Chapter 544: Five Elements Combat Method

Once their positioning was set, the Elder of Cultivation led the five outdoors, aligning them by the elements of the Five Elements, before clasping his hands behind his back and projecting his voice clearly:

"To achieve a flawless synchronization, you must first know yourselves and each other."

"You five are of similar age and identical cultivation realms; achieving this step will be far less difficult."

"Release your auras, and let each of you perceive the cultivation realms of the other four in meticulous detail."

Lu Yang and the others sat cross-legged, closing their eyes and focusing their minds, releasing their auras to sense the external movements with their divine sense.

"Hmm? What a powerful divine sense," the Elder muttered in soft surprise, noticing that the divine senses of Lu Yang and Meng Jingzhou were the most prominent, clearly surpassing the others by a wide margin.

Moreover, Lu Yang's divine sense was visibly stronger than Meng Jingzhou's, revealing a distinct disparity.

"The divine sense is the hardest to cultivate, and to this day, I have never heard of a cultivation method for it at this stage. How did these two boys manage it?"

"Ah, Meng Jingzhou possesses a Single Celibacy Spiritual Root. The data provided to me by the Wendao Sect also indicates that he formed an unprecedented Dual Celibacy Golden Core. His yang energy is abundant, and his desires are stronger, yet as a holder of the Single Celibacy Spiritual Root, he must constantly restrain his desires. Under such tempering, it makes sense for his divine sense to be powerful."

"But what about Lu Yang? Yun Zhi’s unpassed secret technique? Or did that old rogue Bu Yu hit the mark by sheer, blind luck?"

Lu Yang, having suffered extensively under the Immortal Fairy’s torment, was exceptionally adept with his divine sense. His spiritual perception was at its sharpest; with everyone’s auras openly displayed, he discerned the cultivation states of his three fellow disciples and one grandson.

All four had already cultivated to the late stage of the Golden Core realm. Li Haoran, who had progressed the slowest, had successfully broken through right before their departure. Having soaked in magma for a year during the Qi Refining stage, his cultivation had been delayed, but now, accumulated over time, he had finally caught up to the rest.

Lu Yang also sensed the vigorous vital energy and yang aura radiating from Meng Jingzhou. Ordinary ghosts and monsters would be scorched just by looking at him; it was truly terrifying.

Of course, not all ghosts feared Meng Jingzhou; a female ghost like the Immortal Fairy was completely unfazed by him.

After about half an hour, everyone opened their eyes, having fully grasped the depths of each other's capabilities.

"Next is the second step: the conduction of spiritual energy."

The Elder instructed the five to line up in the sequence of Metal, Wood, Water, Fire, and Earth. Starting from Man Gu, hands were pressed against Li Haoran's back to conduct spiritual energy, and so forth in sequence, until finally, Tao Yaoye would pass all of her own spiritual energy along with the rest into Lu Yang.

Lu Yang’s eyes turned blood-red in an instant. Despite being prepared, the sudden surge of massive spiritual energy still exceeded his expectations, pushing his body to the absolute limit of what he could bear.

"Unleash it all!" the Elder bellowed.

Lu Yang drew his Qingfeng Sword, uniting his essence, spirit, and mind into one. His sword qi resembled a silk ribbon, expanding violently in a flash.

"Slash!"

The combined spiritual energy of the five transformed into sword qi, pouring down like a bursting dam.

Boom!

The ten-meter-long sword qi cleaved downward instantly, resembling a cascading waterfall of blade-light. It crashed into the pool with boundless power, causing the weather to change abruptly as a colossal, deafening roar shook the area, leaving a deep, unseen fissure torn into the ground.

Whish, whish, whish—

Having unleashed this single strike, the spiritual energy of all five was drained to the absolute last drop. Their legs trembled with exhaustion, and they collapsed onto the ground on their rear ends, staring at the crack in the earth and laughing foolishly.

Even Lu Yang was astonished by the power of this slash; it was the strongest strike he had executed to date.

"Did you see my sword strike just now? I just knew it would have this kind of power!"

