153: I'm getting old, I'm getting old. From now on, the world of martial arts will belong to the young.

"True Man Zhang, are you ready?"

Duan Zhengchun finished speaking and reached out to pluck the zither strings; instantly, an invisible wave surged out.

The moment Duan Zhengchun unleashed the heavenly demon zither, Zhang Sanfeng felt his hair stand on end as a sense of crisis washed over him.

It had been many years since he had felt this way.

Even the strike of One Sword Opens the Heavenly Gate just now hadn't given him such a feeling.

This meant that this heavenly demon zither was even more terrifying than One Sword Opens the Heavenly Gate.

Zhang Sanfeng immediately dodged; unsure of the heavenly demon zither's power, he didn't dare to take it head-on.

"Boom..."

After the invisible wave missed, it blasted craters directly into the ground.

Seeing Zhang Sanfeng dodge and not dare to meet the attack, a cold sneer appeared at the corner of Duan Zhengchun's mouth.

This heavenly demon zither wasn't limited to single-target attacks; it also had area-of-effect attacks.

Duan Zhengchun immediately grabbed the strings, pulled them back forcefully, and then released his fingers.

"Boom..."

"Boom..."

"Holy crap, kid! You have no martial ethics, using such a rogue technique!" Zhang Sanfeng stomped his feet in anger.

He could feel that he had been hit by the sound waves.

However, he didn't feel any discomfort in his body, as if the sound waves had no effect at all and had simply passed through him.

Zhang Sanfeng was about to move when he saw that Duan Zhengchun had already stopped his attack.

"True Man Zhang, if I were you, I wouldn't move recklessly," Duan Zhengchun said with a smile.

Hearing Duan Zhengchun's words, Zhang Sanfeng's expression changed, and he stopped in his tracks instantly.

Just as he had taken a step, a sudden chill rose in his heart.

He stopped his footsteps subconsciously.

After stopping, Zhang Sanfeng began to carefully sense the changes in his body, but to his dismay, even after checking several times, he still couldn't find where the problem lay.

However, as long as he tried to move, that sense of crisis would reappear.

At this, Zhang Sanfeng's expression changed completely.

This heavenly demon zither was indeed eerie; its attacks were invisible and impossible to guard against. Even more bizarrely, even if you knew you'd been hit, there was nothing you could do about it.

Because you simply couldn't find what changes had occurred in your body.

"Kid, your heavenly demon zither is truly bizarre. This old Daoist knows he's been hit, but I can't find where the problem is."

"Speak, what's going on exactly?" Zhang Sanfeng said with a dark expression.

As a dignified Land Immortal, he had actually been outmaneuvered by a junior, and one whose strength was inferior to his own.

This made him feel like he had lost face.

"This is Eight Tones Piercing Heart. Once hit by Eight Tones Piercing Heart, one is safe within eight steps, but will surely die beyond eight steps," Duan Zhengchun said directly.

"Eight Tones Piercing Heart? Safe within eight steps, but certain death beyond eight steps?"

"I didn't expect the legendary heavenly demon zither to be so bizarre."

"This has already exceeded the scope of martial arts." A look of shock appeared on Zhang Sanfeng's face.

"True Man Zhang, you've lost!" Duan Zhengchun said with a smile.

"Sigh... I'm old, so old. The Jianghu will belong to you young people from now on," Zhang Sanfeng lamented helplessly.

Li Qiushui was completely stunned. She had originally thought that no matter how powerful Duan Zhengchun was, he couldn't possibly be Zhang Sanfeng's match.

She hadn't expected that he would actually win in the end.

Was the heavenly demon zither really this bizarre? Just thinking about it made her feel a lingering fear.

She could feel that even she wouldn't have been able to dodge that attack just now.

And once hit, one's life or death would no longer be in their own hands.

Meanwhile, the battle between the two continued to attract the attention of many Masters.

At the Shaolin Temple, the Sweeping Monk looked toward Western Xia once again. Feeling those terrifying fluctuations, a sharp light flickered in his eyes.

Looking through the clouds at the two fighting in the forest, a look of surprise appeared on his face.

"Who is this kid? Why does he have Northern Darkness True Qi? Could he be the disciple of one of those few?"

"Zhang Sanfengs original name? I didn't expect you to have come down from the mountain too, and even specifically for this kid."

"This kid's strength is truly not simple. If nothing else, the power of this One Sword Opens the Heavenly Gate is definitely terrifying."

"Wait, how could the heavenly demon zither be in his hands? Wasn't it destroyed by me back then? Why has it appeared again?"

"The heavenly demon zither shouldn't exist in the first place. Every time it appears, it causes a bloodbath in the Jianghu, with countless people losing their lives to fight for it."

"It seems I must make a trip outside; the heavenly demon zither cannot be allowed to exist."

After the Sweeping Monk finished speaking, his figure vanished instantly.

At the border of Great Qin and the Great Song, a graceful figure was traveling through the air. With every step, her figure vanished instantly, reappearing over a hundred meters away.

This person was none other than the Sect Head of the Daoist Heavenly Sect of Great Qin, Great Master Xiao Meng.

Suddenly, Xiao Meng's figure came to an abrupt halt as she looked into the distance.

Two forces were clashing fiercely there, one of which even made her feel startled.

The opponent's strength was above her own; it was very likely the legendary Land Immortal Realm.

The other one's strength wasn't weak either, still being at the Heavenly Human Realm.

Watching the two fight, a look of shock appeared on Xiao Meng's face.

What shocked her was that of these two people fighting, one was a white-haired old man with an immortal-like air; Xiao Meng sensed a power from the same source within him.

That was the power of the Daoist school. In the Nine Provinces, there weren't many people with such an appearance and such a high Realm.

She soon guessed the other party's identity: the number one person in the Martial World, the founding Ancestral Master of the Sect, Zhang Sanfeng.

However, the other young man was someone she couldn't see through; none of the information in her mind matched him.

To think he could go toe-to-toe with Zhang Sanfeng with the strength of the Heavenly Human Realm. When she saw that sword technique descending from the heavens, Xiao Meng's expression changed instantly.

Her eyes were filled with the light of excitement; she had come to the right place this time.

After saying that, her figure vanished again as she hurried toward the south.

In Great Qin, Donghuang Taiyi of the Yin-Yang School suddenly appeared in the air, his eyes looking toward the southeast.

The fluctuations were coming from there.

"The number one person in the Great Ming's martial arts, Zhang Sanfeng, is actually fighting with a green kid. How rare."

"What is this kid's identity? To think he can go back and forth with Zhang Sanfeng," Donghuang Taiyi said in surprise.

However, Donghuang Taiyi did not leave; instead, he sent people to investigate information about Duan Zhengchun.

He had long known Zhang Sanfeng's strength, but he knew nothing about Duan Zhengchun. He hadn't expected that during his few years of secluded meditation, such a talented young man would appear in the east.

In the Hidden Soldier Valley of the Great Tang, Yuan Tiangang looked at the distant clouds, a look of surprise on his face.

"What's going on? The phenomenon caused by the previous Breakthrough came from there, and now that old fellow Zhang Sanfeng is actually fighting a young man."

"Could this young man be the one who broke through to the Heavenly Human Realm earlier? No, the person who broke through before had a feminine aura, clearly a woman, but this kid's Internal Energy is fierce and overbearing."

"His Internal Energy carries a domineering aura of extreme Yang; the two are fundamentally not the same person."

"When did such a young man in the Heavenly Human Realm appear in the Jianghu? Why haven't the Buzhao Ren received any news at all?" Yuan Tiangang's voice was filled with doubt.