"Above the sea surface."
Chen Yun's eyes gazed fiercely at the Taoist practitioner Guoteng, and he threw out a tough word.
To be honest, he knew that at his current stage, he was definitely not a match for the opponent.
Even if he were to manifest a golden divine body, the probability of winning would be close to zero.
So, why did Chen Yun agree to Gouteng's challenge?
The reason is simple; since entering the third transformation of "Master Chen's Internal Elixir Manual," he has experienced a comprehensive upgrade to his own abilities.
He had previously judged that even if he couldn't defeat Gouteng Taoist Practitioner, he should still be able to escape unscathed with his powerful physical body.
Moreover, he wanted to test the "depth" of Gouteng Taoist Practitioner and assess the accuracy of his previous conjectures.
For example, he wondered how likely it would be to hit the target with a stealth attack while concocting a purple-golden gourd.
Of course, Chen Yun still held a sliver of hope. If he could use the "Slaughter Law" during his confrontation with Gouteng Taoist Practitioner today, perhaps it wouldn't be so troublesome, and all the problems could be solved.
Lastly, even if he doesn't prevail.
Even possibly facing life-threatening danger.
As long as he doesn't leave this area.
Someone should intervene to help.
That's right, it's the Dragon Palace of the East Sea.
Only moments ago, Chen Yun had promised the Dragon King of the East Sea to introduce him to the High Upper Jade Emperor's camp.
He believed that the Dragon King of the East Sea, upon seeing him in danger of losing his life, would certainly not stand idly by.
Since there's no risk of life danger, why not take this opportunity to test the true strength of the opponent's capabilities?
Chen Yun maintained his composure and gazed calmly in the direction of the opposite side.
It seems Gouteng Taoist Practitioner didn't anticipate Chen Yun's determination.
Gouteng Taoist Practitioner looked at Chen Yun with a rather astonished expression, "Chen Pu, if it were not for our blood feud, to be honest, I quite admire you. But unfortunately, you first exterminated the entire family of the Xingxiu Sea, and then you killed my elder brother. No matter how much I admire you, I can't put aside our blood feud."
Chen Yun coldly snorted and said, "Think back to when I had no quarrel with your Xingxiu Sea. Your daughter Shen Xu, had secretly attacked me, almost killing me completely. Alright, I can acknowledge that this was you Xingxiu Sea's attempt to take the lead in avenging the death of Xie Wu through me, but I have already paid back this debt by surviving death. Why then do Shen Xu and the couple of Xuan Zhenzi find it necessary to come after my life?" he asked, "Ask yourself, was it your Xingxiu Sea that had no right, or was it me Chen Pu who did not behave rationally?"
Gouteng Taoist Practitioner was rendered speechless by the question.
Indeed, from beginning to end, the Xingxiu Sea was in the wrong all along.
Shen Xu, as the fiancée of Xie Wu's death, taking action to avenge her lover's death, can be considered acceptable.
But Shen Xu's plan back then did succeed, and yet Chen Yun managed to escape with his life by just a hair's breadth, avoiding complete annihilation. Shen Xu has no right to take revenge under any circumstances.
Alright, even if Shen Xu continues to use her fiancée status as an excuse, it can still be considered that she has a reason for taking action.
But what about the couple of Xuan Zhenzi?
The two of them are legitimate disciples of the Xingxiu Sea.
They had no direct "connection" to Xie Wu.
What qualifications do they have to engage in the battle?
It can be said that the entire family of the Xingxiu Sea was exterminated by Chen Yun, and it is only right.
Afterwards, Gouteng Taoist Practitioner teamed up with Xie Wu to come looking for trouble, which is downright disrespectful.
You, as a junior, are not a match for me.
Wow, did you even bother to show up personally?
If that's the case, could Chen Yun invite his fellow disciples such as Lǚ Dòngbīn, Hé Xiangu, Hán Xiāngzǐ and others to step in and eliminate you Gouteng Taoist Practitioner?
The most critical point is that so far, Chen Yun has not called on any of his fellow disciples for help. Otherwise, Gouteng Taoist Practitioner would definitely not have been able to withstand it.
Gouteng Taoist Practitioner couldn't help but feel a twinge of shame in his heart. It was indeed quite impressive of Chen Yun's character.
