"Swish!"
Caught off guard, Jie Qingming was sent flying by a punch from Chu Feng. He didn't regain his senses until he'd been sent hurtling dozens of meters through the air. Hurriedly, he adjusted his body and landed on his feet. Even then, he couldn't completely dissipate the force behind Chu Feng's punch. He skidded over a dozen meters along the ground before finally stabilizing himself.
"How is this possible? He actually managed to move me without sustaining any injuries?" Jie Qingming's pupils trembled uncontrollably, his eyes wide with shock.
This was the first time anyone had managed to send him flying with physical force alone while he was wearing the Thorn Armor. Not even back when he, at the Xuan Martial Realm, had battled an expert of the Heaven Martial Realm had such a thing occurred.
Furthermore, Chu Feng had taken a punch head-on against his Thorn Armor and emerged completely unscathed. This outcome had far exceeded his expectations.
"Amazing! Chu Feng is enveloped in a layer of faint, almost imperceptible energy armor. It's completely different from Jie Qingming's Thorn Armor. It doesn't have the same damage-reflecting properties, but it radiates an aura of indestructibility. It feels like nothing could possibly breach that armor."
"What is that? Could it be the method Chu Feng used last time to nearly crack the Thorn Armor? Does he possess some kind of extraordinary weapon too?" Xu Zhongyu, the blue-robed Spirit World Master, used his Mental Power to observe the changes in Chu Feng. When he discovered the Xuan Wu Shield Technique enveloping Chu Feng, his eyes filled with astonishment.
"No, it's different from the method Chu Feng used last time. Last time, he used a martial art—a very formidable one. Its momentum felt like it could break through anything, unblockable by any means."
"But this time, it's the exact opposite. He's employing a different technique, yet it's equally powerful."
"He covers his entire body with absolute defense, then uses that defense to attack Jie Qingming. I must say, the methods Chu Feng commands are unlike anything I've ever seen in anyone else."
Gu Bo was also thoroughly shocked. He felt he was becoming increasingly unable to fathom Chu Feng, sensing that the techniques Chu Feng possessed were simply too numerous and far too powerful, far beyond his own capabilities.
"No, that is neither a martial art nor an extraordinary weapon." Just then, the voice of an elder suddenly reached the ears of both Xu Zhongyu and Gu Bo.
They turned to look and saw an old man dressed in the blue robe of a Spirit World Master standing behind them. This was none other than one of the presiding elders of the Spirit World Alliance.
"Elder Gongsun, if what Chu Feng used isn't a martial art or an extraordinary weapon, then what is it exactly?" Xu Zhongyu and Gu Bo moved closer and asked in hushed tones, afraid someone else might overhear their conversation.
"It's a Secret Technique."
"A Secret Technique?!"
"Correct. A Secret Technique is a very powerful and highly specialized method. In terms of sheer might, it can even surpass a Ninth-rank Martial Art. It could be considered a peerless and unparalleled ultimate skill."
"Within our Nine Provinces Continent, such a thing has only appeared once before, in Qingzhou. The Dragon Daoist, who dominated the continent a thousand years ago, once possessed an incredibly formidable Secret Technique."
"It was precisely because of this that our ancestors from the Spirit World Alliance once infiltrated Qingzhou in secret, seeking the origin of the Secret Technique. However, they ultimately returned empty-handed."
"In the end, our ancestors reached a conclusion."
"What conclusion?"
"Just as the legends say, a Secret Technique cannot be cultivated through practice alone; it can only be inherited. But this inheritance doesn't allow a person to choose the Secret Technique—it is the Secret Technique that chooses the person."