Several elders standing at the ringside were also talking among themselves.
“There should be only a few such experts on the opposing side.”
“I agree. Judging from their momentum and moves just now, they are both people with great opportunities.”
“It’s understandable that Hao Ran and another chief disciple lost. Don’t you think the two attackers on the other side are decisive and experienced in battles? Although our two chief disciples are talented, they do not have any experience in life and death battles in the outside world.”
“…”
Zhao Feng was the third to fight.
“An Yu, you go.”
An elder suddenly spoke.
“Yes.”
The big-eyed man, who had been standing steadily on one side, finally made a move.
“Older Martial Brother An Yu, you have to win this battle!”
A female disciple cheered him on.
“Older Martial Brother, don’t lose too badly.” Mu Xue also cheered for Zhao Feng.
Zhao Feng turned his head and looked at Mu Xue speechlessly.
Then, he smiled confidently at Liang Mengqi.
In the end, he looked at his opponent.
“I’m An Yu, the chief disciple of Purple Tree Hall.”
“I’m Zhao Feng, the first disciple of Zhang Hanyang.”
“Swoosh!”
Zhao Feng’s words immediately attracted many people’s attention, and they all looked at Zhang Han.
Since Zhao Feng was his first disciple, they might be able to see something from Zhao Feng’s moves.
The elders fixed their eyes on him.
“Let’s get started.”
Zhao Feng suddenly smiled evilly.
“Boom!”
The Big Dark Devil Shadow.
It was similar to the Dragon Shadow.
Five shadows appeared in the ring, each of which resembled Zhao Feng and had a pair of wings.
They spread their wings and floated in the ring, moving faster and faster.
“Bang, bang, bang, bang…”
There was a burst of extremely dense noises. Finally, An Yu exited the ring in a rush and looked at Zhao Feng in surprise.
“Thanks for letting me win.”
After saying that, Zhao Feng got out of the ring confidently.
“So cool!”
Liang Mengqi praised him in a low voice.
“I lost.”
An Yu didn’t expect such a result; he lost too fast.
In fact, he felt that if he fought Zhao Feng with those secret skills, it would be hard to say who would win.
But before he could use them, he was busy handling his opponent’s moves.
In just five seconds, he was hit 36 times. When he was injured in the last attack, he felt the pressure and left the ring.
“Come back.”
An Yu’s master spoke with a strange expression instead of blaming him.
In his view, An Yu’s opponent’s moves were very subtle.
Zhang Hanyang’s first disciple was indeed extraordinary.
An Yu didn’t utilize his full strength, but his opponent fought him with ease and didn’t seem to use all his strength either.
“I have a whole new level of respect for him.”
Li Hao glanced at Zhang Han.
Zhao Feng was powerful and had a solid foundation, but he didn’t see what he wanted to see.
By rights, the martial arts heritage of the Cloud Shadow Sky was powerful too. It was a shame that much of its heritage had been lost. Since Zhang Hanyang knew the Highest Clouds Sketch and the Dragon Shadow, he should also know some other things. But why didn’t his disciples use them?
Or did he teach his disciples some other skills?
“Xiaowu, it’s your turn next round.”
Zhang Guangyou coughed softly.
“Ah? Me? Oh, okay.”
“Why me?” Wang Xiaowu was puzzled, but then he got in the ring helplessly.
It was obvious from Zhang Guangyou’s tone that he wanted him to fight in this round and save the Cloud Shadow Sky face.
“Damn it. Young Master, don’t be so practical. Do I look so useless?” he cursed inwardly.
However, it was true that he had to help maintain their dignity. If he won, he could not win so quickly. If he lost, he could not lose too fast either. After all, he didn’t want to lose face.
His imagination was wonderful, but the reality was harsh.
A woman from the opposing side got in the ring.
The expressions of the chief disciples suddenly turned strange.
“I’m Qingyan, Sect Leader’s disciple. I would appreciate your advice.”
The woman in white took out a fourth-tier spirit weapon, a long sword.
“Pfft!”
“Why am I going to fight the Sect Leader’s disciple?” Wang Xiaowu wondered.
“Wang Xiaowu from the Heavenly Knights Sect.”
“Bang, bang, bang…”
The Sect Leader’s disciple was really unusual. She started attacking Wang Xiaowu crazily the minute she got in the ring. Wang Xiaowu was frightened.
“Darn it! I can’t beat her.”
Wang Xiaowu also held a long fourth-tier sword to fight his opponent, but he lost ground steadily.
“No!
“I have to hold on longer.”
A seemingly tense battle began quietly.
“Zhang Hanyang, what do you think of Qingyan’s Ethereal Sword Technique?” Li Hao asked, pretending to be casual.