Unfortunately, his daughter was killed, his sect was completely wiped out, and his brother Xie Wu had also died.
Even though Gouteng Taoist Practitioner felt ashamed and admired Chen Yun's character, he couldn't possibly give up so easily.
Because he doesn't know how to respond.
Gouteng Taoist Practitioner, pretending to be angry, said, "Little thief, stop your nonsense. Today I'll show you how to take your life!"
Between his words, a powerful force surged forth.
Chen Yun only felt that the spiritual energy in his body seemed to be jumping violently.
A colossal pressure from all sides converged on him.
He felt as if he were carrying a Mount Tai on his back.
Most importantly, this immense pressure wasn't just bringing great pressure on his body.
Even his unformed spirit seemed to be suffocated by the pressure.
Strong!
Gouteng Taoist Practitioner is truly too strong!
Chen Yun is facing off against Gouteng Taoist Practitioner for the first time in a real sense.
With just a slight display of his power, the other party exuded an irresistible strength.
It's no wonder he's a mid-stage Earthly Realm cultivator.
The gap between himself and the opponent was far too large.
Despite this, he showed no sign of fear.
"Break!"
Chen Yun activated the "Zhang Liu Jin Shen" Mantra.
In an instant, a resounding "thunderclap" roar erupted from within his body.
Then, a flash of golden light flashed on top of his head, and the enormous pressure was instantly dispelled.
"To have achieved the realm of human immortality at such a young age and still have the ability to withstand my aura, you're good." Gouteng Taoist Practitioner praised, before his expression turned as cold as ice, "But I'm afraid that today, you are destined to die here!"
As his voice turned icy cold,
Then, the space around him seemed to split open like a crack.
Endless starlight and spiritual qi enveloped the area, spreading in all directions.
Although Chen Yun stood on the sea at the moment, he felt that the boundless starlight spiritual qi was the true sea.
This starlight spiritual qi, before it even touches the human body, makes one feel as if every upward thought in their soul is about to be torn apart and ground to dust!
Moreover, the starlight spiritual qi contained a powerful and domineering aura of death, evoking a powerful sense of terror and dread.
Thud-thud-thud!
The starlight spiritual qi spread everywhere, as if the Milky Way in the sky suddenly collapsed.
Endless and boundless, it seemed like a huge Milky River made of infinite stars, thick and viscous like mercury, tumbling down.
This power and majesty are so awe-inspiring that they seem to reign supreme in the heavens and on earth!
"Is this truly the true strength of Gouteng Taoist Practitioner?"
Chen Yun's heart quivered, realizing that he had little chance of using his human immortality realm later stage strength to fend off the attack.
Without hesitation, Chen Yun roared, "Transform!"
Then, a loud and resounding boom sounded.
A blaze of fiery light, in a radiant, gold color, burst forth amidst the starlight that enveloped the sea.
An overwhelming wave of purple-golden flames erupted from Chen Yun's body, covering the entire sea surface.
Almost at that very moment, the sky, the sea surface, and the starlight all became a swirling sea of purple-golden flames.
One after another, flames as thick as great rivers spread outwards in all directions.
At the same time, Chen Yun's body seemed to explode all at once.
Endless streams of purple-golden flames consumed Chen Yun's original form and surged skywards at once.
At the moment the purple-golden flames rose,
A strong aura began to spread across the sea.
The quaking seemed to shake the entire heavens and earth.
Suddenly, the entire world shook violently.
A giant, golden demon god emerged from the flames, towering over the sea. It had eighteen heads and twenty-four arms, with wings composed of golden aura and gold flowing from its back. Each head bore a single vertical eye at its forehead.
At first, the golden demon god was only around four or five chi tall, but as it faced the wind, it grew instantly to around forty or fifty chi tall!
This terrifying appearance shocked everyone.
Chen Yun's aura also abruptly rose from that of a human immortality realm later stage to nearly the early stage of the Earthly Realm.
What's crucial is that as he manifested his golden demon god form, an array of unknown thunder fire divine force seemed to instantly project from nowhere, adding a boost to Chen Yun's form. His aura surged once again, even though it was still not on par with the strength of the mid-stage Earthly Realm, but those endless streams of purple-golden flames were already quietly devouring and dissolving the starlight.
Upon seeing this, Gouteng Taoist Practitioner showed an expression of disbelief and exclaimed, "You actually became a god?"
