The World's Number One Defensive Divine Art!

Du Jue was dazzled by the swaying, but his fist did not pause in the slightest, slamming heavily into Tang Jie's chest!

"Bang!"

A muffled impact rang out. Tang Jie's feet clung tightly to the ground, not retreating even a step. In his eyes, it was as if two brilliant little suns were burning, and the qi wall condensed from the Gang around his body suddenly exploded.

"Boom!"

Du Jue felt as though his punch had landed on a tough piece of cowhide. After sinking half a foot in, the force was completely neutralized. Then the scorching power erupted, shaking Du Jue into retreating backward again and again, beyond his control.

Once he had steadied himself, Du Jue looked at his fist. The flesh on its surface had split slightly—it had clearly been burned by Tang Jie's Gang!

Du Jue stared at Tang Jie in astonishment. "This is... the Red Sun Art stage of the Boyhood Art?"

The old monk of Qingshan Temple had adopted Du Jue and Tang Tianhao, teaching them the Golden Bell Shield and Boyhood Art respectively. Although Du Jue had not practiced the Boyhood Art, he understood it to some degree and knew that its highest stage was the Red Sun Art. Upon reaching that stage, one's energy would blaze like a scorching red sun when circulating one's power.

This left Du Jue's gaze toward Tang Jie filled with shock and disbelief. Tang Jie looked no more than twenty years old, yet he had cultivated the Boyhood Art to its highest stage. Just how had he done it?

"I concede!"

Tang Jie spoke. Du Jue's strength was formidable, but he was no match for Tang Jie, who had cultivated the Red Sun Art.

"Well done!" Tang Tianhao could not help revealing a sincere smile. Although he could not defeat Du Jue, Tang Jie had beaten this senior brother whom he had never once defeated, leaving him immensely proud and happy.

"To possess cultivation equal to Master's at such a young age... I truly have lost." Du Jue did not continue to press the matter and readily admitted that he was no match for Tang Jie.

Du Jue was also amazed by the depth of Tang Jie's internal cultivation. Only their master had ever reached this stage while alive.

"You're nothing special, but you did manage to raise a fine son." Du Jue cast a glance at Tang Tianhao. "Now, let's go pay our respects to Master together in the rear mountain."

"Good! Let's go together!"

Tang Tianhao immediately agreed, secretly letting out a sigh of relief. He knew that much of Du Jue's anger toward him had dissipated.

That morning, Tang Tianhao and Du Jue went to the rear mountain to pay respects to their master, while Tang Jie followed them as well. There, he saw a tombstone engraved with the words: The Tomb of Master Zhiqing of Qingshan Temple.

This Master Zhiqing was Tang Tianhao and Du Jue's master, a Buddhist eminent monk with profound cultivation who had kept himself aloof from worldly contention.

"Martial Uncle Du Jue, I have an unreasonable request." After paying respects to Master Zhiqing, Tang Jie looked at Du Jue and spoke.

"Go ahead. If I can satisfy it, I'll do my best." Du Jue treated Tang Jie with an entirely different attitude, naturally because of the strength Tang Jie had just displayed.

Tang Jie took a deep breath. "Martial Uncle Du Jue, I want to learn your Golden Bell Shield!"

Tang Jie's words left Du Jue stunned. "Learn my Golden Bell Shield?"

Tang Tianhao could not help interrupting from the side. "Jie'er, martial arts aren't better just because you know more of them. Excellence matters more than quantity. Your Boyhood Art is already powerful enough. The Golden Bell Shield is even harder to cultivate than the Boyhood Art. If you learn the Golden Bell Shield, you'll only be dividing your attention."

Tang Tianhao's words were not without reason. A single martial art was enough for a martial artist to study for an entire lifetime. A person's time and energy were limited. Rather than studying many martial arts, it was better to cultivate one of them to the utmost extreme. Otherwise, one might end up accomplishing nothing in either area.

Tang Jie, however, had his own considerations. First, he had already cultivated the Boyhood Art to its highest stage, so he would likely find it difficult to make any major breakthroughs in the short term, and his Potential Points would not increase either. Second, Tang Jie had witnessed Daoist Qingsong's flying sword the last time. Its speed was so astonishing that it would be difficult for him to evade.

As for resisting it head-on, the Boyhood Art excelled not in defense. Even if Gang filled his body and made it comparable to refined iron, he still could not defend against the flying sword of an expert like Daoist Qingsong!

