NABC Chapter 62 Earth-Rank Combat Technique: Fish-Dragon Trap!
Chapter 62 Earth-Rank Combat Technique: Fish-Dragon Trap!
Nestled among the cliffs and beside the stream, two or three ancient trees stand closely together, shading the rolling wheat fields. A thatched cottage stands amidst the trees, and flowers and fruits come into view.
Inside the thatched hut, Qing Jingwan was taking a bath. She dripped the marrow-nourishing liquid into the wooden tub and, following Yun Congxin's instructions, sat cross-legged in the tub, using her battle qi to guide the medicinal power to help repair her body.
Outside the thatched hut, Yun Congxin was sitting at the door studying the Earth-rank combat technique that Qing Jingwan had given him.
Mid-level Earth-rank combat skill: Fish-Dragon Trap!
The term "彀" specifically refers to a trap or snare. However, this "Fish-Dragon Trap" is more like a formation than a combat technique.
"The fighting spirit is transformed into spirits, which gather in groups, like ants devouring an elephant or fish tearing apart a whale. This is the appearance of the trap. Whenever a spirit is destroyed, its fighting spirit condenses and does not disperse, turning into nourishment for the trap, like a spider web or a swamp, causing those trapped within to have their fighting spirit obstructed, their movements slowed, and become like turtles in a jar."
Yun Congxin flicked his finger, and the azure fighting spirit condensed into a small steed that neighed loudly and charged towards the wind wall with a fearless spirit, instantly dissipating.
Yun Congxin read the description of the condensation without dispersing in the scroll again, but still felt completely confused.
"What does 'heaven and earth infuse spirit' even mean? Can't this bastard speak properly? Who can understand this kind of fancy term?!" Yun Congxin scratched his head in distress. He didn't understand at all how to maintain the transformation of battle qi into spirit if he didn't use his soul power to control it.
He conjured another pale blue fish, but it disintegrated again after hitting the wind wall.
"The key to this trap lies in deceiving this world," Qing Jingwan said as she opened the door of the thatched hut after bathing and changing into loose clothes.
Yun Congxin turned around and saw Elder Qing drying his hair as he said, "The so-called infusion of spirit into heaven and earth is actually to make the battle qi lifelike, just like a living thing. In this way, it deceives this world, making it mistakenly believe that it is a living thing, a living thing that is circulating battle qi."
Elder Qing now only has one hand, making it very difficult for her to dry her hair. So Yun Congxin acted as a human hair dryer, using her wind-attribute battle qi to help her dry it. In return, she snapped her fingers, and a small snake materialized in front of Yun Congxin.
"If it's just a simple transformation of battle qi into spirit, then ordinary battle spirits can do it. But to deceive this world, you need to observe these living creatures more closely," Elder Qing said, teasing the small snake of battle qi he had just conjured. "Like the horse and fish you just conjured, even their most basic habits and movements are wrong, let alone the laws governing the operation of their life energy. Even I can tell they're fake at a glance. How can you deceive this world?"
Yun Congxin seemed to be deep in thought. He said, "Condense it again, but this time be a little slower."
Elder Qing snapped his fingers again, and once again condensed a snake with his battle qi. The little snake was indeed lifelike, and even its crawling was very realistic.
Yun Congxin's soul power surged forth as he carefully observed every fluctuation of energy. He discovered that at the moment the small snake finally condensed, a wisp of mottled silver energy seeped out from the space around it and burrowed into its head.
"Spatial power?" Yun Congxin was somewhat surprised. "The spirit that heaven and earth bestowed was spatial power!"
Elder Qing blinked. With her low-star Dou Huang strength, she naturally couldn't sense such a tiny fluctuation of spatial power.
"So that's how it is!" Yun Congxin conjured a pale blue steed, which still crashed against the wind wall.
As expected, after the spatial power was injected, the fighting spirit of the horse, which had collapsed, remained condensed and transformed into a trap around the pale silver spatial power.
"This..." Elder Qing was dumbfounded; she had no idea what had happened.
Yun smiled smugly. So that's how it is. Elder Qing's so-called imitation was indeed quite good, but there was one thing she misunderstood.
It wasn't about deceiving the world to infuse energy into this Dou Qi Transformation Spirit, but rather about mimicking the aura of a magical beast at least at the Dou Zong level, causing a trace of spatial power to overflow from the space around it!
"I didn't realize you, little snake, were actually imitating a Dou Zong powerhouse..." Yun Congxin exclaimed.
Elder Qing blinked, and while drying her hair, she asked, "What do you mean?"
"This mid-level Earth-rank combat skill, could it be the Heavenly Serpent Mansion's most prized treasure?" Yun Congxin didn't answer her question, but continued, "It's personally taught by a Dou Zong expert, and absolutely never passed on to outsiders. The kind where anyone who learns it will be silenced..."
"How could that be? This is a fighting technique that the Grand Elder learned from some ruins, not a secret of our Heavenly Serpent Manor," Elder Qing said with a smile. "Moreover, the one who taught this fighting technique was the Grand Elder himself, a Dou Zun powerhouse..."
A Dou Zun powerhouse—no wonder merely imitating his aura caused the spatial power to stir.
Yun Congxin gave a wry smile and said, "The Heavenly Serpent Palace actually has a Dou Zun?"
"Of course!" Elder Qing said proudly, "My Heavenly Serpent Palace has three Dou Zun experts; otherwise, how could we be so powerful in this Northwest Continent!"
The three venerable ones...
No wonder the Yunlan Sect was always ridiculed at previous Northwest Continent conferences. A small sect with a maximum rank of Dou Huang is worlds apart from a dominant force like the Heavenly Serpent Palace...
"Then how does this cause people to have difficulty circulating their fighting spirit and slow down their movements? It can't be the effect of spatial power, can it?" Yun Congxin looked at the condensed fighting spirit in front of the wind wall, which was mixed with the mottled spatial power and really hung in mid-air like a spider web.
"I will use the Fish-Dragon Net attack. Mr. Jiaxing can experience it for himself and perhaps gain something from it," Elder Qing said with a smile.
The swarm of snakes rushed towards Yun Congxin like a river flowing into the sea. The smaller snakes that were knocked down remained but did not disperse. In the end, they actually condensed into a bottle-shaped vessel and put Yun Congxin into it.
"Refining?" Yun Congxin felt a tearing sensation, as if he were a medicinal herb being burned by the alchemist's flames.
"As expected of a mid-level Earth-rank battle skill, it actually managed to affect the battle qi operation of a low-star Dou Huang." Yun Congxin praised in his heart.
In the previous battle between Elder Qing and Fan Lao, it's no wonder that Fan Lao was forced to use Blood Transformation to overcome skill with brute force. This Fish-Dragon Trap is indeed wondrous.
"The Grand Elder said that the Fish-Dragon Trap can be divided into three stages."
"The first stage is to form a bottle, which can be sealed and suppressed; the second stage is to transform into a cauldron, which can be used to encircle and refine; the third stage is formless. Only when you reach this third realm can you be called a 'Gang'!" Elder Qing said as he dispersed the Fish-Dragon Gang. "Unfortunately, my comprehension is not enough, and I have never been able to cultivate to the second stage and transform this condensed energy into a cauldron."
"I think you've already touched the threshold," Yun Congxin said, frowning. "I've already felt a tearing force, but your soul power isn't strong enough, and your control over this Fish-Dragon Trap is too weak!"