Chapter 58

As the rain poured down on the blue stone slabs, it struck the green oiled paper umbrella, splashing countless tiny droplets that formed a thin layer of mist, obscuring the slender figure of Chen Ang under the umbrella.

A bolt of lightning split the sky, the dazzling light illuminating the peak of Shenghuo Cave, where a vague figure stood at the summit, everything hidden in the thin mist. Amidst the rolling thunder, Fang La stripped off his outer garment, revealing a well-built chest. Rainwater slid down his spine, and several terrifying old scars, like centipedes, coiled around his vital points.

These ghastly wounds moved even Huang Shang, who, though healed, evoked the once heart-stopping danger.

The several Dharmas of the Mingjiao stood behind Fang La, allowing the rain to beat down on them. Each one was a top-notch expert, renowned for their prowess in battles. They had fought countless battles, but they willingly submitted to the man named Fang La.

Some of them had astonishing talent, mastering rare and unparalleled martial arts. Some came from prestigious families, dedicating decades to refining their skills. Others rose from the bottom, relying on their bravery and strength. Yet, it was Fang La, an ordinary man from a peasant family, who subdued them all and became the rightful leader of the Mingjiao.

Huang Shang watched Fang La step by step onto the high platform, his expression unusually solemn. Though he was not involved in the martial world, his discernment far surpassed that of the four Dharmas of the Mingjiao combined.

From the entrance to the base of the platform, it was only a few dozen steps. The accumulated water on the blue stone slabs and the raindrops created countless tiny ripples. If someone stepped on the water, they would surely feel the soft touch, the skin brushing against the splashing droplets. Children playing in the rain loved this feeling.

Many people disliked this damp sensation. Even if they were cautious, they could not avoid the splashing water and the rising mist, which inevitably wet their trouser legs.

This kind of trouble was unavoidable.

But Huang Shang noticed that Fang La's trouser legs remained dry. The rainwater dripped down his chest, and the raindrops struck his body with force, but they were absorbed like a sponge, quickly forming a thin layer of water on his skin.

When he stepped into a puddle, it was as if he was slowly sinking into the water, silently and without a ripple. The rising mist could not even touch his skin, instead coalescing into droplets that fell back down.

This was a marvel of precision!

In the martial world, some experts boasted of their skills, such as pouring wine from a distance without spilling a drop or piercing tofu with a sword without harming the hand. They should see Fang La's performance now.

Countless tiny, chaotic, and unpredictable droplets, with varying weights and sizes, like countless headless flies, exerted complex and intricate forces from different directions, at different speeds, and at different times, striking Fang La's body. In that instant, the complex force changes were the most exquisite hidden weapons in the world.

No one could avoid the attack of water in the rain.

This was the most terrifying hidden weapon in the world, unpredictable, mysterious, and silent. It often dampened your clothes without you noticing. If the most skilled hidden weapon expert from the Tang family saw this rain, could they even think of resisting it?

If the most skilled person in the world, with the most agile movements, could they dodge and catch this omnipresent rain?

But Fang La did it. He deflected every raindrop that struck him, resolving and redirecting every subtle force and every insignificant contact. Like a master of using force against force, he faced countless attacks simultaneously.

This was the Great Shift of the Universe, the supreme martial art that controlled the essence of force, the ultimate summary of martial arts. Before it, all martial arts that emphasized the subtlety of force seemed like a joke.

Those complex, unparalleled martial arts that no one could master, those rare geniuses who spent a lifetime learning and refining them, could be surpassed by Fang La in a single encounter, tenfold.

In terms of force control, no martial art in this world could surpass it. With Fang La, the most powerful leader in the history of the Mingjiao, and decades of cultivation in this martial art, plus Chen Ang's guidance, the yin-yang changes, the use of force against force, and the shifting of energy, the core of the art was perfected.

This created an unprecedented supreme martial art.

"Congratulations!" Chen Ang said joyfully.

Fang La walked up to him and sighed, "Only just now did I feel the joy of martial arts, the freedom and liberation of understanding the way of heaven and man, without any constraints. Only at this moment did I truly understand the joy of martial arts."

"Devoting oneself wholeheartedly to something is extremely joyful. You must truly love it to feel its charm," Chen Ang said with a smile.

Fang La said, "I didn't understand you until now. Standing here, I realize how rare it is to have an equally matched opponent."

"Having such an opponent is my good fortune," Chen Ang smiled. "Being able to witness the eighth level of the Great Shift of the Universe is also my good fortune."

In the Mingjiao, the Great Shift of the Universe had only reached the sixth and a half level, already a rare divine skill. Previous leaders had only mastered up to the sixth level, making them top-notch experts in the martial world. This time, with Fang La's decades of cultivation and Chen Ang's supreme martial wisdom, the essence of martial arts from the "Smiling, Proud Wanderer" and "Heavenly Dragon" worlds was combined, elevating the Great Shift of the Universe to the ninth level.

It was bound to be a splendid and brilliant achievement. Chen Ang deeply anticipated it.

He put down the oiled paper umbrella and stepped into the rain. The rain fell on him, sliding off without resistance, creating a curtain of water. Chen Ang stepped on the stone slabs and leaped into the air, like a cloud dragon freely roaming in the rain, the water droplets he splashed carrying varying weights and sizes of energy, rushing towards Fang La.

A finger waited behind the water droplets, effortlessly touching them. Chen Ang moved through the rain, pointing towards Fang La.

In the countless water droplets, there were countless layers of hidden energy. Each droplet could contain a world, at least for Chen Ang. Cold, heat, dampness, dryness, toxins, and evil energies disrupted the yin-yang balance and inverted the body's qi. This was the true essence of qi.

Those injured by this true essence would suffer severe illness. The way of yin and yang could bring the dead back to life or extinguish life.

This was not just a martial art for harming others but a divine and profound medical skill.

Fang La gathered his palms and turned his body, his hands like a gate, blocking all directions. The splashing droplets struck his hands, and regardless of the force or the hidden energy, they were redirected by a harmonious energy, guiding them in the direction they came from. The droplets in the air coalesced into a palm-sized water ball, strangely floating in mid-air.

Even with the complex and varied forces in the water ball and the unpredictable energy from Chen Ang, the harmonious and inverted energy of the Great Shift of the Universe was fully displayed. Infinite forces were contained in the small water ball, and the rain fell on Fang La, sliding off him without effect.

Even this force was stored in the water ball.

Chen Ang's energy was collected and gradually accumulated. Fang La smiled, and with a reverse push of his hands, it was like a lake storing floodwaters during a mountain flood. The water ball silently dispersed, but the force was released with Fang La's powerful energy, like a dam breaking and a flood rushing out.

This was turning Chen Ang's force into his own and sending it back, as if the two were working together. In the world, could anyone withstand a combined attack from Chen Ang and Fang La?

Chen Ang's finger followed closely, meeting this powerful strike. If it hit, it would instantly break the finger bones, wrist bones, arm bones, shoulder bones, and ribs, shatter the tendons and bones, burn the internal organs, and disrupt the yin-yang balance, causing a myriad of diseases.

Even a celestial being would die a terrible death.

But it was Chen Ang. In the world, only two people could reach the pinnacle of the Great Shift of the Universe: Fang La and Chen Ang. The two, one inside and one outside, each completed the mysteries of this divine skill.

Although Chen Ang had not yet grasped the half that Fang La had learned, he understood five parts of the Great Shift of the Universe, as it was a martial art they had created and developed together.