Divine Art! Northern Cold Flame True Hand! Attributed True Qi!

"Fifteen thousand Merit Points?!"

Zhang Chu was somewhat surprised. This was the largest single haul of Merit Points he had ever gotten—twice Jin Kui's!

It showed just how many people Yuan Hui had caused to die.

"Master Guangming, you've come."

Having dealt with Yuan Hui, the mastermind behind it all, Zhang Chu looked toward the group of very young Young Monks behind him.

These were chaotic times, with war raging everywhere.

They had likely wanted to enter the temple to shelter from the ravages of war, only to find that their martial granduncles were even more ruthless.

The temple was even more chaotic than the war outside.

"Amitabha." Guangming pressed his palms together in salute.

"Benefactor Zhang need say no more. This humble monk already knows the cause of it all. Martial Uncle Yuan Hui did not die unjustly."

"It is good that Master can judge fairly. Now that Zhang has dealt with the living corpses in the temple, Master must never take in those Jianghu people again, lest further disaster arise."

"Benefactor Zhang is right. This humble monk will remember."

Today's upheaval had matured Guangming considerably and shown him the cruel side of the Jianghu.

Even his own martial granduncles had killed as readily as they breathed. He would never dare take in Jianghu people again.

"By the way, Benefactor Zhang, this humble monk has something he wishes to give you. I hope Benefactor Zhang will not refuse."

As he spoke, Guangming took a sandalwood box from a Young Monk and handed it to Zhang Chu.

Zhang Chu opened it and was immediately astonished.

There was another Golden Cicada inside the box!

"Benefactor Zhang may not know this, but although the three martial granduncles had blood all over their hands, they never concealed the matter of the temple's Three Treasures of Red Lotus. According to them, after that great fire years ago, the Three Treasures of Red Lotus had actually vanished completely."

"The Buddha Incense and Lotus Root had both depended on the small lake within the temple. After the fire, the lotuses were badly damaged, as though they had been poisoned by some virulent toxin, and never bloomed again."

"With that, two treasures were lost. As for the Golden Cicada, it was originally the egg of a highly venomous golden cicada. After the old abbot passed away, the golden cicada disappeared without a trace, so the third treasure was gone as well."

"Now, this remaining Golden Cicada is the last of the temple's Three Treasures of Red Lotus."

"Guangming knows that his cultivation is too shallow to protect this final treasure, so he gives it to Benefactor Zhang. First, to keep it from the prying eyes of Jianghu people; second, to thank you for saving us."

Guangming revealed the temple's secret.

After hearing it, Zhang Chu fell into thought.

If his guess was correct, the old abbot must have thrown the golden cicada into the lake before his death!

That explained why the golden cicada had vanished, while the lotus flowers and Lotus Root had been poisoned and no longer bloomed.

The old abbot had truly played a masterful hand. Even in death, he had not allowed Yuan Hui to obtain the Three Treasures of Red Lotus.

"Very well, then Zhang will accept without further ceremony." Zhang Chu did not stand on politeness and accepted the last Golden Cicada.

After everything had been dealt with,

Guangming led Zhang Chu to a guest room.

It was already late. Setting out for Sword Forging Manor was out of the question, so he could only stay the night.

After eating the vegetarian meal brought by a Young Monk,

Zhang Chu went alone to a desolate mountain outside the temple.

He then summoned the System Panel!

[Zhang Chu]

[Realm: True Gang]

[Martial Arts: Yellow Court Inner Strength (Eighth Layer), not enhanced. True Martial Palm (Mastery), cannot be enhanced. Bitter Gourd Palm (Mastery), cannot be enhanced.]

[Merit Points: 31,100]

[True Martial Palm and Bitter Gourd Palm have both been detected at Mastery and may be fused. Fuse them?]

Looking at the data on the panel, Zhang Chu revealed a delighted expression. He finally had enough Merit Points—barely enough!

Ever since learning that True Martial Palm and Bitter Gourd Palm could be fused, Zhang Chu had been looking forward to it for a long time.

"The Twin Dragon Society's second leader's daughter gave 900, the three fake monks from the Refining Corpse Sect gave 3,600, the Fat Monk in the temple gave 1,200, Yuan Hui dropped a massive 15,000, and with the ten thousand Merit Points left over from before, that makes exactly thirty thousand!"

Looking at the Merit Points that were just enough,

Zhang Chu did not enhance anything immediately.

Instead, he took out a Golden Cicada.

"This Golden Cicada is called a body-refining treasure medicine. It can generate qi and blood within the body and clear blocked meridians. It is perfect as an appetizer before enhancement, so I won't suffer as much pain!"

Having experienced the enhancement of Yellow Court Inner Strength, Zhang Chu worried that fusing martial arts would also bring immense pain.

So he decided to try one first. If it did nothing, he could at least treat it as something to strengthen his body. There would be no loss.

If Ma Wuji had seen this, he would probably have been so furious that he stomped his feet. That was a treasure medicine he had dreamed of obtaining, yet Zhang Chu was using it for an experiment!

Zhang Chu slowly put the crystalline Golden Cicada into his mouth, tilted back his head, and swallowed it in one gulp.

The next second, a change immediately arose from his abdomen.

"Golden Cicada, you truly live up to your reputation!"

The moment the treasure medicine entered his mouth, Zhang Chu felt a great amount of medicinal power begin circulating through his abdomen.

It left his entire body warm and comfortable.

But compared with Yellow Court Inner Strength, the Golden Cicada was ultimately a mere firefly before the moon. Its effects were limited.

