“Du Ying's kung fu is the Wuxi Gong (Breathless Skill), a divine skill passed down through generations of the Demon Sect leader." Cao Qin, gazing at the battle in Broken Soul Gorge from afar, explained calmly to the four players beside him, "The name of this martial art sounds very ordinary, but it is actually an extremely profound superior martial art. If one cultivates this skill to the Great Completion realm, their inner energy will be like a surging river, endless. The practitioner can function for three days and three nights on just one breath of dantian qi.”

“Hmm… sounds… a bit like the Xuanwu Ding (Turtle Breathing Technique) of Wudang…” Feng Bujue added from the side.

“No, it’s far from it.” Cao Qin denied. “Xuanwu Ding emphasizes ‘stillness,’ latent breathing like a turtle, calming the mind and spirit, and condensing consciousness… It is clearly a Taoist inner cultivation technique.” As he spoke, he raised his finger and pointed to Du Ying in the distance. “But the Wuxi Gong that Du Ying practices is an authentic Demon Sect technique; this kind of martial art requires the practitioner to reverse the meridians, the divine consciousness to depart… to seize the creation of heaven and earth, and use external qi for one's own purposes.”

Hearing this, Huajian, who was quite knowledgeable about the wuxia world, asked doubtfully, “Reversing the meridians… wouldn’t there be any danger?”

“Heh… of course there is.” Cao Qin smiled. “According to common sense, those who reverse the meridians… at best, will suffer internal and external damage; moderately, will become possessed by demons; and at worst, will explode and die.”

“Ex… explode…” Xiao Tan widened his eyes and echoed.

Cao Qin didn't respond to him, but continued, “Most of the Demon Sect’s martial arts are deviating from the orthodox lineage, and many are even contrary to the principles of traditional martial arts… Therefore, they are considered ‘evil arts’ and ‘demonic arts’ by the righteous path, and are slandered and spurned.” He revealed a hint of disdainful smile, “Hmph… but in fact, those who can create this kind of ‘heretical’ skill are the true peerless geniuses.”

“Yes, I completely agree with that.” Feng Bujue interjected.

Cao Qin turned his head and glanced at him, his eyes seeming to say—"Is Head Feng boasting about himself?"

Two seconds later, Eunuch Cao continued, “If a martial art can only make people become possessed by demons or explode and die, who would practice it? The truth is… it’s still a matter of the person. Because the people who created those martial arts were all too talented, so the strange skills they created can only be practiced by people with high talent; however, in this world, there are ultimately more people with mediocre aptitudes. Especially those so-called righteous people, eight or nine out of ten are pedantic and dull, and they especially like to stick to the old ways… If a skill like Wuxi Gong fell into their hands, then naturally it would be a thing that can only lead to becoming possessed by demons.”

“Then…” Ruoyu asked at this time, “What realm has Du Ying’s Wuxi Gong reached now?”

Cao Qin picked up the wine pot hanging from his waist, took a sip, and replied, “About thirty years ago, Du Ying had cultivated this skill to the eighth realm. In terms of internal energy alone… there was only one person in the martial world at that time who could compare.”

“Ha!” Xiao Tan immediately interjected, “That person… must be Eunuch Cao, right?”

“Of course not.” Cao Qin replied, “I said that there was only one person who could compare in the ‘martial world’; I didn't include the people in officialdom and the experts in the palace.”

“Then…” Huajian asked further, “Who is that person? Is it Yuan Qi?”

“Ha…” Cao Qin laughed, “Yuan Qi at that time was just a small fry; how could he be compared with the Demon Sect leader?” He didn’t wait for the other party to ask again, and after a slight pause, he said directly, “Thirty years ago, the only person in the martial world who could surpass Du Ying in terms of internal energy was ‘Yan Wang’ (King of Hell).”

“Speaking of which… who exactly is this ‘Yan Wang’?” Feng Bujue asked casually.

“Well… I’ll tell you when I see her.” Cao Qin didn’t respond, apparently the time to ask wasn’t right yet. “Don’t interrupt, I’m only halfway through…” He shook his head and said, “Legend has it… the Wuxi Gong has a total of ten realms, but that tenth realm, ‘Heaven and Earth Breathless,’ has no written record, and only the first generation Demon Sect leader who created this martial art cultivated it. After he died, the Wuxi Gong’s mental cultivation technique was only passed down for nine realms in total. In later years… the Demon Sect also produced some talented people, but they all stopped at the eighth realm, ‘Mountains and Rivers Breathless’; therefore, over time, they believed that cultivating to the eighth realm could be considered ‘complete.’”

“Judging from Eunuch Cao’s tone…” Feng Bujue’s expression changed slightly, “Du Ying is probably already beyond that realm, right?”

