Rumble
A bolt of thunder suddenly tore through the night sky, its ghastly white light instantly illuminating the streets and alleys of Changyun County. Then, torrential rain came pouring down, battering rooftops and stone-paved roads with loud crackles, thoroughly washing away the daytime heat and leaving behind only bone-piercing chill.
Through the curtain of rain, a black figure raced across the rooftops like a civet cat. It was Wang Yue.
He wore a dark silver inner armor, its plates fitted snugly against his body and gleaming with a cold sheen beneath the lightning. This was the second-rank inner armor he had borrowed from Liu Haibing at dusk. He had claimed that he merely wanted to study its forging techniques, but in truth, he had long intended to seek out Li Fang at the temple.
The Black Cloud Fist Armor beneath his sleeves had already been fully donned. The icy touch of metal against his skin steadied his taut nerves somewhat.
Li Fang's malice during the day had been plain for all to see, as had his probing toward Wang Yue. Wang Yue understood that if Li Fang did not die, he would surely stir up some trouble.
Rather than wait for the other party to come knocking, it was better to strike first and seize the initiative!
"We're almost there." Wang Yue lowered his body and, concealed by the rain, swiftly arrived outside the Three-Headed Buddha temple.
Unlike the silence of the night, the square outside the temple remained brightly lit. More than a dozen commoners held oil-paper umbrellas as they knelt before a hastily assembled incense altar, devoutly praying in the temple's direction. Wisps of incense smoke mingled with the rain-soaked air, spreading through the darkness and forming a hazy mist.
Wang Yue's gaze was cold, and he did not linger. Those commoners did not know the truth behind the Buddha statue. They were still offering incense and prayers to an evil, aberrant divine soul. Wang Yue only wanted to find Li Fang and settle their score from the day.
He circled around to the temple's western wall. Blood Qi stirred faintly beneath his feet, and with the lightness coursing through his body, he leaped over it, landing soundlessly atop the temple roof.
The tiles were slick from the rain, but Wang Yue walked over them as though on level ground. His fingertips hooked around the roof beams as he slowly made his way toward the main hall.
Below the eaves, several gray-robed monks carried lanterns as they patrolled, their footsteps hurried.
Wang Yue held his breath and swiftly crossed the roofs of several side halls through the lantern light's blind spots, finally reaching the roof above the Inner Court's main hall.
The main hall's doors were tightly shut, and the plaque above them gleamed from the rain, clearly having been sealed for quite some time.
Wang Yue lay against the roof tiles and listened closely. The hall was utterly silent, without the slightest movement. Li Fang was not inside.
"Not here?" Wang Yue frowned slightly, doubt rising in his heart. He had calculated that nighttime would be when the temple's defenses were at their weakest. As the abbot, Li Fang had no reason not to be near the main hall.
What he did not know was that Ji Yue had lured Li Fang into a valley outside the city under the pretense of discussing the details of their cooperation. At that very moment, Li Fang was locked in fierce battle.
He gently lifted a roof tile and peered through the gap into the hall. The Three-Headed Buddha statue atop the platform looked especially sinister beneath the dim candlelight. Its three Buddha faces seemed to have come alive. No matter the angle from which Wang Yue looked, he felt the statue's eyes fixed upon him.
A chilling terror crawled up his spine, making him shudder.
"This Buddha statue really is wicked." Wang Yue forcibly suppressed the unease in his heart. He silently leaped down from the roof, landing in the shadow beside the hall. Hiding behind a coiled-dragon pillar, he decided to wait. Li Fang had to return eventually. No matter what happened tonight, he would eliminate this hidden danger.
He raised a hand and touched the Black Cloud Fist Armor around his palm, lightly rubbing his knuckles over the metal plates. Twelve streams of Blood Qi circulated slowly through his body, ready to respond to any sudden development.
Just then, a shrill scream suddenly rang out beyond the temple, shattering the stillness of the rainy night.
"You brat actually dared to deceive me! If my blood pellet hadn't been destroyed, killing you would have been as easy as turning over my hand!"
Wang Yue's heart stirred. He quickly moved to the side door of the main hall and peered outside through the crack. In the rain, Li Fang staggered toward the temple. His gold-and-red monk's robes had been soaked through with blood, and deep, bone-revealing blade wounds marked his left arm and lower abdomen. Rainwater washed over the wounds, dyeing the pooled water on the ground a dark red.
His face was twisted in pain. He had clearly suffered grave injuries.
Following close behind was Ji Yue.
He held a long, narrow curved blade, blood dripping from its edge. His steps were steady, but he did not continue the pursuit. He merely stood at the temple gate, watching Li Fang flee into the Inner Court.
