Fist Kills Li Fang, Buddha Appears

"Rumble!"

A clap of thunder suddenly tore through the night sky. A flash of pale light illuminated the streets and alleys of Changyun County, followed by a downpour that hammered against the rooftops and stone slabs, washing away the day's heat and leaving behind a biting chill.

Through the rain, a black figure darted across the eaves like a civet cat – it was Wang Yue.

He wore a dark silver inner armor, its plates fitting snugly against his body, glinting with a cold luster under the lightning. This was a second-tier inner armor he had borrowed from Liu Haibing that evening, claiming he wanted to observe forging techniques, but in reality, he had already planned to visit the temple to find Li Fang.

The Black Cloud Fist gauntlets beneath his sleeves were fully equipped. The cold sensation of metal against his skin brought a measure of calm to his taut nerves.

Li Fang's malice had been blatant during the day, as were his probing attempts. Wang Yue understood that if Li Fang wasn't dealt with, he would likely cause more trouble.

Rather than wait for the other party to come looking for him, it was better to strike first and gain the upper hand!

"Almost there." Wang Yue lowered his stance, using the rain as cover, and quickly reached the perimeter of the Three-Headed Buddha Temple.

Unlike the silence of the night, the plaza outside the temple was still brightly lit. Over a dozen commoners, holding oil-paper umbrellas, knelt before a temporary incense altar, praying devoutly towards the temple. Wisps of incense smoke mingled with the dampness of the rain, filling the air and creating a hazy mist.

Wang Yue's gaze was cold, and he didn't linger. These commoners were unaware of the truth behind the Buddha statue and were still offering incense to an evil spirit. Wang Yue only wanted to find Li Fang and settle the day's grievance.

He skirted around to the west side of the temple wall. With a slight surge of Qi and Blood in his feet, he used his agility to leap up, landing silently on the temple's roof.

The roof tiles were slick with rain, but Wang Yue moved as if on level ground. Hooking his fingers around the wooden beams of the eaves, he slowly moved towards the main hall.

Under the eaves, several monks in grey robes patrolled with lanterns, their footsteps hurried.

Wang Yue held his breath, using the blind spots of the lantern light to quickly traverse the roofs of several side halls, finally reaching the roof above the main hall in the inner courtyard.

The doors of the main hall were tightly shut. The plaque above the lintel gleamed, washed by the rain, clearly indicating it had been sealed for a long time.

Wang Yue lay flat on the roof tiles, listening intently. The hall was silent, not a stir within. Li Fang wasn't inside.

"Not here?" Wang Yue's brows furrowed slightly, a hint of confusion rising in his heart. He had calculated that the temple's defenses would be weakest at night, and as the abbot, Li Fang had no reason not to be near the main hall.

He didn't know that Li Fang was currently being lured by Ji Yue to a valley outside the city under the guise of "discussing cooperation details," and was already locked in a fierce battle.

He gently lifted a roof tile and peered into the hall. The Three-Headed Buddha statue on the high platform appeared particularly ferocious in the dim candlelight. The three faces of the Buddha seemed to have come alive, and no matter from what angle Wang Yue looked, he felt the statue's eyes were staring at him.

A bone-chilling coldness crawled up his spine, making him shiver involuntarily.

"This Buddha statue is indeed strange." Wang Yue forcefully suppressed the tremor in his heart and silently leaped from the roof, landing in the shadows beside the main hall. He hid behind a dragon-carved pillar, deciding to wait. Li Fang would have to return eventually, and tonight, he would eliminate this hidden threat, no matter what.

He raised his hand and touched the Black Cloud Fist gauntlet on his palm, his knuckles gently rubbing against the metal plates. Twelve streams of Qi and Blood circulated slowly within his body, ready to deal with any unexpected situation.

Just then, a shrill scream suddenly came from outside the temple, shattering the silence of the rainy night.

"You brat! How dare you deceive me! If my Blood Pill hadn't been broken, killing you would be as easy as lifting a hand!"

Wang Yue's heart stirred. He quickly walked to the side door of the main hall and looked out through the gap. In the rain, he saw Li Fang stumbling towards the temple, his golden-red monk's robe soaked through with blood. There was a gaping knife wound on his left arm and abdomen, and the rain washed over the wounds, dyeing the puddles on the ground a dark red.

His face was contorted in a grimace, clearly severely wounded.

Following closely behind was Ji Yue.

He held a long, curved saber, blood dripping from the blade. His steps were steady, but he didn't continue the pursuit. He simply stood at the temple entrance, watching Li Fang flee into the inner courtyard.

