Martial Cultivator
Chapter 259: Not Winning is Defeat

Before, Yun Jianyue had the possibility of advancing. But in the end, he halted that thought at the critical moment. How could breaking through, especially from the Bitter Sea Realm to the Great Beyond Realm, be that easy?

Navigating the vast Bitter Sea and reaching the Great Beyond was never a simple task. Even Yun Jianyue felt that this matter required thorough preparation. But now, he suddenly felt something inside him. He looked at the later water that spanned the sky, the flower, and the person.

Then, he took that step very naturally.

From the Bitter Sea to the Great Beyond.

Yun Jianyue's progress felt utterly natural.

He looked at the woman formed by the lake water and was silent for a long time. It was just that before he returned to his senses, a saber light streaked across the sky, shattering the woman's likeness. Then, the water from the sky fell like heavy rain.

Yun Jianyue turned to Chen Chao, his expression calm, and said with a frown. "Do you think this can anger me?"

Chen Chao shook his head. "I didn't expect anything like this. I'm just a bit unhappy."

Yun Jianyue pondered for a moment and understood Chen Chao's thoughts. He said, "Since I've already broken through, let's stop here. You're not worse than me, it's just that you cultivated at a later age than me."

Now that the two of them were separated by a major cultivation, it was not easy to fight again.

In other words, there was simply no possibility for Chen Chao to battle the current Yun Jianyue anymore.

The gap in cultivation had created an insurmountable chasm between them.

Chen Chao shook his head. "I still feel that I can give it a try."

Yun Jianyue also shook his head and said "Why bother?"

At this moment, although Yun Jianyue had not completely stabilized his cultivation realm, he had undoubtedly crossed to a new stage, becoming a cultivator of the Great Beyond Realm. Among the entire younger generation, there was no longer anyone who could compare to him.

Although Chen Chao could be considered a genius too, he ultimately fell somewhat short when compared to the current Yun Jianyue.

It was because of age, and also because the time he spent cultivating was too short.

Chen Chao heaved a sigh and said nothing more.

Except, he still gripped his saber, the meaning self-evident.

Yun Jianyue did not quite understand the meaning behind this gesture, but he felt that he needed to do something. So, he walked over to Chen Chao. Soon, they were only a few meters apart. He raised his finger from a distance, and a brilliant light emanated from his fingertip, resembling a rainbow but exuding a boundless aura that did not belong to the Bitter Sea Realm.

He used this to convey to Chen Chao that there would definitely be an insurmountable gap between them.

However, just as the multi-colored rainbow light was about to reach Chen Chao, it collided with a saber light.

This clear and bright saber light appeared between heaven and earth and met with that rainbow. Yun Jianyue did not need to think to know what the outcome should be. Therefore, he did not look at all, he just stood there indifferently, waiting for the final result.

But a moment later, the saber light dissipated, and the rainbow also dissipated along with it.

Chen Chao arrived in front of him.

Raising his hand, he dealt a slash.

The sharp blade passed by Yun Jianyue's chest. Suddenly, ripples appeared on Yun Jianyue's daoist robe. At the moment the broken saber fell, it intercepted the sharp edge just outside the robe.

Yun Jianyue's daoist robe was a refined magic artifact, impervious to dust and extremely difficult to damage as well.

When the saber fell, it was as though it had landed on a cotton ball; without a clear point of impact. It was naturally difficult to cut it as well.

If it were an ordinary person, they might have panicked long ago, but Chen Chao did not. He took a step forward, and his entire body slammed into Yun Jianyue's body.

Yun Jianyue took this blow squarely, and his expression immediately became somewhat unsightly. Although he had broken through, becoming a powerful existence of the Great Beyond Realm, the toughness of his physical body had not improved significantly. Coupled with his earlier exhaustion, facing Chen Chao's collision, some of the qi within his body was continuously dispersing.

Only at this point, did Yun Jianyue experience the toughness of a martial artist's body to the fullest expression of its beauty and form.

Realizing this, he immediately wanted to retreat. He initially believed that after being separated by a major cultivation realm, his rainbow light would deter Chen Chao from taking further action. However, he did not expect Chen Chao to respond with such a move. Since that was the case, he naturally had to do something.

As he moved backward, numerous barriers of qi also appeared in front of him, blocking Chen Chao.

Several saber lights virtually appeared at the same time, hacking through those layers of qi barriers in an instant. The qi barriers instantly dissipated. It was likely that no one could see it anymore in the world.

Yun Jianyue failed to shake Chen Chao off.

Chen Chao smiled and said, "I told you long ago, that you'll feel awful if you let me get close to you."

Yun Jianyue watched as Chen Chao's fist came down. Both his hands emitted a daoist secret technique to counter the attack, but because the time was too short, the daoist secret technique was shattered by the powerful qi contained in that punch. Yun Jianyue frowned and had no choice but to resort to other magic spells. A small eight-diagram image appeared in the palm of his hand, blocking everything here.