Li Fang was not an Energy Refining Realm martial artist, but a cultivator unique to the Zhao Kingdom. He did not condense inner force, only blood pellets, relying on their power to increase his strength. The cultivation of those blood pellets was actually closely tied to faith in gods and Buddhas. Once a blood pellet was destroyed, one's strength would plummet.
During the day, Ji Yue had cooperated with Li Fang because he wanted to borrow Li Fang's power to contend against the Transformation Dragon Sect. Yet he had never expected Li Fang to be the little thief who stole the Crimson Blood Bead. If the Transformation Dragon Sect's Crimson Blood Grandmaster learned of it, then with his temperament, Ji Yue would not escape accountability either.
And Li Fang had still wanted him to cooperate with him!
"Changyun County is already in chaos. Staying here will only bring trouble upon me."
Ji Yue sighed inwardly, glanced toward the temple, then turned and vanished into the rain. He had decided to leave Changyun County and head to Spirit Seeking Prefecture to report back to his master, informing him of every anomaly here.
Inside the main hall, Wang Yue heard Li Fang's cries and watched Ji Yue leave. The doubts in his heart were instantly resolved. So Li Fang had been injured by Ji Yue! He clenched his fists, a fierce glint flashing through his eyes. "Heaven is helping me!"
Li Fang was gravely injured now. This was the perfect chance to get rid of him!
He quietly moved behind the side door and watched Li Fang through the crack. Li Fang was bracing himself against the wall as he struggled toward the main hall. Every step tugged at his wounds and made him bare his teeth in pain, but he did not give up. His eyes still gleamed with madness.
"Buddha Heart Blood... As long as I absorb enough Buddha Heart Blood, mine can recover. Then..."
He reached out and pushed open the hall doors, staggering inside without noticing that a black figure behind the side door was gripping his fist armor, waiting for him to walk straight into the trap.
The rain continued to fall. Lightning once more illuminated the night sky, and the candle flames in the hall swayed violently. The Buddha statue's shadow twisted across the walls. A life-or-death showdown was about to unfold within this Buddha hall steeped in evil strangeness.
Li Fang supported himself against the wall as he shuffled step by step to the center of the hall. Only three steps remained between him and the Three-Headed Buddha statue on the platform.
He raised his blood-smeared hand, his eyes shining with frenzied longing, as though he could touch the life-saving Buddha Heart Blood in the next instant.
"Now!"
The icy gleam in Wang Yue's eyes surged as he hid behind the side door. The twelve streams of Blood Qi within him suddenly roared to life, like twelve scarlet flood dragons bellowing through his meridians.
He hesitated not in the slightest. His body shot out like an arrow released from its bow, the muscles in both arms bulging. The Black Cloud Fist Armor shone with a cold metallic luster beneath the candlelight. He brought the opening stance of the proficient Transformation Dragon Fist—fist emerging like a dragon—to its utmost limit. His fist tore through the air like a galloping spear, carrying the force of thunder, and smashed viciously toward Li Fang's back!
Pfft!
The instant his fist connected, a muffled boom echoed through the hall.
Li Fang did not even have time to react before his body flew forward like a kite with its string cut. The crisp crack of his breastbone breaking was clearly audible. A long trail of blood stretched from where he landed, a ghastly sight.
"Cough... cough, cough!" Li Fang lay sprawled on the ground, violently coughing up a mouthful of blood. With difficulty, he slowly sat up and looked at the black-clad figure before him. His face was filled with terror as he stammered, "You... who are you?!"
He forced himself to endure his injuries, a trace of threat flashing through his eyes. "Transformation Dragon Fist—I know all the wandering agents of the Transformation Dragon Sect. I have already reached a partnership with your Transformation Dragon Sect. You cannot kill me!" He thought Wang Yue was from the Transformation Dragon Sect and tried to preserve his life through their cooperation.
Wang Yue slowly removed the conical hat from his head, revealing his handsome yet icy face. His gaze was as cold as ice tempered in frost. "Cooperation? You think you're worthy of discussing cooperation with the Transformation Dragon Sect?"
Li Fang's pupils suddenly shrank as he saw Wang Yue's face. He abruptly recalled the youth he had seen in the temple during the day. "It's you! You're that brat from the Wang Clan! You deserve to die!" He had never imagined that this seemingly ordinary Blood Condensation Realm youth would dare to ambush him in the dead of night!
Driven to despair, Li Fang suddenly howled madly toward the Buddha statue on the platform, "Buddha, save me!"
After yesterday's grand ritual, the Buddha had already returned from death!
Bzzzz—
The moment the words fell, a deafening hum suddenly rose within the main hall.
