Light Fortress
Chapter 313 - 15: Turning the Tables

Chapter 313: Chapter 15: Turning the Tables

Fenglai Temple.

Lu Nanjin was sitting cross-legged, with a wooden sword lying horizontally in front of her knees.

Following the guidance of Gu Nanfeng, she had abandoned the mithril extraordinary blade crafted by the East Continent Court and instead used a plain wooden sword. In North Continent, where other Transcendents practiced, a wooden sword was more difficult to imbue with Extraordinary Essence... requiring a greater focus on the ability itself.

To enhance combat abilities, one needed to immerse oneself in the world of "Lan Qie" at all times.

Wind is not an inanimate object.

It’s alive.

If the practitioner of Lan Qie perfectly merged with their own abilities, they would not need to see or listen on their own; simply through the "flow of wind," they would sense every movement in the outside world.

At this moment, Lu Nanjin was immersed in the realm of externalizing Lan Qie, perceiving the outside world through the flowing wind.

She saw the fight in front of Spring Rain Temple where Gu Shen defeated Chu Jue... It was clean and efficient.

Or to put it more bluntly, it was brutally simple.

"Gu Shen... has he become this strong?" Lu Nanjin was somewhat surprised.

The strength of the Transcendent opposite him should be that of Deep Sea Fifth Layer, right?

Facing him head-on, he was directly overwhelmed by Gu Shen.

What caught Lu Nanjin’s attention was a small detail in the battle... Chu Jue’s Spiritual Mental Shock wasn’t dodged by Gu Shen, he took it head-on, which was a rather unwise choice.

The spiritual attack of a Spiritual Extraordinary has tremendous power.

This is an attack that directly affects the spiritual layer!

Even if one is fighting physically, they must be cautious to guard against it... Yet, this battle turned into a one-sided affair because Gu Shen not only withstood the opponent’s mental attack but came out completely unharmed!

Once a Spiritual Extraordinary gets close, the outcome is predictable.

After joining Zhou Jiren, Gu Shen began to diligently refine his body techniques, and the kid indeed had talent, not just in spiritual power.

During the joint operation in Da Du to "eradicate the Changjiu Foundation," Lu Nanjin discovered that Gu Shen’s body techniques were actually quite good, far surpassing other Spiritual Transcendents of the same realm.

Was it because of the strength of the physique enhanced by the Jingzhe Breathing Technique?

Or was it due to the meticulous teaching of "Crow"?

She didn’t know.

The most fundamental reason is that "Chi Huo" is not simply a Spiritual Ability; each absorption of Extraordinary Essence, after digestion and feedback, affects more than just the spiritual aspect.

...

...

Weak.

Too weak.

Gu Shen was acutely aware of the importance of evaluation... The Transcendent in front of him who joined the institute with a B+ rating was far inferior to himself in actual combat ability and experience. The difference was substantial.

Earlier on Yuan Dan Street, he had assassinated a Strong Attack Type Transcendent from the Deep Sea Fifth Layer.

That was a direct, close-combat brawl!

Shi Li’s strength was much greater than Chu Jue’s... Partly because of combat to the death and partly because of the difference in cultivation environments.

The current "Brother Chu" gave Gu Shen the feeling of being seemingly strong yet unstable at the core – an illusion of strength.

Being new to the area, he was not clear about the standard of Transcendents of the three institutes in Changye.

But the first group of challengers... truly disappointed Gu Shen.

Could it be that only the Transcendents from the institute were like this?

Due to not engaging in life-and-death missions and lacking real combat experience, they have the superficial level of deep water area trials, but are unable to fight, like flowers cultivated in a greenhouse – pleasant to look at but utterly useless.

One punch after another!

Punches that landed with flesh-crushing impact!

Gu Shen was on top of Chu Jue, beating this utterly defenseless punching bag with full force in front of a dozen new Transcendents from the institute, as Brother Chu lost all his dignity, covering his head and only able to parry, until he finally roared angrily, trying to fight back!

They were extremely close.

Chu Jue used "Spirit Explosion" once again, concentrating his spiritual power and shooting directly at Gu Shen.

Under normal circumstances, if one does not defend... even a Transcendent of the same realm can’t withstand this move.

It was a very vicious "finishing move"!

But when the spiritual attack hit Gu Shen, it was like a clay oxen entering the sea, instantly vanishing into nothingness.

In return, Gu Shen’s punches became even more powerful!

A "bang" with his fist.

That punch almost made Chu Jue spit out blood... He seriously doubted the S-rank archive information was accurate. This guy’s brute strength was like an ox; how could he possibly be a Spiritual Transcendent?

Little did they know.

This was an utterly freakish, aberrant individual.

After meeting Song Ci and fighting Zhao Qi in the old city district... Gu Shen felt the allurement of "fists."

"Like to play dirty?"

Of course, Gu Shen felt Chu Jue’s sneaky tricks.

He let out a cold laugh.

If someone else encountered this tactic, it would indeed be troublesome.

However, this guy was facing him!

With "Four Seasons Wilderness" enveloping his soul, Gu Shen’s spirit was exceedingly firm, and the Spiritual Mental Shock of Deep Sea Fifth Layer was nothing, only causing a slight tremor in his spirit.

This Chu Jue was practicing the "Grain Rain Volume" from the institute... Judging from the conversation he had overheard just now, he should have been practicing for just over half a year?

That was about the same amount of time he had been practicing Jingzhe.

But the strength of their spiritual powers was not on the same level.

Even without Mr. Gu Changzhi’s "gift," and without using close combat, Gu Shen could have easily won this duel... If there was a reason to trace, it would be due to the difference in the number of times the two breathing techniques were practiced.

Gu Shen’s mastery over the Jingzhe Breathing Technique was one hundred percent complete.

In a sense... He was the second person within the Court to fully grasp the essence of this breathing technique and completely imprint