The Ethereal Sword Technique was one piece of the martial arts heritage of the Cloud Shadow Sky. Despite Qingyan’s talent, she hadn’t perfectly mastered it yet.
“Swoosh!”
Several elders and chief disciples standing nearby were observing the battle while perking up their ears.
Knowing they were eavesdropping, Zhang Han thought for a moment and replied, “Not bad.”
“Not bad?”
Li Hao was a bit surprised. The Ethereal Sword Technique was a rather high-end secret skill that had been passed down in the Cloud Shadow Sky.
“Humph!”
Two elders gasped and found Zhang Hanyang to be arrogant.
The Ethereal Sword Technique was now one of the top sword techniques in the Cloud Shadow Sky. It was something difficult to learn, and only disciples with great comprehension had a chance to learn it.
There was no doubt that Qingyan’s comprehension was great since she was able to be the Sect Leader’s disciple.
Seeing that Li Hao was unconvinced, Zhang Han chuckled.
As expected, like father, like son.
Li Mu shared his father’s desire for advanced cultivation methods.
It was a pity that he was not as diplomatic as his father.
The older, the wiser. Li Hao wanted to take advantage of this competition to obtain more information about the Cloud Shadow Sky’s moves from Zhang Han and consulted him in this manner.
In Zhang Han’s opinion, it was quite interesting.
“Is there a need for you to ask me about that?”
Zhang Han glanced at Li Hao and said calmly, “As we all know, while cultivating, one is required to combine the Ethereal Sword Technique, the Ethereal Moving Technique, and the Ethereal Illusion Technique together, and eventually, he can master the Ethereal Battle Technique.”
“What!”
One of the elders widened his eyes and couldn’t help exclaiming.
“As we all know?”
Li Hao was dumbstruck.
“How can you say that? Even I myself haven’t mastered the Ethereal Battle Technique!
“OMG, Zhang Hanyang, it’s really a heavy blow to me mentally.”
“Hiss!”
But after that, Li Hao couldn’t help but gasp.
“Zhang Hanyang even knows about the Ethereal Battle Technique.
“Even in the heyday of the Cloud Shadow Sky, it was a first-class technique!
“He must have something to do with the elder generation of the Cloud Shadow Sky!
“Wouldn’t that mean…”
“Gurgle…”
Li Hao swallowed.
He felt it was his chance to learn the Ethereal Battle Technique!
His eyes were shining despite his serious face.
He was indeed much cleverer than Li Mu.
“Wow.”
Seeing this, Mengmeng said, “Daddy, Sect Leader Li was stunned by what you said.”
“Ahem, ahem.”
Li Hao hurriedly coughed when he heard this. “I was indeed stunned. This is because I was a little excited when I heard the long-lost secret skill of the Cloud Shadow Sky. Please forgive me for losing my composure.”
“He actually knows of the lost secret skill, the Ethereal Battle Technique, of the Cloud Shadow Sky?”
“Has he heard of it? But outsiders may not know its name.”
“Is he really the friend of one of the seniors of the Cloud Shadow Sky?”
“…”
All sorts of muffled exclamations came from the mouths of the more than ten elders.
This piece of news overwhelmed them.
However, the discussion at the ringside did not affect the two people fighting.
Qingyan, the female disciple, suppressed her opponent with all her skills and quickly won.
“Admirable.”
Wang Xiaowu touched his forehead and made a hold fist salute to Qingyan before he jumped off the ring.
“Fuck! She’s amazing!”
Qingyan appeared somewhat cold and indifferent. She merely nodded slightly and was not triumphant. When she turned around and got out of the ring, she also discovered that the atmosphere was a little strange.
“What happened?” she wondered.
She heard the elders discussing: when one had fully mastered all three techniques, namely, the Ethereal Sword Technique, the Ethereal Moving Technique, and the Ethereal Illusion Technique, at the same time, all this would evolve into the Ethereal Battle Technique.
Stunned, she looked at Sect Leader Li.
“Can I learn both the Ethereal Moving Technique and the Ethereal Illusion Technique?
“No, I remember that these two secret skills have been lost.”
She was confused.
But when she saw Sect Leader Li’s expression, she found it a little strange. When he gave that look, it was as if he wanted something from someone.
She wondered why he would do that to Zhang Hanyang and his men since he was so hospitable to them.
“Wait!”
Qingyan’s eyes narrowed. She finally understood and looked at Zhang Han in disbelief.
“Could it be that he knows the Ethereal Moving Technique and the Ethereal Illusion Technique?”
A small number of core members, including Qingyan, knew that Zhang Hanyang knew the Highest Clouds Sketch and the Dragon Shadow.
From the expressions of the crowd, Qingyan could guess what the Sect Leader meant.
It turned out that he wanted to learn the secret skill.
“Let me give it a try.”
Yun Feiyang got in the ring calmly.