“That’s right.” Cao Qin responded, “In today’s world, there are three people who have cultivated the Wuxi Gong to the ninth realm, ‘Ghosts and Gods Breathless,’ and Du Ying… is one of them.”

“Damn… I thought it was said that no one had been able to cultivate it for many years… but it turns out that there are three people who have achieved it in this era?” Xiao Tan exclaimed in surprise.

“Hehe…” Feng Bujue laughed at this time, “Since Eunuch Cao said ‘in today’s world’ rather than ‘in today’s martial world,’ I presume one of these three people… is also Eunuch Cao?”

“Head Feng… is truly remarkably astute.” Cao Qin praised Jue Ge, which was considered a default acknowledgement. Two seconds later, he said unhurriedly, “Fifteen years ago, the Demon Sect fought a great battle with the Central Plains martial world, and the last leader, Liu Xiangru, was killed by Yuan Qi. Almost all the people of the Demon Sect were driven to extinction. Fortunately… some people survived. Since there was no place for them in the martial world, they decided to seek refuge with the imperial court. And the mental cultivation technique of the *Wuxi Gong* was the gift they offered to the Jinyi Wei ( Embroidered Uniform Guard).”

“Eh?” Xiao Tan couldn’t help but interrupt when he heard this, “How did something that was offered to the Jinyi Wei end up in your hands, Eunuch Cao?”

“Heh…” Cao Qin replied, “At first, the thing did fall into the hands of the Jinyi Wei, and Shangguan Si (Commander of the Jinyi Wei) secretly practiced it for a few months. Until one day, I saw him outside the palace… and vaguely felt that the true qi in his body seemed to be in disarray. Upon further investigation, I found that he was on the verge of becoming possessed by demons, so I gave him a few pointers. Three days later, he voluntarily presented the *Wuxi Gong*, and admitted that his aptitude was limited, and asked me to ‘happily accept’ the divine skill.”

“Oh… this Lord Shangguan is quite the player.” Feng Bujue complained, “He realized that he couldn’t continue practicing it, so he used the trick of offering flowers to Buddha.”

“He is a smart man…” Cao Qin said, “He knows very well… that some things can be kept even if they are useless; but there are other things that must be disposed of as soon as possible if they cannot bring benefits, otherwise they will invite disaster.”

At this point, Cao Qin turned his gaze to Yuan Qi: “By the way… speaking of smart people, there is one here too.”

“You mean… Alliance Master Yuan?” Huajian reacted immediately.

“Yes.” Cao Qin replied, “Yuan Qi is a person worthy of everyone’s respect.”

“Ho~” Feng Bujue’s tone changed, “To actually receive this kind of evaluation from Eunuch Cao? It seems that Yuan Qi must be extraordinarily gifted.”

“Extraordinarily gifted?” Cao Qin laughed, “Heh… no, his talents in all aspects are very mediocre. But precisely because of this… he is worthy of respect.”

…………

While Hell Front was extracting all kinds of intelligence from the NPCs, the battle in Broken Soul Gorge… also had new developments.

After a brief confrontation, Du Ying floated down gracefully from the heights.

And those who had fallen into a state of decline in the valley also took advantage of this opportunity to escape from the encirclement and retreat in the direction of Du Ying.

After a few breaths, Du Ying suddenly landed, and the place where he stood did not even stir up a trace of dust.

Such celestial cultivation made many sect leaders gasp in amazement.

“Alliance Master Yuan.” After Du Ying landed, he completely ignored the people around him and only looked at Yuan Qi, and said, “I have admired you for a long time.”

Even though Du Ying’s current attire was no different from that of an ordinary farmer, his noble demeanor was even greater than it had been in the past. The aura that flowed between his gestures was like an unfathomable abyss. A simple sentence, six words, spoken from his mouth… seemed to have a weight of a thousand pounds.

“Mr. Du.” Yuan Qi did not call Du Ying “Leader,” nor did he directly call him by his name again, but found a compromise, a more polite title, “Logically speaking, I should call you ‘Senior’…” He said that, but Yuan Qi did not make a gesture that a junior should have. He still held a sword in one hand and placed the other behind his back as he spoke.

“Alliance Master Yuan is too polite.” Du Ying’s voice seemed cold and weak, “This old man is just a mountain village commoner, you are already flattering me by calling me Mr.”

“Then alright…” Yuan Qi really didn’t stand on ceremony with the other party anymore, “Du Ying, let’s get straight to the point…” He asked casually, “Are you here to stop us?”

“No.” Du Ying replied, “I’m here to kill you.”

“Hmph…” Yuan Qi snorted coldly.

“Burial Heart Valley has its rules.” Du Ying continued, “You can only enter if Yan Wang lets you in; you must leave if Yan Wang doesn’t let you in; and if Yan Wang wants you to die at the third watch…”

“Nonsense!” Yuan Qi interrupted the other party, “We are already in, and we don’t intend to leave, nor do we intend to die.”

