Chapter 196: The Ultimate Power of Martial Arts

"Kaboom!"

Chen Fan's landing on the water sent a shock wave that swept across the entire West Lake, breaking up its calm surface.

Everyone watched as the young man darted out like a loosened arrow, leaving a tail of whitewash in his wake. Under his feet, the water was split in half like a sheet of ice under the weight of an icebreaker. Huge waves suddenly appeared on both sides behind the young man.

The white trail extended from the junk boat all the way to Lei Qianjue, like a Flood Dragon that clashed against the current and grappled with the power of the wind.

Chen Fan covered a few hundred-meter distance in a blink of an eye. The Tai Chi Grandmaster Chen Jiuyang had also walked on water, but his speed was much slower.

"Bang!"

Lei Qianjue flew up into the air right before a blaring explosion that blew up the wooden boat in which he had spent over three months. It was dealt a blow by Chen Fan's powerful punch.

"Chen Beixuan, you didn't disappoint me. I knew the waiting was worth it."

Lei Qianjue let out a peal of laughter. He fanned out both arms like an eagle as two winge shaped mist formed on his back. The white-haired old man glided in the sky like a large bird of prey and landed on the water a few dozen meters away.

The spot where he had been was a pile of floating broken planks.

Chen Fan stood still and slowly pulled back his fist. He turned around to face the old man as two azure flames burst out from his eyes. "Lei Qianjue, this punch is to teach you to think again before challenging me."

"Chen Beixuan, I hope you know that at my level, I don't give a swat about my disciples. My only goal was to reach the Immortal State." The misty wings behind Lei Qianjue back unfurled and flapped gently, carrying the Grandmaster's weight gracefully above the water. The old man carried a lightness about him that made Chen Beixuan doubt that the old man was at all disheartened by his disciple demise.

"Losers such as Lu Tianfen would never comprehend the ultimate desire of a true Martial Artist. He had reached the Grandmaster Level for well over ten years, yet he was still at the early stage of the Transcendent State. His contentment was his downfall. Me, on the other hand, I reached Transcendent State seventeen years ago and by now, I have already reached the peak of the Transcendent State. There is not a lot of people in the world who could rival my abilities."

"Oh? So if that's the case, are you still going to avenge your disciple?" The green flame in Chen Fan's eyes dimmed slightly.

"Haha! Linhu was just one of my many ordinary disciples. There are well over a few dozen disciples who are as powerful as him. Why should I be so bothered by a weaklings death? It's none of my business." Lei Qianjue laughed again. "However, I simply couldn't pass up the opportunity of fighting you before I face off against my nemesis: Ye Nantian!"

His face grew harder as cold light glinted in his eyes. "I will kill you in front of everyone to prove that I am finally worthy of challenging Ye Nantian again."

So saying, Lei Qianjue's misty wings flapped heavily, lifting the Grandmaster up and forward. Lei Qianjue tapped the water with the tip of his toes repeatedly; with each tap, he bounced off the rippled surface as he darted forward. When he was finally close to Chen Fan, he folded his hands.

"Boom!"

Water was drawn out of the lake by a powerful force and formed two large palms. Then the two liquid palms folded together as Lei Qianjue's hands just did. Lei Qianjue's True Qi was so powerful that he could bend the water and reshape them into two hands that were as hard as steel. These water palms were so tough and so powerful that it was able to crush a car into a flat metal sheet.

"Break!"

Chen Fan extended two fingers from which a blade grew out. Chen Fan swung the blade in a sidearm sweep.

Everyone watched as an azure Blade Aura flashed across the middle of the liquid palm, severing it into half. However tough and strong these True Qi infused palms were, they could not withstand the deadly Blade Aura. Without the True Qi to hold the palms in shape, water spilled out and fell into the lake as the palm melted away.

However, Lei Qianjue had already unleashed his second attack.

He clenched a fist and punched from afar, sending out an invisible Qi Energy. It was still raining, so as the invisible force stormed through the curtain of raindrops, letting splashes of rain droplets outline its shape and its trajectory like the trail of a bullet.

"Bang!"

Chen Fan charged up his energy again and he hacked at the invisible Qi with a three meter long scintillating Blade Aura. The Fist Qi was able to hold up for a brief second before it was cut through by the blade.

"Uh?" Chen Fan grunted under his breath. Lei Qianjue seemed to be more powerful than he had expected.

The Internal Force of a normal Martial Artist was usually crude, a far cry from the cultivator's refined True Essence. The difference between the two was as drastic as the effectiveness between a wood practice sword and sharpened steel blades. This was the reason that despite Chen Fan's early stage in his cultivation, he was able to overcome so many seemingly powerful Martial Artists, including the Grandmaster, Lu Tianfen, who he killed with bare hands.

However, Lei Qianjue's Fist Qi Energy was not crude at all. It was condensed and refined, so much so that it was nearly substantial despite its unsubstantial nature. It was not that much different than the True Essence of a cultivator. In other words, the only edge that Chen Fan possessed over Lei Qianjue was his five hundred years of combat experience as the Celestial Lord, as well as his wealth of knowledge in Divine Powers.

"I have never expected you to have achieved such a level of attainment in your Internal Force refinement. I think you are very likely to enter the Immortal State given time." Chen Fan nodded and said.

"Normal Martial Artists only focus on increasing the mass of their Internal Force, however, they have missed the point. The potency of the Internal Force is much more important than anything else. I have read too many case studies, and have never seen a Martial Artist who has entered the Immortal State without an extremely potent and sharp Internal Force." Lei Qianjue cracked a smile and said.

"Well said! Try to counter this attack!"

Chen Fan stepped forward as Blade Auras formed at the tip of his fingers again. A green glow suddenly came up and was growing more intense by the second. In a blink, the light had reached a few meters long.

