Such an exchange of the most basic combat methods continued for a few minutes. Albeit it could look like an equal match to a normal onlooker, almost everyone who was looking at it was not normal, being actual experts. And so, they had no trouble noticing that Wu Guang was playing and not fighting in serious.

But, how could they not notice such? The speed of the combatants was indeed far above what a normal person would notice, but for a Soul realm cultivator, they were moving as slow as snails.

And so, they saw that all Wang Yong's attacks were easily avoided, even though Wu Guang had not moved more than a few inches from the beginning position. As for Wu Guang's attacks, they were practically half-assed and easy to see, but still, Wang Yong had been forced to block almost all of them.

"It seems that Head Enforcer Zhen got a real genius under his wing" Wang Ling could not afford to start hostilities yet, and so decided to try and flatter Zhen Mang a bit to find out more about Wu Guang. After all, most geniuses had backing, and so before attempting anything, it would be better for him to find out more.

"It is indeed so" Zhen Mang did not bite the hook, although he was also a bit surprised about Wu Guang's current fighting prowess. Especially as he had never seen him fight. Granted, he heard that he could fight people with three levels over him easily, and the information came from trusted sources... but, that was still different from seeing it himself. And now, he very much liked what he saw, after all, Wu Guang was capable of toying with Wang Yong even while using less than his actual maximum. And the latter was not a random cultivator, he was a groomed genius of a power that shared the island with their Sect!

"I wonder what are the origins of young friend Wu Guang? Such strength has to be trained since childhood after all" Wang Ling attempted again.

"Neither of that does apply to Wu Guang" Zhen Mang answered curtly.

"Hoh, how so? Could Head Enforcer Zhen enlighten this old man?"

"Heh, even if I wanted to, I could not. I met Wu Guang just four months ago, and he was a normal mortal at that time"

"Normal mortal!"

"Indeed, he only started cultivating a few days before the Sect entrance tests after all" albeit he knew what was Wang Ling fishing for, Zhen Mang would not share anything about Wu Guang's real position and backing, after all, they needed to provoke the Wangs. As for this, well, it was something that could be found out easily.

"..." Wang Ling found himself short of words. And how could he not? If what Zhen Mang said was the truth, and most probably it was as they had investigated Wu Guang before... then it meant that in less than four months and a half, the boy had reached a level where he could toy with Wang Yong! And the latter was one of the most promising geniuses that the 'Leaf Shadows Sect' and especially the Wang family had. Without taking into account the current successor, Wang Fang, Wang Yong was the strongest of their family geniuses.

Painstakingly trained and cultivated since he reached ten, even so, his cultivation was equal to Wu Guang's, and his prowess was lower!

Other experts were also discussing Wu Guang's power, and as the sound was allowed through the barrier, Wang Yong heard everything. He had been thinking that they were equal, and even that he was a bit stronger as Wu Guang had not managed to throw any real attack on him... But it turned out that his opponent was simply toying with him!

Such revelation angered Wang Yong. But anger was a bad emotion to depend on during a duel, and Wu Guang had been growing bored of this simple exchange.

Wang Yong's next attack used his full strength and was a direct punch to Wu Guang's face. The latter easily avoided such an obvious attack, but this time he decided to act. The dodge was done by half turning his body, so his front now faced Wang Yong's extended right arm. And by grabbing the arm, Wu Guang momentarily immobilized his opponent. Such an opening would be idiotic to miss, and so he elbowed with full strength.

An elbow blow was both powerful and painful, adding that Wu Guang used most of his normal strength on it, there was no wonder that Wang Yong paled and even gasped for air. He also slid back a few steps, albeit this was done by him voluntarily as to diffuse a bit of the force behind the attack.

"Don't think that a lowly dog like you can do whatever he wants just because he was given some status! A dog will always remain a dog!" Wang Yong shouted and gathered qi in his hands. He was activating a technique!

For a cultivator to start using skills first during such a duel meant that he was losing the unarmed exchange, but somehow Wang Yong's ego blinded him and made him forget about this fact. He was indeed activating a technique, and it was a close-quarters combat one.

The technique was called 'Shadow Claw' and was alike to the one that Wu Guang had seen in his first visit to the Martial Library. Basically, it gathered around one's hands and changed them into an elemental qi claw. The cover was of the Yin element as it was part of the Shadow set, and so Wu Guang would need to avoid the claws, lest he suffered from side effects like defensive qi disruption or unclosable wounds. Such effects were the two most used by the Yin element, as opposed to the burns and overpowering might of the Flame element that Wu Guang had been training.

The claws formed in less than a breath and did not require seals, which meant that Wang Yong had reached at least the advanced mastery of the technique. The claws themselves were about two times the size of the original hands and acted both as a weapon and a defensive method. If Wu Guang clashed with such a claw without covering his arm with a technique or enough qi, he would be badly wounded. Well, normally it would be so. Except that Wu Guang's skin was reinforced several times over the normal and he could even clash barehanded against rune weapons right now.