Wang Yue's pupils contracted sharply. He stared in shock at the Three-Headed Buddha statue on the platform. The once cold gilded statue slowly turned its neck. Its three Buddha faces all looked toward him at once. The smiling face's smile became bizarre, the wrathful face's fangs glinted coldly, and a trace of blood-red light flashed through the quiet face's pupils!
A terror as suffocating as the deep sea instantly engulfed Wang Yue. It was as though an invisible hand had seized his throat, leaving him unable to move, nailed rigidly in place. At last, he understood that this Buddha statue was not an inanimate object at all. It truly concealed a horrifying divine soul!
"Three-Headed Buddha..." Stormy waves churned through Wang Yue's heart, and the panel's daytime warning now turned into a piercing chill.
Just then, a crimson thread of blood shot from the statue's brow. As though alive, it wrapped around Li Fang's body and continuously poured blood-colored energy into him.
The blade wounds that had exposed bone healed at a visible rate, while his broken breastbone gave a series of cracking sounds as it reset. In mere moments, Li Fang rose from the ground. All his injuries had completely vanished, with only his bloodstained monk's robes proving that he had ever been gravely wounded.
The reason Ji Yue had not dared enter the temple earlier was because he feared the divine soul behind this Buddha statue!
Feeling the power restored within him, Li Fang threw back his head and laughed wildly. "Hahaha! Wang Clan brat, you think you can kill me? With the Buddha's protection, I am immortal!"
But when he looked toward the statue, his smile suddenly froze. The golden radiance on its surface had completely dimmed, and the once lively Buddha faces had become cold again. Clearly, that earlier intervention had exhausted the divine soul's power of temporary awakening.
"Damn it!" Li Fang's face darkened as he glared at Wang Yue through clenched teeth. "I'll use your entire Wang Clan as an offering to the Buddha!"
Wang Yue looked at the silent statue, and the fear in his heart gradually gave way to killing intent. He smiled faintly, but that smile was filled with cold ruthlessness. "Use my whole family as an offering? First see whether you can leave this hall alive! Today, I will kill you first!"
Before his words had even faded, the twelve streams of Blood Qi within Wang Yue abruptly transformed into flying rainbows, racing madly through his meridians. The fifth form of the Blood Dragon Secret Method circulated within him. His fist wind surged like raging waves of blood, carrying a sharp hiss that tore through the air as it lunged at Li Fang.
"Bold!" Li Fang sneered. Though he had recovered from his injuries with Buddha Blood, he had also lost the core power of his blood pellet. His martial cultivation had fallen back to the peak of the Blood Condensation Realm, but his many years of combat experience remained. He clenched both fists, traces of blood appearing over his knuckles, and threw them toward Wang Yue's fist.
Bang!
The instant their fists collided, a shocking impact boomed through the main hall.
Li Fang only felt a monstrous force far beyond anything ordinary surge up his arm. With a crack, the bones in his right arm burst apart on the spot, blood splashing across the floor.
"This... how is this possible? Your strength is actually this great!" Li Fang was horrified, but before he could react, the residual Buddha Blood in his body surged again. His broken arm healed once more, though a few degrees slower than before.
Wang Yue's expression darkened at the sight. The regenerative power of this Buddha Blood was far too bizarre. He had to end this quickly!
He no longer held back, alternating between the Transformation Dragon Fist and the Blood Dragon Secret Method. At times, his fist was a great spear that shattered enemies; at others, his palm was a wave of blood crashing against the shore. Every strike carried the full strength of twelve streams of Blood Qi as it attacked Li Fang's vital points.
The battle grew fiercer. The candlelight in the hall shook wildly from the force of their fists, while the bluestone slabs beneath their feet cracked apart under their steps.
Li Fang relied on Buddha Blood to regenerate again and again, but Wang Yue could clearly feel that his regeneration was becoming slower and slower. After each recovery, a little more clarity vanished from Li Fang's eyes, replaced by numb madness. While the Buddha Blood repaired his body, it was also devouring his consciousness.
"I refuse to believe you can't be killed!" Wang Yue's eyes were bloodshot as he roared. His fists crashed down upon Li Fang's head like a rainstorm. With a bang, Li Fang's skull was smashed apart on the spot, blood and brains splattering across the Buddha statue's pedestal.
Yet in the next moment, the Buddha Blood surged again. Li Fang's head actually reformed. He looked at Wang Yue with a strange smile on his face. "With the Buddha here, how can you possibly kill me?"
Wang Yue did not answer. He simply continued his frenzied assault. He knew that as long as he drained all the Buddha Blood from Li Fang's body, he could kill him completely.
Sure enough, with every cycle of destruction and regeneration, the Buddha Blood in Li Fang's body was depleted more severely, and his mind gradually collapsed. His punches slowly lost all form, leaving only instinctive brute swings. He even threw punches toward empty spaces.