The opposing side sent out a representative as well. The two quickly engaged each other and were evenly matched. There was no doubt that the fight was spectacular.
It was a pity that there was no stunning moment like before.
More than a dozen people had competed with each other, except for Leng Yue, who was low-key and had a low sense of presence, as well as other seniors like Zhang Guangyou.
With that, the competition came to an end.
Mengmeng pulled Zhang Han’s palm and asked in a low voice, “Is there anyone I can compete with?”
“Of course.” Zhang Han suddenly smiled.
“Who is it?” Mengmeng’s eyes lit up slightly and she was also thinking about having a trial of strength.
However, Zhang Han’s answer made the little girl’s expression stiffen.
“Chen Chuan.”
Zhang Han held back his laughter and uttered these two words.
“Zhang Han, you’ve changed…” Mengmeng’s face was full of bitterness.
In addition to the time when Zi Yan urged her to do her homework when she was happy and contented, she would only look like this when she was teased by Zhang Han.
Usually, her last supporter was her father, but she found him to be more and more annoying.
“Let’s go to rest first. Your Grandpa and the others are sleepy. We still have time in the afternoon. Let’s go to a few fun places later,” Zhang Han said with a smile.
There were many changes in many places, but in general, the differences were relatively small. It had only been 1,000 years, and Zhang Han was very familiar with the Cloud Shadow Sky.
“Uh-huh.”
Mengmeng twisted her little butt and no longer expressed her dissatisfaction.
“You can all leave.”
Li Hao waved his hand toward the chief disciples.
The result of this competition was acceptable; the Cloud Shadow Sky had won nearly a quarter of the rounds. It was not that shameful.
However, it was more or less a blow to the chief disciples.
They were elite amongst the younger generation of the Cloud Shadow Sky.
They were also of the upper echelons when compared with the younger generation in the Sea Dragon Star Area.
But there were so many young and strong disciples on the opposing side; they won quickly but lost slowly. That was to say, in their group, except for a few people like Qingyan, the rest of them really struggled to win.
They couldn’t help sighing with emotion in their hearts that there was always someone better than them.
“I’ll take you to the place where you can rest. It’s in the small palace in the back mountain.”
Li Hao took the lead to leave. He walked directly along the square to the back mountain. Not far from the peak of the mountain, there was a palace that was ten times smaller than the main hall. It was smaller but of classic beauty.
Mrs. Li smiled and said, “This is a palace I recently built. Both the materials and the decorations are brand new. It’s a residence specially built for you.”
“Thank you for your hard work.”
Zi Yan smiled and expressed her thanks.
“Well, I do feel sleepy now.”
Zhang Guangyou looked a little drunk and his eyes lost focus.
This was the feeling brought by good wine. Nowadays, very few drinks could make Zhang Guangyou drunk.
Having a good sleep after drinking would make the drinker feel very comfortable.
In the small palace, there were many rooms and perfect facilities.
It could be seen that Li Hao was indeed very attentive.
Zhang Han’s impression of Li Hao was not bad; he had developed the Cloud Shadow Sky very well, had a decent manner, and was the kind of person Zhang Han appreciated.
Therefore, Zhang Han agreed to Li Hao’s request.
At this time, Zhang Guangyou, Gai Xingkong, the Warlord of Chan Clan, and the others had just returned to their rooms to rest.
Li Hao thought for a moment and said, “Zhang Hanyang, I have something from my predecessors. Would you like to have a look?”
“Okay, let’s go.”
Zhang Han nodded slightly.
“I’ll go with you,” Mengmeng said immediately.
She started to show her clingy side again.
“Sure. You guys can go if you want to,” Li Hao laughed as he glanced at everyone.
The place where he planned to take Zhang Han to was precisely the stone wall with the Highest Clouds Sketch carved on it. It was the core secret of the Cloud Shadow Sky, and only the core disciples of the sect could comprehend the stone wall, but it was no secret for these people in front of him.
Zhang Hanyang knew of not only the Highest Clouds Sketch but also the Dragon Shadow. He mentioned the Ethereal Illusion Technique and the Ethereal Moving Technique too. What else did he not know?
In fact, Li Hao was very clear that the cultivation methods and moves displayed by these young disciples were very likely to be something taught by Zhang Hanyang.
Each move had its own mysterious rhythm.
It was very strange and powerful.
Li Hao was really impressed.
“Is it convenient for us to go? You go ahead. Nina and I will rest here.” Mo Wen waved his hand repeatedly.
They were from the Elemental Elf Clan. It wasn’t appropriate for them to visit the core area of the Cloud Shadow Sky.
“Relax. It’s not a secret,” Mengmeng said.
Since so many people had been invited, they could go too.
“It’s okay. You can have a look.”
Li Hao shook his head.