"What do you mean your strike? Just now, the aura passed along by Man Gu and Li Haoran almost tore me apart! I had to dissipate the power while using the True Fire of Nirvana to repair my meridians!"

"Man Gu, you passed along way too much spiritual energy."

"I just wanted the attack to be more powerful."

The five discussed gleefully, their faces beaming with excitement as they reviewed the process of the attack they had just executed.

The Elder distributed a bottle of Great Restoration Pills to each of them, nodding his head in satisfaction: "For a first collaborative attack, this strike is quite excellent. Next time, you must be careful not to pour out all your spiritual energy at once; you must hold some back."

"The Five Elements Battle Method has been around for so many years, and Old Song and the other five lineage elders use it frequently. Even for them, they have only unleashed a full-power strike seven or eight times in total. Those were brutal fights, leaving themselves absolutely no retreat."

"Did they encounter a powerful enemy?"

"They encountered the elders of your Wendao Sect."

"..."

"Oh, and that old rogue Bu Yu," the Elder added, naming an important figure.

"..."

The Elder clicked his tongue twice, shivering at the mere memory of those attacks.

How thrilling it had been.

"Did the Sect Master cause trouble again?" Tao Yaoye inquired.

To make the five lineage elders resort to a full-power strike of the Five Elements Battle Method, just how deep must the grievance have been?

"That must have been seven or eight hundred years ago. The old rogue Bu Yu took your Fifth Elder and Eighth Elder to the Golden Buddhist Kingdom to build a temple. Whether it was legal or a violation remains unclear, but the temple was built regardless."

"The incense offerings at the temple were incredibly abundant. I reckon some marketing tactics were used, as the pilgrims arrived in vast crowds."

Tao Yaoye remained puzzled: "Is there any problem with that?"

"The problem lies in the fact that the old rogue Bu Yu named the temple the Temple of the Five Viscera, and the ones enshrined inside were Old Song and the other four elders. It made the Buddhist Kingdom think our Five Elements Sect had marched over to steal their business. They were just a hair's breadth away from sending an international arrest warrant to the imperial court."

"Fortunately, Old Qiu stepped in immediately to clear up the situation and explain the reasons, prompting the Buddhist Kingdom to withdraw the warrant."

"When the old rogue Bu Yu was being beaten, he claimed they were conducting an experiment to see if Old Song and the others could perceive the sensation of faith."

"Old Song demanded to know why he didn't hang himself up there as an object of faith instead, and the old rogue Bu Yu said he was afraid of being wanted by the law."

Tao Yaoye: "..."

The Sect Master truly did not deserve a single ounce of sympathy for getting beaten.

Seeing the immense power of Lu Yang's strike, the Immortal Fairy smiled with keen interest: "This Five Elements Battle Method has something to it; it's creative. Jiu Chong Xian once came up with something similar."

Lu Yang was startled. He had felt the power of the Five Elements Battle Method, which could be described as utterly formidable. As an immortal, Jiu Chong Xian possessed a broader horizon; how incredibly powerful must the thing he created be?

"Please explain in detail, Fairy."

"During our ancient gatherings where the Five Immortals exchanged cultivation insights, Jiu Chong Xian proposed an idea. He suggested combining Yin-Yang and the Five Elements to provide a reference for later generations. If posterity could comprehend the mysteries within, they would surely make significant progress in the aspects of Yin-Yang and the Five Elements."

"Did Jiu Chong Xian succeed?" Lu Yang asked hurriedly.

"He succeeded. It is Gomoku. Have you never played it?"

Lu Yang: "..."

Once the five had recovered sufficiently, the Elder continued to have them conduct spiritual energy. Lu Yang was to output it, but he had to restrain his strength, rather than exhausting himself completely like the first time.

After repeating this several times, the five quickly became adept at controlling the volume of spiritual energy conducted at will.

"Next begins the second step. Form a circle, standing in the same order as before. Lu Yang, press your hands against Man Gu's back."

"The five of you will transmit spiritual energy to the person in front of you. You must control the speed and the amount of spiritual energy well. If the speed is too fast or the amount is too large, the person in front will not be able to bear it."