Ou Yingming's eyelids twitched upon noticing the amazingly subtle change in his surroundings.

It was only through his combined state of the integration of Heaven and man and thoroughly meticulous that Ou Yangming noticed the minute changes. Nevertheless, what surprised Ou Yangming even more, was that he had also detected a faint trace of the imperial family's supreme elder's power.

Ou Yangming's thoughts wandered back to the scene where Wu Yuanwei had controlled the elements as if they were an extension of his own body.

Although Zuoqiu Hongyuan's ability was still a far cry from Wu Yuanwei's, be it from his control of the winds, or the pressure he exerted, Ou Yangming was still forced to acknowledge their similarities.

Ou Yangming was no longer swaying his body, as all body techniques, regardless of how mystical they were, were useless against the encroaching gales.

He lowered his gaze slightly as if he had already given up on the battle. All that was left was for the violent whirlwinds to sweep him away.

Zuoqiu Hongyuan observed Ou Yangming's plight with his arms crossed. An item gleamed around his waist, and his complexion was slightly paler than before. Nevertheless, the twinkle of excitement within his eyes was brighter than ever.

"Close in…"

On Zuoqiu Hongyuan's command, the raging gales approached the center and threatened to swallow Ou Yangming completely.

However, at that moment, a blinding light had suddenly erupted from the center of the fierce whirlwinds.

Without any sort of warning, the light instantly shattered the furious gales' blockade, and an object could be seen rushing at Zuoqiu Hongyuan at immense speeds.

With an intensity that was as overwhelming as the weight of the sky, an iron fist infused with rampant energy mercilessly slammed down into the direction of Zuoqiu Hongyuan's skull.

Right before the whirlwinds had enveloped Ou Yangming, he activated the ultimate technique, the Blood Flight Art, in a last-ditch effort to break through the whirlwinds. Upon breaking through at the very last second, Ou Yangming chose not to flee from the battle, and instead, unleashed the most aggressive counterattack he could muster.

Zuoqiu widened his eyes slightly and he halted what he was doing. A grim look covered his face, and with that, he then brought up his hands.

A colossal power surged forth from his hands, and with it, he took Ou Yangming's fist head-on.

A deafening boom ensued from their clash, and Ou Yangming was hurtled backward.

Although Ou Yangming's complexion had turned pale from the explosion, Zuoqiu Hongyuan was left in a worse state than him. A trickle of blood could be seen flowing down from the corner of his mouth.

The two locked glares while eyeing the other warily.

Back when they had crossed fists earlier, Ou Yangming had almost given up when he sensed Zuoqiu Hongyuan's control of the elements. However, upon closer observation, he noticed that while the whirlwinds were indeed powerful, they lacked a certain liveliness to them.

It was as if the whirlwinds had been given specific orders in advance, and because of it, the way they moved had lacked any sort of flexibility.

Due to this, Ou Yangming's resolve was rekindled once more.

Ou Yangming poured all of his attention into his five senses, and the moment he detected that the winds had congregated together, he activated his Blood Flight Art. Just as he had calculated, the powerful winds had been caught off guard by his sudden response, and as a result, Ou Yangming was able to burst out of the blockade in the nick of time.

Ou Yangming could tell that Zuoqiu Hongyuan's control of the elements was not a skill of his own, but rather, due to a unique item he had on hand.

Just like Ou Yangming's own Charm Arm Guard, it was too powerful for him to control its abilities perfectly.

Due to Zuoqiu Hongyuan's inability to fully utilize it, it had ended up being the key to Ou Yangming's counterattack.

Although Ou Yangming's Blood Flight Art would absorb Ou Yangming's Qi and blood, since Ou Yangming had ascended to the Yang Grade, his Qi and blood were richer than ever before, and as a result, using the Blood Flight Art in short bursts would not affect him much.

On the other hand, Zuoqiu Hongyuan had suffered serious consequences when he abruptly ceased the use of his magic tool.

Although both sides had suffered wounds from their quick exchange, if they were to compare the damage, it was clear that Ou Yangming had come up on top.

Zuoqiu Hongyuan scrutinized Ou Yangming and declared, "Impressive, Brother Ou! You're the first person I've met who broke out of the whirlwinds with sheer force."

Ou Yangming chuckled and responded, "You flatter me, Brother Zuoqiu. We're just borrowing the powers of our equipment, there's nothing impressive about that."

Zuoqiu Hongyuan shook his head, "Is our equipment not part of our strength? Why do you treat them separately, Brother Ou?"

Ou Yangming was at a loss for words. However, he managed to stifle a laugh and respond, "Perhaps it's due to my nature as a blacksmith to treat them differently." Following that, he then sighed to himself, 'It seems that I've been too pedantic. Without all these rare pieces of equipment, my combat prowess would probably drop by a third.'

In Ou Yangming's world, one's equipment was considered as part of their strength, and there was no point in shying away from it.

With his newfound philosophy in mind, Ou Yangming then chuckled and said, "Well, since you've taken your best shot at me, it would be rude for me to not reciprocate. Take care, Brother Zuoqiu."

Ou Yangming lowered his hips into a horse stance and hurled his fist forward.