“I know.” Du Ying said, “So I’m here to send you on your way.”

“If you think you can… then try it.” Yuan Qi wasn’t afraid of the other party either. He sheathed the soft sword back to his waist and continued, “I’ve said it before… it’s a fortunate thing for me that you’re still alive. It’s been many years since I’ve encountered an opponent like you.”

He wasn’t afraid of offending people by saying this, because the martial artists behind him had long recognized him as the best in the world.

“Good!” At this moment, Du Ying’s expression changed, and his restrained aura also burst out in an instant, accompanied by a torrent-like airflow that swept forward.

Yuan Qi stood proudly with his hands behind his back, seemingly unmoved.

But the people behind him were in trouble. Those at the sect leader level were okay, it was nothing more than staggering back a few steps, and they could basically still stand firm. But many of those at the disciple level and some second-rate figures in the martial world were shocked to kneel on one knee with pale faces.

“Could it be… this is the legendary Haoshoku Haki (Conqueror's Haki).”

“Hmm… it might also be reiatsu (spiritual pressure).”

Seeing this scene, Feng Bujue and Wang Tanzhi, who were watching from the distant mountain, both spat out a line with chuunibyou (middle-school syndrome) faces.

And their behavior… earned them nothing but contemptuous glances from Li Ruoyu and An Yueqin.

“Not bad.” Cao Qin, after seeing this scene, still calmly evaluated, “Exerting force from a distance, like a tide, is the biggest difference between the ninth realm and the eighth realm. If it were the eighth realm, it could only be exerted on a straight line in front.” As he said that, he took another sip of wine, “But… he still can’t win against Yuan Qi.”

Hearing this sentence, everyone in Hell Front except Feng Bujue, as well as the viewers watching the live broadcast, all felt puzzled.

From the looks of it, Du Ying seemed to be more powerful than Yuan Qi, after all, his internal energy could even affect the mist. And what Yuan Qi showed in actual combat was only speed and strength, it didn't feel as impressive as this former Demon Sect leader.

Unexpectedly, at the beginning of the battle, Eunuch Cao made this kind of statement that seemed like a final conclusion…

Just as his voice fell, Yuan Qi… made his move.

In front of Du Ying’s immense internal energy, speed and skill were useless.

So Yuan Qi’s movements weren’t fast, and he didn’t use his soft sword to its extreme.

He just used the simplest method, directly rushing to Du Ying and pointing a finger at Du Ying’s dantian.

Before the fingertip arrived, its power seemed to have accumulated infinitely.

At that moment, a look of shock suddenly appeared on Du Ying’s face.

He thought that no one would confront the ninth realm Wuxi Gong head-on like this, because this kind of behavior was like hitting the sea with a fist… no matter how strong the fist was, it could only break the waves for a while, but the power of the sea was continuous, and the fist would soon be submerged.

However, Yuan Qi unhesitatingly chose this seemingly most foolish method…

Because he saw through at a glance—the only weakness of the other party’s seemingly flawless skill… was precisely its strongest point.

“How unreasonable!” After the shock, what arose in Du Ying’s heart was anger.

A person who originally disliked fighting, and was over sixty years old, shouldn’t have this kind of emotion. Ordinary people were even more so, and figures like Du Ying should be even more so.

But at this moment, Du Ying… was angry. When a martial artist discovered that the realm he had reached with all his life’s effort was instantly deciphered by a junior he had met for the first time, he would naturally be angry…

Wuxi Gong was indeed a very strong martial art, and so was Mingchen Xuangong (Fate Star Profound Skill).

In the long run, as long as the years of cultivation were long enough, the internal energy of those who practiced Mingchen Xuangong would definitely surpass Wuxi Gong. But in the actual situation… at least within thirty years, the ninth realm Wuxi Gong was definitely stronger than Mingchen Xuangong.

But… a strong skill didn’t mean that one would win.

The person was the key to victory or defeat.

Du Ying’s talent was very high, and his Wuxi Gong was also stronger than Yuan Qi’s Xuangong, but he hadn’t had actual combat for many years.

Even in those years when he hadn’t retired from the martial world, he hadn’t experienced too many fights, because enemies were often crushed directly by his internal energy before they could even make a move.

And Yuan Qi… his combat experience was unmatched by anyone present. In the first few years of entering the martial world, three or five bandits could have taken his life; before the age of thirty, Yuan Qi had experienced hundreds of life-and-death battles (because even opponents who weren’t very strong could have killed him); later, his martial arts gradually improved, and the opponents he encountered became stronger and stronger…

To make an analogy, Yuan Qi was simply a character who had fought his way from street brawls to world boxing champion. To put it bluntly… in terms of “fighting” ability, Du Ying was far behind him.