Erwin rapidly waved his hands before him, and layers of golden light shimmered into existence.
The Elders hovering in the air nodded in approval.
"Not bad. This child has mastered the Golden Barrier Technique quite well!"
"Indeed. The technique is standard at Kunlun, and most disciples with talent learn it. Yet, few match his current proficiency."
The other Elders murmured their agreement, once again marveling at Erwin's rapid progress. He had studied for a mere three days, yet he possessed the skill of a disciple with three years of experience.
Down the mountain, the students watching the battle recognized the technique immediately.
"That's the Golden Barrier Technique! I know that one too!"
"Most of us do, but look—isn't his barrier a bit too thick?"
Several Kunlun students who hadn't mastered the technique felt a wave of discouragement. They had tried their best, yet against someone like Erwin, who relied on sheer talent, they were powerless. It felt fundamentally unfair.
Meanwhile, Erwin's hands didn't stop moving.
Because his internal restrictions had been released, several golden barriers rose in succession before him. From the outside, the defensive wall was almost blinding.
"Since he knows the Golden Barrier," a curious disciple asked, "why didn't he use it from the start? Why was he dodging Shen's attacks?"
The disciple acting as the referee remained silent, equally puzzled.
"Because he's using Shen's pressure to train himself!"
Everyone turned. It was Sunny who had spoken. She looked at Erwin casting techniques, a look of astonishment flashing in her eyes. It was terrifying. Under such pressure, Erwin was still focused on improvement.
Sunny was right. Erwin was training himself, but not just against Quincy Shen. He was also testing his resistance against the strange pressure of the Celestial Path. He had discovered that while the pressure was uncomfortable, it strengthened his body.
After fighting Quincy Shen for just a short time, he felt his physical durability increasing. So, he had been primarily testing his limits.
Now, the test was over. The pressure was offering diminishing returns on his physical conditioning. Therefore, this first phase of training had served its purpose.
Erwin watched as Quincy Shen's lightning strike shattered his outermost Golden Barrier instantly. But behind that first layer lay over a dozen more. Erwin remained calm.
Invincible defense? he thought. I am the one with true defense.
Erwin waved his hands, unleashing his Fire Manipulation Technique. Fireballs hurtled toward Quincy Shen.
The Elders nodded. "Using the Golden Barrier for defense while focusing on offense is the correct strategy. However, though he can repeat the Fire Control Technique, his creation speed is roughly equal to Shen's talisman drawing. Winning won't be easy."
Just then, an unexpected turn of events occurred.
Erwin's hand movements shifted. One hand continued the hand seals for Fire Manipulation. The other hand began moving in a separate, rapid sequence.
Suddenly, spikes of ice appeared, blasting toward Quincy Shen.
This move stunned everyone, including the Elders.
"How did he do that? Casting with one hand?"
Eastern magic was fundamentally different from Western spells. It didn't involve silent casting or wand work. Hand seals were required to channel Qi and connect with natural energy. To abandon them was considered impossible. In the history of Kunlun, no one had ever cast two techniques simultaneously using different hands.
An Elder raised a hand, made a few quick seals, and shook his head. "No. Incomplete seals cannot connect with the energy. The technique shouldn't work. How did the child manage this?"
The Elders looked at Erwin with intense curiosity.
In truth, Erwin's ability was largely due to his unconventional approach. He had very little experience with Eastern magic, so he didn't understand the "sacred" necessity of hand seals. To him, they were simply a focusing mechanism, much like the incantations used in Western spellwork.
Therefore, he treated Eastern magic exactly like Hogwarts spells. Once learned, the goal was to become proficient enough to cast silently and without aids.
While Eastern cultivation required hand seals to channel Qi properly, Erwin simply applied the logic of silent, wandless spellcasting to the process. He spent half a day experimenting. At first, he failed, but eventually, he found a method. By the time of the challenge, he had mastered the basics of single-handed casting.
He hadn't expected to need it so soon, but here he was.
Down the mountain, the Kunlun students were numb. Compared to Erwin, they felt inadequate. If someone told them Erwin was a prodigy destined for greatness, they wouldn't doubt it. In all the years of Kunlun's history, his method of technique-casting was truly unique.
Sunny stood by the side, secretly raising her hand to try it out.
Her hand almost cramped up, but not even a spark appeared.
Helplessly, Sunny gave up. People were simply different.