Upon feeling the explosive power behind Chu Lan's punch, Ma Yuan's expression changed drastically.
"No... why is your strength so formidable!"
This surging and overwhelming force made him feel as though the bones in his hand were about to shatter. His figure was inevitably forced back a few steps.
Before Ma Yuan could make any other reaction, Chu Lan threw another punch.
"Crimson Gold Fist!"
Chu Lan swung a punch straight at Ma Yuan's head.
Seeing this, Ma Yuan immediately employed the movement martial art, Cloud Wandering Step, and dodged Chu Lan's attack directly.
"A movement martial art, is it?"
Chu Lan raised an eyebrow slightly.
Come to think of it, he also needed to learn a movement martial art. If he knew one, he could have used it to pursue Ma Yuan directly just now, leaving Ma Yuan with nowhere to hide.
"I underestimated you, brat!"
Ma Yuan's face was gloomy. His arm was still throbbing with pain.
"You actually managed to recultivate your cultivation back to the Body Spirit Realm Ninth Layer!"
"To make such tremendous progress in just a few short days!"
At this thought, Ma Yuan fixed his gaze on Chu Lan.
To be able to make such progress in just a few days meant Chu Lan must have obtained a peerless supreme treasure. If he were to acquire such a treasure, wouldn't his own cultivation also experience a massive boost?
When that time came, why would he still bother being a guest elder for the Chu Family? He might even be able to go to a larger noble clan to serve as a guest elder. If his advancement were even greater, there was a possibility he could even be recruited by Heavenly Dao Academy as an elder of their institution.
At this thought, Ma Yuan couldn't help but grow excited.
"Chu Lan, quickly hand over the peerless supreme treasure you obtained!"
Ma Yuan shouted sternly, "Otherwise, this old man will execute you on the spot!"
"Then let's see if you have the ability to do so!"
Hearing Chu Lan's lack of a rebuttal, Ma Yuan understood in his heart. Just as he had anticipated, Chu Lan had indeed obtained a peerless supreme treasure. No matter what, he had to get his hands on this peerless supreme treasure!
Ma Yuan deployed the Cloud Wandering Step and darted swiftly in front of Chu Lan.
Now knowing Chu Lan's strength, Ma Yuan dared not conceal his own power any longer. The aura of the Vein Spirit Realm First Layer erupted completely. The terrifying aura formed a wave of pressure in the surroundings, fracturing the ground beneath.
"Sturdy and Fierce Palm!"
Executing a martial art, Ma Yuan instantly closed in to kill Chu Lan.
Naturally, Chu Lan did not show weakness either, unleashing the soaring Cloud Palm immediately.
The two engaged in combat instantly.
Fists and feet collided, every blow striking with flesh and bone. Although Chu Lan's cultivation was one realm lower than Ma Yuan's, his two perfected martial arts made up for this gap. As for Ma Yuan, although his cultivation was at the Vein Spirit Realm, due to his mediocre talent, he had never cultivated his martial arts to the realm of perfection.
After a few exchanges, Ma Yuan had taken several punches and palms from Chu Lan. As for Chu Lan, while he couldn't manage to emerge completely unscathed, Ma Yuan's attacks truly couldn't inflict any serious damage upon him. After all, Ma Yuan was an old man in his sixties, and most of his cultivation had been piled up bit by bit over time through sheer years. His mastery of martial arts was far too weak by comparison.
"Damn it... why is this brat so strong?"
Ma Yuan gritted his teeth, "Clearly my cultivation is a whole realm higher than his!"
According to his own calculations, Chu Lan should have been pinned to the ground and beaten ruthlessly by him. Yet the reality was the exact opposite.
"Old fellow, although your cultivation is higher than mine, your martial arts are abysmal."
Regarding Ma Yuan's puzzlement, Chu Lan sneered and said, "If you had even a single martial art cultivated to the realm of perfection, perhaps you'd still have a chance to defeat me!"
