheng sat still, the air currents retracted, and the punch, from initiation to withdrawal, was only a moment.

Yan Kuangtu stood still, closing his eyes slightly, as if in contemplation.

It wasn't until the boy fell down, crying "Wuwu wowawa," that he opened his eyes and caught the boy with a wave of his hand.

He looked at An Qisheng, his divine light shining brightly:

"Seventy percent?"

An Qisheng shook his head: "Seventy percent of an incomplete punch."

Yan Kuangtu raised his eyebrows, revealing a smile:

"I can still give it a try!"

An Qisheng smiled without saying a word, closing his eyes slightly, his five hearts facing the sky.

Rumble!

In the next instant, dragon-snake-like lightning, accompanied by heavy rain, arrived with a rumble!