The mental power within Ou Yangming's sea of consciousness poured forth like a torrential storm, and in that instant, Ou Yangming's Simulated Spiritual Fist was stronger than it had ever been.

A lion shows no mercy to its prey, and the same could be said of Ou Yangming.

Since Zuoqiu Hongyuan had used his ultimate trump card right off the bat, Ou Yangming had decided to return the favor as well.

That is, until he launched his attack. Upon doing so, Ou Yangming's complexion paled even further. Much to his surprise, Ou Yangming realized that he was incapable of capturing Zuoqiu Hongyuan's mental conception.

The Spiritual Fist could be regarded as a two-way technique of sorts, in a sense that whenever it was successful, the consciousness of Ou Yangming's opponent would enter an illusory world of Ou Yangming's creation. However, if it were to fail, it meant that his opponent's spiritual will was stronger than his own, and Ou Yangming would be able to detect it.

The latter case had applied to Zuoqiu Hongyuan, as to Ou Yangming's surprise, Zuoqiu Hongyuan had a will of iron, and despite being only in Yang Grade, it was much sturdier than even the newly ascended Supreme Great Ancestor, Woo Lejia.

Indeed, and it was not only stronger by a slight margin, but by a landslide.

Mental power and spiritual will were not the same, and although Ou Yangming's mental power had far surpassed his opponent's, the same could not be said of his spiritual will.

An enigmatic smile flashed across Zuoqiu Hongyuan's face as he seized Ou Yangming's moment of surprise to fire off the strongest attack he could muster.

Ou Yangming snapped back to reality and instantly retreated while using his body technique.

Without the use of his Blood Flight Art, Ou Yangming's speed was inferior to Zuoqiu Hongyuan's. However, if he were to combine his mystical body techniques together with the Integration of Heaven and man and thoroughly meticulous, Ou Yangming could give Zuoqiu Hongyuan a run for his money.

While falling back, Ou Yangming raised both his hands and fired several attacks in-air.

They were Air-striking Fists, and at that moment, several invisible waves of energy were hurtling towards Zuoqiu Hongyuan's direction. This mysterious power had intimidated even Zuoqiu Hongyuan, as he had pushed himself to the limits just to avoid them.

For a period, the two looked as if they had morphed into rays of light as they constantly moved around the arena, shifting between attack and defense.

They moved at insane speeds, and if a bystander were to catch sight of their battle, they would undoubtedly become dizzy and lose track of them.

Ou Yangming constantly fired off his Air-striking Fists, and for an instant, he had managed to create an opening to land a solid blow onto Zuoqiu Hongyuan. Alas, just as he was about to take advantage of it, he suddenly noticed that the air around him had become stiffer.

His fight against Zuoqiu Hongyuan was like a fight within a giant spider web, and the longer they fought, the harder it became for him to move.

Earlier, Zuoqiu Hongyuan had commanded the winds via his equipment to besiege Ou Yangming. However, in that moment, Zuoqiu Hongyuan had somehow converted his order to make Ou Yangming feel as if he was fighting in quicksand. Every action that Ou Yangming took had expended much more energy than he normally would.

Although there were lush greenery and serene mountains dotted across the landscape, to Ou Yangming's senses, it felt as if he was caught within a sandstorm.

It was as if the young man from the Huangsha (TL: 黃沙, Huangsha means yellow sand) County had the ability to envelop his surroundings in yellow sand.

In a battle against Zuoqiu Hongyuan, one's home ground advantage meant nothing.

Zuoqiu Hongyuan constantly swung his arms around as his mind conjured up the yellowy, sandy landscape of his hometown. He had integrated his spiritual will with his fist art, and as a result, those scenes within his memories had begun to take shape in reality.

This was Zuoqiu Hongyuan's ultimate fist technique, and it was a skill that he had only managed to cultivate due to the precarious nature of Huangsha County.

Even within all the generations of the Zuoqiu Family, those who had managed to cultivate it were few and far between.

Amidst the ethereal veil of sand, an expression of assured victory hung on Zuoqiu Hongyuan's face. He had gained the upper hand once more, and this time, he refused to let Ou Yangming escape.

Ou Yangming inhaled a deep breath, and to his surprise, the air he breathed felt grainy.

Although Zuoqiu Hongyuan was not using the Simulated Spiritual Fist, it had seemed that they shared certain similarities.

Nevertheless, the Simulated Spiritual Fist was still the superior technique.

Ou Yangming's figure began to sway, and although his movements were restrained, there was not an ounce of sluggishness to it.

A moment later, Ou Yangming hurled his fist forward once more. The technique of the fist was no different from his prior attempts, but this time, his arm guard had lit up when he unleashed it.

A strange power surged forth from the arm guard and infused itself within the fist.

The next instant, Zuoqiu Hongyuan who was on the cusp of victory suddenly found himself face-to-face with a gargantuan creature.

It was a multicolored tiger, and it had lazily lifted its body from its sandy surroundings.

Following that, the tiger then turned around and flashed its plump buttocks in Zuoqiu Hongyuan's face.

To his surprise, Zuoqiu Hongyuan had found the multicolored tiger… Rather seductive!