As Chen Yun transformed into a golden demon god, he felt the merging of his divine power and his spiritual body, as layer upon layer of immense divine force was poured down upon him, allowing him to narrow the gap between himself and Gouteng Taoist Practitioner.
In addition, the divine status of Seng T'ien Jian Guo Si of the North's God of Exorcism Wind Thunder can add to one's combat power.
Chen Yun felt that his current displayed strength might only be slightly stronger than a normal early Earthly Realm cultivator, but the combat power he could unleash was probably many times stronger than that of a normal early Earthly Realm cultivator.
Whether it can compare to a mid-stage Earthly Realm cultivator is hard to say, but at the very least, at this current stage, it has given him the ability to defend himself!
Chen Yun, without expression, moved those streams of purple-golden flames, as thick as rivers, "Indeed, the Daoist has been enshrined by the Moral Sage as the God of Exorcism Wind Thunder in the North's Seng T'ien Jian Guo Si. You mere immortal of uncertain origin dare to entertain thoughts of killing a deity? Such a sinful intent must be punished. You should be executed!"
Gouteng Taoist Practitioner's face changed dramatically.
The starlight gradually became thinner.
It seemed as if he was undergoing some sort of psychological duel, hesitating to make any further moves.
A divinity enshrined by the Heavenly Court represents the face of the Heavenly Court.
If Gouteng Taoist Practitioner insists on killing Chen Yun today, it's not entirely impossible.
He has confidence in his own abilities.
After all, the mid-stage Earthly Realm is not something that can be compared to Chen Yun's enhanced strength through his spiritual body and divine status.
Just killing Chen Yun now would be equivalent to challenging the Heavenly Court.
From now on, the Imperial warrant will be issued by heaven, and countless deities will descend to capture Gouteng Taoist Practitioner without any hesitation.
Given Gouteng Taoist Practitioner's understanding of the Heavenly Queen's Law, assassinating a deity of heaven would certainly result in accountability and fragmentation.
At that time, he will be completely annihilated and have no chance for reincarnation!
The immense pressure from heaven caused Gouteng Taoist Practitioner's fingers to tremble slightly.
Taking a deep breath, Gouteng Taoist Practitioner looked at Chen Yun with a look of reluctance and slowly said, "I see you have become a god. In that case, I indeed dare not make a move against you."
Chen Yun was startled. He had originally wanted to take advantage of this battle to get a better understanding of his opponent's abilities. But little did he know that Gouteng Taoist Practitioner had already shown signs of retreating.
He frowned and said, "Gouteng, you come and go as you please, treating the Daoist with no regard?"
With that, Chen Yun grasped a stream of purple-golden flame and fiercely flung it towards Gouteng Taoist Practitioner!
Gouteng Taoist Practitioner lightly waved his sleeve, and a stream of starlight shot out to instantly dissolve the flame torrent!
He squinted his eyes and said, "Little thief, do not take advantage of others too much. Now that you are relying on your godly status, I truly dare not attack you. However, since you have joined the Khitan people, there will always be a great battle between them and the Jin Dynasty that I support in the future. By then, once you step onto the battlefield of deities, I will no longer have to hesitate about your divine status!"
Of course, Chen Yun was not really pressing the issue to the point where the other party had to fight him to the death.
After all, he knows that his current strength is no match for Gouteng Taoist Practitioner.
A fight to the death would only result in one thing: ultimately provoking Gouteng Taoist Practitioner to disregard everything and kill Chen Yun.
Chen Yun still had a "replacement talisman" that allowed for rebirth even in the case of complete annihilation of body and spirit.
However, using a resurrection talisman against someone whose strength is only slightly weaker than his own, and who is still a match for him, is not very smart.
His previous actions were still part of a probe to gauge the other party's strength and understand how powerful they were.
Seeing that Gouteng Taoist Practitioner had no desire to continue the battle, Chen Yun glared at him with his demonic-eyed spiritual form, "Gouteng brat, since you dare not face me today, it is certain that your resolve has been shattered. In the future, when we meet again on the battlefield of deities, there will be only one outcome: I will defeat you completely and annihilate your body and spirit. You have already lost the best chance to kill me!"
