‘Looks like we are in some kind of giant soap bubble… neat.’

Zhang Dong was always surprised by the fantastic sights that this world was capable of providing him. At this very moment, he was floating around a large open area somewhat similar to another dimension. This one wasn’t as stable as the one used in the dimensional regalia or the replica he made. Instead of being contained its walls were somewhat transparent and looked similar to a soap bubble.

This produced clear edges of this zone that he was inside of now. From the outside, the space also looked more compact. When looking inside the elders from the Heavenly Crane Sect would see militarized versions of Zhang Dong and the two guardians that he was facing.

The landscape on the inside was quite natural and filled with green grass and trees. The whole area was around five kilometers in diameter with some hills here and there. It was enough for a nascent soul master to let loose, damaging the translucent walls of this place wouldn’t be easy even for him. At most he could puncture a small hole to get out or use his formation knowledge to find the exit.

‘The system’s teleportation function isn’t getting blocked at least so I don’t have to worry about them holding me captive here.’

What he was doing was quite risky. He placed himself in an unknown lesser dimensional treasure. Objects like this weren’t easily left and could act as a prison for a cultivator like him. Perhaps the Heavenly Crane Sect was even planning to do this if things got out of hand.

However, he managed to keep some decorum and was acting as an ally and not an enemy. If they chose to trap him here then perhaps the east side of the empire would already be lost. Without this sect's approval, it would be hard to maneuver in their lands. Potentially getting attacked by their masters when he was trying to subjugate the other forces was a possibility. In that case, the safer bet would be to wait for the Heavenly Crane Sect to weaken a bit before taking over their lands.

This would be then further complicated by the Long Clan which was right in the middle of it all. The whole thing might look like a hostile takeover even more and war might follow. As long as the Heavenly Crane Sect made an official statement asking for help though, then even the Azure Emperor couldn’t complain.

‘It doesn’t seem that this place has any suppressing formations at least, at most they would try to trap me inside…’

The notion that Sun Shen and Sun Shi had planned all of this out just to get him here crossed his mind. There could be many reasons why they would try to capture the rising star of the empire. Perhaps the Azure Emperor ordered it or they were hoping to stop his meteoric rise to power out of fear. This was a bit of a stretch though as the real problem was the Empire at their doorstep and not what was happening on the other side of the empire.

The people in this world mostly kept to their lands and ignored what was happening outside of them. This was also one of the biggest reasons that no one was actually interested in aiding the Heavenly Crane Sect out with their problems. It was their land and it was their responsibility to take care of it.

“You two don’t talk much but that’s fine, I’m a man of few words myself.”

Zhang Dong looked at the two men before him, they were standing there with their hands behind their backs just like him. It looked like there was a mirror between the two as their poses were identical to a strange extent. This was part of their routine and the power of the technique they were using. It was as if they were one being and their souls that showed signs of resonance confirmed this.

‘I wonder if it would be possible to go further with this technique and actually fuse both souls together…’

It was a scary thought to have two people combine their souls. Normally absorption of soul energy was possible while the rest dissipated. Then there was the more drastic method of devouring it whole without leaving anything behind. Such a thing would of course kill the person that the soul was devoured. Side-effects of such a technique were always there, memories mixed with each other and could break a cultivator’s mind if they weren’t prepared for it.

“Well then, let us get this over with.”

Finally, after looking over his opponent that was standing half a kilometer away from him, Zhang Dong called out to the people watching them. The one to answer was Tao Guan the sect Patriarch and after his proclamation, it was on.

“We will then commence the match between the Twin Guardians and Long Dong the Golden Dragon of the West. Let it commence!”

A loud gong echoed through this compact landscape but none of the three fighters moved. While the two guardians took up fighting stances their opponent Zhang Dong didn’t. He just stood there while looking at them with his piercing gaze. Weapons were of course allowed, each of the guardians had a long sword matching the color of their robes but their opponent decided to remain without it.

