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Chapter 112: Chapter 109: One Punch
Go, or not go.
With a single statement, Gu Jinlai directly backed Yun Guantian into a corner.
He made it crystal clear that declining would be a direct insult to him, prompting him to erupt in rage, but if he went...
Would he still have a way out?
Using power to pressure.
This was the epitome of using power to pressure someone.
Compared to the small moves Yun Guantian had made, this was a direct confrontation leaving him no room to retreat.
"Gu Star Master..."
Yun Guantian gritted his teeth, about to say something else.
But at that moment, Gu Jinlai suddenly said, "Perhaps, I’ll give you a third option, take one punch from me."
"What!?"
Yun Guantian started, taken aback.
Then, his eyes flashed fiercely: "Are you serious!?"
"Serious."
Gu Jinlai spoke calmly, "If you can take my punch and not die, all the grievances between us will be wiped clean. You won’t have to go to Lingxiao City or live in fear."
He paused, then continued, "But if you can’t even take one punch from me... then dying would be an insignificant end."
"One punch! One punch!"
Yun Guantian calmed down slowly after hearing Gu Jinlai’s words.
One punch!
He, Yun Guantian, after all, had once been a figure at the Peak Refining God level.
Although in recent years he hadn’t engaged in as much combat due to sitting on the throne of the Refining Demon Hall Master in Changjun City, holding high authority and leaving matters to subordinates, he still had...
His moments of past strength and struggle.
Before he attained his high status, he fought devils more than once, risking life and limb, pushing his limits time and again.
It was precisely because of this that he could stand where he was today, commanding the Demon Hunters of Chang County and becoming the Refining Demon Hall Master.
But now, through Gu Jinlai’s words and actions...
He seemed intent on killing him with a single punch!
One punch!
A now collected Yun Guantian felt a deep humiliation!
It was a humiliation to his decades of cultivation, attaining the peak of Refining God!
"Gu Jinlai, I admit, you are strong, and rumors say that the former Star Master Zhang Luu, that Peak Refining God master, was killed by you in a head-on fight, but..."
Yun Guantian took a deep breath.
Gu Jinlai’s strength was built on those Spiritual Artifacts he crafted.
Without those artifacts...
"To think you can defeat me, even kill me, with one punch, is far too dismissive of me, Yun Guantian."
Yun Guantian, staring at Gu Jinlai, began to brew a fighting spirit in his eyes: "This punch, I will take."
"No rush."
Gu Jinlai said, "If you can’t take my punch and I kill you outright, wouldn’t the Heaven and Earth Qiankun Map lose control and the Refining Demon Hall in Changjun City come to a standstill? We wouldn’t want that consequence... so hand over the control center of the Refining Demon Hall’s Earth Vein Grand Formation first."
He glanced at Zhang Xiu beside him: "Hand it over to Vice Hall Master Zhang for now."
Zhang Xiu was stunned.
Could such good fortune actually befall him?
However, feeling Gu Jinlai’s gaze, he too felt a chill in his heart.
He knew that once he took over the Heaven and Earth Qiankun Map, he would have to show something to truly earn Gu Jinlai’s trust in giving him this responsibility; otherwise...
He wouldn’t be sitting in the Hall Master’s seat for long before someone else took over.
"Agreed."
Yun Guantian adjusted his mental state, his expression calm.
"Vice Hall Master Zhang, come with me. I will transfer the opening authority of the Heaven and Earth Qiankun Map to you right away."
As they spoke, the two of them entered the inner courtyard.
Gu Jinlai waited in the main hall.
He wasn’t worried about Yun Guantian running away.
"Patriarch..."
Gu Chifeng stepped forward and whispered, "We really don’t need to waste time talking with them like this. With our abilities..."
"I must display sufficient strength."
Gu Jinlai said, "External objects will always remain external objects! Red’s power is astonishing, capable of intercepting Divinity Transformation Flying Swords, but this does not mean you are a Divinity Transformation Cultivator. Unless...at the same time as having the power to intercept flying swords, you also show strength that surpasses Refining God. Only then will the enemy truly see you as a Great Cultivator."
While it’s true that keeping one’s trump card hidden is the way to survive, showing off one’s muscles when appropriate is essential.
Otherwise, once Star State falls into chaos, it wouldn’t be unimaginable for some to turn their eyes to Yuanhua City and Lingxiao City.
Less than half an hour passed.
Yun Guantian reappeared.
He had changed into new clothes, and the aura he exuded now subtly differed from half an hour before.
If previously he had resembled a ruler, adept at manipulating balance and considering interests, now...
He started to give off the aura of a cultivator.
"Please."
Yun Guantian spoke in a low voice.
Immediately, the group headed towards the Martial Arts Arena of the Refining Demon Hall.
By then, many people had heard about Gu Jinlai and Yun Guantian’s impending duel, and outside the Refining Demon Hall, hundreds of people bustled noisily.
Not only were there members of the Refining Demon Hall itself, but also experts from the City Lord Mansion, Zhengyi Dao, even from the Yellow Sky Sect, Purgatory Sect, and the Cold Moon Sect’s station.
These people mingled among the crowd, each with a solemn expression.
"During this period, Gu Jinlai has become famous throughout Star State due to the battles at Monument Mountain and Yuanhua City. His prestige is no less than that of a Divinity Transformation Cultivator, but no one knows his true strength. Today... it seems we may finally glimpse the truth."
