Demons and Monsters

Their movement gave Lu Bai an opportunity as well.

Some Sworn Followers escorted the fruits deeper into the manor, while others entered the flower fields to inspect the withered blossoms and record their findings.

This shift in personnel naturally created gaps in their defenses.

Lu Bai managed to slip into the other buildings within without much trouble.

He found quite a few Hundred Flower Grave disciples there, but none of them looked well. Every one of them watched the companions around them with wary expressions.

It was as if the people around them were not fellow disciples, but enemies who could take their lives at any moment.

Moreover, whenever anyone headed east, they would be fixed under vigilant stares until they gave up or entered another building.

This made Lu Bai extremely curious about the eastern side. From what he could tell, there seemed to be flower fields over there as well.

There seemed to be something strange within, but Lu Bai had no intention of investigating it. Instead, he searched for places where Secret Manuals might be kept.

He then discovered that even inside a sect, martial arts manuals were not so easy to find.

Martial Forest sects kept their martial arts manuals under extremely strict control. Ordinary disciples usually learned through oral transmission.

Unless there was a need, they were not permitted to make copies.

Generally, Secret Manuals were only held by the sect leader and other upper ranks, as well as certain Elders responsible for teaching newly initiated disciples.

It was precisely because of this management system that the martial arts of the various sects leaked relatively rarely.

Even if some disciple knew a particular martial art, asking him to teach it to someone else was not so easy.

It was like getting a driver's license—learning to drive and actually driving were two different things.

Martial arts were the same. There were countless twists and turns involved. You might not need to think about them while practicing, but you absolutely had to understand them.

Learning to drive only meant failing the test. Practicing martial arts could mean failing at life.

Lu Bai did not act immediately. There was something eerie within Hundred Flower Grave; people were excessively wary of those around them.

Because of that atmosphere of vigilance, Lu Bai's suspicious movements as an infiltrator actually seemed normal.

But if he crossed the line even slightly, he would draw excessive attention.

Better wait until night.

Yet Lu Bai discovered that when night fell, Hundred Flower Grave was still extremely lively inside.

The Hundred Flower Grave disciples never stopped making little moves, and now and then, one or two screams would ring out.

Has Hundred Flower Grave turned into a demonic sect? Lu Bai could not help thinking.

Using the method of raising poisonous insects against one another to cultivate its own people was absolutely demonic even among demonic sects.

Fortunately, in an atmosphere where everyone feared for their own safety, no one cared what others were doing.

That made Lu Bai's movements easier. He quietly made his way toward the residence of an Elder.

Then he knocked on the door with great politeness.

"Hehe, you little brats have finally set your sights on me?" Hearing the knock, the person inside chuckled and spoke in a voice that was impossible to tell whether it carried relief or sorrow.

"Hundred Flower Valley... Hundred Flower Grave!" the Elder sighed. With a chuckle, he waved his hand, and Internal Force surged forth, generating a force that pushed the door open.

But there was no one outside.

After pausing in slight surprise, the Elder sighed again and walked toward the doorway.

The night wind was indeed a little cold. Opening a door with Internal Force was indeed stylish, but closing it still had to be done by hand.

Yet the moment he reached the door, several wine jars shot toward him.

The Elder wore an expression of just as I expected. With a flick of his hand, a burst of force shot out and exploded the wine jars. Red and white powder scattered through the air, but not a speck touched him.

"Don't bring out such petty tricks..."

Before the Elder could finish, an awl came whistling toward him.

The Elder's expression changed. He immediately used Flower Fist, his finger striking the awl with precision and knocking it aside.

Then he clasped his hands behind his back and said calmly, "The force behind it wasn't bad."

If the hand behind his back had not been trembling, the scene would have been far more harmonious.

Earth had no so-called supernatural powers. Internal Force, protective qi, and the like simply did not exist.

The so-called Jianghu and Martial Forest were nothing more than people who trained their bodies and pursued the pinnacle of combat techniques.

Even the strongest among them merely honed their spirit and will to the utmost limit through training, thereby producing a trace of the extraordinary.

Lu Bai was not a technique-oriented fighter. He relied on his physical gifts and all manner of dirty, dishonorable tactics.

In the terms of this world, Lu Bai was an External Martial Arts master, one among the very best.

Though he faced all kinds of disadvantages when confronting Internal Force, he had his own advantages as well.

The bodies of Internal Force martial artists were stronger than ordinary people's, but not by much, and most of that strength required Internal Force to support it—lightness skill, for example.

In other words, Internal Force martial artists had to circulate their energy to become strong, while External Martial Arts practitioners relied on their bodies themselves.

Under such circumstances, even some Martial Forest experts could easily be killed by sneak attacks.

The Elder also focused his mind at this moment, guarding against any surprise.

Hundred Flower Grave had originally been fairly normal, but after the sea of flowers was established, everything became abnormal.

The disciples' lives were linked to the Life-Eroding Flowers. The flowers' growth could drive the increase of Internal Force, but if the flowers developed problems, the disciples would suffer backlash and go mad from qi deviation.

These eerie methods had made the methods of Hundred Flower Grave's disciples increasingly bizarre. In some respects, they could no longer even be called human.

"Demons and monsters!" the Elder snorted, though that snort contained meanings too tangled to describe.

The night wind howled through the darkness. A scream came from afar, drawing some of the Elder's attention in that direction.

At that very instant, a black shadow charged over, stirring gust after gust of fierce wind.

"Good!" The Elder grinned. Rolling up his sleeves, he met the black shadow head-on. At that moment, his hands became as supple as vine whips, then lashed out at high speed, cracking sharply through the air.

"Demons and monsters!"

The sigh rang out once more. The charging figure was already being whipped until its flesh split open and blood sprayed everywhere beneath his hands.

The changes in Hundred Flower Grave had spread from the top down. Compared to those disciples, these upper ranks were closer to the term demons and monsters.

To a certain extent, their symbiosis with plants had caused their bodies to mutate.

For example, the bones in his hands had softened and become translucent. This was not only beneficial for transmitting Internal Force, but also made them extraordinarily flexible, like vines.

The Elder withdrew his hands. If he kept lashing, the other disciple's skin would be beaten into minced meat.

But although he stopped, the other side did not. The corpse lunged forward, and some of the Flesh and Blood that had been whipped loose even scattered as it pounced.

The Elder was startled. As he retreated, both hands shot out again.

But this time, the charging figure was directly knocked away. A crouching figure closed in on the Elder's body from below.

Then its muscles bulged, and the beauty of physical strength was granted its perfect chance to shine.

Please vote with recommendation tickets and monthly tickets. Xu Ming, weak and helpless, went coo coo coo as he begged for votes.