Gouteng Taoist Practitioner arrogantly laughed, "Hahaha, Chen Pu little thief, you really are overconfident. The strength of a mid-stage Earthly Realm cultivator like me is something you, a mere early Earthly Realm cultivator, cannot match. I will not kill you today, but my resolve will definitely have a small crack. However, in the Battle of the Deities, I will definitely kill you!"
Perhaps because Chen Yun did not strike again, Gouteng Taoist Practitioner's form gradually became ethereal after he spoke those words.
As Gouteng Taoist Practitioner's body was about to completely dissipate, he threw another harsh remark, "The power I possess is not something you can test now. Don't think I don't know what you were thinking just then. Next time we meet, I advise you to be well-prepared for your coffin!"
With the sound fading away, Gouteng Taoist Practitioner disappeared without a trace.
Chen Yun then receded from his golden demon god form and returned to his normal state.
He looked towards where Gouteng Taoist Practitioner had vanished, his eyes narrowing thoughtfully.
"Just now, I attacked him several times, and although I did not test his actual strength to a great extent, it can be generally determined that there is still a considerable gap between us even with my manifestation as the Golden Demon God and the enhancement of my divine status."
Chen Yun was somewhat helpless, "Even if we continue to fight, I can't kill him, nor can I even injure him. The only way to hurt him is through the 'Law of Kill' power."
The attack with the flame torrent stream just now seemed simple, but in fact, he exerted all his efforts.
Because he had cultivated to the third turn of 'Mr. Chen's Inner Dantian Sutra', he had already achieved the state of completeness throughout his body, and every move could be executed without any loss of power.
So, the attack he made just now was indeed executed without holding back.
But unfortunately, Gouteng Taoist Practitioner merely waved his sleeve, and the concentrated flame torrent that Chen Yun had unleashed was immediately dissipated completely.
It can be imagined that the difference in their raw strength was extremely significant.
However, Chen Yun was not without gains from the probing.
At the very least, he has analyzed that since his power has improved to this stage, the other party is no longer the "invincible" undefeatable existence.
"I didn't even bring out the Seven Treasures Wondrous Tree and I didn't use the 'Law of Kill' power, yet I managed to elicit at least five percent of Gouteng Taoist Practitioner's strength. If I can refine the Purple Golden Gourd into a magical artifact, combine it with the Seven Treasures Wondrous Tree and the Wind God Flag, I may have a chance to defeat him."
Chen Yun was deep in thought, knowing that he had a general idea of how strong Gouteng Taoist Practitioner's physical strength was.
Of course, this is Gouteng Taoist Practitioner's natural strength, without counting the addition of magical artifacts and treasures.
If the opponent uses the Star Fire Shield.
as well as other magical artifacts or treasures.
It seems like it would still be difficult for me to defeat him.
"I will not be able to successfully breakthrough to the Earthly Realm until I defeat Gouteng."
Chen Yun's resolve to kill was not diminished in the slightest, "However, today I scared Gouteng away with my divine status, and his resolve has indeed cracked. Meanwhile, my own resolve has been strengthened a little. With this reduction and increase, the next time we meet on the battlefield of deities, my chances of winning are very high!"
Indeed, he has gained quite a lot today.
Firstly, he roughly grasped the hard strength of Gouteng Taoist Practitioner.
Secondly, Gouteng Taoist Practitioner was scared away by his divine status, and his resolve has developed a crack.
Finally, he had therefore managed to fill in a little of the crack in his resolve.
While these are all intangible, they actually provide great help to Chen Yun.
It is significant enough to increase his chances of winning by two or three points when he faces Gouteng Taoist Practitioner again in the future!
"The only thing I need to pay attention to now is that formidable treasure Gouteng Taoist Practitioner possesses, the Star Fire Shield. If I can find a solution to this treasure, there is hope for killing him!"
A thought of the green lamp in the Moon and Sun Spring Realm flashed through Chen Yun's mind again.
Perhaps, this is the "inevitable fate" for defeating Gouteng Taoist Practitioner!
Thoughts in mind, he did not linger by the sea any longer.
Chen Yun used a transportation technique to return to the Laojun Temple.
Gaining a better understanding of Gouteng's physical strength.
Chen Yun has fully determined that he must go to the Moon and Sun Spring Realm.
Next time we meet... Gouteng Taoist Practitioner is undoubtedly doomed to die!
Chen Yun is full of confidence like this!