Li Fang was not a martial artist of the Energy Refining Realm, but a cultivator unique to the Zhao Kingdom. He did not condense internal energy but cultivated a Blood Pill, relying on its power to enhance his strength. The cultivation of this Blood Pill was surprisingly linked to the faith in gods and buddhas. Once the Blood Pill was broken, his strength would plummet.

During the day, he had cooperated with Li Fang, intending to use the latter's influence to counter the Dragon Transformation Sect. He never expected Li Fang to be the thief who stole the Crimson Blood Bead. If the Crimson Blood Grandmaster of the Dragon Transformation Sect knew, given his temperament, Wang Yue himself would not escape accountability.

And he still wanted Wang Yue to cooperate with him!

"Changyun County is in chaos. Staying here will only bring trouble."

Ji Yue sighed inwardly. He glanced in the direction of the temple, then turned and disappeared into the rain. He decided to leave Changyun County and head to the Spirit Seeking Prefecture to report to his master and provide a full account of the anomalies here.

Inside the main hall, Wang Yue heard Li Fang's scream and saw Ji Yue leave. The confusion in his heart instantly cleared. So Li Fang was injured by Ji Yue! He clenched his fist, a fierce glint in his eyes. "Heaven helps me!"

Li Fang was severely wounded at this moment, the best opportunity to eliminate him!

He quietly moved behind the side door, staring at Li Fang's figure through the gap. Li Fang was leaning against the wall, struggling towards the main hall. Every step he took aggravated his wounds, causing him to grit his teeth in pain, yet he didn't give up, his eyes flashing with a mad light.

"Buddha Heart Blood... As long as I absorb enough Buddha Heart Blood, my injuries will heal, and then..."

He reached out and pushed open the main hall door, staggering inside, completely unaware that behind the side door, a black figure was clenching his fist gauntlets, waiting for him to walk into a trap.

The rain continued to fall. Thunder once again illuminated the night sky. The candlelight inside the hall flickered violently, and the shadow of the Buddha statue twisted on the wall. A life-and-death battle was about to unfold in this eerie Buddha hall.

Li Fang, leaning against the wall, shuffled step by step to the center of the main hall, only three steps away from the Three-Headed Buddha statue on the high platform.

He raised his blood-stained hand, his eyes flashing with insane desire, as if he could touch the life-saving Buddha Heart Blood in the next second.

"Now!"

Wang Yue, hidden behind the side door, saw a cold light surge in his eyes. The twelve streams of Qi and Blood within his body suddenly surged, roaring like twelve crimson dragons in his meridians.

Without hesitation, his body shot out like an arrow from a bow. The muscles in his arms bulged. The Black Cloud Fist gauntlets glinted with a cold metallic luster under the candlelight. The starting posture of the proficient-level Dragon Transformation Fist, "Fist Like a Dragon," was performed to its extreme. His fist, carrying the sound of breaking wind, like a speeding spear, struck Li Fang's back with the force of thunder!

"Pfft!"

The moment the fist connected, a muffled thud echoed through the hall.

Li Fang didn't even have time to react before his body flew forward like a kite with a broken string. The crisp sound of his ribs breaking was clearly audible. A long trail of blood extended from where he landed, a shocking sight.

"Cough... Cough cough!" Li Fang lay on the ground, coughed up a large mouthful of blood, and slowly sat up with difficulty. He looked up at the black-clothed figure before him, his face full of terror, his voice intermittent: "You... Who are you?!"

He endured his injuries, a threat flashing in his eyes: "Dragon Transformation Fist, the 'Traveling the World' of the Dragon Transformation Sect, I recognize it all. I have reached a cooperation agreement with your Dragon Transformation Sect, you can't kill me!" He thought Wang Yue was from the Dragon Transformation Sect and tried to use their cooperation to save his life.

Wang Yue slowly took off his straw hat, revealing his heroic yet cold face. His gaze was as if quenched with ice: "Cooperation? You think you're worthy of cooperating with the Dragon Transformation Sect?"

Li Fang stared at Wang Yue's face, his pupils contracting sharply. He suddenly remembered the young man he'd seen in the temple earlier that day. "It's you! You're that brat from the Wang Clan! You deserve to die!" He hadn't expected this seemingly ordinary youth in the Blood Condensation Realm to dare sneak attack him in the dead of night!

In utter despair, Li Fang suddenly roared madly at the Buddha statue on the high platform, "Buddha, save me!"

After yesterday's grand ceremony, the Buddha had returned from death once more!

"Buzz..."

As soon as the words left his mouth, a deafening hum suddenly filled the great hall.