Lei Qianjue waved his hands and sent out a pulse of energy to the lake, stirring up huge waves. He held these waves in place using his True Qi and formed few sections of walls made out of pure water. Each water-wall was as tough as metal reinforced concrete. However, these walls quickly crumbled and were reduced to gushes of water after Chen Fan's attack went through them.

"What kind of technique is that?" Lei Qianjue's face changed colors as he pulled back a few meters to get out of harm's way.

After he gathered himself, he noticed that the water under his feet where he had been standing was slashed open by the blade. The cut was wide and deep, it reached all the way to the bottom of the late, revealing the dark mud.

"This blade technique was called 'Primordial Five Elements Qi Blade' It has five variations in accordance with the theory of the Five Elements. However, I have only mastered the first variation, the Azure Wood Qi Balde. Otherwise, my last attacked should be enough to do away with you." Chen Fan lamented.

Like the invincible True Martial's Dharmic Blade, the Five Elements Immortal Sect also had a secret Balde technique and it was called the "Five Elements Qi Blade". The Five Elements Immortal Sect excelled at Qi Controlling; an Inner Circle Disciple of the Five Elements Immortal Sect who had gained the Five Elements Divin Body would be able to control five different kinds of Qi weapon and wield them at the same time to increase their power ten folds. However powerful Lei Qianjue was, Chen Fan was confident he could do away with him with one blow.

"What a wonderful art! I have never heard of it before. Chen Beixuan, I am very impressed by your ingenuity and your power. You are really worthy of the name 'Young Grandmaster'. "Lei Qianjue clapped and praised Chen Beixuan with a cold voice and an even colder gaze.

"However, you should never have fought me in this rainy weather on the lake.

"I have invented the Art of Thousand Trickeries while I cultivate on the Arctic Tundra, afterward, I have spent ten years on the Icy surface of the Great Bear Lake. Therefore, fighting on the water is right up my alley."

Everyone watched as Lei Qianjue flicked his fingers a few times like a pipa master gently striking a cord.

"The high notes wail like pelting rain,

The low notes whisper like soft confidences;

Wailing and whispering interweave

Like pearls large and small cascading on a plate of jade."

It was as if Lu Tianfen had plucked the string that connected all the droplets in the air; the rain suddenly turned into countless steel bullets and shot out in all directions. So skillful was Lu Tianfen in using his True Qi that he could adapt and reshape his environment at will. Such ability was much more powerful than that of Lu Tianfen.

"Excellent!"

A smile broke over Chen Fan's face as the Blade Aura surged again until it lit up half of the grey sky with an azure hue.

Everyone watched as the Blade Qi flashed across space and slashed open the curtain of raindrops, creating a sliver of vacuum in the air. This vacuum quickly grew all the way to Lei Qianjue as the Blade Qi cut through the damp air.

Chen Fan suddenly flashed out of the view as his body turned into a blurry shadow that flew toward Lei Qianjue. Meanwhile, he formed Blade Auras at the tip of his fingers.

"Chen Beixuan, you fell into my trap!"

Facing Chen Fan's frontal attack, Lei Qianjue was elated. He shot out a hand and closed his fingers into a fist. Suddenly, the rain droplets converged toward Chen Fan with the same speed and ferocity of the turbulent air in a Tornado. The raindrops turned into bolts and they were let loose at Chen Fan.

"Break!"

Chen Fan swung the blade with both hands as his body was blurred behind the wash of azure colored energy. This energy shot out at the incoming projectiles and deflected them, creating a clear path in its wake.

"Lei Qianjue, you won't be able to harm me with just water. Show me your most powerful attack, the Thousand Trickeries!" Chen Fan swung the blade around and hacked vertically in the air, creating another clear path between him and Lei Qianjue. Then he crossed both blades and plunged toward Lei Qianjue.

Lei Qianjue's face darkened after seeing the development.

He had wagered that Chen Fan had reached at most the early-stage of the Transcendent State at such a young age. However, to his surprise, the young man was as strong as he was, if not stronger. His powerful True Qi coursed in the air continuously from the beginning of the fight.

The water-wall and the rain bolts all epitomized Lei Qianjue's excellent control of his powerful energies. If they were used against any normal Grandmasters, they would have already been fumbling to get to safety. However, Chen Fan didn't even flinch. With only a few simple hacks, Chen Fan had deflected rain-bolts and toppled the water-wall. So easily had Chen Fan countered Lei Qianjue's attack that the latter suddenly felt slightly disheartened.

"Fine, I will show you my coup de grace."

Lei Qianjue flicked his fingers again as ten stringy white Qi Energy shot out from the tip of each of his finger. They looked no different than silk threads when they formed a web that came down on Chen Fan.

"Break!"

Chen Fan didn't flinch. He hacked at the web with the Blade Qi. So sharp and deadly was the Blade Qi that it had easily cut through the web that was harder than steel.

"Chen Beixuan, do you really think that is my coup de grace?"

Lei Qianjue folded his hands abruptly.

Suddenly, countless white strings shot out from his palm, and they formed a net of a few hundred square meters that hovered above the lake. A deadly frigid coldness rolled down from the wed and reached the Azure Wood Qi Blade, froze it in place.

"This Frigid Qi was harnessed from the Arctic Tundra, how do you like it?"

He laughed out loud and flicked his finger again as if he was playing an end note of a solo piano performance.

His finger controlled the countless strands and completed the creamy white web. It cast over a large portion of the lake, leaving no room for escape. This was Lei Qianjue's coup de grace that he had been perfecting over the decade.

"Qi Net of the Thousand Trickeries."

Suddenly, Chen Fan was in grave danger.