Hearing these words, Ma Yuan instantly lost face.
A Vein Spirit Realm expert like him couldn't even deal with someone in the Body Spirit Realm?
Are you kidding me!
"Do you really think this old man is no match for you?!"
With that, Ma Yuan pulled a sword out from his storage ring.
Upon seeing this sword, Chu Lan narrowed his eyes slightly: "This is a lower-grade spirit sword forged from dark iron?"
"Hah, you actually have some eye for goods."
Ma Yuan let out a cold hum and said, "Although this sword is merely defective, using it to behead you is more than enough!"
As his voice fell, Ma Yuan immediately executed a sword martial art.
In an instant, a terrifying aura erupted from Ma Yuan's body. The surrounding air was torn apart by this aura. Such terrifying power caused Chu Lan's expression to sink involuntarily.
Could this sword martial art not be of the Yellow Grade? It looked more like a Mysterious Grade martial art!
A Mysterious Grade sword martial art, even without reaching the realm of perfection, was still stronger than a perfected Yellow Grade martial art!
He hadn't expected that Ma Yuan, a mere guest elder of the Chu Family, would actually possess a Mysterious Grade sword martial art!
Could he withstand Ma Yuan's attack with his own strength?
There was a high probability he could block it, but the price might be severe injuries!
Chu Lan gathered all his strength onto his fist.
"Crimson Gold Fist!"
This punch would decide the victor; he had to kill Ma Yuan!
"Prepare to die, Chu Lan!"
Ma Yuan shouted loudly, "Heaven and Earth Single Sword Slash!"
Immediately, the defective spirit sword in his hand slashed toward Chu Lan.
Chu Lan threw a punch, and their attacks collided, erupting into a terrifying shockwave.
"Break for me!"
Chu Lan roared, gathering all his strength into his arm.
Ma Yuan sneered coldly, "Stop resisting, Chu Lan!"
"This old man's defective spirit sword and Mysterious Grade sword martial art are not something you can resist!"
Chu Lan said nothing, instead giving it everything he had.
Surrender?
Impossible!
The words "give up" and "surrender" did not exist in Chu Lan's dictionary.
Besides, it wasn't certain that he couldn't win!
He simply didn't believe that, with Ma Yuan's talent, he could cultivate this Mysterious Grade sword martial art to the minor accomplishment stage!
And just as Chu Lan had anticipated, Ma Yuan had not cultivated the Heaven and Earth Single Sword Slash to the minor accomplishment stage at all.
After a brief moment, Ma Yuan's face suddenly flushed red.
With a soft sound of *pu chi*, a mouthful of blood spewed from Ma Yuan's mouth.
Chu Lan's eyes lit up; this was a prime opportunity.
He exerted sudden force and blasted Ma Yuan flying with a single punch. This punch had nearly beaten Ma Yuan to death.
Yet Chu Lan had no intention of letting Ma Yuan off the hook because of this.
Chu Lan walked step by step toward Ma Yuan.
This instantly terrified Ma Yuan, who began twisting his body frantically in an attempt to escape. But half-dead as he was, how could he possibly escape?
"No... don't kill me!"
Ma Yuan pleaded bitterly.
"Heh..."
Chu Lan shook his head and smiled, "Not kill you?"
"Do you think that's possible?"
Amidst his terror, Ma Yuan's head was directly blown apart by Chu Lan's punch.
After dealing with Ma Yuan, Chu Lan began collecting his spoils of war.
"A defective spirit sword, a pretty good weapon."
Chu Lan stored it inside the Divine Desolation Pagoda, and then took Ma Yuan's storage ring. Because Ma Yuan was dead, the storage ring no longer had his imprint, allowing Chu Lan to take whatever was inside freely.
Inside the storage ring were just a few pills and a martial arts manual.
"For a guest elder, he really is quite poor."
Chu Lan said with some disdain, "But this sword martial art manual!"
"Heaven and Earth Single Sword Slash, this must be what Ma Yuan used just now!"