Hearing Su Hao's words, Gu Zhe slowly rolled up both of his sleeves. Without saying much, he made a casual gesture, as if telling him, why don't you find out for yourself?
Su Hao was no fool. The moment he saw Gu Zhe do that, he understood what he meant. A sharp glint flashed in his eyes as his relaxed posture vanished.
Without hesitation, he straightened himself and quietly prepared for a clash, his body tensing as his energy began to stir. His expression turned serious—this was no longer casual talk. He was ready to test Gu Zhe's strength for himself.
But before they could clash, Su Hao spoke.
"Little brother, since I'm the older one, I'll give you the chance to attack first."
Hearing this, Gu Zhe said nothing. Without a word, he reached into his spatial pocket and took out a few talismans. He channeled his energy into them, and they began to glow brightly.
The moment the light flared, he hurled them toward Su Hao's direction, his movements swift and decisive. Seeing the talismans flying straight toward him, Su Hao reacted instantly. Without hesitation, he drew upon the crimson lightning energy within his body and released it outward. In a flash, arcs of red lightning surged around him, weaving together to form a protective barrier, ready to withstand the incoming attack.
The moment the talisman collided with the barrier, a deafening explosion rang out. A violent shockwave spread in all directions, and thick clouds of dust burst forth, quickly engulfing the surroundings and obscuring everything from sight.
Because of the dust, Su Hao was nowhere to be seen. The battlefield fell into an eerie silence, broken only by the faint settling of debris. Slowly, the dust began to clear, thinning little by little.
Then suddenly, the cloud was torn apart. Wrapped in a blazing crimson glow, a human figure burst through the dust and rushed straight toward Gu Zhe at incredible speed. In just a few heartbeats, he was already standing right in front of him.
Seeing Su Hao so close, Gu Zhe froze for a moment. Then he slowly raised both his hands into the air, as if surrendering. A sense of helplessness crept into his posture, and in a voice filled with resignation, he spoke.
"I admit defeat."
Su Hao couldn't see Gu Zhe's expression because of the mask, but the disappointment in his voice was impossible to miss. Stepping closer, Su Hao placed a hand on Gu Zhe's shoulder and gave it a gentle pat. In a calm, reassuring voice, he spoke, trying to comfort him,
"Hey, don't be discouraged. Your attack was genuinely powerful—I had to use nearly fifty percent of my energy just to block it."
Then he paused for a moment, as if lost in thought, before suddenly speaking in surprise—like something important had just come back to him.
"Hmm… so it's actually a refining technique, I really thought it was some useless body-cultivation technique with the word god slapped onto its name just to fool people."
He paused, then looked at Gu Zhe in disbelief.
"And you actually managed to cultivate it… how did you even do that?"
To avoid being dragged into another round of questions, Gu Zhe spoke in a hurry, his words tumbling out quickly as if he were trying to escape the topic altogether.
"Senior Brother Su Hao, I think we should leave now, Otherwise, the Fourth Elder will punish us and send us to the bamboo forest—and you know very well what they make us do there."
Hearing this, Su Hao forced his curiosity to settle down. He had no desire to be sent to the bamboo forest either.
With that thought in mind, the two of them turned around and began walking back toward the sect together,
Half an hour later, the two of them arrived at the sect. Just as the two of them were about to enter the gate, they heard a man shouting loudly from a nearby tavern.
"How dare you speak about Senior Brother Lin Xiu like that? Just because you belong to the second-rate Sakura Sect, do you think you can insult our sect?"
Sitting at the table across from him were four or five people, all appearing to be around nineteen or twenty years old. With sneers on their faces and laughter in their voices, they looked at the person who had called Lin Xiu Senior Brother and spoke in a taunting, ridiculing tone, clearly treating his words as nothing more than a joke.
"So what if I insulted him? What are you going to do about it?"
Hearing their words, a crowd began to gather around the tavern. People stopped in their tracks, drawn by the rising commotion, and soon the area was filled with curious onlookers.
Su Hao grabbed Gu Zhe by the hand and pulled him along, dragging him straight into the crowd. His expression was serious, filled with curiosity and a hint of anger. He wanted to know exactly who these people were who dared to speak so openly about the Mist Cloud Sect. After all, both he and Gu Zhe were disciples of that very sect
When they reached the spot, they saw a boy named Lin Yan From his clothing alone, it was clear that he belonged to the Mist Cloud Sect. He was glaring furiously at the four people seated across from him. His eyes burned with such intense anger that, if looks alone could kill, those four would have died countless times already.
Seeing them mock his senior brother and his sect so openly, he could no longer hold himself back. Rage surged through him as he released his energy, and without hesitation, he charged straight toward the four of them.