Chapter Twenty-Five: Innate Gang Qi, Cloud-Mist Halberd

Gongsun Boyang felt he was being uncharacteristically amiable, yet the golden-crowned cavalry commander opposite him did not appreciate the gesture.

No sooner had he straightened his long halberd than he pointed it forward and shouted, "Stop stalling for time. Once I have slain Prince Jiu, we shall discuss other matters."

The Golden Guards surrounding them were not merely for show. Their perceived uselessness stemmed purely from a lack of combat experience and the collapse of morale following Shi Lie's death. In truth, the average Golden Guard was at least a ninth-grade warrior, with many seventh, eighth, and even fifth or sixth-grade experts among them. Their armor and equipment were the finest among the hundred thousand troops of the State of Wu. Had they swarmed him in a desperate attempt to kill, even Lu Wu would have found it a taxing ordeal. For this old man to try and chat in the middle of such a heavy encirclement was nothing short of a nuisance.

Lu Wu did not waste further words. With a brief shout, his mount, Black God, roared and charged forward once more.

Gongsun Boyang was so incensed he nearly went crooked with rage. What was his status? Even the King of Chu addressed him respectfully as "Master." For him to be so courteous to this wet-behind-the-ears child, only to be accused of stalling? Did this boy really think he could harm Prince Jiu while in his presence? Then again, considering the youth did not even recognize his innate *Qi* shield, perhaps he truly believed he could. Gongsun Boyang was left between laughter and tears.

Yet, a moment later, even as a Grandmaster of martial arts, Gongsun Boyang could not help but be deeply shocked.

The long halberd in the golden-crowned rider's hand suddenly began to hum and vibrate violently. The terrifying high-speed vibrations tore through the surrounding air, generating a dense, cloud-white mist around the weapon. Within the hazy, swirling clouds, the green halberd seemed to transform into a green dragon riding the vapors, twisting and turning as it struck from beyond the heavens!

*Green Dragon Troubling the Sea Halberd—Parting Clouds and Harnessing Qi from the Heavens!*

Clouds follow the dragon, and winds follow the tiger; only by bringing forth wind and cloud upon its emergence did the Green Dragon Troubling the Sea Halberd reveal its true form. As a Grandmaster, Gongsun Boyang had seen more battles than he could count and had witnessed countless experts and exotic techniques, yet he had never seen a skill that turned high-speed vibration into such destructive force. It was nearly impossible.

A weapon is not a battery-powered vibrator; to achieve such high-speed oscillation, there must be a source of power. Shaking it by hand could not possibly be this fast—not even for a Grandmaster like Gongsun Boyang. If it were driven by some special method of circulating internal energy, Gongsun Boyang felt that even his own bones and meridians could not withstand such terrifying, high-speed tremors. Under such vibrations, both weapon and energy would be truly indestructible; the way the finest warrior of Wu had been blasted into a mist of blood must have been the result of this high-frequency vibrating energy penetrating, shaking, and tearing him to dust.

Setting aside the difficulty of the technique itself, the damage to one's own body was unavoidable—a weapon must be held in the hand to exert such power, unless one used a method like "controlling the sword with *Qi*."

Gongsun Boyang no longer dared to underestimate his opponent. He withdrew his thin, withered palms from his broad sleeves and pushed them forward in a motion that seemed both slow and swift. A layer of misty, clear *Qi* spread out like a wall. With a thunderous boom, it met the green dragon emerging from the clouds head-on.

He intended to take the Green Dragon Troubling the Sea Halberd with his bare hands.

*Innate Qi—Expanding Qi into Thunder!*

Once a Grandmaster refined their Innate *Qi*, most weapons became useless. The Innate *Qi* was supreme, rigid, and indestructible; even the finest tempered steel could not withstand it, whereas materials like silk or wooden staves were more compatible. Of course, the best medium was the Grandmaster's own flesh and blood, which could channel the Innate *Qi* with minimal cost. Unless a weapon was a divine artifact capable of bearing the Innate *Qi*, Grandmasters typically fought unarmed. Thus, these two palms were Gongsun Boyang's greatest weapon.

*Screech—!* The high-speed vibrating halberd pierced into the *Qi* shield, which was ten times harder than steel. The sound of the halberd tearing through the *Qi* was enough to rupture eardrums. Yet, this strike from Lu Wu, bolstered by the momentum of Black God's charge, was actually held back by the gaunt Grandmaster without him taking a single step back!

A ring of dust swirled at Gongsun Boyang's feet. The bluestone road for a radius of ten feet sank three inches deep, and the surface of the stones was ground into fine powder on the spot.

"Hiyah—TAH!" Gongsun Boyang roared.

He pressed his left hand against the tip of the halberd, his palm acting like a magnet, dragging the halberd to the left. His right hand pressed down and then swept upward. With a sharp *hiss*, a pillar of green *Qi* shot straight toward the head of Black God!

Gongsun Boyang could not remember the last time he had needed to shout while fighting. In truth, after mastering Innate *Qi*, he rarely had the chance to fight—who would seek their own death unless forced? In the few instances he had, a simple flick of his sleeve or a release of Innate *Qi* was enough to crush his opponents, making shouting unnecessary and beneath his dignity. Even against strong enemies, he fought from a distance; almost no one ever got close enough to him.

But under the golden-crowned rider's strike, the high-speed vibrations of the halberd had forced their way through three layers of his *Qi* shield, making him feel a startling pressure once more. Putting aside the massive force of the strike and the tearing sensation of the vibrations, the sheer energy flowing through the halberd—keeping it from shattering against his Innate *Qi*—made him realize why this brat had mistaken his Innate *Qi* for "powerful internal energy."

The purity and density of that *Qi* were unlike anything Grandmaster Gongsun Boyang had ever seen; it was worlds apart from ordinary energy. Though it did not quite match the Innate *Qi* of a Grandmaster, it was certainly not inferior to the "Soldier's Malevolence" used by military commanders—yet it was pure and lacked the chaotic nature of energy derived from the battlefield. Gongsun Boyang could not imagine what kind of robust physique was required to condense such tyrannical energy, or what resilient meridians were needed to circulate it.

Consequently, Gongsun Boyang abandoned his dignity as a Grandmaster. He would do whatever was most effective. His Innate *Qi* strike would pierce the horse's skull and then punch through the chest of the rider!

Lu Wu gave a low growl. The halberd, which had been dragged aside, suddenly flipped. Amidst the roaring vibration, another cloud of mist exploded at the tip. The crescent blade opened like a dragon's maw, erupting from the clouds to strike back at Gongsun Boyang's neck.

*Green Dragon Troubling the Sea Halberd—The Ferocious Look Back!*

As for Gongsun Boyang's *Qi*-condensed strike, Lu Wu simply forced Black God to lower its head, while he himself neither dodged nor parried. It appeared he was prepared to trade injury for injury with the Grandmaster.