Chapter 361: A Test with Gu Yue? Hand to Hand Combat? Or Just Embarrassment?
"By the way, why did those gods from the Divine Realm abandon their physical bodies?"
Since they were already discussing the topic, Han Li turned to Gu Yue. He had been too focused on comprehending laws before and had forgotten to ask.
"Because it's simpler."
Gu Yue's response was both unexpected and perfectly reasonable.
"Aside from the soul beast race and a few specific individuals, the human body is inherently weak. Even in the Divine Realm, it's difficult to strengthen and requires a tremendous amount of time and effort. Not to mention, there are all sorts of complications that come with it."
"On top of that, the highest ranking God Kings don't even have physical bodies. They are essentially pure energy beings. Since becoming a god meant one's soul wouldn't die, some gods began to follow their example."
"By cutting out the process of physical cultivation, their growth naturally became faster. Divine bodies formed purely from divine power were also more convenient. Eventually, more and more gods adopted this method, until it became an unwritten rule."
A rare expression of disdain appeared on Gu Yue's face.
"But they seem to have forgotten that Dragon God was the supreme deity, and he never abandoned his body. What gave them the audacity to do so?"
"Most of those fools were even pleased with themselves, thinking they had discovered a shortcut to cultivation. They have no idea that by doing so, they've lost the possibility of advancing further. Not that they were ever qualified to reach the end of the path anyway."
Damn, that was some serious hostility.
Han Li glanced at Gu Yue. This was the first time he had sensed such emotions from her. It seemed that growing stronger indeed helped her express her feelings more openly.
"You need not worry. The path you walk is the correct one. The enhancement this torso bone grants you may be far greater than you can imagine."
Sensing his gaze, Gu Yue reined in her expression slightly but still remained proud.
"Ah, right, right, right."
Han Li didn't argue. He had never considered the Divine Realm's approach to be the right one anyway.
After all the effort he had put into tempering his body, why would he just discard it? What kind of joke was that? He had been taught early on not to rely on just one method of cultivation, and that philosophy still made perfect sense to him.
Noticing his casual response and amused tone, Gu Yue narrowed her eyes at him. "Actual combat testing or just a simple test?"
Han Li met her gaze but couldn't read her emotions.
"Are you sure your injuries won't affect the battle?"
He still felt uneasy and asked just to be sure.
With the Plane's Will now fully awakened, he was confident he could mask a portion of their movements and prevent the Divine Realm from detecting Gu Yue. However, he wasn't certain how fully recovered she was.
Unlike newly ascended gods who hadn't fully assimilated immortal energy and divine power, they were both near complete entities. One was heavily injured but still terrifyingly strong, while the other hadn't yet condensed a godly throne but was already absurdly powerful.
If they fought at full strength, Douluo Continent might not survive the aftermath. There was a real chance that the "Great Dao would be obliterated."
And what if he pissed her off?
Dragon God had already set a precedent for losing his mind what if she had a mental breakdown too?
Damn. The more Han Li thought about it, the more sense it made. If she split her consciousness, there would be a Na'er just like before.
They would just keep facing off. Again. And again.
What Han Li didn't notice was that Gu Yue's face was already darkening as she watched his shifting expressions.
She could sense his emotional fluctuations completely, and though she didn't know what he was thinking, it was definitely something impolite.
"It will just be a sparring match. I'll control my strength, and you can suppress the divine energy fluctuations."
Originally, Gu Yue had only intended to help him test his abilities, but now she genuinely wanted to beat him up.
"You really want to fight? How about we just do a simple test instead?"
Han Li hesitated. He figured he could just do the test himself. Grit his teeth, endure the pain it'd only take a second. No need to trouble her.
"As allies, I need to confirm the extent of your true strength."
Gu Yue, however, refused to let it go, even using an extremely reasonable excuse.
"How about a pure physical fight? If we go all out, it'll attract too much attention, and now isn't the right time. Based on your physical strength, we can use that as a baseline to estimate results. How does that sound?"
Han Li finally realized that there was no escape and decided to compromise.
"Fine, that works too. We don't need any unnecessary attention."
Gu Yue nodded coldly, assuming that Han Li simply couldn't fully conceal their battle fluctuations.
Still, she preferred this outcome. Compared to a clash of laws, personally beating him black and blue was much more in line with the path of Dragon God.
Even though she hadn't inherited Dragon God's talent in physical combat, she wasn't someone just anyone could challenge.
Even if she wasn't as strong as the Golden Dragon King in terms of raw physicality, she was still among the strongest in existence.
