Crimson-Faced Heavenly King

No one knew Crimson-Faced Heavenly King's real name. Even within the White Lotus Sect, few people knew it.

"Heavenly King" referred to his status, while "Crimson-Faced" described one of his more obvious physical traits.

Compared with True Void Daoist and Wusheng Laomu, the two renowned Dharma Kings who protected the sect, Crimson-Faced Heavenly King seemed far less imposing. Those within the sect who worshipped him fanatically, and those outside it who feared him in terror, were far fewer than for the other two.

Duàn Yì, for instance, knew only of the Old Mother and the Daoist, but not of this Heavenly King.

Yet Crimson-Faced Heavenly King was likewise ranked among the Four Great Dharma Kings, standing shoulder to shoulder with the other three. His martial arts could not possibly be inferior to True Void Daoist's or Wusheng Laomu's.

Take this seemingly simple, plain, unadorned palm-saber strike. The mysteries within it were far beyond what could be explained in a few words.

Others merely felt that this man's saber path burned like fire. Once unleashed, it was like heavenly flames sweeping across the plains, blazing fiercely with domineering violence.

But Duàn Yì saw the distinction between its inner and outer aspects.

The inner aspect was the core essence and profound principle of this strike. What it embraced was danger.

Though it appeared to be a simple stroke, its form clear and straightforward, it was great skill seeming clumsy, great accomplishment seeming flawed.

Within it lurked countless unpredictable changes and deadly traps. Its force flowed like undercurrents beneath the ten-thousand-zhang seabed: hard and soft, straight and twisting, coiling and churning, even circling back and forth without end.

To treat it merely as a fierce and forceful attack—whether by evasion or by meeting force with force—would surely mean suffering a loss.

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