"Young friend... this was all a misunderstanding..." Li Fang suddenly stopped moving. His eyes were unfocused as he looked at Wang Yue, his tone carrying a trace of pleading. "Spare my life. I'll never trouble the Wang Clan again..."
"A misunderstanding, my ass!" Wang Yue roared, the killing intent in his eyes undiminished. "From the moment you showed me hostility, you deserved to die!"
Li Fang's fist slammed heavily into Wang Yue's chest. The second-rank inner armor Wang Yue wore dented inward on the spot, but Wang Yue merely grunted and did not retreat at all. His physique, tempered by twelve streams of Blood Qi, had long surpassed martial artists of the same realm. Such an injury was nowhere near enough to bring him down.
Li Fang looked at Wang Yue's still upright figure, and despair gradually rose in his heart. "Why... I've hit you so many times. How is your body still this strong?"
He suddenly remembered the Crimson Blood Grandmaster. Though Li Fang's realm had been higher, he had been completely unable to resist before that man. Now, facing Wang Yue, he felt the same helplessness.
In despair, Li Fang's face abruptly flushed red. He gathered the last trace of Buddha Blood within him and lunged at Wang Yue like a mad demon, wildly throwing punches without any form.
A fierce glint flashed through Wang Yue's eyes. He could clearly feel that Li Fang's regeneration had slowed to its absolute limit, and that his consciousness was on the brink of collapse. He sidestepped Li Fang's fist, closed in, and seized both of Li Fang's arms. With two sharp cracks, he forcibly snapped them, then drove a vicious punch into Li Fang's abdomen.
Pfft!
Li Fang's internal organs were pulverized on the spot. He spat out a huge mouthful of blood, and his body crumpled to the ground. Wang Yue's eyes were sharp. He vaguely saw a flickering red light near Li Fang's heart. It was the last remnant of Buddha Blood!
Without hesitation, he reached in and yanked out Li Fang's heart. The Black Cloud Fist Armor on his palm exerted force in an instant, crushing the heart to pieces.
As the final thread of Buddha Blood left his body, Li Fang stared at Wang Yue in disbelief, his body slowly falling backward. A trace of confusion flashed through his eyes. "Master... I think I remember now... You said that once you worship gods and Buddhas, you can never hold your head high again... How... did I forget..."
Before he could finish, Li Fang's head drooped completely, and he never made another sound.
Outside the main hall, the gray-robed monks who had heard the commotion had long since scattered in panic. Only the empty temple remained, steeped in deathly silence beneath the rainy night.
But just then, an even stronger, more lethal chill surged into Wang Yue's heart. He abruptly turned toward the Buddha statue on the platform. From its brow, another thread of blood emerged. This blood thread was several times thicker than before, carrying an irresistible pressure as it slashed toward Wang Yue like a sharp sword!
"Not good!" Wang Yue was horrified. He hurriedly twisted aside, but the blood thread was too fast. His shoulder was still sliced open in a bone-deep wound, and a massive amount of blood sprayed out, staining the ground before him red.
From within the Buddha statue, a golden divine soul slowly emerged. It was the divine soul of the Three-Headed Buddha!
Looking at Wang Yue's bleeding wound, all three Buddha faces revealed satisfied smiles. "A fine physique... You would make a good vessel!"
The golden divine soul surged toward Wang Yue's body like a tide.
Wang Yue only felt an enormous force flood into his consciousness. His head felt as though it would split apart, as though the divine soul were tearing him to pieces. Clinging to his last shred of clarity, he turned and ran toward the main hall's exit. He knew that once the divine soul fully occupied his body, he would never return!
In the rain, Wang Yue staggered yet remained resolute. Blood dripped continuously from the wound on his shoulder, leaving a long trail on the ground that stretched all the way toward the Wang Clan.
He did not know how long he ran before he finally saw the Wang Clan's gates.
The gatekeeping disciples saw Wang Yue covered in blood, their faces turning deathly pale as they hurriedly opened the gates.
Wang Yue did not stop. He ran straight toward the Essence Chamber in the clan leader's residence. He knew that only the essence within the chamber might temporarily suppress the divine soul's invasion.
Pushing open the chamber door, he was met by a rich wave of essence. Wang Yue could no longer hold on. His body collapsed limply to the floor, and he fell unconscious.
In the final moment before losing consciousness, he seemed to hear terrified howls from outside the chamber, along with the rustling scrape of something grinding within his body.
The door of the Essence Chamber slowly closed, shutting out the sounds outside. Only Wang Yue's unconscious form remained, along with the strange scent of blood mingled with essence that permeated the air.
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