In any case, he did not reveal this part of his powers, and simply avoided the first two slashing attacks that Wang Yong sent right as he was ready.

As for his counterattack, Wu Guang was planning to not use any technique for now. After avoiding a few added attacks and moving back a pair of steps, Wu Guang dropped into a half-horse stance.

"Come, let me show you the difference between a dog like you and a real cultivator!" Provoking Wang Yong felt more and more fun for Wu Guang, and so he did not dismiss the opportunity to do so... again.

"Die!" Wang Yong was indeed easily provoked, and so he jumped forwards, extending both of his hands to the sides while screaming. He intended to land before Wu Guang and then attack him from both flanks as to not let him dodge. Regretfully for him, this was exactly what Wu Guang expected.

Right at the moment that Wang Yong jumped, Wu Guang darted forwards with all his speed. The distance between them was hardly more than a few feet, and so he closed it almost instantly. Concentrating a tenth of his overall qi in his prepared fists, Wu Guang launched them right as he was in range.

Wang Yong was in the air and had no possibility to evade. As for blocking with his claws, he was a step too late, and Wu Guang's fists landed directly on his chest.

The force behind the attack made Wang Yong fly back. If not for the arena being pretty big with ten feet to each side, he would have landed outside. Still, even though he managed to land inside the boundary, his face paled even more and he could not suppress neiter the need to spit out a mouthful of blood nor the painful expression he had.

"Is that all? If it's so, then you better just concede" Wu Guang smirked.

"Only a dog could be so proud of his martial arts and body! Real cultivators fight with techniques and weapons, don't think you can compare yourself to me!" Wang Yong grew more and more hysterical as he retorted. In fact, he did not notice that the faces of at least three of the twenty important people present had turned sour. After all, they were cultivators that were proud of their bodies and martial arts, and one of them, the Head of the Ding family was famous for never having used weapons, non-close combat techniques or skills.

The one to notice all of this was Wang Ling, who instantly tried to defuse the situation with a few words

"It seems that my grandnephew is too hotblooded and can not maintain his calm. I hope everyone forgives him for such"

"Ha! I would obviously not try to find trouble with a youngster. But Advisor Wang... I would suggest you educate your family youngsters better. Not everyone is kind as me" Unsurprisingly the one to respond was the aforementioned head of a family, Ding Jiang.

Wang Ling did not answer anything, but his expression turned serious. Ding Jiang was someone he had invited in hopes of getting him on his side. The Ding family was not big or powerful, but they controlled the only town between the Qiu family territory and the Coastal Hill City that was allied with the 'Three Hills Sect'. Neither of the powers had really approached the Ding's and so Wang Ling hoped that it would be possible to make him join his camp during the all-island alliance talks time. This would not look very productive as the Ding's were overall a pretty weak family, but...

'He who controls the roads, controls the land'

This saying was something very true, especially as the island had only two roads connecting the three powers. With the Qiu family being one of the main suppliers of goods for the island and also the first place of attack by the Eagle Kingdom, they would need the help of the 'Leaf Shadow Sect'. Well, if the latter controlled both of the roads that could be used for supplies, support, and even retreat.

As such thoughts flooded Wang Ling's mind, the duel still continued. Seeing that close quarters were a sure loss for him, Wang Yong had resorted to using a ranged technique called 'Shadow Missile'. Wu Guang was indeed disadvantaged at ranged combat, as he actually did not learn any ranged techniques. Still, with the stage being only ten feet to each side, Wu Guang managed to defend against the qi projectiles and even counterattack with his own technique. It being none other than the 'Earth Spiked Shield'.

While a pair of slabs that formed the arena rouse and worked as his shield, Wu Guang summoned several thin mounds of earth between the slabs to attack Wang Yong, forcing the latter to constantly move. Wu Guang's control over the 'Earth Spiked Shield' had reached the maximum possible, and so he could even control each grain of sand, dust, or earth used in his attacks. Initially, he could only use rock, but he had found out during the fusion that Earth could be used as well, which was the reason for such a name. And during his last training session, Wu Guang found out that the technique could employ absolutely anything in range, given that it was laying or below the ground.

And so, while protected by the two slabs from the stage, he formed thin spears of anything in range to attack.

All of the things formed by the technique were infused with his qi, and so the technique was fairly draining. But Wu Guang's qi capacity was far over Wang Yong's. So it was no surprise that the one panting and sweating after a few exchanges was the latter.

"Are you done running... rabbit? If you do not want to show anything else, then you should simply give up" Wu Guang said with a mocking expression. He was actually moving the duel towards the moment where he could crush the full-Shadow technique the Wang's family and their Sect was so proud of. As for weapons... He did not consider they would be required with how the duel was going.

Not that Wu Guang wasn't ready for a weapon duel. In truth he was, and the 'Sun Disks' as his chakrams were called, as well their accompanying techniques were extremely interesting. So interesting that Wu Guang was truly looking forward to using them. Still, he would prefer to avoid using them against Wang Yong, as there would be now way for the latter to survive against them.