The two Corpse Puppets' greatest strength lay in their bodies of steel and iron bones, yet Daoist Qingsong's flying sword had severed their heads as easily as cutting chives. Even with Gang protecting his body, Tang Jie would not be any more durable than a Corpse Puppet!

It could be said that when facing an immortal cultivator of Daoist Qingsong's level, victory or defeat would be entirely without suspense so long as the opponent kept their distance.

After witnessing Du Jue's Golden Bell Shield today, Tang Jie had formed an idea. If one wanted to learn how to hit people, one also had to learn how to take a hit. Mastering the Golden Bell Shield would greatly strengthen his defensive power. If his body could withstand an immortal cultivator's magical treasure, his odds of victory against one would undoubtedly increase tremendously.

In his spar with Du Jue just now, Tang Jie had not used his full strength, but that punch had already contained seventy to eighty percent of his power. Even so, it had failed to cause Du Jue any substantial injury. This showed how great the potential of the Golden Bell Shield was. Once cultivated to its peak, it might not be unable to withstand a magical treasure's attack!

"If you want to learn, I can teach you. However, cultivating the Golden Bell Shield is no simple matter. It consumes both time and effort, and reaching the advanced stages is anything but easy." After a moment's thought, Du Jue nodded.

Tang Jie was Tang Tianhao's son, so passing the Golden Bell Shield on to him was nothing. It was just that the Golden Bell Shield was even harder to cultivate than the Boyhood Art, and it placed great demands on one's Root Bone and aptitude.

That was precisely why Tang Tianhao, whose aptitude was poor, had learned the Boyhood Art, while Du Jue, whose Root Bone was exceptional, had practiced the Golden Bell Shield.

"Mm, I understand." Seeing that Du Jue was willing to teach him the Golden Bell Shield, Tang Jie nodded.

Tang Tianhao shook his head helplessly from the side and said nothing more. He knew that Tang Jie's cultivation was far above his own, so Tang Jie must have his own considerations.

Tang Jie and Tang Tianhao settled down at Great Qingshan Temple, while Tang Jie began learning the Golden Bell Shield from Du Jue.

"The Golden Bell Shield is one of the Buddhist sect's divine arts. Like the Boyhood Art, it was created by Patriarch Bodhidharma. When Patriarch Bodhidharma was young, he observed the stars at night and created the Boyhood Art according to the laws governing the movement of the constellations. It was only in middle age that he created the Golden Bell Shield. Thus, to a certain extent, the Golden Bell Shield is even more profound than the Boyhood Art."

In the courtyard, Du Jue explained the origins of the Golden Bell Shield to Tang Jie.

Patriarch Bodhidharma was a renowned Martial Arts Great Grandmaster, learned enough to rival the heavens, and a once-in-a-millennium martial arts prodigy. He had created countless superior martial arts that were passed down through the world. The Golden Bell Shield, Boyhood Art, Marrow Cleansing Scripture, and Tendon Strengthening Classic had all been created by him, and later generations referred to them as the Four Divine Martial Arts of Bodhidharma.

"The Golden Bell Shield is a martial art that cultivates both the inside and outside. It is divided into twelve stages, and the difficulty of cultivation doubles with each stage. Once you reach the tenth stage, you can refine qi into Gang and attain the realm of a Martial Arts Grandmaster. If you complete all twelve stages, you'll become invincible beneath the heavens. No martial artist in the world will be able to injure you in the slightest!"

Du Jue introduced the Golden Bell Shield with some pride, clearly taking great pride in the martial art he practiced.

Tang Jie listened and nodded repeatedly. The upper limit of the Golden Bell Shield did indeed seem somewhat higher than that of the Boyhood Art.

Upon cultivating the Boyhood Art to the fifth layer, the Red Sun Art, one could refine qi into Gang and attain the realm of a Martial Arts Grandmaster. The Golden Bell Shield, however, had twelve stages in total, and reaching the tenth stage was enough to attain that realm. Its final two stages might be stronger than the limit of the Boyhood Art!

Du Jue himself possessed extraordinary talent and could be considered a genius among martial artists, yet he had still spent fifty years cultivating the Golden Bell Shield to the ninth stage. He was still some distance away from entering the tenth stage.

As for completing all twelve stages of the Golden Bell Shield, that would make one nearly invincible among martial artists. One's internal power would return to simplicity, one's entire body would have no vulnerable points left, and any attack that struck would find it difficult to inflict even the slightest damage. It truly deserved to be called the world's number one defensive divine art!