Chen Chao's punch did not succeed, but he did not mind. Instead, he chose to strike Yun Jianyue on the crown of his head.

A vast aura was concealed within his palm, exceptionally terrifying.

Yun Jianyue frowned and said, "It seems that you all martial artists really have a reason for existing."

Chen Chao shook his head and laughed heartily. "It's not you all martial artists, it's just me. If it's another martial artist of the same cultivation realm, I don't know if there will be such a result again."

His words sounded conceited, but clearly, Chen Chao now had the capital to back up that arrogance.

In the next moment, his fist landed on Yun Jianyue's forehead.

Yun Jianyue's expression turned ugly, and a crimson mark instantly appeared on his forehead.

When the previous punch had landed, he had clearly expended considerable effort to intercept it. Yet, he still heard the continuous breaking of his qi barriers. This left him somewhat puzzled. Why was there such a near-crushing dominance in this minor detail when there was such a disparity in their cultivation realms?

Yun Jianyue did not quite understand, but fortunately, although the punch shattered his qi barriers, there was not much force left to break his final body barrier. It only left a crimson mark on his forehead, but did not cause much damage to his body.

Yun Jianyue pushed Chen Chao's fist away, his expression gradually becoming serious. After breaking through, he had thought that this contest would come to an end. However, he had not expected things to deteriorate so significantly when Chen Chao got close to him. He could not help but wonder what the outcome would have been if he had encountered Chen Chao earlier?

Perhaps he would not have stood a chance without resorting to those talisman secret arts.

Thinking about this, Yun Jianyue felt a little furious.

Yet, Chen Chao seemed to be adding fuel to the fire, "You can be angry, but if you really think about killing someone, that would be unreasonable!"

In the life-and-death struggle, Chen Chao understood that the most important thing was to stay calm. The second thing was that he needed to disrupt his opponent's composure. Only then could he tilt the odds of victory in his favor.

Just as he had said, no matter how talented and remarkable Yun Jianyue was, he had never experienced such a situation. There would inevitably be flaws. Since Yun Jianyue's breakthrough, he had become more arrogant and disdainful of Chen Chao. This battle might not necessarily end in Chen Chao's defeat.

After breaking through, Yun Jianyue's change in mindset let Chen Chao replace a flaw instead.

At this point, the two were never more than ten feet apart. Even if Yun Jianyue wanted to create distance again, Chen Chao would not allow it.

"Defeating a daoist genius like you with my cultivation at the Bitter Sea Realm, it will be even more impressive than my victory over Song Changxi by the lakeside back then!"

Chen Chao laughed heartily, launching a swift and fierce offensive. He unleashed countless punches, each punch forcing Yun Jianyue to respond in an extremely short time. Yun Jianyue had no time to do anything else.

In his previous battle against Song Changxi, Chen Chao had won with a Divine Trove Realm cultivation. At that time, Song Changxi was already at the Bitter Sea Realm. Now, if Chen Chao were to win against Yun Jianyue who had already stepped into the Great Beyond Realm while he was at the Bitter Sea Realm, it would signify that he could defeat two great geniuses of Daoism. Such an achievement would naturally send shockwaves across the world if it spread!

"How can it be so easy?"

Yun Jianyue's tone became very indifferent. Although he faced some difficulty in dealing with the punches that rained down, he did not care either. After he finished casting several secret arts, a barrier with countless intricate patterns appeared in front of him, landing in front of him solidly.

Chen Chao unleashed a punch without changing his expression, but the qi dissipated upon impact with the barrier, unable to touch Yun Jianyue's body.

Yun Jianyue smiled slightly and was just about to speak.

A bright and clear saber light suddenly appeared!

With a sudden strike, it split the barrier apart!

Chen Chao flashed in and delivered another saber strike at Yun Jianyue who was in front of him.

The daoist robe rippled again, but it was still able to block Chen Chao's attack.

However, Chen Chao had never expected to be able to kill Yun Jianyue. After his slash, he followed up by slamming his shoulder into Yun Jianyue, sending Yun Jianyue's body flying and crashing into the now waterless lakebed.

Chen Chao took a look but did not pause, speeding towards Yun Jianyue. The battle was far from over, even though he had already sent Yun Jianyue flying, he knew that this daoist genius would not simply admit defeat and withdraw.

Coming from the Dao society and being a top-tier genius, Chen Chao knew that he definitely still had a trump card up his sleeves.

Chen Chao took a step out, creating a deep pit by the lake, and the qi within his body surged. White mist instantly poured out from his mouth and nose.

There were even strands of gold in the white mist.

Yun Jianyue was standing at the bottom of the lake with a pale complexion. Seeing this scene, his expression was calm. He naturally still had countless means that he had not unleashed.

Whether was it the talismans from the daoist temple or secret arts, he had not used them either.

It was just that he was not planning on using them.

After advancing in cultivation realm, if he still needed to use those, it would be a defeat in itself.

Yes.

Between cultivators of different realms, not winning was defeat.