Yang Feilong had not considered sparring with Li Zhengtang. After all, the old man was of advanced age and had recently been poisoned. Although the poison had been purged by himself, his body was certainly not in optimal condition. If he were to strike too heavily and injure the elder, it would not be good!
"You're afraid of injuring me?" Li Zhengtang saw Yang Feilong's hesitant demeanor and grinned, "The poison I had was just removed, but it's not something you can injure me with!"
He possessed such pride and confidence.
"Alright then!" Yang Feilong nodded.
"Weapons are an extension of fists and feet; let's spar with hand-to-hand combat!" Li Zhengtang said.
"En!" Yang Feilong nodded, no longer refusing.
*Whoosh~~~*
Seeing Yang Feilong assume his fighting stance, Li Zhengtang's eyes lit up. "Come on!"
"Elder, be careful!" Yang Feilong warned, then moved instantly. His foot advanced, and he threw a punch, even stirring the wind.
"Well met!" Li Zhengtang roared.
*Bang bang bang!*
In an instant, the two were locked in combat.
Li Zhengtang grew increasingly alarmed as they fought. Initially, he assumed Yang Feilong was merely at the normal level of the Spirit Martial Realm mid-stage, so he hadn't exerted much strength. However, he discovered that with this level of power, he couldn't suppress Yang Feilong and even felt a faint sense of being suppressed.
His intention was to test Yang Feilong's combat strength. Naturally, he couldn't fight to a standstill. Therefore, he increased his power output. Yet, he found that no matter how much more power he exerted, Yang Feilong could still match him blow for blow.
Even when he went all out, he discovered Yang Feilong was still fighting him with apparent ease.
"He's not in the Spirit Martial Realm mid-stage? But like me? Or even at the Yuan Martial Realm? Yuan Martial Realm shouldn't be the case. If he were truly in the Spirit Martial Realm mid-stage, his combat power would be too formidable!" Li Zhengtang was shaken, his mind even wandering.
The consequence of his wandering was, as one could imagine, being completely suppressed by Yang Feilong!
At this point, Li Zhengtang also became serious. How could he be defeated by his 'grandson-in-law'? That would be too embarrassing! His voice rang out, "Feel free to unleash your fists and feet. Don't worry about injuring me!"
As Li Zhengtang's fighting spirit ignited, he gradually began to turn the tide, shifting from being suppressed by Yang Feilong to suppressing Yang Feilong.
Yang Feilong was amazed by Li Zhengtang's combat skill. To be honest, although his realm was lower, equivalent to the Spirit Martial Realm mid-stage, he followed the path of Qi Refinement. His true qi was much more potent than the internal energy of peers, which was a significant factor. Furthermore, his spiritual power was far superior to Li Zhengtang's. Although he didn't employ spiritual attacks, his powerful spirit allowed him to easily capture the opponent's movements, deduce, predict, and respond. This was another crucial reason for his ability to overcome opponents of higher realms!
Li Zhengtang's ability to turn the tables and begin suppressing Yang Feilong at this moment, besides Yang Feilong not going all out, was primarily due to his combat awareness.
"Combat awareness, incredibly powerful combat awareness!" Yang Feilong marveled inwardly.
Li Zhengtang's fighting at this moment was entirely based on combat instinct.
Combat instinct, even stronger than the speed of thought!
For example, after he finished a punch, he might then think, "Ah, I should have used a left hook to deflect that attack just now." But that thought came after the action.
Yang Feilong was still young. Although he had experienced many battles, he couldn't compare to Li Zhengtang. One had to consider that Li Zhengtang, despite being nearly seventy, still enjoyed a good fight. Just a few days ago, he had been poisoned during an altercation.
Yang Feilong did not choose to increase his true qi output. Instead, he opted to maintain his current output and engage Li Zhengtang with his full heart and soul!
Yang Feilong was taken in as a disciple by his master at the age of eight. His master not only taught him Qi Refinement techniques but also many martial arts. Although he didn't have much hand-to-hand combat training, his master possessed many such records, which Yang Feilong practiced when he had free time. However, his usual sparring partners were wild beasts in the mountains!
Those were life-and-death struggles!
Yang Feilong's rich combat skills were mostly honed during battles with wild beasts.
But battling wild beasts was different from fighting humans. While the former was more terrifying, human intelligence was still superior!
After Yang Feilong left the mountains, he had engaged in dozens of battles, large and small. However, most people found it difficult to put pressure on him. Yet, Li Zhengtang gave Yang Feilong that feeling. This pure combat awareness was something Yang Feilong had once possessed but had gradually forgotten in recent months.
The next moment, Yang Feilong completely let go and changed his fighting style.
Instead of using his spiritual power to capture the opponent's movements, he adopted a completely unrestrained fighting approach, fist to flesh. Because he maintained his true qi output and abandoned his spiritual power advantage, Yang Feilong went from being slightly at a disadvantage to being completely overwhelmed.
"What's going on?" Li Zhengtang was surprised. "Feilong's moves have changed?"
The next moment, he seemed to realize something and was greatly shocked. "Could he be trying to cultivate his combat instinct?"
Developing combat into instinct was incredibly difficult!
Li Zhengtang didn't believe Yang Feilong could learn it in a short period, as it required years of continuous fighting to form habits and then transform those habits into instinct!
Just as one's eyes instinctively close when facing danger, instinct precedes thought!
No matter how fast thought is, there is still a delay. But instinct has almost no delay!
As the battle continued, Li Zhengtang was once again shocked. He discovered that Yang Feilong's combat instinct was too terrifying. From being completely overwhelmed by him, Yang Feilong managed to equalize the disadvantage in the blink of an eye.
The two were once again fighting on equal footing!
However, as time wore on, Li Zhengtang found himself at a disadvantage again. Although both were fighting based on instinct, Li Zhengtang was seventy years old after all. His physical stamina and reaction speed were naturally inferior to Yang Feilong's.
There was also a saying: "Fists fear the young."
Therefore, Li Zhengtang was struck by Yang Feilong, spitting blood as he flew backward.
"Grandpa!" a startled cry rang out.
The sound snapped Yang Feilong out of his trance-like battle. He saw that he had sent the elder flying, and Li Yufei had appeared at some point and was looking at her grandfather with concern.
"Yufei, don't worry. I'm just sparring with Feilong," the old man said, suppressing his shock. He wiped the blood from his lips and smiled.
"Grandpa Li, I am truly sorry. I just..." Yang Feilong looked at the elder, who was spitting blood and clearly injured, and said apologetically.
"It's alright. Breaking an arm or a leg has happened more than once!" Li Zhengtang said with a chuckle. "This minor injury is nothing!"
"I have some healing pills here. You can take them. Not only will they help your injuries recover, but they can also heal any lingering hidden injuries you may have!" Yang Feilong said as he took out a medicine bottle from his pocket.
"It can even heal hidden injuries?" Li Zhengtang's eyes lit up upon hearing this.
"Naturally!" Yang Feilong nodded with a smile.
"I almost forgot. Apart from your martial arts talent, your medical skills are also very impressive!" Li Zhengtang praised with a tut. He accepted the medicine bottle from Yang Feilong without hesitation. Upon opening it, his eyes brightened. "The pills you've given me are likely of great value!"