Wang Yue's pupils constricted, and he stared at the Three-Headed Buddha statue on the high platform with a face full of shock. The originally cold, gilded Buddha statue slowly turned its neck, all three faces looking at him simultaneously. The smiling face's grin became eerie, the angry face's fangs glinted coldly, and a trace of blood flashed in the silent face's pupils!

A fear like the suffocation of the deep sea instantly enveloped Wang Yue, as if an invisible giant hand had gripped his throat, rendering him unable to move, frozen in place. He finally understood that this Buddha statue was not inanimate at all, but truly harbored a terrifying divine soul!

"Three-Headed Buddha..." Wang Yue's heart churned like stormy waves. The prompt from earlier that day transformed into a bone-chilling coldness.

Just then, a blood-red line shot out from the center of the Buddha statue's brow. As if alive, it coiled around Li Fang's body, continuously injecting bloody energy into him.

His knife wounds, which had been deep enough to see bone, healed at a visible rate. His fractured chest bones made a cracking sound as they reset. In just a moment, Li Fang stood up from the ground, his wounds completely gone. Only his blood-stained monk's robe proved he had suffered a severe injury.

Ji Yue had not dared to enter the temple before, precisely because he feared the divine soul behind this Buddha statue!

Feeling the recovered strength within him, Li Fang laughed wildly, "Haha! Brat from the Wang Clan, you thought you could kill me? With the Buddha's protection, I am immortal!"

But when he looked at the Buddha statue, his smile suddenly froze. The golden light on the statue's surface had completely dimmed. The once vibrant Buddha faces had turned cold again, clearly indicating that the previous action had exhausted the power of the divine soul's temporary revival.

"Damn it!" Li Fang's face darkened, and he gritted his teeth, staring at Wang Yue. "I will offer your entire Wang Clan to the Buddha!"

Wang Yue looked at the silent Buddha statue, his fear gradually replaced by killing intent. He smiled slightly, his smile filled with cold ferocity. "Offer my entire clan? First, let's see if you can even walk out of this hall alive! Today, I will kill you first!"

Before his words even finished, the twelve streams of Qi and Blood within Wang Yue suddenly transformed into streaks of rainbow light, circulating wildly through his meridians. The fifth form of the Blood Dragon Secret Method was activated internally. His fist wind was like surging blood waves, carrying a sharp sound that tore through the air, fiercely charging towards Li Fang.

"Bold!" Li Fang sneered. Although he had recovered his injuries with the Buddha's blood, he had also lost the core power of his Blood Pill, and his martial arts realm had regressed to the peak of the Blood Condensation Realm. However, his years of combat experience remained. He clenched his fists, bloodstains appearing on his knuckles, and met Wang Yue's punch head-on.

"Bang!"

The moment their fists collided, an astonishing impact resounded through the hall.

Li Fang felt an immense force far beyond the ordinary surge through his arm. With a "crack," the bones of his right arm exploded on the spot, and blood splattered across the ground.

"This... How is this possible? Your strength is actually this great!" Li Fang was horrified, but before he could react, the residual Buddha blood within him surged again, and his broken arm healed once more, albeit at a slightly slower pace than before.

Seeing this, Wang Yue's expression darkened. This regenerative ability of the Buddha blood was too bizarre; he had to finish this quickly!

He no longer held back, alternating between the Dragon Transformation Fist and the Blood Dragon Secret Method. At times his fist was like a great spear piercing the enemy, at times his palm was like blood waves crashing ashore. Each strike carried the full force of his twelve streams of Qi and Blood, attacking Li Fang's vital points.

The battle grew fiercer. The candlelight in the hall swayed violently from the fist winds, and the bluestone slabs on the ground were shattered by their footsteps.

Li Fang regenerated repeatedly with the Buddha blood, but Wang Yue could clearly feel that his regeneration speed was slowing down. After each healing, the clarity in his eyes diminished, replaced by a numb madness. While the Buddha blood repaired his body, it was also consuming his consciousness.

"I don't believe I can't kill you!" Wang Yue's eyes were bloodshot. With a roar, his fists rained down on Li Fang's head. With a "bang," Li Fang's head was smashed on the spot, blood and brain matter splattering across the base of the Buddha statue.

But in the next second, the Buddha blood surged again, and Li Fang's head reformed. He looked at Wang Yue, a strange smile on his face, "With the Buddha here, how can you kill me?"

Wang Yue didn't answer, only continued to bombard him frantically. He knew that as long as he exhausted the Buddha blood within Li Fang, he could kill him completely.

As expected, with each shattering and regeneration, the Buddha blood within Li Fang was consumed more severely, and his consciousness was slowly dissipating. His punches gradually lost their pattern, becoming mere instinctual powerful swings, and he even threw punches at empty air.

