How Could He Be So Strong?

"[Black Sun Illumination]."

After hearing Zhi Xie's words, Lu Bu realized something was wrong; this guy still had a trump card and was about to run away.

Just as Lu Bu was about to make a move, he saw the black Buddha on Zhi Xie's body begin to slowly disintegrate, shimmering with an eerie black light, and a terrifying aura began to flow around the Buddha.

Self-destruction?

Lu Bu sensed something was wrong. Would this guy really risk his life?

He threw his Heavenly Halberd at Zhi Xie, but Lu Bu himself instantly retreated a bit, creating distance between himself and Zhi Xie.

As the black Buddha surrounding Zhi Xie disintegrated, black light spread around, and the Heavenly Halberd was blasted away before it could even strike.

With a loud "boom," a terrifying aura began to spread outwards, radiating for hundreds of meters, as if it wanted to destroy everything.

Under this powerful force, Lu Bu's figure was forced back dozens of feet.

At the center of the explosion, Zhi Xie became shriveled as the black Buddha disintegrated, his black robe drooping down, leaving only skin and bones, looking like a dried corpse.

Using his [Supernatural Footwork], Zhi Xie's withered legs became illusory and unpredictable, while the explosive force of the Buddha's disintegration seemed to have no effect on him at all, and he simply vanished without a trace.

After the explosion, braving the remaining shockwaves, Lu Bu quickly arrived at the place where Zhi Xie had been. The place had long since become a large crater, and apart from some raging aura, there was nothing there. Lu Bu's expression darkened.

They ran away.

This guy is really something else.

Lu Bu didn't give chase; he had no idea where the guy had gone, and with that guy's secret technique [Supernatural Footwork], he really couldn't catch up.

Turning around, Lu Bu headed back towards the location of the Bingzhou Wolf Riders. When Lu Bu returned, Hou Cheng, one of the Eight Generals, handed him a monk's staff and said...

"General, this is that fellow's staff."

After Zhi Xie's staff was knocked away at the very beginning of the battle, Cheng Lian, Wei Xu, Song Xian, and Hou Cheng sent people to search along the trajectory of the staff, and they eventually found it.

Zhi Xie barely escaped with his life on the line, and at that point he couldn't care less about anything else, so this item became a spoil of war for Lu Bu and his men.

After taking the staff and examining it, Lu Bu casually tossed it back to Hou Cheng and said in a deep voice.

"Take this and give it to Miss Haitang in Capital, so it can be put into the Prince of Qin's Manor's treasury."

"Give the order to rest on the spot and set off again tomorrow."

The Wolf Cavalry have been traveling for several days without a proper rest, and they deserve some rest. After giving these instructions, Lu Bu took out the Small Golden Light Mirror from his chest. He needed to report this matter to His Your Highness.

This Zhi Xie is no ordinary person, and his purpose in coming here is clearly to find Lu Bu. There is definitely a conspiracy involved, and we must wait for Your Highness to make a decision.

Meanwhile, dozens of miles away from Lu Bu, in a mountain forest, Zhi Xie, emaciated and skin and Zhi Xie, resembling a dried corpse, suddenly appeared.

The moment Zhi Xie's figure appeared, he couldn't help but fall to the ground.

"Ah!"

A low growl of agony escaped its mouth. Its face, now just skin covering bone, was taut and angular, its mouth agape as if demanding death.

Only his large, round eyes, seemingly round beneath his shriveled skin, stared wide-eyed like two eggs, filled with resentment and bitterness.

Immediately afterwards, Zhi Xie's two hands, which looked like oversized chicken claws, gripped the ground and crawled forward.

The scene was eerie and chilling, like a withered corpse lying lifelessly on the ground, its body contorted in a twisted position, its movements unusually slow as it crawled slowly in one direction.

Climbing to the side of a tree, Zhi Xie propped himself up against the tree, his left hand, which resembled a chicken claw, groped in his large black pocket, took out a jade bottle and a jade pendant, and swallowed all the pills in the bottle.

Zhi Xie gripped the jade pendant in his left hand with all his might, a ferocious look appearing on his terrifying face. "Crack." The jade pendant shattered in his hand. Only after doing this did Zhi Xie breathe a sigh of relief.

Looking at his crippled right arm, the sharp cuts on his chest bones, his legs with cracked bones exposed by broken skin, and the lingering, tearing true qi and evil energy within his body, Zhi Xie roared with endless resentment in his eyes.

"Lu Bu?"

"Lu Bu?"

"Lu Bu!!!"

The first two sentences left a hint of doubt, but the last sound was like a vengeful ghost demanding a life, filled with hatred.

Suddenly, Zhi Xie seemed deflated, his eyes filled with disbelief as he muttered to himself.

"How could he be so strong?"

Since his debut, the demonic monk Zhi Xie has never been so disheveled. Even the top power of the Great Yan, the Zen Heart Temple, had the Monk Huimu who had comprehended the Heavenly Eye.

Even when facing a prodigy like him who had comprehended the Six Paths Technique at the Ascension Realm, he had never been so disheveled.

It could even be said that he was more than flexible enough to move around in the air using his [Supernatural Footwork] ability, but he never expected to be defeated so thoroughly today.

He was still defeated by someone who cultivated malevolent energy. This person was a genuine Buddhist cultivator and had even comprehended the [Supernatural Footwork]. How could he be beaten like this?

Cultivating evil spirits?

Zhi Xie's eyes widened in shock as he recalled the question he had asked Lu Bu.

"General Lü, this humble monk is very curious to know, how did you detect my [Supernatural Footwork]?"

How did you notice it?

He unleashed the power of [Black Sun Glazed], his Buddhist aura surpassing even its own, suppressing the malevolent energy. Even though he concealed the energy fluctuations from [Supernatural Footwork], wasn't he himself more obvious than the malevolent energy itself?

So he exposed himself!

A bitter look appeared in Zhi Xie's eyes. He never expected that he would be tricked by his own Buddhist skills.

"Alas! It's all fate!"

After thinking for a while, Zhi Xie understood. He sighed and stretched out his left hand to pry open the skin on his legs. The skin had completely split open, and by simply prying it to the sides, Zhi Xie could see what was inside his legs.

All that could be seen on Zhi Xie's legs, whether thighs or calves, was the absence of any flesh or blood; they were truly skin and bones. The meridians in his legs had been severed, and his leg bones were riddled with cracks, as if they would shatter completely at any moment.

A look of sadness and regret crossed Zhi Xie's eyes. He shouldn't have been so arrogant!

He insisted on dealing with Lu Bu, but he couldn't handle him. He was stubborn and wanted to find an opportunity, but now he's made a mess of things.

He used the Supernatural Footwork five times in his battle against Lu Bu. In order to escape, he used most of his true energy in the [Black Sun Illumination] technique. Afterwards, in order to prevent Lu Bu from catching up, he again used the [Supernatural Footwork] technique with all his might, leaving him with not much true energy to protect himself.

In total, I used [Supernatural Footwork] more than ten times.

In less than an hour, after more than ten attempts, he could no longer stand up.

Using the Supernatural Footwork repeatedly in a short period of time comes at a price. His legs, which he used to move through the air, are now practically useless. Just getting them to recover will be difficult.