True Martial Dharma Image

Chen Yulou liked to munch on melon and watch the excitement.

If there was watermelon, he ate watermelon. If there wasn't, he ate pumpkin, winter melon, or even cucumber.

He carried his watermelon over to the two of them and said, "This is the only melon I have today, so I won't share it with you two."

If he'd bought too much watermelon in the past few days, he would still have shared half with Fan Jianqiang and Shi Feizhe.

Shi Feizhe had no interest in eating melon. Picking up on what Fan Jianqiang had just said, he asked, "Why did you say they could actually reach the True Person Realm, too?"

"True Person Realm. The difficult part is those two words: 'true person'!" Fan Jianqiang watched the two brothers fighting in the dust cloud in the distance and continued:

"True qi is produced by combining blood, qi, spirit, and essence. Once you reach the Zhou Tian stage, true qi fills the Eight Extraordinary Meridians and all three hundred and sixty acupoints in your body."

"Then you keep digging into the light of your heart and the true self of your nature! A speck of your true self merges with your true qi, like a dragon and a tiger meeting, forming an inconceivable power."

"That is the True Martial Dharma Image," Fan Jianqiang said.

"The True Martial Dharma Image? The True Martial Great Emperor?" Chen Yulou interjected. Though he'd come from a well-to-do family, he really didn't know the details of the True Person Realm!

"True Martial, True Martial. Naturally, it means 'true' and 'martial'!"

"The True Martial Great Emperor was said to be the first expert to cultivate the True Person Realm, hence his name. That's why the True Person Realm is also called the True Martial Realm!"

"The term 'Dharma Image' comes from Buddhism. Later, the description 'True Martial' proved so apt that it evolved into the 'True Martial Dharma Image'!" Fan Jianqiang's revelation of a secret known only to those in the True Person Realm made Shi Feizhe look at him in a whole new light.

No way! No way! This guy, who split the proceeds from scavenging with him fifty-fifty, was actually an expert in the True Person Realm?

"Are their Green Orb and Red Orb and all that, and the Buddha images behind the monks from Golden Buddha Temple, not True Martial Dharma Images?" Shi Feizhe asked again.

"Heh... What do those things count as True Martial Dharma Images? A True Martial Dharma Image is the external manifestation of the true self within one's heart: the will inside a martial arts expert, fused with true qi and given form. Its power is inconceivable! It can make one's will alter the surrounding area. How could it compare to that flowery and showy nonsense!" Fan Jianqiang sneered.

"Like... the Yellow Heaven?" Shi Feizhe thought for a moment before asking.

"Exactly! The Yellow Heaven is Sun Daoren's True Martial Dharma Image! Let me tell you, if you ever meet a Daoist in the martial world, stay as far away as you can!" Fan Jianqiang suddenly said, sounding quite moved.

"Why?" Chen Yulou interjected.

"Because they're all crazy!"

"Who practices martial arts without going crazy?" Shi Feizhe said skeptically.

"Daoists with names are especially crazy! Compared to them, even monks who smoke are good people!" Fan Jianqiang said mournfully.

"Why—" Shi Feizhe was about to ask why, when that oppressive feeling surged over him again. He gasped for breath and saw that while they'd been watching the excitement and chatting, Leng Qingqiu and Leng Qianye had already fought to a fever pitch.

A faceless deity appeared behind Leng Qingqiu. A green sun hung over its left shoulder, and a red Blood Moon over its right.

The green sun opened a gaping mouth, revealing sharp teeth and a tongue with an eye on it. In the middle of the bloody moon, a huge eye opened, surrounded by countless fleshy buds.

Green and red, mouth and eye—against Leng Qingqiu's already aged appearance, they added a touch of the uncanny.

"Little brother, the No Thought Divine Separation Art lets a person divide their attention in two, or even among several things at once. There are three of us. Today, we're going to kill you right here!" Though there was only one Leng Qingqiu, he claimed that there were three of them.

The sight sent a chill through the three melon-eaters.

"Mad, mad! That fellow really has gone mad!" Fan Jianqiang couldn't help saying.

"Perfect! Brother, we had the same idea!" A black Buddha appeared behind Leng Qianye, too.

A black solar eclipse and a blue moon rested on the Buddha's shoulders. It had three faces: one showing Leng Qianye's joy, one showing his fury, and the last a woman's face.

"A Ya!" Leng Qingqiu blurted out as soon as he saw the woman's face.

"We've always been together! We've always been together!" Leng Qianye roared, striking Leng Qingqiu with a palm!

The black Buddha mirrored him, its sun and moon spinning as it struck Leng Qingqiu with a palm.

"Brother, die!"

"Three Lifetimes Three Worlds Moon Radiance!"

"Damn, this one's even crazier!" Shi Feizhe and Chen Yulou could tell for themselves. They didn't need Fan Jianqiang to say it.

Though A Ya's face had shaken Leng Qingqiu's focus, he was a man of steadfast resolve. Night after night, he'd put himself on trial: Did he regret it?

Of course... he didn't!

So he unleashed the killing move of the Sun Moon Radiance Art, too. The Green Sun and Blood Moon merged into one, becoming an extraordinary half-red, half-green orb.

With strength in numbers, the other two had helped him evolve his technique into a new move!

"Sun Moon Unification and Earth Lose Radiance!"

BOOM! The thunderous sound could be heard across half of Qiu Yang City. Shi Feizhe's ears rang, and the enormous cloud of dust and gust of air left him covered in grime.

Beside a huge crater, Leng Qianye's palm struck Leng Qingqiu's head. Leng Qingqiu's palm struck Leng Qianye's head, too.

The two of them had actually abandoned defense at the same time, exchanging injuries just to kill each other!

Only one of them dying could quiet the madness in their hearts!

"Die! Die! Die! Why won't you die already!"

"Die! Die!"

"You dog-donkey, die!"

"Die!"

They stood there, unmoving, madly pounding each other's faces!

At that moment, they had no moves, no form, only the instinctive, clumsy haymakers of a pair of turtles, swinging at each other's faces.

Think for a second longer, hesitate for a second longer, and the fist in your hand would be slower, less resolute!

Blood ran down their faces, pooling at their feet.

"...These two are completely insane!" Chen Yulou watched them pound away at each other like madmen. The sight made his teeth ache.

Fan Jianqiang glanced at Shi Feizhe. Shi Feizhe glanced back at Fan Jianqiang.

What are you looking at!

What do you think I'm looking at? You know damn well!

The thud, thud, thud of their fists finally stopped, and one of the two fell.

"Heh... All my life, I cowered like a turtle, pretending to be deaf and dumb. Then I snapped my chains and found a few companions. Ah! I killed my brother and my past. Only today did I learn that I am me!"

Covered in blood, Leng Qianye stood with his fists clenched and let out a mad laugh, reciting a crooked poem.

"Better to be a true person than merely a person!"

Then a powerful aura erupted from him, along with an endless pressure! A Black Sun rose behind him into the sky, turning Qiu Yang City from broad daylight to a dim, unclear dusk. Then a Blue Moon rose, too!

"True Martial Dharma Image!" Fan Jianqiang cried, his face full of disbelief. He grabbed Shi Feizhe with one hand and Chen Yulou with the other. "Run! Run!"

Who practices martial arts without going crazy!