Her inherited pride would not allow her to bow down, not even to Han Li.
As for Han Li's claim that his divine body was half a level stronger than his divine power, she believed it. The combat experience imprinted in her memories would compensate for that gap in strength. Besides, humans and dragons, even at the same level, had vastly different physical capabilities she was the Silver Dragon King, after all.
"If you're sure, why not expand the space a little? I'll reinforce it externally how about we fight here?"
Han Li's expression turned odd. Was she really this eager?
Had she forgotten that their divine power levels were nearly equal? And maybe he had phrased it a bit vaguely…
The "half a level" he mentioned wasn't in terms of Soul Master cultivation ranks it was half a level in the hierarchy of gods, meaning the gap between a First Class God and a Second Class God. His divine body was already approaching the level of a God King.
"Alright, no problem."
Seeing Han Li agree, Gu Yue didn't hesitate. With a wave of her right hand, the space she had created began expanding.
Since she had already made a move, Han Li had nothing to say. He cooperated with her, reinforcing the space further and strengthening its concealment.
Tsk, it was obvious she really wanted to hit him.
His method of constructing space had originally been learned from Gu Yue. Now that he had fully mastered the laws of space, with the Plane's Will assisting him, he actually completed his enhancements before she did.
Gu Yue took a deep breath and sped up her movements. In certain aspects, Han Li was indeed ahead of her, and she could faintly sense that he was deliberately suppressing something.
In fact, he was. Han Li was consciously avoiding the suppression effect of his Law Ring on Gu Yue.
Otherwise, even in a space she created, the moment she used spatial laws in his presence, he would be taking a cut. That was the power of the Laws of Capital it was just a matter of whether he wanted to enforce it or not.
"Is this enough? Shall we begin?"
Gu Yue stopped her actions, glancing at Han Li. The space was now large enough for them to fight freely.
"Of course. As you wish."
Han Li didn't put away his martial soul. Instead, he transformed it into twin blades and embedded them into his chest armor.
(Think along the lines of Flame Dragon Armor.)
Gu Yue frowned slightly but said nothing.
In her eyes, this gesture from Han Li was somewhat condescending but she would make him draw his blades with her strength.
Han Li, on the other hand, also frowned.
Wait, sis, you're not going to transform into a dragon? That feels a bit disrespectful.
Fine, then. I guess I'll just have to beat you until you show your true form.
He had already fought Qian Renxue one more Gu Yue wouldn't make a difference.
There was no further conversation between them. As a gust of wind swept past, tousling their hair, both figures vanished from their original positions.
At the center of their clash, their bodies reappeared, their right arms slamming together. Behind them, faint silver glows flickered.
Clearly, though they had agreed on a hand to hand fight, at their level, the laws still inevitably played a role. The flickering light and ripples behind them were proof that both had instinctively used spatial power.
"No using spa " ×2
They both started speaking at the same time, then abruptly stopped when they heard each other.
If they used spatial power, the fight would turn into a drawn out tug of war. This was just an opening habit. Once they realized it, they immediately adjusted their restrictions.
After several rapid exchanges, the two figures separated.
"Other than spatial power, feel free to go all out. After all, I am testing something here."
Han Li glanced at his armor, then at Gu Yue, a slight smile on his lips.
In just a few simple clashes, her body's reactions had already given Han Li the answer while in her human form, Gu Yue's physical strength was inferior to his.
Moreover, he was wearing armor.
Since this was a test, Han Li abandoned defense altogether, forcing Gu Yue into a situation where she had to trade blows with him. Without the support of laws, all her attacks landed on his armor, while he managed to land several solid punches on her.
She was still trembling slightly though he wasn't sure if it was from pain or anger.
Combat experience? Meaningless. Unless she was willing to take free hits without retaliating, his strategy was downright shameless.
Then, Han Li saw Gu Yue lift her head, her face devoid of emotion as she stared at him.
The next second, a dragon's roar echoed through the space. A massive dragon claw, brimming with overwhelming force, swiped at him with ferocity.
Beneath the claw, a pale blue wind element sphere spun at high speed.
Damn, was that a Rasengan?!
And wait weren't we supposed to test physical endurance first, then law resistance? This crazy dragon lady was not playing fair.
Though these thoughts ran through his mind, Han Li didn't dodge. His wings trembled, and the pale blue wind element enveloped him as he stomped the ground, charging straight at the incoming dragon claw.
He hadn't fully mastered the laws of wind yet, but that didn't stop him from using them in a rough manner.
And that was exactly why he chose not to dodge.
After all, his real goal was testing his endurance.
(End of Chapter)
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