Martial research master

Li Meng stood in the middle of the stage unscathed. Even the Qi shield he had conjured showed no signs of dimming, much less any damage. The true shock was the fact that Li Meng hadn't moved from his position at all. He stood right where he was at the beginning.

"Dawn of a thousand thunder swords" was a special hidden art of Thunder Academy created by the current sect master. Although the true name of the art was Dawn of Million swords, the sect master had tuned it down so that his disciple could study and learn the art. The power behind the attack was genuine, yet Li Meng's expression said that it lacked the necessary punch to even garner his attention.

"I have to say, art is wasted upon someone like you." Li Meng said. He was hell-bent on crippling Haungfu Hongue's mentality. The art which he just experienced was quite powerful and Li Meng wanted to learn it, but he kept his calm and waited before defeating his opponent completely. He knew a person with such potential was difficult to find and decided to go with the Keeper's advice.

He would beat Huanfu Hongue into submission before making him his slave. 

"How could this be possible?" Huangfu expected that the attack wouldn't be enough to defeat his opponent. Yet the result was too big a blow to his confidence.

"As I said, art is wasted when used by someone like you." Li Meng spoke again. Li Meng's defensive sphere was created by a combination of multiple laws. The most important ones were rotation and yin-yang. It helps him deflect the energy incoming, rather than wasting energy to defend against it. It was the reason behind him standing at his location unscathed while the rest of the area was destroyed by the impact.

Li Meng then raised his hands once again, and the Qi shield morphed into small pikes. It was a rough mimicry of what he had just seen.

"If I were you, I would have used it like this." Li Meng not only added all the elemental energy which he was known to have practiced but also infused the law of rotation in a way that looks like a preliminary understanding. The spike not only contained power but also was rotating at such a high speed, that they were able to crack Huangfu's defense quite easily.

Even after using special protective arts and his weapons, his body was riddled with holes. He was bleeding seconds after the fight started.

"You can't even defend properly. What gave you the confidence to face me?" Li Meng said. Each word was aimed at breaking Huangfu's spirit. To his surprise though, he saw someone focused on weaving out more skills.

"His mental fortitude is quite impressive." The keeper said.

"What exactly of it. Even if his mental fortitude is as strong as steel, it can be pierced through and struck down." Li Meng said.

Huangfu Hongue used another skill with his word. It was a special art devised by one of the past sect masters. It was called 'Extension sword arts." It was a special sword art that was devised to be used as a support art for every single art which required the usage of law. It played a role in extending the range of the attack by using similar law energy used by the skill itself.

Li Meng was caught unaware that such support skills were present within the academy.

"Is this art versatile enough to extend and compress its range at will?" Li Meng asked.

"No. If I am correct, the compressed form is the actual form of the art. He is using another art to extend his range." The Keeper said. " I could faintly feel the presence of another signature. That must be it." 

"There is such art within this academy. It would be a great addition to my arsenal. I need to find out about this. Now, If you would excuse me, I would like to try out the limit of my body." Li Meng said as he rushed towards Huangfu Hogue. He knew many arts related to body usage, but he decided to try out its raw strength and raw power of body once he uses laws.

The next moment a fist and a sword met with each other and both were pushed back. The audience felt that they were evenly matched, but it waste the eyes of Qi Emperors and elders which caught the actual situation.

"How could his body be so powerful? It is even better than a low-level emperor, to be able to directly match with Hongue's attack. I never expected such a monster to be within our ranks. He didn't even use any art. His body cultivation was enough." One of the spectators said.

...............

"How much energy did I use?" Li Meng asked the Keeper.

"If my estimates are right, you should have used around 5% of your body cultivation." The Keeper said.

"Even after being refined by Chaos las and being at such a high stage, my body cultivation barely matches a peak Qi King." Li Meng was discouraged by the result.

"You haven't even started channel tempering properly. It is safe to say that you are just using the power of your meridians and acupoints." The Keeper said.

"Well, we could only experiment in the future. Let's push my body to its limits and see whether I could defeat him with just that." Li Meng rushed in, this time with all his meridians and acupoints at work. 

'Sea divider" Huanfu Hongue used another sword art to tackle his opponent.

The sword clashed once again with the hand, yet the result this time was even more astounding for the audience. Not only was the skill negated but Huangfu Hongue blasted back, even the sword he held cracked and broke off seconds later.

"What?" One of the elders jumped up from his seat.

"How can this be possible?" Another elder followed suit. This was too absurd.

"Monster." The thought lingered in the minds of every experienced cultivator present on the scene.

.........…..

"As expected, he was a monster. He managed to confront something like that with his physical strength and even broke the enemy's sword. Even I am not sure about doing something like that and I am an advanced Qi Emperor." Ren Dao said.

"How could he refine his body to such a high level? Both of us practice body cultivation and have already opened up most of our acupoints. We will soon reach the peak. Yet, I don't think we will ever be able to reach such a stage." Ren Wang said.

"I guess this is what the master meant when he said that our junior brother can take care of the situation. The power he showed while killing the group outside the academy made me believe that he could compete against Hongue equally. Yet his physical strength alone is enough to dominate him. If he combines the two" Ren Dao didn't complete the sentence.

"Huangfu Hongue will most probably die today." Ren Wang completed his brother's sentence.

" We need to call the master here. He needs to save Hongue." Ren Dao said.

"No need. I am already here." The old man appeared. "Also, there is another person who has been watching the fight this whole time. She would have interfered even if I wouldn't." 

A woman appeared from thin air. She was dressed royally while her face was covered in a violet veil, showcasing a set of ethereal eyes to the world. Her face was sure to be that of a beauty, and the Ren brothers were mesmerized before eventually getting a grip on the situation and greeting her.

"We greet the sect master." The brother bowed.

"At ease. I have to say, you have got quite a disciple here." She said to the old man.

"Yours is not bad either. Although mine is showing off his power, yours is holding back his strength, slowly showing it to surprise the enemy. I have to say, I never expected him to have three heavenly laws."

"Don't your disciple follow the same suit? As for the reserve power, I think we both know that your disciple is the true mystery. We don't even know if that is his full strength and he has already dominated Hongue. I guess I would need to intervene sooner than expected."

"I would suggest that you should be prepared. That boy is merciless. If I am guessing correctly, he is currently dueling with the idea of whether to kill his opponent or cripple him." The old man said.

"You are quite confident about his strength." The woman remarked.

"I am sorry to interfere, but the master is telling the truth. We have seen Li Meng showcasing his Qi once, and believe when we say that even we couldn't grasp how the enemy died. Their heads just fell one after the other. There were no signatures of any art, which meant that he didn't use any. Just pure Qi was enough to wipe out an entire group consisting purely of advanced Qi Kings, and three peak Qi Kings leading them." Ren Wang said.

The woman laughed out loud.

"Just like you believe in your brother's prowess, I believe in my disciple's. He is a monster in his rights." The woman said. " There is one hell of a show in front of us."