"Next comes the martial art fusion!"

Zhang Chu had come outside the temple because he feared the fusion would cause too great a commotion. Now, there was no one around.

[Fusing True Martial Palm and Bitter Gourd Palm requires 30,000 Merit Points. Fuse them? Please confirm.]

The prompt on the panel appeared before him.

"Confirm!" Zhang Chu did not hesitate.

At his command, the values on the panel rapidly blurred, then began to change.

True Martial Palm and Bitter Gourd Palm had originally followed entirely different paths, yet they were now merging.

"Pssh! Pssh!!..."

A mist-like Gang Qi suddenly steamed off Zhang Chu's body, swiftly enveloping him.

In an instant, he felt alternating hot and cold Gang Qi enter through his palms, flowing into his pores, muscles, sinews, and bones before suddenly charging into the dantian in his lower abdomen.

What terrifying power! Zhang Chu's heart shook.

Yet in the very next moment, that power disappeared, as though something had absorbed it completely.

If the two had previously remained wholly unrelated within Zhang Chu's body, they were now inseparable.

A brand-new circulation path for martial arts

was slowly taking shape within him!

"This new martial art has completely fused and absorbed the essence of both palm arts. It can be called a union of hardness and softness!"

At this moment, True Martial Palm and Bitter Gourd Palm had vanished completely, absorbed and fused into the new martial art.

A perfectly unified force, flowing with incomparable smoothness, surged endlessly through his body, vast and majestic beyond measure.

At the same time, a brand-new name appeared on the System Panel, replacing the two palm arts.

[Northern Cold Flame True Hand!]

The newly emerged martial art was already far beyond anything True Martial Palm or Bitter Gourd Palm could compare to. It had become a profound and unfathomable art beyond the comprehension of ordinary people.

Establish the ultimate of the Black Tortoise, behold the boundless Sea of Suffering, take the northern True Martial cold qi as bone, and draw Karma Fire's sorrowful flame as qi.

True Martial subdued the vast sea; the Brahma lamp illuminated the netherworld!

This palm art still possessed only three layers, but its power was already unfathomable. The First Layer was the "Cold Flame True Hand"!

At this moment, the skin of Zhang Chu's palms gradually changed. His hands became icy as jade, while fiery True Blood faintly showed beneath them.

When he circulated his power, snow-like wisps lightly condensed in the air within three feet around him. The instant they fell and touched anything, they ignited into cold golden flames.

"This martial art... isn't it a little too monstrous?"

Zhang Chu stared at the [Northern Cold Flame True Hand] in shock, his heart already roiling like storm-tossed waves.

From the moment this palm art's cold flames were born, his meridians had widened by nearly thirty percent, his sinews and bones seemed to have been reforged, and the recovery speed of his Gang Qi had doubled.

At the same time, his Gang Qi had changed!

Cold Flame Gang Qi had replaced his original Gang Qi, flowing through his body along his meridians. It felt as though a casual strike from him could shatter the Gang Qi others had cultivated bitterly for decades!

This was excellent. His previous palm arts specialized in breaking the protective hard techniques of every school. Now, they could even break Gang Qi!

And he had only cultivated the First Layer!

"Is this... Cold Flame Manifestation?"

Zhang Chu walked to a large tree and lightly touched its trunk. The tree was instantly destroyed by the cold flames, as though it had been corroded, crashing to the ground with a rumble.

The sight shook Zhang Chu to the core.

"I never expected a casual touch from me to have such terrifying corrosive power. How can these cold flames be so tyrannical?!"

At first, he had merely thought his Gang Qi had changed.

But it had changed in far more ways than that.

At this moment, his Cold Flame Gang Qi had gained attributes—two of them at that: Black Nether and Karma Fire!

"Let's test the power of a full-force palm strike!"

With a thought from Zhang Chu, the first move of [Northern Cold Flame True Hand], "Cold Flame True Hand," instantly erupted.

"Pssh!!"

A sharp shriek abruptly exploded across the desolate mountain.

The spirits of anyone who heard it would instantly wither.

The mountainside before Zhang Chu was pierced nearly ten meters deep by a single palm strike. Outside the deep crater, everything was scorched black amid icy glimmers!

"So the two forces appear at once, and they can also drastically weaken a person's Spiritual Power in an instant!"

The moment Zhang Chu saw the crater, understanding dawned upon him.

"Only... does this still count as martial arts? Why does it look several times more bizarre than the [Six Storehouse Scripture]?"

Zhang Chu was somewhat speechless. Other than his temperament, he felt he looked even more like a member of the Demonic Cult than the Demonic Cult itself.

"Still, rapidly increasing my strength is a good thing. The Demonic Cult has been growing more active, and there is also that 'person' Yuan Hui mentioned, along with the coming Sword Forging Manor and Sword Appraisal Convention. None of these are matters that can be easily resolved. The stronger I am, the better I can guard against them."

The Demonic Cult had painstakingly operated within Jinguang Temple for so many years. Could it truly have all been for the Three Treasures of Red Lotus from long ago?

Everything hidden behind Yuan Hui also gave Zhang Chu the faint feeling that, in the Jianghu, mountains were about to be battered by wind and rain...

"Rustle...!"

An unusual sound suddenly came from the forest.

Zhang Chu turned at the sound.

He saw Ma Wuji, who had somehow run off somewhere earlier, now crouching in a tree and staring at him in terror.

"Brother Zhang... Zhang, I swear I really didn't mean to spy on you practicing martial arts. Do you believe me??..."