“What are they doing? Why aren’t the guardians attacking?”

Zhong asked with a rather angry tone. He had been against all of this from the start and perhaps thought that there was someone that was working in the background to make all of this happen. From his standpoint, there was also no possibility of the guardians losing if they took the fight seriously. The young upstart was strong but he clearly lacked the proper decorum and experience of a grandmaster. If they lost then it was probably due to some kind of deal being made between the Moon Lily Faction and the Patriarch.

“Do you really think that the Golden Dragon is an easy opponent, Leader Zhong?”

“What do you mean Leader Shen? Of course, he is strong but he can’t be stronger than the left and right guardians! This is a preposterous claim, are you insinuating that they aren’t moving because they can’t?”

“You might not believe me but that man can’t be looked at with our current understanding of the Dao…”

“Hmph…”

There was usually one reason for an expert of the nascent soul level to remain standing, this was due to their keen sense of danger. People like the Twin Guardians didn’t reach this level of power without a good reason. Usually, with age and experience, a sense of measuring an opponent's strength came with it.

It wasn’t that they weren’t willing to engage in combat, they just couldn’t find a weak spot that they could exploit. The path of cultivation was a path of self-betterment but it was a continuous journey with no one. Through it, there were always a few chinks in a practitioner’s armor that would arise.

These could then be exploited in combat but in this case, the two grandmasters couldn’t see anything they could exploit. It was as if they were looking at a giant iron wall that would not buckle under their punches even if they continued to hit it for years.

“If you won’t move then I will have to, from the outset I apologize for what I’m about to do but you must understand my position here…”

Zhang Dong finally decided to act, the twins reacted by placing their backs against each other. They were clearly guarding both of their blindspots which was the main strength of their techniques. With both fighters attuned to each other's moves, they could perform more daring attacks. They could fully commit to devastating sword strikes when knowing well that the other would defend them if their enemy managed to dodge it.

‘So, one of them will concentrate on blocking my attack while the other launches an instant counter. I could play around with that but this won’t get the message across without them realizing the difference in power…’

There were many ways of going with this fight but he wanted to send a message. He could beat them by safely using his ranged skills and using his superior Qi foundation. The space they were fighting was large but not that large either. Producing powerful wide-area attacks to whittle down their defenses wouldn’t be such a bad idea, considering he had a lot more in his tank then they both combined.

Instead however, he decided to get in close range and engage the two in a battle that they were famous for. Close-range combat using mostly fast-paced skills that didn’t require much spiritual energy but instead a lot of battle sense and skills. Thus with just one step, his body blurred as he found himself right at the right guardian’s side. This one was wearing a black robe and was quick to move into a defensive position to intercept the kick that Zhang Dong jabbed at his stomach.

The left guardian instantly reacted, at the exact moment that the foot would collide with the black sword, the white one would deliver a devastating blow to the opponent. The only way to counter this would have normally been to change the trajectory of the kick and try to evade it. Yet when Zhang Dong tried that, then the black blade would find its way into his side.

This was what the two masters worked as one expected but reality was different. The kick that they predicted increased in speed and collided with the black blade to send the right guardian tumbling into the horizon. The amount of sheer power and Dao behind that kick was just too devastating. Even the white blade that was supposed to take advantage of the perfect counter hit nothing more than air.

“You should work on that a bit more…”

The ten elders and the Patriarch that were watching this exchange almost fell out of their seats. They couldn’t see what moves Zhang Dong used, the speed was above what they could predict and the movement seemed mysterious.

“Want to try it one more time?”

Then they instantly frowned at what the man in the white robe was doing. Instead of continuing with the assault he just stopped. He didn’t use the chance he made to capitalize on the exchange but instead moved back to the spot he started in and waited for the right guardian to return.

“Now, I’ll do the exact same thing… see if you can react this time around.”

With a smile plastered all over his face, he flew forward once more. Staying true to his word the exact same kick was used and it flew at the exact same guardian as it did before…