"One punch! Faced with Yun Guantian, a figure at the Peak Refining God level, Gu Star Master actually proposed settling their enmity with a single punch. How confident must he be in his own strength!?"
"A person can change greatly in just three days, let alone an old demon... A year ago, Gu Star Master had fallen from the Refining God status and was hunted by forces such as Zhengyi Dao. Now, he has soared to the heavens and become the master of both cities... I wonder what those from Zhengyi Dao are feeling now."
These Qi Refinement and Gang Condensation practitioners, and even Hugging Pill Masters gathered together, exchanging insights.
Their gazes toward Gu Jinlai held disgust, wariness, fear, and admiration. Some admired him, some did not.
After all, Gu Jinlai’s feat of slaying hundreds of devils in Lingxiao City had spread far and wide. Most of the Demon Hunters in the Demon Refining Hall had turned to hunting demons after suffering at their hands, so they naturally held admiration for someone with such battle achievements.
...
Martial Arts Arena.
Gu Jinlai and Yun Guantian stood ready.
They did not expel the onlookers surrounding them.
"The foremost under Divinity!"
Yun Guantian took a deep breath.
A vast wave of True Qi surged around him, led by Divine Thought, gathering like an imposing mountain that kept climbing higher and higher.
As this momentum built up, a powerful and sharp pressure spread out, containing a sense of unshakable solidity.
It seemed that as long as he stood there, no one could knock him down; any adversary would ultimately be crushed by this crushing, terrifying force.
Taishan Formation!
A combat skill specifically designed for defense.
As a Peak Refining God, facing Gu Jinlai, he deployed this defensive tactic, which fully demonstrated how seriously he took this battle.
"Come! Gu Jinlai, let me see how you intend to defeat me with just one punch!"
Yun Guantian shouted, his Essence Qi Spirit appearing to be tuned to the peak, transformed into a towering war intent that surged into the clouds. To some with weaker divine senses, it seemed as though they could see the solid, mountain-like pressure emanating from him, intense enough to make their breathing stutter.
The Taishan Formation is a top-tier combat skill.
Once mastered, it could condense one’s Fist Intent.
Although Yun Guantian had not fully mastered this fist technique to that extent, thanks to its mysterious nature, he was still able to display an effect similar to "willpower oppression."
"Are you ready?"
Gu Jinlai calmly asked, as the aura about his body began to burn...
"Come!"
At that moment, Yun Guantian’s fighting spirit was high.
Forget about facing a Fake Divinity like Gu Jinlai—even against a true Divinity, or even if a flying sword was used to strike at him, he was confident he could forcibly block it.
"Boom!"
As he responded, it was as if something suddenly exploded.
In the eyes of Yun Guantian and some of the Hugging Pill Masters at the forefront, where a second ago there had been no sense of power or pressure, Gu Jinlai’s body suddenly burst forth with a terrifying and unparalleled force.
Under this power, his figure swiftly expanded.
Great Sun True Demon Body.
It was like a cataclysmic volcano a hundred thousand meters tall, endless magma mixed with fiercely wild flames, surging towards the heavens. When it reached tens of thousands of meters high, it suddenly exploded, unleashing boundless light and heat.
The scattered magma did not immediately disintegrate into nothingness; rather, as his arms were raised high, it solidified within the void. Eventually, it seemed to form into a magma star with a diameter of thousands of kilometers...
No!
That was not a magma star; that was a Great Sun!
That was a dazzling Great Sun that radiated infinite light and heat!
With the emergence of this sun, its radiant glory and suffocating heat swept through ruthlessly.
The mere heatwave that escaped in an instant made everyone feel as if they were in a Purgatory Fire Sea, their bodies, True Qi, and even their souls about to be burnt to ashes. Cultivators with weaker wills could not help but let out piercing screams of terror!
"What kind of fist technique is this? What kind of fist technique is this!"
"My eyes, my eyes... I can’t see!"
"No, what we cannot see are not our eyes... it is our spirit..."
"Rumble!"
That fierce and dazzling power, as if mixed with the force of destroying heavens and earth, the Great Sun Stars in Gu Jinlai’s raised hand, was gripped entirely; all the magma and fierce flames condensed into one mass, and then...
It was viciously smashed towards Yun Guantian.
"This..."
Feeling this suffocating and terrifying illusion, Yun Guantian, who had pushed his momentum to its peak, had his expression frozen.
Was this Gu Jinlai’s strength!?
Was this the power of Gu Jinlai!?
As it crashed down, it was like the Great Sun erupting.
It was as though a sun in outburst sent a storm that devastated everything in its path into the atmosphere, setting the entire sky ablaze.
In front of this terrifying force of the dazzling Great Sun, capable of burning the sky and boiling the sea, what significance could a so-called great mountain have, no matter how towering or immense it may be?
The astonishing presence of Yun Guantian, which had climbed to the ultimate height and was filled with an unshakable aura, collapsed under the impact of this dazzling Great Sun.
No one could resist!
No force could stop it!
"How is this possible!?"
Yun Guantian let out a scream of unwillingness and madness, his aura skyrocketing. "No! Impossible! How could I, a Peak Refining God, not be able to handle a single punch!? I will not fail! Ah!"
"Rumble!"
The fierce and dazzling strike ultimately hit Yun Guantian’s mountain-like figure, manifested through the Taishan Formation.
"Rumble!"
The Taishan collapsed!
"No!"
Yun Guantian howled to the sky.
Then, his figure and the towering mountains he transformed into were completely devoured in a world of dazzling light and a heart-stopping terror.