"Young friend... it was all a misunderstanding..." Li Fang suddenly stopped moving, his eyes unfocused as he looked at Wang Yue, his tone laced with a hint of pleading. "Spare my life, and I will never trouble the Wang Clan again..."

"Misunderstanding your ass!" Wang Yue roared, his killing intent undiminished. "The moment you showed malice towards me, you should have died!"

Li Fang's fist slammed heavily into Wang Yue's chest. The second-tier inner armor Wang Yue wore dented on the spot, but he only grunted, not retreating an inch. His physique, tempered by twelve streams of Qi and Blood, had long surpassed that of martial artists of the same level. This injury was not enough to make him fall.

Seeing Wang Yue still standing tall, Li Fang's heart filled with despair. "Why... I've hit you so many times, how is your physique still so strong?"

He suddenly remembered the Blood Refiner Grandmaster. His realm was higher than his, yet he was utterly defenseless against the Grandmaster. Now, facing Wang Yue, he felt the same sense of powerlessness.

In utter despair, Li Fang's face suddenly flushed red. He mustered the last trace of Buddha blood within him and lunged at Wang Yue like a madman, his fists smashing wildly without any pattern.

A fierce glint flashed in Wang Yue's eyes. He could clearly feel that Li Fang's regeneration speed had slowed to an extreme, and his consciousness was on the verge of collapse. He sidestepped Li Fang's punch, closed the distance, grabbed Li Fang's arms with both hands, and with two "cracks," he forcibly broke his arms. Then, he delivered a powerful punch to Li Fang's abdomen.

"Pfft!"

Li Fang's internal organs were instantly pulverized. He spat out a large mouthful of blood, and his body collapsed softly onto the ground. Wang Yue's gaze was sharp, and he vaguely saw a trace of red light flickering in Li Fang's heart – the last remaining Buddha blood!

Without hesitation, he reached out and yanked Li Fang's heart out. The Black Cloud Fist Armor on his palm instantly exerted force, crushing the heart.

As the last trace of Buddha blood left his body, Li Fang looked at Wang Yue in disbelief, his body slowly falling backward. A hint of confusion flashed in 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 could I have forgotten..."

Before his words finished, Li Fang's head drooped completely, and he fell silent forever.

Outside the great hall, the grey-robed monks who had heard the commotion had long since scattered in terror. Only the empty temple remained, exuding a deathly silence in the rainy night.

But at that moment, a fatal chill, even stronger than before, suddenly surged into Wang Yue's heart. He quickly turned his head to look at the Buddha statue on the high platform. From the center of the Buddha statue's brow, a blood-red line surged out again. This blood-red line was several times thicker than before, carrying an irresistible pressure, and it slashed towards Wang Yue like a sharp sword!

"Not good!" Wang Yue's heart filled with dread. He quickly dodged to the side, but the blood-red line was too fast. His shoulder was still sliced open by a wound deep enough to see bone, and a massive amount of blood sprayed out, dyeing the ground in front of him red.

From within the Buddha statue, a golden divine soul slowly emerged – it was the divine soul of the Three-Headed Buddha!

He looked at Wang Yue's bleeding wound, all three Buddha faces simultaneously showing a satisfied smile. "Not a bad physique... quite a good vessel!"

The golden divine soul, like a tide, drilled into Wang Yue's body.

Wang Yue felt a colossal force surge into his consciousness, his head splitting with pain, as if he were being torn apart by the divine soul. He forced himself to maintain the last shred of clarity and turned to run towards the hall's exit. He knew that once his body was completely occupied by the divine soul, there would be no turning back!

In the rain, Wang Yue's figure stumbled but remained resolute. Blood dripped continuously from the wound on his shoulder, leaving a long bloodstain on the ground that extended all the way towards the direction of the Wang Clan.

He didn't know how long he had run before he finally saw the gates of the Wang Clan.

The disciple guarding the gate saw Wang Yue covered in blood and turned deathly pale with fright, quickly opening the large doors.

Wang Yue didn't stop, heading straight for the Qi and Blood chamber in the Clan Leader's mansion. He knew that perhaps only the Qi and Blood within the chamber could temporarily suppress the invasion of his spirit.

Pushing open the door to the chamber, a dense concentration of Qi and Blood washed over him. Wang Yue could no longer stay on his feet, his body going soft as he collapsed onto the ground, falling unconscious.

In the final moments before losing consciousness, he seemed to hear terrified howls coming from outside the chamber, along with a rustling sound of something rubbing against his body.

The door to the Qi and Blood chamber slowly closed, shutting out the sounds from outside. All that remained was Wang Yue's unconscious form and the strange, mixed scent of blood and Qi and Blood lingering in the air.