Xiang Shaoyun was exceedingly perceptive toward energy. That was why he had been able to create a tactical technique, the Havoc Dance. As for the reflect gravity field he had just released, that was something that occurred after he managed to sense the structural makeup of Huang Quan's gravity field. Making use of his own earth energy, he ingeniously destroyed the structure of his opponent's gravity field, caused Huang Quan to lose control over it, and suppressed him with it.

Huan Quan's grasp on the changes of energy flow and energy control was completely incomparable to Xiang Shaoyun's. More importantly, Xiang Shaoyun had managed to sense the profundity of the power of earth, allowing him to borrow an unending amount of earth energy from the ground beneath him. As a result, his aura skyrocketed, and the projection of a towering mountain appeared behind him, exuding the aura of an unyielding mountain.

Everything had happened thanks to him recalling the ancient mantra the gravekeeper elder had taught him.

The ancient mantra depicted the profundity of heaven and earth, primal chaos, and yin and yang. It retold an ancient secret, and it was an ancient technique related to flow. But now, it also seemed like it was a key toward the profundity of powers.

His time spent with the gravekeeper elder, receiving the teachings from the gravekeeper elder who wasn't keeping anything from him, and his newly gained filthless soul had allowed his comprehension power to greatly grow. The accumulation gained from all three resulted in his current comprehension of the power of earth.

As he released the reflect gravity field, Huang Quan felt his body grow heavier. However, that much increase was still acceptable. He was still able to run after Xiang Shaoyun, and he threw his heavy fists forward. He was confident he would be able to completely defeat Xiang Shaoyun after landing one more hit.

The thought of victory gave him no joy whatsoever. Rather, he was disappointed by Xiang Shaoyun's strength. As soon as that thought surfaced in his mind, his fists collided with Xiang Shaoyun's. A rumbling sound erupted, as if mountains were clashing against each other.

After borrowing the power of the earth, Xiang Shaoyun's strength had surpassed Huang Quan's. After repeated clashes, Huang Quan started feeling like his arms wouldn't be able to take it anymore. The reflect gravity field further exacerbated his situation, and finally, he was sent flying away while coughing blood.

The layer of stone around both his arms had collapsed completely, and his skin was cracked and flowing with blood. His aura started dropping, and he couldn't stop coughing blood. He found that even his inner organs had been damaged.

It was now apparent that in his last round of head-on collision with Xiang Shaoyun, he had been at a disadvantage. The realization filled him with disbelief. One ought to know that he cultivated the power of earth, a power known for its defense. It was a big shock to him that Xiang Shaoyun was able to inflict so much damage to him using the same power. He had clearly been holding the upper hand the entire fight, but in the blink of an eye, everything seemed to have changed.

Was he hiding his strength all along? Huang Quan wondered to himself.

"Do you surrender?" Xiang Shaoyun asked.

Huang Quan hesitated for a bit before he finally lied down weakly and said, "I-it's my defeat."

It was a thorough defeat that he was convinced with. He couldn't even find an excuse to not submit. Xiang Shaoyun then withdrew his energy and said, "Ok. Then 10,000 of your contribution points will be mine."

Huang Quan had nothing to say since he had willingly taken the wager. He directly transferred Xiang Shaoyun the points without hesitation. Of course, it was still a large number of points, and it caused his heart to ache. One ought to know that it wasn't easy to earn contribution points. He felt somewhat helpless at the realization that he had suffered both a defeat and a loss of his points.

As for the crowd around the ring, everyone had their own thoughts after what they had just witnessed. Some felt Xiang Shaoyun was really formidable, some felt there was nothing special about him, and some noticed that he seemed to cultivate a lot of different powers.

Beside the ring, Tang Longfei quickly thanked those who had placed a bet at his stand. "Thank you, everyone. Thank you for the contribution points!"

He was filled with joy after suddenly earning so many contribution points. After all, contribution points were necessary to live in the academy. It was always better to have more than less. The victory increased Xiang Shaoyun's ranking once more, putting him at the 953rd place on the Serpent Fowl List.

Just as he was about to leave the ring, someone jumped out and shouted, "Xiang Shaoyun, I want to duel you!"

Xiang Shaoyun answered without even looking at the person, "Come early tomorrow if you want to duel me. I only accept one duel per day."

He then left. He had gained some new comprehensions during the duel, and he needed to quickly go back and consolidate what he had learned. Although the challenger wasn't too happy, he couldn't say anything. If he pressed on, others would think that he was taking advantage of a tired combatant. That would be somewhat unbecoming.

After returning to his villa, the first thing Xiang Shaoyun did was enter his cultivation room. He sat down cross-legged and started replaying the scenes of his previous battle. He focused on the new power he had comprehended toward the end of the battle that had allowed his combat prowess to surge greatly. That was the main thing he needed to etch into his brain.

After spending some time analyzing his gains, he was certain that his new comprehension was all thanks to his studies on the ancient mantra. The mantra had enabled him to borrow the power of the earth beneath him in the midst of a battle. In other words, in a fight, so long as he remained on the ground, he could borrow the power of the earth to increase his combat prowess.

The prerequisite of the ability was to comprehend the profundity of the power of earth. Otherwise, one wouldn't be able to borrow anything. Comprehending the profundity was where the mantra had greatly helped.

Xiang Shaoyun then started attempting to absorb the power of earth from the ground beneath him, trying to etch the sensation in his mind forever, allowing him to repeat the same feat in his future battles.

This is probably one of the concepts of the power of earth, to become one with earth to endlessly enhance oneself. Currently, I am barely scratching the surface. Perhaps the day when I can fully control an expanse of land and raise mountains and part the ground with a wave of my hand will be the day I have fully grasped the power of earth. The ancient mantra is really impressive, thought Xiang Shaoyun.

Perhaps comprehending powers of such depth would make up for the flaw of cultivating nine different powers. If he was to encounter an earth cultivator who had similarly comprehended the same power, that advantage would be gone.

Little did Xiang Shaoyun know, very few people could comprehend such powers prior to reaching the Soul Foundation Realm. Most people could only have such deep comprehension after reaching the Soul Foundation Realm.