In any case, they would only watch the patterns for a while. It was useless to memorize them by heart because they could change. One needed to meditate in order to learn them. Just watching them a few times was no big deal.
“Alright.”
Mo Wen laughed bitterly.
He was also curious as to what item was left behind by Sect Leader Li’s predecessors.
Since Sect Leader Li didn’t mind, he might as well go and have a look.
So they left the small palace and strolled around the jungle.
In addition to the beautiful scenery, many panic-stricken spirit beasts could be seen fleeing in all directions.
It turned out that Dahei was sticking its head out and showing its fangs to scare them.
It might not be just a scare. What Dahei usually ate was also spirit beasts!
Recently, Dahei and Tiny Tot had been particularly well-behaved and fond of sleeping, especially Tiny Tot, who had been sleeping in Mengmeng’s schoolbag for two days.
Zhang Han also gave an explanation for this.
It was a sign that Tiny Tot was gaining strength.
Dahei and Little Hei were relatively stable. When they began to learn to evolve from Zhang Han, they were still very young. They had thoroughly remolded themselves at a good time. Now that they had absorbed a lot of good things, their path of evolution was quite stable.
Half an hour later, they arrived at the highest peak. After walking through three formations on one side, they finally arrived at a canyon. In front of them was a cliff with a large stone wall.
There were seven patterns on the stone wall.
It was like a stone carving.
“This is…”
Mo Wen’s pupils constricted.
It turned out that what they were going to see was the secret skill left by the predecessors of the Cloud Shadow Sky!
It was the core secret of the Cloud Shadow Sky. Sect Leader Li even dared to take them here to check it out. Wasn’t he afraid that the secret skill would be leaked out?
“Zhang Hanyang, I’ve got something on my mind that I have to speak out.”
Li Hao pondered for a moment, then waved his hand to form a soundproof barrier, covering himself, Mrs. Li, Zhang Han, Zi Yan, and Mengmeng.
After that, he continued, “I heard from Li Mu that you once inquired about First Elder Bai Shanhua and Sect Leader Ning of our sect. As far as I know, they were from a thousand years ago. At that time, the Cloud Shadow Sky was the overlord of the Sea Dragon Star Area. Sect Leader Ning’s strength was unfathomable, and no one knew the limits of his strength. It’s said that Bai Shanhua and the other seven elders all entered the God Transformation Realm, not just the Early Stage. Every single one of them was a big shot who could easily dominate the entire Sea Dragon Star Area. As a result, the Sea Dragon Star Area was no longer suitable for them, and it wasn’t beneficial for their cultivation. At a certain time, they all left and disappeared without a trace. Even so, the Cloud Shadow Sky remained to be formidable for the next hundred years, but it was later outshined by many new forces.”
When he stopped here, his face was full of emotion.
“It wasn’t until my master’s era that the Cloud Shadow Sky could barely be regarded as a second-rate sect. Because I caused a great disaster, I had no choice but to escape from the Sea Dragon Star Area and explore other Star Areas. I didn’t expect that I would get some blessings in disguise and meet Li Mu’s mother after that. When I came back, I was strong and I managed to become the head of the Cloud Shadow Sky step by step. It took me hundreds of years to develop the sect to its current scale.
“In fact, what I want to say is that the Cloud Shadow Sky has never changed. Those seniors at that time, with their strength, must have a place in the Heavenly Dragon Star Province, not to mention that a thousand years have passed. Zhang Hanyang, since you know the lost Highest Clouds Sketch and Dragon Shadow, and you also mentioned the names of Sect Leader Ning and First Elder Bai Shanhua, you must know them. May I know whose descendant you are?”
After saying all this, Li Hao looked at Zhang Han with uncertainty.
If he was the son of an elder, he would be superior to him in rank.
“Whose descendant?”
Zhang Han was slightly stunned.
If these words were heard by those people, they would probably spit blood.
In his previous life, when Zhang Han left, the Cloud Shadow Sky was also very powerful and was considered an upper-class force in the Sea Dragon Star Area.
Later on, he returned several times to teach Sect Leader Ning and the eight elders.
Furthermore, he provided them with a lot of cultivation resources.
From then on, the Cloud Shadow Sky’s strength began to soar, and it ushered in the era of dominion over the Sea Dragon Star Area.
When Zhang Han came back later, he gave them some advice too, but his strength improved too fast for them to keep up.
He returned for the last time to look for traces of Earth.
Unfortunately, in the vast Sea Dragon Star Area and even in the nearby places, he could not find Earth at all.
At that time, he had too many regrets.
But he didn’t expect that he would get a blessing in disguise. He returned to Earth after rebirth when he failed to resist the divine thunder over the sky. All his regrets were made up for one by one, and the course of his life changed.
“Is the divine thunder over the sky so powerful?”
Zhang Han had some doubts about this.
