Compared to the minor lackeys he had encountered before, Yan Guochao's presence alone was enough to make Yan Shouyi take him seriously.
Furthermore, the Yan family and Kunlun Mountain's Yan family shared a deep connection, making this competition less straightforward. It was almost the Yan family's only chance to openly assert their pride.
Thus, the Yan family valued this greatly.
Yan Shouyi asked calmly, "How do you wish to compete?"
The Yan family did not excel at combat; they were more adept at manipulating feng shui. If it came to a direct fight, Yan Guochao would likely not be Yan Shouyi's match, and Yan Shouyi did not want to win unfairly.
Yan Guochao lightly fanned himself with a goose feather fan and said, "I've heard that in West Lake, Rongcheng, you stepped on the West Lake's leylines and caused it to dry up completely within minutes. Is this true?"
Yan Guochao had heard many rumors about Yan Shouyi, but most of the audience was unaware of Yan Shouyi's past, so they expressed disbelief.
This Yan Shouyi?
Caused West Lake to dry up with a single step?
Impossible! Absolutely impossible!
Yan Shouyi smiled and replied, "A trivial matter, not worth mentioning."
Yan Guochao then continued, "The Luban Shu compiles the strengths of various schools. It is said that 'Lian Shan', 'Gui Cang', and Feng Hou's Qimen Dunjia are all recorded within. I presume your feng shui attainments should not be lacking."
"I know a little, just a little," Yan Shouyi replied humbly.
Yan Nanfei below chuckled wryly. Yan Shouyi was indeed being excessively modest this time.
The last time he was in Rongcheng, he had witnessed Yan Shouyi's skills and subsequently described Yan Shouyi's strength to the Yan family. However, it seemed the Yan family still did not take it seriously enough.
After all, it was Yan Shouyi's father, Yan Chou, who had cast a psychological shadow over the Yan family, not Yan Shouyi.
"Since you also understand feng shui, then let our competition today be about feng shui. We will have just one move to decide the victor!" Yan Guochao announced loudly. "Yan Shouyi, do you dare to accept this challenge!"
Abbess Guanyun, unaware of Yan Shouyi's depth, couldn't help but speak up for him, "The world knows that the Yan family of Kunlun is unparalleled in feng shui techniques. For Yan Guochao to compete with Shouyi in feng shui is like comparing his strength against Shouyi's weakness!"
"Don't worry, that kid can handle it!" Zhang Shantong, however, had great confidence in Yan Shouyi.
"You trust Shouyi this much?" Abbess Guanyun asked.
"He is more outstanding than his father!" Zhang Shantong's reply left Abbess Guanyun speechless.
As expected, Yan Shouyi unhesitatingly accepted this "unfair" proposal:
"Alright! We'll compete in feng shui, with one move to decide the winner! Tell me, how specifically will we compete!"
Yan Guochao put away his goose feather fan and cupped his fists towards Yan Shouyi from afar, "Yan Nanfei has spoken highly of you. Seeing you today, I at least respect your spirit. However, it is regrettable that you will ultimately fall to my hands!"
"My method of competition is simple. Feng shui is about borrowing the forces of heaven, earth, yin, yang, the five elements, and the eight trigrams. A single ripple causes a chain reaction, achieving great changes with minimal cost. As the saying goes, 'If one understands the principles of yin and yang, heaven and earth are within a single palm!' Therefore, we each make one move to alter the natural environment of Longhu Mountain. Whoever makes the grander change wins!"
Upon hearing this, even the elder Zhang Sishui outside the Heavenly Master Hall couldn't help but remark:
"This young man from the Yan family of Kunlun is truly arrogant, wishing to alter the feng shui of our Longhu Mountain!"
The Old Heavenly Master chuckled, "How can youth not be impulsive? Must you be like yourself, old and still immeasurably arrogant?"
Zhang Sishui's face darkened. "We are united against a common enemy now."
"Let them do as they please. Longhu Mountain has stood for a thousand years without falling, and there is a reason for it. How could its feng shui change because of a competition between two juniors?" The Old Heavenly Master was not worried at all.
Instead, he was quite expectant.
Longhu Mountain's tacit consent made the competition a focal point, with Yan Shouyi and Yan Guochao drawing so much attention that people almost forgot about the three other matches ongoing.
Yan Shouyi took half a step back and said to Yan Guochao, "You proposed the rules, so let you make the first move as an example, how about it?"
"I won't take advantage of you either!"
With that, Yan Guochao stepped forward.
He held a luopan (geomantic compass), stamped his foot, and a complex, dazzling luopan instantly emerged beneath his feet!
A common luopan has three discs, inside and out, with the middle disc being the most crucial part, inscribed with various information. The most powerful luopan's middle disc can have up to fifty-two layers, each rotatable, and each layer is further divided into grids for different information. The outer layers have more grids and record more information, making them more versatile.
Yan Shouyi's Yan Xing Luopan was a fifty-two-layer compass, considered top-tier.
However, the luopan beneath Yan Guochao's feet had a staggering sixty-three layers!
This directly surpassed everyone's understanding of geomantic compasses!!
"This Yan Guochao is truly remarkable!" Zhang Shantong exclaimed. "The luopan beneath his feet has eleven more layers than a top-tier luopan!"
"Indeed," Abbess Guanyun agreed. "If these eleven layers are the culmination of the Yan family's research over many years, passed down to Yan Guochao, then it's understandable. But if these eleven layers were all researched by Yan Guochao himself... that would be truly terrifying!"
Listening to the conversation of these two prominent figures, Long Feicheng and others couldn't help but feel anxious.
It seemed this Yan Guochao was exceptionally formidable?
Wouldn't Brother Yan be falling into his trap?
If he lost the feng shui competition, would Brother Yan lose his chance at the Heavenly Master position?
"Brother Yan... go for it!" Long Feicheng clenched his fists and whispered his encouragement.
On the stage, Yan Shouyi looked at the luopan that had enveloped him, a hint of surprise on his face, which then turned into curiosity:
"How did you research these extra eleven layers?"
Yan Guochao proudly declared, "I have my Yan family's methods! My Yan family has a thousand years of heritage, with generations meticulously researching feng shui. To stagnate is to regress; is it not natural to make breakthroughs?"
Yan Shouyi, while studying it, said approvingly, "Excellent, excellent. Your idea is astonishing..."
"Silence, you thief! You are not worthy of evaluating my Yan family's ultimate techniques!!"
Yan Guochao suddenly roared, stomped his foot, and caused the entire Ten Thousand Dharma Altar to tremble!
"One foot stomps the mountains and rivers, invoking seismic tremors. Quite interesting." Yan Shouyi's body remained still, his aura undisturbed, and he said with interest.
Yan Guochao grew even more incensed. He took his stance in the central palace, manipulating the luopan with his hands, causing the luopan beneath his feet to spin.
Suddenly, the rapidly spinning luopan stopped. Heavy clouds and rain converged above Yan Shouyi's head, and a torrential downpour began!
"Yan Guochao's feng shui mastery is so profound that it has reached the point of borrowing the forces of heaven and earth!" Zhang Sishui exclaimed. "It will be difficult for Yan Shouyi not to lose now!"
Within the heavy rain clouds, a water dragon could be faintly seen coiling and churning, a truly breathtaking spectacle.
But this was just an appetizer.
Yan Guochao manipulated the luopan again, locking onto Yan Shouyi. The rainwater that had fallen to the ground instantly froze, and the raindrops still falling from the sky transformed into sharp ice needles, tinkling as they struck the ground, yet remaining unbroken!
Yan Shouyi ignored the ice needles, as they had agreed that they were altering the feng shui of Longhu Mountain, not attacking each other. Therefore, these ice needles were not aimed at him.
The ice needles fell densely. Someone noticed that near Yan Shouyi, the ice needles fell with particular intensity, and in a short while, they had formed a small tree, one person tall!
That tree, formed from ice needles, was crystalline and translucent, like sculpted beauties, breathtakingly beautiful.
As the ice tree formed, a chill emanated from it. Everyone looked up; the heavy rain clouds had vanished. Instead, the previously clear sky above Longhu Mountain was now densely overcast.
If the rain clouds before were condensed by Yan Guochao's feng shui techniques, then the current widespread overcast sky was Yan Guochao forcibly altering heaven and earth's creation!
This young man's feng shui techniques were so powerful that he could summon wind and rain!
"Impressive!" Yan Nanfei also gritted his teeth, not in anger, but in awe of his cousin's grand display.
His eyes were filled with longing, a yearning for strength, and anticipation for his own future. Yan Guochao had undoubtedly become Yan Nanfei's idol.
The faces of the Yan family members showed pride.
With Yan Guochao's emergence, the Yan family's lineage in feng shui would likely be unrivaled for the next century!!
Even the Old Heavenly Master marveled, "Longhu Mountain embraces yin and carries yang, experiencing little heavy rain throughout the year. My Heavenly Master Hall is untouched by worldly water. Yet, this Yan Guochao, with an ice tree, has managed to break the feng shui patterns of the Ten Thousand Dharma Altar and summon widespread overcast skies... truly astonishing. The younger generation is formidable, truly formidable!"
Zhang Sishui also chuckled, "Surely that ill-mannered brat has lost this time?"
"Not necessarily." The Old Heavenly Master shook his head.
"This... still not necessarily?" Zhang Sishui exclaimed in exasperation. "With Yan Guochao performing like this, what possible way does Yan Shouyi have to win?"
"Patience, watch the show." The Old Heavenly Master's nonchalant reply drove Zhang Sishui to distraction.
On the Ten Thousand Dharma Altar, Yan Shouyi lightly applauded.
"Marvelous, simply marvelous!" Yan Shouyi praised. "The Yan family of Kunlun truly lives up to its reputation as a feng shui lineage. Such a display is astonishing!"
Yan Guochao withdrew the luopan beneath his feet, stood with his hands behind his back, and asked calmly, "Do you still wish to compete?"
Yan Shouyi walked to the ice tree, circled it several times, and then looked up and smiled, "Naturally, we must."
Yan Guochao was somewhat surprised. "Given this, is there still any point in competing?"
"You haven't seen me act, how do you know there's no point?" Yan Shouyi retorted.
Yan Guochao sneered, "Your move would be mere superfluity, unless you can..."
Before Yan Guochao could finish his sentence, Yan Shouyi stepped forward.
Beneath his foot, a colossal luopan rapidly expanded, exceeding the boundaries of the entire Ten Thousand Dharma Altar and encompassing the Heavenly Master Hall!!
Yan Guochao was utterly dumbfounded.
Setting aside the number of layers on this luopan, just the sheer scale of its expansion was terrifyingly immense!
Given the size of his luopan, taking lives from a hundred meters away was not an exaggeration!
Yan Guochao kept telling himself, "Calm down... calm down! A large luopan doesn't necessarily mean it's powerful. As long as its layers are not more than mine, it will still be confined within the traditional feng shui framework. If he lacks the ability to break the mold, he can't defeat me..."
Yet, a vague sense of foreboding lingered in his heart.
With such a vast luopan, would the number of layers truly be less than his?